Bibles, you would, turn to first Timothy chapter one. First Timothy chapter one. Tonight is sort of an introduction to the book. It's important to be reminded about the one that God is using to pin these words, the apostle Paul, and to whom he is writing, a young man, actually, probably a middle aged man by our estimates, but still a young man, younger than me anyway, to whom Paul was writing, Timothy, in this letter and exactly what Paul is writing Timothy about and why. So those things will help us to have a better understanding of what we are reading going forward in the book.

So let's read the first four verses as sort of an introduction here to the book. First Timothy chapter one. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our savior and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope. Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith, grace, mercy, and peace from God our father and Jesus Christ our Lord. As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus when I went to Macedonia that I might as charge some that they teach no other doctrine, neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies which minister questions rather than godly edifying, which is in faith, so do.

So we're going to start there this evening. And first, we're gonna talk about the author. Now, the author obviously is who? The author is God. Okay?

He's he's the author of these words, but who is it that he used to pin them? That would be the apostle Paul. He introduces himself, lest there be any confusion on who wrote the letter. Still, there are skeptics who want to say Paul did not write the letter, skeptics who do not want to believe that this is actually God's word and not just the opinions or thoughts of men. That matters a whole lot as to which you think it is.

Okay? And we'll talk about that a little bit more in a minute. Paul introduces himself as the writer of this letter, letter to Timothy. Paul, he introduced himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our savior and Lord Jesus Christ, is our hope. He identifies himself in the opening verse as an apostle.

The word apostolos in Greek means sent one, a sent one of Jesus Christ by the direct order, direct command of God. We read about that command on the road to Damascus when Jesus directly confronts the apostle Paul there, and that command then reiterated by the prophet that God sent to him in the city of Damascus, and then repeated again in Jerusalem later, and then later again, or in between in Arabia several times, Paul clearly has direct communication with who? With God. With with Jesus Christ. And so his firm declaration here is he has been directly, personally sent by God with this message of the gospel, particularly to the Gentile nations.

K? Paul did minister a couple times in Jerusalem, but largely Paul ministered in Gentile churches. Now, not everybody in the church was a Gentile. A Gentile being someone who's not a Jew. Those were often mixed congregations, but Paul ministered to both all throughout the world of his day, Syria, today what is area of Turkey, and then over into Greece, even in Rome while he was there, in Italy, and likely a few other places.

Crete, for sure, because he mentions that in Titus and other places that maybe Luke did not record. And so the Lord sent him directly. By referring to himself as an apostle, he is including himself in the same group as Peter, James, John, and the other 12. Although we are all sent in the name of Jesus to point a lost world to faith in Christ and to represent him, that is our Lord Jesus accurately before the world, only the original 12 discounting Judas and Paul are truly apostles who were chosen and called in person by Jesus Christ for that ministry. Thus, there are no apostles today.

There are preachers. There are teachers. There are evangelists. There are missionaries. But no apostles.

Those 12 indeed were special, including the apostle Paul and carried special authority and weight in the early days of the church. They were largely responsible for the writing of what? The New Testament scriptures. Okay? And so we have the teaching or the doctrine of the apostles as it's referred to in Luke two forty two right here at our fingertips that we can read that has been preserved for us today, even translated into our own language so we can read it for ourselves and know exactly what the apostle Paul wrote and what the word of God is.

He refers to his calling by commandment of God our savior, the one who created the world, the one who judge judges the world and mankind because, well, he created us, therefore, he he has the right to judge us, is also our what? Our savior. Even in the Old Testament several times, it refers to God as savior. Micah seven seven, for instance. Therefore, I will look unto the Lord.

I will wait for the God of my, what, salvation. My God will hear me. Isn't it a wonderful thing that God is not only creator, he is not only judge, he is also our savior? Very important facet of Paul's ministry. For he came to preach the message of what?

Salvation. That there is a savior, that there is salvation, that God has made a way and that way is through the Lord Jesus Christ who he mentions here specifically. He says, Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope. If you have a King James version, you will notice something about the words which is. What do you notice about those words?

They're italicized. Why are they italicized? They're italicized because they added them when they translated. They are not specifically in the Greek. They were added for our understanding and readability.

In the Greek, it just says, and Lord Jesus Christ, our hope. He is our hope. This emphasizes Jesus' lordship because he is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is Lord of heaven and of earth. And when we receive his salvation, we receive him as our Lord.

It also stresses his messianic ministry. He was the hope of Israel long before he was the hope of the rest of us. For again and again and again, God told his people Israel about his king, his righteous king, the seed of David who would come, the son who would be born, who would be the wonderful counselor, the everlasting father, the prince of what? Peace. He was the hope of Israel.

And he, praise God, is our hope too. And by hope, we don't mean, well, I hope it's going to rain tomorrow. The word in Greek used for hope and the manner in which it is used in the scripture is not something that might happen, it's something that we know will happen, but it hasn't happened what? Yet. Okay?

So hope doesn't say, well, maybe it'll happen, maybe it won't. No. We have a sure hope. We know. Though it hasn't happened yet, we know it will.

And what hope that brings to those who receive the Lord Jesus Christ as their Lord. The one who sent Paul out with this message to the city of Ephesus where Timothy was at the time when he was writing. Jesus Christ, our our hope. Our hope is not in government. Praise the Lord.

Our hope is not in humanity in general. Our our hope is not, in love as the world uses, misuses the term. Our hope is not in technology. Our hope is in who? Our hope is in Jesus Christ.

He is the one who makes the difference, the eternal difference in those who come to him. First Peter one three, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. That word lively could be translated living. K? He is a we have been begotten again unto a what?

A a living hope. Why? Because Jesus Christ is very much alive. Okay? And so we have a living hope in a person who rose from the dead after he died for our sins on the cross and is seated at the right hand of the father.

He is our hope. We we know we have a place awaiting us in heaven because that's where Jesus is preparing that place for us. Titus two thirteen says, looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our savior, Jesus Christ. This this verse in particular is very clear concerning Jesus. As a little side note here, it says the glorious appearing of the great God and our savior, Jesus Christ.

The Greek is very specific. It is calling Jesus Christ God. Jesus Christ, our great God and savior. Okay? Lest somebody tell you, well, Jesus Christ was the son of God, but he wasn't really God.

That's not what the Bible says. As Thomas said, when he saw Jesus with the scars in his hands, he said, my Lord and my God. As John wrote in John one, in the beginning was the word, the word was with God, and the word was God. Thus, that is emphasized here once again in Titus two thirteen. But for the purposes of our message tonight, we are looking at the blessed hope.

And we have a blessed hope. This is not all there is. There is something better yet to come. And even when things go awry down here, there is a God up there who's in control. And you know the wonderful thing?

He cares about you, and he cares about me, and he hears our prayers. He is our blessed what? Our blessed hope. Thus, Paul begins by declaring in whose authority he does minister and write these things. In who by whose authority?

The authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's Christ in Christ's authority that he writes this letter, that he gives these instructions. They're not simply the opinions or thoughts of Paul. They are the word of God and they carry his authority. We had better listen also as these are the words and commands of God and not just the opinions of Paul as some would suggest.

This is an important fact to acknowledge at the outset. It will clear up any issues later on with some things Paul might some things that Paul might have said which have been challenged by some. If these are the words of God, then they're true and they're authoritative. And regardless of what others around us are doing, we must submit to the word of God. Paul, it would seem, wrote this letter following his first imprisonment in Rome.

We read about that in the book of Acts. So Paul was went back to Jerusalem to take the offering that he gathered. And when he got there, eventually, he ended up being beaten and then arrested. He was beaten in the temple courtyard, then taken by the Romans, then placed in prison in Caesarea, which is a a city on the coast where Herod lived and hosted his Roman compatriots. There, Paul met with several leaders of the day, including Herod the great's great grandson, Agrippa second, who said, almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.

Isn't it sad that word almost thou persuadest me to to become a Christian? But when his life was threatened, Paul appealed to who? He appealed to Caesar and so he was taken to Rome. This is at the end of the book of Acts. And he was placed under house arrest in Rome.

He wrote some of his letters from house arrest, including Philippians in the New Testament there in the city of Rome. He refers to his imprisonment in Philippians considerably. And one of the Philippians, not to be concerned about him, he was doing just fine. The Lord knew what he was doing. And the Lord had given him a ministry even in prison in Rome.

One of those was writing letters to the churches, which he was able to do while he was there. So, Paul would seem wrote this letter following his first imprisonment in Rome after having sent or left Timothy to minister in Ephesus. Notice the word following. The book of Acts ends with Paul in prison in Rome. But Luke does not tell us what happens to Paul.

He just leaves him in prison in Rome. And so it would seem that Paul did not remain in prison in Rome, but after the conclusion of Acts, he likely was released and traveled considerably before ending up back in Rome at a later date and was then executed. It would seem it's during this time that he left Timothy or sent Timothy to minister in Ephesus. In the book of Titus, he writes Titus to tell him, encourage him, to give him instructions concerning the churches in Crete as Paul had previously, he said, visited and preached in Crete. But we have no record of that in the book of Acts.

Slightly because because that was after his first imprisonment that he ministered in Crete and then left Titus there in order to set things in order as as he says. So this is likely after his first imprisonment, before his second imprisonment, which will lead to his execution and during which time he wrote the book of second Timothy. So and we will get to that later on. So a few things about the apostle Paul and the word of God that are very important to understand. Number two, a little about the young man to whom he was writing.

His name is Timothy or he is also called Timotheus. Okay? That being obviously a Greek spelling of the name, Timotheus. Timothy was Paul's ardent and faithful student, his son in the faith, who had become his fellow minister in the gospel. So let's look here at first Corinthians four seventeen.

For this cause have I sent you to Timotheus, who is my beloved son and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways, which be in Christ as I teach everywhere and every church. So Paul is writing the Corinthians and he says, for this cause have I sent you Timothy or Timotheus, my beloved son. So he sent Timothy likely with the letter, in order to help, the church that was in the city of Corinth. Paul could not come, so Paul sent Timothy in his stead to minister there in the city of Corinth. He thought a great deal about Timothy.

He considered him his his beloved son, in the faith. Paul first mentioned Timothy when he picked him up in Lystra on his second missionary journey. So I'm gonna turn and read from Acts chapter 16. So Acts chapter 16, and verses one through three. This is on Paul's second missionary journey.

On his first missionary journey, he preached in the cities of Derbe and Lystra, which is in Central Turkey. Okay? And this is his second mission. So he has left now Antioch, and he's going back through Derbe and Lystra where he had been previously. So it says, then came he to Derbe and Lystra, and behold, a certain disciple was there named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess and believed, but his father was a Greek, which was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium.

Him would Paul have to go forth with him and took him and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters for they knew all that his father was a Greek. And so the apostle Paul, when he came back through Lystra, met this young man, Timothy, who had already been growing in the faith and serving in the ministry there. And Paul took Paul took him under his wing and took him with him when he left the city. And so for much of the remainder of Paul's ministry, Timothy was with him. He was his faithful companion, his fellow minister in the gospel as Paul traveled throughout his second missionary journey, his third missionary journey, and thereafter.

And so this is where we meet Timothy and this is what Timothy how Timothy is grows and is discipled and becomes a minister as he travels with Paul. On several times, Paul sent him ahead to prepare for his coming or to deliver letters or to assist churches as we just read. Also, in Philippians two, I'm going to turn over there. Philippians two because I'm going read a few verses 19 through 23. Philippians two nineteen through 23.

We read more about Timothy and what the apostle Paul thought of him. Philippians two nineteen, but I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you that I also may be of good comfort when I know your state. For I have no man like minded who will naturally care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ. But ye know the proof of him, that as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel.

Him, therefore, I hope to send presently so soon as I shall see how it will go with me. So Paul wanted to go visit back, these churches in Macedonia, Philippi being one of them. He couldn't come at the time, so he thought told them, I'm planning to send Timothy to you. So when Paul didn't go and he wanted the ministry to to go further, to advance in these churches, when he wanted to know what was happening, when he wanted a courier to carry his letter, he usually sent who? He usually sent Timothy, his trusted companion and minister of the gospel.

This this young man, by time he gets to Ephesus at this particular juncture and Paul is writing him, he has been in the ministry for a decade. He is no novice. However, he still has some things to learn, and he still needs encouragement and advice. You never get to a point in the ministry where you never need encouragement and advice. There are a couple pastors that are on my phone that when I need to run something by that I'm concerned about, I will call them for encouragement and advice whom I look up to.

And there have been many that have played important roles, in my my training and encouraging me in the ministry. I had a teacher in high school, went to a Christian school. I wanted to be a science major. I went to Bob Jones as a physics major. But over and over again, he told me, I think you have the gift of pastor teacher.

I think you have the and I just kinda okay. Yeah. Yeah. But, you know, that's great. But but I can't speak in front of people.

That's never gonna happen. So, you know, I appreciate it. But but my teacher, his I can't remember his first name. His last name was Alderman, had a profound effect on me as did many others. And we can have a profound effect on others in our life as well, who God puts in our circle to help the disciple, to mentor in the things of the Lord as Paul ministered and mentored Timothy.

In Acts nineteen twenty two, it says, so we sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timotheus and Erastus, but he himself stayed in Asia for a season. So Paul did exactly as he said he intended to do when he wrote the letter to the Philippians. He sent Timothy and another man, Erastus, into Macedonia, Thessalonica, Philippi, Corinth, in order to minister there. Paul obviously had a great deal of trust and in respect for Timothy. What a testimony of for Timothy.

And it didn't didn't happen overnight. It didn't happen by accident. A lot of what Paul suffered in the ministry, guess who suffered with him? Timothy. And the Lord blessed his ministry and the Lord found we find him here as Paul writes him, the pastor of the church at Ephesus.

On this occasion from the text, it's quite clear that Timothy was sent or remained behind in Ephesus to oversee the church Paul had planted there while Paul continued on. Ephesus had become a hub for Christianity in Asia or now Turkey. When we think of Asia, we think of, you know, China and that part. But Asia in the scripture usually refers to the area that we think of as Turkey. And Ephesus had become a hub for Christianity there.

It was the largest, most prominent church in the area. The gospel went forth and spread to many surrounding cities from the city of Ephesus. It was a port city and that there was a river that came inland from the let's see. That would be the a the Aegean Sea to the city so that ships came in. So there was a lot of trade that went on.

There were roads, Roman roads, that left the city of Ephesus to go to these other cities in the surrounding area. A matter of fact, we know that the ministry of Ephesus reached several other cities in the area because they're mentioned in the book of Revelation. When John writes seven churches at the beginning of the book of Revelation, he is writing seven churches in Asia. He's writing seven churches that include Ephesus on the West Coast Of Turkey. And there are those seven plus a couple others in addition to them that cities that had churches planted during this time that later John wrote to and some that he did not.

Colossae is in this same area. There was a church in Hierapolis that was in this area. Those two are not mentioned in Revelation along with the others. There were several issues Paul was aware of which he felt Timothy could use some encouragement and instruction in confronting. Okay?

This wasn't just a personal letter of, you know, here's how I'm doing, you know. How are you doing? It's good. I'm glad you're doing this. When Paul wrote letters, it was for a purpose.

Paul himself, it would seem, his sight was not good. And so often, he would have someone he would dictate the letter, they would write it it for him. Getting a letter from one place to another wasn't as simple in Paul's day as it is today. Well, it's really simple today. You just punch it into here and there it goes.

Alright. It's instantaneously there. And Paul had some very important reasons. Things that he felt that Timothy really needed advice and instruction in as he ministered in this this church from whence the gospel had gone to the surrounding area where many souls had been saved. But salvation is not the end, it is the what?

It is the beginning. And this still fairly young church with a fairly large congregation had a lot of people that needed to be discipled and they needed to be they needed to be taught. They didn't have the completed word of God like we do. Okay? So we have all of Paul's letters compiled here.

We have John's. We have Peter's. We have the gospels. We have the book of Acts. We have all those things here right at our fingertips.

The they didn't have that. Timothy didn't have that. Timothy was not an apostle. He was a minister chosen by the Lord but not an apostle. And so the apostle Paul sent a letter with instructions for him to relay to those in the church, but also instructions for him to put to practice.

So there are really two purposes in this book. This book is written to Timothy that he might put to practice those things that Paul is writing him about. But also, it is for the benefit of the church at Ephesus as well that Paul is writing this letter to Timothy as he will relay these messages, as he will perform the ministry that God has called him to in the city with this congregation of people. There's a few things that he felt was needed and we will look at them more closely in the weeks to come. The first one here is quite obvious from verse three and four.

So let's look at verse three and four again. And I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine, neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies which minister questions rather than godly edifying which is in faith. So do. So Paul's first concern is that there were false teachers and false teachings being spread even then in the early church. And that Timothy had the responsibility as the pastor to charge those that were other teachers to not teach anything other than the doctrine of who?

The doctrine of Jesus Christ. Paul wrote earlier in the book of Galatians. This is a concern to him in several places. He writes in the book of Galatians, Galatians one six, I marvel that you're so soon removed from that which from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel, which is not another, but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we preached unto you, let him be accursed.

So one of the big concerns of Paul is that there were false teachers that were spreading lies, and whose responsibility was it to make sure that that wasn't happening in his church? Timothy. So Paul is encouraging Timothy to take a stand. He's encouraging Timothy to watch out for the false teachers and the false doctrine, which was already at work in the early church. And, of course, we know that's not a problem today.

Obviously, it is. And it hasn't gotten better, it's gotten what? It's gotten it's gotten worse. Many, many churches that were preaching the gospel unapologetically, that were preaching the whole counsel of scripture are no longer doing so. And how did that happen?

The leadership of the churches were not careful to contend for the what? The faith. To see that no other doctrine than that which is clearly taught in scripture was the doctrine of the church. Yes. We have a statement of faith.

Why do we have a statement of faith? We have a statement of faith so that those who join our church are aware of what we believe because it is important that we be, as Paul says several times, in agreement. And that are and that we agree with what? And that we agree with God's word. Not with some theologian, not with some teacher, but with the word of God, with Jesus Christ, with the apostles that he appointed.

So his first concern was that of false teaching and false teachers, And we're going to talk about that in more detail next week. Secondly, appropriate and godly conduct of church membership was another area. The church of Ephesus. What kind of city was it? Roman slash Greek?

The people there when they got saved, except for the Jews, everybody else was a what? An idolater or a pagan before they got saved. They had a lot to learn. The Holy Spirit would help them, but the Holy Spirit's also given us God's word and others to preach and to apply the word of God, to help us to apply the word of God to our lives so that we truly do worship and honor and serve our Lord and savior in a way that brings glory to him, in a way that pleases him. I'm afraid another issue in churches this day is they have become what you call seeker sensitive.

In other words, it's more important to please men than it is to please who? Than it is to please God. And that is always going to lead in the wrong direction. We are to be God pleasers and not man pleasers as the apostle Paul said of himself on several occasions. Timothy needed to have the same courage and he needed help in knowing how to instruct his congregation to live in such a way, to minister in such a way, to worship in such a way that brought honor to God.

And he discusses those things in the book of Timothy. He discusses qualifications and responsibilities of church leaders in chapter three. We We read some of that a few weeks ago when we chose two new deacons for our church. Qualifications and responsibilities of church leader was important that Timothy know the kind of leaders he needed to train and to appoint in the church that the church might grow and again be pleasing unto the Lord. There are some things particularly in that chapter that our culture today may not agree with, but which needs to change?

God's word or our culture? Our culture. Number four, finally, Timothy's own spiritual growth and personal walk with the Lord was important. If he is going to minister to others, he first needs to be ministered to. And if we are to minister to others, we must not neglect our own walk with the Lord.

And so Paul addresses these things. False teaching, godly conduct, qualifications and responsibilities of church leaders, and Timothy's own spiritual growth and personal walk with the Lord, and a few other things as he writes this letter to Timothy. So too, we can use some of the same instruction today in the church, and we should hear it. I should hear it. You should hear it.

The parts we like and the parts we struggle with. The parts we seem to agree with our culture and the parts that run contrary to it. If it is the word of God, then we must not explain it away. We must not compromise it. We must follow it with a full heart.

At the end of Paul's second letter to Timothy or near the end of Paul's second letter to Timothy, we read these words concerning the word of God. A passage that I think I memorized maybe in junior high school, in a Christian school. Second Timothy three sixteen and seventeen, all scripture is given by inspiration of God is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. What we need to serve the Lord, we find here. If you want to know how to find fix your refrigerator, not here.

If you wanna know how to live for the Lord, hear in God's word. He has told us all that we need to know. We need to get to know it better every day and heed it in our lives, in our church, and in our ministry. And so we shall as we study through it together in the next few weeks. Let's pray.

Dear heavenly father, thank you, Lord, for the letter that you wrote Timothy, for the reminder this evening that these this letter is written with the backing and the authority of almighty God, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We thank you, Lord, that you have preserved it for us today that we might have the opportunity to hear it, to study it, to believe it, to heed it, to follow it, and apply it to our lives as Timothy and the church of Ephesus did in their day. We pray, Lord, that we might be willing to submit to it and to follow you in all things that we might be a testimony of God's grace, mercy, love, and holiness to the world around us in this place. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.