1 Timothy 1:18–20 - Wage War and Avoid Wreckage

Have you ever wondered, “Why do some church leaders fall?” Why do some act out in a way that disqualifies them from ministry? Sadly, it happens. Nationally, we hear of many every year. It can be hard to understand.

In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul writes, “Let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.” Paul has in mind a level of understanding that recognizes the sin of pride – of thinking highly of ourselves. Scripture tells us that it’s dangerous to believe that we could never fall.

So, why do so many church leaders fall? Those who should know the Scriptures – and who were set apart to proclaim Christ – how can they behave as if they never knew Him?

Well, for sure, people are complex. There are always many factors at play, and no two situations are exactly the same. I want to be clear that pastoral ministry is not the ultimate thing. Ministry positions can be lost, but union with Christ cannot be lost. Those who truly belong to Jesus cannot finally fall away.

But the reality is that all believers are capable of falling in some form or fashion because we’re prone to let down our guard against the sin lurking both within and around us. Ministers and members can reject the life and strength that flows to us from Christ. All of us can – to translate Paul literally here – “thrust ourselves away from” our sense of what is right and wrong.

Do you ever choose wrong over right? Then you can fall. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but it’s possible. And when we let down our guard against sin, we stop fighting it. It’s like wandering around a battlefield – bullets flying, bombs going off – with little or no sense of caution or awareness or self-protection from the danger.

All believers are capable of it. But we’re also capable of standing firm against sin.
Christ supplies all we need for life and godliness. Some weeks ago, I said we must continually receive union with Him as the guiding reality, defining message, and liberating power for our lives. That applies here. As we remain consciously aware of and actively engaged in that living union with Christ – drawing on Him through the means He has appointed –  we will receive what we need for caution, awareness, and self-protection from the dangers of sin.

We can thrust ourselves toward Him who thrust Himself to death for our sins – and we can enjoy the life that flows to us from Him, because He keeps and carries us.

However, doing so is not always easy in this life. As Paul says, we must “wage the good warfare, holding to faith and a good conscience.” Otherwise, disaster lies ahead.

So how do we remain strong in Christ and keep from falling? How do we receive union with Him as the guiding reality, defining message, and liberating power for our lives? How do we abide in or remain in Christ?

Well, two basic Biblical truths stand out from what Paul says here: by returning to Christ for grace, and relying on Christ for faith. With these powerful metaphors,
Paul helps us understand how to wage war and avoid wreckage. So let’s look at these.

At the beginning of chapter 1, Paul says he left Timothy in Ephesus to correct and eliminate false and useless teaching in the church. Here, he describes again the “charge” he “entrusted” to Timothy. It was a command for stewardship.

Pastoral ministry is the management of what doesn’t belong to the pastor. A congregation of believers belongs to God and is precious to Him. He entrusts the congregation’s care to the shepherds He calls. The Ephesian Christians were entrusted to Paul, and now to Timothy.

Like a father raises and teaches a son, Paul had prepared Timothy for the work. Then it has been handed over to Timothy by Paul, look at verse 18 again, “in accordance with the prophecies previously made about” Timothy. What were these prophecies?

Paul’s words in chapter 4 help us understand. There he says to Timothy, “Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you.” This is a reference to Timothy’s pastoral ordination.

The early church modeled what we still practice today. When a man demonstrates God’s calling to pastoral ministry, and when he has been prepared to enter the ministry,
and when God has presented a specific ministry call or position for him, he is set apart before the congregation through the laying on of hands and prayer. The elders publicly affirm God’s calling to a work through this biblical ritual. With the prayers and other things that are said before the congregation, the elders pronounce or utter aloud what God will do through this man.

That’s the meaning of “prophecy” here. It’s the utterance of God’s will. That’s what happened with Timothy. The elders acknowledged God’s gifts given to him for pastoral use, and they confirmed that he possessed faith, character, knowledge, and skill.
And based on that, Paul appointed Timothy to this work in the city of Ephesus.

Now notice the next phrase in verse 18, “that by them you may wage the good warfare.” It’s very important to recognize that Timothy’s gifting and calling – along with all his training and preparation – plus the elders’ confirmation of the call and public proclamation of it – should all be seen as God’s grace toward Timothy.

Of course, his salvation was God’s grace toward him, but also, the call to pastoral ministry was God’s grace as well. Yes, the prophetic utterances at his ordination proclaimed Timothy’s competence, but that competence, from start to finish, is God’s grace toward the man. And in accordance with that grace, Timothy should “wage the good warfare.”

Picture a good soldier fighting for a cause. His duty and ability are God’s grace toward him. That any mere man could faithfully serve as a pastor is a gracious work of God. We are sinners saved by grace. We have hang ups and habits as well. So you can see why pastors must be urged to reflect on God’s grace towards them. As undershepherds of Christ encounter temptation and conflict, we have to reflect on God’s gracious calling.

But how does this relate to each of you? What about those who aren’t called as pastors or as church officers?

Well, like Timothy, when you professed faith in Christ, you accepted a call. Everyone who is born again by God’s Holy Spirit has been effectively called by God. And that effective call – meaning that you not only heard but also responded – that effective call was entirely and unequivocally God’s grace toward you. And, like Timothy, those who are called to salvation are also called to serve.

Of course, not all will be pastors or officers; in fact, most will not. But Ephesians 4 helps us understand this. Paul says some believers are called to ordained roles in church leadership, and they are tasked with “equipping the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” A saint is simply a believer in Christ. So, every believer receives a gracious call to salvation and to service – a call from the one and only God to receive His grace and renewal and to use the gifts and abilities He graciously gives you
in the opportunities that He graciously provides.

As Timothy fulfilled his call in Ephesus, Paul acknowledged that it would be a battle. Timothy would have to fight what Scripture calls “the world.” In 1 John 5, John writes, “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” What is this “world” that believers have overcome?

John Calvin clarifies the meaning. He writes, “The term “world” has here a wide meaning, for it includes whatever is adverse to the Spirit of God: thus, the corruption of our nature is part of the world; all lusts, all the crafts of Satan, in short, whatever leads us away from God.” The war Timothy was called to wage was against sin. Sin both around him and within him.

“War” might seem like excessive language, but it’s appropriate. Calvin goes on to talk about the seriousness of this battle. He writes, “Having such a force to contend with, we have an immense war to carry on, and we should have been already conquered before coming to the contest, and we should be conquered a hundred times daily, had not God promised to us the victory. But God encourages us to fight by promising us the victory.”

In the war against sin, we already have the decisive victory because of who Christ is and what He did for us. There will be ups and downs in your earthly life, but because Christ has overcome, and you have union with Him by grace through faith, you also have already overcome the world. Therefore, you can rise each day to fight sin, for you already have victory in Jesus.

Paul tells Timothy to fight in the same way he was enlisted: by grace. In Colossians 2, Paul wrote to the churches, “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.” How did we receive Christ? By grace. It was all grace. There was none of our power. Paul says it wasn’t our own doing; it was the gift of God.

Why do church leaders fall? Yes, it’s often complicated. But whatever the cause or causes, whatever the circumstances or character flaws, the church leader who falls – and any believer who falls – has lost sight of the call to wage war by returning to Christ for grace.

It’s a call not only for leaders, but for all believers. Anyone who falls into sin at some point began to turn somewhere other than Christ. Do you ever do that? Of course you do. So you should know that you could fall. For Timothy to succeed in his calling – and for each of us to continue in ours – we must be sustained by Jesus, returning to Him for grace. Return to Jesus today.

But now look at verse 19. Paul changes metaphors, from a soldier in battle to a ship on the sea. He tells Timothy to “wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience.” Timothy must hold to faith – to biblical faith. What is biblical faith?

Scripture tells us that Biblical faith is a settled inner conviction that is rightly grounded in God’s promises and that confidently embraces gospel realities that aren’t presently visible. What has God promised to His people?

First, He promised that the work of Christ alone is sufficient to save us from sin and death, and that salvation is ours by grace through faith. Also, He promised to form Christ in us, conforming us to His likeness. He will make us more like Jesus, again by grace through faith. To wage war against sin, Timothy needed to trust God continually for these.

But also, he would need to have “a good conscience.” He would need a sound understanding of right and wrong according to God’s law, loving what is right and despising what is wrong. That is “a good conscience.”

Not all of the leaders in Ephesus had maintained this faith and conscience. See the rest of the verse. “By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith.” Some leaders had cast off caution against the sin lurking within and around them. They had thrust away the practice of constantly returning to Christ for grace. They had put aside biblical faith and God’s standards of right and wrong.

Certainly everyone has heard of the disaster of the RMS Titanic – “the largest and most luxurious passenger ship of its time…reported to be unsinkable.” The Titanic was travelling from England to America in 1912 when it struck an iceberg. More than 1,500 passengers and crew died in the shipwreck.

Interestingly, the captain received many warnings of icebergs ahead but continued, though today he’s not considered to have been reckless or negligent. His knowledge, and the nautical technology at that time, was limited compared to what sailors now possess. But still, historians agree that the disaster could have been avoided, and after the Titanic sank, everyone took note. They were more aware than ever of the dangers of icebergs at sea because of the tragic example of the Titanic.

There were multiple leaders who wrecked their faith in Ephesus, notice verse 20. “Among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.” This was an act of church discipline – removing from the congregation and from membership professing believers who have fallen into grievous sin and refuse to repent. Among the purposes are the protection of the purity of the church and helping the fallen believers take their sin seriously so they will return to Christ.

We saw last week that Paul was once a blasphemer. He had slandered Christ. Hymenaeus and Alexander were apparently doing the same. We actually don’t know if they later repented and were restored. We hope they were. But Paul literally says they were put out of the church to instruct and discipline them. It was not an act of punishment. It was an act of love. It was an act of love for them and for the body of Christ.

Those who are truly saved will eventually see the light. Those who are born again, who have that union with Christ, will eventually return to the faith, because you see, that’s what was put aside when they descended into sin. Biblical faith was cast off. Not that they lost their salvation, but that their conscience became insensitive to sin. They indulged and fed the desires of the sinful nature. The world was no longer their foe. Instead, the world became a friend.

Why do church leaders and believers fall? Again, it is often complicated. But whatever the cause or causes, any believer who falls has lost sight of the call to avoid wreckage by relying on Christ for faith. Timothy would need to rely on Christ for strong faith to persevere.

We don’t muster faith. We don’t get it through human inspiration or strategies. In Hebrews 13, the writer of that sermon prayed that God would “equip [the people]
with everything good that [they would] do [God’s] will,” and that God performs this
by “working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ.”

As we come to Christ in worship – both publicly and privately, in the church building and the home, using the means He has appointed – He strengthens our faith. That’s our only hope to avoid wreckage on the dangerous sea of life.

The battlefield is real. The sea is dangerous. Any believer who stops watching and fighting will drift toward wreckage. But we continue with Christ the same way we came to Him: by grace through faith. The same Jesus who secured our victory by grace now sustains us by that same grace.

So examine your heart today. Where have you grown casual with sin? What pulls you away from Christ? If you are fearful of falling, be confident in Him. He can sustain you. If you have fallen or sense that you have been falling, be confident in Him. He can restore you. Return to Him for grace, rely on Him for faith, wage warfare and avoid wreckage.

Let’s bow in prayer.