Truth Matters
God's Plan for His Church • Sermon • Submitted
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· 5 viewsIn a world full of "truth" options, let us determine to know, live, and teach God's plan
Notes
Transcript
Passage
Introduction
We do not know exactly when the church in Ephesus began. We know that Paul’s helper, Priscilla and Aquila were involved early in the development of the Ephesian church.
Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sisters and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cenchreae because of a vow he had taken. They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. When they asked him to spend more time with them, he declined. But as he left, he promised, “I will come back if it is God’s will.” Then he set sail from Ephesus.
Paul was in a hurry to get to Antioch in Syria (A.D. 52), so he left his friends there to continue the ministry.
Ultimately, Paul returned to Ephesus, where he saw a mighty work of the Lord over the next 2-3 years.
Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.
The Lord worked so mightily through Paul and his team that a major industry, idol-making, began to suffer great losses! This led to a huge riot led by the Idol makers’ guild - union (Acts 19)
Although they faced a lot of persecution, those few years marked the development of a strong church in Ephesus…it became a powerful center of ministry in the most important city of the Roman province in Asia minor…the headquarters for evangelism in that region.
The church in Ephesus was extremely crucial to Paul’s ministry. In his final address to them, he gave them a clear warning.
“Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.
By the time Paul writes this first letter to Timothy, about 5 years have passed since his ministry in Ephesus.
The church is in trouble — from within — savage wolves in the sheepfold.
Timothy has been sent there and it was essential that he succeed in the mission Paul entrusted to him.
Paul’s instructions boil down to a couple of high priorities. One of them is that TRUTH MATTERS. Truth was being threatened and distorted from within the church. The people were being taught optional truths.
Optional truths, ultimately, are not truths.
In a world full of optional truths, our goal is to know, teach, and live out God’s plan through Jesus, the way, the truth, and the life.
Transition: In 1 Timothy 1:3-7, Paul prohibits the teaching of false doctrine because it only causes controversies and confusion, distracting from God’s plan and it moves the people away from knowing God’s love and loving one another.
Since Truth Matters...
Guard Against False Doctrine
Guard Against False Doctrine
As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer
4a, nor devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies
In-house trouble — the elders
The certain men were leaders in the church - we know this because they took upon themselves the role of “teachers of the Law” (vs 7) and we know that teaching in Ephesus was the responsibility of the elders.
In fact, two of them were named by name, Hymenaeus and Alexander — they were excommunicated by Paul himself
Legitimate sounding teaching
They were not offering brand new religions or trying to lead the people into paganism, per se. Their false teaching grew out of the Law (OT), but was enhanced with spurious and unimportant speculations, legends, and authoritative-sounding messages
myths and endless genealogies - exaggerated stories about OT heroes
They were speculators…using the OT as a pick and choose shopping cart for what they wanted to teach.
They wanted to “go deeper,” beyond Paul’s simple message.
They probably didn’t start out with a plan to abandon the gospel message, but their ongoing speculations and fanciful stories swallowed up the gospel of salvation by grace, through faith in Jesus.
The false teachers: “What you believe is good — as far as it goes. But there is more and those of us that are qualified can reveal the deeper things to you.”
Application
The false teachers still exist today — promoting truth wrapped in lies and deceit. They may not do it on purpose — some do.
Examples:
666 has been used to speculate about every villain from Caesar to Napoleon to Hitler to Stalin.
The Bible Code author decoded the Bible with a computer formula - he says he unlocked 3,000 year old prophecies of events such as the Kennedy assassination and the election of Bill Clinton — from the holocaust to Hiroshima, the moon landing, and more.
Novel religious ideas can be found in thousands of books…everything from raising the perfect child to the secret of reversing the aging process.
This type of teaching, does not necessarily deny the gospel --- it does something worse…it replaces it or makes it essentially invisible.
TRUTH MATTERS! The way Paul expresses it…doctrine matters...
Paul mentioned doctrine, in one form or another, seven times in 1 Timothy…referring to doctrine, teaching, instruction
If we want truth and doctrine to matter, we must focus on God’s simple message of love and redemption.
Since Truth Matters...
Guard Against Controversies That Distract
Guard Against Controversies That Distract
Why did Paul instruct Timothy to instruct “certain men not to teach false doctrine?”
Out-of-sync doctrine creates an out-of-sync church
We have plenty of examples from the 2020 election and the pandemic -
Many people “Prophesied” or shared their dreams and visions about the pandemic and the election.
Some streamed almost daily updates about Trump winning, the stolen election, etc.
Many in the church followed blindly without seeking the Lord or studying the Word of God.
For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.
As in all the churches of the saints,
Out-of-sync doctrine distracts from God’s work
Apparently some people have been introducing fantasy stories and fanciful family trees that digress into silliness instead of pulling the people back into the center, deepening faith and obedience.
or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith.
Rather than the administration of God…which is by faith
Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you,
and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things.
The church, with the leaders setting the example, has a God-given responsibility (stewardship) to administrate or manage the truth — Salvation and Christian living are by faith.
Application
Are we faithfully administrating God’s truth — making sure it is the core of what we say, do, teach, live?
False teachers, both then and now, block and distract us from faithfully communicating the truth of God’s love and grace and His provision for us to live according to His plan
Remember, the purpose of this letter to Timothy is to remind the church how to properly conduct themselves
For Paul…everything depends on the household of God faithfully serving Him by keeping their focus upon what matters — teaching and living accordingly
Since Truth Matters...
Love God and Others as You Embrace Truth
Love God and Others as You Embrace Truth
The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
Paul to Timothy: “If you put a stop to elders’ teaching false doctrine, and get back to sound doctrine, that will restore love to God’s people.”
THE GOAL OF THIS COMMAND IS LOVE!!
Paul wasn’t trying to be a stick in the muddy — just being picky about doctrine. The doctrine is essential. If we don’t know or understand the truth about the God we serve and the salvation He brings (doctrine), how can we discern between truth and fiction. TRUTH MATTERS.
Love God first…then love those around you
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind! This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Love for others is made possible by loving God first
Love is the overflow of joy in God which gladly meets the needs of others - John Piper
God enables us to love...
Love from a pure heart
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Teach me your way, Lord,
that I may rely on your faithfulness;
give me an undivided heart,
that I may fear your name.
They will be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me and that all will then go well for them and for their children after them.
Pure in heart — this enables us to love from the depth of our being
Love in good conscience
An inner awareness of the sincerity of your own actions…your own love for God and others
This innate awareness brings joy and peace to your heart
Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, with integrity and godly sincerity. We have done so, relying not on worldly wisdom but on God’s grace.
Love with a sincere faith
The faith you declare with your mouth should agree with the faith you have in your heart
Not a hypocritical faith
A real faith like this naturally unites with love
Conclusion
Never sell truth short! Truth matters
Never sell doctrine short! Sound doctrine is truth
False doctrine promotes controversies, arguments, factions
False doctrine brings hatred and distrust because it brings confusion and mistrust
Sound doctrine produces a dynamic, flowing love
…which comes from a pure heart and good conscience and a sincere faith
A virtuous man may be ignorant, but ignorance is not a virtue. It would be a strange God Who could be loved better by being known less. — Frank Sheed
In a world full of "truth" options, let us determine to know, live, and teach God's plan