Apply Within

Bob Davis: Watch and remember what you have been taught. You should know God's word. Not just because you come to church on a Sunday or a Friday or whenever, but also because you read your Bible. You spend time in God's word so you're taught by the Holy Spirit.

Because then the radio comes on, the internet comes on, the TV comes on, the blogs, and this stuff starts coming at you at the speed of life. You say, "That doesn't sound right. Is that right? What? Really?"

Guest (Male): Welcome to Apply Within, a verse-by-verse study of the word of God with Pastor Bob Davis of North Country Chapel. We invite you to join with us as we invite the power of God's Holy Spirit to apply His word in our own hearts as we study line upon line, precept upon precept, verse-by-verse through the Bible. Our study of 1 Timothy begins with a look at why Paul was writing to Timothy. Here's Pastor Bob.

Bob Davis: Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Savior, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope. Paul is an apostle. That's what God has called him to do. It wasn't Paul's idea; it was God's. And you and me, what we are right now, in the eyes of the world, nobody cares. But what we are right now, we are because that's what God has called us to do. That's what God has called us to be.

People are going to judge how we do it, whether they like it or not, but that's not going to count in the long run. What's going to count is when the Lord says to you and me, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." That's what we're wanting to hear. If people like you down here, I am pretty sure that probably we're doing something wrong. Jesus said if they hate the Master, they're going to hate the servant.

This letter is to Timothy, and he writes, "My own son in the faith. Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord." This letter is to Timothy. He's a young pastor. Again, these are called the pastoral epistles. 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus are called the pastoral epistles. Because they're called that, I think Christians sometimes overlook these books. They think, "I'm not going to be a pastor, so this is not to me."

This is to every one of us. This is God's word. So this is to you, guy and girl alike. This is to all of us. Timothy is serving right now at the church at Ephesus. It was called Galatia in those days, but it's modern-day Turkey. Paul calls him this: my own son in the faith. Timothy was raised in the word of God. We're told that his mother and his grandmother taught him well since he was just a little boy about God's word.

But he got born again, it looks like, sometime in his early teen years, and Paul takes him on his team when Timothy was maybe around 17 to 18 years old. He takes him on his full-time missionary team. Paul loves this young man as his own son. He calls him his own son in the faith. Paul had poured his life into Timothy. He's teaching Timothy. Timothy doesn't have to learn.

Those of you that have been around younger people, they listen sometimes if they want to, and they don't if they don't want to. That's always the heart of that individual. You can't fix that. Hearts aren't something that you can work; God has to do that. So Paul poured his life into Timothy. He calls him his own son. Even though Timothy had been taught God's word since he was a little boy, it was the Apostle Paul who took Timothy under his wing to teach him, encourage him, correct him, and train him for ministry.

How do you do that? You know what you do? You just let Timothy hang around. "Come on, Timothy, we're going to Galatia. Come on, Timothy, we're headed over to Europe. Come on, Timothy, we're going to Rome." Timothy would watch, live, and learn. That's how he did it. Timothy served alongside Paul for many years, and he learned from one of the best teachers he could have learned from. Of course, the Holy Spirit is teaching him, but Paul, too.

Paul lumps himself and Timothy together, and when he does, I think that we are all as Christians lumped in here, too. What do I mean? He says this: "Grace, mercy, and peace from who? From God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord." I hope you can say it. I think it's a sad thing to say when King Saul says, "Ask your God for mercy for me." Every one of us who calls ourselves a Christian, who names the name of Jesus Christ, every one of us should be able to say, "My Father in heaven."

Whether everybody else likes that or not, He is our God, our Father. Jesus Christ is not just your Lord and your Lord; He is our Lord, Paul says. He's Paul's Father, God is, and He's Timothy's Father. That means He's my Father and He's your Father if you have said yes and surrendered your heart to Jesus Christ.

Jesus is Paul's Lord, and He's Timothy's Lord, and He's your Lord, and He's my Lord. All of those who name the name of Jesus Christ can call Him "Our Father in heaven and our Lord Jesus Christ." We should be able to. Then we go to verse three. He says this: "As I besought you to abide still at Ephesus when I went to Macedonia, that you might charge some that they teach no other doctrine, neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions rather than godly edifying which is in faith, so do."

The Lord has called Paul back over to Macedonia. Paul knew it was God, and he knew he had to get going. You don't have to understand why God is calling you. I don't have to understand all that He's wanting to do. What I have to do is, by grace through faith, obey that. It is hard sometimes, because when you think God wants you to do this, people will try and talk you out of it.

You have to be real careful. Paul says God wants him to go to Macedonia, so he knows he's got to get going. Paul says, "But you know what? We need some help here at Ephesus. So I'm going to ask you to stay. I know you're part of our team, but I'm going to ask you to stay. I need to get going." He says, "I besought you to remain at Ephesus."

Here's another way to say that: I ask you to please stay in Ephesus. Remain here at Ephesus. Some people say, "Why was Timothy there?" The Bible clearly teaches us he was called there by God for a certain amount of time. He wasn't there for 40 years, but he was there for a certain amount of time as the pastor at the church at Ephesus, which was a very big church.

The Lord used Paul to get Timothy to stay there. Paul says, "I need to get going, but everything here is not finished. There are problems here. So we need someone to stay here, someone who will really do it, someone who will take care, someone I can trust. Timothy, it's you." So I'm asking you to stay here. Notice Paul does not command him, does not order him. He's encouraging. That's what the word "besought" means. It means to encourage, to ask vehemently, if you will.

"Please stay here. I can count on you, Timothy. Stay here while I go to Macedonia." Paul says why, too. The church here at Ephesus is having some troubles, and they really need some help. There's still a lot of work to do. So I'm asking you to remain here, and me and the guys will go on. A lot of people think Timothy probably didn't want to stay, and you know what? That's true.

He wanted to go with the team. That was what he wanted to do, and that's why Paul is saying, "That's why I besought you to stay. We really need you. You've got the gifts, and you need to do this. Now nobody's going to make you, Timothy, but there's a lot of work to do." So here's the question that people ask, and so I'll ask it to you: Was it up to Timothy?

The answer is, yes, it was up to Timothy. If he would have said, "No, I believe it's God that I go with you. I'm here to serve you. The church at Ephesus is too big. They've got a bunch of leadership. They've got elders. We've taught them. I'm going with you." But you don't see that. He does have a choice, and I do believe he wants to continue with Paul. He will catch up with Paul; he will get back with Paul and the team.

But Paul urged him here. You can use the word "exhort" or "encourage." Please remain for a little longer. There are troubles there, Timothy, and I urged you to stay. I think there are times in our lives when the Lord will have you remain. Just remain and keep doing what you're doing, as simple as you see it, as boring as you may think it is. Whatever the situation, there are times when God would have you remain. Just be faithful, stay there, and do that.

There are also times when the Lord will have you move on, and so you need to listen to the Lord, obey the Lord, trust the Lord. Listen and be ready either way. That's what I believe, according to God's word, as you not only read the letters to Timothy but as you read through the Book of Acts and many of the other letters that Paul wrote. I think that's exactly what Timothy did.

Timothy trusted the Lord, he listened, and he did what was asked of him. Why did Paul want Timothy to remain? Remember, he's like a son. "You're my own son in the faith." He loves him. They've been together years. Why do you want to leave Timothy behind? I urged you to stay because there are some that are teaching false doctrine there at Ephesus.

So he says this: "I charge you to ask some that they teach no other doctrine." Isn't that what we read? "I besought you to abide still at Ephesus when I went to Macedonia, that you might charge some that they teach no other doctrine." There were some teaching false doctrines at the church at Ephesus. It's a big church. He says, "We can't leave it this way, but God's calling us on. So you've got to stay. I'm asking you to stay, and you need to handle this. I urge you to do this."

Let me read to you literally what Paul just said: You need to stop some of the people there in the congregation at Ephesus from teaching what they're teaching. They are teaching false doctrine, other doctrine, and you've got to stop that. Charge some that they teach no other doctrine. Wow, what a big assignment. Timothy is a young preacher, a young man, and he'll tell Timothy, "Let no one despise your youth."

You've got to do it; you just have to stand and you've got to do it. He's going to be a little intimidated. Some of those people, Timothy in his late twenties maybe or early thirties, some of these people are in their sixties or seventies, and he's a little bit intimidated. But you see, there's a problem in the church. False doctrine is there, and you've got to stop it before you come to us. I'm asking you to stay to do that. How would you like that job?

Timothy's going to stay, and here's what he's going to do: He's going to clean the place up. Paul had warned the elders, the leadership of the church at Ephesus, that this kind of trouble was coming. In the Book of Acts, chapter 20, where Paul says farewell to them, he doesn't even go to Ephesus. He's close, and he has the elders come out to where he's at by the ship.

He's going to give them a farewell to the troops, farewell to the church kind of message. Here's what he says in Acts chapter 20, verses 29 through 31. You can read the whole chapter, but let me just read you a few verses here. Listen to what Paul tells them. He says, "For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall people arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after themselves."

"Therefore, watch and remember. Be on your guard and remember." Remember what? "That by the space of three years, I ceased not to warn everyone night and day with tears." We taught you and we taught you and we taught you. For three and a half years, he taught them. They were a good, solid fellowship because Paul was a good teacher, Holy Spirit gifted. The Holy Spirit was teaching, and they had learned good, solid Bible, which is what we all want.

He says, "But I'm sad because I know when I leave, and I'm leaving now, I know that what's going to happen is grievous wolves are going to enter in. They're going to come in from outside, not sparing the flock. They're going to start to destroy people's lives, giving them false doctrine, giving them all kinds of false things." He says, "There are also going to be some, men and women, who will rise up in your own congregation. They will start teaching falsely and draw disciples away from the truth so that those disciples can follow them."

We spend a lot of time here going through God's word, and I try to remind you: You don't follow me; you follow Jesus. I get out of the way, and you step right into the arms of Jesus. That's who you serve, that's who you listen to, and that's how we serve God is by serving one another and doing the things according to God's word. Are we perfect? No.

He warned the leadership at the church that false doctrines would come in. He said this: "You be on your guard." He's talking to the leadership. "You be on your guard. Watch and remember what you've been taught." So, Christians, there's a lesson for you and me. Watch. That means to be on guard. Watch and remember what you have been taught. You should know God's word.

Not just because you come to church on a Sunday or a Friday or whenever, but also because you read your Bible. You spend time, your own time, in God's word besides at church. You need to be on your guard and remember what you've been taught. You need to remember because then the radio comes on, the internet comes on, the TV comes on, everything comes on, the blogs, and this stuff starts coming at you at the speed of life.

You say, "That doesn't sound right. Is that right? What? Really?" Then you're thrown into confusion. Confusion. God is not the author of confusion. That right there should show you: "Wait a minute. I've got to back up and take a more solid look at this because why is this throwing me so far off? Why is it confusing, upsetting?"

In 1 Timothy chapter six, verses three through five, he writes, "If any man teaches anything else, if any man or woman teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, if they're going against God's word and to the doctrine which is according to godliness, that person is proud, knows nothing, but doting about questions and strife of words, and from that comes envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness. From such, withdraw yourselves."

If you've got people that are teaching false doctrine, you should start to recognize them. What they do is they bring up the weirdest questions, those doctrines. Soon you're discussing things that, if you just stop and listen to what you're discussing, it's not even logical to be discussing it. You're thinking, "What are we talking about?"

Timothy, I want to assign you with the task of stopping these people from teaching false doctrine. Stop these false teachers from teaching false doctrine, different doctrine, meaning different than what the people had already been taught—the words of Jesus Christ and the word of God. So here's the question: How does Timothy begin to stop false doctrines?

First, he has to make sure he's teaching solid doctrine. That's one of the main ways you're going to combat false teaching: You're going to teach just what the Bible says. Many in Ephesus, and I think many today, are not familiar with God's word. They'll say, "I know the Bible says something. Where does the Bible say that if you don't believe in God, you're a fool?"

They know something, but they really don't know what God's word says. They don't know how to use it, how to find it. They need to become familiar with God's word. That's Timothy's job, so God's people will know God's word. That way, once they know God's word, they will recognize God's word because they've been spending time, their own time, in God's word besides at church.

Next, he's got to do what God left him there to do: not just teach the word, but to make sure that no one is teaching false doctrine. Now, how hard is that going to be if they have a church of two or three or four thousand or more? Many believe it was much more than that. How hard is that going to be? Because you can't be at everybody's kitchen table when five friends come over from church and they start discussing that God lived on a planet called Kolob.

You can't be there to say, "Hold it, hold it, hold it." It's an impossible task. It's going to take the Holy Spirit. You've got to make sure that anyone who is teaching, anyone who you allow to teach, Timothy, you've got to know that they know the Lord and you've got to know that they know God's word. False doctrine is like cancer. Once it starts, it spreads very quickly through a body, through the body of Jesus Christ.

That's what Paul is saying: "You have to stop it, Timothy. It will hurt lives. It will destroy families." Cancer destroys and kills. False doctrine destroys faith. It destroys fellowship. It destroys fellowship between believers. It hardens hearts and it destroys lives and it kills. Timothy is also told these false teachers were actually following myths instead of solid gospel truths.

Myths are what you and I call legend, fables, fairy tales. If you get caught up in a false doctrine, I'm telling you, you will believe the silliest stuff. It'll sound right to you; it'll sound logical to you. The silliest, silliest things that are not in God's word. Paul says to Timothy, "All these people are really doing is gendering further speculation, and it gets weirder and weirder and it just brings more questions and more questions, and they're basically empty of any spiritual value at all."

So Timothy, I besought you to abide still at Ephesus when I went to Macedonia, that you might charge some that they teach no other doctrine, neither give heed to fables, myths, legends, fairy tales, and endless genealogies, which minister questions. They just cause trouble rather than godly edifying, which is in faith. So do.

Notice the word of God, the pure word of God, good, solid, sound doctrine strengthens you, edifies you, builds you up. When you share God's word with others, you say, "Man, I was reading the Bible this morning in Psalm 23, and the Lord is my shepherd and I shall not want." That edifies the believer. It strengthens them; it encourages them.

It builds you up in your most holy faith, and that's what Timothy is encouraged to do while he's there at Ephesus. It's going to be a big assignment; it's going to be hard. Paul will write a little bit more to him. But you know what? We live in a time where false doctrine abounds. It just does. You remain in God's word and be like a Timothy: Know good, solid doctrine.

Don't fight with each other. There's nothing to fight about. You can disagree, you can debate, you can do all those things, but you have to do it Christianly. You have to forgive, you have to let these things go, and you have to know that all of us have a long way to grow. Not every one of us understands everything and humbly admit it. But be careful. You read your Bible. Be careful. Stay in the word.

Guest (Male): Thank you for listening to Apply Within with Pastor Bob Davis. Apply Within is a radio outreach ministry of North Country Chapel. Our Sunday morning Bible studies are at 9:00 and 11:00 AM. We also have a Friday evening Bible study at 7:00 PM and a Monday evening Bible study at 7:00 PM. You can download today's message in its entirety at northcountrychapel.com/studies. That's northcountrychapel.com/studies.

If you would like a copy of today's message, write to us and ask for the message with today's date. The address is Apply Within, 2281 West Seltice, Post Falls, Idaho 83854. Or call us at 1-800-572-8851. That number again: 1-800-572-8851. Our mobile app is available for iPhone and Android. Download it to listen to full-length studies, watch the live stream of our services, or to find out more about church events.

If you have been blessed by the teaching or have prayer requests that you would like to share with us, write, email, or call us as well. Please join with us every Monday through Friday as we study together verse-by-verse on Apply Within, sponsored by North Country Chapel. God bless you.