10 Четири дейности за духовна зрялост (билежки)

Четири дейности за духовна зрялост

1 Тимотей 4

Introduction

Last Sunday we talked about four qualities of Christian Maturity and today we are going to talk about four activities.
You can tell if a person is mature by the way he thinks and by the way he acts.

Alex is little. You can tell by his appearance and by the way he acts. But it’s okay because he is four.

Today we are going to look at the letter of the Apostle Paul to a younger believer Timothy. Young preacher getting advice and wisdom.
Timothy is getting advice from Paul. What are the activities of a mature believer?
What does Paul tell Timothy?

Deceit

Read 1 Timothy 4:1-5

1 Timothy 4:1-5 А Духът изрично казва, че в послешните времена някои ще отстъпят от вярата, и ще слушат измамителни духове и бесовски учения, 2 чрез лицемерието на човеци, които лъжат, чиято съвест е прегоряла, 3 които запрещават жененето и заповядват въздържание от ястия, които Бог създаде, за да се употребяват с благодарение от ония, които вярват и разбират истината. 4 Защото всяко нещо, създадено от Бога, е добро, и нищо не е за отхвърляне, ако се приема с благодарение; понеже се освещава чрез Божието слово и молитва.

What do we see in these verses? Two things:

I should not be surprised when I hear foolish things.
Most people do not have a biblical worldview.

Most people do not have a biblical view of the world. The majority of people have a dualistic worldview. Explain: Material/No Spiritual or material bad/ spiritual good.
Let me tell you what the Bible says about us and the world. God created the world and it was good. He also created you as a physical and spiritual being. You are His special creation. What God has created is good, but has been frustrated by sin.

My winter jacket and the zip.

Paul is talking about people who teach something different. Same today. The physical is bad the spiritual is good. Buddhism, Islam, Greek philosophy, Dunovistite, etc.
Where does this come from? Garden of Eden and shame.

Think of all the bad choices we make because of shame. But God made you!

Vs. 4-5. Everything God created is good. But how can we protect ourselves from this dualistic mindset? “by the word of God and prayer.”
Why are Christians constantly praying and carrying around big Bibles? Paul says it in verses 1-2. There are a lot of false ways of thinking. Do not believe me. Do not believe the priest. Ask, where is that in the Bible?
But in order for us to uncover these false ways of thinking we must know the truth.

If someone says to you, “The mayor is going to remove the fountain in the center of town and replace it with a statue in honor of CSKA.”
Now we have a choice. (1) Start to complain about what the mayor is going to do. (2) Find out if what your friend is saying is true.
The real answer is to go to the mayor and ask him, and find out if he is a CSKA fan.

In the same way, we must know the character of God: through prayer and Bible study. We have to know if what people are saying about God is true or not.
That is why these things are so important to believers.

Training

So, how does one go about prayer and Bible study?
Read 1 Timothy 4: 6-11

1 Timothy 4:6-11 6 В това като съветваш братята, ще бъдеш добър служител Исус Христов, хранен с думите на вярата и доброто учение, което си следвал до сега. 7 А отхвърляй скверните и бабешките басни и обучавай себе си в благочестие. 8 Защото телесното обучение е за малко полезно; а благочестието е за всичко полезно, понеже има обещанието и за сегашния и за бъдещия живот. 9 Това слово е вярно и заслужава приемане; 10 понеже за това се трудим и се подвизаваме, защото се надяваме на живия Бог, Който е Спасител на всичките човеци, а най-вече на вярващите. 11 Това заръчвай и учи.

Paul describes us as needing spiritual training and he compares it to physical training.
We are more familiar with physical training, so let’s talk about that first. What is physical training like?

Good for you, tiring, discipline, need a trainer/partner etc.

How does spiritual training compare.
Three things needed in spiritual training. Three activities of spiritual maturity.

Prayer (Молитва)

What does prayer look like? What do we mean by prayer?
Many different ways in the Bible.
There are different kinds of prayer. We are not talking about, “God please help me find a place to park in Sofia” or “God, please let there be not too big a line to pay the electricity bill.”
These are not bad, but I mean relational prayer. “Good Morning, God. Here is what is on my heart.”
Christianity is not about rules and regulations (vs. 3), but about a relationship with God and others.
How do you feel about people who come to you only when they need things? How about people who just come over to see how you are doing and chat?
PRACTICAL:

Does not have to be long and do not use religious words. (Говори естествено на Бог)
Walk, sit, stand, etc.
A set time and place (5 minutes), (Стреми се към редовно време и място)
prayer list (Имай молитвен списък)

Bible Study (Четене на Библията)

We need to know what God is saying. More important we need to know how to distinguish what God is saying as apposed to popular mythology.
PRACTICAL:

A set time and place (5 minutes) (Стреми се към редовно време и място)
Use a reading list (show example) (Чети по разписание)
Write one question and one observation (Напиши един въпрос и едно наблюдение към пасажа)
Share these with other believers (Сподели ги с други хора)

Trainer (Healthy Relationships) (Здрави взаимоотношения)

There is also one other thing that is needed for training. If you want to be successful in any area or sport you must also have a trainer; one who can help you develop the needed skills to grow in spiritual maturity.
When you are training for table tennis do you just pick someone off the street to train you? Do you choose your best friend to train you because you know that he will not push you too hard? No
When looking for a trainer we choose someone who has ability, success, and maturity in that field.
In order for us to grow in our faith we must have someone near to us who is going to challenge us in our faith. Someone who is mature and can help you grow in your spiritual journey.
PRACTICAL:

Find a spiritual accountability partner (Намери си духовен треньор)
Help others grow (Съдействай за духовното израстване на другите)

These three things, Prayer, Bible Reading, and Healthy Relationships, help us know the truth from foolish talk.
This is important. “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32

Service (Слугуване)

Read 1 Timothy 4: 12-15

1 Timothy 4:12-15 12 Никой да не презира твоята младост; но бъди на вярващите пример в слово, в поведение, в любов, във вяра, в чистота. 13 Докато дойда, внимавай на прочитането, на увещаването и на поучаването. 14 Не пренебрегвай дарбата, която имаш, която ти се даде, съгласно с пророчеството, чрез ръкополагането от презвитерите. 15 В това прилежавай, на това се предавай, за да стане явен на всички твоят напредък.

Paul tells Timothy not to neglect his gift. It is not enough for us to study the Bible, pray and have health relationships… we must also put our faith into practice.
It is like the world’s best auto mechanic. He has read all the books, been to all the seminars, knows all about the latest automotive technology. One problem, he has never worked on a car in his life. He has never gotten his hands dirty.
We must put our gifts into practice. God has made us all unique. Each one of us has a gift or talent. We grow in our spiritual walk when we put these gifts and talents to work for God.

PRACTICAL:

See where there is a need inside or outside the church (Търси нуждите вътре и вън от църквата)
Take a risk and try to serve God and other people in a new way (Рискувай да служиш на Бог и на хората по нови начини)

Conclusion

1 Timothy 4:16

1 Timothy 4:16 16 Внимавай на себе си и на поучението си, постоянствувай в това; защото, като правиш това, ще спасиш и себе си и слушателите си.