A SACRED STEWARDSHIP

Pastors have a sacred stewardship. Paul underscores this by his personal example and pointed exhortation in 1 Timothy 1. He speaks of “the stewardship from God that is by faith,” (v. 4). A steward was one who was “entrusted,” (v. 11) with his master’s riches as a household manager. This was his “charge,” (v. 5, 18)—the “appointing…to his service,” (v. 12). In this case, Paul was entrusted with the glorious Gospel. Paul testifies that His Master, “Christ Jesus our Lord…judged me faithful,” (v. 12). Now, he will say to his young protege, “This charge I entrust to you Timothy,” (v. 18). This is the sacred stewardship of every God-called preacher.

The Apostle begins with THE GREETING, (v. 1-2). This is more than a formality, but sets the context for this pastoral letter. Paul immediately identifies himself as the author, speaking with authority as “an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and Christ Jesus our hope,” (v. 1). He is fulfilling his calling by enlisting and equipping “Timothy, my true child in the faith,” (v. 2). It is vital to the church’s continued witness to raise up future leaders. As an apostle, Paul is not offering good suggestions about what might work in a local church, but demanding God’s essentials as imperatives. 

God is our Savior—the Father who has ordained salvation’s plan, and Christ Jesus is our hope—the One who is the object of faith who has brought redemption. Our only hope is in a relationship with Him by faith in Him. Now, we have the responsibility to carry that message to the ends of the earth. Through the preaching of the Gospel, we are regenerated as Timothy, “a true child in the faith,” (v. 2a). 

The Gospel is one of “grace.”  We receive what we could never deserve—heaven. It is one of “mercy.”  We do not receive what we do deserve—hell. The Gospel is one of “peace.”  God is no longer at war with us, as we have surrendered to Him. Peace with God flows from the grace and mercy we have experienced. This is the Gospel we are to faithfully proclaim.

Next, Paul warns of THE GODLESS, (v. 3-10). Timothy is warned of those who would dilute the truth with liberalism or distort the truth with legalism—but, either way, godless messengers preach a perverse message and promote godlessness in their hearers.  False teachers will either subtract from the Gospel or add to the Gospel—and, thus, subvert the Gospel.

Satan does not always undermine the church by direct confrontation, but often through subtle infiltration. They “teach…different doctrine,” of “myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations,” (v. 3-4). The faithful preacher must found his message and fortify the members on the pure Gospel of Christ. This means he will not only speak the truth, but confront its twisting by false teachers. 

Older pastors have the duty to the church to raise up younger men who are throughly vetted, solidly instructed, and consistently monitored as to their faithfulness to the Gospel. The results will be “love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith,” (v. 5). 

“Swerving,” from the truth, (v. 6) is to wind up in a wreck.  Satan does not care which ditch he diverts the pastor into—liberalism or legalism—the church is off the straight and narrow road of truth.  The opposite effect of the Gospel is experienced: schism instead of “love,” a perverse heart instead of “a pure heart,” a guilty conscience instead of “a good conscience,” and fraudulent faith instead of “a sincere faith.”  False teachers may speak eloquently and carry an air of authority, but they have “wandered away into vain discussion…without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions,” (v. 6-7). 

Paul hits the matter of legalism head on in verses 8-10. The law of God is good for it is of God who is only good. It is an expression of His holiness. The problem is not in the law, but in us. We cannot keep it. An external code can condemn us, but cannot change us. That can only be accomplished by the Gospel which internally transforms us. The proper preaching of the law is meant to convict us of sin and call us to salvation in Christ alone. It is meant to drive us in despair to Him.

This brings us to THE GOSPEL, (v. 11-20). Our preaching is to be “in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which [we] have been entrusted,” (v. 11). This is the sacred stewardship of the preacher. The law is only bad news as it condemns us, but this message is good news—the literal meaning of “gospel,” in that is converts us. It is glorious for it is all of God’s grace and thus for His glory. We are accountable to Him for faithfulness in preaching it, (v. 12).

Paul bears testimony to the power of the Gospel that transformed him. He had been “a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent,” of Christ, (v. 13a). But the Lord had extended “mercy,” in his ignorance and unbelief, (v. 13b). Overflowing grace washed him as he came to faith in Christ and love for Christ, (v. 14). It was a radical change from a man who saw himself as the foremost of sinners, (v. 15). He is an example of the difference the Gospel makes, (v. 16). How grateful we should be for God’s “patience,” in bringing us to Himself and exclaim with the Apostle, “To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” (v.17). 

Paul concludes by driving home the seriousness of our stewardship, (v. 18-20). We are on a battleground not a playground, (v. 18). We must be tenacious in holding onto faith and a good conscience. The church is a Gospel battleship, and to fail to chart a straight course is to make “shipwreck of…faith.” Paul pointedly presents Hymenaeus and Alexander as false teachers. They had been excommunicated from the church—where Satan would hurt them, in hopes that the discipline would bring them to repentance and restoration, (cf. 1 Cor. 5).  We had best take the stewardship of the Gospel seriously, for it is evident that God does!

PRESERVING FELLOWSHIP

 

Preachers can seemingly always find something to argue about. The reality is that some hills are to die on. The fundamentals of the faith cannot be compromised, whatever the cost. 

There are other matters perhaps not as vital as those, but still of great significance. These are what make me to be a Baptist. Brothers of other denominations may see those matters differently. If they hold to the fundamentals, then I can have fellowship with them at some level, but I also dare not bend in my convictions just to get along. 

Yet, there are issues on the periphery that I can hold to of which those in the church I serve or the pastors I know may disagree. These must not become divisive. Preserving the fellowship is also something worth fighting for!  This is what Paul tells us in Romans 14. 

Here, he references those who were disputing over sacred days and special diets. They were making mountains out of molehills. It is not that those matters might not have significance in our personal walk with the Lord, but we need not impose them on others—especially at the cost of dispute and division. 

Early in my Christian walk and ministry, I was very legalistic. I was immature, and “weak in the faith,” as Paul put it in Rom. 14:1.  After attending a Bible College, I felt that I knew everything and was right about all things, willing to argue about anything. 

As I have gotten older, I have come to understand that there are hills to die on, but I want to reject the temptation to make mountains out of molehills. But, I must also remember that what I consider an insignificant matter I can step over, may be something that is large enough for another man’s personal convictions that it would cause him to stumble.  As we age, like fruit, we tend to mellow and get sweeter—but, remember that the next stage is rotten!

“Let each be fully convinced in his own mind,” (Rom. 14:5b). The fundamental principle is this: do all to the glory of God and for the good of others.  

“For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.  For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living. But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.” (Rom. 14:7-10)

I want to neither be a liberal nor a legalist.  Jesus had conflict with both, represented by the Sadducees and Pharisees. I need not compromise conviction out of a concern for compassion. We can speak the truth in love. We dare not sacrifice one for the sake of the other.

“Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another,” (Rom. 14:19).  It might be a good thing before we attend a pastors’ gathering to read Romans 14 to prepare our hearts, and then to read it following the meeting to evaluate how we did.

There is a real enemy out there. Satan is bent on destroying the church. If he can turn us into a circular firing squad, he has accomplished his intent. There will be increasingly hot fire incoming from the hostile culture about us. We will need one another to “have our back.”  There is a quote attributed to Ben Franklin at the signing of the Declaration of Independence that applies, “We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.” 

ALL ON THE ALTAR

Early in my Christian life, I memorized Romans 12:1-2, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

This text has been significant in directing my daily walk and for nearly fifty years shaping my ministry. While the verses apply to all believers, I want to target those who serve as elders in the church. 

Paul calls us to have A SURRENDERED BODY, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies…”. God’s Spirit indwells these physical forms. He does his work through our hands. He speaks by our voice. Our body is to be surrendered to Him. That means we are to care for our body. It is His Temple. We ought to get the proper amount of exercise, eat the right food, and have enough rest, otherwise these bodies will not function at peak efficiency.

This is the summons to A SACRIFICIAL LIFE, “a living sacrifice…”. Paul reaches into the Old Testament for an illustration of a New Testament principle. As the priests would place an animal on the altar to be consumed in fire as a burnt offering, so I am to place my life on the altar of complete surrender to be consumed with God and His service. It is not a one time decision, but a day by day, moment by moment devotion. Christian ministry is a costly matter.

We are directed to A SANCTIFIED WALK, “holy, acceptable to God…”. This is the pursuit of holiness. As God is holy, we are to be holy. We are sanctified—that is, set apart for Him. Again, the Old Testament analogy is clear—an animal had to be without blemish if it was to be fit as an offering to God. Men will evaluate us and make their judgments. But, what really matters is what God knows about us. Are we acceptable to Him?

We need A SERVANT HEART, “which is your reasonable service.”  We are saved to serve. It is what we do. It is a reasonable thing based on the mercies of God bestowed to us. Paul begins this verse with the pivotal phrase, “I beseech you, therefore, by the mercies of God…”. For eleven chapters, the Apostle has given us doctrine as to what we are to believe concerning the salvation Christ has brought. Now, in the final five chapters, he moves to duty as to how we are to behave responding to that salvation Christ has wrought. When we are tempted to give up, give in, or give out—look to Calvary. Recognize the price Jesus paid. As the hymn says, “Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe.”

That last phrase in Romans 12:1 can also be translated, “your spiritual worship.”  That would again connect this to the Old Testament sacrificial system, as the offerings were at the core of Jewish worship. This reminds us that central to why we do what we do, it is our love for God. Worship is not just a one day a week action, but a daily disposition. What God supremely desires is our heart.

This results in A STEADFAST RESISTANCE, “And do not be conformed to this world…”. The world powerfully and persistently pressures us to be conformed to its warped ideologies and sensual behaviors. To yield to these is to become disqualified for Gospel ministry. We have often seen some preacher caught up in scandal, and fail to understand that spectacle was likely the result of a sinister process. Worldliness works much like erosion—gradually eating away, unseen until there is collapse.

That resistance can only be successful if accompanied by A SCRIPTURAL MIND, “but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…”. We will be conformed to the world, unless we are transformed by the Word. The battle is in our mind, (cf. 2 Cor. 4-5). It is a marvelous computer, and the information downloaded into that mental hard drive determines the data that will be put out. Our mind will have the malicious viruses of the world ruining it or the mighty verses of the Word renewing it. 

We may recall the tragedy of the Titan—a small sub that imploded in an effort to explore the Titanic wreckage, killing the five on board. So long as the air pressure inside the vessel was as great as the water pressure against the hull, all was well. When the pressure outside exceeded the inside, then came destruction. 

I need to be consistently studying, memorizing, meditating, sharing, and applying Scripture, if my mind is to be renewed. 

The end result is A SUCCESSFUL MINISTRY, “that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”  The human tendency in recognizing a successful preacher is in the size of the congregation and name recognition. While these may have some significance, the true measure of success is doing all the good we can in an acceptable manner according to the will of God. It is being the shepherd God had called us to be with the flock He has assigned to us. At the Judgment Seat of Christ, there will be a lot of preachers celebrated on earth which will be burnt up under the fire of Christ’s scrutiny in eternity. Then, there will be some virtual unknowns who will be called to the front of the line and honored for faithful service though laboring in obscurity. Focus on the “good and acceptable and perfect will of God,” which is your decision and leave the results to God which He dictates.

You have longed for sweet peace,

        And for faith to increase,

        And have earnestly, fervently prayed.

But you cannot have rest,
Or be perfectly blest,
Until all on the altar is laid.

        Would you walk with the Lord
In the light of His Word,
And have peace and contentment alway?

You must do His sweet will
To be free from all ill–
On the altar your all you must lay.

        Oh, we never can know

        What the Lord will bestow

        Of the blessings for which we have prayed,

        Till our body and soul

        He doth fully control,

        And our all on the altar is laid. 

        Who can tell all the love
He will send from above,
And how happy our hearts will be made,
Of the fellowship sweet
We shall share at His feet
When our all on the altar is laid!

        Is your all on the altar of sacrifice laid?
Your heart does the Spirit control?
You can only be blest,
And have peace and sweet rest,

        As you yield Him your body and soul. (Elisha Hoffman)

NECESSITY OF MINISTERIAL PROGRESS, Part 3

It is so easy to be consumed with a multitude of good things in ministry that can divert us from the one thing—a passionate pursuit of Christ. Spurgeon reminds us to seek Him. When we do, everything else will fall into its proper place. I thought of how easy it is to be a Martha scurrying about serving—and developing a cranky spirit. Then, there was Mary, seeking—and developing her love for Jesus. What does the Lord say, “But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke‬ ‭10‬:‭42‬ ‭NKJV‬‬). Men—preach good sermons, perform good service, but pursue the Savior above all!  As you lead in worship today, be the lead worshipper, whose public exaltation of Christ on the Lord’s Day is rooted in the daily devotion of time spent at Jesus’ feet!

GET UP AND GET GOING

 

Doubtless, there have been times that your “get up and go” got up and went!  Maybe today you feel that way. As a pastor, I recall weeks where I had hospital visits, multiple funerals, perhaps counseling a couple in marital crisis, a committee meeting, Bible lessons to prepare, phone calls to field, and besides all this, children to take to school, ballgames to attend, grass to mow, and you come to Saturday. You know what follows—Sunday!  For the preacher, it is the biggest day of the week, and you have given until you are “give out.”  Catch your breath, grab a cup of coffee—and prepare your heart to preach. Here are some thoughts to strengthen you. 

THE LORD IS OUR MAKER, “For of Him…”.  He knew us and knit us together in our mother’s womb. God, in His sovereign work, formed a unique creation in you and me. The circumstances that we find ourselves in are because He has placed us there. Our potential and limitations are according to His formation of us. Surrender yourself as human clay in the Potter’s hands. Paul put it this way, “And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Cor.‬ ‭12‬:‭9‬‬). 

THE LORD IS OUR MEDIATOR, “and through Him…”. The Father so loved you that He sent His Son to suffer as no other to redeem you. It is through this atoning work that we are fit for heaven. Because Christ is our Mediator, we are not only fit for heaven, but to do heaven’s work here below. Others need to know of the grace that can save a wretch like them. We attest to it, for He saved such wretches as we are. Truly, it is the business of every believer to bear witness to the saving work of Christ, but God has called His preachers to set the standard.  Paul exhorted a young (perhaps tired) Timothy, “But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry,” (2 Tim.‬ ‭4‬:‭5‬‬). 

THE LORD IS OUR MOTIVATOR, “and to Him are all things…”.  When tempted to throw up our hands in frustration or throw in the towel in defeat, remember this—it is not about us, but the Lord. The rationalizations we can make for giving up will be amply supplied by Satan. Indeed, we can probably come up with a few on our own!  Job’s wife offered this discouraging word, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!” (Job 2:9). The bottom line is this: it is not the expectation of others, the commendation of colleagues, the recognition by church members, the remuneration that pays the bills—it is the passion to honor Christ that is our motivation, “to whom be glory forever. Amen.”