1 Timothy chapter 4, we can read again from verse 11. These things command and teach. Let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example of the believers in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. particularly the words of verse 13, till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. The epistle written to Timothy is an epistle which Paul wrote to give instruction in the establishing and the building up of the church. Timothy was Paul's assistant. He was with him on his missionary journeys. There's many epistles which were written which make reference to Timothy. He sends his greeting with the apostle. He writes, he, Paul often writes in the plural saying we. and Timothy shares in his teaching. The church in Ephesus was established through Paul's preaching. He then wrote an epistle to them. An epistle was sent with Tychicus, a man who we know very little about. Tychicus took the epistle to the church in Ephesus And then sometime later, Timothy was sent to further develop the work in Ephesus. And Paul writes this epistle to instruct him, to encourage him, to challenge him. You might think, why does Paul send this epistle to instruct and to challenge him? Surely he would have told him when he was sent what he was to do. I think there's probably three reasons why we have it in this written form. I think first of all, it was to remind Timothy, it wasn't something he didn't know, but it was to remind him, it was to challenge him, it was to encourage him to remain focused upon these principles which were to be applied. I think secondly, it was because now there is a public declaration from the apostle. So this is for the benefit, not simply of Timothy, but this is for the benefit of the church. So that they would hear what Timothy's been told to do. So they would understand that he's not working on his own initiative. He's not simply doing what he thinks is best, but he's following the apostolic instruction. This is what God commands. The apostles in the New Testament being like the prophets in the Old Testament. Thus saith the Lord, able to speak with an authority, with a clarity, with a direct revelation from God. The first reason was to encourage Timothy. The second was to inform the church. But the third, the third is so that we would have a written record. for your benefit and for my benefit because instructions given to Timothy and how to establish the church, how to develop the work of Christ in this place are relevant in every age. And that's why I want us to look at this today because the exhortation given to Timothy surely should be the priorities that we have as a church this year and every year. Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, and to doctrine. There's three things here. The first is this. It's reading. Reading what? Reading the word of God. Timothy has a primary responsibility, and it is to make known God's Word. It is to declare the Word of God. For without the Word of God, there is only the words of men. Without the Word of God, there is no clear revelation. Without the Word of God, ultimately, There is no knowledge of the mercy and the loving kindness of God. And so Timothy is to declare. Very often in preaching, your attention is brought to a particular verse. Sometimes it's a few verses. On occasion it's a whole chapter, but normally it's a smaller section. Sometimes in preaching, your attention is really taken just to one word in the passage. And yet, in the service, we will read a whole chapter. Sometimes we will read more than a whole chapter. Do you know why? We read often more than you might say was absolutely necessary in order to preach on a section. Well, in part it's because we need the wider context, and a chapter often gives us a wider context in which that passage or verse comes. That's one reason. But another reason is this. It's to read God's Word. It's so that the Word of God is heard because this is a part of our worship. See, worship isn't something that we do before we read the Scriptures and before we come on to preach it. But the whole service is a worship service and an aspect of worship is reading the Word of God, is hearing God's revelation of Himself. We worship God by acknowledging who He is and we discover who He is in the Scriptures. That's also why I read through the Psalms before I sing them. There was a time when people had to read through the Psalms before they were sung because the congregation generally couldn't read and they needed to hear the words so they could remember them to sing them. I don't read for that reason. But I read for this reason, so that we have an opportunity to hear the words, to think about the words before we sing the words, so that you might sing them with some understanding, with some appreciation, that we might focus upon what God has said himself. God's word must be declared. There is a need in reading. It doesn't exclusively say public reading of the Word. There is a need also for the minister, for the preacher, to read himself. Timothy, give attendance to reading, to study the Word. To yourself be a student of the Word. Because when a man cannot learn, that man cannot teach. For Timothy's need for the word was as great as those who he was ministering to. But the priority must be on the word of God. You might say, why do we need the written word? Can God not deal with us directly? But you don't remember what we're told in Hebrews. Hebrews looks back to the days of Sinai when God spoke to the children of Israel and were told that the children of Israel, they could not bear it, that they asked that God not speak to them directly again, but rather that Moses, that Moses would hear and that Moses would speak. It speaks of them trembling before the mountain. And even after Moses had ascended to the mountain and spent that time in the presence of God, and he returned with the Ten Commandments and with the law written, the children of Israel asked that Moses would veil his face. For his whole appearance had changed such from having been in the presence of God that they could not bear the appearance of Moses. If you say, why can't God just deal with me directly and put his word to one side? You have really no idea what you're speaking about or what you're asking for. The glorious majesty of God. The angels veil their faces in his presence. The prophets have fallen on their faces before him at the revelation of Jesus Christ. We have His Word, which has been, in the mercy of God, graciously composed, is clear, and also has been confirmed. We have a sure and certain testimony. Peter, who had the privilege of being the mount of transfiguration, and seeing Christ, a glimpse of His glory there, said, we have a more sure word of testimony. What was he referring to? He was referring to the Scriptures. What must be our priority? Our priority must be this, to hear the word of God. Till I come, give attendance to reading. And this is what God has promised to bless us. It's his word that will be blessed. It is his word that will be blessed. And this is where our confidence must be in the word of God. And this is what we have. There's many things that you might feel that we lack as a congregation. Many things that we lack as a church in our land. Many things that we would desire to have. But you know, we yet have his word. God has spoken. And we are to hear what God has said. First of all, then there is to be a declaring of God's word. But secondly, to exhortation. To exhortation. What does that mean? Well, to exhort. It has the idea of challenging, it has the idea of comforting, it has the idea of demanding a response. You see, the word is not simply to be read and to be put out there and say, well, this is the truth. But the word which is read and which is true is to be cleared, and because this is true, there are demands made of you. Because this is true, this must be done. Because this is true, that must be avoided. The preacher has a responsibility to demand a response, to help explain. Each passage of God's Word has a particular meaning. There are not different meanings in each passage. You know, it might mean this to you and it might mean that to you. That's not correct. God's Word means this. And each particular word has been chosen and purposed by God to mean this. To reveal a particular aspect. to make something clear. But that truth which is revealed may have different applications. It may have different applications to you in different situations. It may have different applications to you at different stages of life. So for instance, honour your mother and your father. As a child, honour your mother and your father. You must respect, you must obey, you must appreciate, you must love. but honour thy father and thy mother to you as then as an adult has a slightly different application. It's a different application to you as you may have to care for elderly parents. It's a different application to you as a parent. It means to be honourable, to be faithful. Make it easy for your children to love and to appreciate and to respect you. And so there is the truth. honor thy father and thy mother. But here is the exhortation, because you're at this stage of life, therefore do this. Because you're at that stage, therefore do that. There is a demand that is to be made on God's word. is declared, because it's not simply to inform you, but it is given to change you. And that change must be deliberate and it must be intentional. As you hear God's word, you should be saying to yourself, therefore, what must I do? It's never my intention, as I'm preaching from the pulpit, to embarrass any particular person by revealing the circumstances of their life or to make a particular demand of them. It may happen, but it's not intentional, it's not deliberate. I don't want to embarrass you in bringing demands. But yet, I want to help you by showing how the word is to be applied. by speaking in genuine and also in specific ways. Ultimately, it is the Spirit who must apply the Word. It is the Spirit who applies the Word effectually. It's not the preacher who can do that final work, but yet the preacher has a responsibility to make it difficult for you to sit there passively. I can't make you an active hearer. I can't switch you on. I can't make you sit up. But yet, the Word is to be brought with all its demands. God is holy, therefore be ye holy. Walk faithfully before him. You know, when you hear the gospel preached, you should have a desire really to stand up and to shout. When you hear the gospel preached, you should have a desire to fall down and to weep. But when you hear the gospel preached, you should also have a desire to go out and to live well. And that's ultimately what is more important than any just immediate emotional response. To go out and to live well. To honor God. To do what is right simply because it is right. I was reading the other day a copy of a letter which had been sent by a Roman governor to Caesar around the year 112 AD. Pliny the Younger was the governor's name. He's writing to the Emperor Trajan. And he's reporting on the Christians. He's saying, I don't know what to do with these Christians. I tried to discover what these Christians are about. He said, they gather on a particular day of the week. They sing and they worship Christ as a God. And then they commit themselves by an oath to live faithfully and truly, not to steal, not to commit adultery, but to be honest in every way. Isn't that wonderful? That he was able to see that there was an intentionality, there was a deliberate conscious endeavor by the people of God to be faithful. They gathered together to worship and having worshiped God, they said, let us go out now and live well. Let us adorn the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to declare the truth, to demand a response from the truth, and to doctrine, and to doctrine. What is meant by doctrine? Well, surely it is this. It is the systematic teaching. It is to develop their understanding of the revelation of God. And this often is an undramatic work. It is a slow work. to grow in learning. But that is to be our priority, to develop our understanding, our appreciation, our grasp, our knowledge, our awareness of who God is and what God is doing. You see, the church's chief priority is not to be strategies, but it is to be scripture and a grasp of scripture. It means to understand what is said and what is meant by what is said. To understand Scripture as it explains itself, letting one part of the Scripture reveal another, explain another. We see that in that the New Testament explains so much of what is in the Old Testament. We understand, we appreciate about the sacrificial lamb, the whole Levitical system, because we have it explained for us in the New Testament, particularly in Hebrews. but it also means to bring together the different themes in scripture so that we know what the Bible teaches on particular topics. And sometimes people want to be in a church which is very dramatic, a church which is very dynamic, a church which is happening, a church which has strategies and activity But our primary activity is to be a growth and a knowledge and an understanding of Jesus Christ. Any activity, any drama as it were, any excitement must come, if it's to be of any purpose or any blessing and benefit at all, from a revelation of Christ. The church is to be an engaging community which embraces and draws others in. But that's to be because Christ is here. And because Christ is known to be here. And because Christ is experienced here. And that's why there is to be doctrine. And that word often is a bad press, it's thought of as being dry. Doctrine, that's just books. Doctrine's just, that's academic. And yet it's not. And it shouldn't be thought of in that way. Doctrine is an understanding of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Doctrine is an understanding of God. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Till I come, declare the Word of God. Demand a response from that Word. Develop their understanding and their appreciation for what the Word is saying. This is to be our priority as a congregation. This is my responsibility as a minister. This is what you can call me to task, take me to task on. This is what you can call me to account on. This is what I'm to be doing. And yet I myself are insufficient for all this. I need you to pray for me, to pray with me, that we as a church together might declare and demand of one another that we might develop and grow together. But there's a further responsibility for you, not only to help me, but it is this, you are to devote yourself then to the Word of God. It is to be made known to you demands me, instruction given. But you know it's possible. And you know it's possible. Because I'm sure at different times you've all done it. You've sat there and you've missed it all. Maybe even for long periods of your life it's been like that. You sat there and you missed it all. Maybe even there's periods of your life when you didn't even sit there. But you just missed it all. You give no or little thought to these things. But you are to devote yourself. Devote yourself to the things of Christ. to hearing, and to learning, and to growing, and to responding, and to living faithfully before God. Because if you will come and hear, and if in hearing you will seek, and in seeking if you will endeavor to obey, And if you will come with a consciousness of your own inability and cry out to and depend upon God. And in your inability, if you see your utter need of him and have a growing appreciation for him and of his mercy and of his loving kindness, that you would deal with even such as you and in such a tender, faithful way. and surely in that you will have Christ. There's a simplicity in the gospel, a simplicity so that even a child can grasp, a child can believe, and yet we're told to strive to enter in. There's to be a diligent effort, there's to be a determined work There should be a casting aside anything that will hinder you, anything that will distract you. That's what devoting yourself means. To make it easy for yourself. To benefit from the word. A simplistic understanding of the gospel. is sufficient to bring someone to faith. And yet, when someone has been brought to faith, they will not be satisfied to go on with simply a simplistic understanding, but there will be a zeal, there will be an earnest desire, there will be a consuming love for Christ, for more of Christ. And therefore, there will be a greater devotion. Paul said, till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, and to doctrine. And I'm sure it was an encouragement to Timothy as he was reminded of the challenge that was set before him, and the enormity of that task. And as he was conscious of how great that task was, and how poorly he maybe felt that he could perform that, what an encouragement it was to think that Paul would soon come. Paul the greater preacher, Paul the apostle, that he would come, that he would take over. And so the demands that were placed upon him were great demands, but they were limited demands because they were concentrated into the moment of now, be faithful now, but the day is coming when Paul will return and he will take over. And how that would maybe encourage him in the days when he was discouraged, when he was tired, where he saw a little fruit, where he'd been let down, when he felt alone. Till I come, give attendance to reading and to exhortation and to doctrine. How much more should we remain encouraged by the realization that these responsibilities are placed upon us? To declare and to demand and to develop and to devote ourselves until Christ comes. Until Christ comes. Yes, this requires of you more than you have. And yet the day is coming when he who is able will gather his own to himself, will bring himself into your presence, and he will give you of himself, of himself more and more and more. It's not our joy and our hope. that throughout eternity there will be more and more and more of Christ. And it's because of that that today we commit ourselves to give attendance to reading and to exhortation and to doctrine. Amen, let's pray.