Last week, we began looking at 1 Timothy 4:6-16, where Paul charged
Timothy to “train,” or discipline himself for godliness in
order to work out his salvation and to protect his hearers. We saw in verses 6-10 how important spiritual
discipline is to a Christian’s growth. They
are infinitely more important to our spiritual lives than physical discipline and
training are to an athlete.
1
Timothy 4:10 shows us that for a
believer, the gospel awakens a deep passion to know God and to make Him known. It sets our “hearts on fire.” This is what I mean when I say that the gospel
shapes our spiritual growth. My prayer again
today is that God would so kindle a passion for Himself in your hearts that you
would give yourself over to the spiritual disciplines. Last week, verses 6-10 charged us to answer the call to spiritual discipline,
and today we’ll see verses 11-16 charges us to apply the practice of spiritual disciplines:
[6] If you put these things before the
brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the
words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed.
[7] Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself
for godliness; [8] for while bodily training is of some value, godliness
is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for
the life to come. [9] The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full
acceptance. [10] For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our
hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of
those who believe.
[11] Command
and teach these things. [12] Let no one despise you for your youth, but
set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in
purity. [13] Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of
Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. [14] Do not neglect the gift you
have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their
hands on you. [15] Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so
that all may see your progress. [16] Keep a close watch on yourself and on
the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and
your hearers. (1 Timothy 4:6-16)
From verses 6-16 we see 12 imperatives, or
commands, that mostly occur in pairs. 10
of those commands occur in verses 11-16 as the specific disciplines that will
lead to godliness and so “save” Timothy
and his hearers. Now, here’s how we need
to think through these disciplines: we must understand that they are given to a pastor to protect himself and his congregation and then think
through why these commands are being
given in order to identify the specific spiritual disciplines being admonished. For example, if public teaching (13) is a discipline that pastors are to give
themselves to in order to protect their hearers, then the application for a lay
person would be to make it a discipline to sit
under public teaching in order to be protected. If we approach this text that way, there are
at least six spiritual disciplines that I see at work in these 12 commands. Think
of these as “spiritual exercises.”
I.
The Discipline of Abstinence (7a)
Paul tells Timothy in verse 7 to “have nothing to do with irreverent, silly
myths” (see 1:4 too). This is a command to have nothing to do with
false teaching. The discipline we see
here is that of abstaining from
anything that would be counterproductive to
our growth as a Christian. See, as a
Christian, there are certain doctrines, certain teachers, and certain other
things that we simply need to abstain from, much like an athlete would want to
cut certain foods out of their diet when training. They are like “spiritual junk food.” Sometimes certain people are not good for us
to be around constantly. We live in a
world full of spiritually sick people, but some of those people are contagious and aren’t good for us. What teachings, teachers, activities,
indulgences, or people to you need to make it a discipline of abstaining from?
II.
The Discipline of Teaching and Learning
Scripture (11,13)
Paul charges Timothy to “command and teach these things” in verse 11. In the context of this
passage, “these things” would be the
warning of 4:1-5 and the charge to
so hope in God that we would train for godliness in 4:6-16. Paul also charges Timothy in
verse 13 to “devote” himself to “the public reading of Scripture, to
exhortation, and to teaching.” In
Paul’s time this was particularly important because most believers didn’t have
access to a copy of the Bible. So when
the church gathered corporately, they were to read Scripture aloud for the learning of the congregation. But not only were the Scriptures to be read,
they were also to be Scriptures taught and preached. This is what is meant by “exhortation” and “teaching.”
Now this charge first shows us what God’s expectation for pastors is:
to devote themselves to equipping their people in the Scriptures. Paul clearly states here that a pastor’s devotion to this discipline will train him
and his people for godliness and so save
them. Commands like these are why we
take teaching the Bible so seriously here at Dry Creek.
This charge also shows us what God’s expectation for a congregation is: to learn the Scriptures. From Paul’s charge to Timothy to teach scripture we see the need for the
congregation to be learning
scripture. This is why I have called this discipline teaching and learning
Scripture.
Now there are a multitude of applications
concerning this discipline, and honestly, we live in a place and in a time
where there is simply no excuse for
not learning Scripture. There is a
plethora not only of Bibles available today but also of quality resources about
the Bible. We have some of the greatest
works of the greatest theologians and teachers in the history of the church
available in print and electronic format.
As I said, there is no excuse for not learning Scripture.
This text however, is dealing with one specific
application of the discipline learning scripture in particular: sitting under preaching and teaching of
the Bible on a consistent basis. Let me
ask you: is this a discipline for
you? Do you plan church around your week
or your week around church? This speaks
volumes about your desire to learn Scripture.
I’d like to challenge you to make four contexts a reality in your life
every week: that you would be learning Scripture in the context of the whole
congregation (Sunday mornings), that you would be learning or teaching
Scripture in the context of a small group (Sunday School, Community Group,
Bible Study, etc.), that you would learning or teaching Scripture in the
context of a mentoring relationship (one-on-one or small group), and that you
would be learning Scripture in the context of a daily quite time with the Lord
in His Word. It really all comes down to
whether or not we believe the words of Jesus in Matthew 4:4, quoting Deuteronomy
8:13, that “Man shall not live by
bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Beg God to give you a hunger for His
Word.
III.
The Discipline of Example (12)
Paul tells Timothy to not let anyone despise him
for his youth, but to “set the believers
an example.” Stereotypes and
presuppositions abound in Paul’s day just as they do in ours. Certain behavior was and is just deemed
normal for young people. This is why we
often say that young people are just “being teenagers!”
But notice how this pair works together. Think about it: how do you “let no one
despise you” for something that they are predisposed to despise you for? That’s like changing someone’s disposition
towards a food that they despised. That’s
almost impossible! How do you make them
like it? You have to make it taste good.
The only way you can change a person’s perception
of a demographic is by setting a godly
example: in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity. You have to make it taste good!
Young people are not the only people who are
stereotyped in our culture and this discipline reminds us that our lives are
not our own and that it does matter what people think about us. By God’s grace, live in a way that earns and demands the respect of others. Young people, don’t just “be a
teenager!” By God’s grace, be an
exception. What an encouragement to know
that the gospel CAN change us in such a way that we can change people’s
perceptions about us!
IV.
The Discipline of Developing Spiritual
Giftedness (14)
Paul charged Timothy not to neglect his “gift.”
The rest of this verse is probably a reference to Timothy’s “ordination”
and that he was given this gift “by
prophecy” simply means that someone who had the gift of prophecy spoke
ahead of time about Timothy’s gift of preaching and teaching. The main point here is that Timothy was not
to neglect God’s gifting in his spiritual growth. He was to cooperate with God in developing that giftedness.
This truth is applicable to all believers. If you are a Christian, you are a gifted
member of the body of Christ. We should
all seek to discover and develop the spiritual gifts, talents,
abilities that God has entrusted to us. Believers
must not neglect their gifts as part of the corporate body, for when we neglect
our gifts, the whole body suffers.
V.
The Discipline of Diligence (15)
We see in verse 15 that diligence involves two
things: practice and passion. Timothy is told to “practice these things” and to “immerse”
himself in them. Paul is referring to
these very spiritual disciplines in this portion of Scripture. Timothy is to repeatedly and wholly give
himself to these disciplines. This is the way he will arrive at the example
that vs. 12 called him to set.
The discipline of diligence is much like an
athletic drill. Drills utilize the
principle of repetition in forming
proper habits. But drills are only as
effective as the passion we bring to them. If done whole-heartedly, they train our bodies
to doing things naturally that we wouldn’t do naturally. And this is beauty of spiritual discipline:
it causes us to live in a way that we wouldn’t naturally. The question before you today is whether or
not you are willing to give yourself repeatedly
and wholly to these disciplines. They are not something you try for a week and
throw in the towel because you don’t see instant results. Diligence is required.
VI.
The Discipline of Self-Examination (16)
Timothy was to keep a “close watch” on (1) himself and (2) his teaching; and was to “persist” doing so. This is the discipline of self-examination
and we see that it is something that is to be done persistently. This discipline is a way of taking spiritual
inventory periodically in our lives. Now
we may not like self-examination any more than we like going to the doctor, but
doing so on a regular basis will save our life.
Accountability is probably the most practical way
to keep a close watch on yourself and your belief’s. This can be done with another believer or
group of trusted believers. One way that
we seek to facilitate self-examination as a church is by taking the Lord’s
Supper once a month. Ideally, this
should cause every active member of our congregation to take spiritual
inventory every month.
Don Whitney gives a convicting example of how
George Whitfield would use his journal to examine himself on a daily basis (see
pg. 204-205). How are you keeping a
close watch on yourself and your doctrine?
Please don’t be so proud as to think that you are the exception to being
prone to wander. You’re not.
Paul tells Timothy that persistence in these
disciplines will save both Timothy
and hearers. This means “save” in its normal sense: eternal
rescue from God’s wrath by His justifying, sanctifying, and glorifying us. This is not teaching a works-based salvation,
but means that giving ourselves to the spiritual disciplines is part of every believer’s
sanctification and that training ourselves for godliness proves that we are on
our way to heaven. The disciplines are
part of how we work out our salvation with fear and trembling. But notice they are not only how we work out
our own salvation, they are a way that we impact the salvation of others. This is specifically applicable to a pastor,
but also parents and other leaders as well.
Do you want your kids to go to heaven?
Do You? Then give yourselves to
the spiritual disciplines.
One final item that I want to point out about
these disciplines is their corporate
nature. Hardly any of the
disciplines that we mentioned today can be practiced alone. How does one set an
example alone? You can’t! Spiritual gifts are corporate gifts in
nature. They are meant to be used as
part of the body as a whole. You can’t
develop them on your own. What is the
point of diligence? So that all may see your progress! Sure, you can learn scripture alone, but this
passage charges us to do so as a body. And
finally, how does one effectively look after themselves and their teaching
alone? It can be done, but we are much
more prone to miss and excuse things when we are looking at
ourselves than when others are looking into and speaking into our lives as
well. So a MAJOR implication of this
chapter is that we train our selves for godliness TOGETHER. May God grant us
passion both to train ourselves for godliness and to do so together.
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