Hello and welcome to our broadcast. This is number three in our series. We're talking about two men, Paul the Apostle and Timothy the pastor. Stay tuned for our program. Well, Paul and Timothy lived a couple of thousand years ago, and they lived, and they died, and they, well, their body died. They didn't. They live on forever, so do you and I, somewhere. In any event, Paul, the aged pastor, is about ready to pass off the scene. His ministry is almost over, and he's writing to this young pastor named Timothy. He says, Pastor Timothy, you want to be a good pastor? Well, this is how you do it. He said in chapter 4 and verse number 6, if thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ. He said in verse 11, these things command and teach he said in verse 15 meditate upon these things now the first time he mentioned these things was back in chapter number three and he said in verse 14 these things right i unto thee hoping to come unto thee shortly but if i tarry long that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth." So he said, now, I hope to come to you soon, but these things cannot wait. If I tarry long, you need to know this, how thou mayest behave thyself in the house of God. And so he gave that young pastor these things, and God gave us these books here, 1st and 2nd Timothy. So we would know what we need to do in the church, and I've told our people several times, read 1 and 2 Timothy really, really carefully, study it, and you can find out if I'm doing my job right or not as a pastor. It's very important. that we do these things. Now, as we look at the subject of these things, we need to look at the context, as we need to do when we study any portion of Scripture in the Bible. And the context here, in verse number 7 of chapter 4, it says, Refuse some fables. This is one of the things that this young pastor was going to have to do. In 2 Timothy 4.4, it says, They shall turn away their ears from the truth and be turned unto fables. Now, if they're going to be turned unto fables, and since they're going to be turned unto fables, because that's what's happening in this portion of Scripture, and that's what's happening today, if they're going to turn unto fables, somebody's going to have to teach them these fables. Well, what's a fable? It's a nice little story with no solid foundation. The Bible says in 1 Timothy 1 and 4, don't give heed to fables. 1st Timothy 4 7 it says refuse the fables in Titus 1 and 14 Again the local church Pastor there. He's not to give heed to fables Peter said we have not followed Fables, what is the fable a fable is anything that it that is opposed to the faith if it disagrees with the faith It's a fable And the Bible says that we need to examine ourselves whether we be in the faith. Your faith might be nothing more than a fable if it isn't based on the word of God. So the word faith is in 1 Timothy 19 times in only six chapters, and it has to do with what we believe. It has to do with doctrine. Now in 1 Timothy 1.4, he says, neither give heed to fables, but rather edifying in the faith. So Timothy's going to have to make a decision. Am I going to listen to the fables, or am I going to follow the faith? 1 Timothy 4, 1, we've read, the latter times, some shall depart from the faith. What are they going to do? Giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. And so he says in 1 Timothy 1 and 4, don't give heed. But he also said in 1 Timothy 4 and 1, some are going to give heed to seducing spirits. and doctrines of devils." Well, he said, if you want to be a good minister of Jesus Christ, you need to be nourished up, chapter 4 and verse 6, in the words of faith and good doctrine, not in the fables, in good doctrine and in the faith. In 1 Timothy 1 and 3, he says, that they teach no other doctrine. Now, in all of these things, whether Timothy is going to go with the sound doctrine, verse 10 of chapter 1, and whether he's going to go with the good doctrine, verse 4 of chapter 6, Whatever he's going to do, he's going to have to make a decision to do one or the other, as every one of us has to do today. 2 John 1 and 10, it says, Now, well, what if he's got a bunch of money and he could help us with our church? No, if he comes with any other doctrine, receive him not. Now, you know, Timothy's going to have to make a decision there, and so do we today. So Paul is giving Timothy, this young pastor, some instructions from God. You need to understand that. Since I have started this message, I have referred to 14 scriptures. I'm not giving you something that is a fable. I am talking today about what the Bible says. And we need to decide whether we're going to take these instructions from God or whether we're going to compromise like most people do today. And so Timothy had to make a decision. As pastors today, we have to make decisions. In these last days, it says in 2 Timothy 4, verse 3 and 4, they will not endure sound doctrine. They will heap to themselves teachers that will tickle their ears. They'll turn away their ears from the truth. They'll be turned unto fables. And we have to decide whether we're going to go with the crowd or whether we're going to stick with the Word of God, whether we're going to compromise or whether we're going to do that what is true. And so he says to young Timothy, and here all of this is in the foundation or in the context of the local church, He says, put the brethren in remembrance of these things, 1 Timothy 4.6. These things command and teach, he said, 1 Timothy 4.11. Then he said, meditate on these things, 1 Timothy 4.15. To meditate is to think deeply. It has been translated permeate in Mark 13 and verse 11. In fact, what Jesus said concerning this is to count the cost, he said in Luke chapter Luke chapter 14 verses 26 and 27. Twice there he said, you cannot be my disciples unless you sit down and count the cost. And notice he said in verse 28, sit down and count the cost. Think it out. If you're going to compromise, then go ahead and compromise. But don't call yourself a fundamentalist. Don't call yourself a Bible preacher. Don't call yourself a Bible Christian, unless you're going to do what it says we're supposed to do here in 1st and 2nd Timothy and Titus, where we have God's standards for leadership in the local church. And so he said in 1st Timothy 4.15, meditate upon these things, give thyself wholly to them, completely, entirely give yourself to them. In other words, you're going to agree with what the Lord says. And so he says these things, 1st Timothy 5.7, give in charge that they may be blameless. The church members, give it in charge. That word charge has been translated command 20 times. The problem we have today is that we just don't want to take the instructions and be in charge like the Bible says to do. Well, we better get at it. It says these things, give in charge. It says in Ecclesiastes 8 and verse 11, If sentence against an evil work is not done speedily, we're going to be in trouble. And so we read in 1 Timothy chapter 5 and verse number 21, he said, I charge thee before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality. What an interesting portion of scripture. These are instructions from God. And he said, you should observe these things with no preferences. No preferences. He says, I charge you before God. I charge you before the Lord Jesus Christ. I charge you before the angels. Pastor, observe these things. Now, that word, observe, has been translated keep 23 times. I'm afraid that, you know, we're going to observe these things, but we're not going to continue in them. If you keep them, that means grab them, guard them, hang on to them, and teach them. Oh, that's quite a bit different than just observing these things. And then he said, do it without preferring, liking one over another. Well, you know, I can't say what I need to say about this particular issue today because it might offend one of my friends. Well, if that's your position as a pastor, get out of the ministry. And then he said, do it without preferring and do it without partiality. In other words, don't be giving anyone any preferential treatment. You know, I look and you say, well, you know, I got to be kind of nice. This is my friend over here. and he's a big shot in the ministry and the movement here, and he can promote me in the movement, and I could be a big shot too. Yeah, well, that's just sick. We read in Galatians chapter two about Paul confronting Peter, one of his really good friends, because he had to openly rebuke him because Peter was influencing others. And if you read it there in Galatians chapter two, it's not only just others, but even Barnabas was being led astray by Peter. And Paul rebuked him, rebuked him publicly. Now, as leaders today, we need to make decisions. Timothy, are you going to get in line with these things, or are you just going to do what is comfortable? These things, he says in 1 Timothy 6 and 2, Teach and exhort. You're going to teach it. You're going to explain it. You're going to make it clear. You're going to give instructions. You're going to give directions. You're going to enlighten the people so they have understanding. You're going to illuminate these portions of Scripture so they can be clarified in the minds of the people. Not only teach them, but exhort. Exhort. The word is to mean to strongly encourage someone to do something. In Jude chapter 1 and verse number 3, we read that Jude said, I exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith. Now, he didn't say contend against the apostasy. He said contend for the faith. We need to stand up as never before and stand for the truth of the Word of God in this age of apostasy. Well, finally, he said in 1 Timothy 6 11, he got that phrase again, these things, he said, flee these things, flee these things. Now, one of the things that he mentioned here is in verse number nine, referring to the temptation of they that would be rich. He said they fall into a temptation and they fall into a snare. It's interesting that that word rich in Revelation chapter three concerning the Laodicean church is translated increased with goods. And sometimes we can get our focus on, oh, I just like to get a big auditorium, and I just like to get all those things that go with it, rather than just sticking with the truth of God. And the truth of the matter is, if you're going to focus today on those things that are important, as recorded in 1 Timothy here, if you're going to focus on those things rather than being increased with goods, you're going to find out that you're probably not going to be increased with goods, because there's few people that are interested in following these things that are recorded in 1 Timothy. And so, we have two men. Paul, an older man, been through the mill. He's about ready to pass on to eternity. He's passing down some instructions, and these instructions are going to a pastor, and they are coming from God. Now, again, I've quoted scripture after scripture here, What I've given you today is not coming from Bob Kirkland. That'd be a waste of time. It is coming from God. And Timothy had to make up his mind whether or not he was going to listen to God, and we have to do the same thing today. In any position of leadership, whether that has to be with pastors or whether that has to be with parents, we have to come to the conclusion of whether we're going to follow the instructions from God, whether we're going to do these things, or whether we are not. There's a really resting verse that is found in Deuteronomy chapter 30 and verse number 19 that says, I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing, therefore choose life that both thou and thy seed may live. Well, at the beginning of this series, we said to live, the dictionary says, is to spend one's life in a particular way. Paul the Apostle spent his life in a particular way. He said in Galatians 2.20, the life which I now live, I live by the faith. Well, he also said in 2 Corinthians 13.5, examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith, prove your own selves, except ye be reprobate. I remind you that he was talking to Christians here in 1st Corinthians, in the 1st and 2nd Corinthians, about 47 times he referred to them as either saints or brethren. He wasn't talking about them deciding whether they're Christians or not. He was writing to Christians. He was talking to those Christians about determining if they were in the faith or if they were following some kind of fable. We would be wise to do the same.