Discover exciting resources and free offers from the International Gospel Hour as we honor over 90 years of proclaiming God’s Word. This episode not only offers enriching spiritual guidance but also invites you to deepen your understanding of the Bible with exclusive resources from Apologetics Press. Embrace the opportunity to enhance your personal study with tools that challenge and inspire, nurturing a faith rooted in love and purity.
To Timothy, a true son in the faith. Oh, my wonderful words that begin the first letter to Timothy. And we’re going to build on that today from the International Gospel Hour. Back in a moment.
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Hi, this is Jay Webb for International Gospel Hour.
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Welcome to our broadcast today. For over 90 years, Churches of Christ have proclaimed God’s Word through our broadcasts. Just ahead is another Bible-based lesson with Jeff Archie of International Gospel Hour. Let’s begin.
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As always, we appreciate the kind words of our J-Web, and you’ll hear from Jay throughout our broadcast. He’s going to share with you a couple of special offers coming your way. And again, we appreciate Jay. Speaking of our offers, friends, everything from the International Gospel Hour is always free. That’s right. We’ll never ask for your money for something that we wish to offer. And anything that we offer is free, and I’m going to give you one right off the bat. We are thankful to our friends at ApologeticsPress.org and their great work. And they have made available the book, Does God Exist? by Dave Miller. We want to send you that free book today. Here’s all you have to do. Call us toll free at 855-444-6988. Leave your name and address and just say, Does God Exist? Or exist. That’s all you have to say. We’ll know what you mean. That’s it. 855-444-6988. Leave your name and address and just say exist. And we’ll send that book to you absolutely free for your studies. You may also go to our website at internationalgospelhour.com. Click on the contact tab and leave us the same information. Your name. Your address. And just type does God exist or exist in the message box. And we’ll go from there. We are blessed to share a tremendous amount of material from our friends at Apologetics Press, and they are doing a wonderful work dealing with the areas of creation, apologetics. Check out their website at apologeticspress.org. Let’s begin today with 1 Timothy 1, verses 1 and 2. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope, To Timothy, a true son in the faith, grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. Written through inspiration by the Apostle Paul to the young preacher Timothy. His name means honored of God. And we first learn of this young man in Acts 16 when Timothy joins Paul on his second missionary journey. And as 1 Timothy begins, Paul calls him a true son in the faith. Other descriptions of Timothy, he’s called a worker in 1 Corinthians 16 verse 10, a minister of God in 1 Thessalonians 3 verse 2, a soldier of the cross in 2 Timothy 2, 3 and 4, and a lover of the brethren in Philippians 2, 19 through 22. Wow, what a great young man. And from 1 Timothy, verse 1, immediately Paul addresses the problem of false teachers. And Paul repeats this often in other texts throughout his first letter to Timothy, not only here in chapter 1, but also in chapter 4, beginning with verse 1, and two contexts within chapter 6, verses 3 through 5, and 20 and 21. We’re going to see these warnings and directions to this true son in the faith, and they are most worthy in warning us today of false teachers. We’ll be back in a moment.
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Friends, I love to look at just scripture text, read a little, teach a little. Let’s go back to 1 Timothy chapter 1 and verses 3 and 4. As I urged you when I went unto Macedonia to remain in Ephesus, that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies which cause disputes, rather than godly edification which is in faith. When we talk about those true sons of the faith, friends, number one, those true to the faith must distinguish. We must distinguish what is right and what is wrong. Paul uses the word doctrine here, and folks, doctrine means simply that which is taught. And he says, teach no other doctrine. That’s the similar challenge that Paul gave to the elders at Ephesus in Acts 20, verses 29 and 30. A charge that there is only but one gospel to preach and none other, Galatians 1, 6 and 7, and to preach Christ and His doctrine, what is of Christ, His life, His teachings, His instructions, 2 John 9, 11. Paul specifically says, don’t give heed to fables and endless genealogies. The fables are those that were comprised of frivolous and unfounded stories, which they regarded of great importance during that time. And they seem to have desire to incorporate, they desire to incorporate them within the teachings of Christianity. Folks, we’re not talking about an illustration that may be used. We’re talking about something they would put side by side and make equivalent to the truth. When he refers to endless genealogies, would refer to Jewish teaching, how the Jews attached great importance to their genealogies and insisted on them being carefully preserved. However, the Messiah, the Christ, had now come. So it was no longer important from whence they had come, but to whom they should be following, that is, the Christ. So our lesson, that if we are to be true to the faith, the teaching of the Bible, the gospel, then we must avoid nowadays fables or endless genealogies, or specifically man-made teachings that are contrary to the word of God. We submit to you second from verse 5 that those true to the faith must develop. Watch verse 5. Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith. So for one in faith to grow with God’s word, all that God has commanded, one’s heart continues with love and charity to Jesus Christ. This is reflected in 1 John 5 and verse 3 and the Gospel of John chapter 14 and verse 15. One’s conscience will improve and grow with knowledge. 1 Peter chapter 3 verses 15 and 16. That we are ready to give a reason of the hope that is in us with meekness and fear. And one’s faith remains pure and unfeigned. It is a sound faith according to 2 Timothy 1 and verse 5 and it’s not hypocritical. So once again, friends, back to the word, the commands of God. Such certainty will develop the heart, the conscience, and the faith. Pure heart, good conscience, sincere faith. It must be developed. Now, not only do we distinguish right from wrong, we develop within the faith. Here’s a third one from verses 6 and 7. Those true to the faith must decline. You see, we can distinguish. We develop what is good, but we must decline the wrong. Verses 6 and 7 of 1 Timothy 1. From which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm. So, friends, we decline those things that hinder growth, things that are not in essence or not in the Word of God. And we can learn from those that stray because that’s the wrong direction. The word to stray means, or having strayed, to miss the mark, to err, and then to swerve from. You see, it is a choice. And I’ve heard this from a lot of people, friends. Well, I know that’s what the Bible says, but I don’t believe it. I know I see what the Bible says, but here’s what I think. Folks, do you see that danger? Paul said in 1 Timothy 6.21, which some professing have erred concerning the faith. And in 2 Timothy 4 and verse 4, and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables. And were we not warned of those back in verse 3. So as one distinguishes, knows the difference, one develops growing in Christ in the word, one knows to decline what is not sound or correct. Thus, we decline the idle talk or the vain talk. They are discourses without sense. Folks, what a powerful section of text from 1 Timothy 1, 1-7. And you know, friends, we encourage people, if there’s something we bring forth that doesn’t sound right, we like to hear from our listeners. And we like to know if there’s something that we bring up and something that’s not right, we like to look at that. And we also respect that sometimes we may bring up something, and when we find out on our own that we’re wrong, and I’m sure you would agree that’s the same for you. Those who are true to the faith of God, those who are walking in the faith, the faith which was delivered once for all, Jude 3, we must distinguish between right and wrong, develop the right by faith, and decline those things that are not accurate according to the Scriptures. Friends, one way we can do this is to study to show ourselves approved unto God. 2 Timothy 2.15 And we like to encourage good study, not only listening to our broadcast, but studies outside of our broadcast. With that being said, we are blessed to offer our Bible course by mail. That’s right, friends. The good old classic Bible correspondence course. You can’t beat it. And if you’re interested in that, here’s how you can receive your free course. Once again, our J-Web.
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Our long-time free Bible study course by mail is always available at Have you tried it yet? Just call us toll-free at 855-444-6988 and leave your name, address, and just say, Home Study. That’s it. You may also go to our website at internationalgospelhour.com, click on the Contact tab, and leave us the same information, name, address, and type Home Study in the message box. Study the Bible at your own pace. Again, it’s free from your friends here at International Gospel Hour.
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Friends, I love to take the Scripture and just go verse by verse, book by book. We’ve done that with 1 John over the years and 1 Corinthians we’ve engaged. We’ve done some verse by verse studies from the book of Mark. So I’m sure we’re going to be returning to 1 Timothy again in the near future, and I hope that you enjoyed this study today to challenge us to do the things that we need to do for the Lord. Let us be individuals true to the faith to distinguish, to develop, and to decline the error. Again, thank you for being with me today, and we’ll study together at another time. I really appreciate you joining me for our broadcast from the International Gospel Hour. I’m Jeff Archie, and friends, keep listening.
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God be with you till we meet again.
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Thank you for listening to our broadcast today, and we hope you continue onward with your search and study of God’s Word. Please join us next time and visit our website at internationalgospelhour.com.
