A Good Servant

Pray

Read 1 Timothy 4:6–10 “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.”

Intro

And likewise

the church also

has a defensive system

to protect itself

from attacks.

And our passage this morning

is going to explain what that is.

So the title of our sermon this morning

is A Good Servant.

And our main point

Main point: A good servant is the church’s defense against the constant attacks of the enemy.

1. A good servant teaches and is constantly fed by God’s Word (v.6)

Let’s take a look at v.6

where Paul writes,

‘If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus’.

Now

in order to understand

this verse fully

we have to remember

the context of 1 Timothy

specifically

the 5 verses that just came before it.

In those verses

it taught

that demons are out

to seek

kill

and destroy

the joy of Christians

through false teachers.

Because by teaching lies

in the mind

they can destroy

the joy in the heart

if people follow them.

Now how could people

teach

such lies?

It says back in v.2

that false teachers are liars

whose consciences are seared

and therefore numb.

But Timothy

is not to be that.

Rather

unlike these wicked servants of v.1-5

Timothy

is to be a good servant

of Christ Jesus.

This is because

Timothy

is to be

the church of Ephesus’

defensive measure

against the false teachers.

To defend God’s people

against demons

God did not make

a heavenly iron dome.

Nor did He even say

an army of angels.

No God’s weapon

to defend

against demons

are pastors.

Good

servants.

Now while these verses

directly refer to elders

pastors of the church

even if you are not a pastor

you can still apply these principles

in your daily walk as a Christian.

After all

pastors are the examples

that God wants the church

to follow.

So then

how is pastor Timothy

be a good servant of Christ Jesus?

There’s two things

it tells us

in this verse.

The first

is by teaching

that God’s creation is good.

This is what Paul meant

when he wrote

if you put these things

before the brothers.

To put these things

before the brothers

means to layout

or simply

to teach.

These things

refer back to the previous verses.

The false teachers

taught a heresy

called dualism

that taught

that the spiritual is good

but the physical is bad.

Therefore

they restricted their followers

from marrying

and from eating meat

because

they believe in order

to be more spiritual

you must cut off

the physical.

But the truth

is that God created all things

and therefore

the physical

is good.

The physical is not to be cut off

nor be separated from the spiritual

but rather

they are to be united

and the way

we unite the physical

to the spiritual

is by giving thanks to God

and using His good creation

in a holy manner.

And Paul is writing to Timothy

by teaching

that God’s creation is good

to the church

you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus.

And not only

is teaching this

incredibly powerful

in how we view everything around us

and in being able to give God thanks

not just for certain things

but everything

it also says something

about a good servant.

A good servant

a good pastor

is willing to directly counter

false teaching

in his church

or in his culture.

He’s not going to shy away

He’s going to stand tall

on God’s Word.

If a good servant

is going to be God’s means

of defending the church

then he cannot be a coward

he must have a spine.

He must be able to preach God’s Word

with no fear

of what people think of Him.

So teaching God’s Word

with courage

is how

a pastor

becomes a good servant.

Now the second thing

is a pastor

becomes a good servant

is by a healthy diet.

That’s right a healthy diet.

But not a healthy

physical diet

but moreso

a healthy

spiritual diet.

Look at the rest of v.6,

“Being trained in the words’.

The word being trained

means

to be nourished.

And what is the good servant nourished by?

The words

of the faith

which is the gospel

and of the good doctrine that you have followed

which are Paul’s teachings to Timothy

like his letters.

This

is the true breakfast of champions.

While teaching God’s Word courageously

makes

a good servant

being nourished

by God’s Word

makes one

remain

a good servant.

You cannot give

what you don’t have.

And it’s no different with pastoral ministry.

A pastor cannot teach God’s Word

if he himself isn’t growing from it.

Because that’s called being fake

which is what false teachers are.

Pastors cannot be good servants

if they are the exact same fakes

that false teachers are.