Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20120304.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
1 Timothy: God's Ministry Roles For Church Leaders And The Local Church
Part VI: Overcoming Direction In The Leader's Inner Spiritual War Regarding The Truth
(1 Timothy 1:18-20)
  1. Introduction
    1. If a local church leader must guard the truth against false teachers and error (1 Tim. 1:3), a spiritual war rages in which Satan tries to get him to shift his mind from the truth to an alternate view and leave God's flock more vulnerable to apostasy. This battle is seen in passages like 1 Timothy 1:4, 4:1, 13, 16 where Paul repeatedly wrote of the need for pastor Timothy to pay heed to or not to pay heed to key matters, and one of those passages, 1 Timothy 4:1, alluded to demonic activity that would fuel false teachers and error.
    2. 1 Timothy 1:18-20 supplies edifying insight on this battle, and how we can win in it (as follows):
  2. Overcoming Direction In The Leader's Inner Spiritual War Regarding The Truth, 1 Tim. 1:18-20.
    1. The "charge" described as "this charge" in 1 Timothy 1:18a is the charge Paul began in 1 Timothy 1:3, that Timothy "stay on at Ephesus. . ." to "teach certain individuals not to make misuse of the law but to use it . . . unto conversion to Christ . . ." Wm. Hendriksen, Expos. of the Pastoral Eps. (NTC), 1974, p. 84.
    2. That charge was in accord with prophecies before given on the ministry Timothy received of the Lord, so the war he faced was nothing unexpected, and Timothy was not to be surprised by it, 1 Timothy 1:18b.
    3. Paul wanted Timothy to fight a good spiritual warfare in checking false teachers and their errors, so this charge was a "mandate" much like a soldier who had orders from his commander, 1 Tim. 1:18c; Ibid.
    4. Key to this discussion is Paul's direction on how Timothy was to win in this special spiritual war he as a church leader faced on countering false teachers and error, and this is given in 1 Timothy 1:19a,b :
      1. Timothy would win in battling false teachers and error by holding to faith, 1 Timothy 1:19a KJV:
        1. The word "faith" is absent the article in the Greek text here, it does not mean "the faith," the body of truth given to the Church (as in Jude 3), but to Timothy's need to trust the Bible's message and to live by faith in the God Who is revealed in Scripture, U. B. S. Greek N. T., 1966, p. 721, 832.
        2. In other words, Timothy would effectively win in the Satanic battle to get him away from the truth were he himself to keep holding to it by faith in its message and in the Lord Who is revealed in the written Scriptures, cf. 2 Timothy 1:13-14. There is thus a direct relation between a local church leader's spiritual walk with the Lord and his doctrinal accuracy and faithfulness to the truth!
      2. Timothy would win in battling false teachers and error by holding to a good conscience, 1 Tim. 1:19b:
        1. One way the Evil One often effectively tries to get a local church leader away from Scripture truth is to try to impress him to violate his conscience on a questionable area of life or doctrine. Satan will try to get him to rationalize something that is wrong to be seen as right when it actually violates his conscience, and thus to sear his conscience so that he eventually goes into error, cf. 1 Tim. 4:1-2!
        2. Thus, Paul urged Timothy to hold a "good conscience," that is, a good "moral intuition" on "gray" areas not explicitly covered by Scripture: this may include (1) realizing that though a thing may be Biblically right, if it is not "helpful, useful" (sumphero, Arndt & Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the N. T., 1967, p. 787-788), one must avoid it, 1 Cor. 6:12a; (2) it may include realizing that though a thing may be Biblically right, if it controls him, one must avoid it, 1 Cor. 6:12b; (3) this may include realizing that though a thing might be Biblically right, if it wounds a weaker believer's conscience, one must avoid it for the sake of the brother's conscience, 1 Cor. 8:1-13.
    5. The alternative to thus holding to faith and a good conscience is spiritual shipwreck as a local church leader, and Paul gave illustrations of this in Hymenaeus and Alexander (as follows), 1 Timothy 1:19c-20:
      1. Paul wrote that some had "put away" (KJV), or "pushed aside, repudiated" (apotheo, Ibid., p. 102-103) faith and a good conscience, and thus had made spiritual shipwreck of their lives, 1 Timothy 1:19c.
      2. He specifically named Hymenaeus and Alexander whom Paul with apostolic authority had turned over to Satan for punishment that they might learn not to blaspheme. (1 Timothy 1:20)
Lesson: A local church leader must hold firmly to faith in Scripture and its revealed God, and not compromise in his conscience to win in the spiritual war for his mind that he faces.

Application: May we all adhere to the truth and content of written Scripture and a good conscience.