Three characteristics of Biblical love and truth

These are my notes from My pastor's exposition a while back of 1st Timothy. I know I can't put it back together from my notes like he put it but I hope that I can record and convey the gist of the content of this sermon. We started out with 1Tim 1:1-7:

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions. 1Tim 1:1-7; ESV)

Paul had told Timothy to stay at Ephesus to be a good steward of orthodox teachings - don't get sidetracked by inessentials. The core of this is V5, highlighted above. Paul gives three characteristics of Biblical love:

1. a pure heart
2. a good conscience
3. sincere faith

...and Paul states that some people stray from these characteristics as they stray from true doctrine (reaching of truth) because truth and love are connected. Teaching wrong doctrine is untruth that can only spring from un-love because wrong doctrine is about destroying lives and souls eternally.
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It can't have been a pleasant or easy mission that Paul gave Timothy - to stay at Ephesus and straighten out their theology. (The last thing anyone ever wants is to have their theology straightened out!) But to fail to do it would be un-love that would spring from a bad heart, conscience, and faith.

Joke

Our Homeschoolers' Organization's Spanish teacher told this joke at the meeting last night:

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A couple of men were arguing about religion. One said, "Jesus is black." The other insisted, "Jesus is white." They went back and forth, neither budging from his position. About a week later they both died and when they got to heaven they saw Jesus and he came right up to them and said, "Buenos dias, amigos!"

In this unlighted cave, one step forward...

One of my friends wrote something a while back that reminded me of one of my favorite poems of all time.  It is by Edna St. Vincent Millay and the title is Progress (I think).

We have gone too far; we do not know how to stop; impetus
Is all we have. And we share it with the pushed Inert.

We are clever, -- we are as clever as monkeys; and some of us
Have intellect, which is our danger, for we lack intelligence
And have forgotten instinct.

Progress -- progress is the dirtiest word in the language--who ever told us --
And made us believe it - - that to take a step forward was necessarily, was always
A good idea? In this unlighted cave, one step forward
That step can be the down-step into the Abyss.
But we, we have no sense of direction; impetus
Is all we have; we do not proceed, we only
Roll down the mountain,
Like disbalanced boulders, crushing before us many
Delicate springing things, whose plan it was to grow.

Clever, we are, and inventive, -- but not creative;
For, to create, one must decide -- the cells must decide -- what form,
What colour, what sex, how many petals, five, or more than five,
Or less than five.

But we, we decide nothing: the bland Opportunity
Presents itself, and we embrace it, -- we are so grateful
When something happens which is not directly War;
For we think -- although of course, now we very seldom
Clearly think--
That the other side of War is Peace.

We have no sense; we only roll downhill. Peace
Is the temporary beautiful ignorance that War
Somewhere progresses.

As if we could stand face to face...

Something interesting (to me) jumped out at me in Sunday school this morning.  It is sort of tangential to the lesson, but we were reading Job 1 as an example of Satan being bound by God - unable to afflict us unless first given permission.

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.  The LORD said to Satan, "From where have you come?" Satan answered the LORD and said, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it."  And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?"  Then Satan answered the LORD and said, "Does Job fear God for no reason?  Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.  But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face." (Job 1:6-11)

It is apparent here that Satan is working to diminish God's glory but I thought it was interesting that Satan suggested that Job would curse God 'to his face.'

As if one of us could stand face to face with God.

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That really sets up the end of Job ("Where were you when I...")