1 Timothy 4:6-10 - The Savior of the World
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction
I usually preach from a different text outside of the book that I am currently preaching through when I preach on Resurrection Sunday. However, this year the Lord gave me a Scripture right in stride through our study of 1 Timothy. This Scripture fits right in for today’s remembrance and celebration of Christ’s resurrection.
We are going to see in a moment that Jesus is referred to as the living God. Why is He the living God? Because He rose from the dead! Amen?
The resurrection of Jesus Christ changed everything for us. It was the sign that He was who He said He was and that He is Who He says He is. It was the proof that He had the power to defeat death and the grave.
Today, as we go through this great Scripture, may you hold fast to the truth of the resurrection and the power that it brings. If you are in Christ, you have been set free from sin! You have been given eternal life. Praise God for this wonderful promise. Today is a day of celebration for you!
If you are not a believer, may today be the day that you go from death to life. May today be the day of salvation for you.
Read Full Scripture:
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.
Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness;
for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.
The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance.
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.
Prayer
The points for today’s message use the word saved. This word refers to persons who have put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ and repented of their sins. They have submitted their lives to Christ entirely. We discussed on Good Friday the need to surrender all to Christ. Christ surrendered all for us, and we must surrender all for Christ to be true followers of Him. We must submit to Him in all aspects of our lives.
As we continue on today, we need to remember that…
The only reason that we can be saved is because of the resurrection.
So how should those who are saved believers live in light of the truth of their salvation?
Paul, the writer of this great letter to Timothy, is going to show us three things that are true for those who are saved by Christ.
The first is…
I. Believers Saved by Christ Are Founded on His Word (6-7)
I. Believers Saved by Christ Are Founded on His Word (6-7)
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 starts off by stressing the importance of what he is about to say by referring back to everything he has stated thus far in the letter. His goal is to encourage followers of Christ to be good servants of Christ Jesus.
The first step in being a good servant of Christ Jesus is being trained well in the Scriptures which leads one to faith and good doctrine. The word translated trained here can mean trained or nourished. I think both words give a good example of the Word of God and what it does for servants of Jesus.
The Word certainly nourishes the believer. Consider what Jesus states in Matthew 4:4:
But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”
The Word of God is more important than the food we eat! Many times we call the Bible the Word of God but do we really live like it is? The words of the Scriptures are God-breathed as we see in a moment which means that as we read the pages of the Bible, God is literally speaking to us! God doesn’t need to audibly speak to us today because He has given us 66 books made up of 1189 chapters of text! He has given us everything we need in order to know, serve, and love Him.
And as we read the Word, it also trains and teaches us. Consider 2 Timothy 3:16:
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
The Word works in the lives of believers to train them in righteousness.
My friends, one cannot follow Christ as a good servant if he or she does not know His commands. How can we do the will of God if we don't know what it is? This is one of the biggest issues of the modern church. We have mentioned Biblical literacy many times in the past. It is an epidemic in our churches, especially here in America.
Last week we discussed apostates - those who have turned away from the faith that they once professed. These are people who were not nourished and trained by the Word of God. They fell into the snare of the evil one.
How can we avoid falling into such a snare? We learned last week that it is not from adding legalistic ideas to the Bible. Many have fallen into this trap through a works-based type of salvation. Maybe if I do some extra things it will help me be more right with God. Or maybe if I don’t do certain things then it will gain me favor with the Lord.
If we want to be good servants of Jesus Christ we must be focused on Him and His Word. We must combat error with the truth. The best way to avoid error is to know and understand the Word of God.
1 Timothy 4:6 (ESV)
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.
Before moving forward I want to offer a warning regarding one of the verbs here in verse 6 that we have already been discussing. Being trained. We must actually be trained by the Word of God. This only happens through humility and self-examination.
Sadly, many men and women read the Bible and leave their study with nothing but ideas of what other people need to do better. This is common for pastors who preach sermons or teach the Scriptures in classes or studies. It can be common for parents who are instructing their children but it can also be common for anyone else as well. It is always much easier to see the sin in others more than yourself.
As people do their personal Bible study, they see all kinds of verses that would help their congregation, their class, their kids, or maybe even their spouse.
They see all kinds of application for the people in their lives, but they never apply it to themselves. There is no way to grow in sanctification - or becoming more like Christ - with this approach to the Scriptures. We must humbly examine ourselves in light of the Bible if we are to grow.
Only after we have humbled ourselves before Christ and His Word can we then be used to help others in their walk.
Paul then moves to verse 7 and warns us to avoid falsehood…
Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness;
One of the reasons that it is important for us to know the Word of God well is that it helps us avoid irreverent and silly myths. There are so many false teachings in our world. It would be impossible to know every single false teaching that is out there. However, when we know the truth well, we can distinguish falsehood from the truth.
The word for irreverent here can also be translated profane. These are things that are in opposition of that which is holy. It refers to things that are godless. This is pretty straight-forward for us to understand. Avoid things that are godless.
Then Paul mentions silly myths. There are actually two Greek words here. Most of us have heard of the word myth. This refers to a legend or fable or tale. It is something that is clearly not true but is propagated anyway such as Greek mythology.
The adjective describing these myths is an interesting word though. It is translated silly in the ESV while the KJV refers to them as old wives fables. These are gossipy stories that the undisciplined and easily deceived fall for. This refers to the false teachings of the apostates. They are not founded upon the Scripture and are instead contrary to the Word of God.
Listen to Paul warn Timothy again about these myths in 2 Timothy 4:4:
and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
I was introduced to one of these myths this past week. Someone sent me an email about the upcoming eclipse. The email was incredibly detailed and long so it must be true, right? I’m sure some of you all with social media have maybe seen it going across the web. There are many references to times and places and there are many Scriptures - albeit they are taken far out of context.
In the midst of this incredibly long email there lies many important misunderstandings and false assertions, but one stands out early in the email.
The writer asserts that there was an eclipse that caused the King of Nineveh to repent. Now there are a few historians who try to place an eclipse around that time period. This is impossible to prove or disprove. However, we see in the Scriptures that it was the Word of God that caused the King of Nineveh to repent. Listen to Jonah 3:6:
The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
It is always the Word of God that leads to the repentance of people. It is the Gospel that causes people to turn from their sins and turn to the Lord. Signs have accompanied the Word at times, but even Jesus was clear that signs do not lead to the salvation of anyone. Consider John 12:37:
Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him,
As we can see here…
Many people want a sign but most people don’t want a Savior.
Is that you today? Are you one of those people who say if only God would do such and such then I would believe in Him? There is no truth in that statement. People will always have an explanation of why a certain sign occurs. They will always find a way to suppress the truth. Consider the resurrection and how many try to explain it away! The problem isn’t the need for a sign - the problem is the need to surrender.
Brothers and sisters, are you ready to surrender to the Savior? I pray that you are not like the wicked and rebellious contemporaries of Jesus who refused to repent. I pray that you have understood the most amazing sign ever given - the resurrection. This is the true sign for us. All other signs and wonders pale in comparison to the resurrection. This sign has been accompanied by the Word of God - namely the Gospel - the good news.
Jesus Christ lived a sinless life and was brutally murdered through crucifixion and was placed in a tomb. But three days later He rose from the grave! Don’t fall for the godless myths of our world today. Believe the truth of the Gospel. Repent and be saved.
Instead of falling for myths, we are to train ourselves for godliness. How can we train ourselves for godliness? By studying and practicing and being founded upon the Word of God.
This brings us to our next point.
Scripture References: Matthew 4:4, 2 Timothy 3:16, 2 Timothy 4:4, Jonah 3:6, John 12:37
II. Believers Saved by Christ Follow His Ways (8)
II. Believers Saved by Christ Follow His Ways (8)
for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.
Paul illustrates how we should train ourselves for godliness by giving a great illustration. He talks about bodily training. Paul loves to talk about bodily training and running and physical activity as illustrations for the Christian life. I have given you a list of them in your handout (1 Corinthians 9:24, 2 Timothy 4:8; Philippians 3:13-14; Galatians 5:7; Hebrews 12:1-3). Listen to a couple of them:
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.
I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?
Paul loves this concept of running and bodily training in comparison to living the Christian life. But in 1 Timothy 4:8 he describes the inferiority of bodily training in comparison to training in godliness:
for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.
The actual Greek word for training here in verse 8 is where we get the word gymnasium. In Paul’s day, every city would have a gymnasium. They would usually have young persons from the ages of 16-18 performing regular physical activity. Like today, there was much glory given to those who won athletic events.
Our culture exalts today’s modern superstars who put in large amounts of time in their sport. Consider legendary Golden State Warrior and multi-titled NBA Champion Stephen Curry. He is known as one of the greatest 3-point shooters of all time. But that doesn’t come without effort. After a hard practice he usually shoots 300-500 3-point shots. That’s after practice! He also is known to practice incredible dribbling drills that continue to stretch the limits of his hand-eye coordination. Those are the things no one else sees. But those are the things that make the biggest difference come game time.
However as Paul describes in his illustration, there is higher calling of practicing godliness to be exalted over bodily training.
Although it is good to care for our bodies, it is even better to care for our souls and to be obedient to the Word of God.
Consider an even better example of training and discipline. Billy Graham’s father-in-law was Dr. Bell. Dr. Bell ran a 400-bed hospital in China - often all on his own. Despite his incredibly busy schedule he woke up at four-thirty every morning to spend 2-3 hours reading the Bible. Many referred to him as a walking Bible encyclopedia. On the outside, people wondered why he had such wisdom and carried himself with such godliness. He was able to do it because of the work no one else saw him putting in (2).
The work of exercising the body only gives temporal rewards. You are given a healthier body while on earth. Yet, no matter how fit you are, your body will age and will eventually die. This isn’t to say that this is not important to care for your physical body. But Paul’s point is that exercising godliness provides a benefit that lasts into eternity. There are eternal rewards for godliness. He says that godliness provides rewards in this present life as well as the life that is to come.
Believers are given the promise of a right relationship with Jesus Christ and the promise of eternal life from the time they are first saved. Good works cannot save you. However, this training in godliness shows confirmation of that promise as the Holy Spirit grows the believer in sanctification - or holiness.
In our recent book study on Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate by Jerry Bridges, the author asserted that ungodliness is the root of all sin. He defined ungodliness as “living one’s everyday life with little or no thought of God, or of God's will, or of God's glory, or of one's dependence on God.” He also stated that many believers tend to live our daily lives with little or no thought of God. He states, “we may even read our bibles and pray for a few minutes at the beginning of each day, but then we go out into the day’s activities and basically live as though God doesn't exist.”
Those are some cutting words.
May we be a people who walk in the ways of Christ. We can only do that by following the lamp of His Word (Psalm 119:105).
Finally we see that…
Scripture References: Paul’s References to Running [1 Corinthians 9:24, 2 Timothy 4:8; Philippians 3:13-14; Galatians 5:7; Hebrews 12:1-3], Psalm 119:105
III. Believers Saved by Christ Are Forgiven by His Work (9-10)
III. Believers Saved by Christ Are Forgiven by His Work (9-10)
The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. 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.
Verses 9 and 10 make up the heart of this passage. Why would we even want to be a good servant of Christ Jesus? It is because He is our Savior.
Paul starts this off by calling this saying trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. He has used this phrase before in his letter as we saw in 1 Timothy 1:15. Paul is using the statement as a highlighter of what is to follow.
Continuing with his bodily training analogy, he says for to this end we toil and strive. These two words speak of the hard work and intense struggle in following Christ.
There is hard work involved in being a follower of Christ. Listen to Paul:
For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.
As we describe this toiling and striving, we must put it into perspective. We are only able to toil and strive because of the energy and abilities that God works in us. Sometimes, we can take a message encouraging steadfastness and labor and leave feeling like we are able to do something big by ourselves. Paul did not do the works he did by his own abilities. He is clear here that it is the Lord who powerfully worked within him. If we want to be godly and follow Christ, we must toil and strive in His power alone.
1 Timothy 4:10 (ESV)
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.
Moving forward in verse 10, Paul then reminds the Church of Ephesus and Timothy and believers today why we persevere. He reminds us why we continue to follow Christ even when it is hard. It is because of the salvation given to us through Jesus Christ. And in introducing this amazing free gift from God, he gives us two important concepts.
1. The Living God
The first is that we worship the God who is the living God. This statement is never more relevant than today. Today is Resurrection Sunday. This is the day where we celebrate the Risen King. Our Savior Who was crucified and buried now lives again. Three days later He rose from the dead thereby defeating death and the grave. He is not dead but is living.
The resurrection is an amazing thing. Just the thought of Jesus Christ being crucified and brutally murdered and rising from the dead is unfathomable.
The truth of the resurrection reminds us that our hope is a living hope and not a hope that is dead. Listen to Peter speak about this in 1 Peter 1:3:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
In a world full of depression, suicide, and death - we have a living hope. The world feels hopeless because they place their faith in things that cannot deliver on their promises. They put their hope into money, or pleasure, or fame, or popularity, or even people. Yet all of those fail at some point or another. But Christ is our living hope who never fails.
And Paul also reminds us that Christ is…
2. The Loving God
Christ suffered on the cross because He first loved us. He died for His enemies. Listen to Paul write about this in Romans 5:8-10:
Romans 5:8–10 (ESV)
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
Look at those highlighted words that describe us…
Sinners deserving wrath and enemies of God. And yet it starts off talking about the love of God. We are able to be reconciled to God and saved because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Looking back at verse 10 we see the amazing love of God:
1 Timothy 4:10b (ESV)
...because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.
Here we see that Christ died for all people. We see this clearly through John 3:16 as well:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Our Savior died for the sins of the whole world. Salvation is universally offered. We all are offered the free gift of salvation.
However, we must also understand the clarification that Paul gives here. When saying especially of those who believe in verse 10, he shows that salvation is universally offered but only effectual to those who are born again (John 3).
We are not automatically saved because of what Christ did. We are not automatically saved because of what family we are born into. We are only saved by repenting of our sins and placing our faith and trust in Christ alone for salvation. Only then is Christ’s saving work applied on our behalf. Only then is Christ’s payment for our sin applied to our account.
Scripture References: 1 Timothy 1:15, Colossians 1:29, 1 Peter 1:3, Romans 5:8-10, John 3:16, John 3
Friends, I pray that you have placed your faith and trust in the living and loving Savior. There is no better time to do it than today if you have not! May today be the day of salvation. As we get ready to sing a final song of celebration - Jesus is Alive - I pray that you consider the resurrection of Christ. Consider the cross that He bore and the punishment He endured on your behalf. He took the wrath that you deserved so that you could have eternal life. Receive that free gift today.
For us who are already believers. May we be good servants of our Risen King. Through His power and strength, may we continue to persevere. And may we celebrate!
HE IS RISEN...
HE IS RISEN INDEED!
Conclusion