God’s Word Under Siege

Transcript

GR 1254
10/19/2003
God’s Word Under Siege
1 Timothy 1:18-20
Gil Rugh

Turn in your Bibles to 1 Timothy 1. And the apostle Paul is writing to encourage the young man Timothy, for he is in conflict. He needs to be encouraged to step forward to do what needs to be done so that the church at Ephesus will continue to honor Jesus Christ who loved them and gave Himself for them. We began our study of 1 Timothy by looking into chapter 3. Turn over there for a moment if you would. Just a reminder of what is at the heart of Paul's burden as he writes this letter. Verse 14 of 1 Timothy 3: "I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you shortly. But in case I am delayed I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.” And here Paul reminded us that the church is the household of God. It is God's family. The church belongs to the living God. It is the church of the living God. He purchased it with his own blood. Paul told the Ephesian elders in Acts 20: the Church is the pillar and support of the truth in the world. As such, the Church is at the center of an ongoing conflict that is based in the Spirit world, but involves ever single person in the human race. It's really a conflict between Satan and his followers and God and those who belong to him. This conflict involves angelic beings as well as human beings. The conflict: Satan and those who are loyal to him called demons and all the people in the world who haven't come to believe in the living God and His salvation are joined as a mighty army, opposing the living God and the angels who have been loyal to God and all those people who have been redeemed by faith in Jesus Christ because of the grace of God. So vast armies are raided against one another. And in this God has established the church in the world to be the pillar and support of the truth, the place from which the truth is proclaimed and sent out; the place where the truth is defended, where the purity of the revelation that God has given is maintained.

Turn over to John's Gospel chapter 8. John's Gospel and the 8th chapter. Jesus talked about the division and the conflict that was present as He walked this earth. He declared in verse 32 of John 8 that you shall know the truth and the truth will make you free. It is the truth that God has revealed. And that truth centers in the finished work of His Son who died on the cross to pay the penalty for sin. That glorious truth brings freedom and liberty to everyone who believes. He goes on to talk about the division that exists and he's addressing religious people and religious leaders. In verse 43 He says, "Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word." As the Church and as God’s people, it is important for us to grasp this. Sometimes I think that the problem is we need to communicate differently. We want to speak as clearly, as understandably, as we can. But you understand there are people who cannot hear the Word of God. There were people that Jesus Christ the Son of God could not reach with His message. Here He is face to face, eyeball to eyeball with very religious people and He said to them you cannot hear My word. Oh, they could hear the sounds but they could not understand it.
Why? Verse 44, "You are of your father the Devil and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie he speaks from his own nature, his own being, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Because I speak the truth you do not believe Me." Here is the foundational problem, the division, the conflict and the warfare that exists permeating all God's creation, angelic and human. Satan is fixed in his opposition to God. There is no truth in him. All that comes from him is lies and that comes from what he is as a fallen being. And all of those who follow him are his children and partake of his character as fallen beings. So they are unable to comprehend the truth. Rather they are impressed with lies and they themselves promote lies.

Verse 47, "He who is of God hears the words of God. For this reason you do not hear them because you are not of God." Very important that we have a handle on this, that we understand the significance. The real problem that we face as the Church of Jesus Christ in the communicating of truth is that many people are closed to the truth. In fact the only ones who will respond to the truth are those who by the grace of God are turned from their sin and believe the truth. Then they respond to truth. He who is of God--now we have a division--those who belong to Satan and those who belong to God. Those who belong to God hear the Word of God, respond to the truth. Those who do not know God do not understand the truth. And note they just do not not understand the truth, they are opposed to the truth. Before this chapter is over these people will rise with a desire to kill Christ because of the truth that He tells them. They will not succeed on this occasion, but in the plan of God Jesus will be crucified at the hands of sinful men. But in His death He will pay the penalty for sin, and He will be gloriously raised again.

Jesus said in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by Me." Just as the Devil is a liar and the father of lies, God is truth and the source of truth. Jesus could say I am the truth. So it's the person of God and the revelation of God, His Word, which reveals His character that we're talking about. When the Bible says that the Church is the pillar and support of the truth, it has an awesome responsibility in the world to proclaim the truth, to defend the truth, to be on guard against those who would twist and distort the truth. Oft times Satan and his followers disguise themselves as angels of light, try to present themselves as those who teach truth. Paul dealt with this in 2 Corinthians 11 where he said that Satan masquerades as an angel of light. It's no wonder his followers also disguise themselves. They present themselves as genuine apostles, genuine teachers and so on when in reality they are servants of Satan attempting to corrupt truth.

The problem in the church at Ephesus. . . And come back to 1 Timothy 1. . . . is that the Church has been infiltrated by messengers of Satan, by those who have corrupted the truth that God has revealed and are attempting to lead the Church astray and destroy it as the center of God's truth. What Paul is going to tell Timothy is you have to be sure you are waging a good warfare;warring a good warfare is what he will tell Timothy to do.
The truth is precious and essential and must be believed and followed.

In verse 18 of chapter 1 of 1 Timothy Paul wrote to Timothy, "This command I entrust to you Timothy my son. The word command takes us back to verse 3. Now in many of your English Bibles that won't be clear because in verse 3, if you remember when we studied this, Paul says, "As I urged you on my departure from Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus so that you may instruct." That word you have translated in English "instruct" is the same word translated "command" down in verse 18: "So that you may command certain men not to teach other doctrines." Those who were teaching doctrines contrary to the truth that God had revealed through the apostle Paul. Verse 5: "But the goal of our instruction." There's the word "command" again. "The goal of our command is love from a pure heart, a good conscience and a sincere faith." Then Paul in verse 6 and 7 explains something of what the error of these teachers was. They wanted to teach the Law. They wanted to tell people that in addition to believing in Jesus Christ you must also keep the Mosaic Law. And that will bring you a complete salvation and make you everything God wants you to be.

What Paul does in verses 8 through 11 is he elaborates to give an explanation on why the Law was given. It was given to reveal sin and restrain sinful conduct. It never was a way of salvation. It never was a way of sanctification. And Paul gives his own testimony in verses 12 to 17 as an example of one who tried his best to keep the Law but he could only be saved by God's grace through faith. It was the mercy of God that saved him. It couldn't be his works. It couldn't be his keeping the Law. It was only when he saw his own wretched sinfulness, his vile condition, and he turned from his sin and believed in Jesus Christ, that he was gloriously saved--not only saved but entrusted with the Gospel to share with others.

Verses 8 through 17 really become an elaboration, but the main thought flows from verse 7 to verse 18. Verses 8 to 17 are an important explanation, but he picks up the thread of thought on the commands he's given really where he broke off at verse 7 with verse 18. "This command I entrust to you." It's a command to tell others not to teach doctrines contrary to the glorious Gospel of Christ. This is the command that will result in a pure heart, a good conscience and a sincere faith which will produce love in a life transformed by the power of God. Genuine love, the character of the God who is love is now produced in his child.

When Paul says in verse 18, "This command I entrust to you," it's a word that you would use in biblical times if you were in a financial matter, making a deposit of a treasure, a possession in what we would call a bank that you would use this word. It's a deposit, a trust. I entrust this command to you. Paul uses it over in 2 Timothy 2:2, "The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." Paul had received truth from God.
He was now passing that on to Timothy in the form of a command. Then Timothy will be instructed later to pass to others what has been passed on to him. It is a sacred trust. Paul uses the form of this word in chapter 6 of 1 Timothy. Just at the end of 1 Timothy, Chapter 6 verse 20, "O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you." That means you avoid worldly and empty chatter, opposing arguments of what is falsely called knowledge which has caused some to go astray from the faith." In 2 Timothy 1:14 again he tells Timothy, "Guard through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you." Something of great value and great importance has been entrusted to you, Timothy. Guard it. And that's what he has reference to back in chapter 1 of 1 Timothy verse 18. “This command I entrust to you.” It's a command that involves forbidding the teaching of anything that is contrary to the glorious Gospel of Christ. Rather, the preaching of the true Gospel that transforms a life and produces love. It's the Gospel that brings glory to God according to verse 11 of chapter 1. What could be more important? Here is something entrusted to Paul that's now being entrusted to Timothy, and it can bring salvation to lost sinners, producing God's character in their lives and bringing glory to Him.

Timothy I'm entrusting this to you. Timothy, my son . . . Timothy converted under the apostle Paul's ministry evidently in his first missionary journey. He was faithful servant of the Lord and of Paul, serving Paul like a son. So Paul has warmth for him here. He has a love for him. Paul has a genuine love for the Church, a love for the truth, a love for Timothy. What he's telling Timothy he has to do is not an easy task. Timothy has to step up and address key people in the church at Ephesus, respected people who have gotten into positions of influence but now they are teaching corrupted truth, distorted truth, which will lead people away from Christ and bring ruin to their lives. Timothy has to step up and say, "Stop! You’re finished." These prominent men will have followers.
This could cause quite a ruckus. Things could be unpleasant for Timothy. Paul addresses him with warmth. You’ve got to do this, Timothy. You have something entrusted to you. It's a treasure. You are now responsible.

"This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you." There's no record of these prophecies. We perhaps get some idea of what it was like by what happened to Paul and Barnabas in Acts 13. For time, just listen as I read to you. When Paul and Barnabas are going to be set apart for ministry in Acts 13 in the opening verses, "Now there was in Antioch in the church that was there, prophets and teachers. While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said . . ., " evidently through the prophets who received revelation from God. "'Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Evidently the Spirit spoke through prophets in connection with the setting aside of Timothy for ministry. Perhaps this was on the occasion in Acts 16 when Paul selected him to become a traveling companion in the ministry of the Gospel. It was perhaps at this time that Timothy received a special gift through the laying on of the hands of the elders and the apostle Paul. Look in 1 Timothy chapter 4 verse 14: "Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery." So in connection with that, the Spirit of God directed through the prophets that God had gifted Timothy for the ministry of the Word of God and the elders laid hands on him.

Look in 2 Timothy 1:6, "For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.” So it wasn't just the elders but it was Paul and in connection with that the Spirit spoke through the prophets that Timothy was to be set apart for the ministry of the Word of God. Now Paul says in 1 Timothy chapter 1 verse 18, "I entrust this command to you, Timothy." This is in line with the prophecies that were given concerning you, that by them you might fight the good fight." Or literally war the good warfare. And the word here translated fight we get the English word strategy from, and it means to conduct a campaign of war. It's not referring to an individual battle. He's not saying fight a good battle but war a good warfare. This is an ongoing war. Paul was concerned for Timothy. He's concerned for the church at Ephesus. You know we as believers all face that same tendency, what? To back up, ease off, settle down. We maybe had a great conflict of one kind or another. We get through it, and it is a relief. Praise God there are times of relief in the war in which are engaged but we ought not to lose sight of the fact we are in an ongoing war. And that's what he tells Timothy. It's like soldiers on the battlefield. There may be an easing up of the fighting when they get a chance to catch their breath or relax for a time. But they better never forget that they are in a war. The war is not over because that battle has been completed, and if they get careless it will be at great cost. Paul is concerned for the church at Ephesus and for Timothy that he knows he has to war a good warfare.

The apostle Paul never presented the ministry as an easy thing. He never presented the responsibility the Church has as entrusted with the truth to be something that was going to be easy. Rather, it is an ongoing strenuous war that we are involved in. It does not mean there is enough joy. We don't have gladness in what we do. But we must never lose sight. We are in a war. The Devil has not changed his purposes one bit. The warfare goes on.

Look in the second letter of Timothy chapter 2. So it would be Paul's final letter and what does he want to say to Timothy? Verse 3: "Suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier." Timothy war the good warfare. What does he write in the second letter? Basically the same issue: Timothy you're a soldier. Don't forget that. Don't let anything come into your life that would hinder your soldiering. We've been serving overseas in a conflict now and what do they do? They have to be disentangled from the everyday affairs of this life. That's one of the unpleasant things about their situation. They don't take their family, they don't take their friends, they don't take their recreational vehicles, they don't do . . . why? They are going to war. This is a serious matter. People die. Timothy, suffer hardship with me as a good soldier. I want you to war a good warfare. I want you to be a good soldier.

Look in chapter 6 of 1 Timothy again, verse 12: "Fight the good fight.” Now that's translated in English the same way we have chapter 1 verse 18, "Fight the good fight," but they are different Greek words. In chapter 1 verse 18 it's the word we get the English word strategy from. It means war a good warfare. Here in chapter 6 verse 12 the word fight we get the English word agony from. Agonize the good agony of faith, emphasizing the strenuous, straining aspect. Don't give up. It may take everything out of you, but keep at it. At the end of his life in 2 Timothy 4:7 Paul will say, "I have fought the good fight. He uses the word agony there again. I have agonized the good agony. Paul's life was an ongoing struggle because he was involved in an ongoing war. And that doesn't mean there wasn't joy and peace and happiness and blessing in Paul's life. There was. He had the fruit of the Spirit which is love, joy, peace and so on. But he was a soldier always on duty. And he said, Timothy you've got to do the same thing. And the Church is the pillar and support of the truth so this is a factor that must condition all of us as those entrusted with the truth-members of God's household, God's Church, the pillar and support of the truth. There are no reserves in this war, only people on active duty. Jesus said if you are not with Me, you are against Me. You are either actively involved on the side of evil, opposing God, or you have by His grace been redeemed and now on active duty in service of the living God, one who is called to promote and defend the truth of God.

Come back to 1 Timothy 1. Back up . . . When you come to Timothy back up to Ephesians. Then you see what Paul wrote to the Ephesians in a prior letter. Remember Timothy is at the church of Ephesus to deal with problems. Earlier Paul had written a letter, years earlier, to the church at Ephesus and in chapter 6 of the letter to the Ephesians, verse 10. So what he's telling Timothy is not new material. You know what had happened? Years earlier Paul had written to the church at Ephesus on this very subject but you know what? The church at Ephesus did not take it seriously enough.
Look at verse 10 of chapter 6: "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes, the strategies of the Devil.” See? We have a fearsome opponent. We are dressing for battle not with another human being but with the Devil, because human beings that oppose the truth will really be empowered and enabled by the Devil himself. "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenlies. Therefore take up the full armor of God so that you will be able to resist in the evil day and having done everything to stand firm, stand firm therefore." Strong emphasis through this on being strengthened and having strength. Standing firm. You realize the seriousness of this war. You know who the enemy is. With the passing of years, you know what? The church at Ephesus got lax and the Devil had successfully infiltrated the church with teaching which undermined the truth, distorted the truth, led people away from faithfulness of devotion to Christ, a strategy that he continues to use down to our very day. Infiltrate the church. Pull men in there who will teach doctrines that aren't quite correct and over time they become more distorted and more distorted until the Church is corrupted, fractured, divided. The goal is to destroy it as a center of truth, the place where the truth is proclaimed and defended.

Look at 2 Corinthians 10:3, "For though we walk in the flesh we do not war according to the flesh for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses." Note that. Remember Ephesians 6. We don't war against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers and so on. We are in human bodies but our resources for the spiritual warfare in which we are involved are not physical. Do we understand that? The Church today is being deluded with a message that if we changed our methods and altered the way the message is conveyed we would be effective. Don't be fooled. You cannot do battle with the prince of the power of the air with clever human ingenuity. What you need are weapons that are divinely powerful.
You need the presence of the indwelling Spirit and the resources of the truth that has been entrusted to the Church and the full armor of God so that we can stand.
"We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God. We are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ." We are ready to punish all disobedience. We are just waiting for you, the church at Corinth, to get in line. You see for Paul this was a matter of eternal importance. I mean the eternal destiny of human beings is at stake. The glory of God, if you will, is the issue. Because remember in chapter 1 of 1 Timothy verse 11, it's the Gospel which brings glory to God. So no, we can't use human weapons. So many church conferences are going through all things you are going to learn and they are going to teach you and the methods they are going to do. I have a quote from a book here in churches. Two churches here. Large churches. Some of you would know them if I mentioned them. They've sent their staffs to Disneyland so they can learn how more effectively to do the ministry. I'm missing something. I know it. So I read it again. "The service is carefully crafted as a Disney presentation." This is no accident. The church has sent its staff to Disney for training.

Here's another church. He uses an example of what you ought to learn. "This pastor first realizes that churches should be entertaining when he observes crowds lining up around the block for the premier of the movie Batman. And he wondered how the church could utilize the power of creativity, of modern entertainment, to create a similar sense of excitement at church services. I can't compete with Batman. And you know George Barna . . . he does a lot of polling. He's a pollster and does a lot of polling in religious and Christian organizations and he said that one out of five churches claim to be following this methodology today.

Now tell me is the evangelical church getting corrupted? Paul says the weapons of our warfare are divinely powerful. We do not war according to the flesh. And we are trying to figure out how to compete with Batman movies. Remember what Jesus said in John 8. Those who are not of God don't hear the truth. I present the truth. If they respond, it's an indication that God is working or they have come to know God. If they don't, oh we'll have to resort to Batman. And the church just becomes another entertainment center with verses sprinkled in. How does the evangelical church get deluded in this? This is considered a modern-day reformation. It is having such an impact in the evangelical world of churches adopting this kind of methodology and approach. I think, is there something I'm missing between the lines?

We are in a spiritual warfare. The issue is not methodology. The issue is the proclamation of truth. And Jesus Himself could not reach those who did not believe in His Father, who were opposed to the truth. It takes a supernatural work of God. What do we say--Jesus did not know how to adapt and adopt a proper methodology? And this is the evangelical church speaking. These are churches that would claim to have the same kind of doctrinal statement that Indian Hills has. I'm not saying oh, we read this about what happened 2000 years ago in churches like Ephesus and Corinth and so on, but that wouldn't happen to us. It's happening on a grand scale just as Paul had to constantly fight it whether it was the church at Galatia, the church at Corinth, the church at Ephesus. So the Devil has not changed. He is relentless. He knows he's in a war. What he delights is for us to think—well, we fought a battle now we can get comfortable. We don't have a life filled with battles do we? What did Paul have to give as a testimony at the end of his life? Second Timothy 4:7, "I have agonized the good agony but I had a lot of fun. We've had good times." I'm sure he would have said if you talked to him there's nothing he would have rather done than his delight. It was the delight of his heart, the thrill of his soul, but it wasn't easy.

Come back to 1 Timothy 1. It's according to the truth that was proclaimed concerning Timothy. He knew it was true from God that Timothy was to wage the good fight and it is a good fight. It's a noble fight. It's the fight that God has called us to, the war that God has placed us in. It is the good warfare. We say ah, we don't want to be known as the fighting fundies. Well, there are certain things about the old fundies. I don't want to fight over the length of your hair, the length of the sleeves on women's blouses or all you. So maybe fundies got into . . . You know, if we are not known for those who fight for the truth, what are we known for? If the church is the pillar and support of the truth and Satan and all his hosts of angels and humans are arrayed against the truth, and we're not in conflict, we ought to be asking ourselves what are we doing? I mean we are in a war and if we think we are just reserves sitting at home enjoying ourselves off duty, that is the deceit of the Devil. We have either deluded ourselves and are not really members of the household of God or we are believers who have deluded ourselves into thinking that the war is going on in other places but not here.

Look at verse 19 of chapter 1, "Keeping faith and a good conscience." Timothy must maintain his faith and trust in God and His truth. You know when the battle rages more intensely, it's easy to get shaken. Paul told the Ephesians in chapter 6 of the letter to them remember, what? You put on the full armor that you may be able to stand firm in the evil day. So Timothy, are you keeping your faith, having your faith, holding on to your faith? Don't be shaken in your faith in God and the truth that He has given. "And a good conscience." A good conscience is the outworking of his faith. He's living in accord with the truth that God has given that he believes; and so he has a good conscience, a conscience that does not accuse him of being in conflict with the truth. So his faith and his practice - hold on to those. Keep your faith firm and your practice sound and you'll have a good conscience.

And then there's a warning. "Which some of rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith." Which some have rejected. Grammatically the word "which" refers to "just a good conscience." Some have rejected a good conscience. They departed from the truth. They didn't live and teach the truth they claimed to believe and as a result they suffered shipwreck regarding their faith. You know, everything unravels, everything comes apart. Everything ultimately is ruined and destroyed. Paul has been in a number of shipwrecks. He knew what it was like to have the ship be torn apart, float to shore on a piece of broken timber. Shipwrecked pictures something which is destroyed and suffers ruin. So they fail to maintain a good conscience to continue to live according to the truth they claim to believe, and the end result of it is their faith is destroyed. I've seen this pattern and I've seen it now having been in the ministry for many years. Men that started here and began to drift little by little by little and more and more and more. And now they are so far from where they were 30 years ago it's not recognizable. They got ruined in their faith.

Paul selects two examples from the church at Ephesus. Paul was not above using names. "Among whom," and these aren't the only ones. "Among whom," and those are some of them. Two prime and two key ones. And he uses these because these are two he has already personally dealt with. You see how the church in Ephesus has been corrupted. Here let me give you two key examples and this is just two of those who are guilty. So it's not just one or two men who have infiltrated the church. I don't know how many we are but we know there is more than two, several more than two, because the two are just part of this group who are corrupting the truth, abandoning a good conscience, making shipwreck of their faith and thus bringing turmoil and confusion and ruin to the church at Ephesus. So the place that is to be the pillar and support of the truth is in danger of becoming ruined, a wreck. The Devil is a fearsome opponent. The worst mistakes made are underestimating our enemy, thinking we can handle it, thinking it's not so bad. We're clever enough, we're wise enough. We fail to appreciate we need divinely powerful weapons.

"Among these are Hyminaous and Alexander." Hyminaous, an unusual name in biblical times. He's mentioned one other time in the Bible. The name Hyminaous was used one other time. Turn over to 2 Timothy 2:16, "But avoid worldly and empty chatter for it will lead to further ungodliness." So you depart from the truth and you move progressively to more ungodliness. "And their talk will spread like gangrene." You know how hard it is to get the truth out, to maintain the truth, to keep teaching and preaching the truth, to share the truth. It seems like, you know, you battle for your inch. But what happens with error? It explodes on the scene. I mean it takes off and won't quit. That's not new. Here Paul said in his day, "Their talk will spread like gangrene." It's destructive, it's ruinous, but it makes its way.

"Among them are Hyminaous and Philetus." And here Hyminaous is mentioned again. The only other time he's mentioned in the New Testament or that name is used and most assume it's probably the same person. His error is mentioned. "Men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, they upset the faith of some." Here you have another man mentioned, Philetus. Now we know it was Hyminaous, Alexander, Philetus. How many others? How in the world did the church at Ephesus ever begin to think that you could have a true Gospel and say the resurrection was past? There's no future resurrection. In bygone days, in past years and past centuries, the evangelical Church got racked by Neoorthodoxy, Bartianism. You know what it taught? What you really need is a resurrection experience in your life. That's what really matters. Whether there's a physical resurrection or not, that's not really important. What really matters is you have a resurrection experience with Christ and that will change your life. You know evangelicals, many professing believers, said that sounds good to me. Decimated churches.

Of course it matters. Paul had to battle this repeatedly. He had to write 1 Corinthians 15 on the importance of the bodily resurrection. And without it we have no saving faith.
And here it’s made its way into the church at Ephesus where Paul had spent three years personally teaching the Word of God day and night, and yet false teachers teaching the resurrection was already past--and you know what? They upset the faith of many. Many believers in the church at Ephesus got confused by this teaching. The church at Ephesus is not in good condition.

Alexander is the second one named. And we don't know if we can identify him with any of the other Alexanders. There are five Alexanders in the Bible. Three of them overlap. In Acts 19:33 at Ephesus there is a Jew named Alexander who attempts to speak in the Coliseum, and there's a riot going on and they shout him down when they realize he's a Jew. That's all we know about him. In 2 Timothy 4:14 Paul refers to Alexander the coppersmith who did him much harm. It could be the same person. We don't know. He identifies him as the coppersmith perhaps to distinguish him from the Alexander he just mentions by name here. We don't know. All we know is the Alexander in verse 20 of chapter 1 has been guilty of being involved in the promoting and teaching and practicing of that which is contrary to the revealed truth of God. Paul says I've handed them over to Satan. I've handed them over to Satan so they would learn not to blaspheme. This same expression to hand over to Satan is used by Paul of the man found at incest at the church at Corinth. In 1 Corinthians 5:5 Paul says, "I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus." We find it consistent. Paul deals with these individuals according to their profession. We say well, maybe Hyminaous and Alexander aren't even saved. Maybe not, but they profess to be believers. They've been accepted in the fellowship of believers and so they are dealt with on the basis of what they claim. The same with the man listed in 1 Corinthians 5. I can't see the heart. They claim to be believers, but they are acting contrary to the Word. We will deal with them as believers in disobedience to the Word. Now it's true some of them may not turn out to be believers at all. God will deal with that. In fact 1 Corinthians 5 goes on to say God will judge those outside the Church if that's where they are found to be.

I take it what delivering over to Satan means is that they are removed from the fellowship and participation in the Church. They are placed outside the Church which is the household of God, the Church of the living God. Now when they are placed outside the Church, they are placed where? In the realm of the god of this world. Now if they are believers, they are in a bad spot. Because they have been removed from the fellowship of the church in which there is protection and they are placed in the realm of the enemy of their soul, and that exposes them to specific attacks and assaults from Satan. It would be like Job in . . . the book of Job, the opening chapters, where Satan says that God placed a hedge around Job. Well, then the hedge is removed and Satan can afflict Job in a variety of ways, bringing pain and misery to Job through a variety of means. I take it what happens when the person is placed under the discipline of the Church, removed from the fellowship of the Church, they are placed into the realm where Satan has greater liberty and freedom.

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 5. Let me just read it to you. "But I actually wrote to you not to associate with anyone called the brethren, if he's an immoral person, covetous, idolater, reviler, drunkard, swindler. Don't even eat with such a one. Remove the wicked man
from among yourselves." That would seem to be what is involved.

Back up just before 1 Timothy to 2 Thessalonians 3:6. Just before 1 Timothy. Second Thessalonians 3:6, "Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to the tradition you received from us." Verse 14, "If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that person. Do not associate with him so that he will be put to shame. But don't regard him as an enemy, admonish him as a brother." You cut off all fellowship, all relationship. And any contact you have is to admonish him, and he must repent of his sin and submit to the truth. You see? You cut off fellowship. It's a means of maintaining the purity of the Church. It's like you have gangrene in one of your limbs. The doctor says to save your body we do what? We cut off the limb. Now here by the grace of God there's the potential and the desire of that being restored, reattached, if you will. And if that person is placed out there in the realm of Satan and affliction comes and difficulty and they realize the seriousness of their sin, they will repent and return and be restored. Discipline is always remedial, if you will, in that sense.

Jesus laid out the pattern of this in Matthew 18:15-17 where he says if your brother sins, go and reprove him in private. If he doesn't respond, take someone with you. And if he doesn't respond to them, then tell it to the Church. If he doesn't listen to the Church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax gatherer. Don't have anything to do with him. Cut him off from the fellowship. Some are going to persist in their sin whether it's corrupting the truth and their teaching or living contrary to the truth with their lives. You do what you can to restore them but you don't drag this on indefinitely. The pattern is set out clearly. And if they don't respond, then you cut them off from the fellowship of the Church.

In 1 Corinthians 11:30 Paul said that many of the Corinthians, many of the Corinthians were weak and sick and a number had died because of their persisting in sin. That's the seriousness of the discipline the Lord brings. God is serious about the purity of His Church. Remember, we talked about Ananius and Sapphira on a previous study in Acts 5. They lied to the Church and in doing so they lied to the Holy Spirit, and they both dropped dead on the sight. I think God's serious about this matter of the purity of His Church. We say well look, I don't want to get in a conflict over it, and I don't want to split the Church over it, and I have friends that I don't want to get into a conflict with and decide we don't want to make an issue. And so we say what? Our personal feelings, our comfort zone is more important to us than the glory of God and maintaining the purity of His Church and the purity of His truth. In other words, I am more important than God. No, that's not what I mean. I'm just not a conflict person. Well, you are in a war. You don't have any choice. In fact, you have always been in a war. Because those who are not in a war as servants of the living God are in the war as servants of the Devil. So there are no bystanders. There are those who have the Devil as their Father and there are those who have God as their Father. And God„s intent is that the Church will be His household, His Church, the pillar and support of the truth and manifesting the beauty and purity of His character.

"They were turned over to Satan so they may learn not to blaspheme." What they were teaching was blasphemy. What they were doing was blasphemy. They were speaking and living in opposition to God and His truth. That's blasphemy. It's important they learn not to blaspheme. Don't you think it's important? Of course it is. That's why discipline is always a manifestation of love when it's done biblically. It's not a matter of arrogance or a matter of selfishness. It's a matter of manifesting love for that individual.

We are in a serious warfare. God has blessed us in many ways. We don't have the overt opposition of being persecuted, dragged to jail, martyred for our faith in our country; and because of that it's easy for us to get lax and think well you know, the battle is not as intense here. In some parts of the world it's really intense. They are going to prison.
They are dying for their faith. And it is intense there. But you understand we are fighting against the same enemy, the prince of the power of the air. He hates our Savior just as much here as he does anywhere in the world. He hates and despises you and the Church of Jesus Christ just as much here as he does anywhere in the world. He is just as committed to the destruction of the truth and the testimony for Christ as he is anywhere in the world. He is willing to adjust his approach and his methods according to what it takes. Rather than overt opposition and persecution, I'll use infiltration. I'll use subtle distortion by "good" people who have a little different opinion and a little different view and when I've got them entrenched, then I'll just begin to spread the corruption. And when it's all said and done it will be a shipwreck and the testimony of the truth will be lost.

See how well he's done his work. You go to places like England today where a hundred, hundred and fifty, two hundred years it was a center of biblical truth and try to find churches that hold to the truth today. You know they say in the United States some 70 percent of the people go to Church. I read a statistic that less than 10 percent of the people in Britain go to Church. Look what happened. Well you know, you infiltrate it, you destroy the doctrine, you make the church a shipwreck and then who wants to go? There's nothing there anywhere. It's just a hollow shell.

We need to be alert. We have a glorious message, a glorious salvation. It's too wonderful a message to compromise. It can save a soul. The Gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. We who have believed are living testimonies as Paul was, are we not? The Gospel can cleanse you from your sin, the vilest offender, the worst sinners can be made new by the glorious power of God as the Gospel is presented and the Spirit of God uses the Gospel of God to bring salvation to a life.

Have you believed the Gospel? Have you ever truly been born again? Not are you religious? Not even do you serve here? Have you been baptized here? Have you ever believed the Gospel and had your life changed by the power of God? You must believe you are a sinner, that Jesus Christ died to pay the penalty for your sin and was raised in victory, and you place your full trust in Him, and you will be saved. Let's pray together.

Thank you Lord, for a Gospel that is glorious. It's the Gospel of the glory of our God. Lord, a Gospel that declares the wonder of Your grace and mercy, that You have made provision for lost sinners. You made it possible for us to be forgiven and cleansed and made new, to be entrusted with the truth that we might share it with others. Lord, I pray that we as a Church might maintain our purity, purity in doctrine and purity in practice. That we might have sincere faith and a good conscience. I pray, Lord, that we would proclaim this message boldly and clearly and that You by Your grace and mercy might draw men, women and young people to the salvation that is found in Your Son in whose name we pray, amen.