Not yet reviewed
This transcript was produced automatically and has not been checked by a person yet. Some words — names and places especially — may be wrong. Please treat the video above as the message as preached.
Today we'll look at the introduction of this epistle and that we'll read 1 Timothy 1-1-2. 2 Timothy 1.1-2. Paul is writing this epistle to Timothy, his companion, his co-worker. He calls him as his true child in faith. So verse 1, Paul, in the apostle of Christ Jesus, according to the commandment of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus who is our hope. To Timothy, my true child in the faith, grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
The title of today's sermon is Sufficient Grace for a daunting task or challenging task. And I'm going to share a few things on how the word instructs us in the context of proper ordering of God's church, what is all required and the charge given to Timothy and also the commission that was given to him and the ability for that task and also the goal of that commission. So this is a basic outline of the — yeah. So Timothy was given a challenging task or a daunting task. And if you read about Timothy in both of these epistles, 1 Timothy and also 2 Timothy, and in the book of Acts and in the book of Philippians, we get to read
about the life and the character of Timothy. And it's an interesting mixture of qualities. Paul says that he proved his faithfulness time and again. And he also testifies that there's no one like Timothy. And he toiled alongside Paul. And we also see that, especially in 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy, we get to see his weaknesses. We get to see that he was timid. He was not ready to do the task.
And that's the reason Paul writes these epistles. But Timothy is in good company. Most of us are weak when it comes to the work of the Lord. I am weak, and we all need God's grace. And Timothy is in good company. When he is in good company, I'm not talking about me. Other biblical characters. Moses argued that he wasn't eloquent enough to speak for God. When Moses died, Joshua was terrified to take up the task. And we read today Joshua chapter 1 verses 1 to 9, how God encourages him for the task that ahead of him. And Jeremiah protested that he was too young
and Gideon called himself the least in the weakest clan in Israel. And in every case we see that God's answer wasn't to fix the man's deficiency. “Okay, let me make you strong.” No, that was not God's response, but it was to promise his own presence and sufficiency instead. In all of these cases we see that repeatedly God promises them his presence and also he shows them that he is sufficient for the task. And Christian life and work ministry is a story of God's enabling his people to live lives and do work that is pleasing to him.
These first two verses that we read are very clear about who the author of the epistle is. It is Paul, and Paul wrote this epistle to Timothy. A little background on this epistle before we jump into these verses. On the first missionary journey, it's recorded in Acts chapter 13 till chapter 14, Paul and Barnabas arrived in Lystra, which was Timothy's hometown. And this likely occurred around AD 46. And we know that Timothy's father was a Greek and his mother was a Jewish woman. We see that in Acts chapter 16. And thanks to the influence of his devout mother and his grandmother.
And Timothy had been raised from childhood to be familiar with the Holy Scriptures. And during the time, those Scriptures would have been our Old Testament. And until Paul and Barnabas visited Lystra, we see that in Acts chapter 14, that none of that family knew about the Lord Jesus Christ except for the promises of his coming found in the Old Testament. As we are studying book of Luke, we see that how the faithful, all faithful people expected the Messiah to come. Maybe these people also were expecting the Lord's coming or the Messiah's coming. And Luke tells us that during that visit in Acts chapter 14 they were preaching the gospel there.
It was probably through Paul's preaching and that Timothy came to saving faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and suddenly Paul addresses this first letter to Timothy as the — “To Timothy, my true child in the faith.” It was at Lystra Paul was stoned and was dragged out of the him there to die. But a few weeks later, Paul returns to Lystra again on his journey home, probably to Antioch. They spend time, we read that in Acts 14 verse 22, that strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith and saying, “we must through many these tribulations enter the kingdom of God.”
So Timothy may have witnessed all of this. Timothy may have witnessed that okay serving the Lord is costly. It costs, it may cost a life. He has seen all that and some four or five years later Paul now on his second missionary journey, we see that in Acts chapter 15 verses 36 onwards till chapter 18. This time his companion was Silas.
They returned to Lystra, Acts chapter 16 verse 1. He finds Timothy here and we read of him that in verse 2, “he was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium.” And Paul chose Timothy to accompany them in their missionary journey. And it was on that journey that Paul and Silas were flogged at Philippi. I don't know why Timothy was exempted from that. Timothy was there and they were thrown into jail. Again Timothy was reminded of the cost of discipleship. And Paul shared a very special bond with Timothy. A few years later Paul writing to the Philippians mentions Timothy in such a worthy manner.
If you turn your Bibles to Philippians chapter 2 and read verses 19 till 22. Philippians chapter 2 verses 19 till 22. And Paul says, I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. And he says in verse 24, I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. Verse 21, For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know Timothy's proven worth.
“As a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel.” I want you to focus here on this phrase, proven worth. Timothy’s proven worth. This word is used for, you know, to show that something is tested over a period of time and every time, you know, it comes out true. That’s the, that was the character of Timothy. It’s not like Paul is not saying this, is not using these words to, you know, these are not exaggerated terminologies, but Paul means that. Time and again Timothy proved his worth. It’s not like one time he was faithful, one time he was holy, one time he was loyal, one time he was courageous or whatever.
It was like not one time even but time and again, time and again, time and again. Paul saw that, Paul testifies to that, that this man has proven his worth and he truly says that among all this team, he says that there is no one like him.
And Paul also wrote a few letters along with Timothy like 2 Corinthians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians. And Paul came to Ephesus in Acts chapter 18 with Aquila and Priscilla. In Acts chapter 18 verse 19, we learn that Paul reasoned with the Jews in synagogues. However, he did not plan to stay there, but instead he left to Caesarea and then to Antioch in Syria. And he did however leave Aquila and Priscilla behind, and probably they must have played an important role in Ephesus. And in Acts 19, Acts 19 records how Paul returned to Ephesus again and he stayed there for at least three years. Then he leaves Ephesus and on his way to Jerusalem
and eventually to his imprisonment in Rome, Paul called the elders of church in Ephesus to meet him at Miletus, where we do not know whether Timothy was there, but he meets the elders of Ephesus, where he bade them a very sorrowful farewell. We read that in Acts chapter 20. And there he warned that after his departure, wolves will come within them, from within. He’s not talking about some people would be infiltrated secretly into the church, but from within the wolves will come and they will put their efforts to lead the church astray. This is recorded in Acts chapter 20, verses 29 till 30.
So, we cannot exactly trace the timeline from the book of Acts to when Timothy actually landed in Ephesus and remained there as an apostolic representative. But by the time 1 Timothy was written, Timothy was already there at the church of Ephesus. And the false teachers that Paul predicted in Acts 20 had indeed appeared. They are growing up within the church itself. So that’s a background of this episode. And this book is about the proper ordering of the life of God’s church. You will find a lot in this letter, especially about the qualities of good leadership and importance of sound doctrine within the church.
And Paul writes to Timothy about how to handle those who stray away from sound doctrine. For example, in chapter 1 verse 3 of 1 Timothy, we see there Paul says that, “I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine.”
He charges Timothy to stay, stay, to remain at Ephesus. And ESV says “different doctrine,” NASB says “strange doctrine.” Because the church is a pillar, which Paul talks about in chapter 3, and the buttress of the truth, he emphasizes good doctrine and good conduct, good leadership in God’s church. That is doctrine and conduct that align with the— There are a couple of passages address false teachings. For example, in chapter 1 verses 3 to 7, in verse 3, people were teaching strange doctrines. In chapter 6 verse 3, this doctrine contradicts the teachings of the Lord. These teachings are categorized as myths and genealogies.
Well, chapter 1 verse 4. And Paul says in chapter 1 verse 4, they don’t advance — if you look at NASB 2020 version, it says that they don’t advance the plan of God. They don’t advance the plan of God. Those teachings don’t advance the plan of God. And chapter 4 verses 1 to 2, there are these demonic doctrines as well. And there is an amalgam of Jewish, Gnostic and other strange doctrines. Look at chapter 6 verse 20. He says that, “O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge.” Of what falsely called knowledge — the word knowledge here means Gnosis, though it can refer to a sect called Gnosticism, though Gnosticism as a full-blown sect was not present in the first century, it only appeared in the second century, but there
were overtones of it during this time. Here the emphasis on the special kind of knowledge, the emphasis on this special kind of knowledge as opposed, no, or the contradictions here, as Paul says in chapter 6 verse 20, they are opposed to the good deposit that Paul entrusted to Timothy. So this special kind of knowledge that people are craving for are in opposition to the good deposit that Paul entrusted to Timothy. So which refers to the apostolic teachings and the gospel, right? So these teachings were influential. There was considerable influence at all levels. If you read through the epistle, you see that as a result of such teachings, even women were exerting authority in the church.
Chapter 2, verses 11 till 15. And chapter 5, verse 15, we see that some have already turned to follow Satan. We do not know exactly what that means, but they followed Satan. And in 2 Timothy, Paul addresses eschatological issues. Some people were teaching that the resurrection has already had taken place. And these false teachers were misusing the law. Chapter 1 verse 11. And then later it talks that these false teachers were also immoral. And in chapter 4 verse 2 we see that they had their consciences seared. And in chapter 6 verse 4 we see that they were craving for controversy and quarrels.
And chapter 6 verse 5, he says that they use godliness for appearance of godliness for material gain. And this wasn’t an easy task. It was daunting. It was challenging. To deal with a settled group of false believers or false teachers in a church is not easy. You can stop infiltration. You can tell, you can walk up to people who are visiting and they want to disrupt the area of the churches. You can tell them, please don’t come to our church. That’s easy.
But they are already within the church. And they are, you know, a settled group of people. And it’s difficult to deal with that. And there is a certain way Timothy must handle this situation. What was the charge given to Timothy? Timothy is clearly the leader of the church in Ephesus at this point. We don’t know exactly what his position was.
He was not an elder, probably was made elder. We don’t know. In fact, he is not an But he has a position of leadership probably given to him by a specific apostolic commission. And Paul is urging him, or he must be an apostolic representative.
And Paul is urging him in verse 3, chapter 1, to remain in Ephesus and control the tendencies within the church to teach false doctrines. There were these certain false teachers and influences. So Paul charges Timothy with certain responsibilities. If you look at chapter 6 verse 20, “O Timothy, guard.” He says guard the deposit entrusted to you. Guard it. You know, you were entrusted with the teachings, with the gospel. Timothy must guard the apostolic teachings. He should charge certain people not to teach anything contrary to the apostolic deposit. We see that in chapter 1 verse 3. And he should rebuke publicly those who sin by also teaching different doctrines.
And Timothy must devote himself to certain things. In chapter 4 verse 13 we see there, Timothy must devote himself to the public teaching of Scripture, sorry, public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and to teaching. And he must in chapter 4 verse 15, he must immerse himself in these things. And he must in chapter 4 verse 16, he must pay close attention to himself and his teaching and if he persists in these things he will save himself and his hearers. Right? That’s the way he need to deal with this situation.
This epistle is anchored on three trustworthy statements. This epistle is anchored on three trustworthy statements. Number one, it’s written in chapter one, verse 15. It says that “the saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.”
And the church should be rooted in this teaching. The first issue is about the gospel. Salvation cannot be attained by any other means. It is not achieved by good life, good works, religious sincerity. We all are sinners and fall short of God’s grace. We can never measure up to God’s standards. It’s Christ alone can save his people because he’s the only righteous one who went to the cross and suffered there by bearing our sins, and he suffered there under God’s holy anger which was burning against his, uh, all sinners, and he died in our place, in the place of his people under
God’s severe wrath, and he shed his blood for the atonement of our sins, he died and he rose again for our justification and redemption. And Christ is the key to all and any human redemption. And he cannot be dissolved into some pluralistic ecumenism of world religions. Meaning Jesus is not one of the ways but the only way. He’s the only Savior. God can save people only through Lord Jesus Christ. And here it says that God saved a person like Paul where he says, “I am the foremost of all,” and following verses he shows how God allowed him to suffer for the gospel so that the king eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God be honored and glorified forever and ever. And this gospel is now entrusted to Timothy. Paul who was saved by the gospel, now Paul says that this gospel or this suffering of Christ was demonstrated through his life.
And he carefully guarded the gospel with his life. And now this gospel is entrusted to Timothy. And he must fight a good fight. And guard it by faith and good conscience. And so must the today’s church. Secondly, the second trustworthy statement that we see in chapter 3, verse 1, he says that the saying is trustworthy. “If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.”
And the word overseer is a synonymous word for bishop, pastor, elder, shepherd. Put right. So these are not different offices but one office, overseer, pastor, elder, bishop. So, yep, so Timothy must also appoint elders with the right qualities, chapter 3 verses 1 till 17. Now this is the way if you we when we go to Second Timothy we understand that this is more evident. How do we guard the church? How do we guard the church from false teachings and false influences? More faithful leaders.
Leaders, men who are grounded in this good deposit which was deposited, which was given once for all, were grounded in the solid teachings of the word and the gospel. And they will safeguard the church from false influences, false teachers. So that's the reason we need many elders in a church. So Timothy must appoint elders. At the same time, Paul also was exhorting Titus. Now under the pastoral epistle, you know, he encourages him or he charges him to appoint elders in every city. This is not primarily about church quality, but about the character of leaders. What kind of leaders should be there in a church?
Elders, pastors must be godly in their personal and family lives and also have a good reputation outside. What do they think about this person? What do they think about the person who is considered as an elder? What do their family members think? What do their relatives think? What do their friends think? What do their colleagues think? What do their neighbors think? Right? So without godly leadership, the church cannot be fit for purpose or hold out the truth. In truth, there must be elders who particularly labor in preaching and teaching. And more godly men must guard the doctrinal deposit and must set the tone of the church as well.
So the second charge that we see is have good solid leaders who are grounded in the good word and the gospel, were of good character, right? So every church should have the good deposit and guard the good deposit, and every church would have godly leaders, right? And and the third trustworthy saying is in chapter 4 verses 7, 8 and 9. Chapter 4 verses 7, 8 and 9. Paul says, “Have nothing to do with irreverent silly myths. Rather, train yourself for godliness. For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.
This is trustworthy and deserving full acceptance.” So the next aspect that Timothy must focus on godliness. Godliness of his own self. He needs to watch out, watch over himself and he should also be careful whom he’s appointing as elders. He should not appoint elders who are influential, influential, were powerful, were eloquent, right? He must appoint those who have godly characteristics, who are rooted in the biblical gospel and biblical truths or apostolic teachings, right? And who walk in godliness. In other words, they must be training in godliness. They must take their Christian life seriously and they must train themselves for the purpose of godliness, godly lives, and a leader of the church should be focused on godliness and also set an example for the entire church.
Godliness holds promise for this life and the next. The letter ends with a charge to Timothy to fight the good fight, to keep the faith and guard the good deposit entrusted to him. Timothy must fight the good fight of faith. Here fight refers to what he was tasked to proclaim, protect and the doctrine he must teach faithfully, and this command has to do with doctrine, not just courageous action with sincerity.
So this is a charge and how can he do that? You read through the epistles, first and second epistles of Timothy, we see that Timothy was weak. He was timid. He was intimidated by these false teachers. Right? What was, how could he do that? This charge to do this work in a certain way comes from a superior authority and not only the charge, but the ability to do this work as well.
One, it says that, “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, according to the commandment of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus who is our hope.” Now Paul gives or gives this charge to Timothy as an apostle of Jesus Christ where wherever there is some, um, hesitation, for example, about accepting the authority or what he was going to say, and wherever there was a need for the weight of apostolic authority, he almost always, Paul almost always introduced himself as Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ. He doesn’t do that in every epistle, but he does that wherever his authority was challenged. But we find this in instance in Romans and two letters to Corinthians and Galatians and Colossians.
He doesn’t use that in every epistle but he uses that only in this epistle. He says that “according to the commandment of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus who is our hope.” Why this additional weight? That language appears nowhere else in Paul’s introductory statements, and this is striking because he is writing to Timothy who does not or who did not question Paul’s authority.
He was his closest companion. He was his true son. Someone who would never for a moment have doubted Paul’s authority. Then why then this extra weight? Though this letter was written to Timothy, he should read this letter to the church. Timothy and the church should pay close attention. These words are not just coming for from Timothy, these words are coming from apostle, not Peter, Paul, who planted this church, right? The Timothy should read to this letter to the church. Timothy and the church should pay close attention, for these are the words given to us by a special
representative of the universe. People in Ephesus were tempted to depart from the fundamentals of the faith that the full measure of apostolic authority was needed. Paul makes this explicit a few verses later urging Timothy to remain in Ephesus so that he may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer. See notice of action here, chain of commands here, you know, chain of action of command.
God commands Paul, Paul commands Timothy, Timothy in turn commands the church. It is a language of royal decree, and it is certainly a tough task. And Paul asked Timothy to remain in Ephesus and work harder. How can he do that? How can he do that? Does the charge itself enable him to do the work? The secret is in the opening greetings. He says to Timothy, “my true child in faith, grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord,” right? No, no, you all know that. You know, if you generally read the epistles of Paul, his usual greetings are grace and peace.
But here, mercy is an addition that is not normally found in other epistles. It’s usually grace and peace. And grace, of course, is the foundation and the source of our salvation. The entire Christian salvation flows from God’s grace. Our sanctification is from God’s grace. All of God’s dealings with men and women are grounded in God’s grace. When we describe the core of the gospel, it is the gospel of grace. God deals with us in grace when we come to him as sinners. So where is Timothy going to find his strength? This man with all his weakness, weaknesses with his timidness is going to find his strength and courage in the grace of God.
The grace of God our Savior. There is the secret suspicion that most of us carry within ourselves in our lives is that we start the Christian life based on grace but the rest of it is something else. And you know, we are all needy people who need to learn this again and again, that our Christian life, our Christian standing in this world, the challenges that we face, the temptations that we face, the way we run our families, the way we do work, the way we handle problems, difficulties, difficult people, health and tragedies of life, right? Everything, all the aspects of our lives are connected to God’s grace.
We need God’s grace in every aspect of our lives so that our lives are pleasing and honorable in the sight of God who saved us, right? All of God’s dealings with his people are rooted and grounded in grace. It is through grace that God deals with us in every part of our lives and at every stage of our Christian existence, in our Christian journey. Grace upon grace upon grace. This is the foundation of how God relates to his people, relates with his children. And Paul says mercy. Every blessing that God bestows upon us in Jesus Christ is by mercy. See, have you grasped that? We only deserve punishment from God, we
rightfully deserve punishment, nothing else. We cannot demand God, “Why don’t you do this? How can you do this to me?” We cannot say these words, because rightfully we are the recipients of God’s anger, his punishment. And because of his mercy, Jesus stood in our place, suffered the wrath, absorbed the wrath that should fall upon us, and we were spared. And now we are in Christ and we become the recipients of mercy which we do not deserve. And the strength that God gives us to live in this world is his mercy.
We do not have it but God gives us and then Paul talks about peace. We are in Christ so there is always peace with God. God will no longer treat us as his enemies. He signed that peace treaty, that new covenant. And we have a right standing before God. What does this grace, peace, mercy mean to Timothy? Grace expresses God’s ongoing forgiveness and enabling for this life and work. Mercy expresses his sympathy and concern. Every time we fail, we have an advocate, the mediator, who stands in our place to intercede for us, to give us grace and mercy, to strengthen us, right?
And peace, his tranquility and stability within and among Timothy and the fellow church members. Paul pronounces this threefold blessing as an apostle authorized to articulate the divine will and good news. The enabling of his people, of Timothy particularly here. Timothy was weak, he became timid, he needed this special, this gospel reminders. He needed to hear from someone who had walked this path before him. And Paul says to Timothy, “Stay where you are and prove God there.” And because he took his strength from God alone, from the grace of God, Timothy did it. It was difficult, but he did it. That grace and mercy and peace are what we all need, I need to focus on in a new way for our future too. And what is the goal of this commission? Anyone who claims to follow
Christ and belongs to a local church, these two should always go hand in hand. What are that, following how we follow Christ and that we belong to a local church. We need to understand what God has said about how the church should operate. Look at verse, look at what Paul said in chapter 3 verse 15, chapter 3 verse 15: “If I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God.”
Timothy was expecting Paul to come, pay a visit. But Paul may not come. Paul writes this letter, encourages him. And he says, “that you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.”
The first reminder here is that the church belongs to the living God. Timothy and other elders must serve with this thought in their minds. This letter is all about God and how God’s people conduct themselves in God’s household. And Paul was not talking about our personal etiquettes in the church.
God’s household is the church and the gathered people of God. And this letter was written so we would know how to conduct ourselves, how to do the church, what to do in the church when we gather. Paul writes these things, you know, and how we need to conduct ourselves when we come together as the followers of Christ to—for worship, and when we spread out during the week to serve the Lord, you know, throughout the week. And Timothy was ministering in Ephesus. It was a home to the massive temple of Artemis, one of the ancient world’s most famous religious sites, filled with religious sexual promiscuity and there’s all kind of evil there, and calling the church, the church of the living God, draws a sharp line.
Unlike the religion of the surrounding culture, this community gathers around a God who is living and is accomplishing his purposes, is saving a people for his glory, forming them as churches in a fallen world to be distinct from the world around them and the church is also the pillar and the buttress of the truth this is an this is architectural no language and it's likely no accident no given Ephesus famous pillar temple a pillar holds something up a buttress keeps it from or is a foundation it keeps it from collapsing and Paul's claim is that the church doesn't invent truth or possess it privately suppose
and displays the truth that already exists. God’s revealed truth is the pillar of the church. The church is built on God’s Word. And God’s revealed truth is displayed to the watching world to see. The church of Jesus Christ, as the pillar and the buttress of the truth, has a weighty calling.
God has entrusted ordinary, flawed people with holding up something eternal. The calling is in sustained by human competence. This is an infinite glorious calling sustained only by God's grace, mercy, and power working through the church. So that's how Timothy must function in this troubling church where there's a settled group of false teachers who are working against God's truth and his purposes. And Paul must, not Paul, Timothy must watch over himself and his doctrine. He must study hard. He must teach. He must give himself to the reading of the scriptures, exhortation and public teaching.
raise up elders who are grounded in this good deposit, and they must also labor in teaching and preaching. That’s how the church is built and protected and preserved and built for God’s glory. Few applications. Number one, we hold that scripture alone is the final authority for what we believe and how we order our life together as a church. It’s not about church tradition that has authority over the church. Elders in a gospel church, in any gospel church, in any biblical church, do not invent their authority. They steward Christ’s authority under his word. And the church, the Christ Church submits to that word not just to men.
When faithfulness to the gospel is at stake, the question is never, would it be better if we reconsidered this? But simply, what does the scripture say about this? There is no more fundamental question in deciding what we believe, how we order Christ’s church. Secondly, the gospel says our confidence rests in God our savior, not in our performance, not in our eloquence, not in our competence. The gospel says our hope is not yet finished. Christ Jesus our hope is still to appear, and we will live watchfully, expectantly, settle into a private, self-satisfied spirituality. We hold to salvation by grace alone and live with expectant hope of Christ’s return.
Thirdly, we are a young church. We are a young church. In an age when information is easily accessible and many of us gain a lot of theological knowledge, do not think that we have reached or ready to do something crazy for the Lord, right? Paul advises in his epistle, “Do not lay your hands on a young convert.” But the pattern here is important for how a gospel church raises up its leaders. Timothy was not chosen for natural confidence, knowledge, eloquence, charisma or physical strength, but was shaped through years of spiritual mentorship and proven faithfulness. He served with Paul as a son with his father in the work of the gospel. And this is worth emphasizing
a faithful congregation should value the patient process of discipleship and mentoring that produces users, elders, and teachers. There should be a people who are willing to submit, to learn, who doesn’t show that I know it all. And we are watching out for such people.
And rather than merely seeking natural gifts. And it is a great encouragement to anybody who feels inadequate for the task before them. And weakness were no obstacle to Timothy’s usefulness because his strength was not in himself but upon grace, but upon accountability. He was accountable, right? And God strengthened him. God used him for his own glory. Point number four. Timothy needed this daily outpouring of grace, mercy, and peace in order to have the courage to serve in a difficult place. When ministry is discouraging and people are difficult, the instinct is to flee.
Paul's answer to Timothy was to remain and draw strength from the grace of God, sufficient for Ephesus as it would be anywhere else, right? This is also the church's answer to the accuser when conscience is troubled and the enemy presses the question, “How can you call yourself a Christian with that thing going on in your life?” The only answer is to point, is not to point to our own consistency, but to say that in our flesh dwells no good thing. If someone says that, “How could you do that?” There's not a time to get offended. There's not a thing that how could he say that to me?
But it's the time to say that, yes, there's no good thing that dwells in my flesh. But our confidence is not in anything that we can do or we could have done, but in the mercy, grace and the power of a God, our Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ. This is precisely why we gather around the ordinary means of grace, the preached word, prayer and the ordinances, so that grace, mercy and peace, first pronounced over Timothy, continue to be poured out among God's gathered church today.
you you Thank you.