Faithfully Living in the Household of God - As Good Servants of Christ Jesus

Introduction:

In the heart of the Netherlands, in the 1940’s occupied territory, the Boom family emerged as a beacon of faith and service. The cobbled streets of Haarlem bore witness to their extraordinary commitment to Christ, as they transformed their home into a clandestine refuge for those facing persecution by the Nazis.

Within the confines of a watchmaker's shop, the Boom family, risked everything to serve the Jews marked for extermination. In this perilous setting, the urgent call to set an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity is exemplified. As the Boom family sought to live out the calling to be servants of the living God, by conforming their actions to the character of Jesus Christ. In a time when it would cost them everything to help those marked for death.

A Servant of Christ Jesus:

We have come to a point in Paul’s letter to Timothy where the focus shifts from the general content of the Christian faith to the practical realities of how Christians are to live. Paul shows this by conversing with Timothy and contrasting the faithfulness of a Christian with those who merely have the appearance of faith.

We read in 1 Timothy 4:1 “Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,”

Paul is seeking to show Timothy and the church at Ephesus how they are to distinguish true disciples of Jesus from what we will call cultural Christians, those who are Christian in name only and how they should live. He says this is what we toil and strive for, that Christians would have knowledge and discernment.

Not being able to discern between cultural and real Christians is an issue for the church. Cultural Christians are those who consider themselves Christian, because they grew up in a particular place or family or because they attend church but have not submitted to the rule and authority of Christ Jesus. The cultural Christians are the ones who import false doctrine and teaching into the church, which then leads people away from the faith.

The cultural Christian is according to, 1 John 2:4 “Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him,”

Paul says that these people are, in reality, teaching things from demons and devoting themselves to demons; and they must be stopped because if left alone, they will destroy the church.

To combat the danger of the cultural Christian, Paul explains to Timothy what a servant is. But the word Paul uses is critical as it holds significant weight for the church, which Paul calls the Household of God.

The Greek word Paul uses is diakonos. This is a common word within the New Testament, and it is the word that we get our English word deacon from.

The word diakonos indicates a household servant. Jesus set up this idea of a Christian as a servant as a means for us to understand what is the mindset of the Christian. To be a follower of Jesus means to serve Jesus.

John 12:26 “If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.”

And therefore, to be great in the kingdom of God means to be a servant to others.

Mark 9:35 “And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”

Mark 10:42-43 “And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,”

Now, this word can mean the office of deacon, as we see in 1 Timothy 3:8-13, but that is dependent upon the context. Therefore, in general usage, Paul wants us to grasp that Christians are servants.

For our place of service is spelled out in the word diakonos itself. You see, Christians are household servants, and the house they serve in is God’s household, the church.

1 Timothy 3:15 “if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.”

The Focus of A Good Servant of Christ Jesus:

‌Therefore, how do we conduct ourselves as servants in the household of God? What is to be our focus? Paul provides us guidance by explaining to Timothy how he should conduct himself.

Paul says to Timothy, 1 Timothy 4:6 “If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed.”

To be a good servant of Christ Jesus, according to the Bible, means that you are trained by the words of the faith and the good doctrine. This means that the word of God influences your views on God, man, and the world. If the word of God teaches something, that is, gives us doctrine, then a good servant of Christ Jesus will submit to that teaching and apply it appropriately in their lives.

So, if you are going to be a good servant of Christ Jesus, you need to ask the question: am I allowing the word of God to transform my thinking and views, or am I allowing the world’s culture to direct my thinking?

You can test this by asking yourself any number of hot-button morality questions of our day. Is your answer based on what the Bible says or what the world’s culture is saying? Do you sound like the Bible when you talk or do you sound like CNN or FoxNews?

If you desire to be a good servant of Christ Jesus, then your task is simple, not easy, but simple. Seek to be trained in the words of the faith and the sound doctrines of the church. This takes effort and consistency, but if there is one thing that you will dedicate large chunks of your life to, let it be understanding the words of the faith and learning how to apply them to life.

The Bible encourages us to be ready to give an answer to the hope that is within us. You cannot provide a reasonable explanation if you have no idea why you believe what you believe.

Furthermore, you will not be able to stand against the lies of the demons and false teachers when they come your way unless you dedicate yourself to being trained in the words of the faith and the good doctrines.

The another encouragement that Paul gives to Timothy is in 1 Timothy 4:7 “Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness;”

‌We have a significant problem within Christian culture where we give extraordinary amounts of attention to things that are just plain silly and ungodly. From flying pastors to water-slid baptisms, to constant conversations about the end times and whose theory is better; or rehashing old issues clearly defined by the Bible.

‌Paul is making the point that indulging in silly and ungodly things stunts the Christian’s maturing process. You spend all your time pouring over some unrelated and obscure idea, thinking that you can calculate the when Christ will come again, and fail to feed your soul. It’s like someone who abuses substances; they spend all their time, energy, and resources to get that one substance and forget to feed their bodies. Soon, the muscle atrophy, they lose weight and become walk-dead.

‌Paul indicates that the same thing happens when we allow silly and godly myths to consume us. He encourages Timothy and us to have nothing to do with these things; the Greek gives the idea of not paying attention to it, rejecting it, or not associating with it.

‌This strong language is used because it is imperative that we reject silly things in favor of the sound words of the faith and good doctrines. Because it is by these things that we will grow in maturity as Christians, and if we neglect them, we do so at our peril. To reject silly and ungodly myths is to pursue godliness.

‌And godliness has value, according to Paul, in every way because it holds the promise of eternal life for today and the future.

‌Therefore, a good servant of Christ Jesus seeks to grow in godliness. They do this by, 1 Timothy 4:13 “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.”

‌This is a lifestyle choice; you make the choice to spend significant chunks of time outside of work and family time reading and studying the word of God, with other Christians and by ourselves. Not only do you seek to establish these disciplines in your own life, but you also seek to help others establish them in their lives. Not as a law or way of gaining God’s acceptance but as an outflow of the transformed life you now live.

‌1 Timothy 4:6 “If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed.”

‌Paul says that Timothy would be a good servant if he put the truth of the word of God before the church. Timothy did this in his role as the pastor of the church, but remember that Paul has used the word diakonos in a general way, meaning that if Christians, in general, are going to be good servants, they too will be putting the truth of the word of God before each other out of love.

Because it is the good words of the faith and doctrines that guard us from falling away from the Gospel of God, and train us in how we are to live as Christians.

Furthermore, it is the good words of that faith that draw us into life. Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

1 Timothy 4:16 “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.”

It is not our work that saves us here; instead, the guarding effect of the word of God and the doctrines of the word keep us walking in faithfulness. Therefore, when we train ourselves and others in the good words of the faith and the good doctrines, we are walking in a manner that is worthy of the Gospel.

Conclusion: The Foundation of a Servant:

The good servants of Christ Jesus fulfills the calling upon their lives for one reason only. It is not to gain salvation, status, power, or material wealth.

1 Timothy 4:10 “For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.”

Because as Christians, our only hope is Christ, we set our hope on the living God, Jesus Christ, who is the Savior of all people, especially those who believe.

What Paul means here is that there is only one way to heaven: Jesus Christ. The Bible sharply corrects the worldview that says there are multiple ways to God by stating Jesus is the Savior of all people. He is not saying that Jesus saves all people universally but that he is the only means of salvation.

It doesn’t matter if you grew up in another country where the dominant religion was something other than Christianity; Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, a Jew from the Near East, born to a women, under the law, is the only means of salvation.

Without knowing Him, confessing Him, and loving Him, you are condemned, because your sin still remains, and in the end, when you breath your last, you will enter eternal damnation. But the promise of eternal life stands before you in Christ Jesus, who calls us to himself and works godliness in us, which holds the promise for today and the future.

John 3:18 “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”

Romans 8:1-2 “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.”

Prayer:‌

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Benediction: