1st Timothy Series: The Call (1Timothy 1:1)

A little background before we get in to application. Paul was an Apostle, so his main ministry was to plant and establish churches and once that church was established he would leave it in the hands of a Pastor that was raised up and go to another region to start the process all over again. In this case, he left Timothy. Timothy was a young man from Lystra who probably got converted in Paul’s first journey there in Acts Chapter 14, and joined his ministry in Chapter 16. Timothy was the son of a believing Jewish mother and a Greek father (unbelieving), and was spoken of highly of by the brothers (the other Christians) in the area. Timothy submitted to Paul’s ministry and allowed him to circumcise him to validate his ministry to the Jews (ouch! That is some internship requirement; personally I’d rather get the Pastor some coffee and call it a day!). After many years of traveling with Paul (15 years according to commentary) Paul decided to place Timothy in the church he planted in Ephesus. 1Timothy is a Pastoral letter like Titus but because of Paul’s deep history with Timothy (he considered him his true son in the faith 1tim v.2) the letter reads more like a Father’s letter to a son rather then an Apostle to a Pastor. Paul charges Timothy with refuting error and to supervise the affairs of the growing church in Ephesus. 1st Timothy 1:1- Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope Here Paul is giving a greeting to Timothy but let’s note how he gives it because it is important. Paul is not only giving his title (an Apostle) but he is also qualifying his office by stating by whose command gave him that title. This will be a crucial idea in later verses. Now why is he doing this? Timothy is familiar with Paul and has been with him for 15 years, I’m sure he is aware of Paul’s resume. It is evident that this letter is not just for Timothy and the church at Ephesus, but leaders in other churches as well (another important idea when looking into other verses. Paul says something very interesting here he says that he is “an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior.” It is important to note that whenever some one is ordained it is because of the command of God alone, and it is by that command that church leaders know who to ordain and that those who are ordained are prepared for the work set before them. Why is it important to stress that? There are some in this world who would imply that some credit belongs to them for ordaining leaders. Such language is not found anywhere in the scriptures. God is the one who gives charge (Acts 13:2), and the one who installs. For example, the Prophet Samuel and David in 1st Samuel 16 In Samuel’s Anointing of David The Lord said to Samuel in the first verse “Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king." Now jump down to the end of verse 2 The LORD said, "Take a heifer with you and say, 'I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.' Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. You are to anoint for me the one I indicate." Now jump down to verse six and seven “When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab (Jesse’s oldest son) and thought, "Surely the LORD's anointed stands here before the LORD." But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." More of Jesse’s sons were presented to Samuel all of them were probably of great stature and if Samuel had his way he would have anointed any one of them but the Lord had said that he would indicate who he wanted. The big question is this: What credit could Samuel have received, other then he did what God told him to do? If some of you believe that credit is due when we have followed a charge of God; consider what Jesus says in Luke 17:7-10 7"Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? 8Would he not rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink'? 9Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 10So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.' " Here is the big idea: in this age of countless church leaders who would seek to promote themselves and their agendas one cannot stress enough the fact not only are we ordained because of God’s command, but our good works which garner so much praise from men were prepared by God in advance for us to carry out (Eph 2:10). If that is true, then all praise and thanks belong to the Father alone; and as slaves of the One who made us, our greatest joy is found in glorifying him. Our relationship with the Father is connected in this sense: he uses us to accomplish his purposes, we in return render praises to Him and He in return lavishes us with Joy unspeakable. Even if we could take credit, why would we want to? Why settle for the praise of men when the praise of God is so much sweeter? Why forfeit your reward for something as small as saying that you have ordained men? What’s wrong with Paul? Why didn’t he say “an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the laying on of Ananias’s hands (Acts 9:10), because Paul understood that the only reason that he was an Apostle was by the Grace of God (1st Corinthians 15:9) some will say “I know that already.” But I fear like Cretans they claim to know but by their actions deny Him” (Titus 1:16). It is evident from the first verse that Paul understood this fact: We are not noble or great men but servants of The Only God. This is not just something we proclaim with our mouths but also with our lives, placing all of our hope in the risen Christ, which doesn’t imply that we have a mere wish like a child in a fictitious Santa Claus, but we have absolute certainty in Christ’s death, burial, resurrection, Lordship, and eventual return. Grace to all of you who love our Lord Jesus Christ with undying love.