1 Timothy 1:18b

(18b) “…in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you…”

God’s given Timothy, and pastors, and to some degree Christians a job: apply all of the Gospel to all of the lives of all of God’s people. And then he says that this command is in agreement with prophecies that were at some point made about Timothy.

Of course this raises a bunch of questions. What prophecies about Timothy? What does that mean to us? I got no prophecy! Or did I?

We need to answer the first question first to see how to apply this phrase to our own lives – what prophecies about Timothy?

From this verse we learn that the prophecies made about Timothy are about his charge to safeguard the Gospel in the Church.

1 Timothy 4:14 says, “Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you.”

So, at some point a council of elders in a church laid hands on Timothy. There was prophecy at this point – and that prophecy resulted in Timothy being given a ‘gift.’

The gift is hinted at in the context. 4:12, 13: “set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity…devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.” And verse 15: “Practice these things…”

So it seems as if the gift is significantly tied to Timothy’s charge. He’s to preach the word. He’s to apply the Gospel in the life of the Church. He’s to be a pastor!

Further, in 2 Timothy 1:6, God said through Paul to Timothy, “…fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands…”

It doesn’t seem as if Paul would be talking about something different here – he’s assuming Timothy knows what he’s talking about. And in the context here, it’s again about Timothy’s ministry role.

And here we see Paul not mentioning the elders – which is still an office that we have – but talking about his own role in giving Timothy the gift. And Paul’s an apostle. And all the apostles are dead. So we may have something that was unique happening to Timothy.

So what happened here? 1) Timothy was chosen to be an evangelist and pastor. 2) Paul, the apostle, and the elders, instilled him and appointed him as such. 3) When that happened, prophecies were made about Timothy regarding his courageously proclaiming and applying the Gospel to God’s people. 4) Those prophecies resulted in Timothy being equipped by God to carry out God’s mission.

We’re going to see some things similar to our present situation and some things that are different.

Similarities: we still have evangelists and pastors. They still need to be appointed. God still gives people gifts for the sake of ministry – ministry happens because of the Spirit’s work in his people.

Differences: the apostles are dead. We can’t expect prophecies to be made about us – there’s no promise about that in Scripture. And so we shouldn’t expect gifts to be given through prophecy.

Okay, so how can we apply this to our lives?

1) The roles of evangelist and pastor are roles that need to be granted through the local Church.
2) That, by the way, means that parachurch agencies should not be ‘sending’ people into the roles which exercise authority in believers’ lives. That’s the Church’s job, under the authority of elders. Admittedly, I didn’t do this completely right the first time around. Praise God for the non-imputation of sin. And if you don’t know what that means, you should ask.
3) These roles given by the local Church are to be looked at by those in them for assurance in carrying out the task. In other words, when we’re weak, when we are shy, we need to look back at what the Church, by the authority of Scripture, has called us to do. And then we need to do it.
4) That implies that all these roles are ultimately given by Scripture – not with specificity to individuals – but in terms of task. We now don’t operate according to prophecy, but according to Scriptural command.
5) And that’s a very good thing. We have God’s very word which describes what we’re to do for his glory. Thank God!
6) We need to encourage each other in whatever roles God has granted to us with Scripture.
7) We need to boldly step into the responsibilities that God has given us in Scripture.

How do we sum all this up? We’re to look to Scripture for courage in whatever role God has put us in, and to the authority of the Church in applying Scripture, so that we will boldly apply the Gospel to God’s people so that love will spring from us because of the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives.

Prayer:

Father, thank you for your word. Thank you that you have both given us responsibilities and the power, through the Spirit, to carry them out. We get scared, and we’re sorry for that. Cause us to rest on the promises in your word and to be bold for the sake of the Gospel always. Cause us to be dependent on you – we can’t be responsible by our own strength. Use us for your glory. Give us wisdom in appointing people to the position of pastor – and give our pastors wisdom in exercising authority in your Church.

Make Jesus known among us and through us and from us and to us, for the sake of his great glory. Amen.