1 Tim 1:1-2
Today we begin a study of Paul's letters to his younger students!
Timothy and Titus were young men to whom Paul entrusted great responsibility at a young age!
These guys had proven themselves to be young men who loved the Lord Jesus and wanted to be used by Him, and Paul had first taught them to serve, then released them to serve!

These letters are often called The Pastoral
Epistles, because Paul wrote to these young pastors about serving their people.
Look with me at 1 Timothy 1:1-2...
"Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope, 2 To
Timothy, a true son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord."
Today we will consider THREE THINGS from these first two verses:
I.

Paul did what he did in obedience to God's guidance in his life!
He didn't just wake up one day and decide to become a preacher or an apostle!
If he had, then the first time the people of a city had beat him up and thrown him into jail he would have quit!
If not, then the second time it happened he surely would have stopped!
But Paul knew that God had given him a job to do; a mission to fulfill!

And he has given to you a similar mission!
Whether you are a doctor or a truck driver,
Jesus calls you be His ambassador !
In John 20:21 , after His resurrection, Jesus was speaking to His disciples.
He said to them:
“
Peace to you! As the Father has sent
Me, I also send you.
”

And in Mark 16:15 He said;
“
Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned."
"But Pastor, I have a job!"
Listen, this doesn't mean you should all quit your jobs!
It means that even at your job you are watching for the opportunities that God presents to you to demonstrate His love and tell other people about His grace through Jesus Christ!

"But Pastor Robert, that's easy for you to say!
I'm not a preacher! I don't know the Bible that well!"
"Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope"
In John chapter 9 we are given a beautiful story about a man, blind from birth, whom Jesus healed!

And He healed the man on the Sabbath day, when all work was forbidden!
I believe He did it on the Sabbath deliberately so that He could teach the religious leaders a lesson about compassion, and right priorities!
You see, the religious leaders got really angry that Jesus had violated the Sabbath, at least in their minds, by healing this man!
So they investigated!

They interviewed the young man, then his parents, and then they called for the young man who had been healed to interview him one last time!
In John 9:24 we read;
"So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him,
“
Give God the glory! We know that this Man ( referring to
Jesus
) is a sinner.
”
25 He answered and said,
“
Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though
I was blind, now I see.
”
I like that!

I don't know everything there is to know about Jesus, but here is what I do know; He changed my life!
I was a foolish, self-serving young man until began to work in my heart and my mind!
I'm not yet everything He will make me, but
I'm certainly not what I was before I met
Jesus Christ!
By the way, that was Timothy's testimony, too!

Timothy was just a child when he began to learn from Paul about serving Jesus!
And as Paul wrote this letter to the young pastor who was back in Ephesus, the Holy
Spirit was still hard at work in Timothy's life!
How do I know that!
Because of the way Paul refers to Timothy in this letter:
What does that mean; a true son? Is there such a thing as a fake son?

Look at John 8:37...
“
I know that you are Abraham's descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.
38 I speak what I have seen with My
Father, and you do what you have seen with your father.
”
39 They answered and said to Him,
“
Abraham is our father.
”
Jesus said to them,
“
If you were
Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham. 40 But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. 41 You do the deeds of your father.
”
Then they said to Him,
“
We were not born of fornication; we have one Father
—
God.
”
42 Jesus said to

them,
“
If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of
Myself, but He sent Me. 43 Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. 44
You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do."
Once again Jesus was confronting religious hypocrisy! Fake sons!
These people thought that belonging to a particular group guaranteed them a place in
God's home!
But Jesus contradicted that!

He tried to teach them that being a descendant is not the same as being a son!
Being a descendant, or creation of God, is not the same as being a child of God!
Children of God grow to resemble their
Father in Heaven!
He puts His own Spirit inside them to change them into His image and Iikeness!

So... There are many, many people who view themselves as children of God, who are not children of God at all!
What about you? Whose child are you!?
Are you a child of your culture!? A child of your age!?
How can you tell?
Well, how are you guided in your decisions?

"Wow, I really don't know what I should do with this decision. I'm going to call...."
Is that what you do?
Or do you open your Bible and spend some time in prayer?
Whose child are you? Who do you most resemble?
Your friends, the society in which you live, or Jesus Christ?

John 1:10 says;
"He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and
His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of
God."
And Romans 8:13 says
"For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God."
Let's pray
Questions:

I. Commanded not suggested.
When disagreeing with God how many times have you been right in the end?
When God speaks to you, do you view His leading as a suggestion or a command?
Please check how often do you obey God?
[] All the time?
[] Most of the time?
[] Some of the time?
[] None of the time?

How do you represent Jesus to other people?
Jesus was other-centered all the time.
What's your percentage that your othercentered? 50%? 10%? 0%?
What do you do to represent Christ by living your life?
Jesus wants to fix me. Am I willing to let
Him do that? How can this ligament group help you to seek this change?

What's your excuse for not telling others about Jesus?
II. Jesus is our hope
(I hope. No! I know!)
Jn 9 Jesus heals the blind man. v24 "I was blind. Now I see." that's all I know.
Is there an experience in your life where everything changed? ("I don't know everything about the Bible and God, but here's what I do know ...")
III. True son in the faith.

Jn 8 beware of 'fake' sons, children resemble their father.
How can you validate someone's faith or what is a result of true faith?
Is your Christianity all talk?
In which of your recent action would someone else have unmistakably seen
Jesus?

Who's child are you? (Remember being a child is not the same as being a descendant).
Who do you look like? Is there any resemblance between you and Jesus?
Jn 1:10
Would you recognize Jesus today? Would he recognize you as one of His?
Does Christ or our culture define and mold you?