“A Good Conscience is Priceless”
Spiritual Leadership in the Church
Series
1 Tim. 1:18-20
THEME: Faithfully fulfill the ministry committed to your charge.
RELEVANCE: discouraging and difficult tasks should not be permitted to force us to abandon the ministry committed to us. We must be steadfast and faithful to our charge to keep the faith by teaching sound doctrine, proclaiming the Gospel, and defending the Faith.
INTRODUCTION:
Paul gave a third responsibility for the local church to fulfill besides teaching sound doctrine and proclaiming the Gospel.
MESSAGE:
Defend the Faith (1 Tim. 1:18-20)
A. ON THE BASIS OF DIVINE APPOINTMENT. (1Tim. 1:18)
B. ON THE BASIS OF FAITH AND GOOD CONSCIENCE. (1Tim. 1:19-20)
Paul changed the illustration from army to navy (1 Tim 1:19). He warned Timothy that the only way to succeed was to hold fast to "faith and a good conscience."
1. Hold Firmly to the Christian Faith. (1Tim. 1:19)
A. The First “faith” Is Subjective And Means Continuing To
Believe The Truth.
B. The Second Is “faith” Objective,
Referring To The Content Of The Christian Gospel.
C. But, It Is Not Enough Just To Be Doctrinally Accurate As To The Christian Faith. One might be ever so orthodox, and yet not have a good conscience.
2. Hold on Tight to a Good Conscience. (1 Tim 1:19)
A. It Is Not Enough to
Proclaim the Faith With Our Lips; We Must Practice the Faith In Our Daily
Lives.
· One man said of his hypocritical pastor, "He is such a good preacher, he should never get out of the pulpit; but he is such a poor Christian, he should never get into the pulpit!"
· Hamilton Smith
writes:
“Those who are gifted, and much before the public eye, have to beware, lest amid constant engagements, constant preaching, and public work before men, they neglect the secret life of godliness before God. Does not Scripture warn us that it is possible to preach with all the eloquence of men and angels, and yet be nothing? That which bears fruit for God, and will have its bright reward in the day to come, is the life of godliness from which all true service must flow.”
B. A Good Conscience
Is Important to a Good Warfare and a Good Ministry.
· The magazine editor
H. L. Mencken defined conscience as "the inner voice which warns us
that somebody may be looking."
· But a man with a good conscience will do the will of God in
spite of who is watching or what people may say.
· Like Martin Luther, he will say, "Here I stand; I can do no other, so help me God! "
C. One's Faith and
One's Morals Cannot Be Separated.
· To hold tightly to
the Christian faith, and live by it, results in a good (peaceful) conscience.
· Faith and good conscience are like armor for the Christian. They keep us from giving in to temptation and to debilitating spiritual and moral sidetracks.
· How can you hold on to a good conscience?
1. Treasure your faith
in Christ more than anything else and do what you know is right. Each time you
deliberately ignore your conscience, you are hardening your heart. Over a
period of time your capacity to tell right from wrong will diminish.
2. As you walk with
God, he will speak to you through your conscience, letting you know the
difference between right and wrong.
3. Be sure to act on
those inner tugs so that you do what is right -- then your conscience will
remain clear.
4. “Moral collapse follows upon spiritual collapse.” -- C. S. Lewis
3. Avoid Spiritual Shipwreck. (1 Tim 1:20)
· Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith. Rejecting the faith and refusing to listen to one's conscience will end in destroyed faith. This deliberate action reflects heresy, not just backsliding.
· Professed Christians who make “shipwreck" of their faith do so by sinning against their consciences. Bad doctrine usually starts with bad conduct, and usually with secret sin.
A. A Good Conscience
Serves as the Rudder That Steers the Believer Through the Rocks And Reefs of
Sin and Error.
·
The false teachers ignored their consciences and the truth, and as a
result, suffered shipwreck of the Christian faith (the true doctrine of the
gospel), which implies severe spiritual catastrophe.
· This does not imply loss of salvation of a true believer (see Rom. 8:31–39), but likely indicates the tragic loss that comes to the apostate. They had been in the church, heard the gospel and rejected it in favor of the false doctrine defined in vv. 3–7. Apostasy is a turning away from the gospel, having once known it. See notes on Heb. 2:3,4; 3:12–15; 6:1–8; 10:26–31.
B.
Two Examples of Spiritual Shipwreck.
· Hymenaeus and Alexander. Apparently these two men had been members of the church (because Paul had put them out of the church). We don't know who Alexander was -- he may have been an associate of Hymenaeus, or the coppersmith mentioned in 2 Tim 4:14 who hurt Paul. But he was not the Alexander mentioned in the riot at Ephesus (Acts 19:33). Hymenaeus's error is explained in 2 Tim 2:17-18. He weakened people's faith by teaching that the resurrection had already occurred.
· Hymenaeus is mentioned in 2 Tim. 2:17 in connection with Philetus, another false teacher. Alexander may be the opponent of the faith referred to in 2 Tim. 4:14,15. Nothing else is known about these two men (see note on v. 3).
· “Hymenaeus and Alexander deliberately rejected their good consciences in order to defend their ungodly lives. Paul did not tell us exactly what they did, except that their sin involved "blaspheming" in some way. Hymenaeus said that the resurrection was already past (2 Tim 2:16-18). Alexander was a popular name in that day, so we cannot be sure that the man named in Paul's next letter to Timothy (2 Tim 4:14) is the same man; but if he is, no doubt he withstood Paul by teaching false doctrine.”---W. W. Wiersbe
C. What Does It Mean to Be Delivered Unto Satan? (1Tim. 1:20)
· "Delivered unto Satan" (1 Tim 1:20) implies an apostolic discipline (see 1 Cor 5:5) and disassociation from the local church.
· To be delivered to Satan means that Paul removed these men from the fellowship of the church and back into the world -- Satan's domain.
· Paul did this so that the rebuked would see their error and repent. The ultimate purpose of this punishment was correction. (See also 1 Cor 5:1-5; 2 Cor 2:5-8; 4:4; 2 Thess 3:14-15.)
· The verb "learn" (1 Tim 1:20) means "to learn by discipline." When a Christian refuses to repent, the local fellowship should exercise discipline, excluding him from the protective fellowship of the saints, making him vulnerable to the attacks of Satan.
· The fellowship of the local church, in obedience to the will of God, gives a believer spiritual protection. Satan must ask God for permission to attack a believer (see Job 1-2; Luke 22:31-34).
· Paul put both men out of the church, thus ending their influence and removing them from the protection and insulation of God’s people. They were no longer in the environment of God’s blessing but under Satan’s control. In some instances, God has turned believers over to Satan for positive purposes, such as revealing the genuineness of saving faith, keeping them humble and dependent on Him, enabling them to strengthen others, or offering God praise (cf. Job. 1:1–22; Matt. 4:1–11; Luke 22:31–33; 2 Cor. 12:1–10; Rev. 7:9–15). God hands some people over to Satan for judgment, such as King Saul (1 Sam. 16:12–16; 28:4–20), Judas (John 13:27), and the sinning member in the Corinthian church (1 Cor. 5:1–5).
· The churches today are often lax in disciplining Christians who deliberately sin. Deliberate disobedience should be responded to quickly and sternly to prevent the entire congregation from being affected. But discipline must be done in a way that tries to bring the offender back to Christ and into the loving embrace of the church. The definition of discipline includes these words: strengthening, purifying, training, correcting, and perfecting. Condemnation, suspicion, withholding of forgiveness, or permanent exile should not be a part of church discipline.
· “Some want to live within the sound of church or chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell.” -- C. T. Studd
· “may learn not to blaspheme.” See v. 13. Paul learned not to blaspheme when confronted by the true understanding of the law and the gospel. That was what those men needed. God, the inspired text seems to indicate, would teach them and show them grace as he had Paul. But that evangelistic work could not go on at the expense of the purity of the church.
D. Each Local Church
Is in a Constant Battle Against The Forces of Evil.
· There are false prophets and false teachers, as well as false ‘Christs’. Satan is the originator of false doctrines, for he is a liar from the beginning (John 8:44). It is not enough for a local church to teach sound doctrine and to proclaim the Gospel. The church must also defend the faith by exposing lies and opposing the doctrines of demons (1 Tim 4:1).
· It is important that our ministry be balanced. Some churches only preach the Gospel and seldom teach their converts the truths of the Christian life. Other churches are only opposing false doctrine; they have no positive ministry. We must be teachers of healthy doctrine ("sound doctrine," 1 Tim 1:10) or the believers will not grow. We must preach the Gospel and keep winning the lost to Christ. And we must defend the faith against those who would corrupt the church with false doctrine and godless living. It is a constant battle, but it must be carried on.
CONCLUSION:
Timothy must have
been greatly helped and encouraged when he read this first section of Paul's
letter. God had called Timothy, equipped
him, and put him into his place of ministry. Timothy's job was not to run all
over Ephesus, being involved in a multitude of tasks. His job was to care
for the church by winning the lost, ministering to the saved, and defending the
faith. Any task that did not relate to these ministries would have to be
abandoned. One reason some local churches are having problems is that the
pastors and spiritual leaders are involved in too many extracurricular
activities and are not doing the tasks God has called them to do. It might be a
good idea for our churches to take a spiritual inventory!
