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The pastorals were the last books written by Paul, the very last. Now why is that important? Since these books deal with church order, organization, and ministering to the church in pastoral care, why not write them first? If you or I were doing this, we would probably first try to get the administrative organization in order the structure and then worry about the doctrine. This is the priority in many if not most churches today. It seems a lot of people think that if you have the constitution and the church organized properly, then everything will run smoothly, but it that really so?
Certainly, the church is an organic body made up of many parts and each believer is a member with a special function and task to carry out in an orderly way, but the primary essential for the church is right theology through consistent Bible-based teaching. This is teaching that is designed to lead to an understanding of the Word and its careful application via the ministry of the Spirit of God. This provides us with the spiritual and moral foundation on which we should base the methods, strategy, and administration or organization to be used in the local church.
This not only gives us the right foundation, but it provides the spiritual motivation and ability to function in the power of God. Yet, as will be seen in this study, all doctrinal teaching needs to be guided by biblical goals. While our methods will vary, they must never contradict the moral or spiritual principles of the Word. Giving is a corporate and individual responsibility, but our giving and the collection of money should be so done that it does not violate biblical or spiritual principles. It is to be voluntary and never the result of the methods that employ coercion or manipulation see 1 Cor.
It will lack the foundation, true spiritual enablement, and capacity to fulfill the biblical model. Oswald Sanders, in his classic book on leadership entitled Spiritual Leadership , has an important note in this regard. The true spiritual leader is concerned infinitely more with the service he can render God and his fellowmen than with the benefits and pleasures he can extract from life.
He aims to put more into life than he takes out of it. The greatest need is not for leaders, but for saints and servants. Unless that is held in the foreground of our thinking, the whole idea of leadership and leadership training becomes dangerous. The pastoral epistles do, of course, deal with matters of church order or ecclesiology not hitherto addressed in the other epistles, but before God ever gave the church directions for organization or order as specific as those we find in the pastorals, he gave us Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians—His instructions for godly living through faith in the Lord Jesus.
Is this because organization is unimportant? But may I suggest He gave us the other epistles first because: As a result, students of the Word have debated certain issues for years like: Does this mean we should not carefully study these issues looking for biblical answers and then come to conclusions based on our study of the facts of Scripture as we can best understand them? While the pastorals do deal with the local church and its conduct and organization, they are also intensely practical and contain a strong emphasis on sound doctrine.
The pastorals are primarily practical rather than theological, but the doctrinal emphasis lies more on the defense of sound doctrine than on its development, explanation, or elaboration. Thus, the emphasis is more on: How does Paul seek to promote both of these areas—sound doctrine and its practical outworking in these epistles? The pastorals are written to promote the maintenance of sound doctrine and practical Christian living through faithful, biblical pastoral care and through ministries that function according to the biblical and spiritual principles of these books.
The organic development of a church is important, but its capacity to do its job rides on a firm foundation of theology and the spirituality of its people. However, the focus of this study will be devoted to several key concerns that need to be addressed by every church leader and Bible believing church. While many of the historical details are sketchy, verse 3a refers to a visit Paul made to Ephesus after his release from prison in Rome. While in Ephesus Paul evidently found serious conditions because the rise of false teachers, just as he had previously warned the Ephesians elders Acts Though he felt the leading of God to go on to Macedonia, his concern for the false teachers at Ephesus caused him to strongly appeal to Timothy to stay in Ephesus in order to deal with this problem.
There are evidences here that suggest Timothy may have originally shown signs of reluctance or at least a fearfulness to stay in the battle at Ephesus, perhaps because of his youth or simply because of the nature of what he was facing in Ephesus from the false teachers. Two things here suggest the apostle was challenging Timothy to hang tough and stay the course. First, we can conclude from these words that this is the second time Paul had to urge young Timothy to stay on at the task assigned to Him by the apostle.
Opposition, hardships of various sorts and difficulties go with the territory of ministry in a fallen world. Ministry is often tough and filled with hardships and pressures, and sometimes the tendency is to run away. That seems the only logical solution. This is like trying to climb a greased pole! But the apostle did more than simply tell Timothy to remain.
What lessons, then, can we learn from these epistles that provide us with the needed fortification and stability in both finding and following through on what God has called us to do? They are naturally inter-related, yet each principle is distinct and forms a part of the whole picture.
Certainly it is only one purpose in the sphere of a larger overall purpose for Timothy as a teacher of the Word, but it suggests the necessary truth of purposeful living—having an adequate purpose for life that gives one a sense of destiny and meaning for living. Having an adequate reason and goal for life and for pressing on becomes tremendously motivational as the apostle later delineates in 2 Timothy 2: Each purpose God has for us, as with this charge to Timothy, has its own special motivation.
In keeping with the work of shepherds, Timothy was to provide a protection and a defense for others against false teaching by dealing with these teachers. This could mean the deliverance of these teachers as well as a protection for others in keeping with the call and responsibility we have of loving one another as children of God. In other words, the motive of love for others by what he was doing formed an added incentive and objective for the purpose of his life—the motive of love cf. If our lives and ministries are motivated by selfish desires like praise, recognition, success i.
Also associated with the principle of purpose that the apostle focuses on later in this epistle is the concept of stewardship—being good stewards of the gifts and abilities God gives us. A stewardship is something which belongs to another but is given to someone as a trust for management on which a return is expected.
So Paul will also remind Timothy of this in 1 Timothy 1: It is to fail to believe God and trust Him and His wisdom, purposes, promises, and provision. It is to fail to believe in heavenly treasures and to live accordingly. May we remember that what God has called us to do, He has gifted us to do; and what He has gifted us to do, He has called us to do in some capacity and to some degree. To fail to act on this is to act in unbelief. So what should we do? Our options are twofold: First, we can face and confess the fact and deal with it—the goal is to have a conscience void of offence 1 Tim.
Second, we may opt for all kinds of rationalizations, cover ups, and excuses to avoid fulfilling our stewardship. If we go for this second option, then we end up hardening or searing our conscience 2 Tim. Paul later reminded Timothy in 1 Timothy 4: It is to be no servant at all of the Lord cf. Demas in 2 Tim. In 1 Timothy 4: It is impossible to remain faithful to our stewardship, if we are not feeding our own souls and being fed on the Word.
The contrast brought out in these two verses should drive this home forcefully: This means the spiritual disciplines by which we grow and mature in the things of Christ. It is these disciplines that produce maturity, strength, wisdom, and faithful service from the right motives. This includes—prayer, Bible study private and corporate , Scripture memory, Bible reading, fellowship with believers who mean business with Christ, and even discipling others.
One of the consistent themes of Scripture is the truth that this life is passing away and that our primary citizenship as believers in Christ is in heaven, from which we are to look for the Savior Phil. As citizens of heaven, we are only here on temporary assignment as sojourners or pilgrims who are to live in this life with a view to laying up treasures in heaven Matt.
Coupled with this are the many promises of rewards that will be given for faithful service in the epistles. Demas deserted the apostle Paul in ministry and the reason given is that he loved this present world 2 Tim. Only a heavenly hope will keep our values, priorities, and pursuits where they need to be. Another means to encourage staying power is the responsibility to have and maintain biblical motives and goals for ministry.
Paul also addressed the common apostate idea of asceticism—the belief that greater spirituality could be attained through strict self-denial. It is not enough to learn. They are good, honest, truthful, faithful, in many ways—but they are not doing their best. It is profitable for teaching us the ways of God, how God wants us to live 2 Tim. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. However, sound teaching or orthodoxy may also not produce this kind of love if people lose sight of the goal of biblical instruction.
This will become the third critical concern discussed below where more will be said on this issue. For the moment, however, note the force of the appeal in 6: The negative flee vs. Goal oriented living, like having an eternal perspective mentioned previously, has a powerful influence on one's life. The second problem Timothy faced, and one we continually face as the church seeks to maintain its witness in a fallen world, is that of false teaching and the endless variety of strange doctrines, fads, and ideas. It seems there is no end to these strange doctrines that are always clamoring for our attention and seeking entrance into the thinking of the body of Christ.
This is no small problem because it is often so very subtle. According to 1 Timothy 1: Their doctrine is described and characterized by Paul as:. In the final analysis, this means deviating from biblical standards either in content, nature, scope, or aim 1: Myths looks at the nature of their teaching and endless genealogies at the content. In nature they are myths. Myths is the Greek, muthos. It contrasts the human ideas and perspectives of man with the divine perspective of God.
One is myth and one is truth. In content they were first of all endless genealogies. Both concepts are certainly true. Further, in content their teaching consisted of endless genealogies, though based on real characters in Old Testament genealogical tables. These teachers were teaching mythological stories. They would then develop doctrines based on these tales and mingle this with the Word. In our world today we face the various cults with their false, heretical, mythological, and fad-like teachings.
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Then we see others with an emphasis on certain spiritual gifts so that though claiming to be evangelical they teach and advocate a different message because it distorts the main focus of Scripture and true spiritual maturity. In addition, there are fads and caricatures of doctrine being taught. Unless we are careful, we can all be guilty of this in our ministries and fail to minister the Word appropriately and effectively. But what is meant by this?
By fads, I am talking about jumping on the contemporary bandwagon of ideas that permeate the present theological scene rather than seeking to proclaim the whole council of the word with, of course, proper application to the contemporary problems and needs of people. Why does doctrinal defection and false teaching occur? The following is a brief overview of some of the causes that I trust will pose a warning to all of us. This often results in fads and novel interpretations and shallow teaching 2 Tim. This is equivalent to the proper use of Scripture not prooftexts taken out of context to instruct others in the Bible, which is our authority in faith and practice.
That authority, however, lies in the message, not in the man. What exactly was Timothy told to do? As a leader and communicator of the Word, Timothy was responsible to do two things:. Certainly this was to be done in the spirit of love, but surely it was to be done firmly and specifically. He was not to ignore the problem nor side step it.
A lot of leaders are adept at stepping around issues. See also 2 Tim. There is an obvious concern here that we must see. They had occupied their minds with doctrinal fads and the ideas of men rather than the clear absolutes of the Word cf. This is strongly stressed in 1: The standard and the focus of our thinking and preaching must be the authoritative and infallible word of truth.
It is imperative that we all recognize that it is this. It is the faithful, exegetical study and communication of the Word with its careful application that protects us from the many delusions of Satan. It is this that builds sure conviction and confidence of the truth into the people of God enabling them to know what is to be believed and why cf.
Those sermons whose alleged strength is that they speak to the contemporary issues, needs, and aspirations often exhibit the weakness of a subjective approach. In the hands of many practitioners, the biblical text has been of no real help either in clarifying the questions posed by modern man or in offering solutions … the biblical text often is no more than a slogan or refrain in the message. What is lacking in this case is exactly what needs to be kept in mind with respect to every sermon which aspires to be at once both biblical and practical: But why is this so important?
We can picture to ourselves the old grandmother with gentle heart and softened speech, who took delight in teaching the boy the words of God and in praying with him and for him. Then we can think of the mother, amid her household cares supported by the promise of God and the hopes of true religion, also teaching her child the truths which gave so much joy and comfort to the Jewish mothers in those days.
No wonder, with such training, amid such influences, Timothy grew to be such a godly man. It is a great privilege to be born and reared amid such holy influences. He was not making the most of the grace of God that was in him. The fire needs to be stirred up that it may blaze and flame and send out heat and light. In Timothy's heart, the blessings of God's grace were smouldering too quietly, and needed to be stirred up. Many young Christians need the same counsel. They are good, honest, truthful, faithful, in many ways—but they are not doing their best.
They must live much more earnestly, and be much more useful to their fellow men. The times were hard for consistent Christian living. Those who followed Christ, were sure to meet persecution, and ofttimes death was the certain consequence of faithful confession of Christ. In our days it much easier to follow Christ. No danger is involved in it. We need have no fear of persecution.
Yet even in these times there are those who are in danger of suffering from shyness and fearfulness. God wants us to be brave and loyal, wherever we are called upon to stand. A great many people know plenty of Scripture truth—but do not live it out.
The test of knowing—is doing. It is not enough to learn. We really know only so much truth—as we get into our experience and conduct. All of the Bible we can truly call our own—is what we have learned to live. It is a beautiful thing when a person has been well-taught; it is still more beautiful when he abides in the things which he has been taught, living out the lessons in daily life. Such influences affect the life to its very close. A man may know a great deal about science or literature or history—and be very wise in this world's learning, and yet not be saved.
The bible gives the true wisdom. One of the consistent themes of Scripture is the truth that this life is passing away and that our primary citizenship as believers in Christ is in heaven, from which we are to look for the Savior Phil. As citizens of heaven, we are only here on temporary assignment as sojourners or pilgrims who are to live in this life with a view to laying up treasures in heaven Matt. Coupled with this are the many promises of rewards that will be given for faithful service in the epistles.
Demas deserted the apostle Paul in ministry and the reason given is that he loved this present world 2 Tim. Only a heavenly hope will keep our values, priorities, and pursuits where they need to be. Another means to encourage staying power is the responsibility to have and maintain biblical motives and goals for ministry. This will become the third critical concern discussed below where more will be said on this issue.
For the moment, however, note the force of the appeal in 6: The negative flee vs. Goal oriented living, like having an eternal perspective mentioned previously, has a powerful influence on one's life. The second problem Timothy faced, and one we continually face as the church seeks to maintain its witness in a fallen world, is that of false teaching and the endless variety of strange doctrines, fads, and ideas.
It seems there is no end to these strange doctrines that are always clamoring for our attention and seeking entrance into the thinking of the body of Christ. This is no small problem because it is often so very subtle. According to 1 Timothy 1: Their doctrine is described and characterized by Paul as:. In the final analysis, this means deviating from biblical standards either in content, nature, scope, or aim 1: Myths looks at the nature of their teaching and endless genealogies at the content.
In nature they are myths. Myths is the Greek, muthos. It contrasts the human ideas and perspectives of man with the divine perspective of God. One is myth and one is truth. In content they were first of all endless genealogies. Both concepts are certainly true. Further, in content their teaching consisted of endless genealogies, though based on real characters in Old Testament genealogical tables.
These teachers were teaching mythological stories. They would then develop doctrines based on these tales and mingle this with the Word. In our world today we face the various cults with their false, heretical, mythological, and fad-like teachings. Then we see others with an emphasis on certain spiritual gifts so that though claiming to be evangelical they teach and advocate a different message because it distorts the main focus of Scripture and true spiritual maturity. In addition, there are fads and caricatures of doctrine being taught. Unless we are careful, we can all be guilty of this in our ministries and fail to minister the Word appropriately and effectively.
But what is meant by this? By fads, I am talking about jumping on the contemporary bandwagon of ideas that permeate the present theological scene rather than seeking to proclaim the whole council of the word with, of course, proper application to the contemporary problems and needs of people. Why does doctrinal defection and false teaching occur? The following is a brief overview of some of the causes that I trust will pose a warning to all of us.
This often results in fads and novel interpretations and shallow teaching 2 Tim. This is equivalent to the proper use of Scripture not prooftexts taken out of context to instruct others in the Bible, which is our authority in faith and practice. That authority, however, lies in the message, not in the man.
What exactly was Timothy told to do? As a leader and communicator of the Word, Timothy was responsible to do two things:. Certainly this was to be done in the spirit of love, but surely it was to be done firmly and specifically. He was not to ignore the problem nor side step it. A lot of leaders are adept at stepping around issues. See also 2 Tim. There is an obvious concern here that we must see. They had occupied their minds with doctrinal fads and the ideas of men rather than the clear absolutes of the Word cf. This is strongly stressed in 1: The standard and the focus of our thinking and preaching must be the authoritative and infallible word of truth.
It is imperative that we all recognize that it is this. It is the faithful, exegetical study and communication of the Word with its careful application that protects us from the many delusions of Satan. It is this that builds sure conviction and confidence of the truth into the people of God enabling them to know what is to be believed and why cf.
Those sermons whose alleged strength is that they speak to the contemporary issues, needs, and aspirations often exhibit the weakness of a subjective approach.
In the hands of many practitioners, the biblical text has been of no real help either in clarifying the questions posed by modern man or in offering solutions … the biblical text often is no more than a slogan or refrain in the message. What is lacking in this case is exactly what needs to be kept in mind with respect to every sermon which aspires to be at once both biblical and practical: But why is this so important? Because it is the Bible that is true and accurate and thus authoritative and powerful.
It alone has the right, by its divine origin, to persuade men. Furthermore, the tendency today is to appeal to the itching ears of audiences, and cater to their desire to be entertained because speakers want to be popular. So, pastors, conference speakers and the like, as Kaiser again warns us often reward their audiences,. Where is that sense of authority and mission previously associated with the biblical Word?
Obviously, the solution or the cure to false teaching and the things that cause it is to counter both the problem and the cause with the appropriate biblical exposition or instruction from the text of Scripture. Here we see the reason and the reason is not only related to the futility of such speculation, but to the need for pursuing biblical goals. The goals mentioned in this text are two-fold: The apostle focuses on the utter fruitlessness of the varied religious speculations of men.
They are subjective and fruitless because they represent teaching that is not based on the objective standard of the God breathed Word of Truth 2 Tim. Failure to use and handle the Scripture accurately leads not only to what is useless, but actually hinders the work of God. This refers to futile human speculations, looking at statistics, ever learning, but never able to come to the truth 2 Tim.
Second, this kind of teaching leaves men without the comfort and peace of the sure convictions of a faith based on the sure foundations of the Word, but such nonsense actually hinders the sound proclamation of Scripture. So what does it mean here? Does it means an administration or a stewardship?
On the other hand, it refers to the office of a steward or a stewardship, it refers to the work of men as stewards of God who are ministering the gospel of Jesus Christ cf. It refers to the work of preaching the Word and building men and women in the Scriptures to develop their faith. Perhaps, because of the context cf. This is the wealth of assurance which only an accurate understanding of Scripture can give Col.
Unfortunately, many churches, and even churches that claim to be conservative Bible teaching ministries, are filled with people who are loaded with doctrinal and practical uncertainties. There are a virtual hodge-podge of doctrinal ideas and fads. While the reasons are many, certainly part of the cause is unbiblical philosophies and methods when it comes to proclaiming the Word. This is serious business! It is very important that we take stock of the nature of our ministries and how well we are truly communicating the Bible to people.
We might at first be surprised by this. Yes, undoubtedly it is, but the point is this. And nothing shows our love, especially for those who have been given a responsibility of teaching as Sunday school teachers, parents, and pastor-teachers, like our willingness to labor in the Word and doctrine that we might be faithful communicators of the Word see 1 Tim. This is undoubtedly broader than just the charge of verses 3 and 4, though obviously that is included. So communicating information or the knowledge of Scripture is clearly in view. For some thoughts on the benefits and dangers of knowledge, see the addendum.
The apostle clearly teaches us that the aim of our instruction or communication of biblical knowledge is love. In the Greek text it is without the article which may stress the quality or character of love. Men can try to manufacture or simulate the agape kind of love, but when put under stress, it will be found to be nothing more than hypocritical expressions of love which give way to the true conditions of the heart cf. Because false teaching fails to bring one into a right relationship with God, it is virtually impossible for it to produce the quality of true agape kind of love.
Agape is the result of having the mind of Christ, or a Word-filled, Spirit-filled life. Further, agape love is sometimes used as a synonym for the fruit of the Spirit and the whole gamut of mature, spiritual character 1 Cor. It is never simply an isolated virtue, but that which most completely expresses the ministry and character of the Lord Jesus cf. Men can try to manufacture the appearance of true Christian love for various reasons, but it is virtually impossible for false teaching to produce this quality of love.
True Christian love is the expression of fellowship with the living God 1 John 4. It is the product of preaching the mystery of godliness 1 Tim.
However, sound teaching or orthodoxy may also not produce this kind of love if people lose sight of the goal of biblical instruction. In other words, the study of the Word is never to be an end in itself. It is a means to an end, an indispensable means, but the end is the character of Jesus Christ reproduced in the believer by the fruit of the Spirit.
The end is love for God and love for men Matt. First, the text is pointing us to the source of genuine love and that which has to be dealt with if we are to be a loving and serving people. Second, note that one preposition goes with all three phrases which suggests that together they form the source and means to the production of agape love. Love is the product of an inward and spiritual change, the product of a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Third, as the context makes clear, the only way to deal with all three of these areas or the inner man is the message of the Word.
Only the Word, which is alive and powerful, ministered by the Spirit, can deal with the heart and conscience and produce faith in God through the principles and promises of Scripture.
But in what sense? A pure mind is one that operates with the Word as its filter or sieve. The emotions are the feelings and appreciators or responders of the inner person. Good emotions stem from right thinking, from thinking that is being cleansed by the Word. We cleanse our emotions or have good emotions by thinking with the principles and promises of Scripture.
The will or volition is the decision maker of the inner person or the heart. Cleansed or right decisions come from transformed values and priorities and belief structures created by the Word in the life. The key here comes from its use. It meant pure in the sense of free from admixture, unadulterated. As such, a it was used literally of clean water, of metal without alloy, of feelings that were unmixed, and of motives that were pure, single, and sincere; b But it also had a spiritual or ceremonial use. It was used of that which was fit for worship or service to God because it had been physically or spiritually cleansed.
It meant free from all guilt and pollution, innocent and pure or unmixed in motives, and of singleness of mind. A cleansed heart refers to an inner life that has been cleansed of all known sin by honest confession and the proper use of 1 John 1: But this would also refer to a heart that has been cleansed in its attitudes, motives, values, and priorities, and in its emotions and choices. This means being cleansed by the Word from selfish perspectives, values, priorities, and pursuits cf.
The opposite is a seared, hardened conscience. A sincere faith is foundational to all and refers to only to a real faith, but to one that is actively believes the promises and principles of Scripture and acts on them. For a beautiful illustration of living the life of faith which motivates us to love, serving without regard to self and selfish ambitions, compare the testimonies of Paul as it concerns the ministry in 2 Corinthians 2: Passages like these should be read regularly by all of us.
When we live by faith, we are able to be faithful and content regardless of the pressures of the ministry because God is our reward and our sufficiency 2 Cor. We keep the conscience clear when we approve only such thoughts, goals, motives, words and deeds which are in harmony with the great goal or aim of the Word, namely LOVE.
One of the greatest dangers we all face is the danger of staying alert and focused on biblical goals. It is too easy to get sidetracked by problems and by the allurements of the world. The Lord challenged the disciples to take heed to both what they heard and to how they heard it Mark 4: