AM Bible Study Group; June 11, 2014
1 Timothy 4:11-16
Theme: Paul shares his heart with Timothy about the disciplines of life and ministry that ought to characterize the faithful preacher of gospel truth.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
In our study of 1 Timothy, we have been taking an inside look at Paul’s passion for the ministry. It’s a letter that he wrote to his younger pastoral colleague and mentee Timothy; and the focus of the letter has been on how the pastor is to ensure that the church conducts itself as it should. Chapter four has been our particular focus lately; and it speaks to the issue of ‘doctrinal faithfulness’. The local church—to be what it should be in God’s plan—must be a church that faithfully hears and faithfully adheres to sound biblical doctrine.
Someone might say that this morning’s passage would be better suited in a seminary classroom. And that would certainly be true. But even so, it’s a passage that every sincere and dedicated member of the household of God should know well—so that they know what personal disciplines God expects of the preacher, and how the congregation should pray for him. What’s more, let’s remember that the pastor is here told to be “an example” of what all the followers of Jesus should be.
I. KEEP TRUE TO THE SCRIPTURES (v. 11).
A. Paul wrote, “These things command and teach” (v. 11). The “these things” to which he referred would be the practice of godly liberty that the Christian is to enjoy (see 3b-5). False teachers where making up a bunch of legalistic rules that kept people bound by rituals and prohibitions. Timothy was to preach the things that are “sanctified by the word of God and prayer” (v. 5); and was told, “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 . . .” (v. 6). Like Paul says so clearly and so memorably in 2 Timothy 4:2, “Preach the word!”
B. We should note that this means that there should always be a practical emphasis to the ministry of preaching—a ministry that doesn’t just inform the mind, but that sets forth a clear call to action. The sound teaching of the Bible is to be lived out in everyday living (James 1:22-23). Paul says that these things aren’t simply to be taught, but ‘commanded and taught’. A good pastor helps the people to not only know what the word says, but how to apply it—and then exhorts them to rise up and do so!—”warning [or “admonishing”] every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man complete in Christ” (Colossians 1:28).
II. BE YOUR OWN BEST ILLUSTRATION OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE (v. 12).
A. Scholars believe that Timothy was somewhere between thirty to thirty-five years old at this time. In ancient times, anyone between the ages of thirty to forty was still considered a young man. He might have had many people in his church who were much older than him. It may have even been that some of the false teachers were older than him and looked down on him. Paul wrote, “Let no one despise your youth . . .” (v. 12). But the way for a preacher not to allow himself to be looked down on is by his excellent Christian example. Paul told him, “but be an example to the believers . . . “
B. What was he to be an example in? Paul mentions “in word” (a pastor should be an example in the way he talks), “in conduct” (not as one person said, “My pastor is great in the pulpit. I just wish he’d never step out of it!”), “in love” (always the first to demonstrate love in action toward others—and especially toward his brothers and sisters in Christ), “in faith” (a leader to the people in trusting God) and “in purity” (living a sanctified life).
III. MINISTER FAITHFULLY TO THE MIND OF GOD’S PEOPLE (v. 13).
A. Paul was planning to come to Timothy and assist him in ministering to the people. But until that time, He was to “give attention” to certain things for their good: To “the reading” (most likely, the careful public reading of well-chosen portions of God’s word; see Acts 13:15 and 2 Corinthians 3:14), “the exhortation” (admonishing obedience and conformity to that “reading”), and “the doctrine” or “the teaching” (the work that the good preacher is to do in setting the reading of particular portions of God’s word and the exhortation” that come from it into theological context—helping them to see how that exhortation fits into the context of the whole of the system of balanced, biblically-based Christian theology).
B. The nurture of the mind is vital in the Christian life. Paul wrote, “ For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding . . .” (Colossians 1:9). A good minister, if he is serving God’s people rightly, has a congregation of people who have learned to think biblically and live scripturally.
IV. VIEW YOUR MINISTRY AS A SACRED GIFT FROM GOD (v. 14).
A. Paul reminded Timothy of how his ministry began when he said, “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” (v. 14). God had clearly set Timothy apart for this ministry—perhaps from his youth, and through a growing awareness in the body of Christ of his abilities—and finally, in some way, confirmed to the people of God through some unique and revelatory word (perhaps as in the case of Paul in Acts 13:1-3), so that the leadership viewed it unmistakably as God’s call, and authenticated it in an official way by the corporate laying on of the hands of the elders (of which Paul, it seems, was part; see 2 Timothy 1:6).
B. The significance of this is that the ministry to which Timothy had been called was a very sacred one—and that he should view it that way. As Peter would put it, “Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away” (1 Peter 5:2-4).
V. NEVER STOP BEING A GOOD STUDENT OF THE MINISTRY (v. 15).
A. Paul urged Timothy, “Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them . . .” The word for “meditate”, in this case, means far more than to just simply “think deeply” about it. It means to “take care” with a thing; to “take pains with” it, and to “cultivate” it. And the phrase “give yourself entirely to” these things comes from the idea of “being in” them. The pastor is to be “all in” when it comes to his calling. It isn’t to be a mere sideline for him. It is to be his life.
B. And note why he is to give himself to the ministry in this way. It’s “that your progress may be evident to all” (v. 15). A good preacher is constantly reading and studying and practicing and training in order to improve what God has given him—and all out of love for the Lord and for the good of the people of God that he serves.
VI. PAY DILIGENT ATTENTION TO YOUR LIFE AND FAITH (v. 16a).
A. One of the most important verses of the Bible for a preacher to know is Proverbs 4:23; “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” If a preacher fails to pay attention to himself in the process of ministering to others, he may lose everything else he might have gained, and suffer shipwreck in the process. Paul urged Timothy, “Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine” (v. 16a).
B. Note that the exhortation is two-fold. The pastor is to take heed to himself. But he must also keep a careful watch on his relationship to “the doctrine”. If the devil cannot bring a preacher down through moral impurity, he will try to bring him down through doctrinal impurity. A wise pastor keeps himself accountable to the leaders of his church and to his wife and family; and also develops peer relationships, outside his church, with other pastors who can help him check his teaching.
VII. ALWAYS KEEP THE GOAL IN MIND (v. 16b).
A. Finally, note that Paul says, “Continue in them” (that is, continue in the things mentioned above that the pastor is to meditate in and give himself entirely to), “for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you (v. 16b). Men can give themselves to many things; but the work of the kingdom is worth giving one’s all for!
B. When Paul says that Timothy would “save” himself and those who hear him, it’s tempting to water that down. It’s true, of course, that salvation is of the Lord Jesus alone, by grace alone, through faith alone; but it’s also true that we participate to some degree in that salvation. As Paul put it in Philippians 2:12-13; “. . . work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”