Introduction. Read 1Tim1v1to3.

I have used the following commentaries for these studies in 1Timothy:

The Pastoral Epistles by I Howard Marshall.
The letters to Timothy and Titus by Philip H. Towner.
Pastoral Epistles by Donald Guthrie.
Be Faithful by Warren Wiersbe.
Letters to Timothy, Titus and Philemon by William Barclay.
The Pulpit Commentary.

These commentaries devote a great deal of space to the authenticity, author and purpose of 1 Timothy. I am mainly interested in what the letter has to teach us today. In this respect I found the commentary of William Barclay of most help.

(A) The correspondent.

(1) His identity. The letter starts, 'Paul'. I don't know about you but I find this an excellent beginning. If the letter is from Paul it will be full of good things. It may differ in style from some of his other letters but this is only to be expected of a letter written to a young pastor about problems surfacing in the church.

(2) His credentials. Paul describes himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ. He was Christ's ambassador.

The British ambassador to the United States has a three-fold role:

• He makes the will of the British Government known to the United States.

• He represents the interests of British subjects in the United States.

• He conducts himself in a manner to the credit of his country.

EVERY CHRISTIAN is an abassador for Christ. It falls to the Christian to:

• Make Christ's will known. It is supremely his will that men and women believe in him for eternal life.

• Serve the interests of all believers in Christ - building them up in the faith and supporting them in all their troubles.

• Behave in a way that commends Jesus to others. We ought to be a credit to him!

(3) His authority. Paul was not an apostle by his own decision, or that of other men, but by royal command of God.

Many who claim to be God's instruments have done terrible things in his name both in the past and today. The Roman Catholic Church burned so called Protestant heretics - in God's name - during the reign of Mary Tudor. Protestants burned witches during the rule of Oliver Cromwell. Today we have ISIS burning or beheading anyone they consider to be an enemy of Allah.

Paul reminds Timothy, and us, of the God who commands him:

(a) He is God our Saviour. God does not desire the slaughter of heretics. God our Saviour ... wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 1Tim2v4.

I believe it is wrong to teach that Jesus suffered on the cross to appease the wrath of God. Rather God permitted Jesus to suffer to demonstrate the awfulness of man's sin. Jesus went around doing good and all the thanks he got was to be treated with vicious cruelty.

Christ's sacrifice - like all sacrifices - was a token payment to atone for mankind's sin. How could the sacrifice of one man for the wickedness of millions upon millions be anything else?

Jesus sacrificial work is only sufficient for our salvation because God in grace accepted it as such. We owe our salvation to God's grace. He is as keen to save us as is Jesus.

(b) He is Christ Jesus our hope. There are Christians who, it seems to me, destroy hope by their perverse doctrine of unconditional election. If God's choice to save some and condemn others is arbitrary there is no way of knowing for sure that you are among the elect! There are certainly those who attend Reformed Churches who have no assurance of salvation.

If we are ambassadors by the royal command of Christ Jesus our hope, we should not have a message of gloom and doom. Our witness should not be cheerless, dour and depressing. There is a tendency for some of the ultra-reformed preachers - so serious is their subject matter - to eschew illustrations and personal anecdotes - anything that might make the truth more accessible. I can remember many years ago preaching to an appreciative congregation at a local mission hall. Then the church secretary changed. The new man was very serious, very reformed and he banned me from preaching because my children's addresses were too humorous. It still rankles!!

Jesus is our hope as its:

• Author. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through him. John3v17. I love the words of the chorus:
  He did not come to judge the world,
  He did not come to blame,
  He did not only come to seek,
  It was to save he came;
  And when we call him Saviour
  Then we call him by his Name.

• Object. We hope to be like Jesus. Christians look forward to the resurrection when the redeemed will see Jesus and BE LIKE HIM. John writes: But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure. 1John3v2and3.

• Revealer. Jesus' advent, life, death and resurrection reveals God's immense interest in us. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 1John4v10. There is no better evidence of God's commitment to us than this. It should fill us full of hope that all will be well with our souls'

• Procurer. Jesus procured our hope by his death upon the cross. He is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.

• Substance and foundation. The reason Jesus is the foundation of the Christian's hope is summed up in 1Cor15v20to22: But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through one man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn; Christ the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. This is a wonderful, wonderful passage. If we believe in Jesus we will share in his resurrection; he gained the victory over death and so, when he returns, will all those who love and serve him. Christ in us - the hope of glory. Col1v27.

(B) The Recipient.

Paul's letter is written to Timothy, his true child in the faith.

Timothy was a native of Lystra - a city in what is now south-eastern Turkey. His father was a Gentile and his mother a Jew. Both his mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois were godly women. It is likely that Timothy was converted during Paul and Barnabas' first visit to Lystra. (Acts14v8to12) After Paul's second visit Timothy became Paul's travelling companion and right-hand man. He was sent to various churches as Paul's representative.

It seems that Timothy had been left behind at Ephesus while Paul went on to Macedonia. He remained, in Paul's absence, as the overseer of the church - a task he did not find easy! So Paul wrote a letter containing much good practical advice to assist, encourage and rouse him.

The work at Ephesus was not easy for Timothy because:

(1) Ephesus was a wicked city. It was devoted to Diane, the goddess of sex, which led to much immorality. The moral climate of the time was not conducive to Christ like living. The situation in Britain is similarly antagonistic to Christianity with its obsession with individual liberty, material comfort and pleasure.

(2) Error was creeping into the church. This is invariably divisive. It has to be countered and this is time consuming and far from uplifting. One would much rather be expounding the Scriptures than dealing with foolish heresies.

(3) Paul was a very hard act to follow. The little apostle had a comprehensive knowledge of the truths of Christianity that no one could match. Timothy would feel that he lacked the authority of Paul.

(4) He was young, rather diffident and plagued by health problems. Paul told him to take a little wine for his stomach's sake. He also reminded him: For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. 2Tim1v7.

(5) Certain of the church members at Ephesus were awkward. For example, some were inclined to look down on Timothy because of his youth. It also seems as if some families were not prepared to support their widowed mothers but expected the church to provide for them.

The very greeting of Paul to Timothy was an encouragement:

(a) He calls Timothy, 'my son'. This highlights the special relationship that Paul had with Timothy. Paul was the means by which Timothy came to believe in Jesus. Consequently Timothy was precious to him - as a son is dear to his father.

(b) He was a true son - a true Christian. Paul was assuring Timothy that his status as a genuine believer was never in doubt.

(c) He was a true son in the faith - and as such committed to the essential truths of Christianity - basic truths as summarised later in the Nicene Creed, for example. Timothy had also experienced the efficacy of the gospel in his own life and the lives of others.

LESSON:

A letter can be a very effective way of encouraging one of Christ's servants to keep going. There are many pastors and missionaries serving in adverse circumstances who feel like giving up. Perhaps, they face the sort of problems that discouraged Timothy. I know of a young man who was an assistant pastor of a well supported fellowship. Unfortunately the senior minister had to take time off due to stress. The assistant pastor had to assume more responsibility. Instead of the senior minister being grateful and supportive he was jealous and resentful of the younger man's growing influence in the church. In such circumstances the assistant pastor must have felt like moving on. He needed a letter of encouragement!

I have just spent two mornings walking round the village of Brockley putting copies of our chapel newssheet through letter boxes. It is difficult because my back aches and I have to take several rests on my shooting stick. I have written and distributed this newssheet round the village three times a year for 12 years. There has been no response! I said to myself this week as the pain went into my legs and I struggled with virtually impenetrable high-tech letter boxes, "It's time to give this up!" I need a letter of encouragement!!

(C) The blessing.

A Roman blessing might be for courage, skill and force. A Greek might wish for his son: pleasure, beauty and philosophy. Paul, the Christian, writes in blessing Timothy: Grace, mercy and peace be to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul wishes Timothy to:

(1) Delight in Christ's grace. That is, the undeserved favour of Jesus in bestowing the lovely gift of salvation. Jesus extends forgiveness and eternal life to all who believe in him.

I have used this illustration a lot but it bears repetition:

There are many wonderful characters in Dicken's novels. One of my favourites is Joe Gargery the blacksmith in 'Great Expectations'. Joe was married to Pip's sister. He brought up young Pip, who later had 'Great Expectations', like his own son.

Eventually Pip was educated as a gentleman and grew apart from, and half ashamed of, his friend and guardian, Joe. Little did he know that Magwitch, the convict, deported to Australia, was his sponsor! Pip behaved foolishly and was imprisoned for debt where he fell desperately ill. It was Joe who came and nursed him back to health. However, when he considered Pip had recovered, not wishing to embarrass him further, Joe slipped away. I will let Pip take up the story:

I hurried then to the breakfast-table, and on it found a letter. These were its brief contents.

Not wishful to intrude I have departured fur you are well again dear Pip and will do better without.

Jo
P.S. Ever the best of friends.

Enclosed in the letter was a receipt for the debt and costs on which I had been arrested. Down to that moment I had vainly supposed that my creditor had withdrawn or suspended proceedings until I should be quite recovered. I had never dreamed of Joe's having paid the money; but Joe had paid it, and the receipt was in his name.

I love that - the receipt was in his name - it reminds me of Jesus who paid the price to release me from my debt to God. The receipt is in his name and on it are written: 'Paid in full'.

(2) Rejoice in Christ's mercy. Little mercy was shown in the Roman Empire. What a picture of cruelty we see in the Roman age, with its amphitheatres, its gladiators, its horrors on a Roman holiday, and its slave quarters! No hospitals for the sick, no hospices for the dying and no welfare for the needy. Prisoners scourged at will. Crucifixion was the preferred method of capital punishment.

Things are not much better today with the rise of ISIS in the Middle East. Its adherents shoot, burn and behead heretics in God's name - without mercy.

The psalmist of the Old Testament rejoices in God's compassion. The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. Ps103vs8, 13 and 14.

God knows our frame - how we are constituted - and he makes allowances for our weaknesses. How much more Jesus knows what it is to be human. As the writer to the Hebrews put it: For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin. Heb4v15.

Jesus made allowances during his preaching ministry. He spoke in parables because of the hardness of heart of his listeners. There were also things Jesus left unsaid to his disciples because they were in no state to hear them. He told them, "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth." John16v12.

Mercy is also active to help. I remember having Charles in detention for not doing his Geography homework. I took the opportunity to inspect his file containing his Geography notes. They were not clipped into his file in the correct order. His notes were so jumbled up that it made revision for an exam almost impossible. I could have had him in detention again, and again, to sort out the mess. But, I took mercy on him and did it for him - not that he was especially grateful!

Jesus showed mercy to Peter when he walked out over the waves to meet him, but taking his eyes of the Master and looking at the waves, began to sink. When Peter cried out, "Lord, save me!" Jesus immediately stretched out a hand and saved him. He still saves the dispirited, despairing and desperate. He comes to rescue of helpless sinners by his Spirit.

In the words of Fanny Crosby's hymn:

Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave:
Weep o'er the erring one, lift up the fallen,
Tell them of Jesus the Mighty to save.

Rescue the perishing, care for the dying;
Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.

(c) Share Christ's peace. Jesus said to his disciples, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. John14v27. Jesus' peace, the sense of well being he had, was a result of doing his Father's will. See Jn4v34 and Jn5v30. It wasn't easy!

The only way for Christians to know true peace is to obey Christ's teaching. He said, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching." Jn14v23.

A good soldier of Jesus Christ will obey orders. So long as he does this he will have Christ's peace - the sense of well being he had when doing his Father's will. The old hymn is right:

Trust and obey for there's no other way
To be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.