Open the Bible

Colin Smith: If your passion is not about Jesus Christ, if Jesus Christ is not front and center of the passion of your life, you will in all likelihood become a divisive person within the church.

Steve Hiller: Welcome to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith. I'm Steve Hiller and glad you're with us as we continue a message called Gospel Faith. And one of the things that we're going to take a look at in today's message, Colin, is asking ourselves the question: What am I truly excited about? But why is that so important?

Colin Smith: Well, it's important for this reason, Steve, that it is very easy for us as Christians to sign off on saying, "I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe in the gospel." But then the things that we're really excited about, the things that we talk about, turn out actually to be quite different.

And so what happens then is it's very easy for Christians, having signed off on the gospel and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, to move a whole bunch of other issues that we are really passionate about to the front and center. And that's how divisiveness in the church begins. People become passionate about things other than the thing that holds us together. And the more that happens, the more churches begin to feel the tension that pulls people apart.

So what we're looking at in Paul's first letter to Timothy is really the centrality of the Lord Jesus Christ and how that is critical to the unity of Christian churches. And it's a really important issue for all of us today.

Steve Hiller: Well, let's look at God's word together. We're in the book of 1 Timothy, chapter 1, first seven verses, as we continue our message, Gospel Faith. Here is Pastor Colin.

Colin Smith: So let's jump into this together, shall we? And I hope you have your Bible open at 1 Timothy and chapter 1. There were some pretty difficult people in the church at Ephesus, and there must have been times when Timothy felt that he wanted to go somewhere else. And Paul says, "Stay, because there is a great work for you, Timothy, to do."

Now, what is he to do as he stays? Well, the whole letter answers that question, but it begins right here. "Stay in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines." Now, when Paul speaks about false doctrine, it immediately tells you that even at this earliest stage of the church, there were certain doctrines taught by the apostles and received by the churches as true.

And the Bible speaks about this. It describes the body of truth that was taught by the apostles and received by the churches in different ways. It describes it as "the faith once delivered to the saints" (Jude 3), the pattern of sound teaching, the good deposit that was entrusted to you. If you want this in one word, or maybe it's two words, it would be the gospel.

The gospel. That's what it is when we talk about the gospel. The deposit, the faith, the apostolic doctrine, the pattern of sound teaching, that which has been entrusted. And Timothy, here's what you need to do as the pastor of this church: guard the gospel. Keep it front and center of the church. Preach the gospel, live the gospel, advance the gospel, if necessary, die for the gospel, Timothy, because that is the trust that is given to you and to the elders of the church and to everyone who bears the name of Jesus Christ.

And notice what Timothy is to protect the church from: not only those who will deny the truth, but secondly, those who will distract from the truth. "Certain men," verse 3, "devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies." Now, the word myths simply means stories. And Paul is describing here men within the church who just love to tell stories.

They want to tell stories that will make people cry, they want to tell stories that will make people laugh, they want to give the congregation chicken soup for the soul. And Paul says there will always be folks within the church, and that is what they've been brought up on, that's what they have an appetite for, that's what they think is the best thing in all the world, that's what they love. And Timothy, don't let the church go there, because no one will become deeply rooted in Christ that way.

Then there'll be others who have a different turn of mind. They're into, notice the phrase, "endless genealogies." Evidently, there was great interest in what line you came from among some folks in the church in Ephesus. And I suppose you can see why that would be of interest, especially to Jewish believers so early in the church. You know, how do I get back to Abraham? And if I've got a more direct line back to Abraham than you have, then I've got more clout in the church than you have, you know?

By the way, the New Testament begins with a genealogy, Matthew chapter 1. And the genealogy brings us to Jesus. What's being talked about here is endless genealogies, and an endless genealogy never gets you to Jesus. So here are folks who are just caught up in pursuit of fascination of Bible trivia, if you like, and they never get to Christ.

And Paul says, "Timothy, you have got to protect the church from that kind of stuff, because there will always be people, and some will rise up even from within the church, who will want to get involved in all kinds of stuff that does not have Jesus Christ at the center. You've got to protect the church from that."

Now, I heard Don Carson make a comment recently that really resonated with me. He has taught, as most of you know, for many years in a distinguished way, and still does, at Trinity International University. And he said this: "I've found over the years that my students don't learn what I teach. They learn what I'm excited about." That's very perceptive.

Parents, your kids will not learn what you teach. They will learn what you're excited about. Folks who come into this church this year and in the next ten years, God willing, will not learn what we teach. They will pick up what we are excited about. And the reality is that there are folks all over the place in our country who believe in Jesus but are quietly bored with their faith and are looking for some other cause to jump on, idea to get into, project to engage in, and that's the thing they're going to get excited about.

And I want you to notice the effect of that. Verse 4: "These," that is, when you get excited about other things besides Christ, what happens in the church is that it "promotes controversies rather than God's work, which is by faith." So Paul is taking us right to the very heart now of what causes strife and division in churches.

Here's how it happens: a few people have a particular passion. They want the whole church to embrace their passion and for it to become about their passion, and that always leads to division. I have to say to you, if your passion is not about Jesus Christ, if Jesus Christ is not front and center of the passion of your life, you will in all likelihood become a divisive person within the church.

Because what is your passion, what you're really excited about, will be the thing that moves you. Now you see why Paul says even in relation to himself, because we all have to watch our own hearts on this, Paul says, "May I never boast about anything except Jesus Christ and him crucified." Why does he say that?

Because if I get on to being really excited about anything other than Jesus Christ and him crucified, then that's going to be divisive and destructive for the church. Jesus Christ and him crucified is front and center. That is the center of our passion. That is the point around which we are united together. May this church never be about anything except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

Brothers and sisters, we are not here for ourselves. We are not here to advance our own cause, our own ministry, our own passion. We are here for Christ. We are here for the gospel. Timothy, don't let anyone ever move the church away from that, never. So it seems to me, as I've pondered this, that a church that is rooted in the truth, neither denying it nor becoming distracted from it, is what God is looking for among us.

Notice something else here in verse 5: that "the goal of this command is love." The goal of the church being rooted in the truth and centered in Jesus Christ is love. The reason that you are to fulfill this command, verse 3, that is to tell people not to teach false doctrines and myths and so forth, the reason you're to take that difficult action is that the reason is love.

In other words, Timothy, the only way that you will have real unity among God's people is by keeping Jesus Christ and his gospel front and center. As soon as anything else takes central stage, you will have controversy and division. That's what he says. Folks, let me tell you this candidly and with joy.

Next Sunday, I will, God willing, begin the 30th year of being a pastor. I can't get over the privilege that has been and continues to be mine, serving two churches in two continents of the world, still amazes me. One for 16 years in London and then for the last 13 years, and continuing to be my privilege now to serve as your senior pastor.

And as I'm about to begin my 30th year as a pastor, I can honestly say to you today that I have never in 30 years experienced a pastoral staff so united, a church board so focused, a congregation so unified around a common vision as I see in The Orchard today. And I say that to the praise and to the glory of God and with the deepest thankfulness of heart.

Now you may say, "Well, if that's the case, why are you talking about all this stuff then?" Here's why: because folks, we need to know what a gift that is. And we need to know how to protect it, how to guard it, how to keep it, how to feed it, how to extend it. We need to know what a treasure that is. We need to know what could destroy it.

We need to be wide awake so that as God calls us forward in a unique moment of privilege and opportunity, we may be, in Jesus' words, as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves. That's why God speaks to us. I think right here is what we want to be about. We guard the unity of the church by keeping Jesus Christ front and center.

And that's what we want to do. We want to be people who are putting down deep roots into the word of God, to be growing in our life in Jesus Christ and to be bearing fruit wherever he places us around the world. So here to fill out is the first distinctive then of a gospel-centered church. A gospel-centered church is rooted in truth and growing in love, and you can never separate these two.

Rooted in Christ's truth and growing in Christ's love, we want to be about God our savior and about Jesus Christ our hope. Nothing more, nothing less, and nothing else. Now in these last moments, let me ask this question: What's it going to take then to keep us rooted in truth and growing in love? If this is what God is calling us to in the scriptures, how are we going to keep pursuing it with passion?

Now, it's an important question because if you look at verse 6, Paul makes it very clear that some people will be distracted. Some folks will wander away and turn to meaningless talk. By the way, notice the word "wander." It's very rarely that someone in church just suddenly outright denies the truth. What happens is that over time, people wander.

And they lose their moorings, they drift from the truth. Now you don't want to be that kind of person, I don't want to be that kind of person, so we need to be alert to the danger. I think that there are four warning signs for wanderers right here, and I put them to you in the form of questions that I've found really useful to ask freshly to myself in this last week.

Number one: Am I always looking for something new? If that's you, you are in danger of wandering from the truth. That's what got people into the endless genealogies and the myths, you see. They were not satisfied in Christ. And you know what? People who put down a deep root in Christ are infinitely satisfied in him.

And if you're always looking for something new, it almost certainly means that your root is not deep in Christ, because otherwise you would be finding satisfaction in him, as millions around the world today and throughout history have done and do. Am I always looking for something new? That's a warning. You could easily wander away.

Second: Do I like to talk while avoiding action? Notice he says, verse 6, they've "turned to meaningless talk" or empty talk. So here are folks who love to pontificate, especially amongst other Christians, and they're always going on about, "Oh, we should be this, and we ought to be that, and we should be doing the other," and so forth and so on.

And you know what? It's a mask over an unholy life. And Paul says there are some folks like that in the church in Ephesus. You don't want to be that person, full of pious talk, seeing the Bible as a bunch of ideas to be discussed rather than God's word to be obeyed. If that's you, you're in danger of wandering from the truth.

Third question: Do I want to teach more than I want to learn? Notice it says here they "want to be teachers," verse 7. There are folks who want a position within the church, and they're more interested in teaching others than learning themselves. So if you love to teach but you don't love to learn, you are in danger of wandering away from the truth. And that includes pastors, by the way.

Fourth: Does my confidence exceed my knowledge? Verse 7: They "want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about." This is very forceful language. Paul speaks about men within the church who may be very forceful and very confident, but he says they don't know what they're talking about.

Folks, I have seen this many times: a man or a woman who has a shallow root in the truth reads a book, goes to a seminar, hears a talk, and suddenly they get excited about that one thing that they've heard or got hold of. And suddenly this person with a very shallow root in the truth, who's got excited, feels that he or she knows more than all his or her teachers.

They now know what the church needs and what it should be doing. This person feels that he or she should be now given a platform for what they have discovered. And when other believers don't buy what they have discovered, they become dogmatic and angry and belligerent. This person feels that he is the only one who really sees the truth, and what he doesn't see is that he is quietly wandering away from the truth. It's a warning sign. Does my confidence exceed my knowledge?

So we want to stay rooted in the truth, growing in love. We don't want to be those who wander away. So how can we stay there? How can we get back? If you're in danger of wandering, how do you get back? Well, notice one more time in these last moments, verse 5: "The goal of this command is love," being rooted in truth and growing in love.

And where does the love come from? What a great statement this is. He tells us where love comes from. You want to love more? You want more love in your home, in your marriage? Where does love come from? It's right here in verse 5. "The goal of this command is love, which comes from," where? It comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

How can you become a more loving person and be very sure that you will not be a divisive person? How can you be someone who contributes to the advance of the unity of the church and does not hinder the unity of the church? How can you be a more loving husband, a more loving father, a more loving wife, a more loving mother? How could you love your enemy?

And Paul says here's where it comes from: a pure heart. Literally, that means an undivided heart. The double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. And maybe this morning a response to this message would be for you to say, "Lord, I see my own half-heartedness right now. I'm one of these people who sort of believes and is quietly bored with my faith, and I'm looking for something else to get excited about. And I ask today that you would give me a heart that is filled with a new passion and love for Jesus Christ." Can you see what a difference that would make to you?

And it comes from a clean conscience, a good conscience, which means a conscience that is at rest with God. Is there a sin in your life and you've allowed it to remain, and your conscience right now is not at rest because in the presence of God your conscience is activated and there's an internal struggle that's going on in you right now?

Can you see what a blessing it would be for you today to come clean with Jesus, to repent of what you have held on to to this moment, and to be washed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ today? That's going to change you because instead of being this uptight person—and a lot of your anger and your discontent actually may come from this—you're going to be in a position to love.

And it comes from a sincere faith, which means you really trust Christ. You don't just say, "I'm a believer," you trust Christ. You trust him on the day that you lose your job and you trust him on the day that you find another job. You trust him at the wedding, you trust him at the funeral. You trust Jesus Christ because he's worthy of your trust. He's Christ.

And love comes from a sincere faith. Now folks, the Lord Jesus Christ is able to give you today a pure heart, a clean conscience, a sincere faith. That is why he died, that is why he's alive. And if you receive these gifts from him today, you will be able to love. You'll be able to love your wife more deeply, your husband, your children, your parents. You will increasingly become someone who contributes to the unity and harmony of others rather than the division and distraction of others. You receive these gifts, you will increasingly love the church. And most of all, you will love the Son of God who loved you and gave himself for you.

Steve Hiller: Pastor Colin Smith wrapping up our message, Gospel Faith, part of a series called Ten Distinctives of a Gospel-Centered Church. And if you ever miss a program in the series, listen online, come to openthebible.org. There you can stream the program or download an MP3 for free. You can also listen if you have the Open the Bible app. You'll find that for free at your app store. It's a great way to listen on the go. Or again, listen at our website, openthebible.org. Back to the message. Here is Pastor Colin.

Colin Smith: Oh, well, Jesus once asked his disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" And that is the most important question I think that any of us could ever answer. When you settle in your mind and your heart who Jesus is, you really laid a foundation for your life. And for everything else, you can rest the weight of your life, your death, and your eternity on him.

And Peter's answer to that question when Jesus said, "Who do you say that I am?" Peter said, "You are the Christ." Now this book, The Incomparable Christ, really lifts up who Jesus is, how he's presented to us in the New Testament, how he has been understood throughout the history of the church, how he's inspired people through the centuries, and how he will be when we see him in his power and his glory when he returns. It's a marvelous book. I think it's the best book you can read about Jesus: The Incomparable Christ. And I think that people will be greatly blessed by this book.

Steve Hiller: Well, we'd love to send you a copy as our way of saying thanks for financially supporting Open the Bible this month. You can call and give over the phone. The number is 1-877-OPEN-365. That might be easier to remember as 1-877-673-6365. And our website is openthebible.org. For Pastor Colin Smith, I'm Steve Hiller. Thanks for listening and I hope you'll join us next time. This program is a listener-supported production of Open the Bible.

Colin Smith: This is Pastor Colin, and I want you to know about a resource that will help you in your devotional life. It's called Open the Bible Daily. My colleague, Pastor Tim Augustine, takes what you hear on Open the Bible and he edits it into daily bite-sized chunks that you can read in your devotional time in less than three minutes.

Every day, you'll find a verse of scripture, a short teaching from God's word, and an application that you can carry with you through the day. People who use this tell us that they read it every day, and I think that if you try it, you'll love it too. For more information, visit openthebible.org/daily. That's openthebible.org/daily.