Life as the Church
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Help Wanted
Help Wanted
Warren Wiersbe used this illustration in his introduction to Timothy.
The ad read “Men wanted for hazardous journey, small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honor and recognition in case of success.” - - ad in London paper by Sir Ernest Shackleton Arctic explorer - had thousands of men respond to the ad.
What would an ad run by Jesus Christ look like?
“Wanted men and women to help build My Church. You will be often misunderstood and even rejected. You will have unseen forces attacking you constantly. As for the results of your labor you may not see them to sometime in the future. It may cost you family, friends and associates but the pay is out of this world.”
We are called to be the church and we have our life as the church today. It’s a daunting task, not for the weak, but for the strong for our strength is found in the Lord. (Isa40:29-31; Eph6:10; Php4:13)
29 He gives strength to the weary, And to him who lacks might He increases power. 30 Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly,
31 Yet those who wait for the Lord Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.
Our strength is not of our own it is through our faith that we have the strength of the Lord
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.
13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
Help Provided
Help Provided
There is no denial that Jesus provided the help needed to save sinful man. He fulfilled His mission
He was the way for sinful man to be reconciled to Holy God (Isa59:2; Rom5:8; 1Pt1:22-24, 1Jn2:2)
Our sins were the problem we needed help in that area
1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short That it cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull That it cannot hear. 2 But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.
2 But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.
He provided help by dying on the cross for us
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
He was the Fathers perfect sacrifice
22 who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; 23 and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; 24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.
1Pt2:22:24
he was the acceptable sacrifice, the propitiation
2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.
The help needed was the help provided when Jesus went to the cross, died, was buried and rose again. Today is the day that is commonly known as Easter Sunday or Resurrection Sunday. We remember what was said at the tomb, then the instructions, and the ascension (Mk16:6; Mt28:19; Mk16:19)
Mk16:
6 And he said to them, “Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him.
And by His resurrection then came the instructions
19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
Mk16:
Then came the ascension
19 So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.
Mk16:
And now that brings us to the help wanted now. He wants us to carry on the work, to bring the Good News of his resurrection to the world. And it is a hard message to receive for some, others it is easily received but not believed, and yet others received with joy but then no growth happens.
This all leads back to the charge of being the church and life in the church and what we will be looking at in the book of 1Timothy!
Help encouraged
Help encouraged
The book of 1Tim as well as 2Tim and Titus sometimes are referred to as the Pastoral Epistles, but in reality that word is not used at all, nor is there and reference to that in the Epistles. They are books of encouragement, of doctrine to two churches and their leadership under Timothy at Ephesus and Titus on island of Crete. Its about church life, its about life in the local congregation then and what can glean from it today for us.
The book of 1Tim as well as 2Tim and Titus sometimes are referred to as the Pastoral Epistles, but in reality that word is not used at all, nor is there and reference to that in the Epistles. They are books of encouragement, of doctrine to two churches and their leadership under Timothy at Ephesus and Titus on island of Crete. Its about church life, its about life in the local congregation then and what can glean from it today for us.
A simple breakdown of book of 1Timothy:
The Church and it’s message (chapter 1)
The Church and it’s members (chapters 2-3)
The Church and it’s Minister (Chapter 4)
The Church and it’s ministry (Chapters 5-6)
The help wanted ad from Jesus is not just for Ministers, Preachers, Evangelists. It’s an invitation to be the church and to have life as the church both in the building and in the community. The ad is for all those who are willing to come who are willing to live a life for the Lord with the promise of the great reward at the end, to be with Him eternally.
The ad is a help wanted ad, which means it is work, Jesus spoke of that
23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.
It will take everything you got and and everything He gives you to succeed at the task at hand.
5 Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus,
We are to persevere until the end, to be faithful and diligent, sober, be on the alert as we have our life as the church so we can bring the message to others. Our message is the same today as it was then, some of the struggles we have today are similar to what Timothy and Titus faced let me give you a little background then we can move onto the hope that we have in Christ Jesus which is where our message is today.
Written in about 63-66 according to Eusebius
Without certainty, believed to be written in Macedonia
Written to Timothy and church at Ephesus
There are some great messages we as the church can get from 1Timothy and it will be a great journey and it all starts with who Jesus is so let’s get into it.
Help is filled with hope
Help is filled with hope
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, who is our hope,
Notice how Paul titles Jesus (v.1) - Our Hope!
Hope: a confident desire and expectation
Hope goes hand in hand with faith (Heb11:1)
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Polycarp said “Let us therefore persevere in our hope and the earnest of our righteousness, who is Jesus Christ.”
Ignatius said “Be of good cheer in God the Father and in Jesus Christ our common hope.”
We all need hope don’t we? We all had a sin problem that deserved death (Rom3:23, 6:23)
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
All fall short, all deserve death
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Jesus Christ is our hope because He is the lamb of God that takes away our sins (Jn1:29)
The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
Through His blood we have been redeemed and our sins forgiven (Eph1:7)
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace
We prove our hope in our complete surrender and our faith in the atonement of sins when we are baptized
“He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.
Our hope has continued cleansing in us as we walk with Him (1Jn1:7-9)
7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
It is important that we understand the hope that is available and believe in our hope or there is no help
24 “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”
We need to put our hope that is Jesus for He is the only way to the Father (Jn14:6)
26 and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, 27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
and it is only in our hope in Him that we can really know God (Jn14:7-9) and we have reconciliation (2Cor5:18-20)
28 for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’ 29 “Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man.
7 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.” 8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Jn14:7-8
In our hope we are reconciled to God
18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
God was making an appeal through the Apostles and we hold their words so we can continue to have the hope they had and carry that hope of reconciliation to others
Jesus is our hope for holy living
For in Christ we are freed from law of sin and death (Rom8:1-2)
1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.
In Christ we have the strength to turn from evil and do what is good; because of the power of God, the Spirit of God that dwells in the believer (Rom8:11-13)
11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. 12 So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh—
13 for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
He is our hope, our strength to the inner man (Eph3:16)
16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,
Our hope that gives us what we need to live our life as the church
Our hope came to deliver us from fear of death (Heb2:14-15)
14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.
What a glorious promise we have in our hope, the hope of His return (1The4:1-2)
1 Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more. 2 For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.
(Lead to invitation) - insert slide background of open tomb
(Lead
Where is your hope? Do you have your hope in Christ?
Where is your hope, how is your hope displayed?
Let Jesus be your hope today; remember Jesus is your hope the only way to redemption, which is forgiveness of sins.
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He provides for our physical needs (Mt6: