¶ Introduction and Opening Prayer
We're going to begin in 1 Timothy chapter 4. You can turn me down just a little bit. First Timothy chapter four, we're going to pick up where we left off down around verse six as we get into our study this morning. It's good to have everyone here and it is good to be home. Thank you. We missed being here, though we didn't miss the weather. It was a little abnormally warm up in Michigan. They were almost to the level of complaining about it. It was about 85 degrees.
and about 60 % humidity, so it was nearly unbearable. All right, let's begin with a word of prayer and then we'll get into our study. Our gracious Father in heaven, we bow before your throne, grateful for the day that you've granted to us, for the blessings that you have placed in front of us and the care that you show us each and every day. Lord, we are mindful of all of your many wonderful gifts, many wonderful blessings that you shower upon us, and we are grateful for all that you do for us.
We are most especially grateful for your Son who came and died on the cross for our sins, that we might have the hope of eternal life. We pray that we might live every single day in view of that hope. setting our life and our actions in accordance with your will that we might obtain that hope, that we might live out faithful lives in your service. Lord, we ask that when we sin and fall short of your glory that you will forgive us of those things.
We recognize that sometimes we sin and sometimes we sin again after we know that we've sinned and we pray that you're willing to forgive us as we know that you are willing as long as we are willing to repent. Lord, we pray for this nation. We pray for its leadership, for the choices that they make. We pray that the decisions that are made will be those which can be used to further your kingdom. and expand the borders of your kingdom by preaching and teaching the gospel.
We pray for peace in this country and throughout the world that we might be able to focus on ministering to the eternal needs of all those who are on this planet and not worried about wars and uh difficulties, yet we understand that those things are also normal in the course of human events. Lord, we pray that you be with us as we go through this period of worship and period of study this morning. all that we say and do be right and in accordance with your will.
In all this we ask and pray in Jesus' amen.
¶ Teaching Responsibilities of a Minister
Paul, as he's writing to Timothy, says in verse 6, if you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ. Now, picking up there, for those who may not have been in this class, that's not very helpful because these things refers to things he's already stated.
Let's take just a moment and examine a few of the things that Paul has discussed in this context that he's telling Timothy, if you preach these things, if you teach these things, you will be a good minister. Before we go into that though, what's the adverse of that? If you don't teach these things, what are you? a bad minister. It's not hard. If you do this you are, if you don't do it you're not.
So if you have an individual who stands in a pulpit week after week or even on occasion and says, well I understand that's what Paul wrote to Timothy and I understand that's what Paul told Timothy to teach, but things are different now. Then you know how to qualify him as a minister. He's a bad one because he won't teach the Word of God. He won't preach what Paul, through the work of the Holy Spirit, expressly and purposefully told Timothy, it was Timothy's responsibility to preach.
Now as you go back and look at all of the things that we're going to mention here in just a moment, you're going to realize if you think about it that if you preach all of these things and if a congregation teaches all of these things, there are going to be some people not happy. There are going to be some people who say, I don't agree with that and I don't think that ought to be taught.
There are a few of the topics and the subjects inside of the last two chapters that some preachers would refer to as moving sermons. In other words, you preach the sermon, go ahead and pack the truck because you're going to be moving. And yet, Paul says, Timothy, if you're going to be a good minister, in accordance with the Word of God, you are going to preach and teach these things. Go back into chapter 2.
And you'll notice that in chapter 2 and in verse 1, he says, uh Paul says if you're going to be a good minister, you are going to teach that Christians should pray for the good of all men, even rulers they don't agree with. When Paul writes to Timothy, there's a Roman Caesar on the throne. not one very favorable to Christianity and not one morally upright in any way shape or form. on top of that?
There's a Herod that is in charge in Israel, and yet Paul says you should pray for kings and for all who are in authority. But furthermore, he says, that those prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks should be made for all men. You know, there's a time not too far back in the history of this country where you would find some objections from members in the pew if you stood up and said a prayer for someone who was of a different color. never should have been that way, but it was.
You go back a couple of generations and you find that being the case. Now what if someone comes up this morning and in the midst of his prayer prays for the leadership and the people in Iran or Russia or China. we'd be fine with it if he specifically says for the Christians who are in Iran or Russia or China, but what if he just prays for the people in Afghanistan? Sometimes we approach our Christianity not from a biblical perspective, but from a national perspective.
And wherever there's a war and an enemy of the United States of America, we view them as an enemy of ourselves. Now are there people who do horrendous and horrible things that are those who are violent and should be opposed? Yes. Are there people and even whole nations and societies that have taught historically their people and their culture to hate others throughout the world? Yes. Does that make them any less people who God desires to be saved?
No. As a matter of fact, it makes them more poignantly those who we should be striving to reach with the gospel. Therefore, Paul says we should be praying for them. We should be making intercession for them. We should be giving thanks for them. And we should not be withholding our love, our care, our concern, our evangelistic efforts because of the nation, the race, or the culture, or the background of any individual on this planet.
But he also says, that if you go down just a little bit further, he says, verse 8, I desire therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting. In like manner also that women adorn themselves in modest apparel with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but which is proper for women professing godliness with good works. You want to stir up some strife in some congregations?
Start preaching about men being in the leadership role as given that responsibility by God and you're going to have some people who disagree with you. Who think that women should have the same role in the church, in leadership, because they're just as good as men are. But Paul says that that role is given to the men and the responsibility is given to the men and they are accountable for it. Therefore he taught Timothy to teach the men to fulfill the role.
But you want to stir up some more strife? While you're at it, teach that women ought to adorn themselves in modest apparel. and start defining what it actually means. Start showing what the Bible says about when a person is naked and should be ashamed and when they are appropriately clothed and holy. You're gonna start finding some people who don't agree with you. Think maybe you should find another job somewhere else.
But then he says, let a woman learn in silence with all submission and do not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man, but to be in silence. For Adam was formed first, then Eve, and Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived fell into transgression. Nevertheless, she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness with self-control.
as he goes again to the roles and the responsibilities within the body of Christ, specifically within the public assembly. He says it's the role of the man to be in the leadership, it's the role of the woman to adorn herself in a way that professes godliness, and it is the role of the woman in the assembly to learn in silence. doesn't mean she can't speak, doesn't mean she can't ask a question, it means it is not her role to lead in authority. And then he gets to chapter 3.
Chapter 3 he starts saying that elders have to be blameless. They have to desire the role of an elder. They must be the husband of one wife. They must be those who have faithful children. They must be those who have wives who meet certain characteristics. And then he discusses deacons and he says much the same thing and he mentions concerning both of them that neither of them are able or allowed to be given under the influence of wine. You start preaching those things.
You might just find someone who disagrees with you. But he goes on to say, these things I write to you shortly, verse 14 of chapter 3, But if I am delayed, I write to you that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and the ground of the truth." Why is it that Paul tells Timothy, you, if you're going to be a good minister of Jesus Christ, must preach and teach these things? And the answer is because
¶ The Importance of Sound Doctrine
if a minister doesn't or won't. then all they're building is a crumbling edifice to human opinion instead of the pillar and the ground of the truth.
So Paul tells Timothy, there's going to be some who are going to come along, and the Spirit has been clear on this, in the first century in the church in Ephesus, which Paul would later meet with on his way back to Jerusalem and remind them that he specifically had warned them that there would be false teachers that would rise up from the very eldership. He says the Spirit has spoken expressly. He has been very meticulously clear.
that false teachers, that there would be those who would uh depart from the faith giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from foods which God commanded or created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth for every creature of God is good and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving."
for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. Paul says there's going to be false teachers who are going to come along and they are going to use their historical beliefs, their doctrines from their old religions, and they're going to try and corrupt the church to draw away people after themselves.
The contrast of that is Timothy who he says, if you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed. Interestingly, we use a term, and the New Testament uses a term, for good doctrine. It's called sound doctrine. Now, we don't often use the word sound now, commonly in English, the way that that idea is being used.
The idea of sound doctrine is that which is wholesome, that which is good and right. If you were to study logic in the logic course at the Memphis School of Preaching, you will know that there are arguments which are technically in the structure correct. They have been laid out in the proper form. And they're a valid argument. If the premises are true, then they're a sound argument.
But if the premises that are the basis of the argument, whether it's technically valid or not, are untrue, the result is false and it is an unsound argument. Why? Not because the line or process of argumentation was wrong, but because of the premise that it was formed upon was false, untrue, making the argument unsound, unwholesome. It doesn't produce that which is good.
Paul says to Timothy, if you will instruct in these things and if you will nourish yourself in these things, if you will build yourself up into a healthy Christian by holding fast to the Word of God instead of the Word of men, you will be what God would have you to be. But he says if you're going to do that, you're going to have to be careful.
One of the things that we face in this world, Christians in every level of walk, they face the problem of there are some people who are giving far more thought to how to corrupt your spiritual life than you may be giving on how to keep your spiritual life. on a regular basis because of my technical background.
I deal with business owners, some of which have the problem of they have a staff member or they themselves who have at some point in time not observed that the email or the communication that came through was fraudulent and was malicious. and therefore they clicked on something or they signed into something and they have given someone who is a bad actor access to their entire business. and they start losing money pretty quick. Why is it that people are susceptible to those type of attacks?
We call them social engineering attacks. There was a time in which, back when Jack Dorsey owned Twitter, back when it was Twitter and not X, that Jack Dorsey's, as the CEO of the company, his own Twitter account got hacked and stolen from him. And they didn't do it by actually getting his information. They did it because they called up Verizon impersonating an individual connected to Jack and convinced Verizon to reroute his cell phone number to them instead of to him.
And then they triggered a two factor authentication code to come to them instead of to him. So through socially engineering that Verizon customer service representative, they got access to the head of the company's own Twitter account. What's my point?
There are people in this world, in this context, false teachers, that are spending far more time thinking about and planning how to corrupt people to follow after them than many Christians are on paying attention to make sure that they don't follow after men.
¶ Rejecting False Teachings
Paul tells Timothy that he needs to be careful as to how he follows the teaching he has received. One of the saddest things that I've observed happen, and it's not the fault of the schools, it's the fault of the individuals who it happens to. One of the saddest things that I've observed is guys go through a school of preaching and spend two or three years studying at the feet of men who are teaching them sound doctrine.
who are teaching them how to interpret the Bible, are teaching them how to open up, study for themselves, and properly understand the Scriptures. But because that student doesn't apply themselves to those proper uses of Scripture, they graduate, they go off on their own, they get started in a work in a congregation, and three or four years later, they're teaching nonsense. That's found nowhere in Scripture. And they're arguing and resting the Scriptures to their own destruction. Why?
because they weren't careful about what they learned. They weren't careful about who they learned it from. They weren't perceptive concerning what was going on. And so they wander off into false teaching. Now, I want to point out that that's not new. That's been happening since the first century. Go back to chapter 1 verse 18. The precursor to this entire discussion, what we're trying to do in this moment in the class right now is to take this entire section and go, look.
Paul introduced this with false teachers. Paul's reminding them about false teachers and Timothy about false teachers, therefore sandwiched in the middle what Paul has said is you must teach these things and you can't give over to false teachers. Chapter 1 of 1 Timothy.
Verse 18, charge this charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, having faith and a good conscience which some having rejected concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander whom I delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme. Paul started this entire discussion with two individuals who were specifically causing individuals to blaspheme.
To teach that which was in direct opposition to what God said. So as you go through this text, understand, Paul set up this discussion by introducing Hymenaeus and Alexander. Now he's reminded Timothy that the Spirit was very clear that this was going to happen. And so he's reinforcing with Timothy. Here's how you avoid this happening to you. You reject these things. You nourish yourself up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, which you have carefully followed.
He says, I know what you've done in the past. Keep doing it. every single one of those students that I just mentioned in discussion had been taught how to do it right. The only reason they went off into error is because they stopped doing what they had been taught and started doing and directing their actions based upon their own wisdom or the teaching of others. Paul says, verse 7, but reject profane and old wives' fables and exercise yourself toward godliness.
As Paul addresses Timothy, he says, there are things that you must entirely reject. was watching, sometimes as you're scrolling, you get some random things on social media. Just so happened to scroll through one thing last night and saw an interview that was happening years ago, about 13 years ago with an individual back when uh the Huffington Post had first gone live and everything. And they were interviewing a guy who I think some tech association, which is probably how it ended up in my feed.
But here is a guy who is an American. who is living in America, and he was stating that the only way there would ever be any change in America is we needed to start killing some of the politicians. And he's saying this in a live video interview. and the host who's a younger guy sitting over there had no expectation the guy was going to say that.
I he wasn't interviewing him because of that, was interviewing him because of some other thing entirely and this comes out of his mouth and you could tell that this young man had a really hard time saying that is the stupidest thing I've ever heard come out of anyone's mouth. and he could not defend the sanity of the position of, executing politicians is probably not the path we need to take. So he tried to boil it down to, kind of just disagree with you. No!
That's what some people do with doctrine. Well, I understand that's what you think, but... Yes, yeah, I can see how you would come to that conclusion. I just feel like it's a little... Stop that. Now, it's important to remember, as Rob pointed out, especially when you're teaching and uh working in evangelism, that there are some conversations that you should not have. There are some discussions that you should not participate in because the other person's not ready to have the discussion.
They have no... background of basis in God's Word to have the discussion. Not saying that there are not times to avoid discussions. There are. Jesus did it on a regular basis. Jesus was asked a question and didn't answer it. Turned around and asked a different question because the question did not prove to be valuable, or it was falsely based, or it was intended to confuse the other people who were listening.
So there's appropriateness in understanding what we should and should not discuss with someone, but we should never back away from rejecting false doctrine. Paul doesn't say, You know, there are some people who will teach some things that you maybe don't agree with and you can just move on. He doesn't say that. He says reject. That is an action that you do. That is something that you are acti- in. That is a pushing back against these things actively.
He says reject profane and old wives fables and exercise. Here's the contrast. He says if you're going to reject those things, what should you be doing instead? He says you ought to be exercising yourself toward godliness.
¶ The Value of Spiritual Exercise
Turn over to Hebrews. what's going on but it happens. Hebrews chapter 5 verse 12. The Hebrew writer writing to these Christians says, For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.
But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." The Hebrew writer says that if you're going to mature as a Christian, if you're going to reach the point of being able to teach others as you ought, you are going to have to exercise your mind concerning good and evil. But too often, individuals want to be spoon-fed. They want to be milked along instead of growing up to be mature.
Because they don't want to have to understand good and evil for themselves. They don't want to have to discern between what is profane and what is holy. And so they continue on without any exercise. He says, reject profane and old wise fables and exercise yourself toward godliness. But bodily exercise profits a little. All right, switch me over to this microphone. I don't know what's going on. Test one.
Okay. He says, sorry, verse eight, for bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things. As he tells Timothy, you need to exercise yourself toward godliness. You need to actively consider God's word, the doctrine that you have been taught, the things that you have been delivered to get closer every day to God, to become more like Him, to become more like His nature, to understand things and see things the way He does.
when you think about the fact that most false doctrines originate from someone who has rejected God's view on a matter. They have determined in their own mind, in their own evaluation, that God's judgment on that matter can't possibly be the right answer. So they start twisting the Scriptures. They start trying to explain away what God has said. They start trying to argue, well, I know that's what it says, but I understand it this way.
When pressed on it for why they should, from the Scriptures, understand it that way, usually they don't have an answer. other than eventually you get down to, don't agree with God's statement. There were those who came to Jesus who were Sadducees. They came to Jesus and they asked Jesus concerning a woman who married a husband. The husband died. She married his brother, the brother died. She married his brother, the brother died.
Seven husbands, seven brothers, a bride for seven brothers anyway, uh seven brothers, all of them dead. And the Sadducees came to Jesus and said, whose wife will she be in the resurrection? Why did they ask the question? What was the Sadducees' doctrine concerning the resurrection? They didn't believe in the resurrection. They didn't believe there was a resurrection. And they considered their scenario to be proof that the ideas concerning a resurrection were fallacious, were false.
What was Jesus's answer to them, His very first statement in reaction to their proposed scenario? All right, takes them back to the scripture but says, you do not know the power of God. You do not understand anything about what you're speaking about. Jesus holds them to the Word, not their opinions about the Word. He holds them to the instructions of Scripture, not their thoughts about Scripture. He holds them to what the text actually says, not their learned traditions about what it says.
And Paul tells Timothy, you reject profane teaching. Paul will later have to deal with this same doctrine in the church in Corinth. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, Paul deals with the resurrection. Why is he dealing with the resurrection? Because there were some in Corinth teaching that there was no resurrection. And Paul says, if there is no resurrection, then Christ is not raised. And if Christ is not raised, then you are of all men most miserable. Why?
Because you're putting your hope and your faith in Christ, and He's dead and in the grave. That would be a doctrine that was profane. It was in direct violation of the Word of God, yet there were Christians teaching it. You do not go along to get along with false doctrine. You reject it. But he further says, old wives' fables. What could we categorize as old wives' fables? Does Paul just have some sort of opposition to older married women? Is that what's going on here?
No. What's the idea here of old wives' fables? stories with no factual basis, falsehoods, traditions. Yeah? ah The idea that there's some individual over here who's got a special spiritual connection, and we ought to place our faith and our trust in that person and their spiritual connection. The idea of, uh as would have been common under the pagan religions, you have individuals who are the uh spiritual leader of the village or the community. yet they have no revelation from God.
you would sometimes find a community where there's an older woman who, whenever she says, goes. She's the matriarch. And she doesn't base it in truth. She doesn't base it in fact. She bases it based upon what she believes. Paul says, don't let that happen. You don't allow those things to continue. He says, reject profane and old wise fables and exercise yourself toward godliness, for bodily exercise profits a little. It is good to do physical things.
One of my least favorite things in the entire world is to be stuck sitting in a chair day after day after day after day. And whenever we were in school, because when you're in school, especially in school of preaching, you don't really have a whole lot of choice. You're stuck in a chair studying in class, doing one thing or another that involved you being stuck behind a desk.
And one of the things that was my favorite thing to do whenever the opportunity would arise is someone would say, Hey, brother or sister so-and-so needs help on their house or some something needs to be done at the church building. Work that was physical needed to be done. And there were a number of us who I went to school with who were like, we're game, we're there, just tell us when. We just need something physical to do. We need some manual labor to get out from behind these books.
Paul tells Timothy, bodily exercise is profitable a little. Why is bodily exercise only profitable a little? Mm-hmm. Because you're only going to be on this earth for a while. And like it or not, entropy is the answer. You are going to run down. You are going to wear out. You are going to do all that you can to keep up with entropy, but entropy is going to win. in this physical existence.
So it is profitable, and he's not denying that, but he wants to focus Timothy's attention on the fact that while that is temporarily profitable, is profitable a little, godliness is profitable for all things. all areas because godliness is a long-term gain and yes you can benefit a lot from exercise, from physical health, taking care yourself, but it's not got Yes, there's both the view of the amount that it impacts you, but also the duration. It is profitable temporarily.
If you don't continue in that bodily exercise, are you going to see the long-term gains and benefits of it? No. If I decide, I'm going to exercise one day a year, it's going to be profitable a little bit, not much. If you say, I'm going to live and base my entire life around my physical, bodily exercise. how much you're going to be profited by that. You still gonna die? Yeah, you are.
This is just me, but I see people on a regular basis, usually guys who are starting to get into their thirties going, man, I got to push back. I got to start exercising. I don't, I want to, you know, get old and fat and they start exercising and they look at everything they eat and they start. focusing day in and day out all the time on everything being about their physical body. How long does it last? I give them a decade. going to keep you from getting hit by a car.
Sometimes the people who spend all their time focusing on bodily exercise injure themselves to an extreme degree through their bodily exercise. They'd have been better off sitting on the couch. And yet, Paul's point isn't to discuss the value of the bodily exercise. It is to contrast the bodily exercise, which is necessary and a part of what God has built our bodies to need, to emphasize that you have a soul and a spirit that needs spiritual exercise infinitely more.
And the returns on the spiritual exercise are infinitely better because he says they're profitable in all things. You want to go be a school teacher? Godliness will help you. You want to be a parent of a child? Godliness will help you. You want to teach people who are lost the gospel? Godliness will help you You want to be a faithful Christian till the day you die? Godliness will help you. You want to influence others in business, godliness will help you.
It's amazing how many business self-help books there are that when you boil down a lot of the fluff, come down to five or six biblical principles that if you had just applied the Bible to your business, you would have been miles ahead. Why? Because the God who created the universe that we live in said, if you'll be more like me, if you'll think more like me, if you'll act more like me, trust me, it will help you.
¶ Conclusion and Final Thoughts
And if you decide to focus entirely on this physical existence... You might see some short-term gains, but you're going to see some long-term losses because that will only profit you for a while. All right? Thank you for your attention.