By: Dale Weckbacher
1 Timothy 1:18
Timothy, my son, here
are my instructions for you, based on the prophetic words spoken about you
earlier. May they give you the confidence to fight well in the Lord's battles.
NLT
I never had the privilege to serve my country in the
military, and I mean privilege for someone can show no greater love towards
their fellow men and women than to be willing to offer their lives in defense
of their liberties. As such, I also
never experienced the rigors of boot camp.
However, I have heard from friends and family members that it is a
grueling time when someone's mental, physical, and might I add spiritual limits
are tested to their limits. The reason
most militaries subject soldiers to this rigorous testing is to make them
strong in battle so they can achieve victory and to protect them from
harm.
The books of Timothy contained in the Bible are letters
written by the Apostle Paul to his young protégé Timothy. As such, they provide great teaching for
anyone interested in engaging in the spiritual battle of spreading the Gospel,
especially in these last days. As such,
I believe we can learn much and use these great teachings as a boot camp manual
for those desiring to spread the Gospel.
Over the next several Wednesday’s postings, we will be conducting a verse-by-verse
study of the two epistles of Timothy with 1 Timothy 1:18 being our theme,
training to fight well in the Lord’s battles.
Let me begin, however, by making it clear that the battle we
as God’s people are engaged in is a spiritual and not a physical battle. In no way am I calling for Christians to take
up arms against their fellow man unless it is in self-defense for Paul, the author
of these two epistles, made this perfectly clear in Ephesians 6:10-20. This is a spiritual battle and victory only
comes by using the spiritual weapons of Ephesians 6:14-17. The purpose of this boot camp therefore is to
train us to be effective in using these weapons.
The epistle of 1 Timothy begins with an introduction
reminding us of Paul’s position appointed by God as an apostle (1 Timothy1:1). This reminder was no doubt in
response to many in the faith doubting this position due to the fact the Paul
never physically walked with Jesus when he was on earth like the rest of the
Apostles. Therefore, if we are to use
the Epistles authored by Paul as a boot camp manual, we must determine if the
author of these Epistles is qualified to train us. Therefore, we must determine the qualifications
of Apostle and determine if Paul meets these qualifications.
The requirements of Apostle or sent one are,
1)
Seeing the risen Christ (Acts 1:22) – Many saw
the risen Christ. In fact, Paul in his
epistle to the Corinthians wrote that Jesus was seen by more than 500 of his
followers at one time (1 Corinthians 15:6).
Paul is writing this with full knowledge that he himself was not one of
these 500. This writing, therefore, is
not a self-proclamation that he as one of these 500 is an apostle but should be
viewed as the fact that at least 500 people that lived during the time of
Christ met this qualification. However,
the position of Apostle has additional requirements. (1)
2)
Being personally taught by Jesus for 3½ years (Acts1:22) – The context of Acts 1:22 is the apostles selection of someone to
replace Judas. The scripture makes it
clear they were looking for an eyewitness to the risen Lord and also someone
that had been taught by Christ from the time He was baptized by John until he
ascended to heaven or a period of 3 ½ years.
(1)
3)
Receiving a specific commission from Christ
Himself (Acts 1:17, 25) – Judas could have been part of those receiving a
specific commission from Christ but instead chose a different path. After Judas departure in the upper room,
Jesus prayed for the remaining eleven in what many believe is truly the Lord’s
Prayer for what we commonly call the Lord’s Prayer is actually a guideline for
us to follow when we pray. This prayer
of Jesus is lengthy and contained in John 17.
In this prayer, Jesus reminds God the Father that during their 3 ½ years
together, He has taught the 11 Disciples remaining in the room the words God
the Father gave Him. Prior to His
ascension Jesus then commissioned all hearing his words to go out into all the
world and spread the Gospel (Mark 16:15).
However, only the eleven remaining Disciples hearing these final words
of Jesus met all three qualifications for all the others had not been under the
teaching of Jesus for 3½ years. (1)
We can therefore conclude that the eleven remaining
Disciples alive when Jesus ascended qualify as apostles. However, the question we must answer is
whether Paul meets these qualifications.
1)
Paul saw the risen Christ (Acts 9:3-7) – Even
though Paul was not alive during the time of Jesus earthly ministry, he, and not
those traveling with him, saw Jesus on the road to Damascus. God is not bound by time as we are and since
Jesus is God (John 1:1) He too is not bound by time. The Old Testament contains several accounts
of Christophanies or appearances of Jesus in the Old Testament prior to His
birth. It was the Lord or Jesus who
appeared to Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:8.
It was Jesus who appeared to Abraham in Genesis 18:1. It was the Angel of the Lord, how Jesus was
referenced in the Old Testament that wrestled with Jacob in Genesis 32:24. It was also the Angel of God that led Israel
through the wilderness appearing as cloud during the day and a pillar of fire
at night leading Israel (Exodus 14:19). (2) Therefore, it is not a stretch to believe
that Jesus appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus.
2)
Paul received teaching directly from God for 3½
years (Galatians 1:16-18) – In his epistle to the Galatians Paul tells us how
he did not rush out to consult anyone else for a period or 3 years. This however is not 3½ years so does this
disqualify Paul from the office of Apostle?
In 1 Corinthians 11:23 Paul passes on teaching he received regarding
what Jesus said during the last supper on the night He was betrayed. We can therefore conclude that Paul received
the entirety of the 3½-year teaching of Christ that He passed on to his
Disciples during this three-year period.
Since this teaching was not second hand but occurred directly from Jesus
Himself, it is not a stretch, therefore, to believe Paul received the full 3½
years of teaching from Jesus during these three years. Paul was no doubt a good student and a fast
learner based upon his background as a Pharisee (Acts 23:6).
3)
Paul received a specific commission from Christ
Himself (Acts 9:15) – The Lord spoke to Ananias and specifically told him to
pray for Paul to receive his sight informing him that Paul was the one He was
commissioning to take the Gospel to the Gentiles.
We can therefore conclude that Paul meets the requirements
of an Apostle and therefore is one we can trust to be our Drill Sargent
training us to fight well in the Lords battles.
Next Wednesday, we will look at why I believe these letters
addressed to Timothy are relevant to us today who have chosen to engage in
spreading the Gospel in our society.
1. The Bible Study Site. Was Paul a True
Apostle. www.biblestudy.org. [Online] The Bible Study Site. [Cited: May
30, 2016.] www.biblestudy.org/question/was-paul-really-an-apostle.html.
2. Life of Jesus.
Christophanies. lifeofjesus2001.tripod.com. [Online] Life of Jesus.
[Cited: May 30, 2016.] lifeofjesus2001.tripod.com/jc_christophanies.html.
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