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You are listening to a sermon
from River Community Church in Prairieville, Louisiana. Remain
standing, if you will, for the reading of God's word from 1
Timothy 4, verse 11. Command and teach these things.
Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers
an example in speech and conduct and love and faith and purity.
Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of scripture,
to exhortation, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have,
which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid
their hands on you. Practice these things, immerse
yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. 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. Please be seated and join me
in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you
for your word and for your grace to us in Christ. We thank you
for the gift of the Holy Spirit, who enables us to first understand
your word, but even more, to be able to apply it and live
it out, and that not in a legalistic works-righteousness capacity,
but out of faith and love and trust, and that Your ways are
good ways, and our life is better and more blessed when we live
out Your Word in faith and in trust. So would You, O Lord,
be at work in us now as we Turn to your word and seek to grow
in the faith and knowledge that is in Christ Jesus our Savior
and our Lord. Amen. I want to begin this morning
as we look at this passage at the very end in verse 16 where
Paul writes, 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. Now, this verse seems to be at
odds with where we ended last week with the conviction that
God alone has the power to save. This creates an apparent contradiction
between verses 10 and 16. We might ask, which is it, Paul?
Does God alone save people or does the minister save people?
Is the pressure on or is the pressure off? How can you say
that Timothy can save himself, let alone his hearers? Is this
salvation by works? What's going on? Before we answer that question,
we need to walk through the logic of this paragraph. There are
a total of 10 imperative commands in these five verses. Prior to
this paragraph, in the entire book of 1 Timothy, there have
only been two. direct imperative commands. In particular, the
command to teach is repeated three times with the verb command
being the first verb of this paragraph, being supportive to
that teaching imperative. Then we have another three or
four commands emphasizing the necessity of Timothy's self-development
and personal sanctification. So Paul is doubling down in this
paragraph on the twin emphases of healthy ministry that we have
seen woven throughout this letter. Of first importance is the right
and faithful teaching of God's Word in sound doctrine and specifically
in the gospel, following immediately upon it and supporting it. is
the godly character of the minister. We see this twin emphasis right
there in verse 16. Again, keep a close watch on
yourself and on the teaching. These are the two areas where
Timothy needs to focus attention, personal sanctification, and
rightly understanding, applying, and teaching God's word. His
whole ministry stands or falls on these two legs. My whole ministry
stands or falls on these two legs. And insofar as you are
called to do ministry, wherever that is, your ministry stands
or falls on these two legs. And they'll provide our outline.
First, we'll discuss Timothy's watch on himself, and then we'll
discuss Timothy's watch on the teaching. We'll conclude by discussing
how these things come together to illuminate the meaning of
verse 16. So first, keep a watch on yourself. You see this idea developed in
verses 12, 14 and 15 where Paul highlights three things, three
sub-points. First, verse 12 tells us that
Timothy was a relatively young man. certainly younger than Paul
and the elders of the churches that he was serving in Ephesus.
Commentators suggest that Timothy was a man in his mid-30s, and
this would pose problems for him in a culture where age was
revered as equivalent to wisdom. Age was status. And where Timothy
was being charged to confront and even oppose elders who were
engaging in false teaching and who were lives were blatantly
out of line with the gospel of Christ. Even today, it is completely
natural for older leaders in the church to be a little skeptical
of a young green minister. I was 39 in 2021, not too far
off. I was even younger when I started
in ministry. But Timothy was the type of minister
who was totally new to the Ephesian church. He hadn't paid his dues
yet. He was still wet behind the ears.
He may have a whole lot of head knowledge, but he probably hasn't
learned too much from the school of hard knocks. He certainly
doesn't know how we do things around here. Who does he think he is challenging
me like that? Doesn't he know I've been teaching
Sunday school here for years? Who does he think he is changing
this program? Doesn't he know how we've done
it for years? But Timothy was not to allow
people in the church to dismiss him on account of his age. Now, how was he to do this? By
holding his ground? By arguing his point? By appealing
to his authority under the apostle Paul? How would that have gone? I learned even before I went
into the ministry, the absolute folly of trying to flex your
authority muscles and titles. I was working at Twin Lakes Summer
Camp in Florence, Mississippi, and I, this summer, was made
camp manager. The highest position on the summer
staff. And there was one disagreement
happening over the awesome walkie-talkies leadership got to carry around
camp, you know, about when when dinner was supposed to be. And
I pulled out my binder, because people were going back and forth.
And I said, this is Trey Owens, camp manager. You see where this
is going. Dinner is at 5.30. The camp director immediately
got on the walkie-talkie and said, hey, Trey, this is Matt,
the camp director. Sorry, we had conversations without
you in the room, but we're actually having dinner at six o'clock.
Talk about the feeling of eating crow, putting foot in your mouth,
all in one. From that point, I have endeavored
to never flex my title. Because there may be things happening
you don't know around. No. So rather than trying to
flex or hold his ground, Paul tells Timothy to bolster his
authority in the church and his ability to command that things
happen in the church by proving his wisdom and commanding
respect by the character of his lifestyle. Paul writes, let no one despise you for your
youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct,
in love, in faith, and in purity. Kent Hughes writes, the natural
inclination when our leadership is challenged is not godliness,
but the opposite. To become defensive and respond
with sarcasm, or put down, or to pull rank, or to become coldly
above it all, aloof or grieved, Paul's advice is to be an example
of a lovely five-fold godliness because godly character creates
moral authority. Ultimately, godly character wins
over those who would naturally look down on one's youth. So
Paul highlights five areas in which Timothy is to show himself
a model Christian minister. First is his speech, not just
in the pulpit, but in all of life. This is the first area
in which a minister will be evaluated, not just if his speech is true
or accurate, but if he's well-spoken. If he speaks with wisdom and
grace, if he shows over time, he can deliver hard words that
are seasoned with salt. Second is his conduct, his behavior,
the way that he lives. In other words, does Timothy,
does the minister practice what he preaches? Is his lifestyle
in line with what he says from the pulpit? Third is his love. Is he a compassionate man? Is
he kind? Is he faithful in his relationships?
Is he committed to the people in the church? Do they know that
he cares for them? Fourth is his faith. Does Timothy
exemplify not only saving faith, But living by faith, is his trust
in Christ Jesus evident and obvious? This isn't a showy piety. Paul's
not telling Timothy, make sure you wear your faith on your sleeve.
Rather, he's talking about genuine discipleship. Your discipleship,
your faith will come out of your fingertips. It will enmesh itself on everything
you put your hands on. Be an example of living by faith.
Finally comes purity, which is a word that speaks primarily
to the question of chastity. As a young man, probably single,
Timothy needs to be self-controlled in the area of sexuality. He
needs to be circumspect in his interactions with women. And
this is how he will prove his moral authority, his right to
be heard, his wisdom that he really does know what he's talking
about, by living it out before a watching church. Timothy was to develop and make
the most of his gifts. Paul writes, do not neglect the
gift you have which was given you by prophecy when the council
of elders laid their hands on you. I say gifts, but the word
here is singular. Paul is probably speaking comprehensively
of the suite of spiritual gifts that he received from the Holy
Spirit to enable his call to ministry, together with a call
to ministry itself. The sense is supported by the
phrase, which was given you by prophecy when the council of
elders laid their hands upon you. Paul speaks here of what
we today would call Timothy's ordination. The laying on of
hands was a long time Jewish right of recognition, of authorization
and commissioning for leadership that hails all the way back to
when Moses ordained Joshua to follow him in leading Israel.
It hails back to the ordination of priests under Aaron. It was embraced by the Christian
church, and we see it in Acts 6 with the ordination of the
seven, who we believe were the first deacons, and several times
throughout Acts after that. Now, significantly, the connection
of Timothy's gift with the giving of prophecy and laying on of
hands is one of public recognition not original bestowal. In other words, when the elders,
including Paul, laid their hands on Timothy and there was this
prophecy that was given over him, that's not where his spiritual
gift came from. That's not where his call to
ministry came from. It rather recognized and validated
his call to ministry and his gifts for ministry. and it publicly
authorized him to use them with authority. Furthermore, the sentence, don't
neglect the gift you have is what we call a negative imperative. It's like when we say, don't
be late, we mean be on time. So if Paul says, don't neglect
the gift you have, he says, open it, develop it, put it to work.
He'll reiterate this idea in 2 Timothy 1, 6, and 7 when he
writes, for this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift
of God. Same idea, positively expressed.
Which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God gave
us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control.
Fan into flame. Fan into the flame the gift that
you have from the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit's lit the kindling.
He's put it there. Now fan it gently so that the whole stack of wood
is engulfed and burning brightly. Don't let the fire that the Holy
Spirit has kindled in you, don't let that go out. Don't let the
spark go out. Indeed, Timothy can't assume,
you can't assume, that just because he has been called to ministry
and given gifts by the Spirit, that he will automatically be
fruitful. Nothing in life is automatic.
Ministry is not automatic. Being fruitful in your Christian
life in whatever area doesn't happen automatically. It takes
effort. It takes intentionality. It takes
a knowledge of oneself and the gifts that you've been given
by the Holy Spirit and by providence, intentionally developing them
and putting them to use, not just to make money, but to advance the kingdom of God,
to serve the body of Christ. Personal growth takes effort.
Preparing sermons takes effort. Delivering them takes effort.
Discipling, counseling, encouraging, and correcting people in the
church takes effort. And if Timothy's spark doesn't
catch fire, it's in danger of going out. Timothy needs to develop
the gifts he's been given. So do I. And so do you. Third, Timothy was to devote
his time and energy to understanding applying the Word of God and
of the apostles. We see this in verse 15 where
Paul writes, practice these things, immerse yourself in them. These things refers to what Paul
has just written and also to the whole of the letter and to
everything that they represent. which includes faithfulness and
exposition of all of the scriptures. Paul wants Timothy to study,
practice, and take a deep interest in the things he is teaching
him in this letter. He wants Timothy to immerse himself
in them, to be in them constantly, to abide in God's Word so that
God's Word will abide in him. There are lots of things that
Timothy could give his attention to and will require his attention. Certainly there are a lot of
conflicts at work in the churches of Ephesus, power dynamics and
leadership issues which Timothy needs to address. But none of those things to Paul
are as important as Timothy's own personal spiritual development
through personal intensive Bible study and the application of
Scripture to himself. Indeed, one of the greatest hurdles
for the studious teacher of the Bible is the temptation to apply
God's Word to everybody else but oneself. Of course, ordinary
Christians like you have the same issue. It's easy to think
about all the other people that need to hear this sermon. Well,
it's easy to do it on my side, too. It's easy for me to approach
the text and think, oh man, all these people need to hear this. But it's dangerous for the minister
to operate this way. It's dangerous when the minister
spends hours studying a text. studying theology, thinking about
application, and he's only thinking about this person or that person
in the congregation, thinking about this cultural or political
issue, thinking about his wife needs to hear this, or his children. As Charles Spurgeon wrote, the
preacher who neglects to preach to himself has forgotten a very
important part of his audience. We must first address our own
soul. If we can move that by the words
we might utter, we may hope to have some power with the souls
of others. Therefore, sanctification, especially for the minister,
is not a personal, private matter. It affects the whole church.
Because the minister is the example of the Christian life before
the congregation. He is the example of how to apply
the sermon he is preaching. The Scottish minister, Robert
Murray McShane, is famed for saying, my people's greatest
need is my personal holiness. Your greatest need is my personal
holiness. The holiness of the minister
is a very important thing, not only because it provides the
validation of the message I preach, but it provides the pattern of
sanctification by which you, the congregation, will be shaped.
A congregation cannot outgrow its minister. A congregation
will begin to resemble its minister. So I need to make sure that I
am growing in a manner consistent with Christ Jesus, that I never
reach the point where I feel like I've spiritually arrived.
Because wherever I top out, wherever I plateau, that's where this
church is going to plateau. That's where you're going to
plateau. That brings us to the second
point, keep a watch on the teaching. I've said this before, but it's
worth repeating. When Paul talks about teaching,
he's talking about the primary responsibility of the pastor,
what we ordinarily call preaching. My job as the preacher is not
mere proclamation, not mere announcement, not mere evangelism. My job is to explain and apply
the Scriptures in general and the gospel of Jesus Christ in
particular. Likewise, when Paul speaks about
teaching, he's talking about a definite, delimited body of
doctrine. He talks about the teaching. He says in verse 11, command
and teach these things, not whatever you please. Not ever whatever
strikes your fancy, whatever you're interested in in the moment.
There was indeed a particular confession of faith and creed
that Timothy was to explain to the congregation. There was indeed
a particular doctrinal tradition and hermeneutic, an interpretive
lens that Timothy had learned from the Apostle Paul and that
he was to pass on to the Ephesian congregations. He wasn't just
to teach his view or his interpretation of things. He was to teach the
gospel as he had received it. Sound doctrine as he had received
it. The interpretation of the Old
Testament as he had received it. Timothy was to do no thing
that was creative. I'm not called to be creative
in the pulpit. If you teach Sunday school or
a Bible study, if you have occasion to preach, you're not called
to be creative. You're called to teach the gospel
as you have received it, to teach the word of God as you have received
it. Indeed, this is where the authority
of the minister comes from. This is how he can command obedience,
because he's not teaching his interpretation. If I'm teaching
you my interpretation, what right have I to say, okay, you've got
to do this? But if I'm teaching the scriptures,
I can say, thus says the Lord. And if thus says the Lord, you
have a certain responsibility to obey. In the words of the Westminster
Confession, we believe that the authority of the church is ministerial
and declarative of the Word of God, not just legislative or
judicial or punitive. The pastor cannot
demand an implicit trust from the congregation. I can't demand
you obey my will. nor can the session demand your
obedience to the session's will. We can have a policy in place, and that sets boundaries, but
we can't command that you do what we say. If you do something
different, that's on you. We can't bless it. But what we do and we endeavor
to do in all of our policies as a church, we want to be in
line with this, but we command obedience to the word of God.
We proclaim, thus says the Lord. It's not the pastor you need
to fear disobeying or the session, but God himself. If I tell you God's word says
you need to do this, or God's word says you need to stop doing
this, I can't make you go either way. I can't force you to do
what's right, but you will have to answer to God for how you
respond to His Word. I can lead a horse to water,
I can't make him drink. You have to decide for yourself
whether you're going to drink from the river of living water.
This is why Paul says, command and teach these things. It's
not enough for the minister to tell the congregation what the
Bible means. He must apply it. He must explain
what it means for them, for their lives, where they are currently
with authority. This is why the sermon isn't
a self-help talk. We seek a clear understanding
of the text of scripture. And flowing out of understanding,
there will be clear areas of application which the minister
must impress upon the congregation. Sometimes this will be uplifting
and encouraging and it will make you feel good. You'll leave church
rejoicing because of the mercy and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Other times it will have the
opposite effect. when Scripture shows you your
sin. Indeed, there will be times when the Scripture, and therefore
the minister, makes uncomfortable and imposing demands on the congregation. But whether the application of
Scripture is a balm to your soul or abrasive and rough to you,
whether you receive it with joy or you groan inside, insofar
as the Scriptures themselves are saying, this is what you
need to do, or this is what you need to not do, you, my friends,
must obey it. It is not legalism to say that
when God's word says do this, you have to do it. It's not legalism
to say that when God says don't do this, you have to obey him.
Legalism is trying to earn your righteousness through obedience. Faith is obeying because you
have been made righteous. I'll say that again. Legalism
is obeying so that God will see you as righteous. Faith is obeying
because God has made you righteous. The second major thing we see
about teaching in this passage is that such teaching is to shape
the worship of the church. Verse 13 says, until I come,
devote yourself to the public reading of the scripture, to
exhortation, to teaching. This verse teaches us that the
content of public worship is all about the Bible. If it's what Timothy, as the
pastor, is to devote himself to, then that's what the church
should devote itself to, because Timothy, the pastor, is leading
the church in being devoted to the reading, exhortation, and
teaching of the scriptures. Ligon Duncan is known for saying,
when the Christian church gathers for worship, we read the Bible,
we sing the Bible, we pray the Bible, we preach the Bible, and
we see the Bible. Worship is all about God's word
from start to finish. It provides the language of our
worship. It's why we begin with a scriptural call to worship
and we end with a scriptural benediction. Scripture guides our heart in
worship. It instructs our minds in worship. The word of God is at the center
of what we do when we come to church. True Christian worship
is biblical worship. Amen. What is more, these three
infinitives, reading, exhorting, and teaching, are interrelated
and interwoven with one another. They describe for us the pattern
of what we call expository preaching. Expository, the root of that
is expose, right? So when we're doing expository
teaching, I'm trying to expose you to the word of God, but I'm
also trying to do this. I'm trying to expose your heart
before the Word of God. I'm not just exposing what's
in the Scripture, I'm also exposing what's in you. I should say the
Holy Spirit is exposing what's in you. In order to properly
benefit from God's Word and worship, we must have each of these three
elements present. First, God's Word must be read,
because only in the reading of God's Word God speaking to his
people. I want, when I preach, to represent
God's Word faithfully to you. And there's a sense in which
we could say, Jesus is in the mouth of the preacher, but I'm
not inspired. What I say is not God's Word.
It's an exposition and application of God's Word. This is God's
Word. This is the only way, by reading
the Word is the only way the congregation can know that what
they're hearing actually represents what God says. And so the sermon
must be anchored and grounded in the Bible. If the minister
gives a sermon that does not obviously arise from the text
of Scripture, then look out. He's literally disconnected his
message from the Word of God. He is literally unhinged. Take
anything he says with a grain of salt. Second, God's Word must
be explained. There must be a measure of teaching
because lasting transformation cannot come by a mere exercise
of the will. Lasting change comes by understanding
God better, by understanding His Word better, by understanding
ourselves better. Understanding Scripture changes
our minds, the way that we think about things. It motivates deep
changes in our behavior. Likewise, as we learn more about
God and more about his word, we grow in our ability to worship.
Our praise occurs at a deeper level. It's not just on the surface.
As Romans 12 says, we are transformed by the renewing of the mind,
which happens through learning the Bible. Third, God's Word
must be applied. James says we must be doers of
the Word and not hearers only. As I've already noted, when Scripture
speaks a word of exhortation or command or encouragement or
prohibition, the minister must direct that word to the congregation.
When the minister faithfully exhorts the congregation from
the text, it leads to repentance. It leads
to transformation and change lives and growth and holiness.
It leads to Christian maturity. Finally, the regular reading
and exposition of God's Word from both Old and New Testaments
helps the people of God to understand themselves within and through
the broad lens of God's redeeming work throughout Scripture. It
provides a constant and balanced diet. It constantly calls us
back to the true faith, away from whatever errors we may have
embraced, or out of any rabbit holes we've fallen down. When
Scripture is read, we're brought back to reality. We're reminded
that the church wasn't created yesterday, Christianity wasn't
created yesterday. Rather, we are created in Christ
and through Christ and for Christ. And we have a pedigree that predates
Christ because there's a story we're a part of that goes all
the way back to the Garden of Eden. It's too easy for us to collapse
our understanding of life and our understanding of our problems
into just me and what I'm experiencing in the here and now. But there is a grand drama of
which we are all a part. There is a true meta-narrative,
a true overarching story that is the definition of reality
in general, but of my life in particular. And the story of
the Bible is the story that must define my life, because it's
the story I've been written into. I've been written into the story
of the Bible in blood, by the blood of Christ. And if you believe,
so have you. This is your story. It's in the text of Scripture.
And thus the job of a teaching minister is to constantly remind
God's people of who they are in Christ Jesus, the story that
actually defines them. It means to read that story,
explain that story. It's to apply that story and
encourage people to embrace the story of Christ and to live out
that story wherever they are. Now this can apply to particular
areas, such as what you do with your money. The gospel of Jesus Christ, the
story of Scripture, affects what you do with your money. It also
affects what you do in your bedroom, and with whom. And it also applies to the general
character of your life as something that must be shaped by the death
and resurrection of Christ. So to conclude, how does all
of this help us to understand this last verse, verse 16? Where
Paul writes, 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. Remember that the word save in
Scripture is not to be equated simply with the doctrine of justification
or the idea of the forgiveness of sins. It represents a broad
deliverance from things like sin and death and the devil. Even so here, Paul is not telling
Timothy that his devotion to personal sanctification and expository
preaching will provide for the forgiveness of the congregation's
sins, nor will it secure their justification or right standing
with God. Rather, his faithful ministry
will deliver them. But deliver them from what? First,
recall the specific context of chapter 4, which is the presence
of false doctrine that originates from demons and comes through
hypocritical false teachers. Thus, the way that Timothy can
be confident that he will deliver his congregation from these lies
and the dangers of their sinful life is by committing himself
to the faithful exposition and application of the truth. beginning
with his own self. I'll say that again. The way
that Timothy or any Christian minister is to oppose the lies
of the devil and false teaching present in the church is by committing
themselves to the faithful exposition and application of God's word,
beginning with the self, beginning with the person of the minister. After all, the power of the gospel
to sanctify and deliver from sin will be evident in Timothy's
life as he pursues his own growth before the congregation. And
this would provide a marked contrast with the shameful, hypocritical
behavior of the false teachers and the demonic doctrines they
were teaching. Paul is also speaking to the power of proper ministry,
of healthy ministry, to deliver Christians from the enthralling
nature of their own sin. And with that, from the judgment
on the last day. This comes because it is through the faithful ministry
of the Word, empowered by a godly sanctifying minister, that people in the church are
actively delivered from the power of sin and are enabled to grow
in holiness. It is through a steady diet of
God's Word that we are enabled to persevere to the end and to
grow in our faith. Phil Reichen comments, what this
verse acknowledges is that ministers of the gospel have a crucial
role to play in the salvation of sinners. Salvation comes only
by faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but faith comes
through hearing and hearing through the Word of Christ. And the Word
of Christ, in turn, comes by preaching the gospel. Therefore,
Christian ministers are indispensable to God's plan for the salvation
of the world. There is even a sense in which
they can be said to save their hearers, not by their own merits,
but by the proclamation of Jesus Christ. The spiritual destiny
of any church is tied up with the spiritual destiny of its
minister and his faithful proclamation of the gospel. I'll read that
last line again. The spiritual destiny of any church is tied
up with the spiritual destiny of its minister and his faithful
proclamation of the gospel. This is why it's so essential
that a minister keep a watch on himself as well as his teaching. His own character and godliness
matters. Indeed, the proclamation of the
gospel cannot be separated from the character of the proclaimer. Both are necessary for the Word
to go forth with power. So pray for us. Pray for me,
please. Thank you for listening to this
sermon from River Community Church in Prairieville, Louisiana, where
you will always find biblical preaching, meaningful worship,
and the equipping of disciples. For more information on River
Community Church and its ministries, please visit rivercommunity.org.
Confidence in Ministry
Series Building a Biblical Church
In this Sunday sermon from 1 Timothy 4:11–16, Pastor Trey preached on "Confidence in Ministry." In this text, Paul continues his encouragement to Timothy to develop his own character and keep a close watch on his doctrine. We discussed further how the character and teaching ministry of the pastor go hand in hand to nurture a congregation in the Lord. This is a sermon not only for those in ministry, but for all Christians. You'll definitely want to watch this one.
For more information on River Community Church and its ministries, please visit https://www.rivercommunity.org
| Sermon ID | 112424191730236 |
| Duration | 41:33 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Bible Text | 1 Timothy 4:11-16 |
| Language | English |
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