Entrusted with the Gospel

[0:00] said at the beginning, there's a little bit of a change. We will not be in 2 Peter this morning. We will be in 2 Peter, Lord willing, next week. But this week, we're going to be in 1 Timothy, and we are so grateful that Davis, a fellow Texan who got to Colorado as quickly as he could, was available to come and help us this morning. So come forward. Thank you, Davis.

[0:22] Thank you. It is so great to be with you. I believe I was here over the summer, and it is great to be back with the saints here at Cheyenne Mountain. I am the pastor of Westside Church here in Colorado Springs, one of our sister PCA churches. And so we are starting today a series in 1 Timothy. So you guys get the sneak peek to that. Don't tell anyone at Westside.

[0:52] Okay. This is the sermon that I'm going to preach this afternoon. We have our service at four o'clock in the afternoon. And so I get to edit this sermon between now and then. So thank you so much for allowing me to come. But no, it really is a privilege of getting to come and to bring God's word for you. I care very much. I love your dear pastor, Matthew. He's become a good friend to me since I've moved up here. So my prayers are with him as we prayed earlier for his speedy recovery.

[1:25] So I have the privilege of getting to bring God's word to you from 1 Timothy chapter one. And again, this is kind of the introduction to 1 Timothy that we'll hear. So open your Bibles to 1 Timothy for the reading and the preaching of God's holy and inspired word for us.

[1:43] So we're looking at 1 Timothy chapter one, verses one through 11. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by our Savior and of Christ Jesus, our hope to Timothy, my true child in the faith, grace, mercy and peace from God, the father and Christ Jesus, our Lord. 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, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculation rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. The aim of our charge is love, love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Certain persons by swerving from these have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions. Now we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, 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, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, pedurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.

[3:20] This is the word of God. Amen. Let us pray for our time in his word. Holy Father, we thank you for this time. We pray and ask now for your help in understanding these things, these things that are revealed to us in your word. We pray for understanding. We pray for conviction.

[3:44] We pray for, Lord, that you would grant us repentance, repentance unto life. Lord, we pray for the ministry of your spirit to come and to illuminate our hearts, to awaken, Lord, the hearts in this room that are perhaps lethargic here today, that are dull. Lord, the hearts that are anxious about many things, we pray that you would comfort them. Lord, the hearts in this room that are, Lord, in rebellion to your truth, we pray that you would convict them to repentance. Lord, we pray for the hearts that are looking, looking for answers, looking for hope, looking for certainty. We pray that you would comfort them with the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. We pray this. We ask also for the children who are here in this place, Lord. We pray that you would also be gracious to them, granting them understanding of the deep and rich truths of your word and of your son, the Lord Jesus. We pray that all of us would go forth from here, changed, transformed,

[4:51] Lord, by your holy and by your inspired word. We ask all this in the name of Jesus. Amen. Amen. There were innumerable days of playing catch and fielding grounders in the front yard. There were the few times that we went dove hunting and fishing and camping. There was the Christmas that my dad spent all day outside with me as I rode my first bike. There was an early appreciation for Western classics, classics like The Searchers, Shane, and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon. There was the shared love of the Dallas Cowboys during the glory days of Jimmy Johnson. Oh, how long ago those were. There were the five championships of the San Antonio Spurs. There was the exposure to classical music as a young boy.

[5:51] But the treasure, the treasure of all of my memories from my father were the last words he spoke to me shortly before he died. Be a preacher, son. There had been times when we hadn't seen eye to eye, when I had rebelled and sneered against his authority. But Jesus had saved me in a dramatic way, and my dad had seen me graduate from seminary. He had seen me go into ministry. He had got to hear me preach on many occasions. And the final words that he said to me, be a preacher, son. It was his blessing on me. It was what he wanted to entrust me with, letting me know how proud he was of the man that I had become. And those words have sustained me. They have sustained me many times throughout the highs and the lows of pastoral ministry. And those words parallel the theme of what we find in 1 Timothy. 1 Timothy is a book written by the Apostle Paul, and it's called 1 Timothy because it was the first letter that he wrote to his protege, to a young man named Timothy, who had become an elder and a preacher that Paul had left in Ephesus. We read it in verse 3. It's Paul's instructions, not only though for Timothy, but for the entire church. They're instructions for how Timothy's calling as a pastor, as an elder, was to play out in the local church. But more directly, it was a charge that Paul was giving to the church, a charge that they were entrusted with the gospel of Jesus

[7:46] Christ, and how they were to function as a result as the church of Jesus Christ. Right away, what I want us to see is the timeliness of this letter. Until our Lord returns, there will always be the need for the reminder about how we as the church of Jesus Christ, how we are to function as the church, how we are to live as believers in a world that is hostile to the church, that is hostile to the gospel of Jesus Christ. In this way, we are no different than the Ephesian believers that Paul had in mind when he wrote this letter to their pastor and subsequently to the church. And more than that, I want us also to keep in mind that the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write this letter. Inspired means that the Holy Spirit worked in harmony with the apostle so that this letter that has been preserved and kept for us would be exactly what God wanted his church to receive as divine revelation. And this, again, only emphasizes the importance, the importance for us of how we are to view the church, how we are to view the church. It's important, it's function, it's mission, it's place, it's purpose in the world.

[9:06] These are all matters of what we call ecclesiology, the study or the doctrine of the church. And the reason I say that is because much like theology, everyone also has an ecclesiology. Everyone has a view of God, whether it's the true view or a false view.

[9:24] Everyone has a view of the church, whether it is right or wrong, but everyone has a view of the church. And this can be as deep as asking the question, what is the function of the church? Or it can be as simple as asking, what should I wear to church?

[9:40] Both of these are matters of ecclesiology. And they're matters that Paul incidentally addresses in this letter of 1 Timothy. Now, before we dive in, I want to set the table. I want to set the table for pointing out a few things regarding the central idea in this letter that the Spirit of God is aiming to make clear for you and I today.

[10:03] And here it is. Here it is. Here's the central idea in 1 Timothy. The central idea is that the church has been entrusted with the gospel of Jesus Christ. The church has been entrusted with the gospel.

[10:17] And we guard, we guard that gospel by sound doctrine, by sincere faith, by holy worship, and by righteous living.

[10:28] This is the central idea of 1 Timothy. And by way of implication, it is also the central idea for us in 2020. Sound doctrine, sincere faith, holy worship, righteous living.

[10:42] These are the means by which we guard what we have been entrusted with, the very gospel itself. And we'll see this right away as we dive into verses 1 through 11.

[10:52] If your Bible's ready and open, have your notepads ready to go as well. Now for our kids that are here today, little theologians. Little theologians, I have some homework for you as well if you want to listen along.

[11:05] And if it's okay with your parents, I'd like you to draw a picture of a treasure chest. A treasure chest with treasure inside it. And here are the two questions that I want you to ponder, little theologians, kids, as we go through 1 Timothy verses 1 through 11.

[11:21] Two questions for you. What is the treasure that we are to guard? And how are we to guard it? What is the treasure? And how do we guard that treasure? Now for you big theologians in the room, you already have our big idea today.

[11:38] Here's the outline that will give it weight. Our outline for today. We guard the gospel with the sound doctrine of who God is, verses 1 and 2. We guard the gospel with the sound doctrine of Paul's charge in verses 3 through 7.

[11:53] And we guard the gospel with the sound doctrine of understanding what the law is for in verses 8 through 11. Who God is, Paul's charge, and understanding what the law is for.

[12:05] That's where we're going. First, look with me at verse 3. Paul wants us to understand this. He wants to immediately make clear the reason that he's writing this letter.

[12:15] Verse 3, he says, 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, nor devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies which promote speculations, rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith.

[12:36] There were those in the church who were, in fact, teaching different doctrine, rather than what Paul calls here the stewardship from God that is by faith. Which is simply a fancy way of saying the gift of God and salvation.

[12:51] The work of God. The work of salvation that he has accomplished and that he has completed. Evidently, it had gotten so bad that Paul sent Timothy to Ephesus to combat the teaching that was contrary to the one that they had received from the apostle.

[13:06] The word charge, you see that there in verse 3, Paul uses it three times in the first 18 verses of this letter. And it has in mind that of a command, an authoritative coming down from a superior.

[13:22] And this, Paul using this three times in the first 18 verses highlights the seriousness of the situation. And the word different there in verse 3, if you see it, this is the word that we get the word heresy from.

[13:36] That's Paul's primary concern, which is why he uses the strong language, this charge, that he is charging Timothy to do this, because of the unhealthy, the contrary doctrine that is being taught in Ephesus.

[13:52] The other doctrine that is being taught. Verse 3, verse 5, verse 18. This word charge, Paul uses returning again and again. All throughout the book, as a matter of fact.

[14:04] Up to seven times, Paul uses this word about charging Timothy. Hold on to what I have given to you. And if you were to flip over to the very end of the letter, chapter 6, verse 20.

[14:16] Paul ends his letter echoing this same theme again. He says, guard the deposit that has been entrusted to you, Timothy. Elsewhere, he also says that, Timothy, you are to charge others, as you have been charged not to teach anything different.

[14:32] You charge those that you entrust not to teach different doctrine as well. So putting this together, we can begin to see the central idea of 1 Timothy coming together.

[14:45] That the church is entrusted with, indeed the church is charged with, safeguarding the gospel. And the first way we see how that is done is by teaching doctrine that is in accordance with God's gospel.

[14:59] Don't teach this, Timothy. Teach this instead. The first sound doctrine that we see here in our text is in the greeting in verses 1 and 2. The sound doctrine of who God is.

[15:13] From the very beginning, we see that this letter addressed from Paul to Timothy, there is also surrounding that, there is this rich theology concerning the nature of who God is.

[15:26] And this understanding is quite essential to the rest of the letter. We need to understand the content of who God is here at the very beginning of the letter if we are to understand the rest of it.

[15:39] Paul says, or Paul is called there, he writes in verses 1 and 2, that he is an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus.

[15:50] This is an incredible statement that Paul says here. It's an incredible statement that demands that we consider its implications. He says that he's an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope.

[16:06] An apostle was someone that was sent. That's what the word means, a sent one. Who was Paul sent by? Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and Christ Jesus our hope.

[16:20] So right away in this letter, we see this Trinitarian theology that Paul is presenting. He's presenting both God the Father and God the Son. God our Savior, he says, God the Father.

[16:32] God the Father, our Savior. Savior meaning that God has graciously saved us from our sins. He has graciously saved us from his wrath against our sin.

[16:45] This is who God the Father is for his people. This is incredible. Little theologians, kids, this is who your heavenly Father is. We prayed the Lord's Prayer in Matthew chapter 6 earlier when we said, our Father who art in heaven.

[17:01] This is your Father who art in heaven. He is Savior. He is merciful. He is gracious. He is abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness to all who call on him, to all who fear him, to all who adore him.

[17:14] This is our covenant God. Never lose sight of him. He alone is Savior. He alone can save because of who his Son is.

[17:27] His Son, according to Paul here in verses 1 and 2, is our Messiah and is our hope. You'll notice that in verses 1 and 2, Paul refers to Jesus as Christ Jesus.

[17:38] Do you see that there? He refers to it three times in these two verses. This is intentional on Paul's part because he's emphasizing Jesus as the promised Messiah.

[17:49] That's the meaning of the word Christ. That's the title. That's the office that Jesus holds. He is God's chosen. He is God's anointed one. He is the one that was promised in the Old Testament, fulfilled in the New Testament, and he is the one that is proclaimed in the world.

[18:05] He is the Redeemer. He is the Savior. He is the King promised. And he has come. He has delivered. He has accomplished redemption for us, dear friends.

[18:17] And therefore, what does Paul say about Christ Jesus? He is our hope. He is our hope. Isn't that good news on November 1, 2020?

[18:30] No matter what happens in two days, brothers and sisters, we have hope. We have hope that exists outside of us.

[18:40] How about that? We have a hope that exists outside of us that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading kept in heaven for you. You have a hope that does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

[18:59] And you have a hope which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. How is your outlook this morning? After the year that we've had, it seems perfectly reasonable to be fearful, to be cynical about pretty much everything as our ordinary lives have been turned upside down.

[19:26] Everything except our hope. Everything except for our Savior. Everything except for our great God.

[19:37] He has not changed one bit. His love, his grace, his mercy, his peace, it's there for you. It has not changed one bit. I love how Samuel Rutherford wonderfully puts this in his little book called The Loveliness of Christ.

[19:54] Listen to what Samuel Rutherford says. He was a 17th century preacher in Scotland. This is what he says. He says, Look to the east.

[20:06] The day sky is breaking. Think not that Christ loses time or lingers unsuitably. He is so new, so fresh in excellency. Every day is new to these that search more and more in him.

[20:21] Yet he is one and the same. Look up to him. Love him. Oh, love and live in him. God, our Savior, Jesus, the Messiah, our hope.

[20:33] This is part of the sound doctrine that we have, dear friends. The picture of who God is. This is what we as a church believe. This is what we as a church confess.

[20:45] And this is what we as a church should do as well. And look with me in verses 3 through 7 now. We have the sound doctrine of who God is. Next, we have the sound doctrine of Paul's charge.

[20:57] Paul's charge. We mentioned this just a few minutes ago, but now we're going to look at it in a little bit greater detail. The charge that is given in verse 3. And this dealt directly with what was happening in the leadership at Ephesus.

[21:12] Those that were teaching a different doctrine. Contrary to what Paul called the stewardship or administration from God that is by faith.

[21:23] He's referring there to the salvation plan of God. The redemptive plan of God that is given freely to sinners by faith and faith alone. Salvation from beginning to end and everything in between is of God.

[21:38] It is from God. It originated from Him before the foundation of the world. It came through Him. It came with the Son of God coming into the world and bringing God's covenant promises to save a people.

[21:51] From every tribe, every tongue, every ethnicity, every nation. Jesus has done it. He has brought the promises of Genesis 12, 15, 17, 22, 28, 32, 49, and 50.

[22:05] He has brought them all to fruition. This is what has formed the church and this is what keeps the church. Therefore, the church should be zealous to guard its teaching.

[22:19] Because it is precious beyond description. It is a treasure. Little theologians, the treasure that we have is the gospel that God has given to us.

[22:32] And we must protect it because there are those who would devote themselves to teaching and to speculation that is contrary to this.

[22:42] It is contrary to God's administration. God has laid forth the plan of salvation. In verse 6, Paul says that they have swerved away from this established doctrine and they have wandered into vain discussion.

[22:58] The image behind, you see that there in verse 6, behind swerving away. The image behind that is of pulling a leg muscle that would hinder you from walking properly.

[23:16] And what Paul is saying is that there are those whose teaching is hindering them and those that listen to them from walking properly in the faith. And what is that proper walk?

[23:28] Paul tells us in verse 5, look at verse 5. He says that the aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. What he's saying is this, that the aim of the gospel and the sound doctrine that accompanies it is a love, is love that flows from a pure heart.

[23:49] Love that flows from a good conscience. Love that flows from a sincere faith. Paul's saying that the gospel leads to inner transformation that then leads to an outward expression of love in the life of the believer.

[24:05] Love, of course, was one of the defining marks of the life, the ministry of Jesus himself. This culminated with him saying in John 15, you remember John 15, the eve of his death.

[24:18] Jesus said this in John 15, he says, This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

[24:32] This love derives from him who laid down his very life for us, his friends. It is the result of being united to him in his death and resurrection by faith and faith alone, Romans 6.

[24:48] It is not by anything in us or done by us. It is not the result of works so that no one may boast, Ephesians chapter 2. This is the transformation that the gospel brings to us as believers.

[25:01] It purifies our sinful hearts. It transforms our minds. It breathes new spiritual life into our souls by the work of the Holy Spirit. This is the result of the gospel at work in the church.

[25:17] This is the result of sound doctrine. This is what sound doctrine is to lead to. And it's essential to understanding our calling as a church.

[25:29] Our calling as a church is not only to protect the gospel that we've been given, but again, how we protect it as well. We protect it by teaching what is in accordance with God's administration, not contrary to it.

[25:44] This means that we must not only know who God is and the aim of Paul's charge here, but we must also understand the purpose of the law in verses 8 through 11.

[25:56] The sound doctrine of understanding the purpose of the law. Look at verse 7 with me. Verse 7, Paul describes these false teachers as those who, desiring to be teachers of the law, desiring to be teachers of the law, they're actually completely ignorant about the very thing that they wish to assert and appear confident about.

[26:19] Think about that for a moment. These men were standing up and claiming the authority of a teacher, all the while they're actually teaching against the law, and they're teaching against God's administration of salvation.

[26:36] That's a very serious charge. It's no wonder that James says in James chapter 3 that not many should become teachers because of how serious the office is.

[26:49] The man who teaches in the name of the Lord or in his revelation should tread very lightly. He will not escape the severe scrutiny of rightly handling God's word.

[27:02] And when we think about that, it's very easy for us to think of numerous examples today. We don't have to think very long about the application for us. There are those who claim to teach in the name of the Lord, who claim the authority of Scripture, and yet they twist, and they make hermeneutical pretzels out of the straight teaching, the doctrine, the commandments of Scripture.

[27:25] And Paul says that one of the most telling ways they do this is with the law. The law. The morality, the ethics presented in Scripture, this is the dividing line as much in our day as it evidently was in Paul's day.

[27:45] Whereas the doctrine of Scripture, the doctrine of Scripture, the doctrine of Scripture, the doctrine of Scripture, the doctrine of Scripture, the doctrine of Scripture, the doctrine of Scripture, was aimed as a life defined by love, flowing from a pure heart, a sincere faith, a good conscience.

[27:58] In other words, sound doctrine is designed to lead to sound ethics, sound living. For false teachers, they waffle and they twist the clear teachings of the law to fit their own agendas.

[28:12] And the example that Paul gives us here is the moral law. Look at it with me again. He says in verse 8, Now we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, 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.

[28:37] And then he gives the clear examples of the second table of the Ten Commandments. Lawlessness towards authority, whether that is parental authority or any authority by application.

[28:50] Lawlessness towards sexuality, including homosexuality here. Lawlessness towards fellow human beings, enslaving other human beings, Paul says there.

[29:01] Kidnapping, taking advantage of your fellow human beings. Lawlessness towards truth, Paul says. These commandments were given to make clear what is sound doctrine and what is not sound doctrine.

[29:14] Those who promote these standards, you know that they have a true understanding of the law. That the law is given, it is meant to reveal sin, not to conceal sin.

[29:28] It is meant to make plain what is the clear teaching of the law, that there is a definite moral and ethical standard that is God's standard, not man's standard. That much is clear about the law.

[29:42] And because that is the purpose of the law, it condemns all of us. It condemns us all as lawbreakers.

[29:53] It condemns us all as unjust, ungodly, unholy. It condemns us all as sinners. And Paul says that is the purpose of the law, to make clear that there is an absolute standard of righteousness, that there is an absolute standard of justice, that there is an absolute standard of equity, meaning that it is applied across the board without partiality to each and every single one of us.

[30:20] the law, brothers and sisters, as sinners.

[30:35] It is an act of God's grace to let us know what the standard is. It lets us know what that standard is so that when we hear the gospel of the glory of the blessed Son, we say, yes.

[30:58] We say, amen. As Paul will demonstrate in verses 12 through 17, our sin does not have to have the final word.

[31:11] No matter how sinful, no matter how vile, no matter how profane we are, Paul says in verses 12 through 17, I was a blasphemer.

[31:22] I was a persecutor. I was a murderer. And then what does he say? But I received mercy and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me.

[31:37] The saying is trustworthy, he says in verse 15. You can take it to the bank that Christ Jesus came into the world to save. He came to save sinners.

[31:51] And Paul says, of whom I am the chief of sinners. This is the gospel that you and I, that you and I have been entrusted with.

[32:05] That you, Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church, you have been entrusted with this glorious gospel. that God loves to save sinners despite their lawlessness and despite their sin.

[32:21] Hold on to this sound doctrine. Your God saves. Your Jesus is your hope. You will behold his glory.

[32:35] And in a year of uncertainty, of that you may be certain of. Come, Lord Jesus. Come. Let's pray.

[32:47] Lord, we thank you for this time. We thank you for your word. God, we pray that you would renew our minds with the sound doctrine of who you are.

[33:01] Lord, that Paul gives us. Lord, you would renew our minds with the purpose of the law and that we would not waver from that.

[33:13] We would not shrink back but understand that is meant to reveal us as sin so that we are ready to receive the gospel of your dear son.

[33:25] Lord, we thank you that we have got to hear your gospel. We pray now that as we receive your gospel in the bread and the wine of this sacrament.

[33:38] We pray that you would use this to strengthen your people. Lord, to strengthen them in their hope, the certainty that they have in Jesus. We pray that you would do this and that we would go from here transformed and renewed in our hope and the peace that we have in your son.

[33:55] And it's in his name we pray. Amen. Amen.