Grace, Mercy, and Peace

1 Timothy 1:1-2

Immanuel – 8/10/25

          After spending a year and ten months journeying through the Gospel of Matthew, last week we came to its conclusion with the words of the Great Commission. There, Jesus said:

          “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”                     -Matthew 28:18-20

          After Matthew’s 28 chapters detailing the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, continually revealing his self-sacrificial, gentle, lowly heart; how can his followers do anything else but proclaim his name to the ends of the earth! For in Jesus, we find forgiveness from sins, freedom from guilt, and hope in a dark world.

Jesus has become our light and our life, our greatest treasure, should we not share that treasure with as many people as possible?! It would be selfish and stingy to do otherwise. How good it is to follow Jesus and be about the business of making outward-oriented, globally minded, love-saturated, Christ-exalting, disciples!

          And though we begin a new book of the Bible today, 1 Timothy exists because Jesus’ disciples lived obediently to the Great Commission; and I’m certain you’ll see what I mean as we progress.

          When we begin a new book of the Bible, and new sermon series, it is important to spend time understanding the context. 1 Timothy was written for a reason, so we need a basic understanding of why it was written.

          These are a few contextual elements we are going to explore before we really dive into the opening words of 1 Timothy.

1.      Who was Paul?

2.      Who was Timothy?

3.      Why is the ancient city of Ephesus significant?

4.      Why did Paul write this letter to Timothy?

Paul the Apostle

The Book of Acts is the account of Jesus’ followers after Jesus ascended into Heaven. But the person we read about the most in Acts is the Apostle Paul. Paul was a Pharisee, a Jewish religious leader, and he hated Christians. In fact, he hunted Christians: throwing them into prison, persecuting them, complicit in the martyrdom of some.

          In Acts 9 we read of the most transformative day in Paul’s life – who at the time was called Saul. Traveling to Damascus, again on the hunt for Christians, he had a vision. Suddenly he was enveloped by a brilliant light. In the midst of it, a voice:

          “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And [Saul] said, “Who are you Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”                        -Acts 9:4-5

          From that moment forward, Saul became Paul, and he gave himself entirely into the service of King Jesus. Indeed, from that moment forward, Jesus called Paul into a very specific role: Apostle. That’s exactly how Paul introduces himself, as an Apostle.

          Read vs 1

          The term “apostle” is so widely used and abused in our day, I must spend a moment defining it. Apostle comes from a Greek word meaning “sent one.” In terms of ministry, there are two ways in which the word “apostle” is used in the New Testament.

          First, is what I call an uppercase “A” Apostle. In the most technical sense, these Apostles have seen the resurrected Christ and were appointed by him to proclaim the gospel where it had not yet gone. Jesus uniquely authorized these men to speak for him authoritatively, which is why so much of the New Testament is written by the Apostles. There are only 12, maybe 13, uppercase “A” Apostles that ever existed – each one is named by Jesus in the New Testament.

          The second type of apostle is a lowercase “a” apostle – the only type of apostle that exists today. This is a man sent out by a church to advance the gospel and plant churches, particularly in areas unreached by the gospel. Today we call them missionaries; or more specifically, frontier missionaries. At Immanuel we support several modern-day apostles, though they do not claim that title for themselves.

Listen carefully, anyone going around today calling themselves an apostle, wearing fancy clothes, living in enormous houses, constantly asking people to sow financial seeds into their ministries, getting wealthy on the back of the church – these are false apostles and liars, and they are to be repudiated!

          In the New Testament, to be an uppercase “A” Apostle meant tremendous persecution and, for all but one, it was a death sentence. Also in the New Testament, a lowercase “a” apostle means leaving everything familiar, enduring sufferings, living among a foreign people, and using your life to reach the unreached with the greatest news on earth:

          “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

                                                                             -John 3:16-17

          Indeed, this is the greatest news on earth! But when God calls someone to be an apostle, to spread this gospel, it is a solemn task. The last thing it is, is flashy or luxurious: with book deals and television channels and schools of spiritual learning and vain self-promotion.

          As an Apostle of Christ, Paul spread the gospel among the unreached in the known world, planting church all along the way. Paul wrote letters to the churches he planted, filled with words to encourage, correct, and teach. Of these letters to churches we have Romans, 1&2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians, and 1&2 Thessalonians.

He also wrote four letters to individuals. Three of these, 1&2 Timothy and Titus, are called the Pastoral Epistles, because Paul is giving instruction critical for the work and life of a young pastor.

          And if it isn’t obvious, 1 Timothy is Paul’s first letter to Timothy. Indeed, in verse 2 Paul names the recipient of his letter: to Timothy. He will then provide Timothy with instruction for how to pastor a very troubled church.

          This makes Paul’s letter to Timothy invaluable for us today, because there isn’t a single church on earth that doesn’t face its own troubles. We can get things out of order, prioritize the wrong things, listen to dangerous voices, turn against one another, and tarnish the character of Christ we are meant to exemplify. So even if this letter was written by Paul to Timothy, it contains mountains of riches for each one of us, and for our imperfect local church.

          Timothy of Lystra

          If Paul writes to Timothy, we need to know something about Timothy. Timothy grew up in ancient Lystra (in the southern part of modern-day Turkey). His father was a Greek and his mother was a Jew. Timothy’s Jewish mother and grandmother taught Timothy the Jewish Scriptures (2 Timothy 1:5).

          As I said before, the Apostle Paul relentlessly spread the gospel across the known world. Acts documents three (and perhaps four) of Paul’s missionary journeys. On Paul’s first missionary journey, he passed through the city of Lystra. During this visit (or sometime after) Timothy comes to faith. He believed in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah and Son of God, and the only way to have right relationship with God is through faith in Jesus Christ.

          A year or so later, Paul embarked on his second missionary journey. When he returns to Lystra to encourage the church, he learned that both the church in Lystra and the church in Iconium were speaking highly of a young disciple named Timothy.

          Many people came to faith under Paul’s ministry, but Paul immediately recognized something in Timothy which he rarely observed. First Timothy’s background (Greek father and Jewish mother) made Timothy uniquely equipped to navigate the work Paul was engaged in: ministering to both Jews and Greeks. But even more than that, he saw in Timothy an unyielding commitment to Christ, a shared passion for the gospel, a zeal for the lost, and a willingness to suffer for the sake of it all.  

Paul doesn’t hesitate to take Timothy along for the rest of his second missionary journey. Along the way, he becomes a spiritual father to the young disciple. Which is why we see, in verse 2, Paul calls Timothy his true child in the faith.

From that point forward, Timothy either travels with Paul or is sent out by Paul to accomplish specific ministry goals. Timothy is clearly Paul’s right-hand man, and by the time the Book of Acts concludes, Timothy has been ministering with Paul for the better part of a decade.

          How good it is when older men disciple younger men like this (and older women disciple younger women)! When we are young we need someone older to come along and stoke the fire within us, to offer us some direction, encouraging us to cast of our childish ways and live as a man (or woman) after God’s own heart. When we are older we need someone younger to inject our lives with a bit of energy and passion, help us remember what it was to be fearless, and to keep us from stagnating in kingdom work.

Young and old teamed up together, teacher and disciple, it’s a powerful combination. Paul and Timothy changed the world. What would this church look like if the older discipled the younger, and the younger were eager to partner with the older?!

          There is much debate about when Paul might have written this letter to Timothy, and it’s a debate I don’t have time to engage here. But one thing is for sure, when Paul writes this letter, Timothy is pastoring the church in Ephesus – as we see indicated in verse 3.

          Ephesus

          And Timothy needed help, because the church in Ephesus was troubled. To understand why it was so troubled, we need to know a little bit about the city. (I’m going to use a few picture I took when I had the pleasure of visiting Ephesus a few years back.)

          Ephesus was a port city at the mouth of the Cayster River, which flowed into the Aegean Sea. It was wealthy and in the ascendancy when Paul visited the city on his second missionary journey. At that time, it had an estimated population of 250,000 people and was the Roman capital of Asia.

          Ephesus was deeply pagan and famous for its knowledge of the occult, or magic. But it was most famous for its temple to the pagan goddess Artemis/Diana. The Temple of Artemis was considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

Ephesus was also a stronghold for the imperial cult, which worshiped Caesar as a god. (Inscription as you enter the marketplace: Emperor Caesar Augustus, Son of God, High Priest, President, Supreme Sovereign.)

A city steeped in such paganism was inevitably frothing with sin. An example: Situated on one of the city’s busiest corners was a sizable brothel. (Sidewalk advertisement: For love, walk this way to find the scarlet women.)

          In Acts 18 and 19 we read of how the good news of Jesus Christ invaded this pagan and wicked city. Paul established the church during his second missionary journey, but spent about two years in Ephesus during his third missionary journey.

          At some point during his journeys, Paul received word that false teachers had infiltrated the Ephesian church, and pagan practices began to seep in from the city. Paul sent Timothy to confront the false teachers and restore order to the church. Not long after sending Timothy, Paul sent a letter – the very letter we begin today.

Within the six chapters of 1 Timothy, Paul exhorts Timothy that, as pastor, he must boldly confront false teachers, consistently proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, resist fractious behavior, sustain healthy church leadership, persist in prayer, uphold godly worship, and model a Christ-like life for others to emulate. In other words, Paul was giving Timothy instructions on how to build the household of God.

          As I studied the themes of 1 Timothy, I was surprised by what one commentator pointed out: Paul references hard work 29 times in this letter. I can’t unsee it now. Paul is adamant that hard work is essential for the church to reach its full potential. The church’s leaders need to be especially hardworking. This should be no surprise coming from Paul, who obviously had a ferocious work ethic.

          Though I am a far cry from Paul and Timothy, I can surely attest that the work of pastoring is incredibly diverse and relentless. If you do not have a ferocious appetite for it, you will soon have your head underwater. In various ways, this is true for all church leadership positions. It is hard work, but so good and so rewarding. There is nothing on earth like knowing you serve the flock so beloved by the King.

          Now, let’s take another look at verse 1.

          Read vs 1

          Paul says he is an Apostle by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope. Take note, Paul is elevating Jesus to the divine level of God, yet as a distinct person within the godhead. The God we worship is personal and mysterious, above us yet one of us.

          He is God our Savior. Usually we think of Jesus as our Savior (and he is!), but Paul calls God the Father our Savior. For it was the Father who planned for our Salvation and set it all in motion.

          Listen to these precious words from God our Savior.

          “For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior…Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you…Fear not, for I am with you…I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”          Isaiah 43:3,4,5,6-7

          And though Paul calls the Father our Savior in verse 1, he says Christ Jesus is our hope. Because it is through Jesus, the true Son of God, that we enter into the Father’s salvation.

          Read 1 Timothy 1:15-17

          Jesus is our hope because he came into the world to save sinners. And now, by believing in him, we are given everlasting life! He indeed is the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, to be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen!

          To close his greeting, Paul prays for Timothy.

          Read vs 2b

          Grace. May God powerfully work to bring your everlasting salvation into the mundane and dark moments of everyday life. May you know you are forgiven and freed from guilt and sin.

          Mercy. May you know the love and kindness of the Father; that in his concern for you he provides everything you need for the calling he has placed on your life.

          Peace. May the tranquility of heaven rest upon you as you live in harmony with his will. And regardless of the storms you must traverse, may you be stable in God’s peace that surpasses all understanding.

          Paul does not say these things as banal, well wishes. He prays with the authority of an Apostle, for his true child in the faith, earnestly desiring God to answer these prayers. And heightening the urgency Paul must feel for God to answer these prayers, is a struggling Ephesian church, desperately needing their pastor to be filled with the grace, mercy, and peace of God their Savior and Christ Jesus their hope.

          Truly, I hope there is someone praying for me like this.

          But don’t we all need to know grace, mercy, and peace from God? We most certainly do! Wouldn’t it be good if we prayed for each other to be filled with God’s grace, mercy, and peace? Even after this service, perhaps there is someone you can pull aside, and pray they know the grace, mercy, and peace of God our Savior and Christ Jesus our hope.

I am no Apostle. I am no disciple of an Apostle (not directly). But Christ has appointed me to be your pastor. So I have opened the Scriptures to you, and I’ve shared my life with you, and wept with you, and rejoiced with you, and loved you. Some of you are my spiritual children. All of you are my brothers and sisters in Christ – if you are indeed in Christ.

          So as Paul earnestly prayed for Timothy, I earnestly pray for you.