Life After the Inauguration

1 & 2 Timothy/Titus  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  29:31
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During the period between the Cross and the Second Coming the church needs to be prepared for intense spiritual warfare.

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This week we are beginning a new sermon series from 1 & 2 Timothy/Titus. Scholars have named these three letters the Pastoral Epistles because they were originally written to two young pastors named Timothy and Titus. Both of these men had ministered alongside Paul on his missionary journeys and had gained Paul's respect and trust--so much in fact, that Paul had sent Timothy to oversee the churches in and around the city of Ephesus and Titus to oversee the churches located on the island of Crete.
Paul wrote these letters at the end of his life. Paul could foresee that the apostolic age was drawing to a close as he and the others were growing older and persecution was intensifying. Soon the last of the apostles would die and the church would be left in the care of men like Timothy and Titus. You can see Paul's concern in his farewell address to the Ephesian elders recorded in Acts 20:22-32. Let us give our attention to this text:
Acts 20:22–32 ESV
And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears. And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
This past week our nation's capital was filled with pomp and circumstance as a new President was inaugurated. But even as one political party took the reigns of government, the other was launching a resistance movement aimed at toppling the new administration. This is just a picture on a smaller scale of what has been happening ever since Christ's Kingdom was Inaugurated at the Cross.

Christ's Kingdom was Inaugurated at the Cross

A lot more was going on at Mount Calvary than most people realize. It is right and proper that the emphasis is placed on Jesus dying as a substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of his people, but this was not all that was going on. Paul reminds the Colossians and us of this when he wrote:
Colossians 2:13–15 ESV
And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
The language and imagery Paul uses in these verse was familiar to his original readers--he is using the language and imagery of the Roman triumphal procession, in which the victorious Romans would parade their defeated enemies through the streets of Rome in chains and shame. This Paul says is similar to what Jesus did to Satan and his armies at the cross.
Ever since the Fall of Adam, the world had been under the domination of Satan. By sinning, Adam had forfeited his dominion to Satan. The temptation of Jesus illustrated that the kingdoms of this world were Satan's to give. In the third and final temptation we read this:
Matthew 4:8–9 ESV
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”
Jesus had no intention of being Satan's lap dog, he had come to take Satan down and establish his own Kingdom! The defeat of Satan began even before the cross. On one occasion recorded in the Gospel of Luke, we read this:
Luke 10:17–19 ESV
The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.
We are not waiting for Jesus' second coming so that we can begin his reign, but to fully consummate it!
On May 8, 1945 Germany officially surrendered, but this did not mean that all conflict had ended in Europe.
In the closing days of World War 2, the Nazis organized a resistance movement they code named "Werewolf". The Werewolves were to operate behind the advancing Allied armies committing acts of sabotage and murder. Consequently, combat did not end in Germany after the armistice was signed, but for months afterwards. The Werewolves actions were ineffective and limited, but I use them as an illustration of what is happening right now in the spiritual realm.
Satan and his angelic allies know that they have been decisively defeated by Christ. They also know that their days are numbered. However, they are filled with so much hate towards Christ and humanity that they make it their goal to take as many as they can down with them. We are currently living in Satan's "Last Days" Resistance Movement.

Satan's "Last Days" Resistance Movement

Of course, Satan and his forces have been fighting Christ even before humanity's fall in the Garden of Eden, but now their resistance is intensified out of a sense of desperation. As the old saying says: "There is nothing more dangerous than a wounded animal."
This period of intense spiritual warfare is what the bible calls the "Last Days". Popular dispensational end time teaching has lead Christians to wrongly assume that the "Last Days" refer exclusively to a final seven year "Tribulation." There are strong reasons to think that there will be final super intense period of resistance at the very end of this age, prior to the Second Coming of Christ, but the bible makes clear that the whole period after the resurrection until the Second Coming is the Last Days. For example, John writes:
1 John 2:18 ESV
Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.
It is surprising that this teaching is so neglected today when we consider how foundational it was the the apostles' teaching. For example, as Paul and Barnabas when through Asia Minor preaching the gospel, we read this:
Acts 14:21–22 ESV
When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.
Satan and his allies tactics are predictable. Jesus outlines their strategy in the Olivet Discourse found in Matthew 24.
Matthew 24:3–12 ESV
As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.
We can summarize the tactics of Satan's "Werewolves" at follows:
Persecution
False Teaching
Temptation
It is to combat these three tactics that God inspired Paul to write the three Pastoral Epistles. In these three short letters Christ outlines for us how we can defeat Satan's "Werewolves".

Christ's Call to Defeat Satan's "Werewolves"

We heard Christ call in our Scripture lesson this morning. To refresh our memories, let's read those words again.
Acts 20:28–32 ESV
Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears. And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
I find it interesting that Paul calls these false teachers "fierce wolves." The Nazis were only copying Satan's tactics and name for his resistance fighters!
Three things stand out in this charge to the Ephesian elders:
Be Attentive: To Yourself and Others
Be Alert: For False Teachers
Be Dependent: On God and His Word
This last charge to Be Dependent on God and his Word is the point that I want to concentrate upon in the closing moments of this sermon. Notice that Paul says that God's word is able to build us up and give us our spiritual inheritance! Satan and his forces are sparing no effort to tear you down and insure that you do not inherit eternal life, but their greatest efforts are no match for God and his word!
What a great encouragement and incentive this is as we begin this series of sermons and bibles studies from the Pastoral Epistles. For those of you who are able, I want to encourage you to join me on Thursday evening. It is not to late to begin. Study guides and worksheets are on the back table. Those who have been coming to my Thursday evening bible studies have told me time and time again how helpful it is for them to look at the text first in a bible study and then as a sermon. This should not surprise us because God's word tells us that both teaching and preaching are means of grace.
Teaching and preach are like a one-two punch. A boxer can win with one hand tied behind his or her back, but it is so much easier to use both hands! So let's grow strong in God's Word so we can give Satan the one-two punch!
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