"6 In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following. 7 But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; 8 for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. 9 It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. 10 For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers."
Good Morning my beloved,
Welcome to worship this Lord's Day!
We are so glad to welcome our brothers and sisters from all around the world who come to join us today. Please lift one another up in prayer. If you have prayer requests or concerns, please let us know on our Prayer Wall, it is our honor and privilege to pray with and for you.
The greatest reason that people reject Jesus Christ, is because they love their sin and they hate having it exposed by the truth of God’s light.
Let us bow our heads in prayer.
Heavenly Father,
Father, thank You for this marvelous truth in Your Word for us today. We are so grateful for the precious gift of salvation. Grant us the knowledge and wisdom we need to grow deeper in our relationship with You. Lord, we pray for those who are being seduced by demonic spirits to believe a lie, we ask that You would do a mighty work in their minds, reveal the truth to them, clarifying any unclear thoughts. Raise up many faithful men and faithful women, give us the strength of Your Spirit to do what in the flesh would otherwise be an impossible task. Father, we pray that You would translate the words in this message to somehow become Life Saving Truth for those who desperately need to hear it. May it all be for Your glory!
In Christ's precious name
Amen
Today's Message: The Calling..
While it is true that we cannot control the attitudes and actions of others, we can however, make sure that we give no occasion for offense. I believe that the greatest single tool of a Christian, is the power of a godly example that others can see and follow. Are we living a life of faith worth passing on as our legacy?
There is no New Testament support for the office of pastor in the
modern sense of the term, that is of an individual who has any kind of control over a local church. Most certainly, not the type of pastor that is so prominent today; one who is more of a president
of a corporation, rather than the biblical model, a true proclaimer of the Word of God.
As we have learned in our study of this wonderful, instructional epistle, Paul speaks to Timothy about
matters that concern the shepherding of the flock, to help Timothy combat the novelties that existed at Ephesus, which, I believe, also speaks to many of the pastors today.
As I am sure that most of you are aware, that the pastorals epistles stress the points of right doctrine and right doing. As Christians, we must be prepared to follow Christ, whether anyone else does or not, pouring everything within us out for Christ in the present.
In Philippians 2:17, Paul said, "But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all."
Open with me your Bibles, to the fourth chapter in the Book First Timothy, today we will be studying verses 6 through 10.
I would like to encourage you to follow along with me as I read to you from our text. I Timothy 4:6-10.
"In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following. But
have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the
other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for
bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable
for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. For
it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on
the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers."
In verses 6-7, the Apostle Paul starts out with "In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following. But
have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women."
Here, Paul would have Timothy to instill into the minds of Christians,
sentiments that might prevent their being seduced by the Judaizers, the false
teachers. We read about the myths and old wives tales is in the Book of Genesis, when Jacob is trying to
increase his flock under Laban’s care. He puts notched sticks in front
of his goats believing the sticks will cause them to have black coated
offspring. They didn’t understand genetic science, as we do today. This was simply an
old wives tale.
Those of you have been in the Military, understand, you listened and obeyed the commands of your superior officers, it was not an option, you did not have a choice in selecting which commands you wanted to obey, and those in which you did not. So, when Commander-in-Chief is Almighty God Himself, and He commands us to "exercise yourself unto
Godliness," … we are to simply respond, "YES SIR!!!" This was not a suggestion, it was a command.
We live in a day and age where people have very little, if any, respect for authority. If you have a teenager, you are probably familiar with the feeling of being disrespected. I believe that part of the problem stems from teaching our children to value power and control so much that they now want it for themselves. I believe that whether we are speaking about a child, teenager or an adult, disrespectful words and actions are rude and show a lack of respect. I believe that the same is true with trust, loyalty, and faithfulness, as well as respect, these are of the utmost importance in any relationship. This is a primary factor in why so many marriages and relationships fail today. Many think nothing about how they have sabotaged their relationships by disrespecting others, and themselves.
The spread of such mischievous notions among the brethren is most
effectively discouraged by a demonstration in the person of the pastor
himself and of the positive teaching of the Gospel as it relates to practical life. Again, I believe this is a very large portion of the problem in the church today. Without proper example, and proper instruction, we cannot expect people to act as they are required according to God's standards.
Today, some easily get their feelings hurt, this also occurs in the church. They often get offended by the preacher, upset at the
church or angry at someone in the church, for calling out ungodly behavior. This gives many, what they feel, is a good excuse to justify why they've stop coming to church, to jump ship. However, the Bible tells us to "suffer reproach." I believe this is why it's so important to recognize the signs of disrespect early on, before they become out of control. It seems, that many parents today, leave parenting up to electronic devices, or others, who do not necessarily have the same beliefs and ideas about respect. Especially, in this extremely liberal, me minded culture, we find ourselves in today.
People tend to get upset easily, they literally get upset about anything and everything. They get mad at one another, they get mad at God, they even get mad at the devil! Whatever is wrong in their lives, is someone else's fault, but never their own. People would prefer to blame their parents, their partners or their boss, for the way they are being treated, rather than to acknowledge any wrong doing.
So, then in verse 8, the Apostle Paul writes, "for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come."
There are a number of otherwise, well-meaning people today, who often cite this verse, in defending their own inactivity. One area, I have heard this used, is in exercise. Their basic position seems to be that, since exercise "profits little," why bother at all. I would submit, that a Christian’s body belongs to the Lord and must be properly cared for and maintained.
I Corinthians 6:19-20, clearly tells us "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body."
So let's take a closer look at what Paul is saying. The "little" in the first part of the verse is contrasted with the “all
things” in the second part of the verse. Compared to godliness, or Christ likeness, which impacts one’s earthly and eternal existence, bodily
exercise pales in importance and benefit. Paul is warning against prioritizing poorly! That's the point. If society today, gave as much dedication and devotion to godliness as they do bodily exercise, focusing on being a better person inside, rather than physical aesthetics, not only would society be much different, but our churches would be much stronger! If we are going to be obsessive, fanatical about anything, let it be our service to God.
Romans 12:1-2 says it this way, "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."
"Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness." I find it to be interesting that the Greek word, "gumnaze," translated "discipline" in I Timothy 4:7-8, literally means "to train." Paul is instructing us as Christians to exercise godliness, for the unsurpassed value which it gives us.
In verse 9 he tells us " It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance." I am deeply disturbed that today, it seems as though most preachers today would rather preach on social injustice, equal rights, world peace or the short comings of a particular political party, than on personal salvation and godliness. Only godliness is the path to eternal life and happiness!
Here in verse 10, Paul tells us "For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers."
The Greek word Paul uses is "kopiōmen," meaning to grow weary, or toil. It comes from the root word kopos, and is used in secular Greek of "a beating," or "weariness," it was the proper word for physical tiredness induced by work. This is a summation of the truth that the Biblical church must teach. Christ shed His blood for all men. He did not exclude certain races or
categories of social status, but He welcomes all. If His grace is that good for all men,
even for those who reject Him, imagine how good it is for those who
believe. The phrase "Savior of all men" is unique in the Bible to this verse. Quite controversial, often misinterpreted, it clearly does not mean every person is saved in the sense that every
person goes to heaven. "Especially of believers" simply places an emphasis on Jesus Christ as
the Savior to believers, He is the One, True Living God.
In Closing...
Many critics today, delight in attacking plain statements made in Scripture and, I believe this to be for no good reason. While I do not find it to be necessary to dignify such unwarranted attacks by unbelievers with an answer, occasionally such an answer does enlighten, those who truly seek to understand.
Beloved, spiritual error is rarely due to simply oversight, or innocent mistakes. More often than not, it is due
to the conscious strategies of the spiritual enemies of God. The teachings
are of demons, and are false doctrines instigated by the father of lies, none other than Satan himself. Bear in mind, it is Satan, who is behind false teaching.
In John 8:44, Jesus said "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies." Satan does his best work by means of the hypocrisy of liars!
In contrast, then, one of the distinguishing marks of a true servant of God, is his honesty, integrity and truthfulness, upholding the Word of God. In short, he practices what he preaches. The world is full of liars, unbelievers, false teachers, essentially anything to mislead you and steer you away from God. The enemy attempts to destroy sound doctrine, distorting the truth to sound like a lie. We need to exercise our faith, train our spirit, building ourselves, and others, up on the Word of God.
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
and be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen