The Essentials of Ministry

The Essentials of Ministry 1st Timothy 4:12-16

As many of you know, I was the youth pastor here many years ago and during my time in that position our senior pastor moved to another ministry.

Therefore, the board asked me to fill in as interim pastor while they conducted a nationwide search to determine who would be the next senior pastor.

This process took several months and every time our board found a candidate, something happened that resulted in things falling through.

So, after many months and because they couldn’t find anyone else, the board eventually asked me to apply for the position:-).

I was 25 years old when I was appointed to serve as the senior pastor.

I was way too young and I was way in over my head.

I still am.

Well, I’m not way too young but you know what I mean:-)

I can remember in those early days feeling overwhelmed and insecure and unsure of myself.

Maybe that’s why I was especially drawn to the letters of 1st and 2nd Timothy.

Timothy was a young man when Paul appointed him to shepherd the church at Ephesus and it’s clear, from reading through 1st and 2nd Timothy, that there were times when Timothy was intimidated and felt like he was “in over his head.”

Dr. R. Kent Hughes said it this way (pp.113-114):

“The Ephesian church was troubled by false teachers, some of whom were actually in leadership.  No congregational ‘call’ had been extended to Timothy... There is no indication that anyone in Ephesus had asked for him to come, much less appointed him or elected him to leadership.  We sense from the opening chapter (of 1st Timothy) that Timothy would rather be somewhere else...”

“Timothy was timid by nature, certainly in part because he was young.  He was not a ‘take charge’ kind of guy.  The consensus is that he was in his mid-thirties – which may not seem so young to us.  But in a culture where one’s elders were highly regarded, and in a church where the elders would have been older than he, his relatively young age was a handicap.  Second Timothy 1:7 records Paul’s apostolic nudge for Timothy to assert himself: ‘For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power. . . .”

“The combination of Timothy’s retiring nature and relative youth made him a natural target for critics... I am sure there were times when Timothy awoke in the Ephesian night with a pain in his sensitive stomach and murmured, ‘What am I doing here?  Help me, Lord.’

“Paul was not unaware of Timothy’s inner feelings.  Notwithstanding his own apostolic boldness, Paul had ‘been there’ himself.  He knew the pressures and gut-wrenching concerns of pastoral responsibility... So Paul addresses Timothy in very personal, intimate terms in these final thoughts of chapter 4...”

With that as background, let’s turn together to 1st Timothy chapter 4.

Please follow along as I read verses 6-16, though our focus will be on verses 12-16.

vv. 6-16

I realize that not every section of the word of God “hits” everyone the same way and there are some passages that apply more directly to your life, depending on where you are at in life and what you are going through in life.

If you are going through trials, passages on suffering and God’s sustaining grace are usually more meaningful to you.

If you are near death, promises about heaven and eternal life are usually more meaningful to you.

If you are about to have a baby, passages on God’s gifts and parenting are usually morning meaningful to you.

And we could continue to give examples of how passages apply to us uniquely, depending on where we are at in life.

Of course, there are some passages that apply to us all the time, regardless of where we are at in life.

I say all that to say that this passage that we just read is one that I could “live in” until the day I die.

I don’t know of any passage that is more meaningful or more crucial or more pertinent for me in my position as a pastor.

These words are my life’s breath.

Here Paul tells Timothy what is central and foundational and essential in his role as shepherd of the church at Ephesus.

So, even though this passage may not be as applicable to you as it is to me, I hope and pray you will grasp the gravity of what the Holy Spirit has to say here in this passage. -------- As we saw in the last message, Paul told Timothy in verse 7 to discipline himself for the purpose of godliness.

It takes discipline to make sure that we are exposed to the word of God and are taking in the word, which grows us in godliness.

Today we have unique opportunities to do this because we can listen to the word on our phones while we are driving or when we are walking or when we are working out and we can take advantage of websites on our computers or apps on our phones to feed on the word of God but it still takes discipline to do it.

When Christians say that they don’t have time to be in the word, it’s important to remember that we all have the same amount of time.

Nobody has more than 24 hours in a day and 7 days in a week.

So, we need to make time for what’s important to us and this passage reminds us that what ought to be important to us is growth in godliness.

Godliness is beneficial in this life and it’s obviously beneficial in relation to eternity.

So, Paul exhorted and urged Timothy to remember this reality and to apply himself wholeheartedly to the task.

That’s why he said in verse 9, “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance” and that’s why he said in verse 10, “...to this end we labor and strive.”

Verse 9 is the mental affirmation of the importance of this priority and verse 10 is the physical exertion given to the pursuit of it.

So, let me ask you: do you see or recognize the importance of what the Holy Spirit says here about disciplining yourself to godliness and do you make strong effort to making this a priority?

Let me ask it again: do you see or recognize the importance of what the Holy Spirit says here about disciplining yourself to godliness and do you make strong effort to making this a priority?

You see, beloved, if not, then there’s a sense in which we are just wasting our time and playing games.

If we are coasting along in life, without a recognition of the importance of disciplining ourselves to godliness and without putting action behind it, we are just playing Christianity.

We’re not taking it seriously.

That’s why Paul writes with such intensity in this passage and why the Holy Spirit records these compelling words.

This is serious.

This is central in the Christian life.

That’s why Paul told Timothy in verse 11, “These things command and teach.”

It is the job or role or responsibility of the pastor to remind the people of God about this priority.

We, all of us, so easily forget this or let it slip or let it fall to the wayside in our lives.

So, Paul says to Timothy, “Command and teach these things.”

When Timothy read that statement, it probably would have been easy for him to say to himself, “Yeah, but I don’t know if the congregation respects me enough to be that bold.  I’m so much younger than lots of the people in this church.”

Anticipating that kind of reaction or response from Timothy, Paul adds verse 12.

v. 12

The first part of this exhortation sounds almost impossible to fulfill.

How can you, as someone who is younger than others, make sure that those who are older don’t look down on your youthfulness?

You can’t command others to respect you or appreciate you.

Respect and appreciation can’t be demanded but they can be earned.

That’s why Paul is quick to add the second part of the verse - “but be an example.”

That’s how Timothy would be able to counter the tendency of people to look down on his youthfulness.

Example often earns respect.

So, Paul mentions 5 or 6 areas where Timothy could set an example for others in the church.

The first area is in “word” or “speech.”

Our speech is such a clear window to our hearts.

When I’m around someone who uses vulgar language and cuss words or swear words, and I frequently am around such people, I immediately know what’s in the heart.

Jesus said, “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”

Paul exhorted Timothy to be an example to others in speech because it takes a central aspect of the fruit of the Spirit, namely self-control, to control the tongue.

Show me someone who can display self-control in his speech and I will show you someone who is worthy of respect.

Paul understood that.

Therefore, he encouraged Timothy to be an example to others in speech because he knew that if Timothy was exemplary in his speech, that would earn him the respect of many. ---------- The 2nd area of example for Timothy to focus on was conduct.

Timothy was to be an example in his speech and in his life - “what you say and what you do.”

Timothy’s conduct was to be exemplary in the way he lived and in the priorities he maintained.

Beloved, don’t ever forget the fact that people are watching your life.

They don’t always or maybe rarely tell you that they are watching your life but people are watching your life.

This is true of believers and unbelievers alike.

People watch you.

They watch how you live and they watch the priorities in your life and they watch how you react to situations in life.

Paul understood that.

Therefore, he encouraged Timothy to be an example to others in conduct because he knew that if Timothy was exemplary in his conduct, that would earn him the respect of many. ------ The 3rd area of example for Timothy to focus on was love.

What can be said about the priority of love that hasn’t already been said?

You know the emphasis that God’s word places on the importance of love.

Jesus said it’s the greatest commandment.

Paul said it is the fulfillment of the law.

Peter said it covers a multitude of sins.

James called it “the royal law according to the Scripture.”

John said it is the evidence that you’re born of God.

So, it’s not surprising that Paul exhorted Timothy to be an example to the other believers in love.

It is of utmost importance.

Barclay said it this way: “So then the first authenticating mark of the Christian leader is that he cares for others, no matter what they do to him.  That is something of which any Christian leader quick to take offense and prone to bear grudges should constantly think.”

That is powerful. ------- This is critically important for a young pastor.

I remember when I first became the senior pastor here, I had two men from two different states tell me the same thing in almost the exact same words.

As far as I know, those two men didn’t even know each other but one of them was the president of a seminary and the other was the chairman of an elder board in a thriving church.

They gave me the following priceless piece of advice.

They said, “Bryan, don’t try to change anything in the church for the first 5 years.  Love the people and feed the people and you will earn their trust.  Then you can begin to make necessary changes.”

I remember, as a young man, when they gave me that advice, 5 years sounded like an eternity but it was some of the best advice I was given early on in my position.

So it’s not surprising to me that Paul told Timothy to be an example in love. ---------- The 4th area of example for Timothy to focus on was faith.

If you are using the KJV or NKJV, then your translation says “spirit” but that term is not in the earliest manuscripts and that’s why it doesn’t appear in most of our English translations.

If that term was in the original, Paul was urging Timothy to be an example to others in his attitude and outlook on life.

That’s certainly an important aspect of life and character but we’re not sure that word was in the original, which is why I said that the 4th area of example for Timothy to focus on was faith.

It is possible that Paul meant Timothy was to be an example in his faith or trust in the Lord but it’s also likely that Paul was talking about faithfulness or commitment.

Paul urged Timothy to be an example of faithfulness.

Again, this is especially important for a young man because it’s easy for young people to be impulsive and reactionary, rather than faithful and steady. ---------- The 5th area of example for Timothy to focus on was purity.

This word was used specifically to refer to moral or sexual purity.

I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that many pastors have violated this command egregiously.

Sadly, you don’t have to be around very long to hear a story or read a story about a spiritual leader who has been involved in pornography or involved in an adulterous affair or some other kind of sexual sin.

It’s far too common.

I have a pastor friend who has been keeping a list for years of every man he has known or heard about who got involved in sexual sin.

It’s a long list and he will not show it to anyone.

He simply keeps it as a reminder of how many spiritual leaders have been disqualified by sexual immorality.

Paul knew what he was talking about when he charged Timothy to be an example of purity.

Regardless of how gifted, a spiritual leader is nothing apart from exemplary character.

Having said that, we can’t neglect the importance of function.

Character is foundational and essential but function is also important.

That’s why Paul adds verse 13.

v. 13

This is an abbreviated or summarized job description of a pastor.

I’m so thankful that God hasn’t made my job description really complicated because, if so, I would be much more incompetent than I already am.

Here, God says, “Read the text, apply the text, teach the text.”

That’s pretty simple to understand, isn’t it?

Paul told Timothy, “...devote yourself to the reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.”

That’s what God expects the pastor to do.

This responsibility was really driven home to Peter in John 21 when Jesus basically said to Him, “If you love Me, you will feed My sheep.”

If you are a pastor and you claim to love the Lord, then one of the ways you demonstrate that love is by feeding the people of God with the word of God.

That’s what Paul is telling Timothy here.

This one verse is what is behind the structure of my sermons.

As you know, I read the passage at some point in the introduction.

I preach the passage, I teach the passage, and seek to apply the passage by exhorting us to do whatever it says.

I’m certainly not as good at it as I could be and I would like to be but I can honestly tell you that it is what drives me and compels me every week of my life.

People may like my sermons or may not like my sermons but what is most important to me is if God likes them.

Have I been faithful to read the text and explain the text and exhort us to conform to its truths?

That’s the issue.

That was the issue in Timothy’s ministry and it’s the issue in my ministry.

It’s something no pastor should ever neglect, as Paul says in the next verse.

v. 14

The first part of this verse is easy.

It’s an exhortation from Paul to Timothy to make sure he doesn’t neglect his spiritual gift of preaching/teaching.

It’s the last part of the verse that sounds strange to us.

The reason it sounds strange to us is because we don’t live in the 1st century when the Holy Spirit was occasionally imparted through the laying of hands and when spiritual gifts were imparted some times through the laying on of hands.

All you have to do is read through the book of Acts and you notice that some very unusual things took place in that transition period.

People in the church were struck dead for hypocrisy, which rarely happens today or I would be dead and so would a lot of you:-).

In Acts 8 the Samaritans received the Holy Spirit when the Jewish apostles laid hands on them and prayed for them but in Acts 10 the Gentiles received the Holy Spirit without the laying on of hands and prayer.

In Acts 19 you have a small group of believers who hadn’t even heard about the Holy Spirit.

In Acts 21 you have a prophet who took Paul’s belt and tied up his hands and feet with it to prophesy that Paul would be arrested in Jerusalem.

I doubt many of us have seen examples of someone ripping off someone else’s belt in church to make a prophetic point:-)

All that to say that some very unique things took place in the transition period of the 1st century.

From what Paul says here, we can assume that Timothy’s gift of leadership and preaching and teaching came through or was identified by a prophetic revelation from God and publically affirmed by the symbolic laying on of hands by the elders of one of the churches in the 1st century.

Since God had gifted Timothy and Paul had appointed him to shepherd the church in Ephesus, it was crucial that Timothy give his best and give his utmost to the task.

v. 15

Notice the intensity of this verse.

Paul tells Timothy to “meditate on” or “take pains with these things.”

The instructions in this passage are the essentials of pastoral ministry.

These instructions and principles need to consume the heart and mind of any man who wants to be the kind of pastor God wants him to be.

And the pastor who will devote himself to these things will be the kind of pastor that the Lord uses for the good or edification of God’s people.

That’s what is behind Paul’s statement at the end of the verse - “that your progress may be evident to all.”

Paul’s not talking about showing off when he makes this statement.

He is talking about a shepherd who disciplines himself to godliness and who gives serious attention to presenting the word of God for the good of the people of God.

And that comes out again in the next verse.

v. 16

This verse is the summary of everything Paul has been saying since verse 6.

To understand this statement, it’s important to remember that salvation is not just some kind of experience we have the moment we receive Christ.

Salvation is past, present, and future.

We have been saved, we are being saved, and we shall be saved.

The terms used to describe those 3 aspects of salvation are: justification, sanctification, and glorification.

I have been saved from the penalty of sin (that’s justification) and I am being saved from the power of sin (that’s sanctification) and I shall be saved from the presence of sin (that’s glorification).

If we remember those truths, this verse makes sense.

In the first part of this verse, Paul tells Timothy to “take heed to yourself and to the doctrine.”

“Watch your life and doctrine closely.”

“Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching.”

Paul is reminding Timothy of the importance of making sure that his own life is in order spiritually and that his grasp of sound doctrine is continually growing.

Paul has already said this several times and in several ways throughout this letter, especially here at the end of chapter 4.

The key for any pastor, any elder, any shepherd is to make sure that his own life is what it ought to be spiritually and to make sure to teach the word effectively.

So, that’s the starting point for spiritual leadership.

We, as spiritual leaders, must make sure to keep our own lives in order.

If not, what do we have?

We have a position without any basis or any platform for ministry.

So, we have to keep watch over our own lives spiritually and that provides a foundation from which we can teach God’s word clearly and accurately and effectively.

Therefore, Paul tells Timothy to “take heed to yourself and to the doctrine.”

Then he tells Timothy to “continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.”

What does Paul mean?

Is he suggesting that we can save ourselves and others?

Obvious not.

Remember that all Christians can say, “I have been saved from the penalty of sin and I am being saved from the power of sin and I shall be saved from the presence of sin.”

It’s the middle aspect of salvation that Paul is talking about here.

We are continually saved from the power of sin as we keep a close watch on our lives and grow in the word.

Philippians 2:12 says, “...work out your own salvation.”

It doesn’t say work for your salvation; it says work it out.

We work out our salvation in progressive sanctification.

We work out our salvation as we grow in Christlikeness.

That’s why Paul tells Timothy to pay close attention to himself and to his teaching.

If a pastor will do that, then he is in a position to be used by God to continue the sanctifying process in his own life and in the lives of those who hear him.

He is being used by God to continue the salvation process of being saved from the power of sin.

We are saved from the penalty of sin the moment we receive Christ and we are saved from the power of sin as we grow in godliness.

Salvation is instantaneous and it is ongoing.

Salvation involves justification and sanctification.

Both of those realities are aspects of salvation and Paul is primarily talking about that 2nd aspect of salvation.

He is exhorting Timothy to make sure that his own life is in order and to make sure to continue to be faithful in teaching the word, which will result in spiritual growth in Timothy’s own life and in the lives of those who hear him teach the word.

By extension, you could also say that Paul was not only telling Timothy to stay true to the word because of how it causes Christians to grow but also because it brings the message of salvation to the lost and God uses His truth to save the lost.

Still, the point is the same.

A pastor needs to have his own spiritual life in order so that he’s not a contradiction of what a Christian is supposed to be and a pastor needs be faithful with the word to give the Lord the opportunity to call the lost to salvation and to continue sanctifying the people of God.

That’s why Paul says, “... in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.” ---------- Beloved, this is what we, as pastors, are supposed to be and do.

The best thing in the world that you can do for us is to expect this of us and pray this for us.

That’s not only the best thing for us, it’s also the best thing for you.

The church is called God’s church in Acts 20 and in both Ephesians and Colossians we are told that the Lord Jesus is the head of the church.

If the church is God’s church and the Lord Jesus is the head, then God knows what is best for His church and Jesus knows what is best for His church.

This is what is best for the Lord’s church.

What is best is to have shepherds who take serious the responsibility live exemplary lives and feed the people of God with the word of God,

That is the path to a healthy church.

May God grant that we will be that kind of church, to His glory.