Transcription
This is a message from the ministry of Calvary Chapel Santa Barbara. For more information about our church, please visit calvary.us.
Be calm, please. If you would turn in your Bibles to First Timothy, chapter 4. And it just kind of comes to my mind, before we jump into verse 1 and make our way through the chapter, what an interesting thing it is, the way that we normally, at least in our own kind of tradition and custom, together as a congregation, how we study the Bible. Here we are, we left off last time at 1st Timothy, chapter 3. Now we're picking it up at 1st Timothy, chapter 4. And in a way, I think that's so artificial. In the ancient world, when they got this letter, when Timothy received this letter from Paul, does anybody think that, well, first of all, you understand, the chapter divisions weren't in what Paul originally wrote. Chapter and verse divisions were added in later. I mean, I think they're helpful, but we just need to remind ourselves, they're not in the original. But it's not as if Timothy paused, that would be the end of chapter 1, and put the scroll down and said, "I'll pick it up in another week." He would read the whole thing. And when it would first be read to the congregation, it would be read in its entirety, and everybody would get a great sense of the context and the flow from the very beginning.
You know, they'd be reminded of the fact that in the first chapter, he speaks sort of Timothy personally, gives him personal challenges for how he should conduct himself as a leader and a servant among God's people. Then in chapters 2 and 3, we saw how there were sort of instructions for how things should be conducted among the community of believers when they get together for church services. These are things to do and things not to do. And then now, into chapter 4, he's going to come back to speaking personally to Timothy for the things that he has to prioritize and the things that he has to keep in mind for his own life. Now, there's a little bit in my mind that says this is artificial, but on the other hand, I don't think it is. I believe that when Timothy looked at this letter again, and when this letter circulated around the early church, just because that's what they would do with these early letters from Paul, they would circulate them around the churches and read them. I'm sure they would read them pieces at a time and meditate deeply on the words. And that's what we're doing. I guess what I'm trying to say is this: it would be good for you to sit down and read the letter of First Timothy from beginning to end, just in its entirety. I mean, what would it take you? 20, 25 minutes? It wouldn't take you that long. And get a sense for that. And it's also good for us to come together and study it in a more meditative way, just taking a look at it piece by piece in some greater depth. So I don't apologize in the slightest for the way that we're studying the Bible here tonight.
First Timothy, chapter 4, beginning at verse 1. "Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons." It's fascinating because previously in his letter, Paul had been talking about sort of the conduct in the church, prayers, roles of men, roles of women, how things should be conducted among the family of God, the gatherings of the church. And then sort of at the end of chapter 3, he gave one of these very characteristic statements of Paul, this kind of high-soaring declaration of praise to God, something of a doxology there at the end of it. So it seemed like it kind of reset his thinking again. And then saying, "Okay, what more do I want to say to Timothy?" And he says, "Timothy, this is very important for you to know." Look at it again here in verse 1. "Now the Spirit expressly says." The Holy Spirit didn't just say this, he expressly said it. It was with emphasis. It was with force. "The Holy Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons."
I have to say, we're not told exactly how the Spirit said this. Maybe it was spoken by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit among one of the apostles or prophets that was there in the first century church, that's there. I mean, maybe Paul himself or one of his associates. Maybe it was some other way, but it was known to Paul and among the believers in these days that God had revealed that. What is it? Look at it again in verse 1. "That in latter times, the last days, some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons." What we have here are three dangers. We have the danger of apostasy. That means some will depart. Apostasy is a departure. We have the danger of deception, promoted by deceiving spirits. And then we have the danger of false teaching, that is the doctrines of demons.
Now, look, let's be very straightforward about this. It has been some 1,900 years, more than 1,900 years since Paul wrote to Timothy about the latter times. And some people think, "Well, Paul taught the latter times were in his day." We think, "It may be in our day." I guess everybody's wrong. Maybe there's no such thing as the idea of the last days in latter times. No, I would disagree with that. I would say the concept presented to us in the New Testament is that until the coming and the finished work of Jesus Christ, all of history was rushing towards that brink, the cliff, that summation of all things. And now, with the fulfilled, completed work of Jesus Christ, it has reached the brink, and now it runs parallel to the brink. It sort of took a turn. And there's a sense in which Jesus Christ could have returned at any time within the last 1,900 years. And Jesus Christ can return at any time now. And we should take a look at the world around us and say, "We should be ready for the return of Jesus." I can't tell you exactly when He's going to come. You can't tell me exactly when He's going to come. But we can say, "We should be ready."
And one of the evidences that we live in this time that Paul called the latter times or the last days is this fact that some will depart from the faith. Again, apostasy. There will be deceiving spirits. Again, deception. And there will be the doctrines of demons. There will be false teaching. Now, when it says that they will depart from the faith, it doesn't mean that they will lose their ability to believe. Do you understand what I'm getting at here? Departing from the faith does not mean I've lost my ability to believe. Departing from the faith, it's a familiar New Testament way of speaking of what Christians believe in common. "The faith" that's used several times in the New Testament. It's used in passages like Acts chapter 6, verse 7; Acts chapter 14, verse 22; Colossians, chapter 1, verse 23; or chapter 1, verse 23; First Timothy 1:19; and Jude, chapter 1, verse 3. In each one of those passages, "the faith" is used to represent, "This is what Christians believe in common. This is our body. This is our statement of faith." What Paul says is that in the last days, some will depart from the faith.
And if that's not bad enough, there will be deceiving spirits. There are some lies that are so powerful that they have an evidently spiritual dynamic behind them. These are lies that, that are so powerful that you'd look at them and say, "They must be crafted and promoted by deceiving spirits." And then you have doctrines of demons. This speaks specifically of the teachings of these deceiving spirits. It's interesting, the Bible tells us that there are beings, we don't know all that much about them, called demons. And apparently, from what the Bible tells us, their theology majors. They know a lot about theology, and they can deceive. Now, we find the first demonic deception in the book of Genesis, chapter 3. There, Satan, in something that's admittedly strange, but the Bible tells us it happened, speaking through a serpent, taught Eve, "Quote, 'You will not surely die, for God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God.'" That's Genesis chapter 3, verses 4 and 5. Since then, you could say that every demonic doctrine has found its way back to this root. What's the root? The idea that we can be gods and operate independently of God. When a person lives under the mentality, "I can make my own rules. I can figure out my own truth. I can operate, you know, just however I please," that is a declaration of independence from God. "I don't need you. I won't rely on you. I won't worship you. I'll do things my way." That is, in some way, asserting yourself to be a god yourself, because you're saying to the God that really is, "I don't need you. I can run things on my own." Well, that's the original lie, and it finds itself repeated again and again and again.
But these things of falling away from the faith, deceiving spirits, doctrines of demons, these have been around since man first walked the Garden of Eden. But we should expect that more and more in the church would depart from the faith in the latter times. I don't know when the end of all things is, but the closer we draw to it, we should expect that there would be more and more false teaching. And the danger of this departure from the faith, of these deceiving spirits, and the doctrine of demons, it means that the work of proclaiming, the work of promoting, and the work of protecting the truth is more important than ever.
So, what can we do to proclaim, promote, and protect the truth? Well, I think there's at least a few things. I can't give you an exhaustive list right now, but here's a few things to keep in mind. Number one, the most important thing is for churches to consistently and faithfully proclaim the truth. The idea is, we want to make people so familiar with the genuine that they lose any taste for the counterfeit, and they can detect the counterfeit. I mean, that is the initial and foundational thing that has to be done. You've probably heard this illustration before, but it's a pretty good one, so I don't mind bringing it to your mind again. The way that they train bank tellers, at least in some of the time, how to understand what counterfeit currency is, is not by handling counterfeit currency. It's by handling the genuine. Because when you become really familiar with the genuine currency, then you can detect, "Well, this isn't the genuine." And this is the first and foremost thing we need to do. Churches need to be places where the Bible is taught. It's taught rightly. It's taught in truth. It's presented, proclaimed without apology, in love and in God's grace, of course, but where the truth is, as I said before, where the truth is proclaimed, promoted, and protected. That's the first thing: proclaim the truth.
The second thing: at times, it is important to expose and call out specific deceptions and deceivers. And when it's time to do that, it should be done boldly, clearly, and directly. Now, I have to say, as a pastor, this presents a bit of a problem sometimes. Do you know why? Because there are so many dangers and deceptions out there that you could just almost like spin the wheel every week, and you could do a sermon every week on some crazy thing that's being taught and believed somewhere out there. They think, "Well, if I give all my attention to that, how am I giving attention to proclaiming and promoting just what the Bible says in truth?" All I can say is, you need to pray for your pastors that they'd have discernment. The general rule that I perceive that pastors should is that when these dangerous and deceptive doctrines begin to truly make their way within the congregation, that's when it needs to be very forcefully and specifically spoken about. And the pastor needs wisdom. He needs the ability to be able to perceive that and to be able to speak against it. That's the second thing: you need to be able to speak against these things, and again, boldly, clearly, and directly.
But then the third aspect is this: when deception and deceivers are exposed, it is essential to do it with accuracy and integrity. Inaccurate, overblown, exaggerated claims and accusations do more harm to the cause of the truth than good. When the faith is defended in a sloppy or even dishonest manner, then even the defense of the faith is discredited. And so, it just has to be done. It has to be done wisely. It has to be done truthfully. It has to be done accurately. Oh, but it has to be done. You know, sometimes I think that the devil wouldn't mind if the faith was defended, if it was just always done in an overblown and exaggerated way. And that way, people get so immune to it, as if it's the little boy crying wolf all the time. Then when a real danger comes, people won't listen. So, when deception and deceivers are exposed, it's essential to do it with accuracy and integrity.
Okay, going on in verses 2 and 3, he's going to describe the nature of their departure from the faith. He says here, verses 2 and 3: "Speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth." Again, Paul's here describing those who depart from the faith in verse 1. And what do they do? Well, first of all, they speak lies in hypocrisy. That certainly points to people who willingly embrace falsehood to justify their sin or their pride. And what is their conscience? Verse 2, it says that their own conscience is seared. You know, in a properly working believer, the conscience is a beautiful thing. A properly working believer, the conscience tells them when they're going astray. The Holy Spirit speaks to the informed conscience, and they know, "I need to do something different here." But, but when people depart from the truth to such a degree, notice their conscience is seared. You know what that means, don't you? To sear something is to burn it. It's as if the nerve endings are burned over, and their conscience becomes insensitive. They're dead to feeling. I wonder if Paul reflected on the fact that he was a man who had a seared conscience before Jesus Christ changed his life. Think about Paul's career as Saul of Tarsus, that energetic young rabbi who made it his life's work to persecute and even kill Christians. If you were to interview Saul of Tarsus when he was persecuting Christians, you would have spoken to a man who had a seared conscience. He believed that what he was doing was absolutely right before God. You could not persuade him otherwise. But Jesus Christ got ahold of him, and you could say, healed that burned-out conscience and made it sensitive once again to the things of God. And Paul knew what this was like.
And he goes on in verse 3 to describe that these false teachers and apostates, they are forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from foods. This describes the legalistic teachings of those who have departed from the faith. They thought that by following a list of rules and regulations, people could be so spiritual, they would be justified in God's sight. That you would be more holy to God if you never married. You'd be more holy to God if you didn't eat certain foods. Now, there's always been those in the church. Well, just put it to you, there's always been those in the church, they regard themselves as more holy than God himself. It's like God says, "This is how to follow me," and it's as if they say, "That's not good enough, God. We've got to go one better than you." They have a stricter set of rules for living than God himself does. Now, I have to say, for the most part, for the most part, that's not where we are in our culture today. In the most part, we're pretty soft. We're not the ones really challenging. And the general danger is not an excessive legalism in our culture and in church culture today. That the danger is always there, but in generations past, it's been much worse. Among believers in the early centuries of the church, there were monks who went out to desolate desert places. They did it to show how spiritual they were by torturing themselves. What one monk, he never ate cooked food. He was an original Paleo diet guy. Another guy stood up all night leaning on a sharp rock so that it was impossible for him to sleep. Another neglected his body and allowed it to become so dirty that bugs dropped dead from his body. Why did they do these crazy self-torture things? And by the way, there's such a dirty body, that's not so self-torture, you're torturing anybody who comes near you as well. But why did they do such things? They did it because they thought it would win favor with God and make them more holy. Brother and sisters, that is not the new covenant established for us in Jesus Christ. In Jesus Christ, the ground of our righteousness, the ground of our holiness before God, is not radical things we perform to show God and everybody else how holy we are. It's the person and work of Jesus Christ on our behalf. That's the glorious liberty of the children of God.
But as I said, there's always been those people in the community of Christians who think they're more holy than God is. We often think that if we sacrifice something for God. Here, in their day, you could see in verse 3, they were sacrificing the right to marry or or eating certain foods. We think that if we do these certain things, then God owes me something. This is legalism at its worst. It's trying to manipulate God into giving me something. "All right, God, if I do this, then you owe me, and you have to do it." Brother and sisters, the idea that we can make God indebted to us, making him our servant and ourselves his master, that's wrong. And by the way, when we think we can manipulate God like that, when we think that we can make him our servant and we can be his master, what have we done? We have gone after that original lie that was promoted in the Garden of Eden: "You can be as God." Again, that's not that's not the faith of the New Testament.
So Paul's going to refute that idea here in verses 4 and 5. He says, "For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer." Regarding what we can eat, we can eat all things. Now, please, if your doctor has you on a special diet, don't go to this verse and claim that you can eat whatever you want because the Bible, listen to your doctor. He's talking about in a spiritual sense. There's no spiritual problem with you eating what you want. It may be wise for you, according to your doctor's order, just what works good for you, you avoid these foods, whatever it is. I'm not trying to bring any condemnation on the gluten-free folks here this evening. I'm just saying, yes, follow that if that's great. But what I'm saying is, don't think for a moment that any of it makes you more spiritual before God. It may be good for your body, but God says, in the spiritual sense, every creature of God is good. Just receive it with thanksgiving. And in verse 4, he says, "Nothing is to be refused." You can eat it. Again, nothing you eat or don't eat is going to make you more spiritual before God. It may or may not make you more healthy, and that's for you to decide with your doctor and just what you know how your body works. But it's not going to make you more right with God or more spiritual. Matter of fact, Paul says something radical in verse 5. He says that the food we eat is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer. Now, Paul seems to have in mind here the custom of praying before a meal. And the instances were, "Sanctifying through God, you've given us food, we thank you for it, bless it, sanctify it." But it's not only prayer that does that, it's also the Word of God. I think we can find at least two general commands that God has given that gives us the right to eat all things. Genesis chapter 1, verse 29 says, "And God said, 'See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed. And so it shall be for you for food.'" Just eat what the earth produces. And then in Genesis chapter 9, verse 3, he says, "Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs." Go ahead, enjoy what I put into this world.
Now, this kind of brings up the idea about praying before meals. Is that a good thing and a bad thing? Is it just a tradition? Well, I think it's a good thing. I don't think it should be slavishly followed. I remember eating with a family once, and somebody started eating before they took a mouth of food, and the dad said, and he said it jokingly, but you know, there was a little bit of bite in the joke. He said, "Don't do that, boy. When you eat before you pray, it's like the devil licked it." He was joking. But again, I mean, lighten up a little bit there, Dad. Good heavens, no. It doesn't have to be some strange, legalistic thing. But first of all, it's right to thank God before we eat. Although I have to say, I think it's a little lost on us in the modern world. I think it's a little difficult for us to understand how most of humanity has struggled to have enough food to eat. And honestly, in the modern world today, in the Western world, in the world we live in collectively, even even those of us not so well off, we eat at a level that Roman emperors ate in the past. The quality, the variety, the freshness, the awesomeness of some of the food we eat, it's it's really an amazing thing. And I just say this, just because we take it for granted doesn't mean it's wonderful. It's a good thing to pray before a meal. Now, please remember, if you're going to pray before a meal, remember what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 6, verse 5. Don't pray to make a show in public. You know, there you are at the restaurant, and you start shouting out the Hallelujahs in the prayer, just to let everybody know how Christian you are at that table. Now, by the way, if you are unwise enough to do that and make a display of your spirituality like that, you better leave a massive tip. Don't you dare disgrace the name of Jesus Christ for being cheap on the tip after proclaiming your prayer like that. But, but now, the idea isn't to shout out to the world, "This is how Christian." But there's a genuine attitude of Thanksgiving that we should have for the food God puts on our tables.
Now, going on to verse 6, I, I love this section, starting at verse 6 through to the end of the chapter. It's so personal from Paul to Timothy. You'll see he says, "If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of good doctrine which you have carefully followed." Notice how Paul considered Timothy's main job as a pastor, in a Timothy, I was going to say, as a Timothy, as a pastor and a minister, his main job was simply to instruct the brethren in these things. That's what he was supposed to instruct. His primary job was to instruct the brethren in these things. If the minister doesn't do that, then he's not doing his job. Now, it's also very important to say that instruction should be understood in a broad sense. Some of the best instruction that happens in the Christian world doesn't happen in a congregational or a classroom setting. It happens one to one, life to life, in a small group or something like that. But the instruction is very important. And on whatever way it happens, it has to happen. For a minister to faithfully fulfill his office, he should be, notice verse 6, "nourished in the words of faith and good doctrine which you've carefully followed." I love that. Listen, good doctrine is nourishing. The truth of God is food for the soul.
Now, verse 7, he says, "But reject profane and old wives' fables." Stop right there. I'll read, begin starting in verse 7. "But do you see the contrast here? Verse 6 was, 'Nourish yourself in the Word. Instruct the brethren in these things.' Stay, stay emphasized on the Word of God in teaching the people the Word of God. But, and now here's the opposite, starting at verse 7: 'Reject profane and old wives' fables, and exercise yourself towards godliness. For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance. For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the Living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.'"
Now, again, if you keep the priority on God's Word, as indicated by his verse 6, you're going to reject certain things. And what say, "Reject profane and old wives' fables." Look, sometimes the church has gotten very caught up in just superstitious traditions, have they not? The priority has to be on the words of God and not on man. Now, as you reject profane and old wives' fables, instead, exercise yourself towards godliness. Ancient Greek and Roman culture placed a high value on physical exercise. It was in these cultures that the sports were part of the Olympic Games came forth, the gymnasium, and the boxing ring, and the wrestling things, and all that. These were cultures that were very much, in a similar way to our modern culture, men, they were into fitness and exercise and the exertion of the body. Well, Paul tells Timothy here is that the same work and commitment that other people put towards physical exercise, Paul tells Timothy, "Timothy, you need to put that towards godliness." I think that's pretty high measure, isn't it? Not long ago, we had the Winter Olympic Games, and you think about all the effort that those athletes put in to the, you know, you think about all the training and all the discipline and all the exercise. It looks like it's an overwhelming amount of dedication and preparation that those athletes put into it, except for the guys who do curling. It looks like they just pick that up. Just, but that's another matter altogether. Now, when you look at the dedication of those athletes, you have to say this, you have to say that God's servants, pastors and ministers, they should give themselves to the calling of God on their life with the same dedication, with the same passion. And that's exactly what, what, what Paul's telling Timothy. He's referring to something. Timothy, you walked by the gymnasium, you saw the guys working out, you saw the boxers sparring, you, you saw the wrestlers doing their thing, you saw the runners running. You need to have that kind of heart and attitude towards the work God has given you to do. It's sort of an intentional paradox. Timothy was to challenge these, um, ascetic people who said, "Well, you can't marry, you can't eat." Their thing was all about this. What was Timothy to do? He said, "No, I'm supposed to exercise myself towards the real things of the Christian life." When Paul was putting down the legalism of those who would say, "Go after this superstition, no, you can't marry, no, you can't eat these foods," when Paul spoke out against it, he wasn't trying to imply that the Christian life is all kicked back and easy. It's just that the effort needs to be focused in the right direction and not after this legalistic impulse.
So he says in verse 8, "Bodily exercise profits a little." It certainly has some value. The idea can be translated, "Bodily exercise is good for a while." It is good. We all feel better when we work out. We all feel better when we keep ourselves fit. It's good for the body. It's good for the mind. Yes, there's value in it. But at the same time, don't neglect the value of spiritual exercise. I find it interesting, spiritual development and physical development share some similarities. I mean, look, I'm obviously no expert in physical development exercise, but it seems to me that these things are proved that you develop physically by exertion and proper feeding. You gotta exert yourself and do it in the right and wise ways, and then you have to fuel your body with proper feeding, not eating the wrong things and eating the right things and in the right amounts. Well, isn't it funny that's how it works spiritually too? Spiritually speaking, if you want to grow, if you want to develop, you need to exert yourself, and you need to get fed. Both of them are true.
And then he goes on, verse 8: "Godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is." And he says, "and of that which is to come." I love saying it, folks. Godliness has value for the life that now is. We don't live in just this, to use a phrase, a pie-in-the-sky religion where God says, "Well, your life is going to be miserable here, but heaven will be swell." It's not like that. No, godliness is a value now in the present life and the life to come. You see, godliness isn't about making this life the most comfortable, or the richest, or the most pleasurable, or the easiest, for that matter. But it undeniably makes this life the best, the most contented, the richest, the most fulfilling one life, the life that somebody could live in this world. Let me read you a quote from Spurgeon. As you might expect, he has something marvelous on this. He says, "I assure you that there are thousands of my brethren who can affirm the same, that after having tried the ways of sin, we infinitely prefer the ways of righteousness for their own pleasures' sake, even here. And we would not change with the ungodly men, even if we had to die like dogs, with all the sorrow and care which the Christian life is supposed to bring. We would prefer it to any other form of life under the stars." To me, it reminds me a lot of what Peter said to Jesus, "Where else would we go, Lord? You have the words of eternal life."
Now, it's true, as he says right there in verse 8, that it has the promise of the life that now is. But look at the last phrase of verse 8: "and of that which is to come." You know, it's interesting about the passing pleasures, and especially the sinful pleasures of this world, because make no mistake about it, there's sinful pleasures out there. You know, sin has to have some attraction to it. There's not many people tempted to, you know, beat their head against a wall. It's, you know, there's generally a something pleasurable about a sin that we observe. But here's the idea: none of those passing pleasures of sin are ever even promoted with the idea that they have some value for the life to come. Never. Only godliness is the path to eternal life and happiness. For the most part, the, the sins of the world, the flesh, and the devil don't even pretend to help us in the life that is to come. Sin and vice, they offer nothing for the life to come. Genealogies and pedigrees offer nothing for the life to come. Worldly success and wealth offer nothing for the life to come. Personal fame or beauty offer nothing for the life to come. Achievements in learning or the arts, they have nothing for the life to come.
And then triumphantly, he says there in verse 10, "We trust in the Living God." I love that. No great motto to have the Christian life. I'm not into tattoos, but that would make a pretty cool tattoo right there. "We trust in the Living God." He says in verse 10, "the Savior who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe." Now, that's a very interesting statement there, isn't it? What does he say? "The Living God is the Savior of all men, especially those who believe." This emphasizes the idea that the priority has to be kept on the message of Jesus Christ. It isn't that all men are saved in what might some call a Universalist sense, but that there is only one Savior for all men. It isn't as if Christians have one Savior and others might have another Savior. No, there's one Savior for all men. Notice, as is the end of verse 10, "especially of those who believe." You can say this: Jesus's death is adequate to save all, but it is only effective for those who believe.
You know, my studies on this passage, I ran across a quote from a commentator about almost 250, 300 years ago named Adam Clarke. And he had the most insightful statement. Let me read it to you. If I read it slow, I think we can really grab onto it. It's a little bit complex, but it's great. He says, again, relevant to this idea that Jesus is the Savior of all men, he says this: "What God intends for all, He actually gives to them that believe in Christ, who died for the sins of all the world (you'll find that in 1 John 2:2) and tasted death for every man (you'll find that in Hebrews 2:9). As all have been purchased by His blood, so all may believe, and consequently all may be saved. Those that perish, perish through their own fault." Yeah, I think that's a wonderful way to express that idea.
All right, now let's pick it up from verse 11 to the end of the chapter, and we'll spend the last bit of our time here this evening on these last five verses. Verse 11: "These things command and teach. Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you."
Note the authority in verse 11. "These things command and teach." That's kind of forward, isn't it? "Hey, Timothy, throw a few suggestions to the people in the church." No, "these things command and teach." And then it says in verse 12, "Let no one despise your youth." Because Timothy was young, he was vulnerable to the errors of youth, which often bring justified criticism from those who are older. To address this, Paul said, "You go out and live a life that is so godly that nobody can despise your youth." It kind of leads to spring. How young was Timothy? Well, that word "youth" in the ancient Greek was used of grown-up, military-aged men. It could go all the way to somebody in their fortieth year. So we're not talking about Timothy being a teenager. Late 20s, maybe, probably in his 30s. He could have been all the way up to 40, and he would be covered by the idea of this ancient word as youth.
Now, I find it very interesting that it's sort of always inherent in the nature of the older generation to look at the younger generation and find it strange and maybe even stupid. That's just how it is. Older people look at a younger generation and say, "Are you kidding me? They're wearing that? They're saying that? They're doing that?" And if you're younger and think, "Oh man, not when I get older. When I get older, I'm gonna be one of those cool old people." You just wait. You just wait. When you get up there in years, you're gonna look at those who are young in your day and you're gonna say, "They're saying what? They're wearing what? They're doing what?" It's just nature. It's just human nature. This always seems to happen. Now, I would just say this: if you are older, then work to be more generous and understanding of a younger generation. I don't know if my generation has always done so great on that. You know, as pastor, sometimes I hear guys, fellow pastors, they'll, um, they'll really start banging on the guys on the platform that wear the skinny jeans or the jeans with all the holes in them or whatever it is. And, you know, look, you can obviously tell I'm not a skinny jeans guy. It's just that's just never gonna happen. It's not by choice, it's just, you know, it's just not even in the cards. But, you know, when I think about it, is it any different than how parents of one generation looked at a bunch of hippies with the way that they dressed? Is there those hippies? Is it really any different? I don't know that it is. It's just if they want to dress that way, then they dress that way. I guess I guess God would say to us as an older generation, find ways to be generous. Find ways to be loving. You don't have to always, that's just some of the stuff, it's just gonna seem strange and maybe even stupid to you. I mean, after all, those of us who have a certain age, you, you take a look at the pictures of you from 30 or 40 years ago, yeah, and it's your first reaction, "Oh, that was awesome!" Or is your first reaction, "My heavens, I can't believe I looked like that back then." You know, I mean, usually it's that, and then maybe after reflection, you know, "Well, but it was pretty awesome at least in the day."
Now, if you're the younger generation, and sometimes those in the younger generation, they feel that they've done right, and they still despise my youth. "Man, I'm trying to do right, and the pastor, he still despises my youth." Then let me tell you what you should do: you should leave it to God and be generous in your heart and just love and serve in Jesus' name. But I think that the main point here in Paul's exhortation is that Timothy and young people should live in such a way that gives no reason for an accusation. Isn't that what he's saying? Let's look at those words again, verse 12: "Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word and conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity." Go live an exemplary Christian life so that nobody can come in and just say, "What a knuckleheaded kid." No, I think that that's the main emphasis that Paul is speaking of here. And so here, here we should be examples, which would be examples, what we say, that's in word, and what we do, that's conduct, in our love, and our spirit, in our faith, in our purity.
And going on, verse 13: "Give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine." Here to the Word of God and the proclamation of the Word of God. Then to verse 14: "Do not neglect the gift that is in you." Apparently, Timothy received a supernatural gifting and empowering from God when other people laid their hands upon him and prayed for him. Timothy, you've received that gifting. Don't neglect it. Go out and serve in the power and in the wonder of that gifting God has given you. I love what the old Puritan commentator said about this, John Trap. He said, "God's gifts grow under our disuse or misuse." Don't disuse the gifts of God. Find a way to use them. But use them a right. Don't misuse them either.
And then he says in verse 15: "Meditate on these things." Meditate on God's Word and the work of God in your life. Think about it. But the phrase I like perhaps most in this whole little section isn't verse 15. He says, "Give yourself entirely to them." Timothy, give it your all. And I think about, if I had the privilege to speaking to young people serving the Lord, I'd want to give them that same excitation: "Give it your all. Give it entirely." You know, my wife, Engle, and I, when we have the opportunity to speak to young people, one thing we often like to say is, we tell them, we say, "Listen, give the young years of your life to serving Jesus, and you won't regret it. Give it your all. Give it entirely." You see, often we fall short of all we can be for God because we're passive in our Christian life. We just don't give ourselves entirely. Jesus warned against this passive attitude in the parable of the talents. Remember what happened with the parable of the talents? To the guy who did nothing, he was severely rebuked. I remember what Alan Redpath wrote. He wrote that it's entirely possible for a Christian to have a saved soul but a wasted life. May we never be that way.
Now, let me just say this before we wrap up. At the same time, we are very careful to remember that giving it our whole effort never earns the blessing of God or the favor of God. You can't go before God and say, "God, I gave it my all. I gave myself entirely. Now you owe me." Look, sometimes I see pastors with this kind of heart. I see pastors who, in faithfulness, serve the Lord in very difficult circumstances, and maybe the congregation has not grown as they had hoped. The ministry is hard, it's a struggle. They give it their all, and they kind of get bitter against God because they say, "God, you owe me because I gave it my own." No, that's not how it works. Why do we give it our all? Not to put God in debt to us. We give it our all because of all that He has already given us. God has given us everything we have and need in Jesus Christ. He's already done so much for us. We never do it so that God owes us something. But instead, verse 16: "Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine." Both things. To the take heed to the way you live and to the doctrine. Both of them are important. Which one is more important? The way you live or the doctrine that you teach? As a pastor or minister, which one's more important? Yes, the way you live is important, and what you teach is important. Give attention to both of them.
And then look at how he ends us in verse 16: "Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you." The benefit from taking heed to one's life and doctrine is remarkable. It is assurance to the servant of God that they will also be saved, and so will many of those who hear them. And taken in opposition, we see the high price that the person who does not take heed, the person who does not give attention to doctrine, they shouldn't have the assurance of those things. No, instead, they should change their heart and mind and give themselves entirely to them. But isn't it remarkable there in verse 16? He says to Timothy, "Continue in them." Continuing, taking heed, continuing in right doctrine. "For in doing this, you will save both yourself and those who hear you."
All right, my head is filling right now with like, "Whoa, think about this. Is this saying that if I do well with my life and with my doctrine, it will bring salvation to you, to those who hear me?" Yes. Now, you might say, "Whoa, whoa, I thought that salvation was God's work alone. Why mix up a fellow like this in that?" Let me refer you to a remarkable quote on this text from John Calvin, of all people. Quote: "It is indeed true that it is God alone who saves, and not even the smallest part of His glory can rightly be transferred to men. But God's glory is in no way diminished by His using the labor of men in bestowing salvation." What a privilege it is to serve the Lord. What a privilege it is to teach the children in a Sunday school class. What a privilege it is to teach a Bible study. What a privilege it is to bring forth God's message, because done properly, you become an instrument. Not saying the instrument does anybody same thing, same thing. The instrument. No, you become an instrument of God's salvation to other people. Wow, that's big. But notice, it's not just to others, it's also to yourself. Verse 16: "You will save both yourself and those who hear you."
Charles Spurgeon told a remarkable story in a sermon he preached on this text about a great fire that was in the city of Hamburg in his day, 1850s, 1860s, something like that. There's a big fire in Hamburg, Germany. And he said there was a well-documented case, probably reported in the newspapers, of a dog who was awakened by the fire, and he barked so loud and so terrifyingly that the, the family was awakened, and they escaped from the house, the burning house, and they were saved. But tragically, the dog died in the fire, still chained because he was chained up to his kennel. Tragic, of course. Spurgeon warned, "Pastor, don't you be like that dog. You bark to warn others to flee the wrath to come, and they were saved, but you were so chained by your own sins that you did not escape." What a heavy picture and what an exhortation to anybody, to myself, who endeavors to serve God.
Father, we pray that You help us to take these warnings with great seriousness. And we thank You, Lord, that You use something as weak and sometimes as strange as preaching Your Word. You use it as one of the ways that You bring salvation to people. So, Lord, I pray for myself that You would help me to give attention to my life and to my doctrine. Lord, we thank You for our pastor, Pastor Tommy Schneider, and we thank You for the diligent attention that he gives to his life and to his doctrine. And we pray that You'd strengthen him and enable him to continue to do that. And Lord, we think of that for all the pastors on our staff here at Calvary Chapel Santa Barbara. But Lord, for ourselves, we don't want it to escape us. Help us, Lord, to give attention to our life and to what we believe, and to see Your great work done among us. Thank You, Jesus. We pray this in Your name. Amen.