Well, we are continuing this morning in our series through 1 Timothy.
And we are listening to Christ's instructions through the Apostle Paul about how we are to live in the household of God, in the church.
So if you have your Bible with you, you can open it up to 1 Timothy.
For the past two Sundays, we've been in chapter 2.
And this morning, we're actually going to go back and look at the section that we skipped over from chapter 1.
So we are going to be in 1 Timothy chapter 1, verse 9.
And look at the rest of chapter 1 this morning.
Now let's remember how Paul started this letter to Timothy.
Right after the introduction, Paul jumped right into giving instruction.
And these were his instructions.
In verse 3, he said,
As I urged you when I went into Macedonia,
stay there in Ephesus,
so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer.
So as we heard several weeks ago,
there were people in the church teaching false doctrines.
Down in verse 7, we heard a little bit more about these false doctrines.
Paul said,
They want to be teachers of the law,
but they do not know what they're talking about or what they so confidently affirm.
We know that the law is good if one uses it properly,
said Paul.
So we noted a couple weeks ago that these people teaching false doctrines
were pointing people back to the Old Testament.
But the problem, according to Paul,
is that they didn't really understand the Old Testament.
They didn't understand the law.
And they were misapplying it to the people.
So now Paul is going to tell Timothy about the purpose of the law in verses 9 to 11.
Then he's going to share a little bit of his own personal testimony in verses 12 to 17.
And then verses 18 to 20,
he's going to give Timothy some more encouragement and warning,
especially in the backdrop of this instruction about false teachers.
Let's look at that first one.
The purpose of the law.
I'm going to read again, starting in verse 8.
Paul says,
We know that the law is good if one uses it properly.
We also know that the law is made not for the righteous,
but for lawbreakers and rebels,
the ungodly and sinful,
the unholy and irreligious,
for those who kill their fathers or mothers,
for murderers,
for the sexually immoral,
for those practicing homosexuality,
for slave traders and liars and perjurers,
and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine
that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God,
which he entrusted to me.
So Paul makes it clear right out of the gate here
that the law God gave long ago to the Israelites
had a very specific purpose,
or rather a specific group of people that it was given for.
He said,
The law is made not for the righteous,
but for lawbreakers and rebels,
the ungodly and sinful,
the unholy and irreligious,
and he goes on.
So the purpose of the law
is to convict us of our sins.
It's to show us what's wrong,
what's evil,
what's impure,
what's sinful.
And if we think back to those Old Testament days,
the law was not just an ethical code to live up to
or to aspire to,
but it was actually in force.
It was the governing law of the nation,
or at least it was supposed to be.
Israel departed from it at various moments.
So the law didn't just convict,
but it also condemned the guilty.
For example,
Exodus chapter 21 verse 12,
Anyone who strikes a person with a fatal blow
is to be put to death.
However,
if it's not done intentionally,
but God lets it happen,
they are to flee to a place
I will designate.
So the law was made,
in part,
so that murderers,
people who intentionally killed other people,
might receive the punishment
that they deserve.
It was given by God
so that there would be justice
among his people.
And we might also argue
that it was given to restrain
or deter people
from doing these kinds of things
because it made the consequences
of doing wrong
costly.
There was a penalty
or punishment.
So Paul goes on
and he gives this big list
of people
that the law was made for.
And he uses all these different words
to describe
these people,
various attitudes
as well as behaviors.
And we're just going to quickly
go through this list.
It's quite the list.
He starts by saying
that it's for
lawbreakers
and rebels.
Quite literally,
for the lawless.
People who are generally
insubordinate.
Don't want to submit
to authority
of any kind.
People who have the attitude
of
I'm going to do
whatever I want to do
and ain't nobody
going to tell me
what to do.
Rebels kind of captures
that same sort of idea.
People who generally
are
just going to break
the law.
They're going to go off.
They're going to do
whatever they want.
It's for the ungodly,
says Paul.
The opposite of that
would be a godly person
and a godly person
is a person
who is devoted
to God.
A person who obeys God,
who worships God.
And so an ungodly person
is the opposite.
It's a person
who has no fear of God.
Who disobeys God.
Who disregards God.
It's for the sinful,
says Paul.
A person who does
things that are wrong.
Things that fall short
of what God has revealed
is good and right.
He says it's for the unholy.
Which refers to
a person who is profane.
Somebody who treats
holy things
or sacred things
as if they were
just common.
A person who's irreverent.
It's for the irreligious.
A person who cares
more about this world
than about God.
Somebody who minimizes
or marginalizes God.
Cares more about
the stuff around,
the stuff of earth.
It's for murderers,
says Paul.
We talked about
that one already.
It's for the sexually
immoral,
says Paul.
The Greek word
used there
is pornois,
from which we get
our English word
pornography.
This word
refers to people
who engage in
any kind of
sexually immoral
behavior,
fornication,
adultery,
basically any kind
of sexual relations
or interactions
with someone
who you're not
married to
would be considered
sexually immoral.
Paul then gives
another specific
kind of sexually
immoral behavior.
Those who practice
homosexuality.
And at this point,
I want to hit the
pause button
and talk about
some of this stuff
as it relates today
because,
I mean,
the way that they
would have heard this
back in Ephesus
in those days
is probably a little
different than how
we would hear it
today in our culture.
We live in a culture
and time where
there are countless
voices saying that
when it comes to
sexuality,
anything is okay.
If it feels good,
do it.
Don't let anyone
tell you that your
sexual choices are wrong.
And this attitude,
this view of human
sexuality is promoted
everywhere.
Probably many of you
have heard this.
It's on the TV shows
and in the movies.
It's promoted by
journalists and
news writers.
It's promoted by
those who identify
as LGBTQ.
It's promoted by
governments and
workplaces now.
It's promoted by
teachers and in
schools.
It's promoted by
vocal organizations
like Planned Parenthood
and the Abortion Rights
Coalition of Canada.
It's promoted by
international organizations
like the World Health
Organization and the
United Nations.
And I could go on
but I think you know
what I'm talking about.
This message is coming
on all channels,
all around us.
When it comes to
sex, almost anything
is okay.
If it feels good,
do it.
Don't let anybody
tell you that your
sexual choices are
wrong.
But Paul says right
here that long ago
when God gave his
law to the Israelites,
one of its purposes
was to show us that
there is a sexual
right and a sexual
wrong.
There is a good
design and plan
of God for human
sexuality and the
Old Testament law
lays out the ways
that we corrupt
that, the ways that
we deviate from
that.
Sex outside of
marriage, adultery,
cheating, sex with
relatives, and Paul
explicitly in this list
mentions homosexuality.
Sex with people of
the same sex.
Quite literally, for
men who go to bed
with men.
Now I know that even
saying that in public
is considered hateful
today, bigoted,
intolerant, but let's
remember these are the
words of God himself.
These are the words of
Jesus Christ himself
speaking through his
apostle.
He's saying, just like
the Old Testament law
revealed all those
years ago, there is a
sexual right and a
sexual wrong.
God's law laid it out
long ago so that we
could know it, so that
we could be convicted
of it, so that we
could turn to God and
be washed and cleansed
of it and be called
back to that way that
he designed us to be,
to the goodness of
human sexuality that
he made us to enjoy,
to what is right, to
real intimacy, real
intimacy between a
married man and a
married woman who
give themselves only to
each other.
Sadly, many people in
our world today simply
reject the creator and
what he has to say.
They want to go their
own way.
They want to do
whatever they please
when it comes to
sexuality.
And so, for many, it
has brought nothing but
grief, heartache, broken
relationships, broken
trust.
It's led to women
feeling used.
It's led to children
being conceived with no
committed mother to
carry the child, no
committed father to
help raise the child.
It's led to cover-ups,
scandals, secrets, and
lies.
Ignoring what God has to
say about our sexuality
has led to one of the
deepest kinds of
confusion that we can
experience.
And rightly so, because
sex, it's a thing that
affects our bodies
deeply.
There's hormones,
there's chemicals, I'm
not going to go into
all the details.
There's synopses being
formed in our brains,
pathways strengthened when
we do God's design.
But when we take what he
has designed and
deviated from it, we're
affected in all those
areas of our body as
well.
Our feelings and
emotions are affected
so deeply that it's no
wonder that we see the
kind of chaotic
confusion that we see
today around this
issue.
We've got men who
think that they can
be women.
We've got women who
think that they can be
men.
We've got people out
there today saying
absolutely, men can
become pregnant.
And if you disagree,
they say you're
transphobic.
The truth is that we
live in a time of
widespread sexual
confusion.
Some are somewhat
innocent in that
confusion.
Maybe they've been the
victim of abuse or
bullying.
Or maybe they've simply
just accepted what
they've been taught from
the time they were
young.
While others are more
militant.
They know full well what
they are doing, what
they are advocating, and
why.
nevertheless, what God
has said has been
consistent.
From what he has said
in Genesis about how
he created man and
woman and what
marriage is to be, to
what he said at Mount
Sinai when he gave the
law, what is sexually
right and what is
sexually wrong.
Up until this time when
he speaks again through
Paul to Timothy, there
is a sexual right and
there is a sexual wrong
and it hasn't changed
over all that time.
The law was given by
God in the first place
to reveal that and to
expose the wrongness of
deviating from it and
it does.
Sexual sin does leave us
guilty before God.
Just as the other things
in this list leave us
guilty before God.
God.
But there is good news
which we are getting
to.
But before we do, let's
just look at these last
few things in the list.
Paul says the law was
made for slave traders.
In the original language
it is literally man
stealers.
And it could be
translated kidnappers.
In Bible times, slavery
was an established social
construct and you could
sell yourself into slavery
to pay off a large debt
in the time of financial
ruin.
But this seems more
aimed at those who
would actually like go
and kidnap somebody who
was a free man and then
sell them into slavery.
And this is something
that still happens today.
Human trafficking of any
sort would kind of be
covered by this
description.
Paul says the law was
made for liars.
I have to be honest,
when we get to that word,
I'm kind of surprised.
You know, the other
things mentioned, they
seem really, some of them
really bad or really
obvious.
Murder, sexual immorality,
kidnapping.
But then liars.
Lying is something that
deviates from God's good
design as well.
It's evil.
It's much worse than we
think.
And it puts us in the
same boat as all the
other sins listed here.
guilty before God and
his good law.
Finally, the law was
made for perjurers.
Perjury is a specific
type of lying.
It means to lie in a
courtroom while under
oath, giving a false
testimony.
Paul then sums up this
list by adding a
catch-all phrase at the
end.
He says the law is made
for people characterized
by all these attitudes
and behaviors and also
for any others that I
didn't list that are
contrary to the sound
doctrine that conforms to
the gospel.
It's a little bit of a
tangled up sentence, a
long one.
Let's just unpack it
here little by little.
We'll start at the end.
Which he entrusted to me.
So Paul has been
entrusted with something by
God and that something is
the gospel, the good
news.
Here Paul describes the
good news as the good
news about the glory of
God.
That's one way of
describing what God has
done in sending Jesus to
save us.
It's a revealing of his
glorious nature.
And closer to his main
point, there is a sound
doctrine.
There is a true teaching
that conforms to the
gospel.
Or we might say goes with
the good news.
Accompanies the good
news.
Jesus died to save us,
yes.
But he also came teaching
about kingdom
righteousness.
For example, he taught
about money and greed.
Paul didn't say anything
in this list about that.
But that would be an
example of something else
that is contrary to the
sound teaching that
conforms to the gospel.
And the main point he's
making, the law is
helpful in convicting us
about all these things,
even the things I didn't
mention in this list.
And so let's apply this
list today.
As you look down this list,
are you anywhere in this
list?
Do any of these sinful
attitudes or behaviors
describe how you have
been at one time or
another in your life?
Most of us can look
through this and say,
well, I haven't murdered
anyone or kidnapped
anyone or lied under
oath in court.
But all of us have told
a lie, if not many.
Likely, some of us have
engaged in some kind of
sexually immoral behavior.
Probably all of us have
shown disregard for the
law of our land at one
time or another.
Probably all of us have
acted in a way that's
sacrilegious or profane,
even if it's just with a
comment or words that we
said.
The law was made for the
sinful.
In Paul's letter to the
Roman church, he says,
all have sinned and fall
short of the glory of God.
In case we get to the
very bottom of this list
and somehow feel like,
well, it's not talking
about me.
I haven't been anything
like any of this.
There's that catch-all
phrase at the end.
Have you done anything
that is contrary to the
true teaching that fits
with the good news of
Jesus?
Where does Paul see
himself in relation to
this list?
Does he see himself as
the righteous?
A man for whom the law
wasn't made?
Or does he see himself as
being among the guilty?
One for whom this law
was made.
It's at this point that
Paul now begins to share
honestly his own story
about himself.
He says, I thank Christ
Jesus, our Lord, who has
given me strength, that he
considered me trustworthy,
appointing me to his
service.
Even though I was once
a blasphemer and a
persecutor and a violent
man, I was shown mercy
because I acted in
ignorance and unbelief.
So as Paul brings this
big list of sinful
attitudes and behaviors,
what does it do?
Does it bolster Paul's
self-righteousness?
No.
It's as if as he's giving
this list, he's reminded
of his own sinfulness,
his own unworthiness,
to be an apostle entrusted
with this good news of
Jesus.
He starts by thanking
Christ Jesus that he was
even selected in the first
place to serve as an
apostle.
And he acknowledges that
it has been Christ Jesus
who has given him strength
to do the job.
And then he goes on to
confess his own sins here
in verse 13.
Even though I was once a
blasphemer and a
persecutor and a violent
man, the word blaspheme
as it applied to Jesus,
as he was accused, it kind
of meant claiming to be
God, but it had a more
general meaning, just of
slander.
Paul's confessing here,
I was once a
blasphemer.
I was once a person who
slandered the people of
Jesus Christ.
I was a person who
demeaned the name of
Christ.
Paul says, I was a
persecutor.
I was a man who went
after the followers of
Jesus to round them up
and bring harm to them,
even to see them killed.
I was a violent man.
I saw to it that people
were beaten, that they
were killed for following
Jesus.
And yet, I was shown
mercy, says Paul.
Christ Jesus was
compassionate towards me.
He took pity on me.
He didn't treat me the
way I deserve.
Now, Paul brings in one
factor here.
He says he was shown
mercy because he acted in
ignorance and in
unbelief.
And I think we need to be
careful how we read that
statement.
I don't think Paul's
making an excuse here.
He's not saying, because
I was ignorant, I wasn't
guilty.
No, he's saying, I was
shown mercy.
In other words, I know
that I deserved punishment
for my sins, the things I
did against Christ.
So he's not using it as
an excuse.
Second, I don't think he's
saying that Jesus was
obligated to show me
mercy because I was
ignorant or because I had
done belief as if somehow
Paul earned the mercy of
Christ by being ignorant.
I think what he's getting
at here is there was a
difference between Paul, it
seems, and many of the
other religious leaders, the
Pharisees.
For them, they weren't
acting in ignorance.
They saw with their own
eyes the signs that Jesus
did, the miracles.
And they knew, deep down
inside, they knew what
those miracles pointed to.
And yet they knowingly and
willfully rejected him,
persecuted him, and put
Jesus to death.
Paul seems to be a step
removed from that.
Still spiritually blind and
unbelieving, yet also
somewhat ignorant to the
truth of who Jesus really
is until that moment came
on the road to Damascus.
But listen to this.
Paul says, even though I
was once a blasphemer, a
persecutor, a violent man,
I was shown mercy.
The grace of our Lord was
poured out on me
abundantly along with the
faith and love that are in
Christ Jesus.
I love that metaphor.
Poured out abundantly.
All the scholars will tell
you there's one word here.
It's like super abound or
something like that.
A word Paul made up because
they can't find it anywhere
else.
But the picture is clear.
The Lord didn't just give me
a second chance.
He didn't just wipe the
slate clean and then leave
me to myself to figure this
out.
He poured his grace out on
me abundantly.
His favor, his blessing, his
kindness came at me.
Into my life like a
waterfall flowing all over
me, all over my life.
And not just his grace,
says Paul, but along with
his grace came faith and
love.
He poured these out on me
abundantly as well.
Yes, even our faith is a
gift from God.
If we look just back to the
previous verse, Paul was in a
state of unbelief.
Now he's in a state of
belief and came the same way
that the grace came.
It was poured out on him.
Paul was a violent man in the
previous verse.
He says, now a man of love.
It was poured out on him.
He was transformed.
Paul goes on in verse 15.
He says, here is a
trustworthy saying that
deserves full acceptance.
Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners.
sinners.
This is the gospel.
This is the good news of
Jesus in a nutshell.
Look back up at that list in
verses 9 and 10.
Look at all these sinful
attitudes and behaviors that
we might be guilty of.
And remember that catch-all
phrase at the end which
reminds us that if our sin is
not listed here, we're not off
the hook because this list is
an exhaustive and yet Christ
Jesus came into the world to
save sinners.
He came into the world to save
people on the list.
Paul was on the list.
The law's purpose was to expose
the truth about each one of us
that yes, we are sinners.
We are guilty.
We are rebels.
We're not holy as we ought to
be.
We have acted wrongly before
God in one way or another.
But there is good news.
God is a blessed and glorious
God.
He has mercy towards us.
He pours out his grace and love
abundantly on us.
And that's why he came to save
sinners like us.
This is a trustworthy saying, says
Paul.
You can bet your life on this.
Christ came into the world to
save sinners.
That's you.
That's me.
And then Paul confesses.
He shares based on these things
that he's already said.
His own view of himself.
He says, sinners of whom I am
the worst.
So we look at that list.
Paul says, I'm among the worst.
And we don't need to worry about
whether Paul thought he was the
worst possible sinner or just
among the worst.
I mean, case in point, most of us
can't say that we hunted down
Christians and are responsible for
their bodily harm, suffering, and
death.
Now, all sin is evil.
All of it makes us guilty.
And yet some sins are especially
grievous.
Paul says, I did those things that
are especially grievous.
But for that very reason, he says,
I was shown mercy so that in me,
the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus
might display his immense patience
as an example for those who would
believe in him and receive eternal
life.
Paul's saying, God showed me mercy.
He was patient with me because he
wanted to show.
He wanted to give an example.
He wanted everyone to know that,
yes, even those worst of sins on the
list can be forgiven.
It doesn't matter how badly you have
sinned.
Murder, the worst forms of sexual
immorality.
Jesus wants you to know through Paul
that, yes, you can be forgiven.
My grace is enough.
My mercy is enough to cleanse you and
forgive you and save you from what
you deserve.
And for our part, what do we need to do?
Paul kind of throws it in at the end.
He says, for those who would believe in
him.
Believe.
Put our trust, put our faith in Jesus
and we will receive eternal life.
So I want to ask you, do you believe in
Jesus?
Have you surrendered your heart to Jesus?
Jesus.
This news is so good that we could be
forgiven, that we could be saved despite
what we have done, that Paul burst into
praise.
Now to the king, eternal, immortal,
invisible, the only God be honor and
glory forever and ever.
Amen.
I love this.
He is so touched deeply by the mercy of
God in his own life, by the grace of
God, that he says, King Jesus, you are
worthy of all glory and honor for the
rest of eternity because you're the only
God.
You're the true king who lives forever
and will never die.
And though we cannot see you now, you are
worthy of that praise for unending days,
forever and forever.
Let's just quickly look at the last
paragraph here.
Verse 18 to 20.
Timothy, my son, I'm giving you this
command in keeping with the prophecies
once made about you so that by
recalling them, you may fight the battle
well, holding on to faith and a good
conscience, which some have rejected and
so have suffered shipwreck with regard
to the faith.
Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander,
whom I have handed over to Satan to be
taught not to blaspheme.
Now there's lots here we could discuss,
but the gist of it is that Paul is
encouraging Timothy.
There were prophecies made about
Timothy and Paul says that this command
that he's now giving Timothy about
silencing the false teachers will in
some sense fulfill those prophecies.
as Timothy fights the battle in this
difficult situation here in Ephesus.
Remembering those prophecies is going
to help him to fight well.
Paul's talking about the spiritual battle
here and he's urging Timothy to hold
on to his faith, to hold on to his good
conscience.
This harkens back to what we read in
verse 5 and 6.
The false teachers, the problem with them
was that they were departing from a pure
heart and a sincere faith and a good
conscience.
And so Paul is now coming full circle
and he's saying, Timothy, don't you do
that.
Hold on to your faith.
Don't let go.
Keep your good conscience.
And then he goes on to name some of
these false teachers who have departed
from the faith.
Hymenaeus and Alexander, these two men
and others let go of their sincere faith.
They let go of their good conscience
and it proved utterly disastrous for them.
I'm not going to speculate on what their
final outcome was.
We don't really know.
But it doesn't sound good.
Whatever Paul means by
whom I have handed over to Satan
to be taught not to blaspheme.
And Paul's going to have more encouragement
and more warnings like this
later on in the letter.
We're going to now turn our attention
to a little bit of a different focus.
I want to come back to this testimony of
Paul, to the gospel.
And as we do, we want to
be reminded of what the Lord has done
for each one of us.
We're going to celebrate the Lord's table
again this morning.
And for those who are new or visiting,
I just want to take a few moments
to explain what it's all about.
Why we do it.
We do it once a month
on the first Sunday of each month.
And it is a sacred thing that we do.
It's kind of a reenactment
of the last supper that Jesus had
with his disciples before
his crucifixion.
That evening, before he was arrested
in the Garden of Gethsemane,
Jesus sat down with his disciples
and had the Passover meal.
And while he was around the table,
he took bread and he broke it
and he gave thanks.
He also took a cup
and he passed it around to each of them
and he urged them to eat of the bread
and drink of the cup.
The cup contained, in Jesus' words,
the fruit of the vine,
either wine or grape juice.
And Jesus encouraged them
to drink from the cup.
And there was a special significance to this.
Jesus told them in metaphorical language
that the bread represented his body
and that the contents of the cup
represented his blood.
Jesus knew that he was about to die
and he wanted his disciples to know why.
And so he explained something
of the metaphor that night.
He said,
this is my blood of the covenant
which is poured out for many
for the forgiveness of sins.
So Jesus knew exactly why he had come
and why he was about to die.
It wasn't just because the religious leaders
didn't like him or were angry with him.
God was doing something far greater
than anyone realized.
There was going to be a new covenant.
There was going to be a new arrangement
between God and man.
Not like the Old Testament law
which was also a covenant
but a better covenant.
A covenant that would not require
animal sacrifices anymore
but a covenant that would secure
permanent, once for all,
forgiveness of sins
for God's people.
And Jesus would be the sacrifice
offered to bring this about.
His blood, his death
rather than the blood of a lamb
or a goat or a bull.
His blood would atone
for the sins of his people
of all who would believe in him
thus securing forgiveness
from God
and removing permanently
the guilt of sinners forever.
So Jesus is the one
that told us to do this.
To do this regularly
or customarily
when we're gathered
as his people.
To eat and to drink
of the bread and the cup
in remembrance of him.
And so that's what we're
going to do
in just a moment here.
The Bible says
that we ought to examine ourselves
before we partake.
We says that we shouldn't partake
in an unworthy manner
meaning irreverently
!
Or insincerely!
And so
if you don't believe in Jesus
then I would encourage you
just to refrain or abstain
when these are passed around
you can just signal
with your hand.
But for the rest of us
this table is precious.
It's here that we remember
how we
just like Paul
were all sinners
guilty
and how Christ Jesus
came into the world
to save us.
we remember
how his mercy
was shown us
his grace
was poured out
abundantly on us
and so if you believe
that Jesus
died to save you
that he is
your savior
your messiah
your lord
please
join with us
remember with us
in the next minutes here
we'll just have a moment
few moments of quiet
and I encourage you
to pray
in these moments
to confess to God
to talk to God
to pour out your heart
to him
and then after a few minutes
of that
we'll have
Dave and Rod
come up
and pass out the elements
we'll wait until
everybody has been served
and then I'll pray
and we'll eat
and drink
all together.
voy voy