Every creature is good
Life as the church - Book of 1Timothy • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 1:09:55
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The diet
The diet
Diet does not always mean to deny yourself something to loose weight. Today we are looking at instructions to Timothy regarding conduct in the church surrounding dietary and marriage restrictions.
Religious dietary restrictions
Many religions have some dietary restrictions
Hinduism - vegetarianism
Islam, Judaism - no pork as well as some selected other foods
Paul continues warnings about apostasy
Paul had been instructing Timothy with instructions for the Ephesian church about false doctrine, and falling into apostasy (departing from the faith).
Keep things in context (look at 1Tim4:1-2 coupled with 1Tim4:3-5.
May we look at passage in context and then we will be looking at:
Christian diet, sanctified by the word of God
Christian diet, sanctified by prayer.
1 But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron,
3 men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude;
5 for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.
Be reminded of what we have looked at last week.
(Insert latter days picture here)
Latter days (expand on what this is; but keep it brief)
(expand on each below, briefly)
Some will depart from the faith
Some will give heed to deceiving spirits
Some to the doctrines of demons
Speaking lies in hypocrisy
hypocrisy is saying one thing and doing another.
The apostate is not just wrong doctrinally as we are starting to see and will continue to look at today, but wrong morally. The life was wrong before the doctrine was wrong. Twisting doctrine to match life instead of life to doctrine. One writer said
“Believing and behaving go together.”
(Transition) so now, may we look at our first point, our continued look at Paul’s warning about apostasy and false doctrine.
One more quick thing on this since this passage before us is dealing with food mostly keep this in mind
All creatures are good (for food) if they are received with thanksgiving
All foods are “sanctified” by the Word of God and prayer
We will build on this as we go today.
Sanctified by the Word
Sanctified by the Word
The problem. There was a mix in these days of Jewish legalism and Eastern asceticism that Paul is dealing with here, as well as he did in writing to Colossi (Col2:8-23 if you want to look).
The claim: do not marry (v.3)
God says (Gen2:18)
18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.”
God’s plan from the beginning was for marriage.
Jesus approval (Mt19:1-9)
Jesus when questioned about divorce turned and made it about marriage and the sanctity of marriage
Paul’s thoughts (1Cor7:1-24)
In this entire chapter it could be summed up in this
20 Each man must remain in that condition in which he was called.
The teachers thought that those who did not marry were more spiritual than those who were married, Paul covered that in 1Cor7 to a point.
Another reason for this teaching was the view of the immanent return of Christ, so don’t marry.
We need to remember God created, God sanctified, God protects marriage and we need to be careful for anyone who teaches another doctrine that tampers God’s institution of marriage.
(transition)
Now the 2nd claim deals with the false teaching about food (v.3)
The claim - abstain from certain foods (v.3)
3 Such people teach that it is wrong to marry and to eat certain foods. But God created those foods to be eaten, after a prayer of thanks, by those who are believers and have come to know the truth.
Foods are declared clean
(Insert foods-declared-clean picture here)
By God (Gen1:29, 9:3-4; Deu14:4-21)
God in Genesis in the garden said all seed yielding plants were clean
God after the flood added in every moving thing, with a restriction about blood
During the Mosaic period (under the law) God instructs some dietary restrictions on Israel.
By Jesus (Mt5:17-19; Mk7:18-19)
Jesus states on sermon on the mount that he did not come to abolish the Mosaic law but to fulfill it (vv.17-19)
Jesus also looked forward to the time the law would cease
18 And He said to them, “Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, 19 because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?” (Thus He declared all foods clean.)
By Paul (Rom14:14, 1Cor10:25)
Look what Paul had to say
14 I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.
But you should take the time to read the chapter as it deals with this and not being a stumbling block to your brother and food is the illustration that he uses. This is further seen in
25 Eat anything that is sold in the meat market without asking questions for conscience’ sake; 26 for the earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains.
27 If one of the unbelievers invites you and you want to go, eat anything that is set before you without asking questions for conscience’ sake.
(transition) The Word of God has declared all food clean (in general) there are some exceptions to consider though.
Exceptions to the clean food principle
Food offered to idols (1Cor10:18-22, 25-28, Rev2:14, 20)
Blood and things strangled (Act15:20,28-29, 21:25)
Let me give you a scripture here
28 “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials: 29 that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication; if you keep yourselves free from such things, you will do well. Farewell.”
When eaten with doubt (Rom14:1-3, 14-15, 23)
we could look at Rom14 this is all about matters of conscience and focuses on food but I want to give a few highlights from the chapter to help us
1 Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions. 2 One person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only.
3 The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him.
now jumping down
14 I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. 15 For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died.
(expand on that; it is bigger than just food)
One more verse to consider
23 But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin.
We do not want to become, cause a stumbling block to anyone, if you know someone is grieved by certain foods, stop eating that when you are with them, Our goal is to glorify God.
A principle to remember (1Cor10:23-24, 31-32)
23 All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify. 24 Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor.
and add to that
31 Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32 Give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God;
(Transition) So, every creature is good, is clean, but not every one is good for every one due to personal conviction. But it is clean when sanctified by the Word (declared clean), but Paul goes on even further on the issue for the church at Ephesus through instructions to Timothy.
Sanctified by prayer
Sanctified by prayer
Think back, where does prayer come in priority of things as a congregation (see 1Tim2:1-2) and even personally this can come into play. Paul’s instructions here continued about sanctification through the word and prayer.
1 First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.
Do you wonder how does prayer sanctify food? Or even why do we pray over our meals? Let’s look together and consider some things.
God created food to be gratefully (thankfully) shared (v.3)
Nothing is to be rejected, refused if received with gratitude (thanksgiving (v.4)
(insert sanctified picture here)
So, we know by the word of God, and we are talking about with prayer, let’s go with prayer, in thanksgiving.
Everything in thanksgiving (Eph5:20, Col3:17; 1The5:18)
Paul to the Ephesians directly to give thanks for all things in Jesus name
Told the Colossians to do all things in the name of the Lord giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
And to church at Thessalonica, well, in everything give thanks, for this is God’s will.
Certainly this would include our daily bread (Mt6:11)
Biblical examples of sanctification through prayer.
Jesus
Feeding the 4000 (Mt15:36-38)
36 and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 37 And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large baskets full.
38 And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.
Last Supper (Lk22:15-20)
15 And He said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; 16 for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”
17 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves; 18 for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.”
19 And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 20 And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.
Paul
On ship to Rome (Act27:35)
35 Having said this, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of all, and he broke it and began to eat.
Alluded in other writings (Rom14:6; 1Cor10:30)
I think we covered both of these, but they really still can fit here too, so here they are as a reminder
6 He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God.
and
30 If I partake with thankfulness, why am I slandered concerning that for which I give thanks?
Now let me shift gears
Let’s eat together!
Let’s eat together!
Sometimes what we eat is not physical food at all, it is spiritual and is just as necessary and the physical.
Jesus says live by the word (Mt4:4)
4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’ ”
He did not say we do not need bread, we do, but what we need more is every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God
Jeremiah says he ate and they were a joy (Jer15:16)
16 Your words were found and I ate them, And Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; For I have been called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.
Find Gods word, eat God’s word and you have joy, and delight in your heart!
David says to delight in it (Ps1:1-2)
speaking of delight
1 How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.
Delight in the word daily! Be blessed by the word, be filled with delight by the word.
Jesus says drink of it (Jn4:13-14)
13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”
And, the Bereans searched it daily (Act17:11)
11 Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.
(Do not read below, just for the outline) - go to the invitation
Feed on clean food, feed on the sanctifying word and cover all things in prayer.
(Invitation/encouragement slide- feed on Gods word slide)
(Song) (Prayer)