1tim2v1-3

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1 TIMOTHY 2:1-15: TEXT: v1-3 [SERIES 6]

Of all people on earth, it is the Christian with his Bible creed who alone has true purpose in living
This is captured in the words of the Lord Jesus in John 10:10
I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
The worldly man, even the best, who is not consumed by a greed for money/power etc., cannot consistently speak of such things
His life is constricted by his worldview that evidently has taken little stock/eternity
Worldy man lives as if his few years on this world are everything
He thinks that the grave is the great terminus of everything
He does not consider the thought of lying up treasure/heaven because (practical terms) all his eggs are in the basket/this life

The spiritual man, OTOH, sees this life for what it is
His approach is entirely balanced
He neither overloads this life on one hand nor demeans it/other
He sees that it is like a passing wind on one hand – a little vapour that will soon be gone forever
But he does not therefore treat this life with disdain
Rather, he seeks to make the most of it
It is the time of his labour here for the Lord
He is a man on a mission – a servant in the vineyard
Therefore, he seeks to redeem the time that he has, rather than see it frittered away and forever lost

This passage is a good passage to show us how to make the most of our opportunity in living life to the full for God
There are 4 main thoughts that emanate from it

1) THE CHIEF END OF THE CHRISTIAN:
To do that which is good/acceptable in the sight/God our Saviour

A/ If a thing is good/acceptable in His sight: nothing else matters
That which is good/acceptable to God ought to be so to all else
Because God is the judge of what is good/acceptable

Reference is made here for kings/those who are in authority
But kings are not absolute not is any one’s authority inherent
Fact that we are being asked to pray for such folk indicates this
We are not being asked to pray to these powerful people, but to pray for them and that suggests a higher power than they
We know this from clearer portions/Bible e.g. Romans 13:1-2
Therefore what a government or a legal authority thinks to be good and acceptable might not necessarily be so to us
Government has legalised Sodomy and gambling etc.,
Abortion might well be next on their agenda
That does not make these things good/acceptable to the saint
He will always be heard in such cases to cry out:
How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? (Genesis 39:9)
This is but the negative way of applying our text here

B/ Notice that the text is put into positive language
It misses the point when the things/God are cast into the negative
Particularly in NI, there are people who define Christians as those who does not drink/smoke/curse or buy the Sunday papers
That might be an observation of the habits of many Christians but it is hardly a definitive statement, is it?
Non Christians may be seen abstaining from these things also

C/ No! A Christian is one who has God as His Saviour – not his own efforts nor the imaginations/church – but God’s provision in Jesus Christ (as outlined in v4-5) and who displays His thanksgiving for this gracious provision in that he seeks to live positively for God and do those things which are good/acceptable

D/ Let this ever be your chief end
Let nothing mar it nor hinder it
Ye are not your own, ye have been bought with a price – a very dear price indeed (Blood/God’s dear Son) – therefore let this verse be the lens through which every decision must be made

E/ If it is good and acceptable to God, then it is line with every last one of His attributes
There will be no purer thing to do than this
There will be no wiser thing to do than this
Every last attribute/God must stand to it or else God Himself will reject it and it will cease to be good/acceptable

2) THE PRINCIPLE IN THE MEANS TO THIS GREAT END:
I remind you again that the great end is to do what is good/acceptable to God

A/ How does the passage instruct us to go about this great end?
Answer:- We live a life that godly and honest
Not only godly and honest in parts, but in all godly and honesty

Answers/previous words (v19) i.e. holding faith/good conscience
Hymenaeus and Alexander made shipwreck here
Had they been guided by these principles, then they would have stayed in safe waters and avoided the dangerous/deadly rocks

B/ We mentioned earlier about those unsaved ones who are designated as being “good living”
They make wonderful neighbours – are marked with an outward decency and kindness etc., - and so on
But they are not saved and might even be honest enough (especially if instructed/gospel) to say so
Their outward live, although commendable among men, cannot be godliness in the NT sense of the word

They are not born again of, neither indwelt by the Spirit/God
There is an outward fleshly kind of living that springs from the restraining hand/God upon the wicked
While we are thankful that God does restrain the wicked – earth would be veritable Hell otherwise- yet this is far removed from what the Bible delightfully refers to as the fruit of the Spirit

Our virtues must spring from our faith and piety
If they are not energised by the Bible then they are not real
At the last they will be rejected as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6)
Bible says that which is not of faith is sin (Romans 14:23) i.e. it must spring from faith
God judges not merely the action, but the motive and the spring from which they come

C/ Anything less is an example of mere Phariseeism
Not every Pharisee was a hypocrite or a murderer/Christ
Nicodemus seemed to be a very upright type/person
But he knew nothing about the new birth (John 3:10)
All his good works therefore were an empty shell

D/ Let us come at this from the other direction:
Our faith is to produce good works and good behaviour
Especially honesty (specifically mentioned)
We can all quote Ephesians 2:8-9 as all good Evangelicals can
But the grace and faith = salvation is followed by this verse (v10)
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Not saved by good works, but we are saved unto good works
Faith without those good works is a dead faith (James 2)

Two great gulfs either side of the narrow road are to be avoided
[i] Legalism – where what I do improves my standing with God
[ii] Empty faith – where believing in Christ does not impact the way I live – contrary to 2 Corinthians 5:17

It is significant that Paul introduces this subject here immediately after his conversion account (1:12-17)
Here he avoids both the charges of legalism and easy believism

Cannot live good and acceptably to God without a pious lifestyle
Nor should we think that it is enough to have such outwardly
It needs to be from the heart – a genuine show

Similar verse/found (Romans 12:1) where the saints/encouraged:
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Notice those words at the end: Your reasonable service
Some people (even professing Christians) think that it is fanatical to yield everything to God and to say:
For me to live is Christ (Philippians 1:21)
They will contend for a weekend type of faith – Garden Centre Christianity – but now the full blown type as depicted in the NT
I’m putting to you that anything less is a dangerous type
But the summer time might well give way to the winter
Although we cannot be strong in ourselves – part time Christians can hardly be said to be strong in the Lord
The cry (implying ability) to endure hardness is directed to those who are designated as good soldiers/Jesus Christ
Good soldiers/Jesus Christ are those who live our text

3) THE PRACTICAL OF THE MEANS TO THIS GREAT END:

This leads you to ask then: How can I live in all godliness/honesty and so do that which is good and acceptable in the sight/God?

A/ We (for the sake/effect) ask: What is there to hinder you?
That might depend on where you live

I suggest: it is a whole lot easier to live/Christ in Ireland than in China or/North Korea or Islamic strongholds e.g. Pakistan
We still have freedom of speech and religious liberty here
We can freely propagate our faith in the streets and in church
Providing we do not advocate violence or murder etc., or resort to slandering/libelling people, we have a lot of leeway/Ireland
Long may it continue!

B/ But it need not necessarily continue – other places once stood where we stood in civil/religious liberty and it was overturned
Germany was the birthplace of the Reformation
Luther nailed his thesis/door and challenged the status quo
Even then, this was a chancy thing to do
Much less when Hitler came to power and all dissent was crushed
Who is to say that the mighty EU will not insist on restrictions?

C/ Well, here Paul comes up with great practical exhortation
Pray for your rulers!
They don’t have to be godly men (like those who run the church) but it is proper to pray that they will obey God in this matter and leave the door wide open for His people to propagate/gospel

D/ Even in Paul’s day, there was some liberty/gospel preaching
Paul had several missionary journeys covering many miles
He gets a dream where a European begs him to come over/help
IMMEDIATELY (no second thought of what the authorities might say) we endeavoured to go into Macedonia (Acts 16:10)

E/ There is trouble in Ephesus where Demetrius wanted to make big trouble and hinder the gospel from taking root
A great riotous crowd gathers and the gospellers are hindered
But what happens?
The town clerk (one in authority) steps forward into the melee and what does he say?
Wherefore if Demetrius, and the craftsmen which are with him, have a matter against any man, the law is open, and there are deputies: let them implead one another. But if ye enquire any thing concerning other matters, it shall be determined in a lawful assembly. For we are in danger to be called in question for this day's uproar, there being no cause whereby we may give an account of this concourse. And when he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly. (Acts 19:38-41)
And so, fully protected/the law, Paul can go and evangelise more

F/ Paul often made recourse to the law/land
He appealed unto Caesar – he used his Roman citizenship to escape a brutal lashing – he used every available legal means affordable to him so that the gospel would go forth unhindered
Might work fine/summer time when it is easy to be a Christian

G/ Let us not rest content that the written law is on our side
Stalin’s Russia gave religious freedom, but it was only in writing
Pray that the written laws/guarantees might be honoured

H/ Why do we pray to God for this matter?
The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will. (Proverbs 21:1)
But a sovereign God uses means i.e. our earnest, constant prayers
Let us therefore pray for those in authority over us
We don’t have to like them! We do have to pray for them

4) THE ENCOURAGEMENT TO THE MEANS OF THIS GREAT END:
that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life…

A/ You will notice that this quiet/peaceable life is not a promise
We know that there are many good Christian people (not least Paul himself who wrote these words) who did not see such things
He listed the many afflictions that he encountered as a Christian
This is true even today where the faithful Christian brings all sorts of trouble upon his head because of stating his faith

B/ What then does Paul mean? Surely these/not empty words?
These words may well help define what a good ruler is
Government cannot prevent rebellious groups rising up
Wicked men abound in every society, even the godliest
But it is for the rulers/government to maintain law/order
Romans 13 tells us that they are not to bear the sword/vain
If they do that then whatever else their faults, we will have the wherewithal to live quiet/peaceable lives

C/ Notice: A lot of folk are happy with the quiet/peaceable life
but it is qualified – in all godliness and honesty
This cannot be done without the gospel etc.,

THE END

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