1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,920 We're gonna be in 1st Timothy tonight. 2 00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:12,720 1st Timothy chapter 1. 3 00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:17,440 That's in the New Testament, kinda toward the back, close to the end of the Bible. 4 00:00:17,440 --> 00:00:26,240 1st Timothy chapter 1, verse 1, Lord willing, over the next couple of months, three months, 5 00:00:26,240 --> 00:00:27,240 four months. 6 00:00:27,240 --> 00:00:34,240 We're gonna go through 1st and 2nd Timothy on Wednesday nights. 7 00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:41,440 They're both relatively short books, so it won't take us long to get through them, probably. 8 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:48,480 1st Timothy chapter 1, we're just gonna kinda get a little bit of an introduction tonight. 9 00:00:48,480 --> 00:01:01,120 1st Timothy chapter 1, verse 1, we'll look at the first five verses tonight. 10 00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:03,400 Let's pray and we'll jump in. 11 00:01:03,400 --> 00:01:07,480 Father God, we come to you, we thank you for letting us be able to come here tonight. 12 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:09,680 We thank you for your good word and those good songs. 13 00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:14,460 I thank you that we could just come here today, dear Lord, and love each other and love you. 14 00:01:14,460 --> 00:01:17,960 And I pray that your Holy Spirit would just hide me behind the cross, that I would preach 15 00:01:17,960 --> 00:01:21,360 and teach something that we need to hear tonight, dear Lord. 16 00:01:21,360 --> 00:01:24,960 You know where we are in our life, you know what we're going through, and your word is 17 00:01:24,960 --> 00:01:26,080 what's gonna speak to us. 18 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:30,320 So I pray that we listen to these verses, dear Lord, that your Holy Spirit can work 19 00:01:30,320 --> 00:01:32,440 in this living word that you've given us to study. 20 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:36,320 And I ask these things in Jesus' name, amen. 21 00:01:36,320 --> 00:01:42,080 1st Timothy and 2nd Timothy is written by Paul. 22 00:01:42,080 --> 00:01:46,840 Paul was writing to Timothy, who appears to be similar to what we would call a pastor, 23 00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:48,960 a young pastor. 24 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:55,720 Obviously Paul, as we see in the text, as we read, we're gonna see that Paul knew Timothy's 25 00:01:55,720 --> 00:01:59,000 mother and grandmother, and he come from a good family. 26 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:04,520 And Timothy was a man of God, and Paul was pleased that Timothy was working alongside 27 00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:07,480 him and doing the work of preaching the gospel. 28 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:14,520 The book of 1st and 2nd Timothy, at least 1st Timothy, was written probably in the early 29 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:17,440 60s to mid-60s after Jesus died. 30 00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:25,560 So about 30 years or so after Jesus died, 62 to 65 AD is when this book would have been 31 00:02:25,560 --> 00:02:27,800 written to Timothy. 32 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:33,120 And Paul is writing to give Timothy some instruction, some encouragement on some things that he 33 00:02:33,120 --> 00:02:35,840 might need to deal with where he is. 34 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:40,100 And where he is, as we're about to see in these first few verses, is in Ephesus. 35 00:02:40,100 --> 00:02:45,360 So Timothy is in Ephesus, you may be familiar with Ephesus, the book of Ephesians was written 36 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:47,180 to the people of Ephesus. 37 00:02:47,180 --> 00:02:52,280 And so this is where Timothy is serving, and Paul is giving him some instructions. 38 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:55,040 So let's start in verse 1. 39 00:02:55,040 --> 00:03:03,240 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the command of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus our 40 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:04,240 hope. 41 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:05,240 So there's no question. 42 00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:09,360 You know, a lot of Paul's letters, they start off with kind of an introduction here that 43 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:13,160 tell who he is and who he's writing this to. 44 00:03:13,160 --> 00:03:17,000 And these letters are all written in the name of Jesus, for the work of Jesus, for the kingdom 45 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:18,000 of God. 46 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:21,360 This is Paul saying, look, I, Paul, I'm doing this for the Lord. 47 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:23,640 I'm doing this for Jesus Christ. 48 00:03:23,640 --> 00:03:25,800 That's who our hope is in. 49 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:27,800 And so I'm telling you who I am. 50 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:33,280 I'm Paul, I'm writing you the letter, and our hope is in Jesus Christ, is what he's 51 00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:35,460 saying here at this introduction. 52 00:03:35,460 --> 00:03:43,320 Verse 2, to Timothy, my true son in the faith, grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father 53 00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:45,560 and Christ Jesus our Lord. 54 00:03:45,560 --> 00:03:46,560 Okay? 55 00:03:46,560 --> 00:03:48,040 So we know who's writing it, who it's from. 56 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:49,160 It's from Paul. 57 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:51,960 We read down to the next verse, we know who it's to. 58 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:53,120 It's to Timothy. 59 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:55,120 And how does he refer to Timothy? 60 00:03:55,120 --> 00:03:57,400 As my true son in the faith. 61 00:03:57,400 --> 00:04:02,460 Now Paul is not saying here that Timothy is his biological child. 62 00:04:02,460 --> 00:04:04,400 He's saying he's the son in the faith. 63 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:10,600 That is, that Paul had kind of helped bring Timothy up and taught him and had guided him 64 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:14,200 and had helped him along in the work of the gospel. 65 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:16,000 And now Timothy is going off. 66 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:17,080 He had been raised up. 67 00:04:17,080 --> 00:04:18,080 He's ready to go. 68 00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:20,520 He's ready to go do the work of the Lord. 69 00:04:20,520 --> 00:04:24,560 And Paul obviously thinks fondly of Timothy here. 70 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:29,160 He refers to him as his son in the faith, that he's a partner in the faith, a partner 71 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:30,920 in the gospel of Jesus Christ. 72 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:32,480 So hey, I'm Paul. 73 00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:34,720 I'm writing you this letter, Timothy. 74 00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:39,280 And then he gives this kind of blessing, this word of encouragement here at the beginning, 75 00:04:39,280 --> 00:04:44,640 grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 76 00:04:44,640 --> 00:04:51,920 And so this is a warm greeting that Timothy is going to receive when he receives this 77 00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:52,920 letter. 78 00:04:52,920 --> 00:04:55,000 And that's one thing we need to remember when we read these things. 79 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:56,000 These were letters. 80 00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:59,920 A lot of the books that we see in the New Testament were books that were written to 81 00:04:59,920 --> 00:05:00,920 a people. 82 00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:05,560 First and second Corinthians were written to the people of Corinth or Ephesians written 83 00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:10,240 to the people of Ephesus or Philippians written to the people of Philippi. 84 00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:15,640 And so the things that they addressed were certainly very specific to the people who 85 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:16,640 were receiving them. 86 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:19,640 Now that's not to say that these words are not good for us too. 87 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:22,240 We know that the word of God is a living word. 88 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:23,760 It's powerful and it's effective. 89 00:05:23,760 --> 00:05:29,420 And so it can certainly be good for the people who originally read it, in this case, Timothy, 90 00:05:29,420 --> 00:05:34,960 but it's also good for us because Paul's instructions that we're going to see as we go through first 91 00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:40,920 and second Timothy are some of the same instructions that we go to today as far as how we're going 92 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:46,440 to conduct our services or appoint deacons or things such as that. 93 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:52,520 These are the types of things that Paul addresses for Timothy in giving him instruction. 94 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:59,300 Verse three, as I urged you when I went to Macedonia, remain in Ephesus so that you may 95 00:05:59,300 --> 00:06:06,160 instruct certain people not to teach different doctrine or to pay attention to myths and 96 00:06:06,160 --> 00:06:08,440 endless genealogies. 97 00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:14,800 These promote empty speculations rather than God's plan, which operates by faith. 98 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:15,800 Okay. 99 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:19,320 So here's part of the issue that Timothy is going to have to deal with. 100 00:06:19,320 --> 00:06:23,760 He says, okay, you're here in Ephesus and here's what you need to be aware of. 101 00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:26,120 There are some that are teaching false doctrines. 102 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:31,120 There are some that are getting caught up and involved in things that aren't good. 103 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:32,640 They're not productive. 104 00:06:32,640 --> 00:06:34,360 They're not helping the kingdom of God. 105 00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:39,360 And so you need to be on guard and you need to be ready to give it a fence of the gospel 106 00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:45,280 and to be able to teach these people to move on to Jesus Christ, to move off of these things 107 00:06:45,280 --> 00:06:46,280 that do not matter. 108 00:06:46,280 --> 00:06:52,600 Now he says here that you may instruct certain people not to teach these false doctrines. 109 00:06:52,600 --> 00:06:54,880 Now maybe Paul has somebody in mind. 110 00:06:54,880 --> 00:06:55,880 I'm not sure. 111 00:06:55,880 --> 00:06:59,720 He may just be saying in general, hey, you're going to encounter some people somewhere along 112 00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:03,760 the way that aren't teaching things that are true to the gospel. 113 00:07:03,760 --> 00:07:05,440 Or he may have some people in mind. 114 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:10,200 He may know, hey, so and so and so and so are in Ephesus and Timothy's going to encounter 115 00:07:10,200 --> 00:07:11,200 them. 116 00:07:11,200 --> 00:07:13,320 These are the certain people that he might be talking about. 117 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:14,320 Perhaps that's the case. 118 00:07:14,320 --> 00:07:15,320 We don't know. 119 00:07:15,320 --> 00:07:16,760 And it really doesn't matter too much. 120 00:07:16,760 --> 00:07:22,720 But of the things that he says, one is that they teach different doctrine. 121 00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:26,760 That is they're teaching something opposed to the gospel of Jesus Christ. 122 00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:31,000 Now Paul has already told us at the beginning of the book of Galatians when he writes to 123 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:36,200 the people of Galatia, he says, look, if anybody comes to you teaching any other gospel than 124 00:07:36,200 --> 00:07:38,760 that I preach to you, then don't listen to him. 125 00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:42,840 He said, even if an angel comes to you telling you something other than the gospel, don't 126 00:07:42,840 --> 00:07:43,840 listen to him. 127 00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:47,800 Even if I come back to you and tell you something other than the gospel of Jesus Christ. 128 00:07:47,800 --> 00:07:52,480 And there are certainly many false doctrines we see in our world today. 129 00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:54,680 Some of which don't have anything to do with scripture. 130 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:57,960 They're just some crazy teachings that people come up with. 131 00:07:57,960 --> 00:08:02,720 And some of which even use God's word to some extent and kind of take some things about 132 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:07,760 God's word and twist it and say things that aren't true and aren't accurate and aren't 133 00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:09,960 right about the gospel of Jesus Christ. 134 00:08:09,960 --> 00:08:14,120 So Paul says, okay, Timothy, you know the truth of the gospel. 135 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:15,120 You know what is good. 136 00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:16,480 You know what is right. 137 00:08:16,480 --> 00:08:20,720 And therefore you need to teach what is good, but know that you're going to encounter some 138 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:24,440 who are going to teach something different than you are teaching. 139 00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:27,320 And you need to be on guard against them. 140 00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:33,720 Now, false doctrine, we need to make a distinction between different beliefs that are Christian 141 00:08:33,720 --> 00:08:39,800 beliefs that may differ from each other and false doctrines that clearly go against everything 142 00:08:39,800 --> 00:08:40,800 that scripture said. 143 00:08:40,800 --> 00:08:46,200 Now, even amongst Christians, there are some scriptures that are hard to understand. 144 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:47,560 There's different interpretation. 145 00:08:47,560 --> 00:08:52,880 There's different views that even Christians may have with one another on some passages. 146 00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:56,480 That doesn't mean necessarily that one is a false doctrine. 147 00:08:56,480 --> 00:09:00,600 If somebody comes to you and they're Christian and they have a differing interpretation or 148 00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:05,560 view than you, doesn't necessarily mean that that's a false doctrine. 149 00:09:05,560 --> 00:09:08,040 There are a lot of scriptures that are difficult. 150 00:09:08,040 --> 00:09:09,560 And so we want to make that distinction. 151 00:09:09,560 --> 00:09:14,320 There certainly can be some disagreement among Christians, but what Paul is talking about 152 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:20,560 here are things that clearly go against what scripture says, what the gospel of Jesus Christ 153 00:09:20,560 --> 00:09:21,560 is about. 154 00:09:21,560 --> 00:09:24,080 So he mentions false doctrines. 155 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:28,280 Then he says, pay attention to myths and endless genealogies. 156 00:09:28,280 --> 00:09:32,200 Okay, well, what are some of these myths they may have been paying attention to? 157 00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:37,840 Well, certainly among the Jewish community, there were things that kind of went above 158 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:39,600 and beyond what the law was. 159 00:09:39,600 --> 00:09:41,280 Now, God gave the law through Moses. 160 00:09:41,280 --> 00:09:43,640 That was the written law. 161 00:09:43,640 --> 00:09:48,440 But many in the Jewish community also had the oral law, things that orally had been 162 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:51,200 passed down by mouth through generations. 163 00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:55,320 And they had kind of maybe added to some of these commands and kind of twisted some of 164 00:09:55,320 --> 00:10:01,080 these things in their own way that were not really within what the intention was of what 165 00:10:01,080 --> 00:10:03,640 God originally gave the command. 166 00:10:03,640 --> 00:10:07,960 So they kind of made things harder for themselves in some way. 167 00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:10,080 They didn't just live by the law. 168 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:12,160 They went above and beyond the law. 169 00:10:12,160 --> 00:10:15,560 And not only that, they didn't live by the law very good, even the written law. 170 00:10:15,560 --> 00:10:18,400 They twisted that kind of to their own benefit. 171 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:22,720 And so he says, look, don't get caught up in some of these myths or some of these things 172 00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:26,460 that are said among this community that you're talking to. 173 00:10:26,460 --> 00:10:27,800 These are not good things. 174 00:10:27,800 --> 00:10:30,400 What else does he say here after the myths? 175 00:10:30,400 --> 00:10:33,680 He says also endless genealogies. 176 00:10:33,680 --> 00:10:38,520 Now, if you go back and you begin to look, especially at the beginning of Genesis, and 177 00:10:38,520 --> 00:10:43,440 then you read through the Old Testament, you're going to see that there are some genealogies. 178 00:10:43,440 --> 00:10:49,480 There are some lists that say so and so, begat so and so, begat so and so, begat so and so, 179 00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:55,600 or this person begat so and so and they lived 117 years and begat so and so and they lived 180 00:10:55,600 --> 00:10:57,340 118 years. 181 00:10:57,340 --> 00:10:58,560 And there are lots of genealogies. 182 00:10:58,560 --> 00:11:00,000 Now, this is important. 183 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:01,720 These genealogies are important. 184 00:11:01,720 --> 00:11:04,960 It helps us to see through the generations who fathered who. 185 00:11:04,960 --> 00:11:09,720 And it keeps a good family line that we can look at when we go through scripture. 186 00:11:09,720 --> 00:11:14,680 We even see the importance of these genealogies when we get into the New Testament. 187 00:11:14,680 --> 00:11:20,640 Before Jesus is born, we are introduced to these genealogies of all these that came before, 188 00:11:20,640 --> 00:11:26,160 leading us to Jesus so that we could see who Jesus was, that he came from the line of David, 189 00:11:26,160 --> 00:11:30,820 that he was going to be the king that was going to come and reign forever. 190 00:11:30,820 --> 00:11:35,880 So there's certainly some benefit in these genealogies, but it sounds like whatever was 191 00:11:35,880 --> 00:11:42,080 going on here in Ephesus is that people were putting too much focus on these genealogies, 192 00:11:42,080 --> 00:11:44,520 that they were really focused on their genealogies. 193 00:11:44,520 --> 00:11:49,080 Now, for Jewish people, that would have been kind of an important thing for them. 194 00:11:49,080 --> 00:11:52,420 And even today, that's an important thing for them. 195 00:11:52,420 --> 00:11:54,520 They focus too much on their genealogies. 196 00:11:54,520 --> 00:11:56,520 They focus too much on their bloodline. 197 00:11:56,520 --> 00:11:58,920 They really want to know what tribe am I from? 198 00:11:58,920 --> 00:12:01,640 Oh, I'm a Jewish person and I can trace it back. 199 00:12:01,640 --> 00:12:04,840 And they are so worried about their bloodline. 200 00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:09,980 They're so worried to prove that, hey, I'm a descendant of Abraham, that they have totally 201 00:12:09,980 --> 00:12:11,820 missed Jesus Christ. 202 00:12:11,820 --> 00:12:15,560 That was true of many of the Jews at the time that this was written. 203 00:12:15,560 --> 00:12:19,360 And that's still true of almost every Jew today. 204 00:12:19,360 --> 00:12:22,560 They completely denied Jesus Christ entirely. 205 00:12:22,560 --> 00:12:27,380 Not that he existed, but that he was the son of God, that he was the savior of the world. 206 00:12:27,380 --> 00:12:28,600 What did they trust in? 207 00:12:28,600 --> 00:12:33,020 They trust in the fact that they say, oh, I have Jewish blood in my veins. 208 00:12:33,020 --> 00:12:37,740 But we see in Matthew chapter three, John the Baptist says, hey, you ought not be bragging 209 00:12:37,740 --> 00:12:43,860 about that because even God can make these stones sons of Abraham. 210 00:12:43,860 --> 00:12:48,160 That is to say, being a son of Abraham or having a certain blood that flows through 211 00:12:48,160 --> 00:12:50,940 your veins is no benefit for you. 212 00:12:50,940 --> 00:12:53,720 It's not the blood in your veins that makes a difference. 213 00:12:53,720 --> 00:12:56,720 It's the blood of Jesus Christ that makes a difference. 214 00:12:56,720 --> 00:13:01,520 Now, when Jesus came onto the scene and he began to preach and teach to many of the Jewish 215 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:04,740 people of his day, many of them rejected it. 216 00:13:04,740 --> 00:13:06,640 They were focused on one thing. 217 00:13:06,640 --> 00:13:07,640 Well, I'm a Jew. 218 00:13:07,640 --> 00:13:08,840 I'm a son of Abraham. 219 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:11,960 So therefore, that's all I need to worry about. 220 00:13:11,960 --> 00:13:13,680 They totally missed the Messiah. 221 00:13:13,680 --> 00:13:17,000 And Jesus tried to get their attention and didn't get their attention. 222 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:20,920 And throughout the New Testament, we see these New Testament writers trying to get their 223 00:13:20,920 --> 00:13:25,640 attention, but they're so focused on their genealogy and who they're a descendant of 224 00:13:25,640 --> 00:13:29,800 and who their tribe they're from that they're missing what matters. 225 00:13:29,800 --> 00:13:34,920 And sadly, many Jews today are still missing what matters because they are missing Jesus 226 00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:35,920 Christ. 227 00:13:35,920 --> 00:13:36,920 It doesn't matter. 228 00:13:36,920 --> 00:13:37,920 There is no Jew or Gentile. 229 00:13:37,920 --> 00:13:40,680 There's no free man, no slave. 230 00:13:40,680 --> 00:13:43,140 There's no male or female in Christ. 231 00:13:43,140 --> 00:13:44,600 There's no distinction. 232 00:13:44,600 --> 00:13:48,840 Our blood in our veins makes no difference to us if we are in Christ. 233 00:13:48,840 --> 00:13:52,400 It is the blood of Jesus Christ that makes the difference. 234 00:13:52,400 --> 00:13:56,920 And so therefore, if people begin to focus on and get caught up in arguing and chasing 235 00:13:56,920 --> 00:14:01,680 or tracing endless genealogies, that is they could look forever and forever. 236 00:14:01,680 --> 00:14:02,680 What benefit is that? 237 00:14:02,680 --> 00:14:04,400 That is of no benefit. 238 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:08,520 Now, even some in this room may like your genealogies and you may want to go through 239 00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:11,640 and see where your ancestors come from. 240 00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:16,080 And maybe on some level it's nice to know, but really what does it benefit you? 241 00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:20,200 It probably ain't going to benefit you one lit unless you just happen to find some great 242 00:14:20,200 --> 00:14:23,760 relative that had millions of dollars and nobody else had claimed it and you found out, 243 00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:26,760 wait a minute, I'm entitled to that. 244 00:14:26,760 --> 00:14:28,840 But that's not going to happen. 245 00:14:28,840 --> 00:14:32,200 And so genealogies, while in some way they're interesting, in a lot of ways, they're frankly 246 00:14:32,200 --> 00:14:34,160 just a waste of time. 247 00:14:34,160 --> 00:14:37,400 And I believe that's what Paul is saying here. 248 00:14:37,400 --> 00:14:40,240 These people were getting caught up in these things that doesn't matter. 249 00:14:40,240 --> 00:14:41,720 So what does he tell Timothy? 250 00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:43,400 He says, you need to tell them what matters. 251 00:14:43,400 --> 00:14:44,780 You need to tell them true doctrine. 252 00:14:44,780 --> 00:14:48,080 You need to tell them, don't worry about who you come from. 253 00:14:48,080 --> 00:14:50,000 Worry about who Jesus Christ is. 254 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:54,160 That he came from God, that he is the son of God, that he is the one who gave his life, 255 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:57,480 that he is the one who will get you in a right relationship with God. 256 00:14:57,480 --> 00:15:02,120 Not the blood in your vein, but the blood that dripped down the cross where Jesus Christ 257 00:15:02,120 --> 00:15:03,120 was slain. 258 00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:09,420 All right, verse five, or excuse me, the end of verse four there. 259 00:15:09,420 --> 00:15:12,320 These promote empty speculations. 260 00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:14,680 So there's no benefit to these things. 261 00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:19,600 Empty speculations, these are things you can talk about, but what solid can come from? 262 00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:23,840 Well nothing solid is going to come from these false doctrines, these myths, these endless 263 00:15:23,840 --> 00:15:25,080 genealogies. 264 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:30,600 They produce empty speculation, he says, rather than God's plan. 265 00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:33,760 So Paul says there's no benefit to these types of things. 266 00:15:33,760 --> 00:15:35,280 What is God's plan? 267 00:15:35,280 --> 00:15:37,280 It operates by what? 268 00:15:37,280 --> 00:15:39,240 By faith. 269 00:15:39,240 --> 00:15:40,480 It's not about works. 270 00:15:40,480 --> 00:15:41,800 It's not about the law. 271 00:15:41,800 --> 00:15:44,720 It's not about the blood that flows through your veins. 272 00:15:44,720 --> 00:15:46,520 It is about faith. 273 00:15:46,520 --> 00:15:48,760 And it's always been about faith. 274 00:15:48,760 --> 00:15:52,520 Even in the Old Testament when God gave them the law, even when the Jewish people were 275 00:15:52,520 --> 00:15:57,920 God's chosen people and the promises came through them, even then it was about faith. 276 00:15:57,920 --> 00:15:59,800 It was about obedience. 277 00:15:59,800 --> 00:16:01,960 And those who were faithful were blessed. 278 00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:05,320 And those who were unfaithful, God dealt with them. 279 00:16:05,320 --> 00:16:07,520 God destroyed some of them. 280 00:16:07,520 --> 00:16:11,420 God didn't let that generation enter into the promised land who did not believe and 281 00:16:11,420 --> 00:16:13,120 were not obedient. 282 00:16:13,120 --> 00:16:14,960 They had to wander around in the wilderness. 283 00:16:14,960 --> 00:16:16,280 It was the next generation. 284 00:16:16,280 --> 00:16:17,280 Why? 285 00:16:17,280 --> 00:16:18,840 Because they did not have faith. 286 00:16:18,840 --> 00:16:19,840 They did not listen. 287 00:16:19,840 --> 00:16:22,000 They were not obedient. 288 00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:25,240 All throughout the Old Testament, we see time and time again. 289 00:16:25,240 --> 00:16:29,480 That's what determines who God's people are. 290 00:16:29,480 --> 00:16:32,640 Those who trust him, those who listen to him, those who live by faith. 291 00:16:32,640 --> 00:16:34,520 That's not just a New Testament teaching. 292 00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:36,120 That's all throughout scripture. 293 00:16:36,120 --> 00:16:38,920 That's an important part of who are God's people. 294 00:16:38,920 --> 00:16:42,920 Those who listen to him, who are faithful to him, who are obedient to him. 295 00:16:42,920 --> 00:16:48,280 So Paul says, look, all this other stuff that these people are involved in, it's nothing. 296 00:16:48,280 --> 00:16:49,880 It's empty speculation. 297 00:16:49,880 --> 00:16:51,760 It's not part of God's plan. 298 00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:55,240 It's not going to bring about anything in God's plan. 299 00:16:55,240 --> 00:16:58,040 Who has brought about everything in God's plan? 300 00:16:58,040 --> 00:16:59,240 It's Jesus Christ. 301 00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:02,100 He has fulfilled all things. 302 00:17:02,100 --> 00:17:08,080 Every promise that God made in the Old Testament is yes and amen in Jesus Christ, the scripture 303 00:17:08,080 --> 00:17:09,520 tells us. 304 00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:10,880 And how do we come to Christ? 305 00:17:10,880 --> 00:17:13,260 We come to Christ in faith. 306 00:17:13,260 --> 00:17:17,240 So all this other stuff doesn't promote the kingdom of God and the fulfillment of God's 307 00:17:17,240 --> 00:17:19,640 plan, but Jesus Christ does. 308 00:17:19,640 --> 00:17:21,720 And that's who we need to put our faith in. 309 00:17:21,720 --> 00:17:24,440 So he says, here's the problem. 310 00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:26,680 Here's the things that these people are doing. 311 00:17:26,680 --> 00:17:29,880 These false teachings, these myth, these endless genealogies. 312 00:17:29,880 --> 00:17:30,880 This is the bad. 313 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:32,840 So how are you going to address this? 314 00:17:32,840 --> 00:17:34,400 What do you need to tell these people? 315 00:17:34,400 --> 00:17:36,700 Well, he says that in verse five. 316 00:17:36,700 --> 00:17:38,680 Now the goal of our instruction. 317 00:17:38,680 --> 00:17:43,840 Okay, so he's fisting to say we have a better goal than what their goal is. 318 00:17:43,840 --> 00:17:47,080 Their goal is to figure out, oh yeah, I'm a member of this tribe. 319 00:17:47,080 --> 00:17:49,880 But Paul says, we've got a better goal. 320 00:17:49,880 --> 00:17:52,040 We're going to instruct them in better things. 321 00:17:52,040 --> 00:17:56,920 We're going to instruct them in Jesus Christ because our goal is better than theirs. 322 00:17:56,920 --> 00:18:00,120 What is their goal going to get them if they determine who their ancestors are? 323 00:18:00,120 --> 00:18:03,580 It's not going to get them anything if they don't come to faith in Jesus Christ. 324 00:18:03,580 --> 00:18:06,640 So Paul says we've got to give them a better instruction. 325 00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:09,080 We've got a better goal than what their goal is. 326 00:18:09,080 --> 00:18:10,760 And you need to tell them the better goal. 327 00:18:10,760 --> 00:18:12,960 You need to give them the better instruction. 328 00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:20,720 Now the goal of our instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience 329 00:18:20,720 --> 00:18:23,480 and a sincere faith. 330 00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:25,800 This is what the New Testament teaches. 331 00:18:25,800 --> 00:18:28,320 We just talked about this a couple of Sundays ago. 332 00:18:28,320 --> 00:18:30,080 We talked about love. 333 00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:32,960 This is the command of the New Testament. 334 00:18:32,960 --> 00:18:38,540 This is the command of the gospel of all the things that Paul could have said. 335 00:18:38,540 --> 00:18:41,660 Our goal to instruct them is in this, that or the other. 336 00:18:41,660 --> 00:18:43,040 This is what he says. 337 00:18:43,040 --> 00:18:45,920 The goal of our instruction is what? 338 00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:50,400 It is love that comes from a pure heart. 339 00:18:50,400 --> 00:18:52,160 They need to know the love of God. 340 00:18:52,160 --> 00:18:53,800 They need to know the love of Christ. 341 00:18:53,800 --> 00:18:57,320 They need to know what true love is. 342 00:18:57,320 --> 00:18:58,320 And what does he say? 343 00:18:58,320 --> 00:19:05,400 It's love, but love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience and a sincere faith. 344 00:19:05,400 --> 00:19:10,800 That is not just doing some actions that have the appearance of love, not just doing things 345 00:19:10,800 --> 00:19:15,080 that people who love would do, but doing them with the right heart. 346 00:19:15,080 --> 00:19:16,760 Making sure your heart is pure. 347 00:19:16,760 --> 00:19:21,120 And when you say you love somebody, you show you love that person and the way you interact 348 00:19:21,120 --> 00:19:24,880 with them and the way you teach them, you show them the love of Christ. 349 00:19:24,880 --> 00:19:28,200 It's a pure love that you genuinely care about somebody. 350 00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:31,680 And when you care about somebody and really love them, that's evident. 351 00:19:31,680 --> 00:19:32,900 That's obvious. 352 00:19:32,900 --> 00:19:36,980 You can't just say you love them and then treat them like trash. 353 00:19:36,980 --> 00:19:38,340 That doesn't line up. 354 00:19:38,340 --> 00:19:43,120 And so when we love with a pure heart, that's evident to those who we love. 355 00:19:43,120 --> 00:19:45,000 And in what other way are we to love? 356 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:48,820 With a good conscience and a sincere faith. 357 00:19:48,820 --> 00:19:53,760 So when we do things out of love, now we may know, well, this thing would be a good thing 358 00:19:53,760 --> 00:19:54,760 to do. 359 00:19:54,760 --> 00:19:57,120 If I love somebody, this is what I'm supposed to do. 360 00:19:57,120 --> 00:20:01,340 And we may do that action, but perhaps we don't do it with a good conscience. 361 00:20:01,340 --> 00:20:04,840 Perhaps sometimes we do the right thing, but we do it with the wrong heart. 362 00:20:04,840 --> 00:20:11,120 Perhaps sometimes we do the right thing, but we do it with some motive for ourselves. 363 00:20:11,120 --> 00:20:13,880 Maybe we're being selfish in some way. 364 00:20:13,880 --> 00:20:18,400 Maybe we have a little bit of a selfish love that we do the right thing for people because 365 00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:21,320 we think it's going to benefit us in some way. 366 00:20:21,320 --> 00:20:24,200 But that's not the way the Christian should live. 367 00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:29,440 We should live to love other people, to love God, to serve them, regardless of what happens 368 00:20:29,440 --> 00:20:30,440 to us. 369 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:31,760 Now, maybe there's blessing that comes from it. 370 00:20:31,760 --> 00:20:33,360 And certainly there is. 371 00:20:33,360 --> 00:20:38,360 There's blessing for doing the right thing, regardless if there's any physical reward 372 00:20:38,360 --> 00:20:40,640 that you receive from that. 373 00:20:40,640 --> 00:20:44,840 And maybe sometimes we do the right thing and maybe there is something that benefits 374 00:20:44,840 --> 00:20:45,840 us. 375 00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:50,420 But if we really love people and we're going to serve people, then we do it not because 376 00:20:50,420 --> 00:20:54,920 of how it's going to benefit us, but we do it because it's the right thing to do. 377 00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:59,280 We do it because God has loved us, that he gave Jesus Christ for us. 378 00:20:59,280 --> 00:21:02,680 So therefore we love other people and we give all we can for other people. 379 00:21:02,680 --> 00:21:03,760 We serve other people. 380 00:21:03,760 --> 00:21:08,900 We help other people not to be seen, not to get a pat on the back, and not for any other 381 00:21:08,900 --> 00:21:14,120 motives other than to love as God has loved us. 382 00:21:14,120 --> 00:21:15,180 And this is the command. 383 00:21:15,180 --> 00:21:16,680 This is the instruction that he gives. 384 00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:20,240 He says, look, you're going to come up against some false commands, some false teachings 385 00:21:20,240 --> 00:21:24,800 that aren't good, that don't promote the kingdom of God, that don't work to God's plan. 386 00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:28,080 But here is the goal of our instruction. 387 00:21:28,080 --> 00:21:30,880 Here is what these people need to hear. 388 00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:36,420 And what they need to hear is love that comes from a pure heart. 389 00:21:36,420 --> 00:21:38,200 And that's good instruction for us today. 390 00:21:38,200 --> 00:21:43,640 Now, Timothy might have been a young pastor and in this room, we may not all be pastors, 391 00:21:43,640 --> 00:21:47,680 but nonetheless, this is still good instruction for us today. 392 00:21:47,680 --> 00:21:51,240 That if we want to try to reach people in the world, that the best way that we can reach 393 00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:56,560 them is to love them from a pure heart, just as Paul commanded Timothy. 394 00:21:56,560 --> 00:21:57,560 Let's pray. 395 00:21:57,560 --> 00:21:58,560 Father God, we come to you. 396 00:21:58,560 --> 00:21:59,560 We thank you for your good word. 397 00:21:59,560 --> 00:22:04,360 And I pray that you would help us as we begin to study these books, that we would learn 398 00:22:04,360 --> 00:22:07,560 something from what Paul teaches Timothy here, dear Lord. 399 00:22:07,560 --> 00:22:08,880 And it is your word, dear Lord. 400 00:22:08,880 --> 00:22:09,920 It is your instruction. 401 00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:14,600 It might have been written by Paul's hand, but God, it was because your Holy Spirit led 402 00:22:14,600 --> 00:22:15,600 him to write it. 403 00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:18,320 So I pray, dear Lord, that we can take this instruction. 404 00:22:18,320 --> 00:22:22,600 And even though it was written to a pastor, dear Lord, in Timothy, and we may not all 405 00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:27,520 be pastors, dear Lord, there's still a lot of instruction in here that's good for us. 406 00:22:27,520 --> 00:22:32,360 And quite frankly, dear Lord, most of the things that you call a pastor to do, you call 407 00:22:32,360 --> 00:22:33,820 all of us to do, dear Lord. 408 00:22:33,820 --> 00:22:35,920 These are just things that you call Christians to do. 409 00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:40,200 And so I pray, dear Lord, that we would learn from your word, that we would be those who 410 00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:45,040 would love with a pure heart and a good conscience, that we can feel good about the things we 411 00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:49,200 do, that we don't have to worry about our motives or if we're doing it selfishly. 412 00:22:49,200 --> 00:22:53,160 But dear Lord, we just do it because it's right and we can just feel good. 413 00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:57,520 And our reward, dear Lord, is in knowing we've been obedient to you, regardless of what may 414 00:22:57,520 --> 00:22:58,960 happen to us in this world. 415 00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:03,080 So we thank you for this word, and I pray that you just would bless the reading of it. 416 00:23:03,080 --> 00:23:05,240 And I ask these things in Jesus' name. 417 00:23:05,240 --> 00:23:05,880 Amen.