1 Timothy 4          Message 24

    1.   Commitment to right Doctrine                             

          The instructions were given in chapter 1:3-20

Paul then began to instruct Timothy in the – 

    2.  Conduct of the church.  1 Timothy 2:1-3:16

    3.  Calamity in the church  1 Timothy 4:1-5

And last week we were instructed by Paul’s letter on –

    4.  Correction of the church.                  1 Timothy 4:6-16

We learned of –

      a.  Our Promise – the Word of God –

        1).  Resolve to teach the truth

          a).  With conviction  “…whereunto thou has attained.”

         b).  With courage.    The truth is always the same and does not change based on who is listening. 

Knowing the truth enables us to –

        2).  Reject the lies

            a).  Tales told by superstitious people.  (Headless John story)

            b).  Tales believed by irresponsible people – too lazy to search out the truth. 

Knowing the truth, we –

        3).  Rejoice in the promises of God –

          a).  The Lord is our satisfaction

          b).  The Lord is our Surety

          c).   The Lord is our Saviour.

This is the message that Timothy was to preach and it is the message that we must continue preaching, not being sidetracked by old wives tales and false doctrine. 

God is real

Jesus died for our sins

Now is the day of salvation

You know it is the truth

Today we are going to learn about –

Our person and our practice.  Who do you imagine yourself to be?  In America during the 1700’s, there was a young man, still in his teen years, by the name of George Washington, who imagined himself as an adult to be a man that was sought after for his leadership, respected for his courage, appreciated for his concern for others, commended for his manners, always known as a gentleman.  He found an old character study, a list of attributes and he wrote them out, modifying them for his own use.

Every Action done in Company, ought to be with Some Sign of Respect, to those that are Present.

Read no Letters, Books, or Papers in Company but when there is a Necessity for the doing of it you must ask leave: come not near the Books or Writings of Another so as to read them unless desired or give your opinion of them unask’d also look not nigh when another is writing a Letter

Shew not yourself glad at the Misfortune of another though he were your enemy.

Kill no Vermin as Fleas, lice ticks &c in the Sight of Others…

This young man considered very carefully what place he wanted to have in life and determined what was necessary for him to be that person.

Paul wrote Timothy and instructed him in how to be the man God would have him be.  We have these instructions and we should imagine who we should be for the glory of God as John wrote to all of us in –

1 John 3:2-3  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

How can we be this person?  By reading the following instructions and applying them to our lives.

We look first at –

      b.  Our Person, who we are?

1 Timothy 4:12   Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers,

        1).  The Plan

Be more than what others think you are.  They looked at Timothy as a youth and supposed he would act as youth often do.  Paul instructed Timothy to raise their expectations by being mature in the Lord.  He, even though young, could be an example to them all, young and old, not through acting, but by being mature –

        a).  “…in word…”: this includes preaching and teaching, but also sometimes more importantly in friendly conversation with others showing care and kindness.

The Lord always had time for people and He met them at their point of need, and sought to help them, guiding them in truth with love.  He was so much more than the preachers of His time, the Pharisees and Sadducees, who sought a standing above the people –

Luke 18:11-12  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

He is truly the Good Shepherd –

John 10:14  I am the good shepherd…..

When Paul wrote to Timothy he meant for Timothy to be a good shepherd leading and feeding the sheep.  Being mature and being an example “in word” meant more than standing in front of the people, but being among them, presenting the word of God in love and compassion, being able to lead and comfort at all times with words and also –

          b).  “…in conversation…”:  In lifestyle both public and private.

“…and know my sheep, and am known of mine.”

Timothy was to be open and approachable to the people.  This pattern would be –

        2).  Produced through charity, spirit, faith, purity

          a).  Charity

Timothy understood what Paul was telling him.  He was with Paul in the ministry to Corinth and heard him teach on this subject, as he wrote in his first letter to them –

1 Corinthians 13:4-8  Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth….

This definition of charity is for all people at all times.  We are to live out charity in our lives as a pattern to others.

Timothy was to be an example to all in –

            b). Spirit

Romans 1:9   For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers;

Not only and outward act, but truly from the depths of his being, as he besought others to do as recorded in –

Romans 12:1-2  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

That ye may prove to yourself and to others “…what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

Romans 8:16  The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

We must know it and this witness is to be known by those we come in contact with.

They were know of his love, be blessed by his spirit and encouraged by his –

            c).  Faith

Hebrews 11:1  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

We are saved by faith, live by faith, and expect to see the Lord Jesus Christ face to face by faith.  Having this great expectation, that we might be face to face with Jesus at any moment –

Remember death and sure and most of the time, sudden, but we have this promise from God –

2 Corinthians 5:8  We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

We should want to keep ourselves in –

            d).  purity

Be a testimony to be pure and love others with no other motive than for their good

1 Peter 1:22  Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:

As you consider these instructions, will you imagine who the Lord wants you to be.  We all should be growing in the Lord, knowing His Word, teaching others by word and by life.  Our lives should reflect the Lord through charity, spirit, faith, and purity –

Ephesians 4:13  Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

We should each want to be this person!

Growing in the Lord begins with salvation.  Are you saved?

Are you obedient – have you been baptized?

Are you serving – you learn as you serve!