Watch Yourself Closely

Introduction

Illustration: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s essay “Time For Freedom Has Come”

“But neither is the Negro today an elderly woman whose grammar is uncertain; rather, he is college-bred, Ivy League-clad, youthful, articulate and resolute. He has the imagination and drive of the young, tamed by discipline and commitment. The nation and the world have reacted with astonishment at these students cast from a new mold, unaware that a chain reaction was accumulating explosive force behind a strangely different facade.

Generating these changes is a phenomenon Victor Hugo described in these words: “There is no greater power on earth than an idea whose time has come.” In the decade of the sixties the time for freedom for the Negro has come. This simple truth illuminates the motivations the tactics and the objectives of the student’s daring and imaginative movement.

facade- an outward appearance that is maintained to conceal a less pleasant or creditable reality.

Not long ago the Negro collegian imitated the white collegian. Today the imitation has ceased. The Negro collegian now initiates. Overnight his white fellow students began to imitate him.

A revival began to take place....

A consciousness of leadership, a sense of destiny have given maturity and dedication to this generation of Negro students which have few precedents

They were not aware of what they were getting themselves into...

Transition To Body- Background for 1 Timothy

1 Timothy 4:12 (IVPBBCNT): Because Timothy joined Paul before a.d. 50 (Acts 16:1–3; men entered adulthood around puberty, so Timothy may have been in his midteens) and Paul is writing in the early sixties, Timothy is at least in his mid-twenties and could well be in his early or mid-thirties; this term for “youth” (KJV) could apply up to the age of forty, although it usually applied especially to someone under twenty-nine. But those who were not elders were often considered inappropriate for leadership positions (cf. 1 Sam 17:33), and many offices even in Judaism became available only at age forty.

Chapter 1

Godly leaders love God’s people with pure hearts & pure intentions

Sinners saved by Jesus Christ

Recipients of Gods mercy and Examples of God’s patience towards God’s people

Chapter 2

Praying & Peaceful People

Pray for all people- God desires all to come to know Jesus Christ & be saved

Chapter 3

Holy Faithful Mature Church Leaders

Chapter 4

Starts with the godliness of the church’s leader/pastor/elder

Chapter 5

Instruction for the family of God

1 Timothy 5:1–3 ESV

1 Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, 2 older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity. 3 Honor widows who are truly widows.

Do right by the pastor who preaches & teaches- provision & guard reputation

Chapter 6

1 Timothy 6:11–16 ESV

11 But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, 14 to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

Guard the good deposit

Grace be with you

Body: Good Servants Of Jesus Christ

Good- in any respect unobjectionable, blameless, excellent.

to meeting high standards or expectations of appearance, kind, or quality

Servant- has a master or LORD

Faithfully Follow Good Teaching

1 Timothy 4:6 ESV

6 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.

Note that Paul instructs Timothy to put these things before the brothers and sisters- what he has been trained in the words of the faith & of the good doctrine that he has followed

Put- to provide instruction, make known, teach someth. to someone

Trained- bring up, rear’, then train in

Words of the faith- words of that or whom you have made a commitment

Whom have you made the commitment?

How does that commitment look?

Good Doctrine- that which is taught, teaching, instruction that is of God

Followed- to conform to someone’s belief or practice by paying special attention, follow faithfully, follow as a rule

Help of the Holy Spirit

John 14:15–17 ESV

15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

Faithfully Treasure God’s Temple

1 Timothy 4:7–10 ESV

7 Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; 8 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. 9 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. 10 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.

Value- useful, beneficial, advantageous

Treasure means

to hold or keep as precious : CHERISH, PRIZE

2: to collect and store up (something of value) for future use : HOARD

Matthew 6:21 ESV

21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

1 Timothy 4:6–11 (IVPBBCNT): Paul alludes to the sort of physical training undertaken especially by athletes and others in the Greek gymnasia, where men stripped naked for exercises

Train- undergo discipline through mental & spiritual powers

Gymazo- gymnasium

Exercise naked

Train oneself by the present life

Illustration:

Definition of bodybuilding

: the developing of the body through exercise and diet

specifically : the developing of the physique for competitive exhibition

Illustration: Care of temples- cleaning, maintenance, improvement, repair

Godliness- the pious follow sacrificial custom and take care of temples;

Temple of the Holy Spirit (you were bought with a price)

1 Corinthians 6:19–20 ESV

19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Temple of the Living God

2 Corinthians 6:14–16 ESV

14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

What do you do at temples?

Romans 12:1–2 ESV

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Faithful Witness Mediates Salvation

1 Timothy 4:11–16 ESV

11 Command and teach these things. 12 Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. 13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. 14 Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. 15 Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. 16 Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

Save- of persons who are mediators of divine salvation: apostles

Mediate- : exhibiting indirect causation, connection, or relation

1 Timothy 4:12 ESV

12 Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

Set the believers an example

In Speech- your utterances, communication where the mind finds expression

In Conduct- way of life, behavior i.e. how you live

In Love- Godly love

In Faith- belief & trust in God

In Purity- the quality of moral purity, purity; of a pure mind

Psalm 19:14 ESV

14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Practice- to improve by care or study, practice, cultivate, take pains with

Practice that all may see your progress

Keep a close watch on yourself

Keep a close watch on the teaching

Close watch- to be mindful or especially observant, hold toward, aim at, intr., fig. of mental processes

Doctrine- the act of teaching, teaching, instruction

Persist

to continue in an activity or state, continue, persist (in), persevere

Perseverance for the sake of your salvation

Hearers-

to pay attention to by listening, listen

People are listening to what you say you believe versus what your life says you really believe

People believe what they see

Note: Faithful witness is not just talking, but watching/monitoring ourselves as others listen to us.

People may listen to what you say but they watch your life to see if you really believe what you say!

Transition To Close

Why Is Missouri Called the "Show-Me" State?

There are a number of stories and legends behind Missouri's sobriquet "Show-Me" state. The slogan is not official, but is common throughout the state and is used on Missouri license plates.

The most widely known legend attributes the phrase to Missouri's U.S. Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver, who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1897 to 1903. While a member of the U.S. House Committee on Naval Affairs, Vandiver attended an 1899 naval banquet in Philadelphia. In a speech there, he declared, "I come from a state that raises corn and cotton and cockleburs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me." Regardless of whether Vandiver coined the phrase, it is certain that his speech helped to popularize the saying.

Other versions of the "Show-Me" legend place the slogan's origin in the mining town of Leadville, Colorado. There, the phrase was first employed as a term of ridicule and reproach. A miner's strike had been in progress for some time in the mid-1890s, and a number of miners from the lead districts of southwest Missouri had been imported to take the places of the strikers. The Joplin miners were unfamiliar with Colorado mining methods and required frequent instructions. Pit bosses began saying, "That man is from Missouri. You'll have to show him."

However the slogan originated, it has since passed into a different meaning entirely, and is now used to indicate the stalwart, conservative, noncredulous character of Missourians.

Micah 6:8 ESV

8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Matthew 25:20–23 ESV

20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 22 And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’

We can do good even though we are not good by our own selves

1 John 4:4 ESV

4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

Nobodies Good but God

Luke 18:18–22 ESV

18 And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 19 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’ ” 21 And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.” 22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

Timothy’s grandmother Lois and mother Eunice served as his early examples & models in the faith

2 Timothy 1:5 ESV

5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.

Paul has been an model & example to Timothy

Close: Jesus Christ the model & example

The model & example which Paul followed was Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ is the mystery of Godliness!

1 Timothy 3:14–16 ESV

14 I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, 15 if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. 16 Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.