The Fight and The Faith

Passage

1 Timothy 4:1–10 ESV

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, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer. 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.

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I turned 30 last year and you may be aware but for men in their 30’s and 40’s, there are a few different hobbies that they get to choose from. You can get into working out, especially if its crossfit or running, you can start playing a lot of pickleball, you can smoke meat, or you can get into history, specifically WW2 or Cold War history. And thats actually where I learned about Bob Hanssen. Bob Hanssen was born in 1944. His father was a Chicago police officer and he grew up in a relatively religious Lutheran family, though like many families, there was obvious signs brokenness and sin. In the late 60’s while attending Dental school, Bob met Bonnie who was a staunch Roman Catholic and he ended up converting and diving deep into his newfound faith. After a few years in Dental School, Bob realized it wasn’t for him and instead got an MBA in accounting and degree in the up and coming Information Technology world. Following in his father’s footsteps he stepped into law enforcement focusing on financial and computer related crimes. Bob and Bonnie’s family grew as Bob’s career excelled. He joined the FBI and the conservative Opis Dei order of the Catholic Church. At this point in, in the 80’s both the FBI and the Opeis Dei order were greatly opposed to the spread of communism and Bob often wrote articles praising the US and its freedoms as opposed to that of the Soviet Union. In the FBI, Bob worked in various roles in counterintelligence specifically in regards to the Soviet Union. In 1979, Hanssen approached the Soviet intelligence organization known as GRU (similar to the KGB) and offered to give them classified information in exchange for cash and diamonds. This began a two decade career as a Spy for the Soviet Union and then for the Russians after the fall of the USSR. In 2001, after a 3-4 month investigation, Bob Hanssen was arrested for espionage. During his investigation, years and years of infidelity was also exposed. He had recieved over 1 million dollars in cash and diamonds from the Russians and is considered one of the damaging spies in US history.

When I heard about Bob Hanssen and what he had done, the idea of the enemy within came to mind. Here we have a man who by all outward appearances was on the right side fighting for good. And yet, his true life was evil. He had betrayed his country and his wife and had lived and acted in a way that moved forward the goals of the enemy.

Problem

Stories like that of Bob Hanssen, though they may seem shocking, are really nothing new. Ever sense our federal parents sinned in the Garden, the crafty snake has been slithering around whispering lies and tempting us away from the truth. There is no situation, no person and group, that is immune to the effects and consequences of sin. Just looking around our city and hearing stories from many of our friends in the world, I don’t know about you, but it can feel at times like that old snake is winning. It can look bleak. And yet, for those of us who are following Jesus, we know that that Snake does not win. Sin has already been conquered in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Though we and all other humans have fallen short and are deserving of death, Jesus Christ came and lived a perfect life and died on the cross in our place taking our punishment on himself and rising from the dead He reconciled us to the Father.

So we have two realities. Jesus has won the war. He has conquered evil. The Truth will prevail. And yet sin is ever so prevalent. Falsehood is creeping in. This is happening today and this happened in Timothy’s day.

Principle

And so we read this passage and we see Paul’s instructions to a church leader on what he ought to do in light of false hood creeping into the church. Paul tells Timothy that a good servant fights falsehood by following the faith.

What finally brought Bob Hanssen’s crimes to light? What finally ended his more than 20 years as a spy? After receiving information about possible leaks, a young FBI agent went undercover to work with Hanssen in order to expose him. Eric O’Neil knew the truth and worked to expose the truth in order to root out the evil from within. Theres an example that we can take from this story that I think fits well with our passage in 1 Timothy. A good servant fights falsehood by following the faith. Following the truth of what has been taught.2

We’re going to look at todays passage in two sections: The first section shows us what sort of falsehoods and wrong theology is creeping into the church and what the effects of that is. The second section teaches us some of the aspects of what it means to follow the faith, namely that followers are called to both teach others and train themselves in the good news of the Gospel.

Work the Text

A good servant fights falsehood by: (4:1-5)

Listening to the Holy Spirit v.1a

Because it is The Holy Spirit that reveals truth to followers of Jesus.

Paul begins the chapter by teaching a prophetic word from the Holy Spirit: “Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith.” This is not a guess or an idea from Paul’s own thinking or experience. Rather this is a word given by the Spirit of something that will come to pass. That some who by all outward appearances seem to be in the faith will actually leave the faith through following after demonic influence.

It’s, at least for me, easy to read the concept of Later Times, or the end of days as being specifically the period of time when we hear the trumpet and see Jesus return. As if the Later times will come later. But in reality, the later days began when Jesus ascended. We are in the the later days now. This is evident in other places like 2 Timothy 3:1–5 Where Paul describes what some people will be like in the last days and then commands Timothy to avoid those people. Also Hebrews 1:1–2 says that “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.” The later days began when Christ came.

The unfortunate reality of walking with Jesus in these last days is that Some will fall away. Now I find comfort in Jesus’ words in John 6:39 “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.” I firmly believe that those who Jesus saves he will keep. But I think the reality that some will fall away in the later times shows us, as one theologian says, “A mere profession of faith does not guarantee the actual possession of eternal life.” Just because someone names it doesn’t mean they actually claim it.

Many people that I can think of who at one time were professing and following the faith and have now left would, I think, sincerely look at themselves as having had a salvific relationship with Jesus. They would, most likely, point to perhaps conversion moments where they were filled with emotion at a youth retreat, or they would look toward good works done for Jesus during a service project or trip, or they might share of a spiritual encounter that left them feeling some sort of way so as to prove the truth of their former profession of faith. Salvation is not obtained by saying a prayer, salvation is not obtained by a long list of good works, salvation is only obtained by true repentance and belief in Jesus Christ. And one of the marks of that salvation is ones perseverance in the faith.

Now thankfully we do not need to worry about our salvation. We don’t need to wake up each day wondering if we’re truly saved. But I think it is helpful to, especially if your in the midst of holding on to sin or maybe wrestling with something, I think its helpful to as Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 13:5 “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves.” Like everything in our faith, we are supposed test and examine ourselves in relationship with the local church, with other believers, and through and with and by the Holy Spirit in prayer and in the Word.

John Piper brings up a good question in regard to this book. What benefit is there in knowing this prophetic word from the Holy Spirit, that some will fall away? I imagine I’m not alone in knowing a lot of people who have fallen away. I can think of people from Bible College who have deconstructed out of the faith. And I’ll be honest, maybe this is a confession moment, at times its easy for me to almost start to feel like our faith is losing the fight. Like fewer and fewer people are following Jesus. But I find comfort in knowing, and I hope you do to, that nothing happening in the world today is a surprise to God. When someone who by all accounts is a solid follower of Jesus walks away, God is not surprised. He is not dismayed. It is not as if the world is out of control. He knows who are His. That Mystery of Godliness in Chapter 3 that we heard about last week is still true even if everyone falls away.

And so we, who are striving to follow and hold fast to that mystery, act as good servants who fight falsehood by first listening to the Holy Spirit which then leads us to

Rejecting wrong theology from deceitful spirits v.1c - v.3

Those who fall away in the last days do so by listening to People who are influenced and led astray by deceitful spirits. I don’t think that means we need to look at people as demonic so much as we need to look at the teachings from people as having demonic influence. Ephesians 6:12 “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

It is possible for a person to be so hard-hearted that they they become a People who have had their consciences seared and are insincere liars. Perhaps they know the truth and are teaching bad theology for selfish gain or maybe they have been so hardened by sin that they actually believe the wrong theology. The motive on the part of the people is not talked about, but the source is explicit. And then in the next few verses, Paul gives some example of wrong theology. 1 Timothy 4:2–3 “who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.”

This demonically influenced teaching by those with their consciences seared is a false theology that distracts from the true Gospel. It is interesting to note that the two examples that Paul gives to Timothy it is not a form of atheism or polytheism, its not even necessarily another sort of religion, rather it is asceticism.

Such as forbidding marriage and forbidding certain foods. Teachers were coming in and telling people to abstain from this and that in order to secure their salvation and please God. These false teachers were distracting people from true gifts from God that ought to ultimately point glory to God.

And so a good servants fights falsehood by listening to the Holy Spirit and rejecting wrong theology and by…

Remembering the goodness of God v.4-5

Everything God creates is good.

Everything can be accepted with thanksgiving.

Food ought not to be an idol and marriage ought not be the primary focus of ones life. So if your sitting here hungry I hope your not thinking more about what you are going to eat today at Capital then you are listening to my sermon and if your single or even if your married, I hope your not focusing more on someone else then you are on God’s word. But Food is not bad and marriage is not bad. Really there is nothing from God that is bad. He has given us good gifts to be recieved with joy and thanksgiving. The word of God and prayer makes everything Holy.

Now obviously thats not to say you can say a prayer and go eat and eat and eat and eat and fall into gluttony and think that its okay becuase you prayed before the meal. Its not to say you can say a prayer and take and second or third wife and think that thats okay. But it does mean that as we pour ourselves into God’s word and apply it to our lives and receive the good gifts that He gives us like food and marriage, we are moving toward holiness in Him. There is a way of eating a meal that the world can do that does not honor God. There is another way of eating a meal that only a follower of Jesus can do that glorifies His name. Similarly, there are countless marriages out there that do not bring God honor, but it is a Christ centered marriage that points glory to Him. The more our hearts line up with His will for our lives the more that we will be in communion with Him and the more a simple and natural act as eating a meal and being with our spouse can glorify the Lord.

And so a good servant, a good deacon, is someone who fights falsehood by listening to the Spirit, rejecting wrong theology, and remembering God’s goodness. Paul continues on to the next section by discussing how…

A good servant follows the faith by: (4:6-10)

As we move into this next section Paul is sort of discussing the strategy on how to accomplish the goal of the first. One commentator says, “First, we must expose the errors we oppose. Second, we must also develop personal holiness to assure continuation in integrity. The combination of exposing error and practicing truth is a powerful antidote to heresy.”

Teaching the truth v.6

A big part of being in the faith is passing it on to others, by sharing the truths that you are learning with those around you. As Paul says, By presenting it to the brothers. If there were any doubt that these Pastoral Epistles were for everyone, here Paul makes it clear. The truths that he has been presenting in this whole letter were not just meant for Timothy or the elders and deacons that he has been teaching about. They were meant to be taught to everyone. And so as people stand in front of you and as they present truths from God’s word, they can be seen as good deacons, good servants of the Lord.

And so let me actually pause here and I’ll take some words of encouragement on my sermon now…feel free to shout them out. No, I’m just joking please don’t do that.

Now, I’m not Greek scholar, but I enjoy doing some word studies and I think it can be extremely helpful at times to look at the Greek translation of the text. 1 Timothy 4:6–7 “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. Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness;” In English, Paul tells Timothy twice to train in these two verses And unfortunately, I think we miss something to Paul’s originally meaning. That first sentence would better be translated, as the NASB does, by saying “constantly nourished on the words of faith.”

And so we teach the truth, all of us, by first nourishing on the truth.

Being a Christian is not meant to be like a chef at a restaurant who stays in the back and cooks up a meal giving to the people anything that they might want to hear. Rather, being a Christian is like inviting people into your home, bringing them to your table, pouring yourself into all of the ends and outs of a meal and then sitting down together taking in the smells and the flavors and being nourished by the word. It is getting all of our being from the meal before us as we invite others in to feast on God’s word. I do not serve you something that I myself have not tasted.

In fact, that is one of the reasons that I love preaching. Because somewhat selfishly, it gives me an opportunity to prepare a meal and share it with the body.

Now we are not nourished by bad doctrine and wrong theology, rather we are nourished By following the good doctrine that we have been taught. There is a helpful caution to any one, but especially those of us who are in any way leading others in this passage. If you’ll remember from earlier, those leaving the faith are not necessarily those who are out right rejecting God and the bible completly, but those who are changing aspects of the faith. Its not just those who deny God’s existence, but it is those who echo the same words from the serpent, “Did God really say that?” “Did God really command this?” In large part, when we move away from orthodoxy we are leaving the faith. When we listen to doctrine and teaching and theology that teaches things contrary to the good theology of scripture, we are leaving the faith. And unfortuntly there is so much out there like this. So many people claim to be Christian and yet their teachings are riddled with what can only be seen as demonic influence.

One of the, I guess you could call him an influencer, but he is an apologist with Stand to Reason by the name of Tim Barnett. His social media name is RedPen Logic. What he does is respond to tweets and videos making false claims about Christianity and answers the objections. I think he does it really well and you can tell he seeks to obey 1 Peter 3:15 “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,” The other day he was responding to a man making bold and strange claims about Jesus while wearing a clerical collar. So this person is dressing as if he has the authority of the church and yet teaching that Jesus was queer. I have no doubt that this person would claim to be a Christian and yet sadly I firmly believe that this teaching he is pushing forward is demonic and leading people astray.

We all should look at ourselves and ask the question: What are we eating? What it is filling you up? Are you getting your nourishment from God’s word, from true and sound biblical theology? Or are you feasting on fast food that may taste good in the moment but surely wont satisfy?

One way to tell what you are getting your nourishment from is your ability to obey the second part of this section. To Train in the truth v.7-8

Paul again warns Timothy, and subsequently us, to Stay away from irreverent silly myths. Whats a little funny here is that the Greek actually says something more like, ’’Stay away from old wives tales.’ and I can’t help but think about the Teyze’s who tell us this or that when were carrying our kids around the city. Or the time I we were visiting an older Afghan lady in the city and when we told her John was teething she immediately went to her kitchen and brought back some popcorn and started to drop it on his head and told us that now his teeth will pop right out. Now of course these are silly examples, but I think the heart of it is still true. We do not need to concern ourselves with fables and myths or things that teach us if we do this a certain way or say that special phrase that we will somehow move the hand of God. Rather, as Paul teaches…

Train for godliness. Earlier, training was about finding our nourishment from God’s word, here, training is about putting into practice those things we learn.

I’d like to imagine that you can all tell this about me, but I’ve been working out more. I’ve gotten some tips from David actually both on some protein goals as well as some workouts to do. I’ve noticed that when I am intentional about what I am eating and then when I am intentional about what I’m lifting, that is when I see results. What comes into our lives directly effects then how we live. The truths of God’s word that we are nourishing ourselves on directly effects our ability to live out and apply His word into our lives.

John Piper has a good definition of the godliness that we are training for in this verse. He says that Godliness is,

“Powerful inner devotion to God in Christ showing itself in outward forms of devotion such as prayer, the word, the worship.”

Paul clarifies here that our training in Godliness is more important than our physical training because of the implications. The stronger and healthier I get now benefits me in so much as this natural world is concerned. I’ll live a more comfortable life, I’ll have better longevity, I’ll be able to live in this city and brave the hills better. But training in godliness, working hard to apply the truths that I am learning about God into my everyday life, benefits me both now and in the life to come.

It is not that my godliness somehow wins me salvation, but that my salvation and the Holy Spirit in me, now allows me and strengthens me to live a holy and pleasing life to the Lord so that when this race is done, whenever that may be, I might here the phrase, well done good and faithful servant.

And in order that we might not forget this, Paul closes this section by reminding us to Focus on the Gospel v.9-10

When Paul writes in verse 9 the sayin that is trustworthy, there is some debate on if he is referencing the previous verses or the verses to come. I tend to lean towards him referencing the previous verses that we just talked about. Bodily training is good, Training in Godliness is better. That is a general and true statement for all people.

Then Paul goes on to close out the section by reminding Timothy why they work. They do so for, because of the hope set on Christ. They toil and strive to the same end, the goal of godliness, the goal of right theology and right living. Not only for themselves, but for the brothers. The elders are stiving for godliness not just for themselves but for their flock, you are striving for godliness not just for yourself, but for those you are sharing with. Those you are witnessing to. Those you are teaching the truths of Gods word to. Godliness is not meant to be about you, rather it is meant to be about God for those around you.

The hope that Paul and Timothy and we have is in this living God who is the Savior of all people. Much could be said about this last verse, but I want to point out just a few things:

We all know people who are not following God and the unfortunate reality is that unless they repent and believe, they will die apart from Him. There is a very, I think understandable desire to read this verse and think that it is saying that God is the savior of all people therefore all people will be saved. And I’ll get it. I want all people to be saved. I want all people to know God and to love God and to be in right relationship with God. And its because of that that I cannot read this verse as a universalist might. Paul is not saying that all people will be saved, he is saying that God’s salvation is sufficient for all people, it needs to be preached to all people. It is enough. He is enough. He is the savior of the world, not just of a few people groups. There is not some more that has to be done. People do not need to look to God and then try their best to finish the work. The work has already been finished in Christ. What needs to happen then is for those who are called by God to respond to His salvation and hold fast to Him. Those who believe this are the ones who have recieved His salvation.

Conclusion

And so those who have been saved are now those who become good servants that fight falsehood by following the faith.

I want to close with a few ways that this might change how we go about our days and weeks. And first if I may, I want to speak directly to our Elders here at Hope. I feel extremely inadequate to do so but I feel that the text necessitates it. I want to exhort you to continue to lead and serve this body by pointing us to truth and fighting against any false doctrine or bad theology that may be out there. God has called you to this high calling that we’ve been learning about over the past few weeks and the text is clear that you have an important role. And so as you present meals to us in your preaching and teaching and leading, may you also find nourishment yourselves on the word. Almost like those safety talks on the flights where you put your oxygen mask on first and then help others. Would you continue to follow God and hold fast to Him as you lead us to do the same.

Now for the body, the reality is, if you are sitting here today as a follower of Jesus, whether you have some official title or not, you are a servant of Christ. And in the same way that Paul commands Timothy to present this to the brothers, we have been presented these truths as well. How might you this week be a good servant who fights falsehood by following the faith?

I want to encourage you to listen to the Spirit. He has spoken in His word and I believe as we read it and meditate on it day and night, He is still speaking to us through it. So listen to the Holy Spirit.

Reject wrong theology. Hold everything up to Scripture. If there are some teachings that may sound good but go against what scripture teaches, reject it. I think this is especially important for you seniors here who are about to go off to college next year or who may be leaving home for the first time. As you go out, remember the truths that you have learned and hold everything up to Scripture. Reject wrong and bad theology.

Remember the goodness of God and receive everything He gives you with thanksgiving and praise. Whether you eat or drink do everything for His Glory.

Find your nourishment in God’s word and then live your life out of that. Don’t try to drive on an empty tank.

As you train for godliness, hold fast to Him and point others to do the same. As you toil and strive, hold on to the hope of the Gospel. Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose form the dead so that you might be saved. Hold fast to this good news as you point others to do the same.