Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] As news broke that Dolly Parton had died of cancer, social media was flooded with quotes and interview clips of Parton that advertised her self professed Christian faith.
[00:00:12] Dolly's sister Stella also gave tribute to her sister.
[00:00:16] She said, quote, my big sister Dolly got her wings this past Tuesday.
[00:00:21] Might need to send a letter in the mail and some Bible verses about that.
[00:00:27] Anyway, Stella goes on to say, if anyone gets to heaven, I'm sure she made it right on time.
[00:00:32] I know she's showing up big time and all her sparkles and shine, that was my sister's way.
[00:00:38] She left the world a better place by being in it.
[00:00:41] So let's follow her example.
[00:00:47] So let's follow her example.
[00:00:52] Well, it's that last phrase that has stirred up some conflicting opinions and sparks of controversy online.
[00:01:02] That's because many people knew who Dolly Parton was. But not everyone had the same response to her self professed Christian faith.
[00:01:11] For some, they mourned her death as one they viewed as a talented Christian whose acceptance and affirmation of those who live a gay or lesbian lifestyle gain the applause of many.
[00:01:24] One article I read actually quotes a lesbian who claims to be a Christian.
[00:01:30] She said the following quote, Dolly's approach to solidarity was inspiring for me as a young queer Christian, a queer Christian girl realizing I was gay, said Sierra Jones, a 32 year old workplace consultant from Oakland, California.
[00:01:47] She goes on to say, quote, for queer Christians, experiencing another queer Christian or another queer affirming person that is Christian is important to your journey.
[00:01:57] Dolly for me was one of those lights.
[00:02:03] Now, I'm not here to be an advocate or an opponent of whether or not Dolly was born again and in heaven today.
[00:02:13] I will leave that to everyone else in their commentary to work out.
[00:02:18] I tend to focus on the people in front of me, first myself, then my family, then the church and the community I live in. Because the people who know me very well and the people I know very well, those are the kind of eyewitnesses that are going to really matter.
[00:02:36] Based off Dolly Parton's words made in public about homosexuality and those who engross themselves in that kind of lifestyle without repentance and based off her other immoral choices made throughout her life, like modeling for Playboy.
[00:02:51] As those who believe the Bible, we should at the very least pump the brakes in calling her an example to follow.
[00:03:02] But the death of Dolly Parton and the various reactions people have towards her passing isn't totally uncommon either.
[00:03:12] There are famous people in Hollywood who call themselves Christians that we should also pump the brakes on. Whether or not it's true.
[00:03:22] In fact, let's just pick on our own tribe.
[00:03:24] There are well known, reputable, even Reformed Baptist ministries and ministers that have seen leaders and preachers fall into immorality and disqualification from ministry in recent years and, and in fact in recent weeks.
[00:03:41] And there are people in your life and in mine, possibly in this very community, maybe you're even here this morning, whose self professed faith is seriously called into question.
[00:03:54] Whether that's by what they say, by what they teach or how they live their self professed faith should make us all pump the brakes on whether we should follow them as an example.
[00:04:07] And it leads Christians like us who genuinely want to grow, we want to learn, we want to live the life God's called us to live in Christ.
[00:04:15] Friends, we're left wondering whose teaching should I listen to? Whose example should I follow?
[00:04:23] Friends, this is what we are doing in Christian discipleship.
[00:04:27] One Christian helping another Christian follow Jesus.
[00:04:32] And during the first century, a young man named Timothy was given example. He was given a mentor to learn from and imitate.
[00:04:40] And we will be looking this morning in the first letter that a man named Paul writes to Timothy and what Timothy was to learn and then replicate to others. So if you have a copy of God's Word, please open your Bibles to the New Testament Letter of First Timothy, First Timothy Chapter 1. If you're using one of the Pew Bibles or chairback Bibles provided, you can find that on page 1177, first Timothy chapter one.
[00:05:09] Now this morning we begin a new sermon series in first Timothy and it will go on, Lord willing, for several months this fall.
[00:05:15] First Timothy is known as one of the Pastoral epistles of the New Testament, Second Timothy and Titus being the other two. Why are they called Pastoral Epistles? Well, it kind of gives it away. There are letters that contain content instructions, the blueprint that will speak to the responsibilities and duties of a pastor.
[00:05:36] And it will also contain within it how sound doctrine, how healthy teaching from God's Word is to produce Godly lives in the lives of God's people.
[00:05:50] And so if you recall all three of these letters together, this is really Paul's discipling letters to two men he trained personally, Titus and Timothy. Now, if you've been a member of this church for a while, we've actually covered Titus and 2 Timothy. In fall of 2021, we covered the book of Titus. And then in fall of 2023 we covered second Timothy.
[00:06:15] First Timothy is very similar to those letters, but it's more extensive. It's more exhaustive thinking about things like church leadership, church order and how that leaves an impact on examples for Christians to follow. And then back in 2024 and 2025, we covered the entire book of Acts. Amongst those 28 chapters in Acts, it covers about 30 years of church history. Starting there in Jerusalem around AD30ish, going all the way to the end of the book. Paul finds himself in house arrest in Rome around AD60ish.
[00:06:49] And during Paul's third missionary journey, which took place between AD53 and AD57, he made it to a place called Ephesus.
[00:06:57] Ephesus is located in Asia Minor, which is in modern day Western Turkey. And it's there in Acts 19 we see how Paul preached the Gospel there in Ephesus. Many were saved.
[00:07:09] In time though, Paul had to flee. A riot broke out, persecution was fierce, and so he had to flee the imminent danger.
[00:07:16] The church would there eventually grow and mature just like this one has grown and matured over the last six years. And then in Acts chapter 20, we see that it's been so established it has a plurality of elders, a plurality of pastors that will shepherd the flock in Ephesus long beyond Paul's tenure there.
[00:07:33] Paul then gives a moving speech to those elders to encourage them, to warn them, to instruct them that wolves may very well arise from their own congregation and lead disciples astray. And so he teaches them and warns them how to protect the flock well. So Paul leaves and he weeps on their shoulders. They hug Paul one last time because they know that they will most likely never see him again.
[00:07:59] However, after eventually making it to Rome at the end of the Book of Acts, he's under house arrest for about two years. And after being released for a brief time, Paul writes a few more letters before he will be imprisoned for the last time and killed.
[00:08:15] Some of those final letters are first and Second Timothy and Titus.
[00:08:20] This morning we begin First Timothy together.
[00:08:23] Let's find out what Paul had to say to a young man who had to fill some really big shoes.
[00:08:30] First Timothy, chapter one. I'll be reading the first two verses.
[00:08:35] Please follow with me.
[00:08:38] Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by command of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus our hope.
[00:08:49] To Timothy, my true child in the faith, grace, mercy and peace from God the Father in Christ Jesus our Lord.
[00:08:58] This is God's word.
[00:09:01] Now, if you're new to studying the Bible, maybe you're a new Christian or you're new to visiting this church and you're wondering what on earth are you going to do for the next hour? Yes, I go ahead and warn you. That's what we do here. We spend a long time looking at God's word because God's word's a treasure to fixate our attention to, not a newspaper to turn.
[00:09:21] And one of the things you need to do when you're studying the Bible, whether you are someone who is green behind the ears or you've been reading the Bible for years, it's good to be reminded of some basics of how to study the Bible. So it always begins with asking a question. Who wrote this letter or book? Who was it originally written to? And what are some of the circumstances going on that precipitated the letter to be written? So let's start off with the basic question. Who is the human author? Let's see if you guys can look down with me and say it together out loud. Verse one, who wrote this letter?
[00:09:56] Man, y' all are on it. I don't even need to preach this. You got says Paul right there, and he says he's an apostle of Christ Jesus.
[00:10:04] All right, now, who is the primary audience or the initial recipient of this letter? It says in verse two, let's say it together now. Who is it?
[00:10:13] Nailing it.
[00:10:15] Nailing it. That's right. To Timothy. And he calls him something, though. He calls him my true child.
[00:10:22] It could even be translated my genuine or legitimate son in the faith.
[00:10:28] But we know from the rest of the letter this wasn't simply Paul sending a private email to Timothy.
[00:10:37] This wasn't Paul taking out his smartphone and texting Timothy that really long text message that Timothy was just to take and keep to himself.
[00:10:49] No, Timothy was to receive the letter, digest the letter, understand the letter, and then teach what was in the letter to the congregation he pastored.
[00:11:02] For instance, look over with me in First Timothy six. We're going to do a lot of overview this morning so you can get a feel of the contours of the letter, and then we'll get into those verses to help you understand how this letter was written to Timothy.
[00:11:16] But in some ways, it was written to and through Timothy for the people he would shepherd. First Timothy 6:21, he says, for by swerving it, some have swerved from the faith. Last phrase here. Grace be with you.
[00:11:32] The word you there is in the second person plural, which means if you're from the Northeast, upper Midwest, or Canada, it's you guys.
[00:11:41] Are you all.
[00:11:43] Or if you're in Arkansas or Oklahoma, it's y'. All.
[00:11:47] Grace be with y' all is basically what Paul is saying, so y' all is certainly more than Timothy. It's at least Timothy, but it's more than Timothy. The purpose here, and the point here, is that Timothy was to take what Paul gave him and communicate it to the church that Christ had established through Paul's ministry. And we see that reference to the church, the church, God's church, God's church, over and over again. First Timothy 3, 5, 1 Timothy 3 15, 1 Timothy 5, 16.
[00:12:16] And so with this church in mind, purpose being so explicit, it even makes it really clear. In 1 Timothy 4, verse 6, he says, if you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus. Or in 1st Timothy 4, verse 11, he says, Command and teach these things.
[00:12:36] Command and teach what things, Paul?
[00:12:39] Well, essentially everything in the letter.
[00:12:42] And to whom was Paul to.
[00:12:44] Was Timothy to command and teach these things?
[00:12:47] The church in Ephesus. For what purpose?
[00:12:50] To build up the church in Ephesus.
[00:12:53] To see the church flourish, to see the church grow, to see the sanctification of the Bride and Body of Christ.
[00:13:01] Now, if you turn over to page 10 in your worship guide, you will notice we have a little timeline chart. We usually put these in when we start a book, just so you can situate yourself. First Timothy wasn't written in 1995. Sorry for all you America Online fans and 90s kids, but no, it was written a long time ago. If you look over to the kind of far right, you'll see one Timothy, two Timothy. For all those who are from across the pond, which is like two of you, you'll see basically when the letter was written.
[00:13:30] It was written most likely in the early to mid-80s 60s AD 62 to 65, which means one Timothy would have been written sometime shortly thereafter. The Book of Acts, where it ends in chapter 28, verses 30 to 31, you can turn back in 1 Timothy now.
[00:13:47] Now, where is Paul when he's writing this letter? Let me just save you a lot of guessing and speculation. We're not entirely sure.
[00:13:54] We don't know.
[00:13:56] It is clear, though, where Timothy is when he receives the letter.
[00:14:03] Look in chapter one, verse three.
[00:14:05] Chapter one, verse three. As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus.
[00:14:13] Now, where is Ephesus? If you get out your Bible maps or you can just pay attention. Ephesus was a port city at the mouth of the Caistor river of the Aegean Sea. It was also the capital of the Roman province of Asia in what is now known as Western Turkey. Its population in the first century may have been near 250,000.
[00:14:32] To give you some perspective for all you Arkansans, Little rock is approximately 206,000 people in population.
[00:14:40] So Little Rock and then 50,000 more is around the population size most likely in Ephesus. At this time, Ephesus was not only well known for its political and commercial clout, it was also known for its religious occult practices like the magic arts.
[00:14:57] Acts 19:19 Combine all this with its Greco Roman sensuality and immorality. In fact, there is some records that there was a large brothel that stood at one of the major intersections.
[00:15:10] So you've got false religion, you've got some Jewish presence there who hate the gospel, you've got immorality public and in your face and you have witchcraft and all sorts of demonic activity.
[00:15:30] Friends, why is that relevant to here Right now in 2026 in Barling, Arkansas, God is in the business of planting, strengthening, establishing a gospel believing, gospel preaching church in dark places.
[00:15:54] You see, we get intimidated by that, but God's not.
[00:15:58] That's actually where he shows off the best because he knows that it can't be of us.
[00:16:03] He goes and he takes his faithful servants that stirs up their hearts and says, leave that place. Leave that place, Leave that place. And I'm gonna take you, young man, older man, young woman, older woman, and I'm gonna take you to some hard soil.
[00:16:17] I'm gonna take you to a place where people are taught poorly. I'm gonna take you to a place where they're ignorant to a fault and they're hostile to sound doctrine. I'm gonna take you to a place where you're gonna see some demonic activity amongst very religious people. That, that's Ephesus.
[00:16:37] This isn't a vacation.
[00:16:39] It might have been for those who were going for their kind of Sin City Vegas experience.
[00:16:44] But God had a different plan.
[00:16:46] He used Paul and he used others like Apollos, eventually Aquila and Priscilla and others. But he also was going to use Timothy to stay right there. Young man, it's going to get dark, it's going to get hard. The soil is going to be oh, long time to till up. But I've got good work to do in this city. And Paul writes a letter. Here's what's required of you to remain faithful to the gospel.
[00:17:12] Friends, pray that CCBC will be one of many lighthouses for King Jesus in the River Valley.
[00:17:22] Pray that we would be a church that sends people to hard, dark, hostile places with the aim to see a healthy church planted among them. Whether that's eastern Oklahoma or whether that is northern India or anywhere in between. We don't want to be intimidated by the size of the task. We want to be motivated by the size of our God.
[00:17:46] And that's what Paul's doing here. We see in Acts 19 how Paul's presence had literally caused an uproar, a riot. All the naysayers wanted him dead. And so Paul had to leave for a time. But there was a church there that needed instructions. There was a church there that needed to be pastored. There was a church there that could have been on the verge of being another sellout or compromise. And so Timothy has got a lofty task and Paul wants to tell him everything. He's going to need to know how to be faithful to that task. Now, as we begin this study together, you. You are gonna be tempted to think, well, this is really applicable just to you, Blake and the elders. I'm not a pastor. No, no, no. Remember, the letter is written to Timothy, and really through Timothy, it is to spill over into the life of the church.
[00:18:35] So here's how we need to read this letter for the next three months or so, okay?
[00:18:40] This letter is a good accountability script for me and the elders.
[00:18:45] So you need to be looking through 1 Timothy 1 to 6, all chapters, studying and marinating and flipping over and, and going, hey, Father, I pray that this would be true of Pastor Blake and the elders. And if it's not, I want to help them become that. This is an accountability script. Are we doing our job?
[00:19:02] Secondly, this letter is not written only to leaders, but it is to spill over into every member of the congregation. Because as you know our responsibility, you will also know your responsibility. This is a team effort. This is not a one man show or a few people. This is. We're all in this together. So are you guys ready for this? I hope you're getting excited. I'm trying to lure you in after 20 hours of prep to get you ready for not 20 hours of a sermon, but anyway.
[00:19:32] So turn over to chapter four again. I just want you to feel the texture of the text.
[00:19:37] Timothy was not just to be one who received the letter and say, oh, that's nice, Paul, thank you. Kind of like someone gives you a book, but you don't really read it. You know, don't do that on Sunday nights, by the way. Please read them. Look at First Timothy 4.
[00:19:51] First Timothy 4, verse 12. Paul tells Timothy, let no one despise you for your youth. In other words, don't let anyone look down you because you're young. But set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, and in purity.
[00:20:05] Friends, just like it was true in Paul and Timothy's day. We need role models today.
[00:20:10] We need examples. We need mentors. We need to have a humble heart to. To be mentored.
[00:20:16] You see, that's the only way Christianity works. It's the only way it spreads. It's the only way churches grow. We need to have mature saints that we can look at and follow. And we need everyone to have humble hearts that are willing to learn and to listen from others.
[00:20:32] Friends, how can we cultivate this humble posture towards teaching others and being taught by others?
[00:20:41] Gavin Ortland says a good word here. Focus more on what you can learn from others, more than what others need to learn from you.
[00:20:51] It's a good word. Focus more on what you can learn from others, more than what others can learn from you. That's how this is going to work. We all need that humble, teachable posture.
[00:21:02] Paul, throughout this letter, continues to use phrases like, set an example. Devote yourself. Keep yourself pure. Study the Scriptures, do. Do the best you can. All of these things are now setting us up for the main point of the sermon. You ready? Here it is. Here's the main point for these two verses.
[00:21:22] I'll repeat it a few times.
[00:21:24] A life surrendered to Jesus.
[00:21:31] Will gladly invest in others.
[00:21:38] For their spiritual good and the good of God's church.
[00:21:45] A life surrendered to Jesus will gladly invest in others for their spiritual good and the good of God's church.
[00:22:00] Well, that then begs the question, what does a life surrendered to Jesus practically look like?
[00:22:08] What will it look like in our lives to invest in others for their spiritual good?
[00:22:14] Well, Paul and Timothy's relationship gives us a good model to imitate. In verse one, Paul begins basically like he does in the vast majority of his letters. He first identifies himself by the name of Paul. Now, who is Paul?
[00:22:29] Paul was a Roman citizen from Tarsus. It was the chief city of Cilicia, the southeastern portion of Asia Minor, Basically located in modern day southern Turkey in the Mersin province along the Mediterranean coast.
[00:22:42] This is where he was born. Acts 22:28.
[00:22:46] Although it is unknown exactly how his parents became citizens of Rome, Paul was a Roman citizen by birth, which was a privilege for someone like him as a Jewish man to have, which is why his Hebrew name is Saul. I know. Sometimes we ask, why does he have two names? Do I get two names? Saul was his Hebrew name. Paul was his Gentile or Roman name. Why did he go by Paul? Basically, from Acts 13 on well, because he was going to be primarily an apostle to the Gentiles in the Roman world amongst all of those of that ethnicity.
[00:23:21] Paul here formally Saul, prior to his conversion was, was a purebred Jewish Pharisee.
[00:23:27] He was a theological, know it all. He was self righteous. He boasted in his accolades. You can read Philippians 3 to see his resume of what he passed out to boast in. In Acts chapter 5 we see that he went to the best seminary you could ever get as a Jewish boy or as a Jewish young man. He sat at the feet of Gamaliel, a highly respected teacher and leader. That means he was a very educated man, a very knowledgeable man.
[00:23:54] He was also known as the young man. We're introduced to him for the first time in Acts chapter seven, a young man named Saul of Tarsus. And what's the first thing we get in our minds about this man? He championed the cruel and unjust punishment of Stephen, the first Christian martyr. Acts 7:58. And it was this man, Saul approved of this cruel injustice, this public stoning of a man who literally was being faithful to Jesus.
[00:24:24] It's the same Saul who was the aggressive ringleader. Think of almost like a ringleader of a terrorist group.
[00:24:30] It says in Acts 8, verse 3. But Saul was ravaging the church. It's a violent and intense outrage. And imagine entering house after house. He dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.
[00:24:44] Friends, just imagine the source afternoon, you're trying to sit down and have an afternoon nap and you get a knock on the door and then the door busts down and there's a man named Saul and he's got his cronies with him and they drag your husband, they drag your father, they drag your wife, they drag your mother. And they're saying you're going to prison and we're going to execute you unless you deny Christ.
[00:25:06] Saul was the one who entered the door. Saul was the one who put his hands on your loved ones.
[00:25:15] It was this man in Acts chapter nine was breathing threats. I mean he was an intensely angry man at Christianity.
[00:25:24] And it says that the risen ascended and reigning Lord Jesus stopped this very proud man in his tracks.
[00:25:35] Just as a side note, if you think there's anyone in your life that is so hard headed and so stubborn that you've just given up on trying to win the Christ. No one is too hard hearted and stubborn for King Jesus.
[00:25:49] And it was there on the path of his sin, on the road to Damascus, that he heard for the first time those Chilling and awful words from heaven. Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?
[00:26:06] And he said, who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
[00:26:12] After Saul becomes painfully aware of his own sin and rebellion against Jesus, Saul then out of really a temporal judgment was made blind.
[00:26:24] He didn't see, he didn't eat, he didn't drink for three days.
[00:26:31] But the Lord had very different plans for Saul of Tarsus.
[00:26:37] He had very different plans than Saul had for his own life.
[00:26:44] Instead of remaining self deceived, instead of remaining self righteous, instead of remaining all about himself and opposing the will and work of God in his life, King Jesus turned on the lights, opened his eyes and gave him a new heart.
[00:27:06] This once persecutor of the church became a preacher of the Gospel.
[00:27:13] A once haughty man is now a deeply humbled man transforming his heart. He was once a pawn in the hands of Satan and now he would be a preacher apostle of Jesus Christ.
[00:27:32] Friends, that leads us to our next second important question.
[00:27:35] What is an apostle of Christ Jesus?
[00:27:39] The Greek word is apostolos.
[00:27:42] Apostolos. It means one who is sent.
[00:27:45] But specifically one who has been authorized by another.
[00:27:50] Someone who's been sent out as a delegate or as an agent to represent the words, the will and the interest of another.
[00:27:58] Think of US Ambassadors sent from the US to foreign countries to represent the best interest of the us.
[00:28:06] Think of a manager being sent to a convention to represent the company he or she works for.
[00:28:11] But here Paul says he was an apostle.
[00:28:14] He was an authoritative messenger. He was an agent sent out, he says, not by an earthly king, not by an earthly nation.
[00:28:23] It says he was an apostle of Christ Jesus, Heaven's king who has authority in heaven and all authority on earth.
[00:28:38] And he says this apostleship came by the command of God, our Savior.
[00:28:47] Parents, what are one of the first things you have to teach your children early on?
[00:28:53] I didn't give you a suggestion.
[00:28:57] I gave you a command.
[00:28:59] This isn't an option.
[00:29:02] It's just a matter of obedience or disobedience.
[00:29:07] You know what Paul says?
[00:29:09] I didn't volunteer for this.
[00:29:12] I wasn't campaigning for this. Like to be the next mayor in Fort Smith.
[00:29:17] I didn't raise my hand at the members meeting and said, I'll be an apostle. I'll do it.
[00:29:21] No, no, no. This is not something that Paul self appointed himself. He was creative enough and spiritual enough to come up with himself.
[00:29:32] Friends, Paul was a man called by God.
[00:29:38] A man called by God.
[00:29:42] Martyn Lloyd Jones who sometimes people say he was the last Puritan to ever live.
[00:29:48] He said, how do you know a man can preach? He just kept it real simple. He's got the gift.
[00:29:56] When he opens up his mouth and he stands behind a pulpit, it just comes out of him as if literally heaven had his throat.
[00:30:05] And when people heard his message, they were impacted by what they heard.
[00:30:10] That's what happened with Paul.
[00:30:12] He wasn't a self appointed free agent Christian who went out doing ministry because he heard a still small whisper.
[00:30:19] He didn't volunteer for this, like signing up for a service team. He was a God called man. He was a God sent man. And listen to this. His vertical calling was then affirmed horizontally by a church that saw it in Acts chapter 13.
[00:30:35] The church at Antioch sent out Barnabas and Paul for the work God had prepared for them to make it more modern. Paul did not flip a coin, look up a horoscope, shake a Magic 8 ball, or go out trying to find himself, to find his purpose in life.
[00:30:55] No, Paul literally heard heaven's loudspeaker loud and clear.
[00:30:59] He was God's man for God's job to be an apostle of Christ Jesus.
[00:31:05] Again, it was a command.
[00:31:07] This is an edict. This is a mandatory mission. This is a directive from someone of much higher status than himself. In fact, it was the highest chief in command of all existence, King Jesus.
[00:31:19] Friends, let me ask you a question.
[00:31:24] Do you humbly obey God's commands or are you looking for loopholes of how to get out of it?
[00:31:39] Are you constantly trying to take the easier way out?
[00:31:44] You play this conversation well. I know what the Bible says, but.
[00:31:50] It's the but that gets us in trouble.
[00:31:54] Are you and I constantly waiting for others to get their act together, for others to obey the Lord in their life? But we ourselves aren't getting our act together and getting serious with Jesus in our life.
[00:32:07] Friends, Luke 6:46 would be a good verse to have over your mirror. Probably not all the time, but every once in a while.
[00:32:15] Luke 6:46, why do you call me Lord, Lord and not do what I tell you?
[00:32:20] Or think what Bryant read earlier from Luke chapter nine. It says as they were going along the road, someone said to him, I will follow you wherever you go. Sounds like a zealous Christian. And Jesus said to him, foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head to another he said, follow me. But he said, lord, let me first go and bury my Father. And Jesus said to him, leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God. Yet another said, I will follow you.
[00:32:50] I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home. Verse 62. Jesus said to him, no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.
[00:33:02] Friends, this is the call for full surrender.
[00:33:09] This is the call for full surrender.
[00:33:15] It's like sometimes we play this game with Jesus, Lord, I'll give you this in my life, but we got a clenched fist somewhere behind our back that we're just still holding onto.
[00:33:28] I'll follow you if I'll follow you, till Jesus says, then you can't follow me.
[00:33:36] That's what the text is saying.
[00:33:38] He's to have number one over earthly securities, number one over family loyalties, number one even over our comforts of home and familiarity.
[00:33:51] It's all to Jesus or it's nothing.
[00:33:58] We are only surrendered to Jesus if both hands are wide open.
[00:34:05] Whatever, Lord.
[00:34:07] Whatever you want, it's yours.
[00:34:10] My future, yours.
[00:34:13] My ministry, yours. My family, yours. My children, yours. My bank account, my cars, my plans.
[00:34:23] It's all yours, Lord.
[00:34:25] All yours.
[00:34:30] Members of ccbc, our church will be hindered in what God wants to do with us to the extent that our members have one foot in the door and one foot somewhere else.
[00:34:53] God has good plans for his church. God has good plans for his children. But we all have to take responsibility for ourselves and ask ourselves the question, am I fully surrendered to him? Am I fully committed to his purpose in the life of the church? Am I fully faithful in the various callings in my life? Or am I just got one foot in, one foot out?
[00:35:13] Friends, we should all be praying, maybe even make this our prayer today.
[00:35:17] Lord, show me anywhere where I need to loosen my grip and open it back to you again.
[00:35:24] Paul here takes the time and attention to make it very clear to this young man who he's teaching, what discipleship requires. And he said, I did not do this by a suggestion or a preference. I did it by the command of God. I obeyed what he told me to do.
[00:35:43] Friends, if we spent as much time worrying about things that are outside our control, actually doing what God wants us to do, we would worry a lot less and be a lot more fruitful.
[00:36:00] Paul was a man with authority, but listen, he was a man under authority.
[00:36:05] Paul was a man with authority, but he was a man under authority. Friends, that's the kind of leader we want to be. And. And that's the kind of Leaders we want to follow.
[00:36:13] Those who realize that we are under a greater authority will be a blessing to those under their authority.
[00:36:19] But then Paul goes on in verse one. I thought this was really interesting after recognizing and telling Timothy, listen, I'm a man with authority from God. And I'm a man under authority. The authority of God.
[00:36:31] You need to know something about Christ Jesus, young man, and you don't need to forget it.
[00:36:36] Look at verse one. He says, and of Christ Jesus, our hope.
[00:36:41] Our hope.
[00:36:43] Now what is hope again? You've heard me say this many times. Hope was not wishful thinking. I hope to get good parking. I hope there's a sale at Walmart. I hope the Razorbacks win the sec.
[00:36:56] I'm not going to say what I normally do because I think it does offend people.
[00:37:01] No, it's not wishful thinking. Crossing your fingers, wishing for the best.
[00:37:05] No, that's not what the New Testament teaches on hope.
[00:37:08] Hope is confident expectation.
[00:37:12] It's acting as if something's guaranteed to happen. Period.
[00:37:18] How is Christ Jesus our hope?
[00:37:22] Isn't that interesting?
[00:37:24] Christ Jesus himself is our hope.
[00:37:28] The word Christ is the title given to Jesus.
[00:37:32] He's the long awaited promised fulfillment of God's promises to his people.
[00:37:36] He is the anointed one, the Christos, the Messiah.
[00:37:41] What does it mean that Christ Jesus would be Timothy's hope? What does it mean that Christ Jesus is our hope?
[00:37:48] Christ himself is our hope because he's the only door to God. John 14:6 Jesus is whom God is conforming us to the image and likeness of Romans 8:29.
[00:38:02] Jesus is our hope, not the uncertainty of riches which are here today and gone tomorrow. But our hope is in God. He says in First Timothy 6:17 Colossians 1:27, which is one of Tom's favorite verses. It says that the spirit of Christ in us is the hope of glory. Jesus is our hope that helps us remain steadfast in our labors for him. First Thessalonians 1:3. That's. That's why in Christ, if we are doing it by faith, our labors are Never in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:58 Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. His endurance secures our endurance. That's why Jesus is our hope.
[00:38:41] Friends, what is that? One of those favorite songs we sing here? Jesus is our hope when in life and in death. I think that covers everything.
[00:38:51] That covers everything. He's our confident expectation right now that tomorrow and if we die, he's still our hope.
[00:39:00] To my non Christian friends, what Are you hoping will actually happen in your life?
[00:39:09] You're like, really thinking about the next 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 years. What is it that you're going? Man, I'm really working towards this. I'm really striving towards this. I'm really hoping this happens for me.
[00:39:22] I want to go ahead and say something that we've all had to accept, swallow and rejoice in the longer we follow Jesus. If you don't have Jesus Christ as your hope, you have no hope.
[00:39:34] You are without hope and without God in the world. And that is a hopeless condition.
[00:39:41] That's why despair happens. That's why people want to end their life. They have no hope. They look down they the barrel, they look down the well. They look at themselves and they realize there's nothing to live for. And that ache, that cry, that hole is God screaming, put your hope in Christ Jesus.
[00:40:02] How does someone suffering the worst hour of their life not throw away their faith? Christ Himself is their hope.
[00:40:12] This past week, I've had text messages, emails and counseling and all sorts of things.
[00:40:18] Parents are worn out. Kids have been sick. Sleep has been sparse. Others have had bad news, hit their family. With things going on with their children, it feels like a sucker punch to their parenting. Some are so anxious about an upcoming doctor's appointment, it's leaving them in knots. But they're asking for prayer. Others feel like their joy has been robbed because of something someone else did, has ruined their plans. Friends, maybe some of you here this morning are thinking there's no point of even living anymore.
[00:40:47] Lord, just take me now.
[00:40:51] Work's boring. Marriage is boring. Nothing's working out for me. The world looks like it's falling apart.
[00:40:59] Yeah, you keep looking at the world, you keep looking at yourself. That is something to lose hope about.
[00:41:05] Take another look at Christ Jesus and you will have hope that no one and nothing in this world can take from you.
[00:41:13] Friends, how do we know Jesus Christ is our hope? Because he's already met our greatest need.
[00:41:19] He came to this hopeless world as a man on a mission.
[00:41:23] He came to this world as an example. But more than that, he came to die. He came to die for our sins. He came to die for our pathetic attempts to find fulfillment in everything else except Him.
[00:41:38] He died on the cross in our stead, purchasing the gift of hope and faith and love.
[00:41:45] And he extends all that to all of us who repent of our sins and trust in him. And then God raised him from the dead, declaring to the world he's the hope of the nations he's the hope of this church.
[00:41:56] I hope he's the hope of your life.
[00:41:59] Friends, all these situations that ruin our plans, buckle our knees, cause us to grieve and groan.
[00:42:07] They are reminding that Christ Jesus has to be our hope.
[00:42:11] His love, his care, his presence, his compassion, his leading of our lives should calm our hearts. Like a baby nursing on a mother's chest.
[00:42:24] As a kid, playing in the backyard carefree, because Dad's back there and protecting him.
[00:42:30] Our Heavenly Father has far greater compassion and care than the best. Mom and dad hear this text from First John 3. Beloved, we are God's children now. And what we will be has not yet appeared. But we know when he appears, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
[00:42:56] Paul wanted to remind Timothy, Hey, Timothy, ministry's gonna get messy. Ministry's gonna be busy. You're gonna have a lot of naysayers look down on you because you're young. You're gonna have some wolves rise up in your elder board. Rise up in your deacon body. Rise up in the church. You're gonna need some stamina. You're gonna need some endurance. You're gonna need some hope so that you don't check out and quit. And he says, christ Jesus, not me. Christ Jesus will be your hope, Timothy. Extend that hope to the church you pastor.
[00:43:26] And that finally leads to verse two, which is the recipient of the letter Timothy.
[00:43:36] Notice how Paul addresses this young man.
[00:43:39] He says he is his true child in the faith.
[00:43:43] Now, sometimes people speculate, was Paul ever married? Did he ever have children?
[00:43:48] There's wonderful debates about that.
[00:43:50] Obviously, he wasn't married by the time he wrote the New Testament, if he ever was married. But we have no evidence in Scripture that he had children, at least biological children.
[00:43:58] But Paul, all throughout his new through, all through his letters, the churches that he planted, he would often call his children his children in the Lord.
[00:44:07] But specifically, he calls Timothy and Titus his beloved son, his beloved child. What's that all about?
[00:44:15] Well, in Acts, chapter 16 is really the backdrop of where they first met. You know when you're talking to a couple and you go, hey, how did you meet?
[00:44:23] Well, they start going, no, no, honey, that's not where we first met. It was before then. Well, Acts 16 is the section where we talk about how Paul and Timothy teamed up together.
[00:44:34] Acts 16:1 3 says, Paul came also to Derbe and Lystra. A disciple was there named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman. Who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. He was well spoken of by the brothers at Lystra Iconium. Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.
[00:44:58] After you recall from the book of Acts, there was that great split. Do you remember the two friends that cut ties with each other in ministry for a long season? Or Barnabas and Paul, they debated. They were sharply opposed and disagreeing about whether John Mark should join the mission and what they should do. And so they split ways. Well, Barnabas went one way with John Mark and then Paul went with Silas. And then eventually he picks up another young man along the way and it's Timothy. He picks up Timothy. And likely Timothy was either converted under Paul's ministry during his first missionary journey, or he just heard Paul preaching as a little teenage boy in the big crowds. And his grandmother and mother, Eunice and Lois had already shared the gospel with him.
[00:45:46] Either way, God used Paul in Timothy's life even from a very young age.
[00:45:54] And it's evident here in the scriptures that Paul took an invested interest in Timothy.
[00:46:01] I like what John Kitchen said. He said Paul became the spiritual father Timothy never had.
[00:46:08] That's a good word to think about.
[00:46:11] A lot of young men, some of you are in this room. I know your story.
[00:46:16] You don't have a dad in your life.
[00:46:22] You're hurting.
[00:46:24] I've had men come to me crying, I need to be the man God's called me to be. But I didn't have that growing up.
[00:46:33] You know what Paul basically became for Timothy?
[00:46:36] Everything his dad wasn't.
[00:46:38] Man. That's a purpose in this church to live for.
[00:46:41] You could be a father figure to another man in this church in a powerful way. Begin looking at those other men. Same thing with you ladies.
[00:46:50] Think about that with your mother, how you could be that mothering care to another sister in Christ.
[00:46:56] Friends, Paul sets a wonderful example as we'll find out in this letter. For Timothy, Paul lived a life, surrendered to Jesus Christ.
[00:47:04] He can only say what he said and did what he did because he was surrendered to Jesus Christ.
[00:47:11] What did Paul's life look like? Surrendered to Jesus.
[00:47:14] He invested in others for their spiritual good and the good of Christ Church.
[00:47:22] Timothy got to get the front row seat. You know what that's like, kids, when your mom or dad let you sit in the front seat for the first time, you just feel like you're the stuff. Timothy got the Front seat with Paul man, the greatest missionary to ever live.
[00:47:40] And what an honor.
[00:47:43] Friends, here's some application to consider as we conclude this section at the beginning here.
[00:47:51] What does it look like for us to live a life surrendered to Christ?
[00:47:55] What does it look like for us to invest in other believers for their spiritual good and the good of Christ Church?
[00:48:02] You're going to like these.
[00:48:04] These are real pithy short points for you. Am I excited about that? All right, number one.
[00:48:11] Number one, know and tell.
[00:48:14] That's K, N O W. Know and tell. That's the first step to being a life surrendered to Christ.
[00:48:20] You can't tell others what you don't know.
[00:48:23] You can't build a house you've never seen built before.
[00:48:27] But the more you know Christ, the more I know Christ, the more you will want to tell others about him.
[00:48:35] Paul was stopped in his tracks by Jesus himself by putting a stop to the life he was living. Paul's eyes were open, his heart was humbled, and his zeal, Bible knowledge and skill to teach was no longer to be used for evil purposes, but were now going to be used for God's purposes. Did you know that God can use even an unconverted person's talents, skills and experience and network of relationships and and God can turn it and use it for kingdom good. He does it all the time. Your education was not a waste. Working in corporate America was not a waste. Working three jobs was not a waste. That life was not a waste. God can use it. Think about, Lord, what do I have that you've given me on how I can use it?
[00:49:19] Beloved, the same can be true of every follower of Christ.
[00:49:22] We're not all going to be pastors, preachers or missionaries, but we're all called to be faithful witnesses for Jesus to tell others about him.
[00:49:30] Friends, what do we do when we see an awesome movie?
[00:49:34] We tell others about it.
[00:49:36] What do we do when we hear there's a sale going on at our favorite store? We tell others about it. What do we do when our sports team actually wins or the sports event was amazing? We tell others. What do we do? As Christians, the more amazing Jesus reveals himself to be? We don't keep it to ourself.
[00:49:55] We know and tell others.
[00:49:58] Secondly, what does a life surrender to Jesus look like?
[00:50:03] Number two, invest and share.
[00:50:06] Invest and share. You want to know how surrendered I am? Surrendered you are. Surrendered we are. How much are we investing in others for their spiritual good?
[00:50:17] Okay, I'm not trying to condemn when I say this, but if our life is basically Me, myself and I. And I'm going to get mine. That's a life that's not fully surrendered to Jesus.
[00:50:29] That's a life that's still serving ourselves.
[00:50:34] What does it look like to invest and share?
[00:50:36] Well, think about this. Paul met Timothy to the penning of this letter. Paul had spent up to 10 years with Timothy from 80 50ish to 80 60ish.
[00:50:46] A whole decade with this young man. Think about this. Think with some creative imagination with me. They traveled all sorts of places together on that second and third missionary journey. They traveled together, they walked together, they ate together, they served together, they talked together, they hung out together, they cried together, they probably burped out loud together, they laughed together.
[00:51:09] If they would have had cell phones, they would have been sending emojis all night long of this really funny looking donkey they saw. They would have worked out in their gyms together. Why they loved each other.
[00:51:22] What puts a former terrorist against Christianity with a young man who had a pagan father? Only the love of Jesus can do that.
[00:51:31] What can take a persecutor and make him a preacher? Jesus can do that.
[00:51:38] Nothing's impossible with him. What can God do with a group of people with all their sins and suffering and weaknesses and cause them to be so committed together? The love of Jesus can do that.
[00:51:52] Oh, brothers and sisters, one of the greatest privileges of being a member of this local church is seeing friendships go deep and wide in this congregation.
[00:52:08] I want to give you a positive example to think about when I think of invested men and women who are doing this well, and there are many that I could name, but due to the length of the sermon, I've got to keep it brief.
[00:52:25] I think of men like Charlie Hartsfield, John Lacks and Roy Myers, men in their 70s and early 80s who take time out of their life to meet with younger men.
[00:52:35] I think of men like Don York and Darrell Daly, who are steady and happy to connect with others in the church literally every Lord's Day. I think of Tom Cheyne, who gave countless hours before this thing was ever birthed, to being a mentor to me, being a mentor to your son, to being a mentor to so many people here. And as you are quietly suffering, you, my brother, have laid a foundation for a church to be built that will bless generations to come. Well done, brother. Keep going.
[00:53:05] I think of men like Alan Williams, Jackson Wing, Ian Chain, Michael Loughorn, Ricky Manzano, Jansen, Lester and Edwin Reyes leading groups of men at 5 and 6 in the morning at the church every week or sometimes for months, and even years now. I think of ladies like Donna Johnson who has women and sometimes children and grandchildren over for coffee and edifying conversations in her home. I think of women like Bobby Lester, Sandy Williams and Sheila Lacks organizing small groups and starting new Bible studies. I think of couples like Trent and Sarah Arne opening up their homes and lives to students in the church. I think of a couple like Jeff and Susan Hannon who are opening up their home to be a small group for newly married couples to help them as they on ramp into this new season. I think of new members, couples like Josh and Aspen Hamner who are go getters inviting people to church. I think of Mark and Miranda Riker connecting with visitors on Sundays. I think of couples like Jackson and Lindsay Wing, Aaron and Timber, Griffin Jansen and Casey Lester Nathan and Kelsey Cole opening up their homes to newer members to get to know them. I think of ladies like Pam Chain who who meets with Dominic Reyes on Tuesday night here at the church. I think of Marci Maxwell hosting all the single ladies of our church in their home each month for fellowship and lunch. I'm not even done. I can think of the five men who are currently doing the pastoral internship program, not even counting the other 10 who've done it. I think of the six ladies now doing the women's intensive, not counting the other five or so that did it before. I think of Bryant Monteith leading a small group at Mercy Hospital.
[00:54:40] And because I could risk going on and on and on and on and on and on all afternoon. Friends, this church has become by the grace of God, a disciple making church.
[00:54:53] And what a privilege I get to be as a pastor to sit on the front row and enjoy, like eating popcorn and watching a movie.
[00:55:02] God work.
[00:55:04] He takes his word.
[00:55:08] He plants it deep in our hearts and he creates a love for him and his people that can't be manufactured.
[00:55:18] Friends, how is this church going to grow?
[00:55:22] And I'm not talking about numerically, but I'm speaking about maturity so that we are filled with oak trees for Jesus.
[00:55:33] People grow. Listen.
[00:55:36] Yes, by hearing sermons. Yes, by receiving teaching. We're going to talk a lot about doctrine in this series.
[00:55:43] Hear this.
[00:55:45] Christians have been designed by God to grow by watching Christ in other people's lives.
[00:55:57] People watch and observe. Things are sometimes better. What caught than taught. DA Carson once said, Christian character is as much caught as taught. That is, it is picked up by constant association with mature Christians.
[00:56:14] Friends, what does a surrendered life to Jesus look like? Invest and share, number three. Here's the last one.
[00:56:22] If we're going to live a life surrendered to Jesus.
[00:56:25] Look and receive.
[00:56:28] Look and receive.
[00:56:31] Notice what Paul tells Timothy. This is not a throwaway. Look at it. Look at it with me.
[00:56:36] Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and in Christ Jesus our Lord.
[00:56:46] When I was a young boy, I had the cool opportunity to be my dad's football team's waterboy at the end of the season when we're heading to playoffs, even in South Georgia, it would actually get cold. Think of that.
[00:57:05] Get down into the 30s, 40s, and if you're playing in it, you can kind of warm up. But, man, if you're holding cold water bottles and sweaty, nasty, big seniors are like, give me the water. You get cold.
[00:57:18] My grandma used to see me down there and she would say, come on, come on. She come to the end of the fence and she says, hold out your hands. I go, okay. I think she was giving me a 20. I'm like, yeah, no, but it was hand warmers.
[00:57:33] These little pouches, they're like magic. She said, rub them. I'm like, okay. And she would, you need two? Because it could get really cold. So I would take my two hand warmers and. And I would stand like this on the sideline until I had to go get the water.
[00:57:49] Now, it didn't warm my whole body, but it definitely helped my freezing hands hold those water bottles for two hours.
[00:57:59] Brothers and sisters, what is grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ to the people of God.
[00:58:07] They are the hand warmers, but more importantly, the heart warmers.
[00:58:12] You see, our hearts get cold.
[00:58:16] We get dull.
[00:58:19] We start going through the motions. In the Christian life, we lose sight of these things.
[00:58:25] You know what Paul wants to convey to Timothy and Timothy to convey to the church. Grace. Let it warm your heart. Peace. Let it warm your heart. Mercy. What are these things? What is grace? It's God's unmerited favorite. God's approval of you, despite anything you and I have done.
[00:58:42] It's his gift of salvation. I'm for you, not against you. I love you. I don't hate you. It's a gift. It's a gift that you receive. Grace comes from God, through Jesus, to all of those who call upon his name. What did we sing earlier in the prep song? My guilt is his. His grace is mine.
[00:59:03] What is mercy? I need that heart warmer, too.
[00:59:08] It is God's compassionate care for sinners and sufferers. Take the most kind and merciful person you know, and they only scratch the surface of what our Heavenly Father is like. Our sins are many, but his mercy is more.
[00:59:24] What about peace?
[00:59:26] What is the heart warmer of peace for his people?
[00:59:30] Well, friends, peace is both an objective and a subjective reality.
[00:59:35] If we have faith in Jesus. Romans 5:1 says, you have peace with God. Peace says, there was once separation, now there is unity. We have peace with God if Jesus is our hope.
[00:59:48] But it's also a subjective experience.
[00:59:50] Scripture tells us to cast our anxieties upon him, to fix our minds on him, to to keep our mind stayed on Him. He will keep us in perfect peace. Isaiah says, whose mind is stayed on the Lord because he trusts in Him.
[01:00:06] Where do these blessings come from?
[01:00:09] Grace, mercy and peace.
[01:00:15] How can we have these warm our hearts every day?
[01:00:19] Here it is.
[01:00:21] Look to him and receive Him.
[01:00:25] Look to Christ as a person to adore and be loved by.
[01:00:31] He only has grace, mercy and peace towards each one of you he knows by name.
[01:00:41] So what is an example of a life surrender to God look like?
[01:00:53] It's a life that stares at Jesus and wants to be just like him.
[01:01:01] Jesus Christ is the only person to have ever lived a fully surrendered life.
[01:01:08] No sin in his mouth, no disobedience in his heart.
[01:01:12] His Father's commands was the delight of his life and friends. Now by His Spirit, he gives us new desires to gladly obey the Father's command.
[01:01:29] Brothers and sisters, a life surrendered to Jesus Christ will gladly invest in others for their spiritual good and the good of Christ's church.
[01:01:43] I look forward to seeing how God uses First Timothy to light our hearts on fire towards that great end.
[01:01:53] And when all is said and done, all glory be to Christ.
[01:01:59] Let's pray.
[01:02:04] Heavenly Father, we come before you in this opening letter penned many years ago, inspired by you to encourage and mentor a young man for an important task in Ephesus.
[01:02:15] And yet you have preserved this letter for your church to be read and taught and applied.
[01:02:20] Father, we pray you would use this letter in the season of our church's life and in our family's lives, every one of us, in a way that we need in a timely manner. Or may grace, mercy and peace that comes from you and the Lord Jesus Christ be what warms our affections. Again, it's in Jesus name we pray.
[01:02:40] Amen.
