Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / 1 Timothy │ Msg 1628 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

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1 Timothy │ Msg 1628 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: In this current series, we're working our way through the Bible,
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Speaker 1: taking one book at a time in each one of
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Speaker 1: our studies, and we're well on our way to the
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Speaker 1: completion of that rather optimistic project. And I want to
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Speaker 1: commend the number of you who have been with us
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Speaker 1: all the way from the beginning of it. Strange as
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Speaker 1: it may seem, it is much easier to take a
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Speaker 1: smaller section of scripture and interpret it and explain it,
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Speaker 1: and illustrate it and apply it than it is to
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Speaker 1: take an entire book or an entire letter from the
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Speaker 1: Bible in one study. But there's something to be gained
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Speaker 1: from seeing things in a general perspective, rather than being
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Speaker 1: lost in the details of each individual word or some
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Speaker 1: particular verse, as important as.
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Speaker 2: Those words and verses are.
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Speaker 1: I don't do much by way of photography, but I
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Speaker 1: understand from those that do and are professional edit that
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Speaker 1: while there is a challenge connected with photographing a single
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Speaker 1: blossom or a leaf or a single limb from a tree,
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Speaker 1: it is much more difficult to capture a forest or
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Speaker 1: some panoramic view on film than the smaller and detailed shot.
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Speaker 1: And I think that holds true in the overview of scripture.
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Speaker 1: Most of us are good at a few verses, or
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Speaker 1: we would do fairly well in explaining a paragraph of scripture.
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Speaker 1: But when it comes to seeing a book at a hole,
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Speaker 1: that's another subject. Now we come, in this particular study
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Speaker 1: to a cluster of three letters that fit together in
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Speaker 1: one category. They have not always been called this, but
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Speaker 1: for several hundred years they have gathered the name of
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Speaker 1: the pastoral Letters. I'm referring, of course, to first Timothy
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Speaker 1: and second Timothy and Titus.
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Speaker 2: These two men.
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Speaker 1: Were pastors of local churches, and they were written by
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Speaker 1: a friend, of course, named Paul the Apostle, and he
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Speaker 1: had on his heart as he was reaching the later
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Speaker 1: years of his life some concerns for ministers, what we
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Speaker 1: would call today professional ministers, individuals who pastor flocks all
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Speaker 1: over the area. Practically speaking, these these three letters are
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Speaker 1: musts for anyone who is interested in a serious way
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Speaker 1: in leadership in a local church. I think you will
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Speaker 1: find in these three letters a divine handbook for ministry.
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Speaker 1: And my first word of encouragement to a young man
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Speaker 1: or young woman interested in ministry as a career is
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Speaker 1: to turn their attention to these three letters and to
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Speaker 1: tell them to become serious students of Timothy first and
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Speaker 1: second Timothy and Titus. You will get a concentrated and
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Speaker 1: much more accurate seminary course in these three letters than
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Speaker 1: you will in the years of time that you would
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Speaker 1: spend in a school. I am not saying that there's
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Speaker 1: something wrong with going to a seminary, quite the contrary,
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Speaker 1: but it will never be better than an intake of
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Speaker 1: these letters in a personal way. So in case you
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Speaker 1: haven't looked into these pastoral letters on your own for
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Speaker 1: some time, and you are in leadership in this or
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Speaker 1: some local assembly, let me encourage you to blow the
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Speaker 1: dust off these pastoral letters and to get into them
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Speaker 1: on your own. I have a friend who has an
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Speaker 1: interesting way of studying the Scriptures. He simply reads through
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Speaker 1: the particular letter of interest once a day for thirty days,
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Speaker 1: and he says, it's amazing. Within that thirty day period
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Speaker 1: of time, two things begin to happen. First, your Bible
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Speaker 1: automatically sort of opens to that particular letter, of course
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Speaker 1: it would, And second, you begin to anticipate the flow
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Speaker 1: of thought in the mind of the writer. And this
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Speaker 1: individual has become a well known Bible teacher, and he
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Speaker 1: really is simply a student of the English Bible, but
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Speaker 1: what a master of the truth he really is. And
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Speaker 1: I want to pass that thought on to you in
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Speaker 1: case you haven't found a method that works. A very
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Speaker 1: helpful approach in studying the Bible is simply to read through,
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Speaker 1: in one sitting, if possible, one particular letter that you
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Speaker 1: choose for that month in the year, and you just
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Speaker 1: take it at the best time of your day and
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Speaker 1: read it through, try not to stop until you get
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Speaker 1: all the way through it, and then the next day
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Speaker 1: do the same thing again. It's amazing what you will discover.
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Speaker 1: Now we are looking into First Timothy in this particular study,
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Speaker 1: and I'd like to direct your attention to the first
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Speaker 1: couple of verses, which introduce us to the two major
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Speaker 1: personalities of the book. The first one is Paul, who
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Speaker 1: calls himself and a apostle of Christ Jesus according to the
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Speaker 1: commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, who
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Speaker 1: is our Hope.
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Speaker 2: This is Paul. He is older, he is in his sixties.
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Speaker 1: Interestingly, this book First Timothy is set in juxtaposition with
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Speaker 1: the Thessalonian letters, just side by side.
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Speaker 2: Even though these.
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Speaker 1: Two letters are at farthest extremes chronologically. By that, I
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Speaker 1: mean they are eighteen years removed from one another in
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Speaker 1: their writing. The Thessalonian letters were the first letters Paul wrote.
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Speaker 1: The Timothy letters were the last he wrote. Second Timothy
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Speaker 1: from a dungeon in Rome. As we will see next time,
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Speaker 1: this first letter is written from a man who has
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Speaker 1: a heart for ministry, and equally impartant a heart or
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Speaker 1: a friend whose name appears in the second verse, Timothy,
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Speaker 1: whom he calls my true child in the faith. I
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Speaker 1: found it interesting that no less than twenty four times
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Speaker 1: in the New Testament Timothy's name appears, and his name
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Speaker 1: appears in twelve of the letters of the New Testament,
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Speaker 1: so he is no obscure person by any means. Often
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Speaker 1: Paul will refer to him in these same words, my child, or,
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Speaker 1: as it appears in verse eighteen of chapter one, my son.
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Speaker 1: This probably means that Paul led him to Christ. He
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Speaker 1: certainly knew him well. If he wasn't the one responsible
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Speaker 1: for his conversion humanly speaking, then he certainly was the
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Speaker 1: one who had discipled him and had developed a father's
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Speaker 1: son relationship. Timothy is by now in the writing of
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Speaker 1: this letter about forty years old. Now, if you go
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Speaker 1: over to the second letter that he wrote Timothy, you'll
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Speaker 1: find that he knew a little bit about the young man.
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Speaker 1: Verse three, he thanks God for him, he prays for him.
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Speaker 1: Verse four, he longs to see Timothy, and he remembers
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Speaker 1: his tears. We'll look a little closer into that next time.
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Speaker 1: But I find it intriguing, he says, I long to
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Speaker 1: see you as I even as I recall your tears,
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Speaker 1: so that I may be filled with joy. Timothy was
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Speaker 1: apparently a very transparent man. He learned that from Paul.
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Speaker 1: We'll see when we get into the first chapter of
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Speaker 1: First Timothy just how transparent Paul was, unlike the popular
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Speaker 1: belief concerning this man. But if you go over to
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Speaker 1: chapter three, you'll see that Paul knew of his heritage.
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Speaker 1: Two Timothy three fourteen. Continue in the things you have learned,
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Speaker 1: and become convinced of knowing from whom you have learned them,
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Speaker 1: that from childhood, what a heritage. From childhood, Timothy, you
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Speaker 1: have known the sacred writings which are able to give
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Speaker 1: you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith, which
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Speaker 1: is in Christ Jesus. Some of us have been privileged,
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Speaker 1: like Timothy to know from childhood the sacred writings. Others
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Speaker 1: have been grafted in as young adults. Others have come
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Speaker 1: into the Family of God as older adults. If I
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Speaker 1: had my choice, I would choose Timothy's heritage. It was
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Speaker 1: my heritage. Long before I knew the name of Christ.
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Speaker 1: My others spoke of him and spoke of him freely
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Speaker 1: and openly. It was from her sincere faith that I
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Speaker 1: discovered what it meant, what it meant to have a
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Speaker 1: sincerity of faith. Some of you haven't that privileged heritage.
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Speaker 1: My heart often goes out to those that have to
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Speaker 1: learn as adults what it means to trust like a child.
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Speaker 1: How much easier it is to be reared in that setting,
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Speaker 1: with all of its problems and all of the difficulties
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Speaker 1: of the second generation and third generation Christian. And I'm
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Speaker 1: aware of many of them, and we struggle with some
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Speaker 1: of them in our own family. I still think it's
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Speaker 1: the best way to go. If you go back to
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Speaker 1: chapter one of two Timothy, verse five, Paul even mentions
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Speaker 1: by name Timothy's mother and grandma. He says, I'm mindful
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Speaker 1: of the sincere faith. That's a beautiful word on hypocrtas
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Speaker 1: means unhypocritical, without a mask, experienced in the art of acting.
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Speaker 1: That's the kind of fellow Timothy was. He wasn't an actor,
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Speaker 1: he was not two faced, was not a fake. When
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Speaker 1: I recall when he says, I am mindful of the
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Speaker 1: unhypocritical faith within you. But Timothy, it was first in
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Speaker 1: your grandmother Lois. He goes all the way back down
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Speaker 1: his roots till he gets to Lois. And then it
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Speaker 1: was also in your mother Eunice, and I'm sure it's
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Speaker 1: in you as well. A sincerity of faith is passed
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Speaker 1: from grandparent to parent, to child to grandchild. The most
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Speaker 1: significant parental influence in my whole life was my grandfather,
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Speaker 1: my maternal grandfather, l. O. Lundy, who died many years ago.
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Speaker 1: But I remember as a little boy being loved and
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Speaker 1: affectionately embraced by my granddaddy and cared for and talked
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Speaker 1: to by that man. And I learned of a sincere
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Speaker 1: faith in Jesus Christ from that good and godly model
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Speaker 1: of Christianity. And had Timothy and I've been friends, that's
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Speaker 1: one thing we could have shared together is a rich heritage.
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Speaker 2: In the Christian faith.
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Speaker 1: Now Paul writes to Timothy, back to first Timothy, Please
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Speaker 1: chapter one. He talks to him like a father would
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Speaker 1: a son, calling him verse two his true child in
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Speaker 1: the faith, and then he graces him with this warm
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Speaker 1: salutation so familiar to Paul. Grace, mercy, and peace. May
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Speaker 1: those three be yours, and may you know them throughout
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Speaker 1: your life. Grace, mercy, peace, grace is what God does
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Speaker 1: for us, which we never deserve, can never earn, and
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Speaker 1: will ever be able to repay. Mercy is God's ministry
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Speaker 1: to the miserable, one of the best definitions that was
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Speaker 1: ever given me. I pass on to you God's ministry
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Speaker 1: for the miserable. Peace is an inner calm, a tranquility
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Speaker 1: that goes on inside a life, even though things about
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Speaker 1: us are wild and furious and at frenzied levels. There
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Speaker 1: is a piece that the Christian can know. And Paul's
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Speaker 1: wish for his friend twenty years younger than he is
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Speaker 1: that he might know those measures of grace and mercy
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Speaker 1: and peace that are rare in our day as well
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Speaker 1: as in that day. Now, why was the letter written?
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Speaker 1: Why do we have a first letter and then later
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Speaker 1: a second letter? What's the purpose I find three reasons
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Speaker 1: from the passage itself that Paul wrote. Timothy, right here
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Speaker 1: in verse three is the first. I urged you, upon
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Speaker 1: my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus, in order
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Speaker 1: that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines,
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Speaker 1: nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which
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Speaker 1: give rise to mere speculation, rather than furthering God's provision,
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Speaker 1: which is by faith. Go to chapter six and verse three.
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Speaker 1: You'll hear similar words. But on this side it's a
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Speaker 1: stronger warning one, Timothy, sixty three. If anyone advocates a
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Speaker 1: different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, that is,
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Speaker 1: those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine
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Speaker 1: conforming to Godliness, he is conceited. And you understands nothing,
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Speaker 1: But notice carefully. This is a This is a characteristic
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Speaker 1: of those that are continually caught up in disputing.
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Speaker 2: He is a He has a morbid interest in controversial.
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Speaker 1: Questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy
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Speaker 1: and strife and abusive language and evil suspicions and constant
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Speaker 1: friction between men of depraved mind, deprived of the truth
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Speaker 1: who suppose that godliness is.
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Speaker 2: A means of gain.
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Speaker 1: The first reason I find Paul wrote the letters to
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Speaker 1: warn Timothy against false teachers. He needed the warning because
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Speaker 1: they were. They were many in number, they always have been,
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Speaker 1: and they always will be. So if you want to
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Speaker 1: learn a little about standing against false teaching, you can
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Speaker 1: become a student of first Timothy, and you'll learn some
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Speaker 1: things about doing that. Just a quick word I would
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Speaker 1: add here before we move to the second reason Paul
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Speaker 1: wrote Timothy this letter. One of the lesser enjoyable tasks
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Speaker 1: of shepherding a flock is dealing with wolves that prey
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Speaker 1: on the sheep. But that is an essential part of shepherding. Now,
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Speaker 1: if the shepherd of a flock is not interested in
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Speaker 1: his flock, wolves pray upon that assembly. Now this is
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Speaker 1: true whether we're referring to a missionary who is out
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Speaker 1: in the bush ministering to a handful of dear people
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Speaker 1: of God from another culture different in ours, or right
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Speaker 1: here in these United States, in a sizeable or moderate
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Speaker 1: size ministry, wolves pray on congregations. Cults and false teachers
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Speaker 1: would much prefer to come into the ranks of an
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Speaker 1: established ministry and lift from the ranks young and undiscerning
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Speaker 1: sheep and lead them astray.
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Speaker 2: That's much easier.
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Speaker 1: Than doing your work out on the street corner. That's harder.
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Speaker 2: And so the.
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Speaker 1: Shepherd who is faithful to the task finds himself at
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Speaker 1: times in need of rolling up his sleeves and dealing
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Speaker 1: strongly with the wolves. But this is a mark of
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Speaker 1: a good shepherd. I thought of this when I was
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Speaker 1: reading it, and I like to have you turned back
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Speaker 1: John ten, verse twelve. You know I had never seen
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Speaker 1: it in this light before this week, as often as
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Speaker 1: I have thought about and taught John chapter ten, let
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Speaker 1: me have you noticed this, John ten, verse twelve. He
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Speaker 1: who is a higherly and this is just a part
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Speaker 1: time shepherd who comes in for an evening. I mean,
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Speaker 1: he just comes along and does the job, and he's gone.
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Speaker 1: He has no commitment. He's sort of in and out.
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Speaker 1: A hireling. He who is a hireling and not a shepherd,
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Speaker 1: who is not the owner of the sheep, beholds the
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Speaker 1: wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the
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Speaker 1: wolf snatches them and scatters them. Why does he do
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Speaker 1: that verse thirteen, Well, he flees because he's a hireling.
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Speaker 1: He's not concerned about the sheep. Paul writes Timothy, and
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Speaker 1: he says, don't be a hireling shepherd. You give yourself
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Speaker 1: to the flock, and don't do it in a haphazard
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Speaker 1: or part time manner. Even though they can only afford
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Speaker 1: to provide you a part time living. You give yourself
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Speaker 1: to the task of shepherding, because there are wolves that
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Speaker 1: are going to pray on the flock. Look at the
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Speaker 1: churches established in the first century that were weakened by
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Speaker 1: sism and the influx of the cults by the end.
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Speaker 2: Of that first century.
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Speaker 1: You can hardly read of a strong, firm, balanced ministry
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Speaker 1: by the end of the first century. And many of
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Speaker 1: those churches were founded by Paul, and nurtured by Apollus
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Speaker 1: and taught by Timothy.
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Speaker 2: And he says to this man, be careful with the.
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Speaker 1: Flock, watch out for the wolves. If you have a
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Speaker 1: pencil put in the margin of your Bible, you can
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Speaker 1: check it later. Proverbs twenty seven twenty three. I learned
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Speaker 1: the verse years ago. Know well the condition of your flock,
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Speaker 1: and pay attention to the herds. I like the way
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Speaker 1: that reads Proverbs twenty seven to twenty three. Be diligent
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Speaker 1: to know the state of your flocks and look well
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Speaker 1: to your herds. You have them under your care. By
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Speaker 1: the way, it's a good time for you as teachers
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Speaker 1: to think about your class.
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Speaker 2: It's a good time for you that have.
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Speaker 1: Bible study groups that meet and count on you for
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Speaker 1: some love and care and support and instruction. To remember
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Speaker 1: that part of your task is shepherding. That's not some perfection,
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Speaker 1: that's not just some professional calling. That's a job that's
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Speaker 1: that's shouldered by the Body of Christ. Is we're all
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Speaker 1: in this ministry business together.
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Speaker 2: Now.
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Speaker 1: Chapter three tells us the second reason that he wrote
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Speaker 1: the letter. He even says it right out front verse fourteen.
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Speaker 1: I'm writing these things to you, hoping to come to
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Speaker 1: you before long, but in case I am delayed, I write,
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Speaker 1: but you may know how one ought to conduct himself
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Speaker 1: in the household of God, which is the Church of
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Speaker 1: the Living God, the pillar and support of the truth.
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Speaker 1: There's a second reason he wrote to instruct Timothy on
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Speaker 1: how to conduct himself in the discharge of his duties.
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Speaker 1: That's why I'll say it's such a wonderful letter for
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Speaker 1: those thinking about ministry or those who are in leadership
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Speaker 1: in ministry. The final three chapters, by the way is,
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Speaker 1: we will see, devote a lot of space to this
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Speaker 1: particular subject, discharging the duty of ministry. So he wrote
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Speaker 1: first to warn him against false teachers, second to instruct
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Speaker 1: him on how to conduct himself in the discharge of
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Speaker 1: his duties. Then there's a third down in chapter four,
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Speaker 1: verse six, in pointing out these things to the brethren,
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Speaker 1: you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly
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Speaker 1: nourished on the words of the faith and the sound
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Speaker 1: doctrine which you have been following verse eleven. Prescribe and
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Speaker 1: teach these things verse twelve. Let no one look down
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Speaker 1: on your youthfulness, but rather and then he lists the
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Speaker 1: balanced life for the minister. Whoever and whatever flock in speech,
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Speaker 1: conduct love, faith and purity. Show yourself an example of
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Speaker 1: those who believe until I come. Give attention, Timothy, to
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Speaker 1: the public reading of scripture, to exhortation and teaching. Don't
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Speaker 1: neglect the gift within you. So the third reason he
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Speaker 1: wrote Timothy was to encourage him to edge ucate the flock.
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Speaker 1: I don't know if a better way to put it
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Speaker 1: than just use.
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Speaker 2: A general word like educate.
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Speaker 1: By the way I came across a super definition in
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Speaker 1: a creative place like a dictionary. Webster says, to educate
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Speaker 1: means to develop mentally and morally by instruction is not good.
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Speaker 1: Not bad, Webster thanks, to educate means to develop mentally
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Speaker 1: and morally by instruction. The primary function, not the only function,
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Speaker 1: but the primary function of a good shepherd is education.
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Speaker 1: And along with the education, it's all part of it
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Speaker 1: is modeling the message. The primary function of the shepherd
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Speaker 1: is not motivation or cheerleading, or raising money, or counseling
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Speaker 1: or visiting or driving buses, or being an artist or
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Speaker 1: an errand boy.
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Speaker 2: It is education.
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Speaker 1: My continued word of counsel to young ministers, as they
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Speaker 1: at times asked me what little bit of advice I
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Speaker 1: could give, I would say is.
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Speaker 2: Educate your board. Educate the flock.
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Speaker 1: Help them know what it means to be a congregation
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Speaker 1: that is growing and maturing, interdependent on one another. Push
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Speaker 1: yourself away from the pedestal and get down into the
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Speaker 1: grassroots of life and talk about that part of living.
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Speaker 1: Instruct the flock, educate them. A number of years ago, Han,
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Speaker 1: I'm sorry, it wasn't Mr. It was his son Richard
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Speaker 1: wrote a little booklet men sent from God. I sent
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Speaker 1: off for that little booklet. I got it circle here
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Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty six.
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Speaker 2: Amazing. I've used this stuff so much. I thought it
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Speaker 2: was me that had written this.
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Speaker 1: Now that I will go back, I see it was
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Speaker 1: really de Han, and I to give him the credit
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Speaker 1: for it. In this little booklet, he says, he describes
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Speaker 1: a true case of a minister just listen. Arriving in
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Speaker 1: the church office at eight o'clock in the morning, he
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Speaker 1: had intended to spend at least two hours in preparation
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Speaker 1: for his Sunday sermons, a noonday talk at a local
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Speaker 1: service club, and five radio talks during the coming week. However,
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Speaker 1: he was reminded by his secretary he had agreed to
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Speaker 1: write an article for the church bulletin, scheduled to go
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Speaker 1: to press at noon. He was also obliged obligated to
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Speaker 1: make three phone calls, one of them to the chairman
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Speaker 1: of the church finance Committee. After finishing with these tasks,
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Speaker 1: only thirty minutes were left for the preparation of his messages,
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Speaker 1: since at ten o'clock he was to meet with the
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Speaker 1: program committee of the Ministerial Association.
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Speaker 2: Just as he.
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Speaker 1: Began to study. He received word that the mother of
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Speaker 1: the president of one of the women's societies in the
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Speaker 1: church had passed away and his presence was expected in
26:27
Speaker 1: their home at once. This, of course caused him to
26:29
Speaker 1: miss his meeting with the Ministerial Association, but he was
26:33
Speaker 1: able to attend the twelve to thirty luncheon of the
26:35
Speaker 1: Women's Auxiliary. Following this, he spoke to a study class.
26:39
Speaker 1: At two PM, he officiated at a wedding ceremony. At three,
26:43
Speaker 1: he began his regular visitation in the city hospitals, and
26:46
Speaker 1: finished just in time to make the men supper, where
26:49
Speaker 1: he gave the invocation. The supper lasted till seven point thirty,
26:53
Speaker 1: allowing him to get away just in time to attend
26:56
Speaker 1: the meeting of the Every Member Canvas Committee. He was
27:00
Speaker 1: on hand simply to make suggestions and to boost the
27:02
Speaker 1: committee morale. Having done that, his day of service was
27:05
Speaker 1: finally ended, and he arrived home at nine thirty that evening.
27:11
Speaker 1: Dehn continues, this is a pastor's own account of the
27:15
Speaker 1: way in which he spent his entire day. Now, he adds,
27:18
Speaker 1: without any reflection upon or criticism of the man, since
27:22
Speaker 1: I don't know all the circumstances which may have demanded
27:25
Speaker 1: him to keep such a schedule. I would ask simply,
27:27
Speaker 1: was he fulfilling his God given obligation as pastor of
27:32
Speaker 1: that church? Is this the way in which God intended
27:37
Speaker 1: him to spend his day? When a man assumes a pastorate,
27:42
Speaker 1: is he justified in spending most of his time in
27:45
Speaker 1: administrative meetings, board meetings, committee meetings, budget planning meetings, building
27:52
Speaker 1: program meetings, luncheons, dinners, and banquets. That could sound like
28:01
Speaker 1: sour grapes, and you could think I'm trying to insult
28:04
Speaker 1: you tonight by telling you that, because that's the way
28:07
Speaker 1: you treat us as a stat You don't.
28:13
Speaker 2: Because you're well educated.
28:16
Speaker 1: You're learning. You're learning that you're as much a minister
28:19
Speaker 1: as we are, and you're learning that visitation doesn't require
28:23
Speaker 1: a pastor to make it happen. Some of you are
28:28
Speaker 1: trying hard to learn that, and it's hard for you.
28:31
Speaker 1: Others of you have learned it well. I want to
28:36
Speaker 1: assure you that there is nothing more we want to
28:38
Speaker 1: do in this place than minister God's way. But that
28:43
Speaker 1: means we are not able to minister your way. We
28:48
Speaker 1: must minister God's way, and that puts us between a
28:52
Speaker 1: rock and a hard place. And some of you are
28:54
Speaker 1: very big rocks. And if you aren't willing to hear
28:59
Speaker 1: what God says about the role of the pastor, then
29:02
Speaker 1: you aren't willing to go God's way. And so for
29:07
Speaker 1: the few of you that have difficulty with it, I
29:09
Speaker 1: simply say, make a sincere and intense study of the
29:12
Speaker 1: Timothy letters and tied us and you will have all
29:16
Speaker 1: of your criticism handle. Because God tells the man of.
29:20
Speaker 2: God how to do his stuff.
29:24
Speaker 1: I say that with no rancor whatever, because we are
29:28
Speaker 1: pretty close to being spoiled here. We are well cared for, loved,
29:33
Speaker 1: and encouraged and affirmed more often than not. But every
29:38
Speaker 1: once in a while there's just enough word sent our
29:42
Speaker 1: way to tell me that some still aren't educated in
29:46
Speaker 1: what it means to be a New Testament flock of God.
29:51
Speaker 1: And so with that in mind, let's learn from Timothy
29:54
Speaker 1: what it is all about. Okay, let's develop mentally and
29:58
Speaker 1: morally by and streng diction. And if you say, well,
30:01
Speaker 1: that makes a lot of changes in my life, welcome
30:03
Speaker 1: to the club that is my life from start to finish.
30:07
Speaker 1: I can't do it my way either back into the
30:10
Speaker 1: first part. Let's go to this overview of the letter. Okay,
30:14
Speaker 1: look at the back of the outline and you'll see
30:16
Speaker 1: a chart. You'll see a little horizontal chart that describes
30:23
Speaker 1: in sort of an overview fashion, the letter of first Timothy. Okay,
30:28
Speaker 1: you'll notice that falls neatly into two sections. The first
30:31
Speaker 1: three chapters talk really about the work of ministry, and
30:34
Speaker 1: then the last three chapters talk about the minister himself.
30:39
Speaker 1: And you can use that as kind of a couple
30:42
Speaker 1: of hooks to hang your thoughts on as we work
30:45
Speaker 1: our way through. In the first couple of verses, we
30:48
Speaker 1: have a greeting and salutation, and then Paul brings personal
30:52
Speaker 1: words of encouragement, and he even unveils some things about
30:55
Speaker 1: himself that are just amazing. In this first chapter I
30:59
Speaker 1: mentioned that he was trying parent. But let's see what
31:01
Speaker 1: he says. Go down if you will. After verses three
31:05
Speaker 1: through eleven, where he really talks to Timothy about some
31:08
Speaker 1: personal things, he talks then about himself. In verses twelve
31:13
Speaker 1: through seventeen, Paul gives his testimony. He frequently does that.
31:20
Speaker 1: Notice what he says, I thank Christ, Jesus, our Lord,
31:23
Speaker 1: who has strengthened me because he considered me faithful, putting
31:27
Speaker 1: me into service even though I was Now watch it,
31:33
Speaker 1: this is Paul. I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor,
31:42
Speaker 1: and a violent aggressor. Wow, what terms.
31:47
Speaker 2: That's Paul.
31:50
Speaker 1: A blasphemer, a persecutor, and a violent aggressor. Just for
31:58
Speaker 1: a moment, let me slip in a thought that it
32:05
Speaker 1: is very courageous, but it is at times quite helpful
32:08
Speaker 1: for us not to hide the horror of our past.
32:13
Speaker 1: Paul is a wonderful model for us to follow. I
32:16
Speaker 1: was especially attracted to the words violent aggressor because you
32:20
Speaker 1: don't normally think of Paul in those words. I found
32:26
Speaker 1: that the term indicated a kind of arrogant saddism. It
32:34
Speaker 1: describes one who was out to inflict pain and injury
32:39
Speaker 1: for the sheer joy of inflicting it. Paul had a
32:44
Speaker 1: cruel streak in his nature. He liked to see Christians squirm.
32:53
Speaker 1: In the word, there is a sadistic delight in inflicting pain.
32:58
Speaker 1: This is what Paul was once was once like in
33:01
Speaker 1: regard to the Christian Church. Not content with words of insult,
33:06
Speaker 1: he went to the limit of legal persecution, not content
33:11
Speaker 1: with legal persecution. He went to the limit of sadistic
33:15
Speaker 1: brutality in his attempt to stamp out the Christian faith.
33:21
Speaker 1: I think it would shock us if we knew the
33:24
Speaker 1: whole story of the person sitting alongside us in this meeting.
33:31
Speaker 1: Kind of gives you the willies when you think about that,
33:33
Speaker 1: doesn't it. I wonder what kind of guy or what
33:35
Speaker 1: kind of lady this person is sitting next to me.
33:38
Speaker 1: Somebody once set next to John Newton in his later
33:41
Speaker 1: years and probably thought, what a marvelous man he was
33:44
Speaker 1: to have written amazing grace, How sweet the sound that saved.
33:48
Speaker 2: A wretch like me?
33:52
Speaker 1: Not a wretch, not John Newton. Oh you study his life.
33:58
Speaker 1: Wretch puts it mildly. He chose as his epitaph, John
34:04
Speaker 1: Newton Clerk, once an infidel and libertine, a servant of
34:11
Speaker 1: slaves in Africa, was by the mercy of our Lord
34:15
Speaker 1: and Savior Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to
34:20
Speaker 1: preach the faith he had so long labored to destroy.
34:26
Speaker 1: Tombstone was that tall to have all those words on it?
34:28
Speaker 1: Kind of an epithaph? Is that?
34:30
Speaker 2: Now?
34:30
Speaker 1: That's John Newton? What a story that that's why mercy
34:34
Speaker 1: is so important. In all of the miserable lifestyle of
34:38
Speaker 1: his past. Christ swept him up in grace, changed him.
34:46
Speaker 1: And Paul says, I was an aggressive man, a violent aggressor,
34:51
Speaker 1: and yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly
34:56
Speaker 1: in unbelief. Look at that, So did many of you.
35:03
Speaker 1: In ignorance and in unbelief. You flitted from one bar
35:08
Speaker 1: to another, from one bed to another, from one sex
35:13
Speaker 1: act to another, from one filthy kind of lifestyle to another,
35:18
Speaker 1: from one awful scene to another. And then by the
35:22
Speaker 1: grace of God, he found you, and he lifted you up.
35:28
Speaker 1: And never forget the words of Corinthians, it says, and
35:31
Speaker 1: such were some of you. It has just described all
35:35
Speaker 1: kinds of heinous sins, awful scenes, murders and homosexuals, and
35:44
Speaker 1: the effeminate and the arrogant, and the proud and the deceivers.
35:50
Speaker 1: And he says to the Corinthians, and such were some
35:52
Speaker 1: of you. My friend race Edmond, while preaching in Corinthians,
35:58
Speaker 1: decided to make that true. And he said, as he
36:01
Speaker 1: stopped in the middle of that passage, he told me
36:04
Speaker 1: he looked in the congregation there at Peninsula Bible church,
36:07
Speaker 1: and he said, such were some of you. If those
36:11
Speaker 1: sins describe your past, would you be courageous enough to stand?
36:17
Speaker 1: He said, By the time we finished with that tearful meeting,
36:19
Speaker 1: over half the church was on its feet. Let's don't
36:24
Speaker 1: kid ourselves. We get pretty stuffy and pretty sophisticated, and
36:30
Speaker 1: pretty dressed up for church, But we are just as violent,
36:35
Speaker 1: and just as filthy, and just as much in need
36:38
Speaker 1: of grace as this godless man in his past. Was
36:42
Speaker 1: some out of ignorance, and some willfully knowing the wrong
36:45
Speaker 1: of their acts. And he says in verse fifteen, it
36:50
Speaker 1: is a trustworthy statement deserving a full acceptance. Christ Jesus
36:55
Speaker 1: came into the world to save the sinners. Get that,
37:01
Speaker 1: don't check them out of your book, don't mark them off.
37:05
Speaker 1: He concentrates on sinners, among whom Paul says, I am
37:09
Speaker 1: foremost of all. And then he says, in effect, let's sing.
37:15
Speaker 1: I mean, that's kind of the way I would put it.
37:16
Speaker 1: And when you get to verse seventeen, we got the
37:18
Speaker 1: first hymn in Timothy. I call it him one seventeen
37:23
Speaker 1: right here at the bottom of the page. Now to
37:25
Speaker 1: the King Eternal immortal, invisible, the only God be honor
37:30
Speaker 1: and glory forever and ever. Amen. If that's not a song,
37:33
Speaker 1: I've never read one. Some of you need to put
37:36
Speaker 1: that to music. Get some real meat in that kind
37:43
Speaker 1: of message. I suppose, since it wasn't one of the
37:46
Speaker 1: early psalms, it was sort of a folk tune at
37:50
Speaker 1: the time. There's another one in chapter three, by the way,
37:52
Speaker 1: verse sixteen.
37:53
Speaker 2: That comes on the scene.
37:55
Speaker 1: We look at that in just a second a chapter
37:57
Speaker 1: two is and we kind of go together. These are
38:02
Speaker 1: studies and contrasts. We have men and women in contrast
38:05
Speaker 1: to one another. In chapter two, we have the subjects
38:09
Speaker 1: of submission in prayer discussed by Paul, and you get
38:18
Speaker 1: into chapter three you have another contrast between elders and deacons,
38:22
Speaker 1: and you have again subjects set forth. For the sake
38:29
Speaker 1: of time, I want to say just a word about
38:31
Speaker 1: something in chapter three. I'd like to have you notice,
38:34
Speaker 1: if you will, friends, the word must that appears over
38:37
Speaker 1: and over again in the list an overseer. Verse two
38:41
Speaker 1: must be verse four, he must be one, verse seven,
38:50
Speaker 1: he must have this. So what we have is a
38:55
Speaker 1: very firm list, which gene gets called in his book
39:00
Speaker 1: the measure of a man. We have the measure of elders,
39:05
Speaker 1: so we're not left to our own devices looking for
39:08
Speaker 1: men who are popular at this and good at that,
39:11
Speaker 1: fine professionals, or hard working blue collar people, or long
39:15
Speaker 1: standing charter members in the church's Those aren't mentioned. Those
39:19
Speaker 1: aren't qualifications. If you want to know, Timothy, the qualifications
39:24
Speaker 1: necessary in finding elders or potential elders, come back to
39:28
Speaker 1: my list. Look closely and see what it has to
39:32
Speaker 1: say about the kind of elders that you ought to
39:34
Speaker 1: have in leadership. Longer I live in church ministry, the
39:39
Speaker 1: more convinced I am that the secret of it is
39:42
Speaker 1: just as much in the board, the leadership of it
39:46
Speaker 1: as it is in the pastor and the pastoral staff.
39:50
Speaker 1: Even good pastors and pastoral staff with a poor board
39:53
Speaker 1: will not do the job that has to be done.
39:55
Speaker 1: Has to kind of be hand in glove working together.
39:58
Speaker 1: That list is significant. Then the dec are mentioned in
40:01
Speaker 1: verse eight, they must be. They must have describes the
40:06
Speaker 1: women in verse eleven. Many teach this to be the deaconess.
40:10
Speaker 1: The role of a deaconess. Let deacons be verse twelve,
40:13
Speaker 1: the husband of only one wife, and good managers of
40:16
Speaker 1: their children. By the way, he said that earlier, It's
40:21
Speaker 1: amazing how we overlook that when it comes to an
40:23
Speaker 1: elder verse four, he is to manage his own household well,
40:29
Speaker 1: keep his kids under control with dignity. If a man
40:31
Speaker 1: doesn't know how to do that, how can he manage
40:34
Speaker 1: the Church of God? And so, if you want to
40:37
Speaker 1: know what the man is like, look at his home.
40:40
Speaker 1: If you want to know what kind of leader he is,
40:42
Speaker 1: ask his wife.
40:44
Speaker 2: Pretty simple.
40:46
Speaker 1: If you want to know how good he is at
40:47
Speaker 1: the whole thing of management, talk to his kids and
40:52
Speaker 1: wife alone.
40:53
Speaker 2: They'll tell you a lot.
40:55
Speaker 1: I may tell you more than he wants you to know.
40:57
Speaker 1: They'll let you know the truth. Now he says, there
41:00
Speaker 1: it is, and it's a pretty good rule to follow.
41:05
Speaker 1: Wish we had time to deal with it in detail,
41:07
Speaker 1: it would really be enlightening. And now he closes with
41:11
Speaker 1: another tune. Fact, it's believed by many that this was
41:14
Speaker 1: the one of the earliest hymns of the church, not
41:17
Speaker 1: from the psaltry, not from the psalms, one of the
41:21
Speaker 1: early folk tunes. One if they played it alongside a
41:24
Speaker 1: zither or something. I don't know what they'd play alongside,
41:27
Speaker 1: but that they would sing. He was revealed in the flesh,
41:30
Speaker 1: vindicated in the spirit, beheld by angels, proclaimed among the nations,
41:34
Speaker 1: believing on the world, taking up in glory. Kind of
41:36
Speaker 1: a panorama of the person of Jesus Christ. Chapters four, five,
41:42
Speaker 1: and six. Is the last section. It's addressed to the
41:44
Speaker 1: minister himself. Some des and don'ts that are helpful. I
41:52
Speaker 1: came across them as I saw in chapter four. This
41:55
Speaker 1: list verses six to sixteen. If you will do stay
42:01
Speaker 1: in the word of God. Verse six pointing out these things,
42:06
Speaker 1: stay in the words of the faith. Do stay in
42:09
Speaker 1: the word of God verse seven. Do not get caught
42:12
Speaker 1: up in fables and the secular mentality. Verse seven. Do
42:19
Speaker 1: be a person of discipline. The minister that lacks discipline
42:23
Speaker 1: is a minister that is poor in his task. He
42:28
Speaker 1: has to be a disciplined person. There's bodily discipline in
42:31
Speaker 1: verse eight, but in comparison with godliness, it's only of
42:34
Speaker 1: little prophet. Do be a person who models discipline verse twelve.
42:40
Speaker 1: Do not worry about being young. Don't let anyone look
42:43
Speaker 1: down on your youthfulness. How many young ministers move into
42:47
Speaker 1: churches and are concerned about the past the flocks feeling
42:50
Speaker 1: about their youthfulness. It isn't the youthfulness that will bother them,
42:53
Speaker 1: It will be immaturity. I have seen immature men at
42:57
Speaker 1: age fifty to fifty five. I have seen much tour individuals,
43:01
Speaker 1: and at age twenty five or thirty. It is encouraging,
43:06
Speaker 1: isn't it those in the forties to know that? He
43:08
Speaker 1: said to Timothy, don't let anybody look down on your youthfulness.
43:11
Speaker 1: And Timothy was about that age so young, getting younger
43:15
Speaker 1: all the time. Do be a model of maturity twelve
43:18
Speaker 1: and thirteen, and don't neglect the spiritual gift. I have
43:22
Speaker 1: a feeling Timothy kind of dragged his anchor when it
43:25
Speaker 1: came to this spiritual gift. Paul mentions it in both
43:27
Speaker 1: of the letters. He says, come on, Timothy, get at it,
43:30
Speaker 1: Stir up that gift. Keep doing it. Whatever his gifts were,
43:34
Speaker 1: and Paul knew him well. He says, take pains with
43:37
Speaker 1: those things, be absorbed in them, so that your progress
43:40
Speaker 1: may be evident at all. Chapter five addresses the subject
43:43
Speaker 1: of widows as no other section of the entire Bible.
43:46
Speaker 1: Verses three through sixteen talk about this. Do take care
43:51
Speaker 1: of the widows. Seventeen to twenty is a very interesting
43:57
Speaker 1: section of chapter five. It talks about a couple of
44:01
Speaker 1: the interesting nuances of the elder role. Says seventeen, the
44:09
Speaker 1: one who does a good job at it, who works
44:12
Speaker 1: hard at it, is especially in the preaching, and teaching
44:16
Speaker 1: is worthy of double honor. And then he describes that
44:18
Speaker 1: by talking about a laborer being worthy of his wages.
44:23
Speaker 2: So, for sure there is a.
44:25
Speaker 1: Biblical basis of paying the one who ministers to us.
44:30
Speaker 1: And then there's the case of an elder who is
44:33
Speaker 1: for some reason being criticized. And what do you do
44:37
Speaker 1: about those that have an accusation against them? Well, he
44:40
Speaker 1: tells us what not to do in verse nineteen, and
44:43
Speaker 1: he tells us what to do in verses twenty in
44:47
Speaker 1: twenty one, and I think there's something very wise here
44:51
Speaker 1: for young Timothy and for all of us. He says
44:54
Speaker 1: it in very strong words, I solemnly charge you, Paula
44:57
Speaker 1: usually say that I solemnly charge you in the presence
45:02
Speaker 1: of God and of his chosen angels.
45:04
Speaker 2: My what is this?
45:07
Speaker 1: Do nothing in a spirit of partiality, don't lay hands
45:13
Speaker 1: suddenly on anyone, Keep yourself free from sin. Those are
45:19
Speaker 1: two or three things that are very easy for the
45:21
Speaker 1: Minister to fall into, playing favorites. Some sheep are easier
45:26
Speaker 1: to love than others. Others will take seems a lifetime
45:30
Speaker 1: to love, but some just kind of there, just can
45:33
Speaker 1: be the closest things in the world too. You be
45:35
Speaker 1: careful about partiality, don't play favorites to watch that, and
45:42
Speaker 1: don't grab hold of someone suddenly because they're one of
45:44
Speaker 1: those special people and put them into leadership quickly.
45:47
Speaker 2: Don't do that.
45:49
Speaker 1: And while you're at it, you keep yourself free from sin.
45:56
Speaker 1: The rule that the Minister walks by is a very
45:59
Speaker 1: very critic rule. He has to look at his life
46:02
Speaker 1: regularly and several mirrors he is wise. If he does that,
46:07
Speaker 1: he will fail at times, but he must keep a
46:08
Speaker 1: close eye on his life. And then the last chapter
46:13
Speaker 1: is a series of very wise words for a couple
46:19
Speaker 1: of interesting categories. One is masters and slaves Verses one
46:22
Speaker 1: and two, and then down three through about seventeen. He
46:28
Speaker 1: talks to to Paul to Timothy about the rich and
46:32
Speaker 1: the poor. I want you to take a pencil, if
46:34
Speaker 1: you have one handy. I want you to notice something.
46:37
Speaker 1: He talks to three different categories of folks with money
46:42
Speaker 1: or wishing they had money. One group verse six through
46:46
Speaker 1: verse eight would be those who are not rich. Okay,
46:52
Speaker 1: see yeah, se verse six. Godliness actually is a means
47:03
Speaker 1: of great gain when accompanied by commitment, by contentment. For
47:07
Speaker 1: we brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take
47:10
Speaker 1: anything out.
47:11
Speaker 2: Of it either.
47:11
Speaker 1: If we have food and covering, see that's all many
47:15
Speaker 1: of them had. With these, we shall be content. So
47:19
Speaker 1: the first group would be six through eight. It's a
47:22
Speaker 1: reminder of those who are a reminder to those who
47:25
Speaker 1: are not rich. He gives them a formula. Godliness plus
47:28
Speaker 1: contentment equals gain great gain. And then there's a second
47:34
Speaker 1: group verse nine, those who want to get rich. Mark
47:37
Speaker 1: that those who want to get rich, And this is
47:40
Speaker 1: not just a passing fancy. This is an intense desire
47:44
Speaker 1: to make a lot of money, to have your name
47:48
Speaker 1: appear as the top one hundred paid people Ford's magazine.
47:53
Speaker 2: Do you see that list? Hm?
47:56
Speaker 1: Okay, it's there in case you want to take a look.
47:59
Speaker 1: Verse nine. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation,
48:04
Speaker 1: and he warns them. So we have a warning to
48:06
Speaker 1: those who have the desire to get rich. There's a snare.
48:09
Speaker 1: Many foolish and harmful desires, and they plunge people into
48:13
Speaker 1: ruin and destruction. Now doesn't say money is the root
48:17
Speaker 1: of all evil, but says, the love of it is
48:19
Speaker 1: that all sorts of evil. Some by longing for it,
48:24
Speaker 1: have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with
48:27
Speaker 1: many a many a start, asay, fang with many a pang.
48:32
Speaker 1: Now that's a very firm resolve here, Paul says, there's
48:38
Speaker 1: a great temptation that comes to you who have this
48:40
Speaker 1: driving desire to get rich. In my few years on earth,
48:48
Speaker 1: I have met very, very few exceedingly wealthy people who
48:54
Speaker 1: are equally exceedingly happy. There's an old Greek saying, to
49:01
Speaker 1: whom little is not enough, nothing is enough, proverb that
49:08
Speaker 1: appears in Proverbs twenty eight, twenty and twenty two. In
49:11
Speaker 1: the New International, a faithful man will be richly blessed,
49:15
Speaker 1: but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished.
49:19
Speaker 1: A stingy man is eager to get rich and is unaware.
49:22
Speaker 2: That poverty awaits him.
49:25
Speaker 1: So the third group would be Verse seventeen. Those who
49:28
Speaker 1: are rich, those people who've got the bucks. Now he
49:33
Speaker 1: says something to them instruct those in this present world
49:38
Speaker 1: who are rich not to be conceited. Not to fix
49:42
Speaker 1: their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God,
49:46
Speaker 1: who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Have
49:50
Speaker 1: them be rich in the real things. Instruct them to
49:53
Speaker 1: do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous,
49:57
Speaker 1: to be ready to share one of those that's marked
50:01
Speaker 1: out by God in a very special trust with money.
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Speaker 1: Prove your riches by your generosity, be a giver, get
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Speaker 1: rid of it, release it, give it to ministries that
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Speaker 1: hang on gifts like yours to continue. There's nothing in
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Speaker 1: the world wrong with riches themselves are given by God
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Speaker 1: and for you that have faithfully earned them or invested them,
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Speaker 1: and have gotten in return a superabundance.
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Speaker 2: Of this world's goods.
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Speaker 1: Look for ways to give it to God's work and
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Speaker 1: give it in abundance. It's biblical. It's what happiness is
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Speaker 1: all about. You really, in verse nineteen, you store up
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Speaker 1: for yourselves a treasure of a good foundation for the future.
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Speaker 2: What great chapters.
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Speaker 1: Don't be conceited. Don't trust in wealth for your security,
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Speaker 1: and become a generous giving person. Three final final thoughts.
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Speaker 1: I could do that.
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Speaker 2: Number one.
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Speaker 1: Shepherding is much more practical than it is theoretical. All
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Speaker 1: the way through these six chapters, we've gotten a lot
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Speaker 1: of practical counsel on how to shepherd a flock. That's
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Speaker 1: why I don't believe that eggheads make good shepherds. Brilliant,
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Speaker 1: I mean, really super high high, super brilliant folks rarely
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Speaker 1: are good as shepherds. There's a place for brains, and
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Speaker 1: you need to be bright enough to stay out of
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Speaker 1: the rain, you know what I mean. But you really
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Speaker 1: need wisdom, you really need discretion, You really need discernment,
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Speaker 1: and you never learn that from books. You never gain
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Speaker 1: that from classes. You never get that from intense or
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Speaker 1: increased numbers of degrees. And I have nothing against degrees.
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Speaker 1: I think they're wonderful, They're fine. We ought to get them,
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Speaker 1: and I think we ought to get over them. That's
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Speaker 1: the harder part of the two things. Get on with it,
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Speaker 1: and if you are a person with a bright mind, good,
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Speaker 1: praise God, use it for his glory, but don't feel
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Speaker 1: the need to keep telling everybody about it. And the
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Speaker 1: practical side of ministry is the part where we get caught.
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Speaker 2: Doesn't take a.
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Speaker 1: Lot of brains to pull alongside a hurting brother and
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Speaker 1: put your arm around him our sister and love her
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Speaker 1: back to health and happiness. But it takes a heart.
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Speaker 1: If you haven't a heart, stay out of ministry. Do
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Speaker 1: us a favor, do some other things that could fit
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Speaker 1: well in your life and a career, but don't get
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Speaker 1: into ministry without a heart. Now there's a second thought.
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Speaker 1: Leadership is much less glamorous than it is demanding. It
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Speaker 1: looks glamorous from people who are professional pu sitters and
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Speaker 1: do nothing more than just sit in pews and think
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Speaker 1: about that guy that's got it made, works one day
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Speaker 1: a week, and you know, man, what a downhill slide.
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Speaker 2: Believe me, it is.
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Speaker 1: Much less glamorous than it is demanding. And third, ministry
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Speaker 1: is to be balanced between commitment and contentment. I get
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Speaker 1: that through Timothy. It's to be balanced between commitment and contentment.
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Speaker 1: I hope I can find this little thing I ran
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Speaker 1: across in the same note book. I wanted to end
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Speaker 1: with it because it's it's been kind of a serious time,
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Speaker 1: and it's not on such a serious note here. I
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Speaker 1: thought this was pretty clever. If a pastor is young,
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Speaker 1: they say he lacks experience. If his hair is gray.
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Speaker 1: He's too old for the young. If he has five
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Speaker 1: or six kids, he's got too many. If he has
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Speaker 1: no children, he's setting a bad example. If he preaches
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Speaker 1: from his notes, he has canned sermons and he's dry.
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Speaker 1: If his messages are extemporaneous, he's not deep. If he's
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Speaker 1: attentive to the poor in the church, they claim he's
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Speaker 1: playing to the grand stand. If he pays attention only
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Speaker 1: to the wealthy, he's trying to be an aristocrat. If
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Speaker 1: he uses too many illustrations, he neglects the word. If
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Speaker 1: he doesn't use enough stories, he isn't clear. If he
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Speaker 1: condemns wrong, he's cranky like that one. If he doesn't
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Speaker 1: preach against sin, he's a compromiser. If he preaches the truth,
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Speaker 1: he's offensive. If he doesn't preach the truth, he's a hypocrite.
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Speaker 1: If he fails to please everybody, he's hurting the ministry, and.
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Speaker 2: He ought to leave.
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Speaker 1: If he does please everybody, he has no convictions of
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Speaker 1: his own. If he drives an old car, he shames
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Speaker 1: his congregation. Remember that sale hammer, Remember that if he
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Speaker 1: If he drives a new car, he's setting his affection
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Speaker 1: on earthly things. If he preaches all the time. People
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Speaker 1: get tired of hearing one man. If he invites guest preachers,
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Speaker 1: he's shirking his responsibility. If he receives a large salary's mercenary.
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Speaker 1: If he receives a small salary, well, that just proves
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Speaker 1: he isn't worth much anyway. Oh father, we thank you
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Speaker 1: for giving us such helpful instruction from your book. It
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Speaker 1: is a wonderful piece of information just cannot be improved on,
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Speaker 1: and it makes us fall more in love with you
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Speaker 1: to realize you cared enough to put it down in
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Speaker 1: such intense and careful detail, and you made it so
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Speaker 1: palatable that the bride, as well as the dull, those
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Speaker 1: who are engaged in ministry, as well as those who
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Speaker 1: will never in their lifetime really see the inner workings
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Speaker 1: of the leadership of a church could understand it. And
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Speaker 1: you're so affirming and encouraging because you don't deal with
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Speaker 1: petty things. It's always the big picture. You say it straight,
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Speaker 1: You use must and can't and don't and stop, but
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Speaker 1: you also tell us things to do and to keep
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Speaker 1: on to be encouraged. You're awfully good to think about
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Speaker 1: our needs and to send us such a wonderful letter.
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Speaker 1: Thank you for preserving it and not letting it be
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Speaker 1: lost in Timothy's pocket. Thank you for providing it for us,
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Speaker 1: people like John Newton, vile and helpless and merciless sinners
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Speaker 1: and others with rich heritage. Thank you very much for
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Speaker 1: instructing us and helping to educate us to be your
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Speaker 1: kind of men and women. May this study help in
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Speaker 1: the name of Jesus Amen. The preceding message, First Timothy
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Speaker 1: Wise Counsel for Shepherds, was copyrighted in nineteen eighty two,
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Speaker 1: and the sound recording was copyrighted in twenty twelve by
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Speaker 1: Charles R. Swindall, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide.