In 2004, a wonderful country music song came out by a man who is no relation to me, Mr. Tim McGraw (I have no G in my name, by the way). The name of that song was “Live Like You Were Dying.” The song spoke about a man who thought he was dying, so he decided to do all these things that he’s always wanted to do, such as going skydiving, Rocky Mountain climbing, and going 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fu Manchu.

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Well, today we are starting the book of 2 Timothy. This book of the Bible is another letter from the apostle Paul to a young pastor who he has influenced greatly named Timothy. It is believed that this was one of Paul’s last letters, and as he wrote it, he was imprisoned in a Roman prison where he awaited his execution. So, in a sense, Paul is writing as if he is dying. He’s writing what is most important for him to share with Timothy before he leaves this earth. That is the context of this letter from Paul to Timothy.

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Today, Paul’s message to Timothy is to stay faithful in his calling as a pastor. He is essentially telling Timothy to “Keep On Keeping On.” That is the title of today’s sermon.

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Before we go into the sermon, let’s go to the Lord in prayer and ask Him to speak to us.

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(prayer)

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Ok, let’s look at 2 Timothy 1. I’ll read the entire thing, and then we’ll walk through it together:

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1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, for the sake of the promise of life in Christ Jesus:

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2 To Timothy, my dearly loved son.

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Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

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3 I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience as my ancestors did, when I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day. 4 Remembering your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy. 5 I recall your sincere faith that first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and now, I am convinced, is in you also.

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6 Therefore, I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.

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8 So don’t be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, or of me his prisoner. Instead, share in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God. 9 He has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. 10 This has now been made evident through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who has abolished death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 11 For this gospel I was appointed a herald, apostle, and teacher, 12 and that is why I suffer these things. But I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to guard what has been entrusted to me, until that day.

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13 Hold on to the pattern of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the good deposit through the Holy Spirit who lives in us. 15 You know that all those in the province of Asia have deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes. 16 May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. 17 On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he diligently searched for me and found me. 18 May the Lord grant that he obtain mercy from him on that day. You know very well how much he ministered at Ephesus.

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Ok, let’s walk through this passage. First, let me give an . . .

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‌I. Introduction

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As I said earlier, Paul is most likely writing his final letter to Timothy, from a Roman prison, and he most likely knows about his impending death.

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In this passage, Paul addresses some instructions to Timothy that address potential struggles that Timothy could have.

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Well, folks, this is our final sermon in 1 Timothy. Next, we’ll be moving into 2 Timothy.

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We learned last week that Paul is giving some final instructions to Timothy and the church in Ephesus.

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This sermon is part 2 of a two-part sermon called “The DON’Ts and DOs of Our Pursuits.”

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I want to look at last week’s passage together and then read right on through to the end of the book.

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Look at 1 Timothy 6:3-21:

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3 If anyone teaches false doctrine and does not agree with the sound teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ and with the teaching that promotes godliness, 4 he is conceited and understands nothing, but has an unhealthy interest in disputes and arguments over words. From these come envy, quarreling, slander, evil suspicions, 5 and constant disagreement among people whose minds are depraved and deprived of the truth, who imagine that godliness is a way to material gain. 6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out. 8 If we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. 9 But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

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11 But you, man of God, flee from these things, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of eternal life to which you were called and about which you have made a good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 In the presence of God, who gives life to all, and of Christ Jesus, who gave a good confession before Pontius Pilate, I charge you 14 to keep this command without fault or failure until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 God will bring this about in his own time. He is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords, 16 who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see, to him be honor and eternal power. Amen.

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17 Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be arrogant or to set their hope on the uncertainty of wealth, but on God, who richly provides us with all things to enjoy. 18 Instruct them to do what is good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and willing to share, 19 storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of what is truly life.

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20 Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding irreverent and empty speech and contradictions from what is falsely called knowledge. 21 By professing it, some people have departed from the faith.

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Grace be with you all.

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Let’s go to the Lord in prayer and ask him to guide us as we conclude this passage and this book of the Bible.

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(prayer)

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Ok; there’s a lot to be said from this passage, some of which was said last week.

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As a matter of review, here are the DON’Ts that we covered last week:

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‌I. Don’t pursue false teaching.

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‌II. Don’t pursue riches.

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Now, we want to transition to the DOs. We must not only know what not to do; we must also know what to do.

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So, first, . . .

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‌III. Do pursue godliness.

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Paul says very clearly to Timothy in verse 11, “But you, man of God, flee from these things, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.”

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Paul has already mentioned the DON’Ts, such as false teaching and the pursuit of riches.

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Paul tells Timothy to flee the DON’Ts; stop pursuing the DON’Ts and start pursuing righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.

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DON’T pursue the DON’Ts; DO pursue godliness!

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Many of you know that there are certain DON’Ts and DOs when it comes to certain activities. For example, when you play golf, you DON’T drive your cart on the green. When you go fishing, you DO hold your rod tip up when reeling in a fish. When you handle a firearm, you DON’T point at anything that you’re not willing to shoot. When you’re singing, you DO breathe from your diaphragm. When you’re teaching a room of children, you DON’T allow the children to take control. When you go to Sam’s Club, you DO get the free samples. You get what I’m saying, right?

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Well, there are some things we should do and some things we shouldn’t do when it comes to what we pursue as followers of Jesus.

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Today’s sermon is entitled, “The DON’Ts and DOs of Our Pursuits – Part 1.” Obviously, there will be a part 2 to this series next time.

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Before we go any further, let’s go to the Lord in prayer and ask Him to speak to us.

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(prayer)

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Well, we’re heading toward the finish line for 1 Timothy. Paul now starts to set the minds of Timothy and the believers in Ephesus on what they should and should not do as they pursue Jesus and pursue their life as followers of Jesus.

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So, let’s look at the passage together. Look at 1 Timothy 6:3-10:

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3 If anyone teaches false doctrine and does not agree with the sound teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ and with the teaching that promotes godliness, 4 he is conceited and understands nothing, but has an unhealthy interest in disputes and arguments over words. From these come envy, quarreling, slander, evil suspicions, 5 and constant disagreement among people whose minds are depraved and deprived of the truth, who imagine that godliness is a way to material gain. 6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out. 8 If we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. 9 But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

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Ok, we’ll walk through this passage in two sermons. In part 1, we’re going discover two DON’Ts. Next time, we’ll discover two DOs.

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So, let’s look at these DON’Ts. First, Paul instructs that we . . .

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‌I. Don’t pursue false teaching

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Paul begins this section of his letter by speaking in a very condemning way about false teachers.

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Of course, Paul has already condemned false teachers elsewhere.

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But, in this passage, Paul goes on to describe some of the evil reasons for false teaching and some of the evil consequences of false teaching.

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First of all, let’s look at the evil reasons behind false teaching.

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Paul says in verse 4 that these false teachers are conceited and understand nothing.

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In other words, they are arrogant and ignorant. That’s a bad combination, isn’t it?

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These false teachers think they know everything, but they really understand nothing.

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Paul also says that this person has an unhealthy interest in disputes. This person just likes to argue.

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I can tell you, as a pastor, I’ve met some people who just like to argue. I can confirm that usually, they are arrogant and ignorant.

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These kinds of people are not healthy for themselves or for the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. We must not be like these people, and we must be cautious of these types of people.

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Next, Paul goes on to describe some of the evil consequences of their false teaching.

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Look at verses 4 and 5. Paul says from these people come “ . . . envy, quarreling, slander, evil suspicions, and constant disagreement . . .”

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He then says that they are “dep

Well, we’re back in 1 Timothy. We took a week off from this series as Pastor Dirck taught us from Mark 14 , about the prayer life of Jesus.

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Today, we’re going to talk about how we treat those in positions of authority.

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Now, you might think, “Haven’t we already talked about this in 1 Timothy?”

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Well, yes, we have. However, Paul comes back to this issue again in his letter, so we will come back to this issue again today.

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Today’s sermon is entitled “Showing Honor in the Church and Beyond.”

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Before we dive into the passage itself, let’s go to the Lord in prayer and ask him to speak to us. Join me now in prayer.

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(prayer)

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Ok, let’s look at this passage together, then we will walk through it.

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Look at 1 Timothy 5:17-6:2:

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5:17 The elders who are good leaders are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. 18 For the Scripture says: Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain, and, The worker is worthy of his wages.

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19 Don’t accept an accusation against an elder unless it is supported by two or three witnesses. 20 Publicly rebuke those who sin, so that the rest will be afraid. 21 I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels to observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing out of favoritism. 22 Don’t be too quick to appoint anyone as an elder, and don’t share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure. 23 Don’t continue drinking only water, but use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses. 24 Some people’s sins are obvious, preceding them to judgment, but the sins of others surface later. 25 Likewise, good works are obvious, and those that are not obvious cannot remain hidden.

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6:1 All who are under the yoke as slaves should regard their own masters as worthy of all respect, so that God’s name and his teaching will not be blasphemed. 2 Let those who have believing masters not be disrespectful to them because they are brothers, but serve them even better, since those who benefit from their service are believers and dearly loved. Teach and encourage these things.

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Ok, so we see some instructions on honoring elders; we also see some instructions about honoring masters. So, let’s dive in a little more and see what we can learn.

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First, let’s learn that . . .

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‌I. Church leaders should be generously honored.

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Paul says very clearly in verse 17, “The elders who are good leaders are to be considered worthy of double honor . . .”

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Remember, the term elder is one of several words used in the New Testament to refer to pastors of local churches.

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Notice that Paul says “double honor.”

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Paul has already said elsewhere that all leaders should be honored. However, Paul wants to make a distinction that church leaders are worthy of double honor.

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You see, some people may be under the impression that church leaders ought not to be compensated well, because, after all, they’re serving the Lord.

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In fact, I’ve heard of some churches who intentionally pay their pastors poorly so that they can keep them humble. Let me just point out that it is the Holy Spirit’s place to keep the pastor humble, not some committee or board from a church.

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I’m grateful to be a part of a church who is willing to pay me to do what I love, which is pastoring God’s people.

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For those churches who intentionally pay pastors poorly, it’s not only unkind to the pastor and his family; it’s also unbiblical.

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Paul gives a biblical illustration in verse 18 to drive home his point when he says, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.”

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In other words, if you keep feeding an ox while it is working, it will work harder, and it will work longer.

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Here’s the principle:

Introduction:

My wife and I have recently graduated to a new stage of life; we’re raising a toddler. Toddlers are unique creatures. At that point in life they begin to learn higher forms of communication: pointing, grunting, using broken sentences and made-up words. Despite this language barrier, we as parents are (usually) able to understand and communicate back with our children. Unfortunately, and much to the dismay of our children, there are times when they don’t always get what they ask for because it’s not what’s best for them.

The scriptures teach us that we also should communicate ourselves, our wants and our needs to the Lord through prayer.

Philippians 4:6 – Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

However, there are times when we don’t feel like we can communicate clearly. Fortunately, the scriptures also teach us the Holy Spirit intercedes for us when our words fail us.

Romans 8:26 – In the same way the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings.

We are given countless examples of prayer throughout scripture, and though many things can be said of prayer, the bottom line is that we should communicate with the Father and then surrender ourselves to His design. A recent show called The Chosen has this to say about prayer:

“It is the first step in getting the heart and the mind right.” – Jesus

On October 25, 2020, our church celebrated a time of recovery and reunion as we returned to our sanctuary after seven months of online worship and social distancing because of COVID 19. The first passage that was preached in our sanctuary was Matthew 26:36-56, which is almost word for word the account we’re going to be studying today in Mark 14:32-42. Both of these passages detail the same account of Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane prior to His arrest and crucifixion. Jesus, in His foreknowledge, has been warning His disciples about this for a long time, and now that moment is just around the corner. So, Jesus withdraws to spend time in prayer, which is our focus this morning: Praying Like Jesus.

So, let’s look at our passage as we continue to worship the Lord through studying His word. (Read Mark 14:32-42, then pray.)

In our passage, Jesus is moments away from the most pivotal moment in history. And as He prays, we’re going to look at three elements of His time in prayer. The first is…

Point 1: Jesus communicated His distress.

Jesus is currently enduring incredible amounts of distress, and He is open about that towards His disciples. In verse 34, Jesus confesses to His disciples that He is “…deeply grieved to the point of death.” What would cause such emotional distress?

For some time, Jesus has been preparing His disciples for His death and resurrection, which we can see earlier in Mark 8:31 – “Then he began to teach them that it was necessary for the Son of Man to suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and rise after three days.”

Jesus warned His disciples about this, and now that moment is right around the corner. However, in spite of betrayal and arrest at the hand of one of His own disciples, despite the abandonment by those who closely followed Him, the humiliation of unjust trials and the ultimate verdict of crucifixion, even in spite of the physical suffering of the crucifixion itself, Jesus is bearing the weight of something far worse; He will soon endure the wrath of God as Jesus accepts the penalty of sin of our behalf separating Him from the Father. This separation is the source of Jesus’ “…(grief) to the point of death”. So, Jesus turned to the Lord in prayer.

In withdrawing Himself to pray, Jesus also gathered His closest companions to Him during His time of distress. Verse 32-34 tells us that He not only gathered

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In April 1979, Sister Sledge released the hit single “We are Family.” The song celebrated sisters who were close together as a family.

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Well, in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are family. Here at First Baptist Church Bartow, we are family. We exist, among other reasons, to “Love the Church,” which means loving one another as family.

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Today, as we continue our study in 1 and 2 Timothy, we will learn about “Loving Our Family.”

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Before we journey into this passage, join me in prayer, as we seek to hear from the Lord.

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(prayer)

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As we explore this passage, remember that Paul has just finished telling Timothy not to let anyone despise his youth; rather he is to set an example for others.

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Now, Paul transitions into telling Timothy (and, by implication, others) how he should treat other members of his church family.

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Let’s look at the passage together and then see what God teaches us. Look at 1 Timothy 5:1-16:

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1 Don’t rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father, younger men as brothers, 2 older women as mothers, and the younger women as sisters with all purity.

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3 Support widows who are genuinely in need. 4 But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them learn to practice godliness toward their own family first and to repay their parents, for this pleases God. 5 The widow who is truly in need and left all alone has put her hope in God and continues night and day in her petitions and prayers; 6 however, she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives. 7 Command this also, so that they will be above reproach. 8 But if anyone does not provide for his own family, especially for his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

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9 No widow is to be enrolled on the list for support unless she is at least sixty years old, has been the wife of one husband, 10 and is well known for good works—that is, if she has brought up children, shown hospitality, washed the saints’ feet, helped the afflicted, and devoted herself to every good work. 11 But refuse to enroll younger widows, for when they are drawn away from Christ by desire, they want to marry 12 and will therefore receive condemnation because they have renounced their original pledge. 13 At the same time, they also learn to be idle, going from house to house; they are not only idle, but are also gossips and busybodies, saying things they shouldn’t say. 14 Therefore, I want younger women to marry, have children, manage their households, and give the adversary no opportunity to accuse us. 15 For some have already turned away to follow Satan. 16 If any believing woman has widows in her family, let her help them. Let the church not be burdened, so that it can help widows in genuine need.

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Ok, let’s look now at three specific ways that we should treat each other as a church family.

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First, . . .

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‌I. We should honor one another.

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Paul tells Timothy specifically how to speak to different groups of people in the church. Remember, although Paul is speaking directly to Timothy regarding the church in Ephesus, these principles are applicable to us as well.

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Here are four groups Paul speaks about:

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Regarding older men, Paul says not to rebuke them but to exhort them as fathers.

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Regarding younger men, Paul says to treat them as brothers.

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Regarding older women, Paul says to treat them as mothers.

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Regarding younger women, Paul says to treat them as sisters and with purity.

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Going back to older men, I must admit that I’ve failed at this before.

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You see, as a young pastor, I often have excitement for what the church could be, and I get angry when people bring sinfulness or foolishness into the church, and it makes me angry no matter what age the person is. However, I ought to be careful not to rebuke th

I love Easter! I love everything about it. I love the biblical side of Easter, and I love the modern celebratory aspects of Easter. I love watching kids find eggs, I love Peeps, and I love Cadbury eggs. I love the bright colors, I love the dressing up, and I love the pictures! Easter is great!

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All of those things I just named are good and fun. However, those things are not the reason that Easter is great.

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Today, I want to take a few minutes to talk about why Easter is great. The sermon title is “What’s so great about Easter?”

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Join me in prayer as we continue this time together.

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(prayer)

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I hope you think Easter is great as well.

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This morning, let’s look at four reasons that Easter is great, because it certainly is.

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First, Easter is great because . . .

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‌I. Easter reminds us that Jesus really came.

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Easter reminds us that there was a real man named Jesus of Nazareth who came to the earth and really lived a human life.

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The apostles believed this reality to be true, and they and others wrote about it so that the world might know about it as well.

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Listen to what Luke said in Luke 1:1-4:

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1 Many have undertaken to compile a narrative about the events that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as the original eyewitnesses and servants of the word handed them down to us. 3 So it also seemed good to me, since I have carefully investigated everything from the very first, to write to you in an orderly sequence . . . 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things about which you have been instructed.

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Folks, the Scriptures record what happened with Jesus so that we know with certainty that Jesus really came.

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Additionally, both Matthew and Luke provide genealogies to demonstrate the bloodline that led to the birth of Jesus.

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He really was a human. He really was a Jewish man. He really lived in Israel. He really was from the line of King David. He really fulfilled the prophecies concerning His coming.

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Historians, who are not even Christians, generally agree that a real man named Jesus came, lived, and died on the cross.

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However, we not only believe that Jesus came; we believe that He came as the Son of God.

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John the Baptizer said of Jesus in John 1:29, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

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The Apostle Peter said of Jesus in Matthew 16:16, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

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Jesus said of Himself in John 8:58, “Truly I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.” Abraham was ancient, and he lived on the earth way before Jesus. Yet, Jesus essentially said, “Before Abraham was, I was; I AM.” Of course, “I AM” being the name for God in the Old Testament.

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Easter reminds us that Jesus is real, and He really came to the earth as the Son of God. Easter is great!

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Second, Easter is great because . . .

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‌II. Easter reminds us that Jesus really conquered death.

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Easter celebrates the fact that Jesus rose from the dead in a glorious resurrection.

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The entire Christian faith is based on the reality that Jesus rose to new life; he conquered death!

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Folks, if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, we should all be doing something else right now. But we believe Jesus really conquered death by rising from the dead.

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Luke 24:1-12 tells us about the resurrection of Jesus:

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1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came to the tomb, bringing the spices they had prepared. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb. 3 They went in but did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men stood by them in dazzling clothes. 5 So the women were terrified and bowed down to the ground.

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“Why are you looking for the living among

We are in the middle of a two-part sermon regarding “How the Church Should Handle the Truth.”

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We’re looking at a long passage, so I broke it up into two sermons.

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Let’s look at the passage now. Join me in 1 Timothy 3, starting in verse 14.

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3:14 I write these things to you, hoping to come to you soon. 15 But if I should be delayed, I have written so that you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth. 16 And most certainly, the mystery of godliness is great:

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He was manifested in the flesh,

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vindicated in the Spirit,

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seen by angels,

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preached among the nations,

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believed on in the world,

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taken up in glory.

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4:1 Now the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will depart from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons, 2 through the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared. 3 They forbid marriage and demand abstinence from foods that God created to be received with gratitude by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 since it is sanctified by the word of God and by prayer.

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6 If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourished by the words of the faith and the good teaching that you have followed. 7 But have nothing to do with pointless and silly myths. Rather, train yourself in godliness. 8 For the training of the body has limited benefit, but godliness is beneficial in every way, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. 9 This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance. 10 For this reason we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.

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11 Command and teach these things. 12 Don’t let anyone despise your youth, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity. 13 Until I come, give your attention to public reading, exhortation, and teaching. 14 Don’t neglect the gift that is in you; it was given to you through prophecy, with the laying on of hands by the council of elders. 15 Practice these things; be committed to them, so that your progress may be evident to all. 16 Pay close attention to your life and your teaching; persevere in these things, for in doing this you will save both yourself and your hearers.

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Pray with me now as we continue into this passage.

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(prayer)

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So, let’s catch up on our points from last week.

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First, we learned that . . .

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‌I. The church supports the truth.

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Remember, the church refers to people, not a building, and these people are the pillars and foundation of the truth.

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Second, we learned that . . .

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‌II. False teachers distort the truth.

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You may recall that the specific false teaching that Paul was referring to in this passage was those who made up extra rules for Christians to follow.

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Paul described this false teaching as demonic.

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Indeed, the church and its leaders should not tolerate false teaching.

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Ok, that catches us up from last week. Let’s keep going now with part 2 of this passage.

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Third, in order to know what is true from that which is false, . . .

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‌III. We should train with the truth.

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In verse 6, Paul encourages Timothy to point out false teaching and keep teaching good teaching.

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Paul says if he does point out false teaching to the church (whom he calls brothers and sisters), he will be a good servant of Jesus. In other words, a faithful pastor will be sure to point his people to false teaching for the

There was a popular show in the 90s called, “The X Files.” One of the taglines for the show was, “The truth is out there.”

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In the movie, “A Few Good Men,” Jack Nicholson declared, “You can’t handle the truth!”

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You see, people want the truth.

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Jesus said in John 8:32, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

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The truth is paramount for the church. In our sermon today, we’re going to learn that Paul refers to the truth as the story of God’s great work in the world.

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We’re also going to talk about how the church should handle the truth. That’s the title of today’s sermon, “How the Church Should Handle the Truth.”

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Before we go any further, let’s pray together and ask God to speak to us through His Word. Join me in prayer.

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(prayer)

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Ok, let’s look at the passage, and then walk through four ways we handle the truth.

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Look at 1 Timothy 3:14. We’ll read all the way through 4:16.

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3:14 I write these things to you, hoping to come to you soon. 15 But if I should be delayed, I have written so that you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth. 16 And most certainly, the mystery of godliness is great:

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He was manifested in the flesh,

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vindicated in the Spirit,

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seen by angels,

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preached among the nations,

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believed on in the world,

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taken up in glory.

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4:1 Now the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will depart from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons, 2 through the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared. 3 They forbid marriage and demand abstinence from foods that God created to be received with gratitude by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 since it is sanctified by the word of God and by prayer.

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6 If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourished by the words of the faith and the good teaching that you have followed. 7 But have nothing to do with pointless and silly myths. Rather, train yourself in godliness. 8 For the training of the body has limited benefit, but godliness is beneficial in every way, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. 9 This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance. 10 For this reason we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.

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11 Command and teach these things. 12 Don’t let anyone despise your youth, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity. 13 Until I come, give your attention to public reading, exhortation, and teaching. 14 Don’t neglect the gift that is in you; it was given to you through prophecy, with the laying on of hands by the council of elders. 15 Practice these things; be committed to them, so that your progress may be evident to all. 16 Pay close attention to your life and your teaching; persevere in these things, for in doing this you will save both yourself and your hearers.

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Ok, first, let’s see that . . .

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‌I. The church supports the truth.

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First of all, notice that Paul wants to come to see Timothy and visit the church in Ephesus soon. But, he may not be there right away, so he doesn’t wait to give him instructions for how the local church should operate.

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Paul says in verse 15, “But if I should be delayed, I have written so that you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household.”

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It’s very important that the church receive these instructions. So, important that Paul doesn’t wai

God has a good design for all of His creation. That’s where we started last week’s sermon, and we want to continue to acknowledge that wonderful reality as we move into today’s sermon.

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Last week, we learned that God had roles for men and women in the worship setting.

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One of the realities that I kept coming back to last week is that God has placed someone in an authority position over the life of the church and over the worship service of the local gathered church.

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Church, God has a design for the church and how it should operate.

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Paul is writing to Timothy in these verses to tell him about the qualifications for two positions, or offices, in the church. These two positions are pastors and deacons.

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So, let’s talk a little bit about those qualifications this morning.

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First, let’s pray together and ask God to supernaturally speak to us.

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(prayer)

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Ok, let’s look at these two positions in the church, which Paul discusses in

1 Timothy 3:1-13

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First, let’s look at the position of pastor.

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‌I. Pastors must be godly leaders.

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In a nutshell, what Paul is telling us from these first few verses is that pastors must be godly leaders.

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How do we know that? Well, let’s look at the passage and go from there. Look at verses 1-7.

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1 This saying is trustworthy: “If anyone aspires to be an overseer, he desires a noble work.” 2 An overseer, therefore, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, self-controlled, sensible, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not an excessive drinker, not a bully but gentle, not quarrelsome, not greedy. 4 He must manage his own household competently and have his children under control with all dignity. 5 (If anyone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of God’s church?) 6 He must not be a new convert, or he might become conceited and incur the same condemnation as the devil. 7 Furthermore, he must have a good reputation among outsiders, so that he does not fall into disgrace and the devil’s trap.

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First of all, notice that in the CSB, we have the word “overseer.”

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The Greek word that Paul is using here is episkopos, which can be translated as overseer or bishop.

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Elsewhere, the New Testament uses the word presbyteros to refer to pastors. Presbyteros translates literally as elder.

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It’s clear from their usage in the Bible that these titles for pastors are used interchangeably. The terms elder, shepherd, overseer, bishop, and pastor all refer to what we know of today as the leader of a local church, a pastor.

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Notice in the passage that Paul spends most of his time focusing on character traits of a pastor. Let’s walk through these quickly but succinctly.

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An overseer is to be “above reproach.”

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This means that no one can bring a credible accusation against a pastor.

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For example, I hope that if someone claimed that I was a raging alcoholic who doesn’t love his family, most of you would say, “That doesn’t sound right. Pastor Matt seems to be different than that.”

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Also, we see that a pastor should be the husband of one wife.

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This literally means that a pastor is to be a “one-woman man.”

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Although some think that this verse means a pastor cannot be divorced, it more likely means that a pastor must be exclusively devoted to his wife.

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Now, there are some other items in this passage (and the rest of the Bible) that have implications for divorce, but if Paul was speaking primarily about divorce in this verse, he probably would have just said, “An overseer should not be divorced.” But Paul didn’t say that. So, even though a divorced man may raise concerns about being a pastor, that’s probably not what Paul means here.

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Next, we see Paul say a pastor must be “self-con