Characteristics of a Faithful Servant

Transcript

GRM 1016
8/24/2008
Characteristics of a Faithful Servant
I Timothy 4:6-11
Gil Rugh


I want to direct your attention to Paul's letter to Timothy, I Timothy, in your Bibles. Our next study on Sunday mornings together is going to be Paul's second letter to Timothy and I wanted to look at a few matters out of I Timothy which will form a basis and preparation for what we'll be looking at in II Timothy. Some of the things that Paul has to say to Timothy in his first letter, he'll be reemphasizing in his second letter to Timothy. As you are aware, Timothy was a faithful companion of Paul beginning on the second missionary journey. He joined Paul in Acts 16 and from that point on he becomes Paul's trusted friend, companion, ministry servant; he even was with Paul during his Roman imprisonment when Paul wrote the letter to the Philippians from Rome during his imprisonment. He included Timothy in his address to the Philippians. So he is a man that Paul greatly loved, greatly trusted. He would send Timothy on some hard missions, have him carry on some ministries with churches that were in difficult situations. Timothy is a trusted man. When we studied I Corinthians together we noted there in I Corinthians 4:17 Paul said to the Corinthians, I have sent to you Timothy who is my faithful child in the Lord. In I Corinthians 16:10 he said concerning Timothy, he is doing the Lord's work even as I am. And going to Corinth and having to deal with some of the difficulties there show the confidence that Paul had in Timothy.

In I Timothy 1 you get the setting of what Timothy is doing. Paul and Timothy had been traveling together, they had ministered together in the city of Ephesus. Paul moved on from Ephesus to go over to Greece, he leaves Timothy there to deal with situations that are not yet resolved in the church at Ephesus. And in I Timothy 1:3, as I urged you upon my departure from Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus. Now note why. So that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines, nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith. Now this is a difficult situation at Ephesus. When he says instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines, this is not just something Timothy can walk up and say, I don't want you men teaching that anymore. Okay. If it could have been that easily done, Paul would have taken care of it before he left. These men are teachers who have become entrenched in the church at Ephesus, they have been accepted by the church and the believers in the church as fellow believers and gifted teachers. But as we'll see as we move along here, these are men that have never experienced the power of God's saving grace. And so they are teaching doctrines that are not consistent with what Paul and the other apostles taught. And so they become opponents of the truth.

Verse 6, some men straying from these things have turned aside to fruitless discussion, wanting to be teachers of the law. And this becomes part of the problem. These are men who want to incorporate the Mosaic Law into the teachings of salvation by grace through faith, to the teaching of sanctification by grace through faith. So they are misusing the Mosaic Law and thus corrupting the purity of God's doctrine. Paul has a strong emphasis here on what true salvation is. Verse 15, it is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost. Paul never lost sight of the fact that he was a wretched, hell-deserving sinner that God had saved by His marvelous grace.

He wants Timothy to keep up the good fight, so down at the end of verse 18 he tells him, fight the good fight. Then he mentions a couple of men who had to be disciplined in the church at Ephesus for their false doctrine regarding the resurrection. You come down into chapter 2 he says you need to be praying for leaders, those in authority. The reason again, he's back to God's marvelous plan of salvation. God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus who gave Himself as a ransom for all. Timothy, your passion is to see these come to know the Savior. There is one God and He is the Savior and He desires all men to be saved. He has provided His Son to be the mediator between God and men so that through Christ sinful human beings can come and experience cleansing for Almighty God and be made new.

He told him at the end of chapter 2 about the importance of the functioning of the men and the women in the church, and God has established certain order and realms of responsibility for the man and for the woman. And he takes this back to creation. This is important because it's going to come up again when we get to chapter 4 in a moment. Chapter 2 verse 13, it was Adam who was created first and then Eve. And so rooted in God as the creating God, He created for a purpose. He created everything and everyone for its specified purpose. And He created the man for His purposes, and God created the woman for His purposes as well. And that is to be recognized and honored and followed in the church.

You come into chapter 3 he talks about the responsibility of the leaders in the church—the elders and their qualifications, the deacons and their qualifications. Then he told them down in verse 14, I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long. But in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth. This is God's church and it's important that people be taught the truth so they know how to conduct themselves as God would have them conduct themselves. Then he has a great statement of the mystery of godliness to conclude that chapter.

Then chapter 4 begins with a but, contrast to that great statement concerning Christ that concluded chapter 3. But the Spirit explicitly says that in the latter times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits, doctrines of demons. Some will fall away from the faith. Now here is the warning regarding those teachers who are teaching strange doctrines, chapter 1 verse 3. This is consistent with what the Spirit of God warned about. In the latter days some would depart from the faith, fall away from the faith. We get our English word apostasy from this verse. They would move away from the faith. These are individuals who have given testimony of faith in Christ, who have had an appearance of being genuine believers but their heart had never been changed. They had never experienced the cleansing of God. It's amazing how much a person can look and act like a believer and never have known the Savior. This is what John talked about in his first epistle when he said, they went out from us because they were not really of us. For if they had really been of us, they would have remained with us, but they went out from us so it could be revealed that they were really not of us. Paul told the Corinthians, there must be divisions among you so that those who are approved may become evident.

So some will fall away from the faith, so Timothy, don't be shocked, caught off guard. This is going to happen. What will they do in departing from the faith? They will be paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons. These are serious matters. You'll note here, you have the Holy Spirit of God at the beginning of verse 1 explicitly saying what will happen in the latter days. Some will no longer pay attention to the Spirit of God, they will pay attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons. So you have two sources here—the source of truth, the Holy Spirit of God, and the source of error, deceitful spirits, demonic beings. Now you'll note, they are carrying on their activity within the church. He's not talking about what is going on in the world. The whole world lies in the evil one, I John 5 says. Jesus told the people of His day, you are of your father the devil. But he's talking about what's going on in the church that people who have claimed to have trusted Christ, who have established themselves in teaching positions and now they are paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines, teachings that have their source and origin in the spirit world in the realm of the demonic.

By means of the hypocrisy of liars, seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron. I mean, this is strong language. We're not just saying, look, let's not divide; unity and love are most important. Paul says, the line here, here is the truth; everything else is a doctrine of demons. Who teaches this? Doesn't see any bridge here between these doing this in the church. They are practicing and he calls them the hypocrisy of liars and their conscience is seared, it is cauterized, it is no longer sensitive, it's not sensitive, it's not open to truth. By means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron. Serious matters going on in the church at Ephesus. Timothy has been left to deal with these matters. When you begin to move away from truth ever so slightly, the focus becomes externals. We see that all around us in the church today—a move away from the truth in its purity. And then we become concerned with the externals—the form of worship, the style, the (fill in the blanks). We move into things that God has not called the church to do, and it's His household. Remember chapter 3 verse 15. Here they forbid marriage, they command you to abstain from foods. We have to be careful of this because this can come as appealing. You know, forbid marriage, don't you think the monastic life is something to be admired. And a movement that is impacting the church today, they want to take you back to the old monks of the ancient times and learn from them as though because they had lived an ascetic life and had foregone marriage, they were somehow more spiritual and had more spiritual insights. There is always somebody who is trying to publish a book that tells you you will be more godly and more spiritual if you follow this diet. They're advocating that you abstain from certain foods. Probably connected to the Mosaic Law. The point is none of these things are binding on us. Where did he take it? Back to creation. Where did he take it on the matter of the role of women in chapter 2? Back to creation. Where are we going on this matter of marriage and food? Back to creation. These are things that God has created, verse 3, to be gratefully shared in those who believe and know the truth. Everything created by God, let's go back. Marriage, the celibate life is better. There are advantages to it, Paul talked about that in I Corinthians 11, but it is not better. God's plan for the vast majority of us is marriage. Go back to Genesis 2, it's not good for man to be alone, I will make a helper suitable for him. God's plan, go back to creation. God's plan for food, go back to the creator. Now I'm not saying you have to eat everything, but you are not better or worse spiritually. Remember we looked at Mark 7, it's not what goes into the mouth that defiles the man, it's what comes out of the heart. We need to be very careful. We get into this, well, if you're a Christian you shouldn't be eating that kind of stuff. Has nothing to do with being a Christian, folks. It's not a matter of foods. Now, I'm not saying you have to eat everything, but your spiritual relationship to God, your salvation, your growth, your walk with the Lord is not tied to that. So we want to keep these things clear. If you don't want to have dessert, don't have dessert. But don't sit there thinking in your heart, I'm more godly than they are because I skipped dessert.

So these kinds of externals were corrupting the church. So you see these these weren't people coming in and saying, we want to deny the virgin birth, we want to deny the substitutionary atonement of Christ. We think we would never be influenced by that. But you see what it is—how does the Mosaic Law relate to the finished work of Christ and the wrong teaching on that. What about marriage, don't you admire those who would live a more ascetic life? Don't you think we should at least try to learn from that? Don't you think those monks who went off in ancient times and developed that spirituality we could learn from them? Not a thing. That's false teaching. That's what Paul said comes from demons, the hypocrisy of liars who have had their conscience cauterized so that they are not sensitive to the pure truth of God's Word anymore. This is strong language, this is a serious issue.

So what Paul does when you come to verse 6 and down through verse 16, he talks about Timothy's responsibility as a good servant of Jesus Christ. And we're going to look at verses 6-11 where Paul set forth six characteristics of a good servant. In this whole milieu it's important that Timothy understand what is required of him if he would be a good servant of Jesus Christ. We were talking about in verse 6, in pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Jesus Christ. That's what the issue is—we are God's servants, we are Christ's servants. Diakanos, we get the English word deacon from it, servant, slave, one who serves another.

What is entailed in being a good servant? Paul wants Timothy to keep his focus clear so that he can establish that for the church so the church can have its focus clear, so we can have our focus clear. We say, yes, I'm a servant of Jesus Christ. Are you a good servant of Jesus Christ? I don't know, I hope so. When I get to glory I want to hear, well done, good and faithful servant. Well you know it won't be a surprise, it shouldn't be, because he's unfolded for us what is required of a good servant. So we want to look at these qualities.

Look at verse 6, in pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus. In pointing out these things to the brethren, a word we have translated with two words, these things, always refers to what preceded. He'll use it several times through this section, three times down through the verses. Pointing out these things, the things I just told you in verse 5. You could include everything up to this point, but the immediate reference is to what he has just talked about. You have to confront this. So the first qualification to be a good servant is you must expose false teaching, you must point these things out, bring them to their attention, make them known, teach them. That's the flavor of the word. You point these things out to the brethren. Not talking about going out into the city of Ephesus and trying to deal with all the milieu of false teaching that was going on out there, but what's going on in the church is the concern. How do you conduct yourself in the church, the household of God.

Well you have to be pointing these things out, making them known, bringing them to the attention of the brethren, you are exposing false teaching. And Paul has done that strikingly by calling what we are dealing with here as doctrine of demons. Pay attention. He's talking about hypocrites who are liars who have had their conscience seared. Paul, don't talk that way, these are good people, I know them, I like them, I've been in a class with them. These are serious issues. But Timothy, be a good servant, you have to expose false teaching. Always is, when it takes place in the church, unpleasant. Because if these men didn't have any influence and weren't making headway in the church, Paul wouldn't have Timothy there to put a stop to their strange doctrines. And if their doctrines weren't mixed with the truth in an effective way as demons can do, it wouldn't have an appeal in the church. We're talking about counterfeit here, teaching. You have to expose false teaching to the brethren. Always a battle, it's not new, goes on today, where unity is most important. We want to express our love and our unity. And we can have our doctrinal disagreements, that ought to in no way impact our unity. It impacts it in every way. So Paul says you have to expose false teaching.

Secondly, he goes on in verse 6, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following. The second thing he has to do is be nourished on the truth. That is an ongoing activity. That's why they have put the word constantly in, and you'll note it's in italics, meaning it's not in the original text. But the word nourished is a present tense participle. And present tense often and perhaps even usually refers to an ongoing activity. So this is something, you are to be being nourished on the words of the faith and of sound doctrine. This is to be a constant process, Timothy. The words of the faith, the truth of God, sound doctrine, good doctrine. The word sound is the translation of the word good, good doctrine. This idea that there is all this latitude here on God's Word and you just can't be sure, so God had spoken in fuzzy and unclear ways. God expects His truth to be understood and adhered to, taught faithfully by His people.

Constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of sound doctrine, which you have been following. Paul is not rebuking Timothy in any way, he's encouraging to keep on the path he's been on. This constantly nourished on the truth of God and His Word, we have to go back to two Old Testament prophets. Jeremiah 15. Jeremiah is in a difficult ministry and he asks God to undertake for him. I like the last statement of verse 15, do not, in view of your patience, take me away. Know that for your sake I endure reproach. Now note the next verse that this man, who for the sake of God and His Word, was enduring reproach, 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 our name oh Lord God of Hosts. That picture of taking in the Word of God and feasting on it so that it is taken into your life like food is that it becomes part of you. It is your nourishment. The Word of God spiritually is to be taken in, you feed upon it, and you take it in and assimilate it into your life.

Turn over to Ezekiel 3. In chapter 1 God has come in dramatic fashion and confronted Ezekiel. In chapter 2 it opened up, son of man, stand on your feet that I may speak to you. Down in verse 7 he tells him, you shall speak my words to them whether they listen or not, for they are rebellious. Constant issue to deal with those who are not being faithful to the Word of God, who have infiltrated among God's people. Down in chapter 3 God said to Ezekiel, son of man, eat what you find. Eat this scroll and go speak to the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth and He fed me this scroll. He said to me, son of man, feed your stomach, fill your body with this scroll which I am giving you. Then I ate it, it was sweet as honey in my mouth. Then He said to me, son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with my words to them. So you see the picture, the scroll contains the Word of God and it becomes like food to Ezekiel. So he takes in, it becomes part of his being, and it is what he now gives out—the Word of God. You see in verse 14, the Spirit lifted me up and took me away and I went embittered in the rage of my spirit and the hand of the Lord was strong on me. Filled with the Word of God, controlled by the Holy Spirit, he is filled with rage against those who are corrupting God's truth. Sometimes we are indifferent, I'm not a fighter, I don't like conflict. Just get weary of the divisions and disagreements and that's just not me. We have to think, am I taking in the Word of God, have I been feeding on it, has it filled my life, has the Spirit of God taken hold of me, does this matter, do I even know the God of this Word. Something we are to be passionate about. To be a good servant you must be nourished on the Word. There is a danger. We see new believers start out with that passion and hunger for the Word and can't get enough and over time it's easy, I've been a believer a long time, I've studied most of it.

I have my quirks, I know that comes as a revelation. I've had the same thing for breakfast probably for the last 25 years. You know what I do when we go on vacation and I can get something else? I order what I always get, I like it. And besides, I don't have to think of what I'm having. The first decision in the morning is made, I get the same thing. But you know what? This is not a commercial and you have to have the same thing for breakfast. But even though it's the same thing it nourishes me every day. I can't say that's the same thing I had two weeks ago, I don't need to eat it Because it is nourishment for me today. Somehow we get the idea we've been Christians a long time so we don't need as much of the Word as that new Christian does. So we begin to curtail off, I can cut out some of this now. Understand, we have to be taking it in. We have to be constantly nourished and nurtured on the Word. It's to go on all the time. How can I get tired of my God and His truth? I don't need to feed on His truth and His Word and be nourished like I did at one time? You know, like the psalmist starts out the psalms. How blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly or sits in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord and in His law he meditates occasionally. No, day and night. That is, I take in the Word of God, I think upon it, I meditate upon it, I assimilate it. But that's not enough. We get caught up with so many things. Somehow we think one hour a day, that's all I need in the Word of God. It's constant nourishment.

And this is the pattern Timothy had been following. Come back to I Timothy 4. Constantly nourished on the words of the faith and the sound doctrine which you have been following. Paul's concern is we get weary in well doing. I've occasionally had people who were going to leave the ministry here say, I just get tired of the conflict, I get tired of the battles, I don't want to be in these fights anymore. You understand we're in a war. Paul's concern to Timothy is not wear out, not grow weary, not get tired, not give up. We know what it's like. War drags on and we want to quit and go home. Well, the Lord will call us home when the war is over. Until then we have to stay with it.

Let me read to you Colossians 2:6-7, therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and establishing your faith, just as you were instructed. Keep on, continue on. That's wonderful that you were, but keep on. So a faithful servant of Christ Jesus must be nourished on the truth.

Thirdly, verse 7, have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. One of the commentators noted that Paul didn't live in quite a politically correct day. He must reject false teaching. Now this is not a putdown on old women. I am married to an older woman, which is a blessing, because that older woman is married to an older man, or I could say an old man, old woman. But you'll note how strong Paul is here. You know what we're dealing with? Have nothing to do with, you have to wash your hands completely of false teaching. Have nothing to do with it. He calls it worldly fables fit only for old women. Here's what we would call old wives' tales. Like the old grandmother who would sit with a little kid and be able to tell a story that would keep the kid's interest and involvement, but she just made it up. So it's not a putdown of that, but something is wrong when God's people come to sit and hear God's Word and they sit there enthralled by someone spinning an old wives' fable. You see Paul is not saying there is any room for adjustment here with these false teachers and their teaching. These are worldly fables, they are contrary to godliness. Nothing wrong with these stories ______________ and made up for little children in their setting. Something is terribly wrong when that passes for the teaching of God's Word in the church.

So you see how strongly Paul confronts this area of purity of doctrine. Don't have anything to do with worldly fables, fit only for old women. Now these are respected teachers in the church that are having influence, that are supposedly able to explain to you how the Mosaic Law really fits with the gospel of grace in Christ Jesus. These are people who supposedly have insight on God's plan and purpose for marriage and a more ascetic lifestyle and how to be godly. Paul says it is old wives' fables, they are worldly fables. They are not harmless. The old grandmother telling this to the little child, that's fine. But this is a worldly fable when you do this in the church and you corrupt the truth. Boggles my mind, that some people who claim to be believers can sit where they sit and listen to what they listen to. If you're going to be a good servant of Jesus Christ, you have to have nothing to do with them. Doesn't matter that's where you were raised, doesn't matter if you really like them. What matters is God's truth. If I want to be a good servant, if I want to hear well done good and faithful servant, I can't do it by dabbling around in things God says a good servant can't do. Timothy needs to realize this, because under the pressure we always can, over time, begin to look, isn't there a compromise here, I'm tired of the battle. One of the greatest strategies of the devil is to wear us down, he just won't quit. _____________ there has to be a better way, I don't know if I can continue on with the battle. You can. Paul goes on with this. So you have nothing to do with worldly fables, false teaching.

The fourth quality, but, verse 7, on the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness. You must exercise self-discipline to be a good servant. My master tells me what I am to do, I must exercise the discipline to do it. You must exercise self-discipline. Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness. That word discipline. We have the Olympics going on now, we've seen the gymnasts. Comes from this word, goomnadzi. We've just carried it over into English, gym. We've softened the g and instead of goomnads we have gymnasium. It's the place where you do physical discipline, exercise. We look at the gymnast, we've narrowed it down to a particular area. But for those who exercised discipline, constant strenuous activity to strengthen you, to give you greater ability. You discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness. This is contrast to worldly fables, worldly is in contrast to godly. It's the god of this world and his demonic representatives who promote worldly fables. But you must discipline yourself for godliness, spiritual discipline which promotes godliness in your life. So the good servant of Jesus Christ must exercise self-discipline. I don't feel like it, I don't think I want to be bothered. That doesn't have anything to do with it. Nobody is in the Olympics who didn't discipline themselves, nobody is there competing who got up and said, I don't feel like it, it's too much trouble, I work too hard, I'm just going to lay off. It doesn't accomplish it. The Greeks and the Romans were well into bodily disciplines, so when he says here discipline yourself for godliness, they would understand well what he means. No other way to be a good servant.

He further elaborates it, for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. You know we are always looking for a way to use the word to promote the current thing. So people say, the Bible does say bodily discipline is profitable, so it's important that we discipline our bodies because we want to do what God says. You know, we have to take it in context. What he says is bodily discipline is profitable for a little while, but the real point is godliness is profitable for now and eternity, the life to come. That's the contrast. I mean, the Greeks and Romans were into discipline, they didn't want any restraint. Look at the images from back in those days, the Greeks even went at it naked. They are proud of their bodies. We're into that. But Paul's point is the strongest and most effective bodily discipline is only profitable for a little while. Do you know what happens? It will be over. No profit in the life to come, so you understand if you're exercising because your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and you want it to be a good one, you've wasted all that time. You could have had another cup of coffee and a doughnut. Now I'm not recommending that. But that's not what makes you godly. Bodily discipline is of little value, limited duration. I looked in the mirror yesterday, I turned around and said to Marilyn, I'm taking the mirror off the wall here. It serves no good purpose. Why should I get up every morning and be discouraged? I don't need it. What happens? The body goes down. From what I remember, I used to be quite a physical specimen. That tells you something, the deterioration has not only been physical, there has been some mental slippage. But I'll come to church on a Sunday morning and I see people jogging down the path here, and I see people running and walking and riding their bikes. And I think, do they give any thought to their spiritual condition. We have to be careful as Christians. We get up faithfully and do our hour or whatever of exercise every morning, but we're satisfied with an hour a week with the Lord, and for that that's about all the discipline I can apply to that. You can see what Paul's concern for Timothy is. It's not that Timothy wants to walk away from the Lord, it's easy to get lax. I understand godliness is profitable for all things because it is enduring. It's not only for the present life, it's for the life to come. So devote your time and energy to that. Doesn't mean you never do any of the other, but keep your priorities straight, keep your focus where it should be.

It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance. We're not going to go int a discussion of this. Some would take it with what precedes, verse 8, godliness is profitable for all things since it holds promise for the present life and life to come. And I think that makes good sense. Some would take it with the last part of verse 10, we have fixed our hope on the living God who is the Savior of all men, especially believers. Now both are true with the statement that was more commonly bantered around, we won't go into now. That is a trustworthy statement, that godliness is profitable for all things, because it holds promise for this life. What's your exercise regimen? Well, I decided I want to give all my energy or as much of my energy as I can to something that's going to be more than just for the present. Think about it if you could exercise in a realm that would be good for eternity after this life. That's where I want to have my focus.

The next point, and these overlap as you can imagine, because we're talking about a good servant, just like any area that you're explaining to someone. You emphasize it and there is overlap. The next one builds on the discipline. It takes self-discipline and it takes hard work. So the fifth characteristic of a good servant is he works hard, he must work hard. Verse 10, for it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers. It is for this we labor and strive. Two strong words. The word labor denotes strenuous activity to the point of physical and mental exhaustion. Here is working so hard you are worn out physically and mentally. The word strive means to struggle, aganidz, aganidzo. We've carried it over into English, agonize. It still carries that flavor. What does it mean when you are agonizing? You are really struggling over something. In the Olympics they say, you can see the agony on their face. Meaning what? They are pouring so much of themselves into it and all their energy that you can see the struggle. That's what he's talking about here, labor, strive. Two present tense verbs. This is to be our ongoing activity. Somehow we get the idea the Christian life ought to get easier, over time it will get easier and we'll be able to settle back a little more. I have to say, being older, when I was younger I tended to think somewhat that way without saying it, that after so many years the ministry would get easier. But Paul's concern with Timothy, that he will get some kind of convoluted thinking in his mind that it will get easier. It doesn't get easier. You have to keep on laboring, keep on striving. That fits with the self-discipline you must be exercising. Like Paul told the Corinthians in I Corinthians 9, I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, literally, I beat myself black and blue and bring my body into subjection. It's not a matter, I don't feel like it. Well, do it when you feel like it, do it when you don't feel like it.

What do you tell your kids? They wake up in the morning, now school has started. I don't feel like going to school today. Oh, sweetie, just roll over and go back to bed, you don't have to go to school today. How many days do you think you'd go to school? You drop over for recess. It's just not going to be anything he feels like doing on a regular basis, perhaps. It doesn't matter. You say, oh, sweetie, you don't feel like going. Well if you don't get out of bed quickly, you'll feel a lot worse. But somehow we become God's children and we think it's all right we don't feel like it. I'm tired. But Paul knows what it's like. He's not rebuking Timothy, but he knows the tendency to wind down, to want to ease off. We labor and strive.

Go to Colossians 1:28-29, Paul uses these two words, labor and striving, of his ministry. We proclaim Him, Christ, admonishing every man, teaching every man with all wisdom so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this also I labor, striving according to His power which works mightily within me. Remarkable. You know we say you labor to exhaustion, you agonize in working for the Lord. But it's not in your own strength. We sometimes get the idea, well you let go and let God. It takes all the work out of it. That's not true. You cannot do it in your own strength, so you draw upon the strength the Lord gives and then every ounce of your energy is poured into it. That's what a good servant does. Here Paul says I'm laboring, I'm striving according to His power which works mightily, powerfully in me. You say, well that's a paradox. If God's power is working mightily, why do I have to be working so hard? Because that's the way God does it. I want the power of God to work mightily in me, Paul said my weakness becomes a vehicle for that in II Corinthians 12. He poured ______________ with every ounce of his strength and that enabled the Spirit of God who was empowering him to work mightily.

Come back to I Timothy as we wrap this up. We do this because we fix our hope on the living God. Our hope is that which we have settled ourselves on. He's the Savior of all men, especially of all believers. I wish I could go off on a rabbit trail here. Some of you are familiar with the debates over limited atonement and unlimited atonement. And in 1979, I know you're interested in this, a man wrote a journal article of four pages in a journal and he thought he had come up with a new meaning for _________ that would support limited atonement. And several commentaries picked that up, now we have limited atonement and this supports our view, so they put it in their commentary. Then in 2002 someone wrote a 20+ page article in that same theological journal and showed that all that man's research was falacious. There is no new meaning for ___________. But too bad, now we have all these commentaries that say we do. I told my first hour class, when I retire from preaching here I'm going to do a class called Gil's rabbit trails and I'm just going to go off on all the things that come to my mind.

He's the Savior of all men. Listen to Isaiah 45:21-22, and there is no other God besides Me, a righteous God and a Savior. There is none except Me. Turn to Me and be saved all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is no other. You fix your hope on the living God who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers. Because He is the Savior of all men, He is the only Savior, but only those who come to believe in Him experience the power of His cleansing salvation. That's the point.

Prescribe and teach these things, the sixth point and this is a transition and we're going to pick up here tonight with the rest of the chapter. But note this, he must be a truth broker. I love that. A number of years ago a friend, and we would talk about the Word and so on, and what we're talking about is you have to be a truth a broker, a broker of truth. You take the truth and then you pass it on. That's what we're talking about, I love that. The good servant of Jesus Christ must be a truth broker, he must prescribe and teach these things. That word prescribe is the word command. It must be required, it's not an option. These things are required, they are taught, ___________ constant activity of the present tense.

These are the things that are required if we would be good servants. God wants us to know because He requires us as His servants to do these things. It's not a matter, Lord, make me a good servant. All right, do what I tell you. Do you want to know what it means to be a good servant? I hope when I stand before Christ He says well done good and faithful servant. Well, are you doing what is required of a good and faithful servant? Six things, six characteristics.
1. He must expose false teaching.
2. He must be nourished on the truth.
3. He must reject false teaching.
4. He must exercise self-discipline.
5. He must work hard.
6. He must be a truth broker, he's one who teaches truth in its purity.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for your grace. Thank you for the clarity of your Word. Lord we are mindful that the enemy of our souls, the enemy of our Savior, the enemy of our God is about his terrible activity today, is about his work of infiltrating your church, which is your household, to attempt to establish counterfeit Christians, teachers who will confuse your people and lead them astray. Lord, we would be good servants of Christ Jesus. May we take these truths to heart. And Lord, you know our hearts as we are gathered here, Lord, you know whether there be some who are here disguised as Christians, who have pretended to believe, who have thought they have believed, but perhaps, Lord, even now they find themselves turning from the truth. Lord, may they consider carefully the seriousness of their condition. Thank you for a Savior who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe. We pray in His name, amen.