Rev. David Holwick A 1 Timothy - Clean Up the Church, #1
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
January 3, 2010
1 Timothy 1:1-7
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I. Paul's dilemma.
A. Can you depend on those under you?
The Davis-Besse facility in Ohio had gotten a little lax.
There were plenty of managers, but they took it easy.
Subordinates were expected to keep an eye on things.
Unfortunately, these underlings missed a few important
details.
Like a hole the size of a milk jug.
It went undetected for six years.
Boric acid buildup had caused the corrosion.
There were signs of it throughout the building.
People should have noticed, but they let it slide.
You might think a milk jug-sized hole is no big deal.
But the hole was in the lid of a containment vessel.
Of a nuclear power plant.
Had there been a failure of a thin sheet of stainless steel,
already bulging from the pressure, the reactor's coolant
would have flooded out, resulting in a meltdown.
#36082
B. The situation of Paul's first letter to Timothy.
1) It was written about 30 years after the death of Jesus.
a) Paul seems to know his time is limited.
b) He has established churches in Turkey, Crete, and Greece.
c) But after others take over, he hears mostly of problems.
1> In the early years, it was mostly due to outsiders
coming in to mess up his churches.
2> Lately, he is hearing of insiders in the local
church leadership who are messing up.
3> False teachings were bubbling up, like acid in a
nuclear reactor.
4> Something had to be done.
2) His hands are tied.
a) Paul can't be everywhere at once.
1> They didn't have phones for conference calls, or even
a regular postal system (for citizens, anyway).
2> So he relies on subordinates to cover for him.
b) Timothy, a man perhaps in his thirties, is one of them.
1> He is not a very forceful man.
2> He seems to get intimidated pretty easily.
A> But he is all that Paul has available.
B> The fate of the Christian church rests in his
ability to stem the tide of error.
C. The acid is still circulating.
1) Our churches face the same problems that Paul saw.
a) Multiplied many times over.
2) Someone has to set things straight.
a) You have to know what you are supposed to be about.
b) You have to identify what is going wrong.
c) You have to sort out the side-issues.
d) Then you need to do something.
II. The plight of the Pastorals.
A. The letters to Timothy and Titus are the final ones from Paul.
1) Controversial - most scholars think they are forgeries.
a) A disciple of Paul wrote in his name to address new
problems that Paul never faced.
b) The details of the letters don't fit into Paul's
itinerary in the Book of Acts.
2) However, there are reasons we should not see them as fakes.
a) Although the details don't fit into Acts, they would fit
into his temporary release from custody, then re-arrest.
b) You would expect faked letters to fit in with Paul's
known travels.
c) The letters are internally consistent.
d) The problems they address are outgrowths of what Paul
had already faced, especially in Corinth.
B. The big issues.
1) Churches were being taken over by false teachers. 1:3
a) Some of them were conservative and trying to bring back
Jewish regulations and legalism.
b) Others were syncretistic, melding Christianity in with
their old pagan beliefs.
2) Paul's agenda for the churches.
a) Establishing good teachers and leaders.
b) Returning to the core of the gospel he had taught all
along.
c) Encouraging Christians to live in such a way that their
neighbors would see a difference and get saved.
III. Get all excited.
A. One of the hallmarks of false teachers is controversy. 1:4
1) They love to focus on conspiracies and unusual angles on
issues.
2) Minor points become doctrines to die for -- or kill for.
a) The controversies in 1 Timothy are not very clear. 1:4
1> Paul gives only limited details.
b) But it seems to focus on tangential Jewish doctrines.
B. Modern controversies are easier to spot.
1) End of the world in 2012 - or Harold Camping's 2011.
2) Jehovah's Witnesses harp on refusing blood transfusions,
abandoning all holidays and predicting the end.
3) Liberal churches are raising a fuss with global warming
and homosexuality.
A few years back I visited the Church of St. John the
Divine in Manhattan.
It is one of the largest churches in the world.
But the interior had very little that was distinctly
Christian.
There were memorials to artists with AIDS, and altars
for other religions.
It was hard to figure out what the church really stood
for.
C. Another emphasis of false teachers is weirdness. 1:6-7
1) They engage in meaningless discussions and don't know they
are talking about.
2) Americans put together a lot of things that don't fit.
A quarter said they believed in astrology.
Among Catholics it is even higher - 1 in 3.
16% of U.S. adults think that an "evil eye" exists.
Nearly 25% said they believed in reincarnation.
26% said they believed "spiritual energy" could be found
in objects such as trees.
Of course, Bible-believing Christians don't go for this
stuff.
Or do they?
13% of evangelicals believe in astrology.
One out of ten believe in the possibility of reincarnation.
The Bible is against these beliefs.
Our destinies are not controlled by stars, but by God.
And when you die, you don't come back over and over in
a variety of forms.
The Bible says you only die once -- and then you face
judgment.
This life you are living right now is your only chance to
make a decision for Christ.
Mystical beliefs certainly get people's attention.
Some teachers like to exploit this.
Do you know what you believe, and why you believe it?
Or are you just a grab-bag of inconsistencies?
#36084
IV. Focus on the essentials.
A. Paul urges an emphasis on God's work. 1:4
B. The goal is love. 1:5
1) Christian love comes from three ingredients:
a) A pure heart.
b) A good conscience.
c) A sincere faith.
2) Two are not enough - have all three.
V. Know what you are talking about.
A. Most Christians are pretty ignorant about the Bible.
1) This includes many of you....
2) You might be sincere, but sincerely wrong.
a) Truth matters.
B. Knowledge is only part of the solution.
1) Our faith must flow from the heart.
2) Does your relationship with Jesus motivate you?
a) Do you feel a joy?
b) Are you having a positive impact on others?
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
#36082 "A Meltdown Of Oversight," by Rev. David Holwick, adapted from the
article "Davis-Besse Admits It Put Production Before Safety" by
John Funk and John Mangels Plain Dealer reporters, Chicago,
<http://www.ohiocitizen.org/campaigns/electric/pre2003/it_put.htm>
August 16, 2002.
#36084 "Christians Believe In Jesus, Ghosts, Reincarnation And The Dreaded
Evil Eye," by Pastor Jeff Lilley, <http://jjlmblog.typepad.com/~
jesus_links/2009/12/jesus-links-christians-believe-in-jesus-ghosts~
-reincarnation-and-the-dreaded-evil-eye.html>, December 10, 2009.
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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