The Christ Church Wednesday Bible Study Group is studying Paul's pastoral Epistles (Letters) to his proteges, Timothy and Titus.
In previous sessions we studied the qualifications for the spiritual leaders of the local church. We talked about qualifications for the elder, bishop, overseer, pastor and deacons. In this session we now look specifically at the leader of the church you could call him elder, bishop, overseer, of pastor. (for purposes of our study, we will call him the pastor). We have looked at the qualifications for the office and now we look at the specific qualities the pastor must have to lead the local church. Those qualities are that he must confront false teaching through preaching the Word, he must the practice what he preaches, through constantly striving to spirit exercise like and athlete staves to stay in peak condition for competition
While You’re Waiting
Harvest Ministries with Greg Laurie
In addition to waiting, we should be working. Every now and then, someone predicts that Jesus will return on a specific date. People believe these predictions and start quitting their jobs or divorcing their spouses.
But that is not what we should be doing as we wait for the return of Christ. Instead, we should be working for Him.
The Bible says, “Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works” (James 2:26 NLT).
If watching is the evidence of faith, then working is the evidence of faith in action. Watching for the Lord’s return will help us prepare our own lives. But working will ensure that we bring others with us to Heaven.
The great British preacher C. H. Spurgeon said, “It is a very blessed thing to be on the watch for Christ. . . . You can be poor without murmuring; you can be rich without worldliness; you can be sick without sorrowing; you can be healthy without presumption. If you are always waiting for Christ’s Coming, untold blessings are wrapped up in that glorious hope.”
When you live in the anticipation of Christ’s return, it’s a happy way to live.
Qualities of the spiritual leader of the local church, the pastor.
A Good Minister, Preaching the Word (4:1–6)
A pastor preaches regularly, performs weddings and other Christian services, visits the sick, and counsels the distressed. But what is his ministry, and what kind of person must he be to fulfill his God-given ministry?
Paul emphasized the character and the work of the minister himself; and he listed three qualities that a minister must possess if he is to be successful in serving God.
First of all a pastor must preach the Word of God to combat any false teaching and doctrines.
Paul had warned the Ephesian elders that false teachers would invade the church
Acts 20:28-31 NIV [28] Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. [29] I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. [30] Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. [31] So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.
When Paul wrote this letter they had arrived. The Holy Spirit had spoken in specific terms about these teachers, and the prophecy was starting to be fulfilled in Paul’s time. And it is certainly being fulfilled in our own time! We can recognize false teachers by the description Paul gave Timothy.
1 Timothy 4:1-6 NIV [1] The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. [2] Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. [3] They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. [4] For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, [5] because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer. [6] If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished on the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed.
So let's break this paragraph down.
They are energized by Satan (v. 1a).
1 Timothy 4:1 NIV [1] The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
It's interesting to note that this is the only place where demons are mentioned in the Pastoral Epistles.
Satan is an imitator; he has his own ministers and doctrines, and seeks to deceive God’s people and lead them astray.
2 Corinthians 11:13-15 NIV [13] For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. [14] And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. [15] It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.
2 Corinthians 11:3 NIV [3] But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
The first test of any religious doctrine is what it says about Jesus Christ.
1 John 4:1-6 NIV [1] Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. [2] This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, [3] but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. [4] You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. [5] They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. [6] We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.
It comes as a shock to some people that Satan uses professed Christians in the church to accomplish his work. But Satan once used Peter to try to lead Jesus on a wrong path.
Matthew 16:21-23 NIV [21] From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. [22] Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” [23] Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
Paul warned that false teachers would arise from within the church.
Acts 20:30 NIV [30] Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.
1 Timothy 4:1 NIV [1] The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
The goal of false teachers is to seduce people and get them to depart from the faith. These false teachers do not try to build up the church or direct people to the Lord Jesus Christ in a deeper way. Instead, they want to get people to follow them and join their groups and promote their programs. This is one difference between a true church and a religious cult: A true church seeks to win converts to Jesus Christ and to build them spiritually; conversely, a cult proselytizes, steals converts from others, and makes them servants (even slaves!) of the leaders of the cult. But beware that not all apostates are in cults. An apostate is someone who willful turns away from the truth of the Christian faith so some of them, in fact a lot of them, are in churches and pulpits, teaching false doctrine and leading people astray.
They are hypocrites (v. 2).
1 Timothy 4:2 NIV [2] Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.
These false teachers preach one thing but practice another. They tell their disciples what to do, but they do not do it themselves.
Matthew 7:15-20 NIV [15] “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. [16] By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? [17] Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. [18] A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. [19] Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. [20] Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
One of the marks of a true servant of God is his honesty and integrity: He practices what he preaches. This does not mean he is sinlessly perfect, but that he sincerely seeks to obey the Word of God and maintain a good conscience.
1 Timothy 4:2 NIV [2] Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.
The word seared means “cauterized.” Just as a person’s flesh can be “branded” so that it becomes hard and without feeling, so a person’s conscience can be deadened. Whenever we affirm with our lips something that we deny with our lives (whether people know it or not), we deaden our consciences just a little more.
An apostate is not just wrong doctrinally; he is wrong morally. His personal life became wrong before his doctrines were changed. In fact, it is likely that he changed his teachings so that he could continue his sinful living and pacify his conscience. Believing and behaving always go together.
They deny God’s Word (vv. 3–5).
1 Timothy 4:3-5 NIV [3] They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. [4] For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, [5] because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.
The false teachers in Ephesus combined Jewish legalism with Eastern asceticism. For one thing, the false teachers taught that an unmarried life was more spiritual than a married life, which is contrary to Scripture. “It is not good that the man should be alone” are God’s own words.
Jesus put His seal of approval on marriage (Matt. 19:1–9), though He pointed out that not everybody is supposed to marry.
Matthew 19:3-12 NIV [3] Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?” [4] “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ [5] and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? [6] So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” [7] “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?” [8] Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. [9] I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.” [10] The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.” [11] Jesus replied, “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. [12] For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.”
Paul also affirmed the biblical basis for marriage, teaching that each person should follow the will of God in the matter. 1 Corinthians chapter 7.
Beware of any religious teaching that tampers with God’s institution of marriage. And beware of any teaching that tampers with God’s creation. The false teachers who were infecting the Ephesian church taught that certain foods were taboo; if you ate them, you were not spiritual. The fact that God called His own creation “good” did not interest these teachers. Their authority to dictate diets gave them power over their converts.
Jesus stated that all foods are clean
Mark 7:18-23 NIV [18] “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? [19] For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.) [20] He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. [21] For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, [22] adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. [23] All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”
He taught this lesson again to Peter (Acts 10) and reaffirmed it through Paul (1 Cor. 10:23–33).
A person may not be able to eat certain foods for physical reasons (an allergy, for example), but no food is to be rejected for spiritual reasons. We should not, however, use our freedom to eat and drink to destroy weaker Christians.
Romans 14:13-18 NIV [13] Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. [14] I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. [15] If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died. [16] Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil. [17] For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, [18] because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval.
The food we eat is sanctified (set apart, devoted to God) when we pray and give thanks; so the Word of God and prayer turn even an ordinary meal into a spiritual service for God’s glory.
1 Corinthians 10:31 NIV [31] So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
Paul reminded young Timothy of his great responsibility to study, teach, and preach the Scriptures, and to spend time in prayer. As a “good minister” he must be “nourished up in the words of faith”
1 Timothy 4:6 NIV [6] If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished on the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed.
The “good minister” preaches the Word that he himself feeds on day by day.
But it is not enough to preach the Word; he must also practice it.
Just as a Greek or Roman athlete had to refuse certain things, eat the right food, and do the right exercises, so a Christian should practice “spiritual exercise.” If a Christian puts as much energy and discipline into his spiritual life as an athlete does into his game, the Christian grows faster and accomplishes much more for God.
1 Timothy 4:7-12 NIV [7] Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. [8] For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. [9] This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. [10] That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe. [11] Command and teach these things. [12] Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.
Train yourself to be godly and have nothing to do with the bad—“profane and old wives’ fables”
1 Timothy 4:7-8 NIV [7] Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. [8] For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.
Paul is reminding Timothy to have nothing to do with the things he mentioned in
1 Timothy 4:2-3 NIV [2] Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. [3] They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth.
These doctrines have no basis in Scripture; in fact, they contradict the Word of God. We talked about this earlier.
Paul admonished Timothy to remain true to “the good doctrine which you have closely followed up to now”.
Certainly we ought to care for our bodies, and exercise is a part of that care. Our bodies are God’s temples, to be used for His glory (1 Cor. 6:19–20), and His tools for His service
Romans 12:1-2 NIV [1] Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. [2] Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
But bodily exercise benefits us only during this life; godly exercise is profitable now and for eternity. A healthy body can be used of God, but we must major on holiness.
Godly character and conduct are far more important than golf trophies or home-run records, though it is possible for a person to have both. Paul challenged Timothy to be as devoted to godliness as an athlete is to his sport. We are living and laboring for eternity.
Paul used a similar analogy of an athlete and their training in his letter to the Corinthians
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 NIV [24] Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. [25] Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. [26] Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. [27] No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
As an athlete must control his body and obey the rules, so a Christian must make his body his servant and not his master. There are spiritual exercises that I ought to be doing (Heb. 5:14). Prayer, meditation, self-examination, fellowship, service, sacrifice, submission to the will of others, witness—all of these can assist me, through the Spirit, to become a more godly person.
Spiritual exercise is not easy
1 Timothy 4:10 NIV [10] That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe.
The word translated “strive” is an athletic word from which we get our English word agonize. It is the picture of an athlete straining and giving his best to win. A Christian who wants to excel must really work at it, by the grace of God and to the glory of God.
But exercising ourselves in godly living is not only profitable for us; it is also profitable for others. It enables us to be good examples, so that we encourage others.
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