Make it your aim...
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1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,
2 To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
3 As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine,
4 nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith.
5 The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
6 Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion,
7 desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.
8 Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully,
9 understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers,
10 the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine,
11 in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.
12 I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service,
13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief,
14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.
16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.
17 To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
18 This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare,
19 holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith,
20 among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.
This morning I want to cut through this passage by focusing on the purpose of this letter from Paul to Timothy. The purpose of this letter is to talk about how we are to behave in the household of God. Much of what we read in the first eleven verses referenced what we are not to do. It is possible to be so caught up in what we ought not to do that we don’t see what we should do.
The key verse here is verse 5.
1 Timothy 1: 5 The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
How should we behave in the household of God?
Aiming High
Aiming High
We should love.
Whenever I read in the Bible that we should love, I immediately go to 1 Corinthians 13.
4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant
5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
That is the visible picture of love in the church, in the family, in the workplace and in the world. That is the aim of Paul’s charge to Timothy.
Paul tells Timothy three prerequisites for Christian love.
The first is that love must issue from a pure heart.
The second is that love must issue from a good conscience.
The third is that love must issue from a sincere faith.
The love that issues from a pure heart is a heart that is clean. No ulterior motives. No hidden agendas. You love because you choose to love.
The love that issues from a good conscience from the heart wants good for the other person.
In other words, you want the best for the other person. Your conscience says that what you are doing and saying is loving because it wants good for that person.
The love that issues from a sincere faith does not carry a mixed motive. Your love for the other person comes from your faith in God. You love that person whether they be enemy or friend because of your love for God and your knowledge that God loves you.
The focus of a person who has a pure heart, a good conscience and a sincere faith is the gospel.
11 in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.
In other words, his aim is love, and this love finds its root in the gospel of the glory of the blessed God.
The problem with many people is that instead of aiming high, they aim low.
Aiming Low
Aiming Low
3 As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine,
4 nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith.
Two problems surface here. The first is wrong doctrine or teaching. The second is the kind of subjects that promote speculations rather than the stewardship that is from God that is by faith.
Here is the problem with people who either have wrong doctrine or promote speculation.
1 Timothy 1: 6-7 Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, 7 desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.
A vain discussion is a worthless conversation. What makes a conversation worthless is when people speak confidently about things they don’t understand. The end result is that people make speculations and use the Bible to back up their speculations.
What is the big deal? You cannot engage in vain discussion, focus on speculations and end up loving people at the same time. These kinds of discussions lead to disagreements, arguments, division and hurt feelings.
If you don’t agree, why is it that people don’t want to talk about politics or religion? The discussions are so heated that people are driven apart, not closer together. Endless speculations are made and people end up talking way above their pay grade.
In the late 60’s and 70’s I was first introduced to the endless speculations about prophecy. Every person that was perceived as evil had the numbers of their names equal 666. The debates about Arminianism and Calvinism have split churches and destroyed love. Issues of creationism vs evolution, home schooled vs. public school, pro-life vs pro-choice have all contributed to many in the church dividing and hating other people.
5 The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
The issues are important in their place. The controversies are not unimportant. But if taken out of their proper place, they move into the realm of bad doctrine and speculation, creating more heat than godly energy.
What often happens with speculation is that we start to change how we speak. We want to win battles. Winning the argument is more important that the person we are called to love.
8 Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully,
9 understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers,
10 the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine,
11 in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.
Notice Paul’s problem with what was happening in Ephesus. They were not using the law lawfully. In other words, it was not being used for its intended purpose. In some way, the people who were teaching the law did not aim a love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
One doesn’t lay down the law for those who are living a godly life. There are many in the Christian world who believe that their biggest job is preaching on sin. Paul says, “No.” Preach about sin to sinners. Encourage them to understand their sin so they can repent and experienced the love of God in their own lives. But don’t use the law on those who are obedient to the Lord.
In other words, if the aim of the preacher is to preach on sin, that preacher as the wrong aim. If the aim of the preacher is to preach with a love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith, then they should go for it.
The words of John are helpful here.
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
This focus on the love of God for sinners, this focus on saving or delivering people, this focus on moving people from perishing to living is at the heart of what a church should be.
How are we to behave? Our aim is to love people and to allow the gospel to influence everything we teach and do.
Even pastors can get off track. People who have hobby horses will lead the church into missing the mark. The aim is love.
There is a brand of Calvinism that is splitting churches. Be aware. There is a brand of Christianity that is helping people be wealthy, illness free, and promoting success. That is not the gospel. Be careful. There are people who are giving as gospel truth teachings that are not supported by the Bible, but are the product of imaginations and speculations. Be aware.
Be loving. Be transparent. The more each of us makes this our aim, the more we are what Ephesus was not…. Stick to the gospel. The gospel has a lot of ramifications. The gospel tells us that we will not face God’s wrath, but God’s grace. The gospel or good news is that you can live a different life. The gospel, or good news is that Jesus has done all that he can do to bring you to God. It’s up to you to receive the forgiveness he offers. The gospel, or good news, is that you have a different destination. He has gone to prepare a home for us. He is coming again for us, either in death or in our lifetime, to bring us to himself.
So we are to behave ourselves. We should make it our aim as a pastor, teacher, small group leader or whoever, to minister is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.