So today we will continue our series of sermons in the first letter to Timothy. So I invite you to open your Bibles in 1 Timothy chapter 4 verses 1 to 16. So we'll be covering the whole chapter this morning. Again, 1 Timothy chapter four now in my last sermon i we finished chapter three where we saw paul giving instructions about the qualifications of elders and deacons in the church And Paul ends the chapter with a portion of an early hymn. And this hymn encapsulates the gospel in a very poetic way. There's a play of words in the original, which is hard for us to capture in the English translation. Now in chapter 4, Paul continues his conversation or his instruction about false teachers that he started in chapter 1. In chapter 1 we saw these false teachers were driven by wrong or false motives. And how they misused the scriptures. And in ways that perverted the gospel. Now in chapter 4 verse 1 to 5, Paul exposed the content, the content of their teaching. the content of their erratic teaching. They forbid marriage and require obstinance, abstinence from certain foods. So their erratic teaching was some form of a wrong or false asceticism in the early church. But before we read the passage and we continue, let me pray for us and ask for God's help. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we are thankful for this day and for your grace in bringing us to this place together. We pray, Lord, that your Holy Spirit may help us to understand your word, and more than that, to apply it to our lives. Holy Spirit, we belong to you, and we ask you, please, help us this morning. We need you, Lord, and we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. So the first thing that I want to share with you guys this morning is the lies of a false asceticism. Let's read from chapter 4 verses 1 to 5. Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some who depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose conscience are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving. For it is made holy by the word of God and prayer." Now, the first thing that we need to answer is, what is asceticism? Perhaps you never heard this word. What it means? So basically asceticism teaches that the way to reach a high spiritual state is through the practice of extreme self-denial or self-mortification. Among the Ephesians, these false teachers were calling them to pursue celibacy and to abstain from certain foods. And according to Paul, this is a gross interpretation and application of the gospel. First, because it was God who instituted marriage in the Garden of Eden, Second, because everything created by God is good as we see in Genesis 1. But when you look into the New Testament in Acts chapter 10 verse 14, Peter received a vision from God who declared all foods clean, breaking down one of the biggest dividing wall of hostility between Jews and Gentiles, the dietary law or the dietary laws. It seems to me that this prohibition from the false teachers not to get married and abstain from sexual relations is some form of the early form of Gnosticism. And this heresy came into full bloom in the 2nd century. Even in the times of Augustine in the 5th century they were dealing with this. And we can even say that even in our modern times we still have some form of Gnosticism very active. Gnosticism teaches that matter is evil. That we are spiritual beings trapped in this body. And that the only way to salvation is through this higher knowledge. Gnosticism denies Jesus' incarnation. Saying that His appearance was not really a man. He was a sort of spirit or a ghost. Which came with a high spiritual message. This is a gross error because we know that without Jesus' incarnation and His crucifixion on the cross, there is no salvation, there is no redemption. So, the Ephesians were dealing with a hybrid form of Gnosticism and Judaism. And Timothy, as a apostolic emissary, was sent to help the congregation in reminding that they already know the truth. The truth in which they believed and they have been saved by. And this truth... that they already believed did not come prohibiting them to eating certain type of foods or requiring them to abstain from marriage or sexual relations in a relationship relations in the context of marriage and something it is very interesting because something similar was happening in the church of Colossae And to this church Paul admonished them not to be persuaded by this false asceticism. Now let's read what Paul says to the church in Colossae in chapter 2. And he explicitly tells them about this false form of asceticism. Chapter 2 verse 16 to 23. I think I do have a slide for that. Chapter 2, verse 16 to 23. Therefore, let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or if regarding to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are shadows of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worshiping of angels, going on in details about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the head from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. If with Christ you die to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as you are still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations? Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch. Referring to things, they all perish as they are used according to human precepts and teachings. These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. Notice that Paul called this false teaching man-made religion, which cannot stop the flesh from sinning. So this severity to the body, this false asceticism, it's a man-made religion that lacks power to transform, or in this case, to hinder the indulgence of the flesh. These verses point out the futility of this asceticism, which is an attempt to achieve holiness by rigorous self-neglect. It's basically his attempt to reach a sort of holiness that depends on this strict form of man-made religion with regulations. Do not taste, do not eat, do not handle, do not get married, get married. Now, I come from a background and I remember very well for the church that I've been part of in the past. Now they used to, especially in the first church that I joined, and I remember there was this culture in the church of waking up in the middle of the night to pray. This was not a law, but it's a culture that if you are a minister, you must wake up in the middle of the night, make this effort, set up your alarm to wake up and pray. And it seems that if you do that, you will reach a higher spiritual, you will be closer to God. It seems that He doesn't sleep, of course, He does not sleep, but it seems that during the night He has His eyes and... looking to those who wake up in the middle of the night to hear their prayers and to show himself in ways that it would not happen if you do that in the middle of the afternoon. And I remember that this culture, especially among the leaders, was very contagious. And of course, when you work 10 hours a day, it's very hard to happen. So you have always this feeling, I had this feeling of saying, I'm not as spiritual as that guy or that guy. You see, I'm just giving an example how sometimes man-made things that claims to give us this easier or get closer to God, sometimes are just man-made things. Well, in fact, after a couple of years in ministry, now in faith, I know that God does answer your prayers if you pray in the middle of the afternoon or 3 a.m. I'm not saying it's not a good thing to pray in the middle of the night. I even would encourage you, if you can not sleep in the middle of the night, to wake up, read your Bible, and pray. But we need to understand that this does not make us holier or get closer to God. Because we are going to this self-neglect, right? We are setting up our alarms to wake up at 3 a.m. But if it happens, wake up and pray. And I'm not bashing my brothers and sisters, I'm just acknowledging something. Because I think for the church that I've been part of, especially in charismatic church, we have so much to pray from our brothers and sisters in regards of prayer. So much. But we need to be careful with these things. Another clear example is even Martin Luther himself, who was a monk. And when we read biographies from Martin Luther, he was a monk, part of an ascetic monk training, very strict. And he almost killed himself in his sleeping outside in the cold, trying to put his body under this pressure so that he could be closer to God. His conscience was always against him because of his sins. And he was living this life of monk and that could not help him to get rid of this guilty until the Lord finally... saved him years later, actually 10 years after he started his career as a monk. Now don't get me wrong, I believe there is room for some form of asceticism in our lives. In fact, self-denial is a prerequisite to follow Jesus. Those who are not ready to take up their cross are not worthy of Jesus. Remember Jesus' words in Matthew 16, verse 24. And I think I have a slide for that. Look what Jesus said to his disciples. If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. So Jesus demands some sort of self-denial. He assumes that those who will follow him will pick up this cross and will follow him. In fact, no one can be a disciple or grow in their faith without some sort of self-denial. Paul taught celibacy. He said, celibacy is a good thing if she or he consecrate themselves to the Lord. Paul chose the path of singleness for the purpose of ministry. However, he never made it a prerequisite. He never said that unless you're choosing this path of singleness, you cannot be a missionary. In fact, he knew that this call to singleness was not for everyone. He never made it a requisite, but he encouraged. He encourages, there's a difference. I can encourage you to pray in the middle of the night, but if I say, unless you do this, you're never going to be a good minister of the Lord, then that's the wrong thing. Do you see the difference? The problem the Ephesians were dealing with was that these false teachers were adding to the message of salvation. Don't do this, do that. Don't eat this, eat that. Don't wear this, wear that. Don't go there, go here. And so on and so on. Don't listen to this, listen to that. This sort of moralistic teaching only produces legalism. The teaching that builds up is the one that helps us to be more dependent on grace and exercise, self-control under the influence and power of the Holy Spirit. Never, never encourages us to trust in our own efforts. And if you think that this is a small thing, Look at how Paul called his false teachers in verse 1 in our chapter today. Verse 1, liars whose conscience are cauterized, meaning they cannot hear or feel anything. They're dead. Their teaching is not a simple error of genuine followers. It is of a perverted, demonic nature, according to Paul. They were adding to the way of salvation. Which is the work of the devil, because he has been lying and deceiving since the beginning. And Paul is calling it by name. This is demonic teaching, adding to the way of salvation. These false teachers are liars, their conscience are cauterized, they're dead. Their motives are wrong. And for the church's sake, Timothy must stand firm on the right doctrine. But in order to do that, he must make gym a priority in his life. You hear me? He must make gym a priority in his life. Now before I start making some thoughts, let me explain that to you. Timothy must make a gym a priority in his life. Let's read from verse 6 to 10. Verse 6 to 10. If you put these things before the brothers, You will be a good servant of Jesus Christ, being trained in the words of the faith and of good doctrine that you had followed, having nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather, train yourself for godliness. For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way. as it holds promises, promise for the present life and also for the life to come. The same is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. 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. Now in verse 7, The Greek word for train is gymnaze, gymnaze, from which we get the word gymnasium. Contrary to the false teachers that love controversies and old wives tales, this is the literal translation of silly myths in verse 7, Timothy is to train, exercise himself toward godliness. Paul's analogy here is of an athlete who trains discipline himself to compete. So Timothy must prioritize this training, this gymnasium in his life. This way he will be a good servant of Christ, fully trained in the words of truth in which he believed since his youth. Now in verse 8, Paul tells Timothy that this training benefits the present life and the life to come, while physical training has some value. Paul is not saying that physical training is irrelevant. Otherwise, he would be siding with the Gnostics, which deny the matter in the body and complete it, avoid it. Gnostics, they view the body as a temporary, useless shell. So Paul acknowledged that exercise has some value, but cannot compare it to spiritual training. And this saying about spiritual training and physical training deserves Timothy's full attention. And to this end, Paul says, we toil and strive. What end is Paul talking about? What end is Paul talking about? To live a life in the present and future with our hope fully set in God, who is our Savior. You see, He is encouraging Timothy to pursue this spiritual training. Keeping his mind at this training benefits him in the present and in the life to come. Because he had set his hope, not in the body or in this life, but in God who is our Savior, our hope. And with our hopes set on God, we labor and strive. We grow weary in training ourselves toward godliness. Not because this will lead us to salvation, but because God is already our Savior. Therefore, Timothy, as a minister, can work to the point of exhaustion. Paul's point is that as an athlete trains for the purpose of being ready to compete, Timothy must strive to be fit and ready for ministry. And we all can understand this analogy of an athlete training himself for a competition, right? Or training himself for a basketball camp and starts going to the local basketball court to train, to train, to train, to train, to sleep and to rest and eat so that he can do well in a basketball camp. The same as a minister, Timothy must train himself not in the physical training, even though he must not neglect it, there's some value in it, but to train himself in godliness to the point of exhaustion. Not because he wants to gain anything from God. He already has everything. He has been saved. His hope is in God and therefore he can strive to grow and to train himself in godliness. Now I want to make an observation about the 2nd half of chapter of verse 10. This verse has been used to defend universalism, a belief that teaches that all people will be saved in the spiritual and eternal sense. But to affirm that would be contrary to the scriptures that so clearly teach that not all will be saved, but the very fact that many people will reject the call of the gospel. God is a saving God. And Jesus' death was sufficient to pay for the sins of all humanity. But not everyone will believe in Him. In one sense, God is the saver of all in the scope of salvation because it is applicable to all. But this salvation is only effective to those who believe. You see the difference? Salvation is applicable to all who believe. And just a word of caution. Let's make sure that we are not being careless with our physical bodies. which have been given to us by God. We just read Psalm 139, that God intricately, He formed us in the womb. He made us in the womb. He's talking about, David is talking about his physical body. And remember this, when we talk about the sanctity of human life, we use that verse in quote a lot. But he's talking about the physical body. Let's make sure that we're not neglecting our physical body. All right? Nor neglect our souls of the nourishment that so desperately it needs the Word of God. I'm not trying to preach to you a balance between two things. But I'm showing how God has formed as a whole person, body and soul. While we should pay attention to our physical body. We also make sure that we are training ourselves toward godliness to the point of exhaustion. Self-denial. Not trusting ourselves, but in our God who is our hope. Worshipping the body is a sin and neglecting it as well. This past Wednesday, briefly, we talked about sanctification. And sanctification means growing Christ-likeness, or be more like Christ. And I mentioned 2 Peter 1, verse 5, where we see the apostle is steering up the believers to make every effort to grow, which implies that this growth in godliness will not come easily or naturally. Therefore, my good friends, make the gym a priority. Not the LA Fitness or Planet Fitness, even though you should not abandon your subscription or membership in these gyms. But make your godly training a priority. Strive and toil hard. toward godliness because it will benefit you and those next to you. It will benefit you in this life and it will benefit you in the life to come. And this last point that I want to share with you is more like an application for all of us. Godliness, the goal of every servant. Now in verse 11, Paul encouraged Timothy to push forward in his ministry and teach the right doctrine. To teach and to command the things which he instructed him in the past three chapters. Where we talk about the importance of prayer, the role of women in the church, elders and deacons. For Timothy, who was probably in his early 30s, this was not a small task, especially in a culture that placed a great value on age and experience. So this letter had two purposes, to encourage the young minister to pursue in this huge task of leading the church and instructing the church But also, since this letter was meant to be read before the church, this was also an admonition to the church not to look down on Timothy because of his age. So this section was sort of a sword cut in both sides. They were not to look down on him, on the contrary, to look up to him. Timothy was to set an example to the church in five main areas. I think I have a slide for that. Five main areas. First one, speech. The second one, conduct. The third one, love. The fourth one, faith. And the fifth one, purity. Five main areas to set an example to this congregation. If Timothy aims to grow in these areas, he will not only gain the respect of the church, but even more than that, he will be a source of encouragement and an example to the older and younger alike. Therefore, Timothy must devote himself to his ministry duties, reading of the Scriptures, studying of the Scriptures, preaching, teaching, Look at what Paul says in verse 13 to Timothy. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. Regarding this gift, Paul tells us a little bit more in 2nd Timothy chapter 1 verse 6-7. I think I do have a slide so that you can follow me on this. For this reason, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying of my hands. For God gave us a spirit, not of fear, but of power and love and self-control. So this gift is from God and is in Timothy. And in verse seven, Paul links this gift with the Holy Spirit. This gift that Timothy received is an endowment of the Holy Spirit who is in him. And he is to keep the flame alive and not to neglect it. Meaning to put in practice, to put to use this gift. Now in the New Testament, the word gift is frequently translated in relation to a spiritual ability given to all believers at the moment of salvation for the use of ministry, for the purpose of blessing the congregation, not for the person. That's the purpose of gift, to bless the congregation, to bless the community of believers, not to the person. So Paul is urging him, fame into flame, use this gift. Do not neglect this training godliness so that the church might be encouraged so that you grow in our faith. This will give you benefit in this life and in the life to come. And in Timothy's case, this gift or ability was leadership with an emphasis on preaching and teaching. And look at the exhortation that Paul gives to Timothy in chapter... And this becomes clear as we look in chapter 4 verse 12. But look with me in 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 2. Because Paul repeats this exhortation for Timothy in chapter 2, in his second letter to Timothy. Look what he says. Preach the word, be ready in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke and exhort with complete patience and teaching. It seems that Timothy was having a hard time to understand the importance of his ministry, which was given to him by God. Or maybe he was just slow to understand, like a Brazilian guy that I know. Some people are slow to understand. Yeah, I know a Brazilian guy. You all know him as well. He loves soccer. So some people like Timothy and myself, we are slow to understand, and we need this continual exhortation and encouragement over and over again. We need to be reminded that we have been given a gift to serve. That we are to train ourselves towards godliness and not to fall into apathy or lethargy. You got my point. Now, prophecy in verse 14. The word prophecy in verse 14 is not entirely clear what it means. Possibly a revelation from the Holy Spirit about Timothy that the elders recognized and laid their hands on him as a confirmation of Timothy's call and gifting to serve. How did it happen? Hard to know. But it was clear to the elders and Paul that Timothy was commissioned and he was gifted to serve in a leadership position. Now in verse 15 to 16, Paul summarized his charge to Timothy and for all of us, for all of us. He says, practice, immerse yourself in the Word. Keep a close watch on your walk with the Lord and your teaching. Be persistent. Friends, there's nothing more damaging for a church and for himself, a half-hearted minister. He lacks the authority and power that comes from the Word and Gospel living. A preacher like this cannot help himself or those who listen to him. This is the meaning of the second half of verse 16. It is clear that Timothy cannot save himself or others, but the message that he has been entrusted with can and will. Therefore, he must strive to grow in godliness. Growing godless, of course, means to grow in knowing God and His intellect and His understanding. But it means to live for God, in God, through God. This message. This powerful message that was given to us and entrusted to each one of us. And we are commended to share it with all. We'll fall flat if those who preach, teach or share it are not fully immersed in it. Persistently pursuing the Holy Spirit, persistently applying it, persistently humbling themselves before the Lord. It will not happen. It will just be a mere sharing of the gospel that we can boast about with our friends, that we share with our neighbors. But we ourselves are being careless in our gospel living. So friends, this is for all of us, children of God. If you think this is just for a minister like Timothy, like myself, like Damon, I would like you to reconsider. Because the word servant means to serve. It's a general word applied in the New Testament for all of those who serve. And remember that Jesus himself called us His servants. So this applies to you. So I want to end with this, that you may take this with you. The life of a good servant of Christ Jesus is marked by a persistent pursuit of godliness. The purpose is not to live a life of extreme asceticism. On the contrary, because our hope is set on the living God, knowing ourselves, we can and must strive to be more like Christ because it benefits ourselves and others. The goal of our lives is to be faithful until the last day or to be found faithful in the last day. With this end and goal in mind, we can push beyond of our weaknesses and exercise self-control. Knowing that the one who calls us has also given us His Holy Spirit, so that we do not give in to the flesh, either listen to the lies of the world and its seducing and erring ideas about true religion. Friends, we will fall into lies and deceiving when we are not following the true living God. If you think that is enough for you to be a member of a church, you're completely wrong. And if you're not a member of the church, you are even in a more vulnerable position. Don't take for granted the message that you had received. It's for your salvation. Don't be careless. What is lacking in your life? He has given you his Holy Spirit. Are you striving to grow in godliness? If not, why not? What is hindering you to grow? What is hindering you to live the gospel and apply it to your lives? He has given you the Holy Spirit that you can push beyond your weaknesses. He has given you a gift to serve in the local congregation. What is hindering you to serve in the local congregation? What are your excuses? And I'm sure that your excuses are good. Can you stand before the Lord with your excuses? Do you think that our excuses can stand before the Lord when He has given us everything? He has given us everything. Fame into flame the gift that He gave you. This is not for you. It's for the church, for the benefit of the kingdom. And in doing the work of God and being in the will of God, we will find joyfulness. This church will grow. His name will be glorified. Your neighbors will experience grace as you live out the gospel. My prayer for all of you is that you make your spiritual training a priority. While at the same time, not neglecting the body. But I encourage you to take the next few seconds to meditate and pray. And then our brother Damien will lead us in the Lord's Supper. Let's take some time to pray.