Well, good evening, everyone. It's good to see you once again. You can turn with me in your Bibles to the book of 1 Timothy chapter 1. 1 Timothy chapter 1. We're going to look at verses 18 through 20 this evening, but I will begin reading at verse 3 to set the context for us.
I know the New King James gives the heading, fight the good fight. That's wrong. It's waging the good warfare. Hopefully we'll see that as we go through.
The imagery is more of military than athletic. So it is wage the good war, waging the good war of the Christian faith. And so we'll look at verses 18 through 20, but I'll begin reading at verse 3. As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, remain in Ephesus, that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes, rather than godly edification, which is in faith.
Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they saw, or say, nor the things which they affirm. We know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this. The law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers. If there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.
And I thank Christ Jesus, our Lord, who has enabled me, because he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry. Although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man, but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.
However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering as a pattern to those who are going to believe on him for everlasting life. Yet to the King, eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you,
The Call to Wage War
that by them you may wage the good warfare, having faith and a good conscience, which some, having rejected, concerning the faith, have suffered shipwreck, of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme. Amen.
Opening Prayer
Well, let us pray. Well, our great God and Father, we know that you are the Father who watches over your children and watches over your people. We know, God, that as we walk this life, as we engage in the Christian life, we know, oh God, it is one of great warfare. For there is a blessed truth that we must cling to and hold to, and that is salvation by faith alone in Christ alone.
We are thankful, O God, for justification that is found in Jesus, based on his blessed, imputed righteousness to us. We're thankful, O God, it's not based upon our own righteousness, but it's based upon a righteousness not our own. We know, God, we cannot earn our way through keeping the law. We cannot earn our way keeping the laws of you or keeping the laws of man.
We can only be saved through Christ who kept the law perfectly and kept your blessed standard perfectly, perpetually, and every day of his life. And for this, we give you glory and praise and honor. But as your people, as we walk this life in our sanctification, in our Christian life, because we are saved, we ask God that you'd help us as we wage that good warfare. May we do so basis on the glories of Christ, basis on the fact that Christ is our King and our Lord, based on the gospel of free and sovereign graces found in Him.
Help us to give you glory and praise and honor because you've saved us, not to be saved. And we're thankful, O God, that you created us to give you glory and praise and honor. We can only do this by your Spirit and because of Christ, who is our blessed mediator. So we ask, O God, as your people, that we would wage the good warfare, that we would love your scriptures, that we would love your word, that we would saturate our minds with holy writ.
And we ask, God, that you'd help us not to neglect the good warfare. Help us, O God, not to grow lethargic. Help us not to grow complacent. But never fight, O God, based on your power and based on your goodness and based on who you are and based on the truth of saving knowledge in Jesus Christ.
And we pray, O God, that you'd be pleased to work this day in our hearts and lives. Help us as we wage this good warfare. And we pray, O God, that you'd show forth the warnings to your people. We know, O God, that your people shall not fall away.
There are many assurances that we do have. But we ask, O God, as we study these words, that you'd give us eyes to see and ears to hear the things you have for us in this text. We pray, O God, if there are any here today who do not know you, we pray that you would save their souls, that you would change them. that they would not look to themselves, not look to the law, but look to faith in Jesus Christ. They look to Christ for everlasting hope and peace.
So we ask, O God, you'd send forth your Spirit. We pray and we pray that you'd be pleased to strengthen your saints, be pleased to save sinners, and we pray in all things you would be glorified. We pray these things in the name of Christ. Amen.
Introduction
Well, the word warfare is something that Christians don't like to hear. In fact, most people don't like the idea of warfare, especially in our modern context. People in general don't like conflict, and Christians seem to not like conflict as well. Now, we should seek to have peace with all men, but there are certain doctrines we must hold to.
There are certain hills we ought to die on. There are certain hills we ought to never waver. namely the gospel of Jesus Christ, that is, the blessed hope found in Christ and in Christ alone. Any deviation from that, any sort of addition to it, any sort of subtraction from that denigrates the gospel of free and sovereign grace. We ought to hold to that truth and we ought to wage the good warfare with that truth.
Because in reality, brethren, the Christian life is one of great warfare. It is spiritual warfare. That's why in the book of Ephesians, in Ephesians 6, we see we have the armor of God set forth for us as Christians marching our way to that celestial city with the power of God most high in this warfare. And in the Christian life, we have public warfare and private warfare.
Privately, we wage war against sin. The Christian life is one of battle against sin. Thankfully, that battle has been won in Jesus Christ. But nonetheless, we must watch, we must pray, we must fight against that sin based upon the gospel of free and sovereign grace.
But publicly, we must wage the war against false gospels. We don't just get to sing kumbaya with everybody just because they say they're Christian. If they teach a gospel other than the one that we preached, let them be anathema. Those are the words of the Apostle Paul in Galatians 1.
In 1 Timothy 3, he charges Timothy that some who claim to be teachers charge them to teach no other doctrine. Because the gospel is of vital importance, and that's the hill we ought to die on. The gospel of free and sovereign grace, especially in ministers who preach it, is a hill we ought to die on. And this is why Paul is writing to Timothy in the first place.
This is his problem and purpose that he's dealing with. There are false teachers who threaten the church at Ephesus at this time. And so there needs to be a reminder of what the truth is, what the church ought to be doing as the pillar and ground of truth, as Paul says in 1 Timothy 3 verse 15. He's already set forth for us the law and the gospel, the proper use of the law and the proper place of the gospel in verses 8 through 17.
And so we have this truth, we have this reality, we must understand that distinction between the law and the gospel. The law teaches us our sin, the gospel saves us from our sin. The law teaches us our need for Christ, and it points us to that blessed gospel of free and sovereign grace, but is not meant to be a way of salvation, which is what some of these false teachers were teaching. So we must wage this good warfare.
Because unfortunately, there were some false teachers who were not waging the good warfare. And that's a problem. Without the war of faith, we are going to lose. You see, without the war, waging the war based on the power of the Spirit, I guess based on the power of the Spirit, we will not lose.
We are in Christ. But those who name the name of Christ but do not have the Spirit will evidence that they are not believers in the first place. And that's still evidence that they never had the Spirit and evidence they were never believers in the first but it's still a reminder for Christians to wage the good warfare based on the gospel and based on the power of the Holy Spirit. And thankfully God invests His true ministers with that authority to wage that good warfare.
Thankfully God invests His people with all that we need to wage His good warfare as a sign, as an evidence of who God's people actually are in this life. God's people can have assurance. We have assurance, as we'll see, through faith and a good conscience. And so Paul is commanding Timothy to wage the good warfare, but he's also giving examples of those who neglect the good warfare.
Paul uses lots of contrasts in the book of 1 Timothy. So we must ask this question. Do you wage the good warfare against sin? Perhaps we can ask a follow-up question to that question to help flesh that out.
Is there discernment with respect to the truth of the gospel? And is there sensitivity with respect to sin in your life? That is, is there discernment with respect to what is the true gospel of free and sovereign grace? And is there sensitivity with respect to sin in your Christian walk?
And we'll seek to answer these questions under two headings this evening. First of all, we'll see waging the good warfare in verses 18 through 19a. And then we'll see, secondly, neglecting good warfare in 19b to verse 20. So waging good warfare and neglecting good warfare.
Waging the Good Warfare
So let's first look at waging the good warfare in verses 18 through 19a.
Timothy's Invested Authority
Notice in verse 18, we see the authority with which Timothy has been invested. As I've already said, the preceding context speaks about the law and the gospel. And in the context, it also focuses on teachers. Some men wanted to teach the law.
It says in verse 7, Desiring to be teachers of the law, they understand neither what they say nor the things which they affirm. There were men who wanted to teach that the way of salvation was keeping certain commandments. And not just that, when they got into the pulpit, their focus was not on certain things, but uncertain things. Genealogies and fables.
Speculation. They wanted to spend their time musing on those certain ideas, rather than focusing on the truth of the gospel that's been set forth. You are a sinner, and you need salvation in Jesus Christ. And so they were focusing on things that could be true, could not be true, rather than the truth itself.
And so Paul comes, we see in verses 12 through 17, in a contrast with them, and based on his own personal life, he speaks about salvation through grace in Jesus Christ. I was once this haughty, insolent, arrogant man. but now God has saved me, God cared for me, God died for me. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief." And this is the chief aim of the church, to preach the gospel of free and sovereign grace.
And that's why he comes in verse 18, this charge, I commit to you, my son, Timothy, he returns the command of this commandment of what he said in verse 3, when he says, I charge you that they teach no other doctrine. He returns to this very idea as Timothy is going to have to deal with these teachers. And Timothy is a young lad. He's a young man in theologian years and pastor years.
So he has to deal with men who are supposedly older than him in age. And so Paul gives him some encouragement as he has to deal with these certain people. He gives him some reminder. Here's the authority been given to you.
These men are self-appointed. These men have put themselves in the pulpit. These men think they're good teachers. But here is what you've been invested with Timothy as a teacher of this gospel. and especially as one who's protecting this gospel against these false teachers.
And so we see two ways in verse 18 where Timothy is given a reminder of his authority. First of all, we see he's been given authority by Paul, this charge, I commit to you, son, Timothy. It doesn't matter what these self-appointed men might say. Timothy comes to them, has to deal with them, has to rebuke them.
They can say whatever they want. They can say, I've got age. I've got gray hair. I've got experience.
Timothy's got Paul in his back pocket. Paul has appointed me for this specific purpose. And Christ, through Paul, has appointed me for this specific task. And you cannot take that away from me.
I have this task. I have this bond. Even the language, son Timothy. This mentor-mentee relationship between them, it is a filial type of relationship.
They care for one another, they love one another. Paul treats Timothy just like his own son, and he would do anything for him. If I may suggest, brethren, I do feel like I do have that with Pastor Butler. I feel like if anything goes wrong in Syria, I can call up Pastor Butler and people will come and deal with certain things.
I do appreciate, you know, God's grace and mercy in bringing us to free grace. And I have him that I can go to and cling to and call upon in times of struggle because he is a blessed brother. And much like I have with him, even more so, Timothy and Paul have this here. As Paul reminds Timothy, here's your charge.
Here's what you're supposed to be doing. My son Timothy, I commit this thing to you. So he has Paul in his corner. But as well, he's got the church in his corner.
Notice, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you. And notice multiple prophecies. Brethren, we got no issue with the term prophecy, especially as it's being used in the first century. They didn't have the Bibles fully written for us, or the Scripture fully written for us yet, and so God conveyed His will through prophecies.
And in this case, there's multiple prophecies, not just one. to confirm to Timothy his role and his task. He's got multiple prophecies, multiple affirmations. We see he's spoken well of in Acts 16. We see his blessed upbringing, 2 Timothy chapter 1.
And we see perhaps an example of what Timothy went through with the Apostle Paul in Acts 13, where Paul is set apart for a specific purpose. The point is, his calling and ministry as a whole has not just been appointed by Paul, but it's been recognized by the Church of Christ as well. And he's been entrusted by Paul and the Church with this gospel. He's been entrusted with it for safe In fact, Paul says in verse 11, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.
He's got a specific task he must do. He's got this affirmation from multiple places, from God on high, through these means, to affirm Timothy in his task. He's been recognized by the church. And we can apply that to our modern context, not with prophecy.
If anybody says, I was washing the dishes, and I feel a call to the ministry, and God spoke to me, make sure that person never comes into the pulpit. Because you see, we have ordinary means by which ministers are called to the ministry. Namely, through, as Albert Martin says, a desire born out of right motives. They have certain mechanical gifts.
They can string some sentences together. And then the church has to recognize them. That's probably one of the most important things in this whole process. The church needs to recognize that this person has some ability.
Maybe he ain't Spurgeon, but nonetheless, he's got some ability to teach and preach. The problem is, in our day and age, there are many men who don't have that affirmation. Many men who think they can teach and preach, and they just self-engineer their way to this ministry. And perhaps some of these teachers at this time, the false teachers, were such like these ones.
Unfortunately, they think they're wonderful. They think they're God's gift to the church. But in reality, they just don't see it. And one telltale sign is whether the church recognizes it or not.
And so Timothy was dealing with these ones. These ones did not have this affirmation, but Timothy, you do. You have that authority been given to you by God to deal with these rebel rousers who are taking out the church with their false teaching. And so, he has this invested authority, he has this confirmation, then we come to the main crux of these three verses.
That by them you may wage the good warfare. Again, the Christian life is one of warfare. And as I said at the outset, the terminology here is not fighting the good fight. That is used later on in 1 Timothy 6 and 2 Timothy 4.
Paul says he fought the good fight. The metaphor there is athletic, wrestling. The Christian life is one of great struggle. But here we have a different sort of imagery.
It is one of warfare. It is one of military campaign. In fact, in 2 Timothy, Chapter two, we see Paul describe the office of ministry using three metaphors. He does use the athlete, he does use a farmer, but he also uses a soldier as well.
In verse three of 2 Timothy two, you therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that it may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. When a soldier enlists, he puts civilian pursuits aside, and he goes on to engage in the warfare for the one he has chosen to enlist with. He puts aside these civilian ideas, and he wants to come and please the officer with whom he has enlisted.
So the Christian life especially for ministers, is one of great warfare, is one enlisting to endure such hardships that do come about, because the Christian life is one of great battle. Especially in Titus chapter 1-9, we see one of the qualifications of a minister. He must give instruction in sound doctrine and refute those who contradict it. The minister does go through great difficulty and trial and warfare as he deals with sinners, as he himself is a sinner, as he deals with certain people walking in the Christian life.
He must wage the good warfare, and especially in the context it is for the truth of Scripture. Yes, sin. Sin is out there and it comes in all shapes and sizes, but one way sin emerges is through false teaching and through false salvation. Because you see, as Pastor Butler I know says so often, right teaching leads to right practice.
And the opposite is true as well. False teaching leads to false practice. Especially when you teach someone that they must earn their way. What a hopeless religion that is.
You have certain things you must do to make your way to heaven. If you can't, you can buy it if you want. If you can't, you might go to purgatory for a little bit. In other religions, you might try again in a new life.
There's absolute hopelessness in such an endeavor. Because when you read the law of God, when you read it in its entirety, when you read the Puritans expound the law of God, We don't keep one commandment for one second of this life. That's why we need such a Savior as Jesus Christ. That's why we need Christ to keep it in its perfection, who died for sinners like Paul.
And Paul himself is that blessed pattern for those who are going to believe. Paul a murderer, Paul a prideful man, Paul a haughty, insolent, violent person, is saved by grace. He was once a man who hated men. He was once a man who hated God.
But God saved him, now he trusts in God, and he loves men, he loves Christ, because of the transformation found in Jesus. Christ. So we must wage the good warfare against the false teaching. We must engage in the enemies of the truth.
We must engage in the warfare against heterodox positions. But notice the encouragement Timothy has as he engages in these things, that by them. And the by them here probably refers back to these previous prophecies and affirmations. as Timothy has to engage in his warfare. Maybe it's one against three.
Maybe there's four of them. Maybe there's five of them. Timothy's got to go in on his own. Paul's very far away.
Paul's not here at this time. Paul's not near. So Timothy's got to throw down with four or five of them. That can be difficult and trying and very exhausting.
And so he's like Timothy here, by them. by these prophecies, by these confirmations, by these affirmations, wage in this good warfare. It's much like in Joshua 1.9, where Joshua receives that reminder, that encouragement, as he goes into battle against the Canaanites. Just because God is certainly on their side, but God is still gracious and merciful to remind Joshua of who is with him. Joshua 1.9, Have I not commanded you be strong and of good courage?
Do not be afraid, nor be discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you may go. God will be close. God will be near. You've already received these affirmations from God, and use that now as you engage in this battle.
Look on what God has done for you. Look on that affirmation, and now be free and open to preach the gospel of Christ and refute those who contradict it. He's ready to spare no arrows, as Knox says. Knox threw down with the Mary Queen of Scots over that wretched abomination of Roman Catholicism.
Spare. No. Eros. And it's like Paul is saying, Timothy, wage the good warfare.
Spare. No. Eros. What's very interesting, too, about this context, waging the good warfare is not outside the church, is it?
It's within the church. is with those who name the name of Christ, those who would say they're believers, those who come on Sundays, those who seem to be close to the faith. They might name the name of Christ, but their hearts are far from God, because their doctrine of the gospel is absolutely wrong. And that doctrine is going to find them out. It's going to evidence they were never believers in the first place.
Even though they seem to be Christians, they seem to be believers, in reality, they never were near God. We'll get to that in the second point in verses 19b and 19c. but he's meant to engage in the protection of the church as the pillar and ground of truth. So he's encouraged. You have these prophecies, these reminders, that you might wage this good warfare.
Faith and Good Conscience as Weapons
Then he goes on to say in 19a, he further speaks of weapons that he has in this warfare by having faith and a good conscience. They emphasize the minister's weapons as he engages with such men. Faith and a good conscience. What does this mean?
Well, perhaps faith here, some of the old boys review it as a body of truth. Calvin, the old guys, they say it's the doctrine, it's the truth, it's the gospel, and I certainly believe that's in play. That's certainly a main focus and a main idea in the book of 1 Timothy. I think that's what's going on in verse 20.
Perhaps better, I think the emphasis here seems to be trusting in the true and living God. You see, these ones have a false truth, and as such, they believe in a false God. But here, Timothy has belief in the true and living God. And perhaps it's connected with what Paul says in verse 14, You see, at one point, Paul had faith in man, as he trusted in himself, as he trusted in his own law-keeping, but now he's got faith in the true and living God.
And as such, Timothy has that same profession. I have faith in the true and living God. And Paul's reminding him of that faith that he has in the God of heaven and earth. And as Fairbairn says, faith is this which provides the Christian combatant with his only valid standing ground for the conflict.
And that, I think, applies whether it's a body of truth or whether it's faith in the God that the body of truth summarizes. And he goes on to say, standing ground for the conflict and supplies him with the weapons which alone can enable him to repel the assaults of the adversary and counter work his devices. Not only does he have the body of truth, but he has the God to whom that truth points with him. He has the God of heaven and earth near to him, and that God of heaven and earth will build his church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
That truth shall advance, and no one is going to stop it. That truth shall prevail, and no one is going to kibosh it. Governments might be able to shut mouths of preachers, but once that gospel goes forth, that gospel is set. And that gospel will continue to advance in the lands that God has set forth to bring about such salvation.
So faith in God as his weapon, not in himself, not in his own way, but he comes to the God in whom he has been saved. This is especially important as we see verses 12 through 17. We don't engage in warfare based upon our own doing, brethren. We don't engage in our warfare to try a little harder.
We do so knowing that the battle has already been won in Jesus Christ. That's the hope that we have already. Christ has won this battle. This is a faithful saying, worthy of all acceptance.
He goes on to talk about the mercy that he's obtained, and he gets to the point in verse 17, he can't contain himself now to the King, eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. God is the one who turns the pages of history, and that includes the salvation of the Apostle Paul. That's why he doesn't understand. That's why he has to praise God.
Immortal, invisible, God who alone is wise? Why would God take someone like the Apostle Paul and save his soul and use him as the Apostle to the Gentiles? That's something only this God could ever think of and do. And so Timothy, with this gospel in the backdrop, with this truth in the backdrop, he can then go and engage in the good warfare that he already has in Christ Jesus, his Lord.
The Christian life is never meant to be one of moralism, not saying there aren't commands for us, but it's important for us to understand that those commands are grounded in the truth and the fact that we are already righteous before God. Brethren, all our sins, past, present, and future, are forgiven in Jesus Christ. 1 John 1.9 is for poor, sensible sinners as we go before the Lord God in our remaining corruption. But all our sins, past, present, and future, are forgiven in Him. That's the certainty God's people have as we engage in such a good warfare.
So we have faith. But as well, we have a good conscience. And I think there are two things we see with good conscience. It certainly is about discerning right and wrong.
That's the second thing I'll draw in just a second, but it's also about discerning truth. We have to be able to know what the truth is. We have to be able to saturate our minds with that truth. Yes, we only have that saturation by the power of God on high, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Even when we study theology, brethren, we have to ask God to help us understand what's going on because we need the Spirit to understand these things. And even when we read our Bible and our scriptures, we need God to help us understand what these things mean. That's typically the prayer, hopefully every preacher prays before he preaches, the prayer of illumination to give us understanding to what's going on here, to give us a further, not enlightenment, but yeah, illumination is the best. I guess we could say enlightenment if we don't use it in its 18th century context, but help us to better understand what's going on in the scriptures.
We have a good conscience. Calvin says, we know that the treasure of sound doctrine is invaluable. There is nothing that we ought to dread more than to have it taken from us. But here, Paul informs us that there is only one way of keeping it safe, and that is to secure it by the locks and bars of a good conscience.
We must discern that truth. We must know what that truth is. We must saturate ourselves with that truth that when we hear something false, we can easily say that's wrong and refute it. But as well, the conscience is not just about discerning truth, but it's the seat of right and wrong.
How is it that we discern right or wrong? By knowing what is right or wrong, by knowing what the truth is. Again, everything comes back to the word of God, doesn't it? Both in right doctrine and in right practice.
It drives me nuts to think that people can have right practice or practice without theology, without doctrine, without truth. How do we know what sin is? How do we know what we ought to be doing? We do so by knowing what that truth is that God has laid down for us in his word.
Vera Baron says, but a good conscience is here faith's necessary handmaiden. For the contest is in the strictest sense a moral one, and a deprivation of the conscience is a virtual abandonment struggle. It is yielding to the adversary an entrenchment in the citadel." So we must know that truth and must ask God to soften our hearts to that truth that we know what is right and wrong. It is that reality of knowing right and wrong wrought by the Holy Spirit and God's standards.
And it's really a reminder in this whole Christian walk about our needfulness of Christ and our sinfulness before Him. Let's reverse those two. The sinfulness that we have, and thus we have our need for Jesus Christ. Brethren, I hate to burst your bubble again.
That's my favorite word today, I guess. I've said that twice. But when it comes to the Christian walk and sanctification, you know what it really is? It's just a continual reminder of how sinful you and I are. and a continual recognition of how vile we are.
And the reason that that is, is that we see how glorious Christ is. That's the Christian walk. And see our dependence upon Him, and be reminded what He's done for us. Be reminded of who He is.
Rather than the most sanctified person in this life doesn't think they're the most sanctified person in this life. They don't think they're the most holy person in this life. They don't think they're the best person ever. They are reminded of that.
That's what sanctification is, dying to sin and growing to the image of Christ Jesus. But as we seek to grow into the image of Christ Jesus, we realize how unworthy we really are. And it reminds us of how great Christ is and the assurances that we have in Him. And all this proper moral evaluation is found in the light of God's standard.
And Paul's gonna get there in 1 Timothy 3 with how ministers ought to act and ought to behave. And very much in the backdrop of how ministers ought to behave are some ministers who are not behaving this way, who are not acting like, not looking for perfection, but they must evidence these graces and have the gift of teaching as they engage in waging the good warfare.
Application to Ministers and Christians
Now brethren, hopefully the application is very clear. Wage the good warfare. And certainly the application implication is for ministers of the gospel. We must, the commandment here, this charge I commit to you is an absolute must wage the good warfare.
Ministers who are called true ministers, not perfect ministers, again, born out of right motives, gifts and graces, recognition by the church, and then Albert Martin adds that last one, providential openings. God opens the door for one to be able to preach. All those things affirm the Christian walk, and it's an assurance and a reminder. And hopefully there is that recognition, the laying on of hands, as one is conferred and ordained as an elder.
All those things are meant to be encouragement and reminders for the one who engages in such a task. But notice again, brethren, that the means emerge again. We say this and speak about the means like a broken record. Sing the means of grace, especially when we gather corporately.
Yes, privately is what we call a means of growth. Scripture and prayer reading. but especially on the Lord's Day gathering. It is a means of grace. That is how God in His blessed goodness, as we see that triune work of God, as He applies the benefits of the Holy Spirit, especially for Christians, in sanctification.
How can you expect to grow if you're not using the means God has provided? How can you expect to grow without using the means God has given? And this is especially true for ministers. Because all that believers ought to be in 1 Timothy 3, ministers must be.
But even when we come to 2 Timothy 3.16, perhaps you all know it off by heart, all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. Now it's important to highlight here, man of God does not mean a godly man. Now a man of God ought to mean a godly man, but typically we substitute man of God with godly man. That's not what's going on here.
Man of God in scripture refers to a specific office. And perhaps the reminder for Timothy here, and for us as we read it, is what the minister has been invested with. He has all he needs with the Word of God. We don't need to add to it.
We don't need puppets, ponies, and programs, as Pastor Butler says. We don't need shredding guitars and people swinging off the chandeliers. We don't need all that sort of stuff. The word of God that is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction, that the man of God may be equipped to complete and may be complete through thoroughly equipped for every good work.
And then he goes on to say in verse two, preach the word of God. The man of God ought to preach that word because it is all he needs as he engages in the Christian warfare, as he battles against such truth. So the means are important for the minister, but the means are important for the Christian as well. Again, even though I think ministers and offices are in view here, certainly it does apply to Christians.
Brethren, we ought to wage that good warfare against sin. We ought to wage that good warfare against truth. And we ought to wage the good warfare based on the authority of Christ our King, who saved us, who's changed us, who's given us his blessed word with that truth, and especially as we engage against sin. Sin just rears its ugly head in many shapes and sizes, doesn't it?
Even when we do a good thing, brethren, it is tainted with pride, isn't it? Look at me, how much I'm giving. Look at me, how much I'm serving. Look at me and all these other things that I'm engaging in.
Brethren, we cannot do anything good without being tainted by sin. That's why we need Christ our Lord and give Him glory for saving such wretches like us. But nonetheless, we engage in that good warfare based on what He has done. We must battle with such sins.
And again, it can merge in so many ways. It can be one pet sin. It can be many little sins. It can be relying on self, pharisaism.
It can be adding to the Word of God. That's a sin, making yourself God instead of God. saying this law is what we ought to do and going above and beyond the scriptures. In fact, these men do that with respect to marrying and eating certain foods in 1 Timothy chapter 4, forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving. Now, if you're on a diet, that's fine.
You're allowed to be on a diet. But if someone wants to have a steak or something else or something delicious every once in a while, it's not the end of the world, as long as there's no excess with it. You see, when we begin to add to the Scriptures and add to the Word of God, we denigrate the Word of God because we have clarity with the Word of God and how we ought to live, and we make ourselves to be God. But on the flip side, if we deny the law in its place, we begin to engage in licentiousness.
I am saved. I can do whatever I want. That's usually not a good sign, brethren. That's not a good assurance for God's people.
I think you can be assured as God's people, you know, I do see some fruits of the Spirit. The Bible says that God's people evidence these things. I see these things, albeit in small degree, I can be assured that I'm found in Christ. I'm resting on Jesus Christ.
You have no desire to do what is pleasing to God? You have no desire to do things that honor Him? That's a telltale concern, brethren. Especially in the modern church, anti-law, that there's no place for the law of God.
There's no proper understanding of its place and its use. Big-time concerns in the church of God. Sins emerge all the different times. We ought to remember Christ as we wage in this good warfare.
So that's waging the good warfare.
Neglecting the Good Warfare
Let's then look secondly at neglecting the good warfare in 19b through 20. This is a warning. God's people who are truly saved shall not fall away. The Holy Spirit shall work and is truly amongst them, and they shall not fall away.
It's the perseverance of the saints. But nonetheless, those who might say they're Christians will eventually evidence that they're not. Time is a friend, people. Time exposes many different things.
It'll find people out. It certainly does, especially as we see these ones here.
Shipwreck of the Faith
Notice 19b. having faith and a good conscience, which, some having rejected, considering the faith, have suffered shifrek." The antecedent is singular. It goes back to this good conscience. Rejection of faith is seen in having their conscience seared and marred. There is no Discernment.
There is no tenderness. There is no recognition. If someone warns them, OK. That's concerning, brethren, especially in church discipline situations.
We're going to talk about discipline in just a second. But if someone comes to you, if we get to stage three of church discipline, hey, I'm going to bring it before the church, everybody's going to know about it. That ought to cause people to go, okay, that's a serious thing, I shouldn't be doing this anymore. Or if you say, you know what, if you continue in this, we're going to excommunicate you.
Okay, that should be like, wow, okay, this is pretty serious. If that doesn't strike a chord, that's a big time concern. And this was the case with certain two men. They rejected the truth, they rejected the gospel, they rejected the truth of scripture by turning to an external law, an ascetical faith, that is, forbidding and marrying and abstaining from food, to false.
They're turning to this false truth. And as such, these false ones must be removed. And what happens is they reject the faith, they reject good conscience, and concerning the faith, have suffered shipwreck. Built-in imagery for us.
Disaster. I've never been in a shipwreck before. By surmise, it's a difficult thing to be a part of. In fact, the word is used for the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 11.25 regarding his legitimate, actual, literal shipwreck that he goes through in Acts 27.
And so we see this. We see the imagery here. It's not just a little ding. It's not just, you ran aground a little bit and caused a little scrape.
It's an absolute shipwreck of the faith. I think there are two results as we consider this shipwreck. And I think we can refer to this shipwreck as the two ways personally or publicly. Personally, it shows they were never believers.
And personally, it shows that they need salvation. And as such, you treat them as unbelievers, sharing the gospel with them that they might believe. But it shipwrecks the faith, and it is a denigration of the truth that they claim to confess. But I think publicly as well, when we consider these men as false teachers, as they teach false things, they might sway new and naive Christians.
Sometimes new Christians don't always know better, do they? You get saved. You're new to this Christian faith. You're new to this idea.
Sometimes they don't know where to go. And sometimes people get sucked into things that they should not get sucked in. If you got saved in a Reformed Baptist church, praise God for that very thing. That doesn't happen all the time.
But sometimes you don't know what's happening, you look up to someone, but they say something wrong, but they seem to know more than you, so you just go with it. It can shipwreck their faith. Can you imagine a new Christian coming to them and saying, you can never get married, and that person has that desire and wants to get married and enjoy those things? Or they come and say to them, listen, you can never have a piece of meat.
That's just something you cannot have. Every time they see someone having a steak at the keg or something like that, they probably never go to the keg, but if they ever did, they would just be concerned and be conscience-seared. And not only that, then they might hear these guys say, look, you've got to earn your way to get into heaven, but I'm a pretty bad person. I've done some terrible things in my life.
That can scare people, that can concern people, that can shipwreck the faith publicly as they are standing in pulpits preaching such a false thing and steer many away. The blind who lead the blind, they both shall fall into a ditch. It is absolute shipwreck of the faith when we neglect the true faith and we neglect in waging the good warfare. both for one's preaching, as well as we engage in it ourselves.
Hymenaeus and Alexander Identified
But notice we see the identification of these ones in verse 20, of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, examples of these false teachers. Again, just another brother, part of the same religion. He says he's a Christian, he's a good brother, he's a nice man, yeah, but he's teaching false things, and he ought to be removed. And we see kind of some indication of what their false teaching was for Hymenaeus.
We see in 2 Timothy 2.17, we see some that were rejecting the resurrection, which unfortunately leads to wickedness. Nevertheless, solid foundation of God stands, having the seal. The Lord knows those who are his, and let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity. But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor.
Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel of honor and sanctified and useful for the master prepared for every good work. Flee also youthful lusts, but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. heart, even verse 18, who have strayed concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past. False teaching led to a false practice. Denying the resurrection is denying the gospel that is found in Christ.
So he denies this thing. So he gets up there, there's no resurrection. Okay, no hope then. And then we see Alexander in 2 Timothy 4.14.
Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm May the Lord repay him according to his works. You also must be aware of him. He has greatly resisted our Words, he doesn't just leave he doesn't just teach false things and then is kicked out and goes away now He has to try and stay and take out Paul. He has to try and hurt Paul.
And eventually, he's going to go after Paul's young protégé as he has to deal with that one. So they need to be aware of this one. That typically happens, right? If someone's a false teacher, you say to them, hey, you can't do that anymore.
They never go, OK. They usually have to leave with such a ruckus and such a fuss and try to take out the people and drag everybody down as they go through. and such of them are seen in Hymenaeus and Alexander.
Excommunication as Consequence
But notice we see the consequence at the end of verse 20. Excommunication. Whom I deliver to Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme. Kind of odd, isn't it?
Being handed over to Satan being a good thing. It most assuredly refers to church discipline. Paul gives another explanation of this in 1 Corinthians 5.5. He says, "...deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus." It is for the good of the church, and it's actually for the good of the one being excommunicated, that they might consider their sin. and realize what they've done, we might treat them not as believers anymore, but treat them as unbelievers and share the gospel with them.
And notice Paul is the one who does this. Perhaps Paul does this as an officer of the universal church. Perhaps he had some special authority as the apostle to just get rid of that guy right away for this specific purpose. In our day and age, where we have officers of the local church, we do so by church vote and by the church together engaging in a certain process.
The universal church, there were certain offices of that. Christ is the head, then we have the apostles and prophets. Remember, the universal church is every single person, every elect person who's been saved in Jesus. It's a reference to all believers around the world.
We see the expression of that in local places in the local church. And there are offices of the local church, elder and deacon. So Paul, as an officer of the universal church, engages in a special act of authority similar to excommunication. So he gets rid of him, hands him over to Satan, hands him over to the special enemy of God.
He's outside the kingdom of God and given to the devil for a specific purpose. He's been handed over in judgment. Handed over is very much used for judgment, especially in Romans chapter 1. Now that might freak us out.
Does Satan really have that much power? Is it really his realm? But we must remember Satan is not omnipotent. I think we forget that sometimes.
I think sometimes we also forget Satan is not omnipresent. Only God is omnipresent. Satan is a fallen angel, brethren. And maybe this kingdom, he's been handed over, or the sinning man, the sinning men have been handed over to this one, but it's for a specific purpose.
Satan might be roaming this world like a roaring lion, but he is certainly on a leash, and God has dominion. We don't need to worry and fear from him, brethren. We don't need to fear Satan, because Christ is on the throne. Christ has crushed his head, and Christ reigns supreme.
But nonetheless, it's a way to say, hand it over to the present evil age, hand it over to Satan. Fairbairn says, Satan is but a creature and an instrument, one who has a definite sphere to occupy and a power to exercise in relation to the purposes of God's moral government, but still only of a subordinate and ministerial kind. Because the reason or the purpose they're handed over is that they may learn not to blaspheme. They might be corrected not to denigrate God.
They may be corrected not to profane the name of God with what they're saying, with false teaching. The purpose for this whole idea of excommunication is to cause people to consider their sin, especially for these ones being excommunicated. Again, if there's no You know, there's no thought process. It doesn't shake people.
Hey, wow, excommunication. That's a big time concern. OK, hand them over, that they might one day consider that very thing and treat them like an unbeliever that they might believe. But brethren, discipline isn't just for the one being disciplined.
It's for the ones doing the disciplining as well. It's actually a reminder and a warning. It's a reminder and a warning to what will happen to those who are not truly in Christ Jesus. It's a warning for the discipline and for those engaging in discipline.
It's a warning to remind us, to cause us not to sin.
Church Discipline Explained
Churches ought to be engaging in church discipline. There's rarely any church. A lot of churches do not do this that much anymore. But it's an important aspect of the local church.
As we live in a present evil age, there is, so to speak, people who come into the church, might profess the name of Christ, but are actually not believers. There's membership on the front end. And if that doesn't work out, if we get some things wrong like the apostles did with Simon in the book of Acts, there's church discipline on the back And the purpose is to teach these ones that they may learn, that they may be corrected, to not blaspheme the name of the Lord God Most High, to not speak false things against God Most High. That's what blaspheming means here.
And we see it in 1 Timothy 6.1, let as many bondservants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor, so the name of God and his doctrine may not be blasphemed. We don't just blaspheme God in our words and thoughts, but we blaspheme God in our works as well. And this was the case for both of these ones, Alexander and Hymenaeus. So the warning very much is, we must not reject the faith.
We must not turn from Christ. For there are consequences for backsliding. And again, the consequences for backsliding are going to be seen in those who are not actual Christians, but just profess to be Christians. In reality, they're probably relying upon something else.
They're baptized as a child. I'm a pretty decent person. I've done good things. I attend church.
And as such, because I attend church, I'm going to be saved. I'm not against coming to church, brethren. It's important to understand the blessed means of grace that we do have. But we don't come to church to be saved.
We come to church because we have been saved. We don't come to church to earn our way, we come to church because Christ earned it for us, and we come to give Him glory and praise and honor for that. We must remember that. Sometimes that gets lost for those who are close to the faith, have friends, family, connected with it.
It's not about what we do, it's about what Christ has done for us, and as such, out of response to His blessed goodness, we seek to do what is pleasing in His We must not shipwreck the faiths, evidence we are never believers, but as well as denigrate God's name publicly before others. And this is especially important for ones who want to be teachers. James 3, let not many of you be teachers. It's a very serious warning and a very serious reminder.
And may I say as well, especially as we're engaging in the good warfare, perhaps good Calvinists are like, yeah, engaging in the good warfare. Let's fight against truth. Let's take everybody out. May I just say that as we deal with certain people, of certain faiths, of certain ideas, we must have an understanding that there are degrees of people within that.
Namely, how I treat a person in the pew will be different than how I treat someone who typically stands in the pulpit, who should know better. The demeanor which I have towards a pastor who teaches false things will be very different from someone who sat in a pew and has had to sit under that rabble for their entire lives. Patience, kindness, mercy, yeah, still deal with the truth. But if men get up and say they're Christians, that's another story.
And we'll fight to the bitter end against them, against that truth. If any sort of big name preacher comes in and says certain things, you better believe that it's different. We treat them differently. Treat me differently.
If I say something wrong, call me out on that very thing. The point is how we treat certain people in the pew differently than we necessarily do people who stand in the pulpit. Now again, not saying we don't just let their heterodoxy slip on by, but how we operate and engage with them is different based on where they are. Because we need, thankfully though, when we engage with false things, whether it's a pastor or whether it's people in the pew, there is church discipline, and it happens for both people in the pew and for the pastor.
Thankfully, it is church discipline. And there is an order that we do see in Matthew chapter 18. If someone sins against you, go to them, call them out. If they say, I'm sorry, hey, you've gained a brother.
If they don't, Grab somebody else. Go to them again. Have a witness. Ask for forgiveness.
If they do, great. You gained a brother. If they don't, stage three. Take it to the church.
That's where all the members are going to get to know what's going on. Tell them what's going on. Have the members call them and deal with them and admonish them to repent. If they do wonderful, you gained a brother.
But if they don't, that's where excommunication comes in. And certainly, it's not just for gross, heinous, immoral sins. But it's for little sins that people don't repent on as well. Continued impenitence against this calling and this reminder.
That's what church discipline is meant to do, cause us to think, to remind us about what's going on. But I should say as well, we can jump straight to section 3 or step 3 and step 4 depending on the sin. We don't always have to go, okay, you didn't come to me. If someone engages in a gross, heinous, wicked sin, we can jump straight to step 3.
We'll bring it before the church. We've got to deal with that very quickly and swiftly because it's in the church. And perhaps you see that in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, a man who has his father's wife. Boy, that's a heinous thing, isn't it?
Boy, that's awful. So the guy who's there can't go, well, you didn't come to me privately. It shouldn't be some sort of discipline. Now, you can jump straight to step three, depending on the sin.
And they certainly do that with the heinous sin that was engaged in in 1 Corinthians chapter 5. Because the purpose of church discipline is certainly restoration. We hope that. But as well it is for the purity of the church.
Yes, I know there's going to be no pure church and perfect church on this side of heaven. But that doesn't mean we don't seek to keep it pure as we're able. The true believers are part of that membership. And the beauty is, again, we get things wrong sometimes.
And that's why church disciplines on the back end to deal with such situations. But in all things, it's meant to glorify God as we engage in such discipline. But perhaps, too, this idea of discipline is meant to remind us of the importance of church membership. Membership isn't just, I attended church for a while, and today I'm a member.
There's an actual formal process that happens with that. And membership is something that is very much despised in our modern context. We don't want to be a part of the church. We kind of want to do whatever we sort of want to do.
But brethren, if you're not part of the Church, there really is no Church discipline, really, is there? How can you discipline someone? You can ask them to leave, ask them to not come back, you can do any of those types of things. You can't really excommunicate them, can you?
You can't really engage in such discipline. You see, membership is actually meant to keep God's people accountable. I love the way our Constitution and Free Grace's Constitution, which is where we got ours, talks about formative discipline and corrective discipline. Formative discipline is this, being saturated with Scripture, coming on the Lord's Day, prizing the Lord's Day, that we might not be backsliding, that we might not, you know, start to do certain things we shouldn't, that we might not, our sensitivities, our conscience has become seared.
It's for our good in that. Oh, wow, okay, yeah, that's a reminder. I got a reminder of what truth is and what sin is. It's important for our souls.
It's important that we come and gather in such places. But if formative discipline does fail, there is corrective. And you can be assured it will be executed. You can be assured it shall happen, whether it's a gross, scandalous sin, or if it's in penitence along the way against the Lord God Most High.
But the purpose for discipline is for the good of God's people. It's for the good of Christ's Church. It's for the one who's being disciplined, that they might repent and be restored, or it's that they might be evidence they were unbelievers, that we might share the gospel and preach to them that blessed truth. God does all things well, and he set up all things well in his scriptures, and how the church ought to function, how the church ought to operate, especially as we wage this good warfare.
Christians who wage such good warfare must do so by the grace and power of God Most High, who is blessed to save sinners. We cannot do it on our own, but we do so in the gospel of Christ. And if you're an unbeliever here today, I implore you, I encourage you to believe on Jesus Christ who saves sinners. You cannot wash your hands and make yourselves a little bit better.
It's not based on things that you do, but it's confessing your sin and believing on Jesus Christ for salvation. But as Christians and ministers ought to engage in such warfare. So perhaps we can ask that question again. Do you wage the good warfare?
Are you discerning with respect to truth? Are you sensitive with respect to sin and what God says is right and wrong? And are you sensitive to that blessed gospel that is found in Christ, that is only found in him, salvation wrought by Christ who came to save sinners, that there might be everlasting life and hope in him? Well, let's pray.
Closing Prayer
Our God, we are thankful that Christ is on that throne, and he is seated at the right hand of God, the Father. We confess, O God, that as we walk this Christian life, that we are in great need of you. We confess, O God, there are many false truths and false doctrines, and we all struggle with our own sins. We all struggle with our own hearts that are like idle factories.
And we're thankful, O God, that there is forgiveness in Jesus Christ. We confess these sins to you. We're thankful, O God, there is mercy and forgiveness in him, that you are faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us of all unrighteousness. We ask, O God, that you'd help us as we wage this good warfare, help your ministers as they wage the good warfare, your true ministers as they wage this good warfare.
May we do so with faith and good conscience. We pray, O God, that we would not neglect all of us. We would not neglect this good warfare. We confess, O God, sometimes we can become lazy.
We confess, O God, sometimes we can become negligent. We ask, O God, that you prick our souls once again, soften our hearts to the scriptures and what it says. We're thankful, O God, for the assurances that your people shall not fall away. We know, God, you shall expose those who are not yours, those whom you haven't saved, those who just profess Christ but do not truly believe.
We pray, O God, that you would do so, that we might be warned and be reminded, and we pray, O God, that you would do so, that we might be able to share the gospel and truth with them. We're thankful for such mercy you give to people like us. We're thankful, O God, for the clarity you give with respect to how your church ought to function and operate. We confess, O God, that we fall very short in your church and how we ought to operate with respect to truth and with respect to discipline.
But help us, O God, as your church, to hold fast to the word of God. Help us to hold fast to word and sacrament, and help us to hold fast as well to church discipline. Give us wisdom as we engage in such difficult things sometimes, as we engage in such sin. We're thankful, O God, you are merciful and kind towards your people.
So we're thankful for this gospel. May it be what encourages us as we walk this life, that we have encouragement that Christ has died for us. And may we saturate our minds with the scriptures that we might glorify you as we wage this good warfare. So help us, encourage us by your spirit, we pray.
In the name of Christ. Amen. We'll close with a brief time meditation. When the piano's finished, you are dismissed.