mission: model a transformed community

Posted on June 8, 2011 by Jefferson Vann

 SDC12732 Titus 2.  God’s grace has appeared to all people, and has brought salvation (11).  It has appeared in the person of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works (13-14).  The salvation he brings is not simply legal justification, but moral transformation.

Titus is to serve as a model for that transformed community.  His works and teachings are to be so exemplary that they shame his opponents (8).  The sound doctrine he teaches should transform the lives of the whole community so that…

  1. …the older men become “sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness (2),
  2. … the older women become “reverent in behavior” and “teach what is good” (3),
  3. … they train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands (6),
  4. …the slaves become submissive to their own masters, well pleasing, and show all good faith (9-10).

Paul charges Titus to declare “these things” (15) – that is, not only the gospel part about what Christ has done for us, but also the transformation part about what grace does in us.  he is to “exhort and rebuke” when the church fails to model the transformation to their community context.

LORD, transform us by your grace that we might live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, as we wait for your appearing.

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mission: facilitate order

Posted on June 7, 2011 by Jefferson Vann

SDC12724 Titus 1:5-16.  The Cretans were not known for their honesty and trustworthiness.  They were likely to fall for false teachings, and Paul warned Titus that the island had “many who are insubordinate,  empty talkers and deceivers” (10).  Titus was tasked with facilitating a system where the right kind of people had authority – the kind of people who could be trusted because they…

  1. … were faithful to their families and had demonstrated the ability to keep them from getting out of control (6),
  2. … were able to control their own passions and desires (7),
  3. … were capable of forming and maintaining good relationships with others in the community (8),
  4. … were capable of learning and holding to sound doctrine and rebuking those who contradict it (9).

Any mission seeking to spread the gospel in a particular area should wisely consider what the weaknesses are among the people in that target area.  Paul’s mission strategy was not to accommodate those weakness, but to facilitate order by strengthening the church where it might fall prey to the sinful inclinations of its local community context.  So, in Crete, where people’s word could not be trusted, Paul commanded Titus to appoint only the trustworthy into positions of authority. 

The church should breathe back into the community where Satan’s kingdom has killed it.  We should infest our context with godliness.

LORD, help us to overcome the disorder that we have repented of.  Help us to facilitate order in the chaos around us.

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mission: preach the faith

Posted on June 6, 2011 by Jefferson Vann

SDC12723 Titus 1:1-4.  Paul had placed Titus in Crete for the reason that Timothy had been stationed in Ephesus.  Titus was a missionary, tasked with the establishment of the newly planted churches.  Titus was a disciple of Paul – or, as Paul puts it, a “true child in a common faith.” It was left to Titus to preach that faith in Crete, and to train and appoint others who would carry on that preaching.  Some of the elements of that message are seen in this salutation:

  1. It is the faith of God’s elect.  Every believer puts his faith in Christ because God opens his eyes to who Christ is, and what he has done for him.
  2. It is the true faith.  Titus must be careful to weed out falsehood because faith without truth is not enough.
  3. It is a faith which accords with godliness.  What people believe about Christ should make them more Christ-like.
  4. It is a faith in an eternal promise.  Paul refers to a promise made at one time in the past, but which is now revealed when believers preach the gospel.  That promise was that everyone who believes in Christ will inherit eternal life.

[The Greek word for  eternal  is found twice in verse 2.  It means the same thing both times.  It does not mean a process that goes on forever.  It means an event, the results of which will last forever.  Just as God made a promise in eternity past (“before the ages began”)  so he will one day make good on that promise and grant immortality to the faithful.  The promise was an event in time.  The resurrection unto eternal life will be an event in time.  It will result in lives that are eternal.  The second death in hell will also be an event in time – the judgment day.  It will result in deaths that are eternal.]

LORD, may we preach the faith that proclaims the truth about your eternal promise.

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mission: do not go quietly

Posted on June 5, 2011 by Jefferson Vann

SDC12723 2 Timothy 4:9-22.  Paul’s final words written to Timothy are not the words of someone resigned to rest upon his accomplishments.  He knows that he will soon die for his faith, but he will not go quietly.

  1. Many of his associates had left him by this time – some out of fear, others he had sent out to recover from illness, or to work elsewhere (9-10, 12, 20).
  2. But he was working with Luke, and he asks Timothy to bring Mark, who will also be useful to him for ministry. Perhaps the usefulness of these two men rests in the fact that both of them have been chosen by the Holy Spirit to produce the written scriptures? (11).
  3. He wants to use his remaining time studying and writing and speaking to whomever will listen. To that end, he asks Timothy to bring his winter cloak and his books and parchments (13, 21).
  4. His objective remains the same to the very last.  He lives to proclaim the gospel message so that all the Gentiles might hear it (17).

None of us know how much time we have left.  As we get older, we do get clear impressions that our time is limited.  These should not lead us to resign ourselves to uselessness.  We should instead resolve to expend every last bit of energy doing the mission for which we were called.

LORD, we “rage against the dying light.”  We “will not go quietly into that good night.”  We resolve to burn brightly until we burn out for you.

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mission: continue in what you have learned

Posted on June 4, 2011 by Jefferson Vann

SDC12722 2 Timothy 3:10-4:8.  Paul knew that he was “already being poured out as a drink offering” and it was time for him to depart this life (4:6).  He expected to be raised to life again, and to get his reward from the Lord on the Day of his appearing  (4:1,8).  His instructions to Timothy were to continue on in what he has learned (3:14).  He knew Timothy would do that because…

  1. Paul had set an example  of faithfulness to the LORD in spite of suffering as a result of that faithfulness (3:10-14).
  2. The sacred writings of scripture are able to equip Timothy to do what God wants him to do (3:15-16).
  3. Timothy had been given a ministry to fulfill – and would do that in spite of what the world around him does (4:2-5).
  4. The same reward that Paul expected would await Timothy – providing he fight the same fight, finish the same course, and keep the same faith (4:1,6-8).

LORD, we commit ourselves to continuing in what we have learned.  Keep us faithful to that commitment.

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mission: avoid the opposition

Posted on June 3, 2011 by Jefferson Vann

SDC12719

2 Timothy 3:1-9.  Paul’s picture of the last days is frighteningly accurate.  He describes difficult times that will come because of ungodly people.  These people are:

 

  • lovers of self,
  • lovers of money,
  • proud,
  • arrogant,
  • abusive,
  • disobedient to their parents,
  • ungrateful,
  • unholy,
  • heartless,
  • unappeasable,
  • slanderous,
  • without self-control,
  • brutal,
  • not loving good,
  • treacherous,
  • reckless,
  • swollen with conceit,
  • lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, (2-4).

He concludes his list of attributes of end-times people by saying that they have the appearance of godliness, but deny its power.

Paul pulls the whole instruction back to the present by telling Timothy to avoid such people (5).  The opposition that Timothy should be concerned with is present within the first-century church itself.  They prey upon the weak, lead them away from God by their arrogant teachings, and will oppose Timothy just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses.  Even though they are known as scholars, all their learning never leads them to accept the truth (7).  Their true loves are self, money, and pleasure. All such people eventually crash and burn.  Their folly becomes plain to all.  Their lives of selfishness in the name of God bring dishonor to his name.

Timothy is not simply to avoid such people personally.  He is responsible to appoint leaders in Ephesus.  He needs to take care that the leaders he appoints are not like those self-proclaimed experts: men with corrupt minds who are disqualified regarding the faith.

Timothy’s mission is ours today.  Paul’s list described modern society so well that we cannot escape the assumption that we are living in the last days he predicted.  Avoiding unqualified leaders in the church should be simple.  We just have to reject those people who fit comfortably into our godless society.

LORD, give us discernment.  Help us to follow those who truly follow you, not just those who claim to know about you.

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mission: be devoted to discipling

Posted on June 2, 2011 by Jefferson Vann

SDC12734 2 Timothy 2.  False teaching had infested Ephesus, so Paul warned Timothy to avoid its “irreverent babble” because it would “lead people into more and more ungodliness” (16).  He instructed Timothy not to debate these teachers, because their “foolish, ignorant controversies” only “breed quarrels” (23).  Instead, Paul urged Timothy to faithfully, methodically teach some faithful men, discipling them so that they can in turn disciple others.

  1. Discipling requires long-term, undistracted commitment.  Paul uses the metaphors of the soldier, the athlete, and the farmer to get that point across (3-7).
  2. Discipling requires faithfulness in sharing the gospel message about Jesus Christ and the salvation and glory he has made possible.  Even if we suffer for preaching this message, we do it for the sake of those elect who will hear and be saved (8-13).
  3. Discipling requires rightly handling the word of truth.  Some in Ephesus were teaching “that the resurrection had already happened” and “were upsetting the faith of some” (18).  The discipler needs to know how to do proper exegesis and should be trained in systematic theology.  Paul urged Timothy to work hard for God’s approval so that those he trained would be approved as well (14-19).
  4. Discipling requires cleansing oneself from “what is dishonorable” so that the discipler can be “a vessel for honorable use.”  For Timothy, that meant fleeing “youthful passions” and pursuing “righteousness, faith, love and peace.”  He had to stay away from “foolish, ignorant controversies” and correct his opponents with gentleness.  There is no fighting fire with fire for the discipler (20-26).

LORD, make us disciplers.  Make us workers approved by God for the task of communicating his word.

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mission: do not be ashamed

Posted on June 1, 2011 by Jefferson Vann

SDC12719 2 Timothy 1:8-18.  Most of the leaders in the churches of Asia Minor had already stopped visiting Paul – apparently ashamed that he was still imprisoned.  In this section, Paul explains why Timothy should not join them, in deserting him out of shame.

  1. The same God who called them by power and purpose has predestined that Paul suffer for the gospel (8-9).
  2. What Jesus did when he appeared among us is of utmost importance, and Paul was called to proclaim and explain that fact.  His chains attest to the importance of what Christ did for us (10-12a).
  3. Paul knows that Jesus is able to guard what had been entrusted to him and will vindicate his suffering at his second coming.  He also trusts that the Holy Spirit will help Timothy guard the gospel message entrusted to him (12b-14).
  4. Some have abandoned Paul, but others have not.  Timothy should follow the example of Onesiphorus, who ministered to and for Paul both in Rome and in Ephesus (15-18).

The gospel message is wrapped up in the packages of the lives the LORD sends to proclaim it.  Our loyalty to them reflects our loyalty to that message. Perhaps the LORD will impress upon your mind today some faithful servants who shared God’s word with you years ago.  Some of them are on the sidelines now, and feel the loneliness. Seek those saints out,  and let them know how much you appreciate their ministry. 

LORD, we thank you for those saints that you have appointed to share the gospel with us.  If possible, help us to remember to thank them for their faithfulness.  They were not ashamed of the gospel. May we not give the impression that we are ashamed of them.

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mission: revive the passion

Posted on May 31, 2011 by Jefferson Vann

SDC12708 2 Timothy 1:1-7.  Paul’s final words to Timothy are recorded in this letter.  They reveal the priorities of a man who was impassioned with the gospel.

  1. He was motivated by the “promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus.”  As he waited in a Roman prison to die, no other motivation could sustain him.  He lived for the resurrection unto eternal life promised him by the one he met on the Damascus road (1-2).
  2. He remembered those people who had been transformed by the gospel.  timothy was the third generation that Paul had seen miraculously changed by faith in Christ (4-5).
  3. He urged Timothy to revive the passion that his faith once produced.  He recalls the day when he laid his hands on Timothy and the Holy Spirit manifested.  Perhaps that day Timothy spoke an impassioned evangelistic message, full of “power and love and self-control”? (6-7).

It is that passionate response to the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit that Paul thinks of when he prays for Timothy.  It reminds him that the power of God is ongoing.  It will survive us.  It is stronger than this generation.

It remains for us to make sure that we do not fail the power within.  If we are not careful,  the embers of that flame might just die down die to apathy and distraction.  We need to fan the fire into flames again.

LORD, revive us again.  Rekindle our souls with your fire from above.  May the passion burn within us, so that the next generation can experience your deliverance.

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mission: pursue godliness, not riches

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Jefferson Vann

SDC12697 1 Timothy 6:3-21.  Paul’s final words to Timothy in this letter identify a false teaching in Ephesus that Timothy must publically reject, because it will do much harm.  It is the teaching that the faith will lead to wealth.

  1. Those who adopt this false teaching will get into many arguments about the meaning of words.  Their fellowship will be disrupted by envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction (3-10).
  2. Instead of riches, believers should pursue lives of godliness and take hold of the eternal life to which they were called.  That is what they are to aim for, and they will receive it by grace when Christ appears (11-16).
  3. The rich in this present age should serve as good examples of this reality.  They should use their wealth to do good works, but avoid giving the impression that they have arrived at their spiritual goal.  They also must take hold of that which is truly life (17-19).

Paul concludes the letter encouraging Timothy to “guard the deposit” that had been “entrusted” to him.  He uses banker’s terms because he is identifying the true wealth that the gospel brings.   The coming kingdom will bring riches and great honor.  But believers should not “set their hopes” on the uncertainty of present riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy (17).

LORD, our hope is your kingdom at your return.  It is that kingdom which we pursue – that eternal life which we are taking hold of.

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