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1Timothy 4
We 1ive in age when fitness
physical a major leisure
activity. Gone are the days when you
walked miles to work dug coal out with your own strength, felled trees with an
axe or saw, carried your food and firewood home on your back. We have every
convenience, even electric pencil sharpeners. So its our to the keep fit club,
prancing around the front room in front of the TV imitating the video, jogging,
weight-training, aerobics, you name it we do it to keep the body in trim.
1Timothy 4 starts,
not with the body,
or even with the mind, the challenge for today is to
GET
SPIRITUALLY FIT.
We are going to look at Paul's six - point programme for Spiritual hea1th.
First
we consider what to avoid.
The Spirit c1ear1y says that in later times some will
abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 2Such
teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared
as with a hot iron. 3They forbid people to marry and order them to
abstain from certain foods.
7Have nothing to do
with godless
myths and old wives’ tales;
What are these false teachings?
Ma1co1m
spoke of them in the context of the earlier chapters. In essence the problems
false teaching that Timothy and Paul were confronted with was a separation of
the physical and spiritual. The physical was either evil and therefore to be subjugated by refusing to
indulge its desires. This lead to
banning certain foods, aestheticism, celibacy, and the like.
Alternatively, the spiritual was totally separate from
the physical, so you could enjoy what you liked, because you only sinned the
body , not in the soul. These are both elements of mainstream Greek
philosophies of the day and they
were brought into the church. Previously the church battles with Jewish
orthodoxy that insisted that Christians should be circumcised and obey the Old
Testament Law. You can read Paul’s answer to that in Galatians and other
Letters.
So what of today? How do we spot false
teachers? First note that they are opposites of Biblical statements. Jesus said
‘all foods are clean but the false teachers forbade certain foods. Jesus only
forbade adultery but the false teachers forbade all sex. That still happens
today. Parts of the church forbid marriage or
insist on vegetarianism.
False
teaching is when someone contradicts the plain
statement of the Bible
Secondly False teaching is
when someone
brings the religion and phi1osophy of the surrounding culture
and translates the gospel so that
it is a Christian version the world
around us. This is a much more
subtle prob1em. It is not easy
to know when your ideas are man made
or God made. The influence of
the new-age movement the church, The pressure of the Gay Christian Movement,
even the modern business
philosophy creeps to our thinking. So how do we to avoid these
things? First by challenging them on the basis of the
revealed Word of God.
Secondly by looking
at the motives of the teacher. This is why Paul's leadership qualifications are
so different from the world’s. Jesus said out of the heart the mouth speaks. If
the heart is false the teaching will be false.
So be aware of the 1ife of your teachers. If they do not measure up to the
gospel be cautious. However, do not assume that if you can find a fault in a
speaker, you can i g n o r e his message. That wou1d mean that all teaching in
the church wou1d be? written off. Paul warns that these people have abandoned
the faith, follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings
come through hypocritica1 1iars, whose consciences have been seared as with a
hot iron.
Stick to the
truths of the faith and good teaching. Examine what is said and if it is not
God’s word, challenge it and if someone insists on their error, have nothing to
do with them.
But we must not be negative as Pau1 is not
negative. He points out it is the false
teachers that are negative. They forbid what God has created
for good.
3 They forbid people to marry and order
them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with
thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth.4For everything God
created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with
thanksgiving, 5because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.
The heart of this doctrine is EVERYTHING
GOD CREATED IS GOOD. God created the world and it was good — where things were
to be enjoyed.
- Genesis 2:17
Only sin
has spoilt it. Take sex for examp1e. It
was not intended to be a prob1em, God created it for pleasure in the secure
relationship of marriage. It is sin, which has made it mechanica1, 1ife1ess,
devoid of love and security. It is sin that turns our sex drive into cravings
and temptation.
Food as well is to be enjoyed, not worried about.
Of course diet is important - we must not abuse the temple of the Holy Spirit
and diets for medical conditions are necessary and important. BUT we have made
a fetish of it. If you enjoy a cream cake and it does not ruin your diet, then
enjoy it, thanking God for the
p1easure. If you sweeten your tea, don't let those with fetishes stop you. If
you can go without sugar and enjoy your tea then so much the better. Either
way, thank God for the pleasure. Don't feel guilty eating a dinner in a
starving world. Thank God for it and do what you can to share that pleasure
with the rest of mankind.
What about music? I believe we should apply the same principles here.
If you enjoy it as a gift from God, then enjoy it. However if you cannot thank
God for the words or thoughts it brings then avoid it.
And that new outfit you are wearing. Did
you thank God for it?
The KEY is thanksgiving. Do you give
thanks for food? Married couples do you ever give thanks for sex?
And it is to be received with
thanksgiving because it is consecrated by the word of God – that is if God says
its good, then it is good – and prayer – if you thank God for it, it will do
you good. So food is consecrated, sex is sanctified, the CD you listen to
becomes a spiritual experience and your new outfit is approved of by God, even
if nobody else seems to like it!
Paul goes on:
7Have nothing to do with godless myths
and old wives' tales; rather, train vourself to be godly. 8 For physica1
training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding
promise for both the present life and the life to come .
I have been told that
ten minutes brisk walking would keep most of us fit and avoid the dangers of
excessive fitness. And its good to have a stretch if you have been sitting
still a long time. Go on then! Have a stretch!
There is a 1atin
proverb: Mens sano in sano corporae — a healthy mind in a healthy body. So what
are you doing to get your mind fit? We probably live in a society with the healthiest
bodies but the sickest minds in our history.
We sit in front of TV, described as "the chewing-gum of the eyes" and
without effort absorb whatever is poured out. We fai1 even to challenge what
once we thought unacceptable. The internet’s deluge of pornography, violence
and degradation simply underlines how diseased is the co11ective thinking of
our present society.
Paul says “Get
spiritual1y fit” - TRAIN YOURSELF IN
GODLINESS
For god1iness has value for all
things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come
What is godliness? well look back to 1Timothy 3:16 —
its Jesus’ life. Being like God is being like Jesus. So what was Jesus
Like?
9 pointers but I must impress on you the
need to read the gospels to understand the full nature of godliness.
1. Father's
business - we must
spend time learning about it.
2. Baptised with water
3. Baptised with the Holy Spirit.
4. Overcoming temptation
5. Prayer
6„ Preaching
7. Healing
8. Sacrificing
9. Rising again and ascending to
you Father and my Father.
Godliness is living a life, it can never
be a sterile obedience to duty.
Here is a promise to encourage you to train yourself in
godliness:
In 2Peter1:3
3His divine power has
given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him
who called us by his own glory and goodness.
It is possible t o 1ive godly lives. What is required is our
willingness to trust God and rest in his power and do battle with Satan.
Remember most people are unfit because they can't be bothered to get fit.
Pau1 continues:
9This is a trustworthy saying
that deserves full acceptance 10(and for this we labour and strive),
that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, and
especially of those who believe.
Here is the aim – HOPE
But not hope in our
godliness. We are not hopeless if we fail in out godliness; Neither is
our hope ‘pie in the sky'. Our hope is in the living God he is real and is able
to keep that which we have committed to
him . He is the Saviour of all men. All have sinned, we are all fai1ures in the
pursuit of godliness - but Jesus died to forgive us for our sins and to cleanse
us from all unrighteousness.
Our aim is hope,
positive, worthwhile, obtainable and of the highest value. The struggle
of faith is not easy doubts constantly run through the minds of every one of
us. We need, to train to be godly so that faith and
hope can overcome every trial.
Two things need to be mentioned in passing
First is that:
There are 5 of these in the
pastoral epist1es. They make a study in
themselves but in Titus 1:9 Paul describes all Christian teaching in the same
expression. There are specia1sayings but 1ets not just 1earn proof texts, lets
be grounded in the who1e of God’s word.
God,
who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.
What does it mean? The
word "especially" is a Greek word 'malista' which is the superlative
of 'mala' which means 'very'. So 'malista' means 'above everything else', 'most
of al1',’supremely'. It is not suggesting a universalism - that God
will save a11 men regard1ess of their beliefs - but that God's salvation is
available as a speciality to those who be1i eve.
First set an examp1e in 5 things:
Speech.
Life. - your family, work, friendships -
godliness is a 24 hour a day activity.
Love.
1Corinthians13:4-7
Faith.
Matthew 17:20-21
Purity:
1John3:9; Jude23; Romans6:11-13
Second:
13Until I come, devote
yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.
Third:
14Do not neglect your
gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders
laid their hands on you.
C1ear1y the church recognised through
prophecy that Timothy had a gift and the elders publicly indentified
that gift by laying
on of hands.
This encapsulates an interdependence
we are not used to. It is part of our cooperate life together to seek God's
will and purpose for our fellowship, to ask him to indentify gifts that he
wants to distribute in our fellowship and to whom and then publicly declare it.
This is a spirit-filled fellowship, sensitive to God's word, identifying and
using the gifts of the Spirit that have been given. I believe that we need to
spend much more of our prayer life asking God to speak to us rather than just
asking for what we think is important.
Fina11y:
15Be diligent in these
matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. 16Watch
your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will
save both yourself and your hearers.
We
need to evaluate what we are doing and measure our success. But by what?
Certainly not by our giving, godless men could achieve that, Nor by
conversions, that is God's task. Not even by our work output
1Corinthians13:1 -3
1If I speak in the
tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or
a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom
all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains,
but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the
poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
No the Bible is quite clear on this
Matthew 7:16
16By their fruit you
will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from
thistles?
What fruits?
Ga1atians5:22-23
22But the fruit of the
Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness
and self-control.
It does not matter that SRCF never makes it place in the news, Never
gets a reputation for being the place to be. What does matter, to God,
is whether it exhibits the fruits of the Spirit the evidence of godliness, so work out on your speech, life, 1ove f a i
t h an d purity, pray over them, ask for your life real godliness and then REVIVAL
WILL COME You will see peop1e coming to Jesus for salvation because they
will see the life of God in your life. The trouble is we want revival on the
cheap, The Olympics is not for the jogger, nor is the London Marathon, Revival
is not the result of religious activity it is a consequence ofpeop1emoved by
the Holy Spirit to train in godliness.