Title: Mythic Misdirection

Text: I Timothy 1:3-7

FCF: We often struggle to be content with the gospel of Christ as our one and only message.

Prop: Because only the gospel accomplishes all God desires preached, we must preach the gospel alone.

Scripture Intro:

[Slide 1] Turn in your bible to I Timothy chapter 1. Last time in this first epistle of Paul to Timothy, his genuine son in the faith, Paul greeted Timothy with prayers for grace, mercy, and peace from God. We commented on how truly desperate the situation in Ephesus had become. That false teaching was beginning to ramp up and people were being led astray. We talked about how the culture was debauched and crumbling all around them. Paul’s prayer for Timothy was that God would give him power to do what must be done, patience toward him as he falters, and peace to trust the Father and His plan.

Then we zoomed out and looked at our culture. We realized that for us, it isn’t much different. That our culture is precariously like Ephesus. We realized that we too need grace, mercy and peace to engage with our culture. And we wondered how we can prepare for this. The short answer, is that we need to look to our God. He is the source for all we need. Just like for Timothy the source for grace, mercy, and peace – was God.

Today, we answer the question “What weapons do we have for such a battle?” It is one thing to be prepared for the difficulty – it is another to know how to attack and defend.

In today’s passage Paul will both attack the cause of many of the problems in the Ephesian church, and will give Timothy only one weapon with which to combat it.

I am in I Timothy chapter 1 starting in verse 3 and I’ll read to verse 20. I’m reading from the NET which you can follow in the pew bible on page 1337 or in whatever version you have.

Transition:

To answer the burning question – no, we will not cover all 18 verses that we just read today. This is unfortunate, since we will lose some of what Paul is saying from week to week. Commentators agree that this whole section is fairly tightly laced and very difficult to unwind since so much is contingent on itself. Nevertheless, we will do our best to understand what Paul has for Timothy and us.

I.) Not all instruction from the bible is equally valid, so we must preach the gospel alone. (3-4)

a. [Slide 2] 3 – As I urged you when I was leaving for Macedonia,

i. Paul begins his exhortation and instruction to Timothy reminding him that it is not new information that he is transmitting.

ii. Paul instructed this to him before he left.

iii. Now, presumably from Macedonia, Paul writes again to remind and instruct.

iv. Perhaps what was mentioned in short goodbyes is expounded on here through inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

b. [Slide 3] stay on in Ephesus to instruct certain people not to spread false teachings,

i. The primary purpose Timothy was left in Ephesus was to instruct.

ii. This word means to authoritatively direct, command, or give orders.

iii. It would be the same strength as the word rebuke, but before someone does something wrong.

iv. It is to exhort.

v. Timothy was left in Ephesus to exhort certain people not to spread false teaching.

vi. As an Elder, Overseer, Pastor of this city church, it has become his primary task to preemptively snuff out the spread of false teaching.

vii. False teaching here is a compound word meaning another doctrine.

viii. We would naturally ask – another doctrine than what? The intended answer is, like in John, the teaching that was received by the apostles from Christ and handed down to the church. Which includes not only the scriptures but even the agreed upon interpretation and theology of the church.

ix. But what specific flavor of false teaching was Timothy tasked to nip in the bud.

c. [Slide 4] 4 – nor to occupy themselves with myths and interminable genealogies.

i. This is perhaps our first clue at the Ephesian heresy that Paul is concerned with.

ii. Occupation, or perhaps, preoccupation with myths and interminable or endless genealogies leaves us wondering what exactly Paul might be referencing.

iii. Unfortunately, he does not elaborate.

iv. Still – we can determine a few things from these clues.

v. Myths – This word in its widest meaning means to teach or instruct. To tell a story.

1. However, it is clear that Paul intends a negative meaning here. And that negative meaning is a tale or fable.

2. A myth or fable consists of some historical truth but is also combined with fantastical and unsubstantiated claims, usually involving the supernatural or mystical.

3. For all peoples, Jews and Gentiles alike, there have always been myths, fables, folklore, and legends, all having varying degrees of truth to them.

vi. Interminable genealogies

1. Endless could refer to the number of people in the genealogy, although more likely Paul is talking about the endless talk of genealogies.

2. Perhaps combining these together we get the idea that the particular form of false teaching was paddling on endlessly about the fantastical, an unscriptural filling in of the details between the pages of scripture, speculating and dreaming about what could have been between the names in a genealogical list, even assigning heroic deeds to people the bible is silent on or people or characters who are not mentioned in the bible.

vii. So why does Paul instruct Timothy to nip these kinds of things in the bud?

d. [Slide 5] Such things promote useless speculations

i. Why should the preoccupation of myths, legends, fables, drawn from the real people and events in the scriptures be snuffed out?

ii. It has less to do with the myths and the genealogies and more to do with the preoccupation with them. How do I know that?

iii. Paul says, they promote useless speculation.

iv. This would literally be in Greek something like – they hold near and dear the act of searching and questioning.

v. My friends the word of God has enough in it to keep us occupied. There is enough here to keep us plumbing the depths and richness of what God has revealed, that we do not need to go trapesing about the minefield of fantasizing what could be. Dreaming up legends and histories that have only the tiniest shreds of truth. Counting letters, allegorical readings, excessive typology, and the like, is exactly what Paul is talking about here. Again – it is not the myths and genealogies that seem to be critiqued, but rather the preoccupation with them.

vi. If I were to update and modernize Paul’s statement to Timothy it would be to instruct people to Find the true meaning, the goal, the telos of the passage, and there you will find something that actually matters. Something that will promote more than useless speculation and endless debate.

vii. What will it promote?

e. [Slide 6] rather than God’s redemptive plan that operates by faith.

i. The phrase God’s redemptive plan, is fairly difficult for us to wrap our minds around.

ii. Literally, it would mean God’s administration of or economy of his household.

iii. It is a term used of a master of an estate that administrates and orders the entire household.

iv. The administration of God which he says operates by faith – or literally in the Greek – in faith. God’s administration is unseen, promised yet not fully realized. And therefore, it is an administration in faith.

v. So myths and genealogies encourage people to think long and hard about things that have no real answer and no real significance, that have no guarantee of truth or promise from God. I

vi. Instead they could be spending their time promoting the administration of the household of God operated by Faith. A far firmer foundation.

vii. But what does “administration” mean?

viii. The NET does it’s best here by saying God’s redemptive plan. Other translations say God’s plan, God’s administration, God’s dispensation, God’s work, God’s stewardship, God’s purpose, and a weird one - God’s nurture.

ix. So what does this mean?

x. Administration can mean not only God’s design for His Kingdom, but our part in bringing it about all in faith. In other words – God’s plan of redemption for His people from start to finish, not only conversion but from foreordaining to glorification is all a product of the gospel message and is progressed in faith.

xi. If I were to summarize Paul’s thoughts – I’d say something like this…

xii. Timothy – be sure to smother any false gospel, any tangential discussion and argument that does not have to do with the true gospel of God of His Kingdom and His righteousness. Yes Timothy – like our Lord said – seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.

xiii. See – I told you – everything comes back to the sermon on the mount.