E3 - The Pastoral Epistles: Biblical Ministers & Biblical Ministry - Paul’s charge to ministers

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learn from God's Word together. If you would like more

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Amen. How many of you truly believe

that He has done great things? I am thankful for that.

And as we sang a moment ago, it is our responsibility and our

duty to give Him the glory in that.

Through that, so we acknowledge once again that our God is a

great God who does great things. Don't forget that no matter

where you are in life, know that He has done and will do and is

doing great things, even that you don't even yet fully

understand or know. Get your Bibles if you would

turn to First Timothy as we continue to look at the Pastoral

Epistles, and we began a few weeks ago with this.

First of the Pastoral Epistles being the 1st letter to Timothy.

We are uncovering in this series Biblical ministers and Biblical

ministry. We'll be looking today at verses

18 through 20. As you know, if you were here

last week in our lesson, Paul gave us an example in his life

of the traits of an effective Christian leader.

I, I pray that we were challenged by that.

I can speak for myself. I was challenged by that, that I

want to be that kind of leader, whether I'm leading my my

family, whether I'm leading this church, wherever I find myself

being used for the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ, I want

to be that kind of leader and minister.

And so this week, that effective leader Paul is going to actually

in his leadership role as an apostle to the church, he's

going to actually give a charge to who we know he's already

referred to as his son, his true son, Timothy, the pastor here at

Ephesus who would have received this letter.

He's going to give Timothy this charge or this command so that

he will properly fulfill his role as a minister and as a

pastor there in the church. Located in Ephesus.

So in doing that, Timothy is going to receive those

instructions. But those instructions, though

they are uniquely and specifically given to Timothy in

the time that this was written, they're also instructions for

all of us who are ministers. Now, before we go any further, I

want to ask this question. How many of you here today would

say I am a minister? If you are in Christ, you are a

minister. That doesn't mean that you're a

pastor of a church, that you're an evangelist, that you're a

missionary, but it doesn't mean that you are a minister.

That doesn't mean that you're ever going to stand in the

pulpit and preach a sermon, but all of us who are in Christ have

been given the ministry of Christ, which is the ministry of

reconciliation. Therefore, we are all ministers

and we are to shine the light of the gospel and everything that

we do. Perhaps your ministry is the

fact that you are a father who is leading and who is guiding

his family. Perhaps you're a husband.

Maybe you don't have children in the equation yet, but you are to

minister to your wife and your wife in return is to minister

unto her own husband. And we know this in the home.

We are to minister to our children.

Is that not so? Of course, we know that to be

so. So all of us to some degree,

whether it's in our homes or whether it's in this church.

As you lead in ministry, perhaps you were a leader in one of the

ministries that we have here at Key Life, or you are one of the

people who participate in one of those ministries.

At the end of the day, we are all ministers.

And so just because Paul is addressing Timothy, who was

ministering here in Ephesus as a pastor, giving him this charge

in doing the ministry that is before him and fulfilling that

which he is called to do, doesn't mean that you can just

turn your ears off. And to think that this is not

something for you. This is something for all of us.

As we will see. We've all been given a ministry

and we are too carefully guard that ministry.

John Flavel. Said this, he said they that

watch for souls must watch for their own souls.

Or else they may destroy themselves while they save

others. So what's going to happen in

this letter today? Paul is going to instruct

Timothy. Yes, you are going to take care

of other people's souls and ministering to them, but also

take care of yourself. Paul is going to charge Timothy

to take care of that ministry to which he has been entrusted to

do to guard himself. And though this charge is

specifically given to this young.

Pastor there in Ephesus, we're going to see it's given to all

of us as well who will and who desire to walk in obedience and

ministering the gospel in every area of our life that we have

opportunity to minister the gospel.

So first Timothy chapter 1, the 18th verse, Paul says this

1 Timothy 1 · chapter mention

Timothy, my son, he uses that term of endearment again and I

love that. Can you imagine when Timothy

read this, he's already heard my true son, and then he hears

again my son. I can think back into my life.

One of the special mentors that God placed in my life, Doctor

Bobby Clark. I love when he would call me son

or he would call me boy. He called me boy a lot, and he

would say son or boy, let me tell you something about this,

or boy, let me tell you something about that.

It was always good that he would use that term of endearment for

me and toward me. It meant something.

That meant that he was teaching me something that he knew was

important that he needed to pass on to that young man who was

coming up underneath his teaching.

And Paul here writing this to Timothy, referring to him again

as. His son, he said.

Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the

prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you

may fight the good fight, holding on to the faith, to

faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these.

And so have shipwrecked to their faith.

Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed

over to Satan to be taught not to blasphemy.

Let's pray together. Father, in the name of Jesus, we

come to you. We thank you for the

instructions that you give us in your word.

We thank you for this charge to those of us who are in Christ

who find ourselves obediently ministering to others.

Maybe we are ministering to our families or our homes.

Maybe we're ministering in pastoral capacity in the church.

But God, I pray that we would all hear these words and that we

would take them seriously this morning, that we would see the

warnings and we would see the encouragement and we would see

the direction, that we would utilize it in our lives as you

have intended it to be utilized. God, I pray for the soul who's

here today who does not know Christ.

Lord, make them fully aware that they cannot truly minister to

anyone in the name of Christ because they don't yet know

Christ, or they can't minister to their families.

They can't minister to their husbands, to their wives, to

their children. They can't minister to their

coworkers. They can't minister in the

church because they are not a part of your church.

God, I pray that you allow them to see that that sin has

separated them from a holy God, that reconciliation must occur,

and that reconciliation only comes through Jesus Christ and

surrendering to Him as Lord and Savior, repenting of their sin

and their unbelief in turning to Christ.

And today, Lord, that you would grace them with your mercy, that

they would truly see their need for Christ, that you would

fulfill that need and revealing yourself to them, drawing them

out of darkness and ushering them into Your marvelous light

for salvation, forgiveness, and eternal life.

And Lord, we'll be careful to give you all the glory for it.

And we pray and we ask these things in Christ's name, Amen.

So as we continue in our journey in the Pastoral Epistles, I want

us to look at this charge that Paul.

Gives to young Timothy, he says there in verse 18, if you'll

look back with me, he says, Timothy my son, I give you this

instruction now my translation says instructions.

Some of your translations will say charge, some of them will

say command. I think charge or command, and

the original language is probably the more accurate

translation. He is giving him a charge, a

command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you.

He. Says so that by.

Following them, you may fight the good fight.

We could condense our title for the first point.

Our title for the first point is this.

Fulfill your Commission. Paul is telling Timothy here to

fulfill your Commission, to fulfill that which you have been

called to do. We could shorten it to simply

this, the work, the work that God has called him to do.

Paul wants him to focus on that, and he does it in such a way as

to call something to Timothy's remembrance.

He says look back on that time where you were called, where

prophecies were once made about you, where God revealed through

his word as through a prophet in the church, where he revealed

his specific will for your life by that word.

So what he's telling Timothy in essence to do is to obey God's

calling, to obey God's calling on his life.

First, he begins with fulfilling your duty according to God's

will. He's saying, Timothy, remember

that this is God's will. That's why I'm charging you with

these instructions and these commands.

I am reminding you that God has revealed His will for your life.

And His will for your life is that you surrender your entire

existence to gospel ministry, that you fulfill the duty that

you've been given according to God's will.

So in order to fulfill your Commission, you must obey God's

calling. I want you to really understand

when I use the word charge and where Paul uses the word charge

here. This is a military expression.

This is a military order. So I want for you to in your

mind to think that Paul is using military language or military

imagery. And so we have this Paul

receiving orders from the King of Kings as he spent time

personally with the Lord Jesus and learning how to be a

faithful. I can definitely say this, there

is no greater teacher than the Lord Jesus Christ about being a

faithful minister. And Paul is now passing this

along to Timothy. He's saying what I have received

from the King, I as a general, an apostle in the faith to my

son. Maybe Timothy serves here as a

Lieutenant or a Sergeant, and he's receiving this message,

this charge from Paul. So Paul speaks in a military

sense and using military language, and he says, I give

you this charge, this order, this command.

So that seems kind of harsh, but it's not abnormal for Paul to

speak in those terms, is it? We see in his life, in his

ministry, he uses this military imagery and military verbiage

often in the things that he wrote.

In fact, in Second Timothy we see this Second Timothy chapter

2 Timothy 2:3

2 verse 3 where he says this join me in suffering like a good

soldier of Christ Jesus. Paul then reminding Timothy that

you're a soldier and you are in war and sometimes in war and in

battle we have to endure and we even have to suffer.

And he says do this like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

Now, I know in our sissified culture and society where we

have all but taken the warrior instincts out of men, this is

foreign to us. But I can remember not back too

long ago, even in my lifetime, we used to stand in church and

we would herald a song, Onward Christian soldiers, onward,

fighting, marching as to war with the cross of Jesus going on

before you guys, some of you remember that hymn that we used

to sing Onward, Christian soldiers marching as to war.

Now we don't even talk in these terms because again, we have

sissified things in such a way so that we don't have warriors

being raised up in the church as warriors for the gospel.

Paul using military language here to remind Timothy, Timothy,

you were called to be a warrior, a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

As we looked in our scripture reading this morning in

Ephesians chapter 6, we also see Paul using again military terms,

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

military imagery. He tells him that you're in a

fight and you were fighting against principalities and

powers and forces of darkness. You were fighting against evil

things in the unseen realm. He says, therefore put on the

full armor of God. And then Paul takes the care and

the time and I'm so thankful that he does to to actually go

through and to explain each specific element of a Roman

soldiers armor so that we would understand the importance and

that we are in a fight. And to go into that fight I'll

equipped is to make a fatal error.

So I'm thankful that Paul used such terms in Ephesians chapter

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

6 when he describes for us the battle that we're in and the

armor that we must put on. And then in Thessalonians we see

this in chapter 5 and verse 8. Paul says, but since we belong

to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a

breastplate in the hope of salvation as a helmet.

Again, he's going back and he's grabbing military terminology

and he's using imagery from war, and he's doing this to show the

seriousness of the fight that we as believers are really in.

Now, I want you to know this is not simply good advice.

This is not Paul just giving good advice to a fellow

minister. This is Paul revealing the

serious nature of the war that the gospel ministers are really

in and that they must endure. He is simply saying to Timothy,

these are orders that I have received.

I am passing on these orders to you.

These orders have come from the top.

This is the word of God to you. A minister there in Ephesus, he

uses that military charge to get his attention.

He said, I want you to remember and to obey God's calling in

your life. Paul reminding him of this.

Why is that important? Because with.

All callings come duty and responsibility.

Have you noticed that in the church as of late, lots of

people want to claim to be called, but they don't want the

duty and the responsibility of those who are called the gospel

ministry. They want the title and they

want people to say, oh, you're a minister.

Oh, you're a pastor. Oh, you're an elder.

But when it comes down to actually taking upon themselves

the duty and the responsibility for that role, and they shunned

that. And it shouldn't be.

So that's what Paul is doing. He's reminding Timothy that he

has a calling from God and that God has a will and a plan in

this calling. And then with that comes duty

and responsibility to fulfill that calling or that Commission.

And how does he teach him to do this?

By obeying what God has called him to do.

And how does he know what that is?

Well, he says that there have been people who spoke prophecy

over him, and so God is simply through Paul telling Timothy

that you are to fulfill your duty according to God's will

that was revealed to you when the prophets spoke about.

You when they laid their hands upon you.

He wants Timothy to fulfill his duty according to God's will,

but not only according to God's will, also according to God's

Word. That's why he goes back and he

references the prophecies once made about him.

When we see prophecy in this sense in the New Testament,

please understand this. Before the canonization of

Scripture, there was in the New Testament church the office of

the prophet who were the prophets, the apostles, and then

we know later the pastors and the teachers, the evangelists

also in that mix. But we see here, here he is

referring to the fact that there were those who laid their hands

upon Timothy and they spoke a word from God over Timothy.

We don't fully understand exactly how or when this

occurred. There are many scholars who say

it possibly could have been Silas because he was a companion

of Paul. Silas is referred to as a

prophet there in the New Testament.

It could have been, but it doesn't necessarily have to be.

But we know this. There was a time where the Word

of God was spoken over Timothy and they were there, the leaders

of the church, to witness this and to confirm that these things

were true. Paul is reminding him of this

fact. This prophecy more than likely

took place. At his commissioning or his

ordination. So there would have been a

commissioning or an ordination for Timothy.

We have record of that in Scripture.

In fact, First Timothy chapter 4, verse 14.

1 Timothy 4:14

It says this, do not neglect your gift which was given to you

through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on

you. That's a picture if you would,

this ordination service where the leaders in the church would

have laid their hands upon Timothy and the laying on of

hands was to signify that they gave their approval, that he had

proven himself and he had proven himself faithful to be a gospel

minister and they were sending him out.

And then a prophet, because we didn't have the completed

canonized word of God, would have spoken truth that God

revealed to him in that moment concerning that specific

individual. Now, let me just tell you this.

The pages of Scripture are no less and no more the Word of God

than what that prophet spoke over him on that day of his

commissioning. And so a prophet or maybe even

multiple prophets, because we can see that there were multiple

prophecies, they would have revealed exactly what it was

that Timothy was called to do and how he was to do it.

And Paul is simply saying this Remember back to your

ordination. Remember back to your

commissioning. Service what was?

Spoken to you about the role that you would play in the

gospel ministry in your lifetime.

Second Timothy chapter one, verse 6, Paul obviously

participating there. He says in verse 6, for this

reason, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is

in you through the laying on of my hands.

He's saying this when I was there at your ordination, it was

revealed that God was specifically gifting you as he

specifically gifted me as the apostle to the Gentiles.

He is now gifted you as a pastor to his churches so that you will

be an effective minister. And so this prophecy that he's

Speaking of in this 18th verse is more than likely talking

about that commissioning or that ordination service.

And Paul is recounting this so that Timothy will remember it,

so that he will regard it, so that he will cherish what was

spoken of by the word of God. Because when a true prophet

speaks, he speaks. The word of God.

So there, that would have happened in the life of Timothy.

Now we know this. We have Scripture, and Scripture

in the writings that we're reading today, give us clear

instructions on what the man of God who is ministering to the

church is supposed to do. We're reading the pastoral

Epistles now. Please know, in the days of all

these things were not yet finished.

They were not yet, as we would call it, canonized and included

in Scripture. But now they are.

And so because they are, we don't have to have some

prophetic word to know what our role as ministers is.

We see that we can look at the role that he is defining for

Timothy here. We can draw the conclusion that

that role is the same for. All who would be pastors in the

Church of Christ. But he wants them to remember

that so that he can obey God's calling.

Sometimes it's good for pastors. I can speak for myself, to go

back and to remember that day where God called you to gospel

ministry and to know that this is not some invention of your

own mind. This is not something that you

would have desired to do on your own.

But you know that you were commissioned specifically by God

to do this task. I can tell you 100% that if God

wouldn't have confirmed over and over and over to me that I am

called to do this, I would have quit a long time ago.

I tell people this quite frequently.

I know that God called me because every time I've thrown

in the towel, He always throws it back.

And I'm encouraged by his Spirit to get back into the arena and

continue on with the work that He has called me to do to

fulfill His Commission for my life, obeying God's calling.

But not only is he instructing Timothy to obey God's calling on

his life and fulfilling his Commission.

He's also telling him to offer yourself to God's campaign.

I want, I want you to see what he means here when he says what

he says again, using those terms, warlike imagery and

fighting. He says, I give you this

instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you

so that by following them you may fight the good fight.

He's encouraging Timothy to keep offering yourself to God's

campaign, to keep fighting the good fight.

Let me just explain to all of you who are here who have said

yes, we're ministers. You're a minister in your home,

you're a minister in this church, you're a minister in

your workplace. I hope you are ministers in all

of those areas. Let me remind you about the

campaign that we are to. Offer ourselves to it is the

good fight of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Let me make it ever so clear that this is a lasting campaign.

It will not end until the King of Kings and Lord of Lords comes

and finally brings peace. This is the good fight.

It's a war. It's not simply a small,

insignificant, fleeting battle. We don't fight a little battle

and then we're done and then we go home and we enjoy the spoils

of that battle. No, we fight an entire lifetime

and we spend our entire life ministering for the gospel and

the Lord who gave himself for us.

And then and only then when that is over, we go before him.

And with him we enjoy eternal reward because we fought the

good fight faithfully. And so please, so that you can

understand this, know what Paul is not saying.

He's not saying Timothy this is a Sprint.

He's saying, Timothy, this is a marathon and I want you to fight

the good fight. I have seen many people claim to

be called to ministry to Sprint out of the gate very quickly,

the blast out of the blocks like they're they were on fire in

their rear end, only to face the first obstacle in their ministry

and to turn back and to throw into the towel.

Never ever participate in ministry again.

They were sprinters. Paul is not calling Timothy to

be a sprinter. He's saying Timothy, this is a

marathon. The good fight is a lasting

fight and it will last an entire lifetime.

Please know that many people forget that in ministry, don't

they? They fight momentarily until.

If things get rough till they have to endure, persevere

through something. No church.

Please understand we are to offer ourselves to God's

campaign completely. This is a war that will last our

entire lifetime. Paul here thinking about his son

in the ministry and in the faith, and he wants him to

finish well. He doesn't want him just to

blast out of the blocks and have a good start.

I've seen lots of people at the Olympics blow out of the blocks

and have a great start, only to lose because they didn't.

Endure to the end, he's saying. I don't want that.

You know. That was Paul's objective in his

life too. That's why at the end of his

life he could say this. He says in Second Timothy

2 Timothy 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4 verse seven, he says I have fought the good fight.

At the end of his race, I've fought the good fight, I've

finished the race, I've kept the faith and he goes on, he says.

And now because of this, there is a reward in heaven that's

kept for me. I'm going to receive that

Stefano's crown, that Victor's crown, because I truly endured

and fought in God's campaign my entire life.

This campaign requires that a lifelong commitment to ministry

to devote every ounce of energy that you have to the Lord Jesus

Christ for every single second that you were blessed with on

this earth. I have in my lifetime witnessed

many who claim to be called by God only to quit and then never

return. I simply say this to them.

You were never called because when God calls us, he calls us

to fight the good fight all of our days.

It's a lasting campaign, acquiring A lasting commitment.

Paul had witnessed those in his lifetime that had walked away as

well. In fact, he names them by name

here in this text. He names Hymenaeus and

Alexander, and he's going to call them by name.

For all you people who say, well, you shouldn't call false

teachers and false prophets and heretics by name, well, you take

that up with the apostle Paul. He wanted people to know who

they really were. He doesn't mean any ill will

toward them. He grieves for their souls.

He hates it. He he's once served the Lord

alongside of them, potentially even leading some of them to

Christ. Now he has to say that they've

defected from the faith. That's the whole reason for this

charge. He doesn't want Timothy to

defect from the faith. So he's reminding him to obey

God's calling and to offer yourself to God's campaign

lifetime. Not being a quitter, not

retreating, not. Surrendering, not retiring, and

you're in this for the long haul.

As as many days as God has you on this earth, you are in the

ministry. Count the cost, know what was

said about you, and then live it.

Unlike Hymenaeus and Alexander, unlike by leaders who we see in

Second Timothy chapter 2 verses 17 and 18.

2 Timothy 2:17

It says he's wandered away from the truth.

He had apostatized once serving the Lord, professing faith in

Christ. What about Dimas, Paul's friend,

Second Timothy, chapter 4, verse 10, where Paul says for Demas,

2 Timothy 4:10

because he loved this world, has deserted me, he's deserted me

and he's gone to Thessalonica, he's left me, he's left me

stranded, he's left the ministry, and it's all because

he loved this. World.

How don't you know that? Grieve the heart of Paul, those

close associates. When you look at the life of

Demas, every time you see him prior to this, he's serving

alongside of the Apostle Paul. Now he's abandoning the faith

because he loves the world. Is that not what scripture says?

If you love the world, the love of the Father is not in you.

Paul had to realize that this demons who had been there

serving alongside of him was no different than Judas who served

alongside of Jesus in the 11. He was never truly saved, but

all he had was a love for the world, not a true love for God.

He speaks then of a jealous and homogeneous and there in second

Timothy chapter one. It says about these two that

with them, many others in Asia deserted Paul and the gospel

there in chapter 2, second Timothy, chapter one, verse 15.

So Paul knew what it was like to have his companions who would

desert him and ultimately desert Christ and the gospel.

Paul didn't want this for Timothy.

He wanted Timothy to fulfill his calling, never forgetting that

he was called by God and it was the will of God as revealed by

the Word of God through the prophets that he was to do that

which God had commissioned him to do.

Never quitting, never wondering, never retiring, ever becoming

lazy and apathetic, but enduring in the good fight all of his

days. So he first tells him there in

verse 18, fulfill your Commission.

Again, if we want to make it short, let's just call it the

work. Here's the work.

You fulfill your Commission, the work that has been given to you

by God. Secondly, faithfully contend.

His charge to Timothy was faithfully contend.

This is the warfare. He's already told him to fight

the good fight. Now he's going to tell him how

to do this. How do you engage in this war?

How do you engage in this fight? He says in 19.

The first part. Holding on to faith and a good

conscience, holding on to faith and a good conscience, telling

him exactly how he is to do this.

Pay attention to this because we're going to see that

Hymenaeus and Alexander did the opposite of this.

Paul's going to make that clear. So he's going to war and Timothy

of some important things in fighting this war.

The warfare consists of holding on to faith better put holding

on to the faith first he begins with teaching him to persevere

in faith. Hebrews chapter 12 one the

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

author of Hebrews, who many happen to think is the apostle

Paul, though there's no clear. Evidence of that, I would

probably lean that way in most everything that I read there.

We can't say it for sure, he says There in Hebrews chapter 12

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

he says therefore. Since we are surrounded by a

great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that

hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run

with perseverance the race marked out for us.

Here again, talking about that marathon that has been marked

out for the servants of Christ to hold on to the faith and to

persevere in the faith no matter what we face.

Looking back at all the witnesses right there in Hebrews

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

Chapter 11, he gives witness after witness after witness who

persevered in faith and he says, look back on them and you

persevere just the same. Here he's telling Timothy hold

on to the faith just as you've been instructed, trusting Christ

instead of what you see. There have been many a man

claimed to be called to ministry only to quit the ministry

because he took his eyes off of Jesus and he put his eyes on

other things. If you're ministering for the

Lord, I would encourage you to do this.

Fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and the perfector of your

faith. Don't look to anyone or at

anyone or anything else as in ministering for the Lord Jesus

Christ. In this war that we're in, there

is a constant, constant attack that is trying to cause you to

be discouraged so that you can't bring God glory through the

ministry that He has given to you.

Keep your eyes fixed on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Don't be of those who shrink back and are destroyed.

That's what the author of Hebrews says.

In Hebrews chapter 10, verse 39, he says, but we do not belong to

Hebrews 10:39

those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have

faith and are saved. If a person has faith, Let me

make this very clear. You're saved because the faith

has you. And so you were holding on to

that which is holding on to you. We know that that is Christ and

faith in Christ and Christ alone.

That is the one true faith. Paul reminding Timothy, hold on

to that faith. Hold on to the faith that you

once professed. Don't give in to the temptations

of focusing on anything else other than Christ, trusting in

God's promises even over any human perception, doing us take

God at His word, because aren't there things that we can

perceive that will get us discouraged and disillusioned

very quickly in ministry and in life?

Amen. I'll go ahead and admit that

you're still trying to figure out if you're a minister or not.

But in ministering to others, whether that's to your wife or

to your kids or to your husband, whether it's pastoring a church,

there are many things that try to cause you to get your eyes

off of God in His Word. And sometimes if we continue to

look with just our human perception, we'll find ourselves

discouraged, depressed. Instead, what we're to do is

we're to take God at His Word. Why don't you know that all of

His promises are yes and Amen in Christ Jesus?

That the God who's called you to ministry and promised to sustain

you with His power through His Spirit is faithful to do

everything that he has promised to do.

That's why he wants Timothy to look back.

Remember the promises that were spoken over to you from God

through the prophets. Hold on to these thing.

Continue to fight the fight, holding on to the faith.

Persevering in that faith because God is faithful.

Paul knew this and he understood this because he writes this to

Titus and Titus chapter 1 and another one of the pastoral

Titus 1 · chapter mention

epistles that we will be covering in our study.

He says this in verse 1 of chapter 1.

Paul is servant of God and an apostle of Christ Jesus to

further the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth

that leads to godliness in the hope of eternal life, which God,

who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time.

I find it interesting there that he made sure that Titus knows

that God does not lie, that everything that he has spoken

will come to pass, just as he has said that it would even

eternal life for those who by faith trust in Christ.

So Paul teaching Timothy to hold on to the faith, never to

regress, but the clinging to it as the only hope that any of us

have hold on to the faith. Not only does he want him to

persevere in the faith as he holds on to it, he also wants

him to contend for the faith, to contend, to literally fight for

the faith. The gospel of the Lord Jesus

Christ, the one true faith, just as scripture says, 1 Lord, 1

faith, one baptism. He says Timothy, fight for this.

As you are warring in the good fight.

Don't forget what you are contending for.

You're not contending for your reputation, your well-being,

your own success. You are contending for the

gospel of Jesus Christ. Jude writes to the church and

Jude, he says in verse three there dear with friends,

although I was very eager to write you about the salvation we

share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the

faith that was once for all entrusted to God's holy people

to contend for the faith. Why?

Because the true faith was coming under attack from false

teachers who had infiltrated the church.

Paul is reminding Timothy, you are called and you are

commissioned to faithfully contend for this faith, the

fight against everyone and everything that comes against

the gospel. Philippians chapter one, verse

27. Paul says, whatever happens,

conduct yourself in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.

And then whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my

absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit

striving together as one for the faith of the gospel.

It is God's will that the church and her ministers contend for

the faith, the one true gospel, fighting for that faith, all of

their days fighting for that faith and fighting for that

faith according to the Word of God, doing it just as the Word

of God has commanded us to do. So we look at this charge to

faithfully contend. He says faithfully contend as

you're holding on to the faith. And then he says this, having a

good conscience. Oh, this is important for

leaders because a leader cannot lead effectively beyond his

conscience, and if his conscience is good and his

conscience is clear, his leadership will be effective.

He says having a good conscience.

What does this mean? Well, it's what Paul was

striving for in his own ministry, as we see clearly in

Acts chapter 24 from his mouth. He says in verse 16 so I strive

Acts 24 · chapter mention

always to keep my conscience clear before God and man.

So when we talk about. Having a good conscience in this

fight that we are fighting, this war that we are in, this

campaign that we are enduring. We can't leave out the

importance of a clear conscience and first and foremost, a clear

conscience toward God, meaning that you are examining your life

constantly. Is there anything in my life

that is offensive to my God? Are there any of His commands

that I am breaking in Commission or omission?

Am I sinning in any way that is offensive to a holy God?

I want to confess those things, and I want to repent of those

things. Why?

So that my conscience will be clear.

It's hard for you to minister if your conscience isn't clear.

Why? Because if your conscience isn't

clear the whole time you're trying to lead others, you feel

like a hypocrite and the enemy is right there whispering to

you, you hypocrite. How can you minister to others

when you can't get this area of your life in order?

And so a clear conscience is very important.

Psalm 24, the psalmist said it like this.

And Psalm 24, Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord, who may

stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and

a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false

God. He is saying this, that the one

who really communes with God is the one who has not only clean

hands, but some of us are OK with just having clean hands,

aren't we? I'm not actively doing anything

sinful, but what are your motives that are going on in the

depths of your heart? Because he says, Who can ascend

the mountain or the hill of the Lord?

He who has clean hands and a pure heart.

What is he talking about? He's talking about a good

conscience, a clear conscience. You know why?

Because if your conscience isn't clear, you feel like you can't

even fellowship with God, don't you?

And so it's important that we see what Paul is telling Timothy

here. That is important as you fight

this war, this good fight of faith, that your conscience

toward God remains clear that everything you do, you test your

motives and you test your methods.

And you see, are those motives and are those methods pure when

I lay them next to the truth of the Word of God?

Are they pure when I lay them next to God's holy commands in

his Word? Are my motives pure and is my

conscience clean? We're talking here about a

person of conviction. Oh, some of you remember a time

where we would talk about people and we would refer to them as

God fearing people of conviction.

You know what you were saying? These people are concerned with

having a clear conscience. They want to do right according

to what the word of God says, and they want to have a clear

conscience toward God, pure in their motives, pure in their

methods, living life in obedience to what God has

commanded. There's a second aspect to that

as prescribed by Paul and what he says.

He wants his conscience to be clean there in Acts chapter 24

Acts 24 · chapter mention

before God and man. He not only wants a clear

conscience toward God, he wants to be right with his fellow

brothers. He wants to be right with his

neighbors. He wants to keep a pure

testimony in the eyes of men. He wants to do right by others.

He wants to treat them. How a gospel minister ought to

treat people. He wants to show them kindness

and gentleness and love and mercy.

He wants to display the fruit of the Spirit in his life and all

of his dealings with man. And it's very important.

It's very important because man is not like God.

God is omniscient. He knows everything.

He knows if your conscience is truly clean before him, if you

have a good conscience toward him, and your motives and your

means toward him are all OK. God knows that.

But man can only go by what he actually sees.

We're required not only to have a good conscience before a holy

God, we are also called to have a good conscience and a clean

conscience before man. Treating them right, doing right

to them, living out what Jesus tells us to do in Luke chapter

Luke 6:31

6, verse 31, where He says do to others as you would have them do

to you. You want to have a clean and a

clear conscience toward men. Do what Jesus said in regard to

men. Treat your neighbor how you want

to be treated. I know some of you would say

that's old fashioned. That's something that my grandma

used to say or my grandma used to teach.

Mine did too, and I'm so thankful for that.

That's probably the first Bible lesson that I ever learned as a

child to do to others how I want them to do to me, to treat

people the way that I want to be treated.

I can remember it like it was yesterday.

Me and my cousin, who we love one another, we were like

brothers. We would have our spats from

time to time punch each other in the nose.

That's just what boys do. Moms don't freak out about it.

They'll be friends in a minute. But I remember getting a fight

with my cousin, and my grandma, being the Christian woman that

she was, use this as an opportunity to teach me the

principles of the Word of God and what Jesus Christ himself

taught. Because my instinct was if

somebody punches me in the nose, what, I'm going to punch them

back in the nose. Now, if you've ever been punched

in the nose, I hope that you haven't.

I can't say that about myself. I can't say that I have not

received. Punches in the nose and I have

not given them. If you've ever been hit in the

nose, it hurts. I don't care how big you are, it

hurts. Me and my cousin had a spat.

He'd punched me in the nose. Of course I went in there with

bloody nose, screaming and hollering as soon as the blood

was stopped. You know what I wanted to do?

Go punch him back in the nose. My grandma used it as an

opportunity. Use it as an opportunity to say,

hey, do you like getting punched in the nose?

Well, no, I don't like getting punched in the nose.

It hurts and I'm bleeding all over the place.

Well, the Lord said to do unto others as you would have them do

unto you. My grandmother didn't make me

not go in there and punch my cousin in the nose.

She simply taught me what the Lord Jesus taught in this word

and in his ministry on this earth.

And you know what? My whole attitude toward my

cousin changed. I, I really just wanted to be

his friend. I wanted to get along.

You know what? I don't want him punching me in

the nose. And so you know what?

I'm not going to punch him back in the nose.

We went in there, we let bygones be bygones.

And the next thing you know, we were playing with Ninja Turtles

in the Dirt, GI Joe or something like that.

That's why I say all that to say that the Lord has given us

insight into doing right unto others.

Do to others as you would have them do unto you.

Want to have a good conscience toward men?

Treat them the way that you want to be treated.

That's not an old fashioned or outdated message.

It's just something that's not being preached from the pulpits

in this country any longer. That's what Jesus Christ

preached. Treat people the way you want to

be treated. You want a company?

Treat your employees the way you would want to be treated as an

employee. If you contract out to people,

treat that customer the way that you would want people to treat

you if you were a customer. You want your wife to be nice to

you. Talk nicely to your wife.

You. Want to be a friend?

Have friends. Be a friend to others.

It's as simple do to others as you would have them do to you.

That'll allow you to have a clear conscience toward others

doing what's right before men. It's important that we do this.

Why? Because we have a testimony to

guard, don't we? Paul's definitely thinking about

this. He wants Timothy to guard the

testimony that which he has been entrusted with, the testimony of

the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter wanted the same.

If you remember when we were studying in first Peter, he said

it like this in chapter 2, verse 12.

He said Live such good lives among the pagans that though

they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and

glorify God on the day he visits us.

He says live such good lives among the pagans.

Have your conscience so cleared toward even the unbelievers that

even though they want to talk bad about you, they can't talk

bad about you, and in the end they'll actually see Christ in

you. What a testimony.

That is, Paul says, have a good conscience as you fight this

fight, as you endure this war, have a clear conscience toward

God and clear conscience toward others.

All knew that holding on to the true faith and a clear

conscience was the only possible way to be an effective minister

for the long haul. I say that to all of you.

Hopefully you want to be effective minister for the long

haul, that you realize you have signed up for a lasting

campaign. In that lasting campaign.

I hope your desire is to be effective for the long haul.

It's sad to see so many times going back to the fact that

parents are ministers. Parents will minister to their

children, bringing them up in the church, teaching them even

about Christ and the Scriptures. Then, as those children grow up

and they leave the house, the parents.

For some reason they forget that they're called to endure in that

ministry called marriage and even up in years they'll

divorce, causing great confusion to their grown children.

Why wouldn't my parents who've been married 40 or 50 years get

a divorce? This is the most foolish thing I

have ever seen. Now it's very common in our days

if you haven't looked around. And noticed why is that?

Because they didn't endure the long haul.

You know what? All of my days as a husband, I

have a duty to minister to my wife.

In all of her days she has a duty to minister to me and she

has to be clear in her conscience and ministering to me

in light of God and in light of me and I must do the same.

Am I ministering to my wife in a way?

That it pleases God and am I ministering to a wife and in a

way that it pleases my wife? Well, you thought ministry was

just for the pastors, just for the elders.

Oh, how you were sadly mistaken. What would happen when the

church actually realized that we're all ministers, we all have

duty and responsibility and the God-given callings that we have

on our lives, we actually would take the word of God and we hear

the charge that's being given here to ministers and that we

would faithfully contend in this warfare, holding on to faith,

having a good conscience. Paul wants this for young

Timothy. He wants this for the church at

Ephesus who Timothy would be leading and he makes that very

clear. Thirdly, you see the fight

against catastrophe is the next charge, the next aspect and

element of the charge that he's giving Timothy.

We could call this the warning. So we've seen Paul make it very

clear that Timothy, there's work to be done.

You're called. It has been confirmed by the

prophets when we laid our hands upon you at your ordination and

you are to faithfully contend there is a warfare that is going

on. There's a war for you to be

involved in a campaign that's never going to cease.

There's also a warning that one exists.

The fight against catastrophe that could happen.

He says in 19 B. Some have rejected these and

still have shipwrecked their faith.

What are these? These are what the faith and a

good conscience, he says. Some have rejected those things.

They didn't listen to me. They didn't adhere to my

teaching. They didn't hear my warnings and

so have shipwrecked their faith. And he's going to name them, he

says. Among them are Hymenaeus and

Alexander. These are real people that

existed in the church, he says, whom I have handed over to Satan

to be taught not. To blasphemy.

What an interesting statement. It's a kind of confusing

statement for the American church because what you've done

inadvertently, as you put the Lord and Satan on the same

plane, you've actually made them Co equals and they're just

fighting this war and hopefully the good side wins.

No, Satan is under the sovereign control of the Lord God

Almighty, always has been. Always will be.

And so when we see things like that, don't let those things

startle you. We'll explain them thoroughly so

that you know what he's saying. Well, what Paul is doing here in

this charge is he's teaching Timothy how to avoid catastrophe

in the faith, what he calls a shipwrecked faith.

He's saying, I want you to avoid any discipline or judgment that

would come from God through the power of Satan.

You say what? Yes, Satan is not above God.

Satan must have submit to God in every aspect and he is not able

to do anything unless a sovereign God decrees it and

allows it. So he doesn't want Timothy to

fall into this. Trap as Hymenaeus and Alexander

had. This is not something new to the

Apostle Paul or to what he taught.

In fact, in First Corinthians we see this exact same thing in

chapter 5 in the first verse where he's dealing with a case

of incest inside of the Corinthian church.

As if orgies and sexual immorality weren't enough and

eating food sacrificed to idols, now we have in the Corinthian

church incest. He says in verse 5 it's actually

reported that there is sexual immorality among you and of the

kind even the pagans do not tolerate.

A man is sleeping with his father's wife.

That would be his stepmother. If you're following along, he

says, and you are proud, he said you're OK with it.

Shouldn't you rather have gone into mourning and have put out

of your fellowship the man who has been doing this?

He said. Shouldn't you be grieving for

his soul, putting him out of fellowship for the purpose of

potential repentance and restoration?

He goes and he says, for my part, even though I am not

physically present, I am with you in spirit as one who is

present with you in this way. I have already passed judgment

in the name of our Lord Jesus on the one who has been doing this.

Now for all you people who like to throw out, judge not lest you

be judged. Paul says I've already passed

judgment on this man. What's the difference?

He's passing judgment on someone who.

Professes to be a Christian. He's already passed judgment on

him. He says, So when you are

assembled, and I'm with you in spirit, in the power of our

Lord, Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan for the

destruction of the flesh so that his spirit may be saved on the

day of the Lord. What is he saying?

He's saying turn him over to Satan and what we will find out

when he's turned over to Satan and he suffers that suffering

and that persecution that comes from the evil. 1 If he is a true

believer, he will tuck his tail and he will run to the feet of

the cross in repentance immediately.

If he is not, he will continue on his way and his apostasy and

he will confirm that he is apostate and never really knew

Christ at all. So that's the same thing that

he's saying here, that Hap is happening to Hymenaeus and

Alexander. But what he's telling Timothy is

he's saying this. I don't want this to happen to

you. Hold on to the faith and hold on

to a good conscience so that it doesn't happen to you.

Another instance of it. Satan being used by a sovereign

God to accomplish his sovereign will as the apostle Paul in his

life as an apostle. In Second Corinthians chapter 12

2 Corinthians 12:7

verse 7 Paul says this. He says to keep me from becoming

conceited because of the these. These surpassing great

revelations there was giving me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger

of Satan to torment me. Even the apostle Paul says that

I have a thorn that is a messenger of Satan that is

constantly tormenting me. Now, there are theologians who

have argued about what this is for eons.

I'm not going to get into that today.

But what I can tell you is it is a thorn and it is because of a

messenger of Satan, God allowing this to happen and Paul coming

to this conclusion that God has allowed it to happen to keep him

humble. It is the Lord's continual

discipline in his life. Are you thankful for the Lord's

continual discipline in the life of the believer?

I'm thankful that if need be, He will send an agent of Satan to

torment me, to keep me humble, so that I will be all that

Christ wants me to be, so that I will persevere and I will hold

on to the faith. And I will have a clear

conscience before God and man, and I will finish the race

faithfully. Luke chapter 22 The Lord himself

Luke 22 · chapter mention

testifying now God sovereignly uses Satan to achieve the

purposes and the will of God. Luke 22 we see the Lord say to

Simon Peter. He says in verse 31, Simon,

Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat, but I have.

Prayed for you Simon, that your faith may not fail and when you

have turned back, strengthen your brothers.

I love how the Lord words that there He lets him know you're

the real deal. You're the real deal because

you're going to turn back now. Satan is going to sift all of

you as wheat. Now in that sifting, please

understand this. Judas was sifted out as an

apostate, not a true believer, but he lets Peter know on the

front end. Peter, you're not those who

shrink back and are destroyed. You are those who believe and

who are saved. And when you come back, you're

coming back. Strengthen your brothers.

He's saying this. I'm going to let Satan do this

to you. But there is a greater good and

there is a greater cause. Why?

Because when Satan is unleashed, he's going to be used by God to

reveal things. What did he do in this

situation? He revealed that Peter was a

true follower of Christ. He revealed that Judas was not

in the lives of Hymenaeus and Alexander.

Paul says I'm going to turn them over to Satan to be taught not

to blasphemy. Does Paul know anything about

blaspheming? Yes, he does.

He was once a blasphemer, and you know what?

Through his blasphemy, he realized how offensive to God he

really had been. And God used that in his life to

bring him to Christ. And So what Paul is wishing for

Hymenaeus and Alexander is not I'll will toward them.

You know what he's. Wishing that they come to

repentance and they return to the Lord, and that it reveals

that they truly are believers who have just drifted off into

error and that they're not really apostate as Judas was

only pretending, only trying to deceive people.

Not a true believer at all. So why do I tell you all of

these things? I want you to understand what

Paul is saying when he says in verse twenty.

Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I am, whom I

have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blasphemy.

Why is this important in the context of him writing to

Timothy? He doesn't want Timothy to fall

into the same trap or have to face the same things.

Paul doesn't want Timothy or anyone else for that matter, to

suffer the same fate. So what is he doing?

He's teaching him how to keep this catastrophe from happening,

how to guard your yourself against a shipwrecked faith.

Now, if anyone knows anything about shipwrecks, the apostle

Paul, who was in multiple shipwrecks, would understand

about shipwrecks. Paul knew this.

Once a ship runs aground, it's useless.

It's just going to sit there and it's going to get battered and

the safest thing for us to do is try to get in a lifeboat and try

to get the Malta as fast as we can because when as this as this

ship crashes against the rocks and against the waves, we are.

All but dead. So he understands when he uses

the term shipwreck what it means to be shipwrecked, and he's

using it as a metaphor to describe the faith of Hymenaeus

and Alexander. And he doesn't want Timothy to

shipwreck his faith as they have.

I'll see the concern of the father here.

You know a good father, when he sees a young person throwing

their life away, he doesn't act like that person's not throwing

his or her life away. He takes his teenage kids out of

the same age, you say. You see little Johnny over

there. He's gotten into drugs, he's

gotten into alcohol. He's doing some pretty stupid

stuff. Don't fall into that trap

because he's headed down a dangerous Rd.

That's what a good father is going to do for a son.

Here we see Paul as that good father to his son Timothy,

saying don't fall into this catastrophe.

It's dangerous, but how would one fall into that?

As Hymenaeus and Alexander fell, he's teaching Timothy to refuse

satanic doctrines. Hymenaeus and Alexander fell

into false doctrine. They fell into unsound teaching

and began to teach these things, therefore shipwrecking their

faith. He doesn't want Timothy to fall

into these satanic doctrines. He said, well, pastor, that's

kind of harsh. Do you really think that false

doctrine is satanic? Yes, I do.

Not only do I think that, but Paul confirms that in fact, in a

few chapters over in chapter 4, this is exactly what he says

about false teaching and false doctrine.

He says in chapter 4 verse one the spirit clearly says that in

the later times some will abandoned the faith and follow

deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.

Paul is confirming there that the heresies that we see that

are being taught by these false teachers in this church and even

in our day, those are doctrines of demons that they are

teaching. Anything that contradicts true

orthodox Christianity and is heretical is a doctrine of

demons. They're demonically designed to

lead you not toward Christ, but to lead you away from Christ.

That's the whole point of them. And what he's saying is because

Hymenaeus and Alexander didn't guard themselves and contend for

thee faith. Having a good conscience,

they've been attacked and they've now fallen to the

satanic doctrines. They are involved in heresy.

And he's warning Timothy, don't embrace unsound doctrine or you

will suffer the same fate as Hymenaeus and Alexander.

They turned from the true faith. They followed false teachings.

They gave in to the desires of their flesh.

They refused to hold on to the one true faith that in Jesus

Christ. And he's letting Timothy know

this. You're not above it.

You're not above it. Oh, let's not forget that there

once was a Judas who served alongside of the very disciples

and apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ, who at one time seemed

as if he was doing all the right things, but he had the wrong

heart. He was an unbeliever only

pretending. Paul doesn't want to assume.

That Timothy is going to make it without any encouragement to

hold on to the true faith. And so we use this Hymenaeus and

Alexander as an example for him to avoid the catastrophe that

could potentially await him. The good leader will always do

that, won't they? They'll warn those who they are

ministering to about the dangers that are out there.

I'm thankful on Thursday nights we as men here at Key Life

Fellowship have embarked on a journey through just exploring

heresy. Heresies that are ancient in

nature, but that continue to thrive even in the church today.

And boy, how enlightening that is.

Why do we do that? It's not to pick on the

heretics. We do that so that you will be

equipped to fight the good fight and to stay the course and to

keep the faith and to finish the race.

That's what Paul wants for Timothy here.

He wants him to refuse satanic doctrines, but also to resist

sinful desires. Simonnaeus and Alexander, LED

away by these and enticed by these doctrines of demons,

quickly fell to the desires of their sinful nature.

Perhaps they wanted to be somebody they embraced teaching

that maybe caused other people to think that they had some kind

of unique knowledge or wisdom. Well, even in this day that Paul

is addressing the church, there was the early signs of

Gnosticism. Perhaps Hymenaeus and Alexander

received some knowledge that nobody else had and they were

somehow trying to impress people so that they would they would

see them as, as spiritual leaders, Follow them.

Instead of following the apostle Paul and the true gospel, he's

telling Timothy you got to resist these sinful desires, to

intentionally fight against doing anything that would

violate your conscience, anything that would bring

reproach upon your ministry or upon your life so that you can

be fully effective. In your work for Christ, he's

simply telling Timothy to strive to keep your conscience clear

before God and before man. As you fight in this war, do it

faithfully so that you don't wreck your faith.

Become shipwrecked like Hymenaeus in Alexander.

He's saying discipline yourself. Discipline yourself to resist,

mortify the flesh and all the desires to be accepted by man,

to be popular in the thoughts of man.

Stay true to sound doctrine and sound teaching.

Hold on to the one true faith, the one true gospel.

Do it with a clear and a good conscience, bringing glory to

God. Paul knew that Timothy wasn't

above it. Just as I'm not above it.

Just as you're not above, just as you're not above, just as any

of us are not above it. Did you know Paul himself knew

that he wasn't above it as well. Paul never wanted to become an

apostate shipwreck his faith become the laughingstock of

Christianity. In fact, he says in First

1 Corinthians 9:27

Corinthians Chapter 9 verse 27, he says no.

Instead of giving in to the desires of my flesh, he said no.

I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave, so that after

I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified

for the prize. You know what he did?

He took his ministry seriously. He said I'm going to fight even.

If I if I have to. Fight against myself.

He's metaphorically speaking here so that we understand the

picture. He is beating his self into

subjection. He is disciplining his self so

that he does not become a castaway disqualified, so that

his faith is not shipwrecked like that of Hymenaeus and

Alexander. And Paul doesn't think he's

above it, and he knows that Timothy is not above it.

And he's writing to him and he's encouraging him and he's

charging him to stay true. Refuse Satanic doctrine.

Resist your sinful desires and be a faithful minister of the

gospel of Jesus Christ. Unlike those who have defected,

namely Hymenaeus and Alexander, so Paul had seen the shipwrecked

faith of others and he cared so much about Timothy that he was

not going to let him go. Unwarned Church, as your pastor,

I love you so much that I'm not going to let you go.

Unwarned, Be warned. So that you.

Don't follow in the footsteps of Hymenaeus and Alexander.

Guard yourself against satanic doctrines.

Resist your sinful desires as you minister to others and as

you're used by God for His glory and for the gospel.

Paul wanted to charge Timothy and remind him that until this

life is over, we're all in danger.

We're all in danger, humanly speaking, of a shipwrecked

faith. Don't shipwreck your faith.

Prove that you are a true believer.

Don't be like the American church.

Or they based everything on a profession.

Yeah, At one time they professed to be a believer.

So I think since they've passed, they're in heaven.

Yeah, but they lived like hell their entire life.

And they actually defected from faith in Jesus Christ and said

they didn't believe. But yeah, When they were seven,

though, they said they did. Yeah.

But when they were 21 and they deconstructed from the faith and

they said I no longer believe, they proved that they never

believed. Perseverance is the mark of a

true believer. Perseverance is the mark of the

true minister. He who endures to the end

according to the Lord Jesus will be saved.

Those who do not endure to the end will prove that they are

apostate. Paul saying, Timothy, I don't

want to have to hand you over to Satan to see what you really

are. Continue to show what you really

are so that that doesn't happen. A man of faith and a good

conscience, a faithful minister of the gospel.

So what does this mean to us taking a 2000 year old letter

that an apostle writes to a pastor?

How can this help us in our day? There's a lesson here for all

ministers. By your own admission, you all

realize that if you're in Christ, you are a minister.

I pray that you heed the warning and see the charge that has been

laid out for us today. You're ministering to someone.

Are you ministering well? Are you ministering according to

the word of God? All here holding Timothy

accountable by giving him this charge and 2000 years later that

same charge holding us accountable.

I'm thankful for it. I don't want to be turned over

to Satan. Find out who I am.

I want to fight the good fight, as Paul said.

I want to finish my course. I want to keep the faith at the

end of this war. I want to hear those words.

Well done, that good and faithful servant.

Let that mean something to all of you who claim to be servants

of Christ. That should be our objective.

That should be our motivation. That should be our eternal goal

to the unbeliever. Before you can ever minister to

anyone, you must surrender to the ministry of Jesus Christ.

That was a ministry of reconciliation according to what

the the apostle Paul taught. What do I mean by that?

It's Jesus Christ who came with the ministry of reconciliation.

Is he who came to this earth and who offered himself as a

sacrifice on a cross. Paying the debt that we as

sinners owe so that we could then be reconciled to God.

He who knew no sin became sin so that we might become the

righteousness of God. Meaning this, that those who

believe in Jesus Christ, who trust in His sacrifice of

atonement as the only hope that they have for the forgiveness of

sin, who surrendered to him as Lord and Savior, repenting of

their sin and their unbelief, and turning by faith to Jesus

Christ. Only those can be reconciled to

God. It is the ministry of Jesus

Christ, and until you are reconciled to God through the

ministry of Christ, you can't minister to anyone else.

If you're an unbeliever here today and you're a husband, you

can't rightfully minister to your wife.

If you're a wife, you can't rightfully minister to your

husband, fathers, mothers, you can't minister to your children.

Dad, you can't lead your family effectively.

Why? You've not yet been born again.

You've not yet been reconciled to God through the ministry of

Jesus Christ. And until Jesus ministers to you

personally, and I pray that He will today, I pray that He opens

your eyes to the fact that you are a Sinner and you are in

desperate need of a Savior. And that that Savior came and he

died on a cross outside of Jerusalem by His own will.

And He gave himself for all who will believe and trust in him.

He was buried. And on the third day he rose

again, showing that He is the giver and the sustainer of life,

and that He can give new and eternal life to all who trust in

Him. I pray today that Jesus would

show himself to you in that way, causing you to desperately cry

out to Him in humility, calling on the name of Jesus.

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, the Bible

says they shall be saved. Call on Jesus today and be

saved. Be reconciled unto God, and then

and then and only then be the minister that Christ desires for

you to be. Let's pray together.

Father, in the name of Jesus, we thank you for your word.

We thank you for the challenge. We thank you for the charge.

We thank you for the encouragement and the insight.

Or let us not be like Hymenaeus and Alexander.

Let us not shipwreck our faith, but let us do what we have been

instructed in Your Word to do today.

Let us fulfill the Commission and the calling that you have on

our lives as ministers by the power of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Let us faithfully content as we fight this war all of our days.

Lord, let us be aware and to fight against the catastrophe

that potentially awaits us. Lord, let us fight against sound

doctrine, satanic and demonic schemes.

Let us resist the sinful desires of our own flesh so that we can

hold on to the faith with a good conscience and bring you glory.

As we ministered others. We pray and we ask these things

in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

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