Sermon Summary

Donut Dollies

I found out this week that National Donut Day dates back to a Salvation Army fundraiser in 1938. The fundraiser was in honor of female volunteers who visited American Troops during World War I and made them donuts. The American Red Cross replicated this practice in World War II, and these female volunteers came to be known as Donut Dollies. Why did the Salvation Army and the Red Cross spend so many resources on doughnuts in World Wars I and II? Because they knew that it takes more than fighting to win a war. To fight well you also need the right equipment, you need to know your enemy, and you need encouragement. So organizations sent volunteers across the ocean to make soldiers donuts to boost their morale and remind them what they’re fighting for.

When Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:18 that he needs to wage good warfare, he makes sure to do these three things for Timothy. He equips him for his fight, tells him about his enemies in the fight, and encourages him for the fight.

Equipment for the Fight

Paul tells Timothy to wage the good warfare, “holding faith and a good conscience” (v19a). These are the two things you need. Faith and a Good Conscience.

Faith is the lived out, personal trust in Jesus Christ. A Good Conscience is necessary for living out your faith. It is a rightly ordered moral center. In difficult situations, we can mask cowardice and unbelief with the guise of wisdom and discretion. We must be careful that we are not dulling our consciences by ignoring the implications of the Word of God for our life.

The Good news is that in verse 14 we were told that both of these are given to us. God’s grace overflows for us with the faith and love that are in Jesus Christ (Love is downstream action resulting  from a good conscience). So God gives us these things. Paul doesn’t say to Timothy, find faith and a good conscience. He says “hold faith and a good conscience.” You’ve been given the equipment for the warfare. Don’t leave it on the ground, in your tent. Hold it.

Enemies in the Fight

In 19b-20, Paul tells Timothy about the enemies he will face in this fight. These enemies used to be friends in the church. But they have rejected a good conscience and made shipwreck of their faith. While Faith is foundational to all we do, it is important to notice that Paul emphasizes the significance of holding a good conscience. Because it’s so easy to teach the right things, while living contrary to what God’s Word teaches.

So Paul handed over some of these people, who had ruined their Christian walk, to Satan. This means he had removed them from the membership of the church. While the topic of “excommunication” can be scary to many people, it’s important to notice Paul’s goal in excommunication. He wants tat these men, Hymenaeus, and Alexander, to “learn not to blaspheme.” The goal of discipline is the honor of Christ, the purity of the church, and also the repentance of the offender. While we don’t know the outcome in the cases of these men, Paul encouraged Timothy to hold out hope for their restoration.

Encouragement for the Fight

Paul began this section by encouraging Timothy. Timothy had a difficult task at hand. And it would be easy to doubt whether he was the right man for the job. So Paul encouraged him in two ways. 1. He encouraged Timothy by reminding him of his own support. He calls Timothy his child, reminding him that Paul was behind him. 2. He reminds him of the prophecy made about him at his ordination. While we don’t receive personal prophecies today, we all can be encouraged by God’s word. There he tells us that in Christ we have everything we need to face our callings with confidence and cheerfulness.