More Commands to The “Good Servant”

Transcript

GR 1275
6/7/2004
More Commands to the Good Servant
1 Timothy 4:13-16
Gil Rugh


I direct your attention to I Timothy 4, as we continue our consideration of this letter written by the Apostle Paul to Timothy, a young man, a faithful companion of the Apostle Paul through much of his life and ministry. And now he is serving as Paul’s representative to the church at Ephesus. And the church in Ephesus is going through some especially difficult and trying times. The Apostle Paul founded the church, he wrote them a letter called the letter to the Ephesians, and over the course of time false teachers have worked their way in among believers. And they have been accepted in the church, having deceived people into thinking they are genuine followers of Christ and are teaching the truth of God. But it’s in conflict with the revelation God has given through His apostles and prophets. They have been very effective here, even though Paul spent three years ministering the Word of God at Ephesus, had written them a letter that these kind of contacts, false teachers, were effective at infiltrating the church.

Back in I Timothy 1:19 Paul referred to those who had abandoned the faith and a good conscience, and thus suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. He mentioned two prominent men who evidently had key positions in the church that enabled them to influence others with their teaching—Hymenaeus and Alexander. Paul has placed them under church discipline, excluding them from the fellowship of the church. And now as he writes back he mentions them by name, perhaps because their influence is still felt. So the church is going through a difficult time. Paul is encouraging Timothy to be faithful.

Back in I Timothy 1:18, the very end of that verse he exhorted Timothy that he must “fight the good fight.” He’s in a battle, he’s in an ongoing struggle. He must be faithful in that. In chapter 4 verse 7, at the end of the verse, he encouraged Timothy to “discipline himself for the purpose of godliness.” In chapter 4 verse 10 he referred to the fact that they were involved in striving and laboring. Paul is emphasizing this is hard work, this is a serious battle. And he is encouraging Timothy to maintain personal and doctrinal integrity. Any failure on Timothy’s part at this point will be disastrous. If Timothy would fail, even in his own personal life or in his teaching, it would undermine the truth in the ministry at Ephesus. It would be an occasion for those who oppose the truth to discredit the ministry of Paul and Timothy and others like him. The opponents of truth are always looking for reasons to deny the truth, to undermine the teaching of the truth. Paul had to deal with the fact that Timothy should not be intimidated by his youthfulness. Some would say he is too young, he can be rejected, you oughtn’t to listen to him because he’s too young. So we noted the truth is the truth is the truth. So Timothy has to be faithful.

In I Timothy 4:11-16 Paul sets down ten commands. They are brief, they are not very much elaborated, some a little bit more than others. But they are commands that Timothy regarding his own personal life and his ministry. We’ve already looked at four of these commands in verses 11-12. Let me just remind you, Timothy is to be authoritative. Verse 11, prescribe these things, it means to command them, to charge them. This is no time for timidity, no time for softness. You have to be firm here, you have to be authoritative, not because of who you are, but because the message you have is from God. Be authoritative. Be instructive. Teach these things in verse 11, explain them to the people, clarify them, show the error of the opposition, as Paul did in the first part of chapter 4. Be confident, verse 12. And I referred to this, let no one look down on your youthfulness, don’t be intimidated, don’t allow people to bring up things to try to intimidate you into backing off, being afraid to step forward with the truth. You be confident. Doesn’t have anything to do with your age, has to do with the ministry God has given you and the message He has entrusted to you. The fourth command is be an example, verse 12. Be an example before the believers. It’s not just a matter of you come in and assert yourself, but you are to be an example before believers of godly character and godly conduct of a ministry that is faithful to truth, of a life that is conformed to the character of God. He mentioned five areas—in example, in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

And what Paul does as we come to verse 13 is continue these commands. He has six more to set before Timothy. In verse 13 he says, “Until I come give attention to the public reading of scripture, to exhortation and teaching.” I’ve entitled the fifth command, be focused, he is to give attention. Until I come. The “until I come” is a reminder that Paul plans on returning to Ephesus. He referred to this back in chapter 3 verse 14, “I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long.” But in case I am delayed, now here is a reminder, here is what you are to do until I come. Whether I come in a short time or it takes me a long time to return, your responsibility remains the same. It’s important for Timothy to remember, because if Paul is delayed, Timothy must understand he stays the course, he keep focused in his ministry on what his responsibility is to be. And his responsibility involves the ministry of the Word of God. There’ll be no change. Well, Paul has taken a long time to return, perhaps I ought to do things differently. No, Timothy, you be focused.

“Until I come give attention,” means to turn your mind to something, to be focused on something, to be totally absorbed in something. Paul has used this word of a negative attention in this letter already. Back in chapter 1 verse 4 Paul told Timothy he was to “instruct” or command “certain men not to teach strange doctrines, nor to pay attention,” there is our word, “to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies.” There are certain things you ought not to get involved in, there are certain things you shouldn’t be giving your attention to. In chapter 3 verse 8 regarding deacons, “Deacons likewise must be men of dignity, not double-tongued, not addicted.” That’s the word translated give attention. Not giving attention to much wine, not taken up with their wine. Again, a negative thing. There are certain things we ought not to be involved with, we shouldn’t allow ourselves to become absorbed in, we shouldn’t focus on. Down in chapter 4 verse 1, “But the Spirit explicitly says that in latter times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention,” there’s our word again, “paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons.” Those are things that you ought not to be involved in, that you ought to avoid. But Timothy, you continue to pay attention. Remember all these commands are in the present tense, these are to be the ongoing responsibility of Timothy. You keep on paying attention, you stay focused on the public reading of scripture, exhortation and teaching.

All three of these things mentioned have to do with the ministry of the Word of God. The first is the public reading of scripture. The particular word translated here as the public reading of scripture, is used of reading the Old Testament scriptures in the synagogue, the public meeting of the synagogue in Acts 13:15 and II Corinthians 3:14. The Jews when they came together in the synagogue, they would have the Old Testament scriptures opened up and read. Remember in biblical times, the time we’re talking about here in the times of Paul, New Testament times, everybody didn’t have a copy of their Bible. When we want to study the Word of God I say to you, turn in your Bibles to I Timothy 4. But at the church at Ephesus, they would stand up before the church and open up the scriptures and people wouldn’t have a copy of their own. But it would be read to them, and a copy kept at the church. Or they would have a letter that they received from Paul, they would stand up and read it to the church. Now you know how hard it is to pay attention, and think what it would be like if you didn’t have a copy of the Bible and I was just going to start reading this letter to Timothy to you. And you know how sometimes something comes into your mind and you wander, and four paragraphs later, or more, you come back. Well, keep in mind you couldn’t raise your hand and say, my mind was wandering, would you reread that? They were responsible to pay attention, to focus on these things, to listen carefully, and then go out to put them into practice. So the public reading of scripture was an important element in the ministry of the church. Back in the early church fathers, you read statements like, when the church meets together, as much time as possible must be given to the reading of the scriptures so that people can know what God has said. This includes not only the Old Testament, but the New Testament as well.

Back up just before I Timothy, you’re into the letters to the Thessalonians. And go to I Thessalonians 5. Paul wrote the letter to the Thessalonians, and in I Thessalonians 5:27, “I adjure you by the Lord to have this letter read to all the brethren.” In other words, I’ve written this letter to the Thessalonians, and now I adjure you by the Lord, you read this letter to the whole church, to all the believers. In Colossians 4, Paul’s letter to the Colossians which was a sister church to the Ephesian church. Colossians 4:16, Paul says, “when this letter is read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans, and you for your part read my letter that is coming from Laodicea.” So you see what would go on in the church. The letter Paul wrote to the Colossians, they gathered together on Sunday and they would read the letter, would receive the letter from Paul and they would begin to read the letter to the Colossians. Next week they might say the church at Laodicea received a letter from Paul, and they had forwarded it to us, so I want to read you the letter Paul wrote to the Laodiceans. And the church at Laodicea would have had the letter from Colosse passed on to them. It’s what is going on in the church, the Word of God is being brought before the people regularly—New Testament scriptures, Old Testament scriptures. They wouldn’t have called it the New Testament at that point, they would have been individual letters and writings at this point. But they were recognized as the Word from God. Hebrews 2:3-4 talks about the fact that they had received the Word of God through these apostles and prophets. In II Peter 3 Peter says that false teachers twist the writings of Paul just like they do the rest of the scriptures, it is to their own destruction. So the reading of the Word of God, bringing it before the people is absolutely essential. One of the greatest blessings that we have today is that we are privileged to have our own copies of the Word of God, to sit and look at it, to read and reread and refresh our minds, to pick up at will through the week and read what God has said.

The second responsibility builds on the first, “give attention to the public reading of the Word of God, to exhortation.” And exhortation is calling people to respond in obedience to the Word of God, to obey what God has said, to follow through on the truth. This is not just interesting information, this is God’s word that is to be heard and obeyed. It’s a word from God. This word is the same basic word, related word, that we have, paraclete for the Holy Spirit. It is the message from God that brings encouragement, comfort, challenge. The word of exhortation challenges us to obey the Word of God, to heed it, to receive its blessings.

Turn back to Acts 13. The Apostle Paul was on his first missionary journey in Acts 13. He goes into the synagogue as a Jew, and he sits in the synagogue and you’ll see what they do. In Acts 13:15, “After the reading of the Law and the Prophets,” they read portions of the Old Testament scriptures, “the synagogue officials said to them, ‘Brethren, if you have any word of exhortation,’” there’s the word, then go ahead and speak it to the people. They were recognized, Paul and Barnabas here, as traveling teachers. Remember, Paul is a Pharisee, he is a trained teacher of the Old Testament scriptures. And so the Jewish synagogue officials recognized these Jewish visitors here, and following the reading of the Word of God they ask, do you have any word of exhortation? And then Paul gets up and exhorts them. And really what he exhorts them to do through the rest of chapter 13 is obey the truth. The Scriptures have spoken of Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah of Israel. He is the Savior, He suffered and died on the cross. And in verses 38-39, it is only in Him that you receive forgiveness of sins and you see he’s calling them to obedience to the Scripture. He exhorts them to respond to the Word of God.

So Timothy is to focus on the public presentation, the reading of the scripture, exhorting them to obey and teaching. This involves the explanation, the clarification of the Word of God, so that they more fully understand it and thus can obey it. It would involve distinguishing the truth from error, again as Paul did in the first part I Timothy 4, explain the scripture, clarify it for people. In I Timothy 6:2, the last line in that verse, “Teach and preach these principles.” Same thing. That word translated “preach” is the same word we have, exhort in chapter 4 verse 13, “exhortation.” Teach and exhort these things is what he is called to do. Paul sees the public ministry of Timothy involved in presenting the Scriptures, the public reading of them, exhorting people to respond as they should and explaining and clarifying the Scriptures so they understand them more fully and can apply them more faithfully.

Turn back to the book of Nehemiah in the Old Testament, Nehemiah 8. That’s about 1/3 of the way through your Old Testament—Job, Psalms, Proverbs--you have to go toward the front of your Bible a little more from Job and you’ll run into Nehemiah. Nehemiah was a scribe and so he had them bring the Law of Moses. So that’s what they had as the Word of God at this point in time, the first five books of the Bible—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. The Law, as it was called. “Then Ezra,” Nehemiah 8:2, “the priest brought the Law before the assembly of men and women and all who could listen with understanding.” I just want you to note, this will be mentioned again. Sometimes people wonder, we say, we ought to have the whole family in our service—the youngest children and the oldest. But you know there is precedent in the Word of God. Ezra is going to present the Word of God to the people, but the only ones in attendance here are those who can understand. So there is biblical precedence for the distinguishing of ages here, and who can understand. It’s a benefit for them. He read from it. So Israel is assembled to hear the Word of God. And I love this, verse 3, “He read from it before the square which was in front of the Water Gate from early morning to midday.” Just call me Ezra. ‘He did it in the presence of men and women, those who could understand. And all the people were attentive to the book of the Law. Ezra, the scribe, stood at a wooden podium which they had made for the purpose.”

Verse 5, “Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people when he opened it and all the people stood up.” How would you like to get all the people you could to come, next Sunday we’re going to stand in the parking lot and for a number of hours I will read to you from the Old Testament scriptures. You know how hard it is to stand and how wearisome it is. You think it’s hard to pay attention on a padded bench with your own Bible and notes and other things to help.
How would you like to be standing out in the parking lot with a great crowd of people. You know after you stand for a while, I need something to lean on. My legs are killing me, my back is aching. And Ezra just keeps reading, and all the people are concentrating here. The person in front of you bumps into you and you think, why doesn’t he watch what he’s doing. What did he say there? I missed it. He’s reading the Word of God.

“They read from the book of the law of God,” verse 8, “translating,” or better, explaining, “to give the sense so they understood the reading.” The very same thing Timothy is to do. Ezra stood up and read the Word of God to the people, then he explained it to them so they could understand it better. He clarifies things. And down in verse 12, the people are celebrating because in verses 9-12 they really obey what was read, regarding what they are to do. The end of verse 12, they have a great festival “because they understood the word which had been made known to them.” And on the second day you have people gathered together and there is more explanation of Scripture.

So you see the pattern of God for His people. Israel drifted away, so Amos would have to write at a time when there would be a famine for hearing the Word of the Lord. Somehow over time the Word of the Lord loses its interest, even for the people of God and they become occupied with other things, interested in other things, want more variety, want change. And the Word of God loses its focal point. Timothy is to see that never happens in his ministry. He is to stay focused so that it doesn’t happen in the church at Ephesus. And I don’t need to remind you again that the tragedy and the travesty that is taking place in the evangelical church today, where God’s people are very happy to have less time and less attention given to the Word of God. More time for music and stories and drama, more time for other things and less time for the presentation of God’s truth. Shorter is better in our thinking today. But you’re really saying what? We don’t want to hear as much from God. Oh, there were other things that went on in the New Testament church, there were prayers, there was a communion service, there was singing and music. Those aren’t bad things, they’re good things, but the heart of what went on and the focus of Timothy’s ministry was to be the Word of God, bringing it before the people, exhorting them, explaining it to them. What is the most important thing that can go on? You know sometimes it is good for us to close our mouths and open our ears.

Sometimes you’re in a situation or you watch something on a news program or something and you have someone who knows very little, and they won’t stop talking.
You say, why don’t they just be quiet so the person who does know something can speak. You know, what would be more important than we listen to what Almighty God has to say. We think it’s so important that we do something, and we are privileged to praise God and honor Him and express our praise and adoration, declare His greatness. But let’s not get confused, the most important thing that happens here is that God speaks and we listen. Timothy, stay focused. You keep the Word of God before the people and you keep exhorting them to respond to the Word of God and you explain the Word of God to them. This is the ministry that is to be going on in the church. Be focused.

The next command follows up on that, back in I Timothy 4—be faithful. Verse 14, “Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you.” There is no indication that Timothy ever became unfaithful. The indication right up to the last letter Paul writes, II Timothy, is that Timothy was a faithful servant of the Lord, a faithful companion of Paul. But Paul never took it for granted. And so he tells them, ‘Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you,” be faithful. He is to use to the fullest the gift that God has given him. That word translated, “do not neglect,” means literally “to be careless about something.” It denotes a lack of genuine concern. In Matthew 22 Jesus told a parable of a king who invited many people to his feast. And when his servants went out and invited them, they had all kinds of excuses. Oh, I have family matters to attend to, oh, I have business matters to attend to. And in Matthew 22:5 it says, they paid no attention to the invitation. “And that paid no attention” is the word we are talking about here. They were careless, they neglected it. I want you to note something here, very important. It’s not enough that Timothy does not fall into moral sin, sexual sin, financial sin, whatever. It’s not enough that Timothy teach sound doctrine. That in and of itself will not make him faithful. He must not fail to use to the maximum the spiritual gift God has given him. Neglect will be sin. I don’t see anything wrong, personally there are no moral failures in my life. No,
I’m not into false doctrine. And no, I don’t do much with the gift God has given me. That’s what Paul is commanding Timothy here, do not neglect the spiritual gift in you. Don’t be careless about it, don’t fail to give it proper attention.

“The spiritual gift within you.” The spiritual gift is the charis motos, charismatic gift. It’s the gift bestowed by God’s grace. The Greek word for “grace” is charis, charis motos, charismatic. These are gifts of God’s grace bestowed by the Spirit of God in the life of every individual believer. When you place your faith in Jesus Christ you are cleansed from your sin and the Holy Spirit of God takes up residence within you. When He does, He brings an enablement to you that gives you the ability to function as part of the body of Christ, make a contribution to the functioning of the body of Christ.
I Corinthians 12-14 is the fullest discussion of spiritual gifts in the New Testament. The gift within you. He’s not talking about an office or responsibility that Timothy is to carry out, he’s talking about an ability that has been placed within him that he is now responsible before God to be using faithfully, not neglecting. Timothy has been serving for a long time, 12-15 years with the Apostle Paul. And Paul knows he may thinking he needs a break. Well, Paul’s not against a rest to refresh his spirits, but Timothy, you can’t neglect your gift. You can’t fail to use what God has given you to the fullest.

What was Timothy’s gift? We’re not told. In the context it was evidently as a pastor-teacher. He was to lead in the church at Ephesus, he was to exercise the gift of teaching and exhortation, both of which are called gifts in Romans 12:6-8. If your gift is teaching, then concentrate on teaching; if your gift is exhortation, concentrate on exhortation. Here Timothy is one who is responsible for the leadership among the people of God and for the communication of God’s truth. You cannot ease off. Now note here, you can’t neglect the gift. We are responsible for what God gives us. I’m not responsible for someone else’s gift or gifts, I’m responsible for what God has placed within me. It would not be enough to say, well, I didn’t lapse into moral failures and I never got involved in teaching false doctrine. No, but there’s a question—was I faithful with the gift God gave me? Was I careless about it? I neglected to use it to the fullest, and that’s true for every one of us because there is no such thing as an ungifted Christian. There are ungifted people, but they are not children of God, they are not believers in Jesus Christ, they do not have the Spirit. There is no such thing as a person who has the Spirit of God dwelling in them who does not have a gift from God. Romans 12 makes that clear. They are gifted by God’s grace. You do not get a gift because you search for it, you seek it out, you find which one you want. They are bestowed at the sovereign determination of God and our responsibility is to use these gifts to the fullest for His honor and glory.

He says concerning this gift, it “was bestowed upon you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery.” I think the sense here, we’ll look at a passage in a moment, is that certain individuals with the gift of prophecy spoke, indicating that God had gifted Timothy and appointed him to a certain ministry. Back up to I Timothy 1:18, Paul says, “This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you.” So evidently back around the time of Acts 16, when Paul picked up Timothy as a traveling companion, the opening verses of Acts 16, and the context of that time, certain prophecies were given indicating that God had sovereignly selected Timothy and gifted him for this kind of ministry. Remember in New Testament times they did not have, Timothy did not have, a copy of the New Testament. He was traveling with Paul as the Spirit of God was using
Paul to write the New Testament. So there was direct revelation from God going on, and part of that direct revelation pertained to Timothy in appointing him and revealing his giftedness for ministry.

This is also accompanied with the laying on of hands of the presbytery or the elders. The word “presbytery,” “elders,” is used of the leaders in Israel, the Sanhedrin. The elders became governing bodies in the local churches. So evidently at that time the elders of the church where Timothy was laid their hands on him, indicating that they recognized God had called him for ministry, were indicating their support of the ministry that God was placing him in. Timothy just was not some self-appointed man running around here, trying to have a position of authority and influence. God had gifted Timothy and his giftedness for ministry was clearly declared by prophecy. The church had recognized his giftedness and identified him as a gifted person. II Timothy 1:6, “For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God,” ????? Paul’s concern for Timothy that he may not be burning as fiercely as he should, “kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.” Here Paul makes it personal. It would seem that at the time all this took place Paul had a special role, naturally as an apostle, in recognizing Timothy and his appointment for ministry.

This is to encourage Timothy not to neglect the gift. It’s there, you’d better use it to the fullest. You must, present tense, continually. It’s been recognized by others.
There are principles here, and we’re not going to go on a sidetrack, but I think this is something we need to keep in mind in the church today, that there is to be a coming together. We have developed a pattern of the world. A young man goes through college, decides he wants to be a medical doctor, so he goes to medical school, he gets done, he gets a degree. Therefore, he’s a medical doctor. Another young man decides well, I’m going to be a pastor-teacher and so he goes on to seminary and gets a seminary degree and decides therefore he’s a teacher. He may be gifted, he may not be. I’ve talked to young men who were going to seminary and wanted a recommendation. I said, you’re not gifted to be a pastor-teacher and going to seminary won’t make you gifted. Going to seminary will give you more knowledge of the Word of God, but it will not gift you to be what you are not gifted to be. We want to be careful, then we inflict upon the church men who are not gifted for that. And that’s a great loss to the person and a great loss to
the church, because if I determine this is my gift and I spend my life pursuing it I
remember vividly a man, this goes back a number of years, that I was involved with over a period of years, he was a seminary graduate. He constantly insisted, “My gifts are teaching and leadership.” In years of involvement with him I never saw that he had either of those gifts. What a loss. He was gifted by God but he spends his life trying to
be involved To this day I think if you ask him he’d say, „Oh, yes, my gift is
teaching and leadership.’ There was never anyone gifted to listen, but his gift was teaching and he never did pastor-teach, be the pastor of a church, lead a church. And he spent his life, if anybody asked him, I’m a pastor-teacher.

Others ought to recognize it. I went to Bible college with young men having never spoken before people, scared to death to stand up in front of anyone to talk. They would say, what are you going to do? I’m going to be a preacher. Did you ever preach?
No. Do you want to? No, I meant I knew I was going to have to, but I was afraid to stand up. And I’ve shared this many times with you, my first time when I was sent out to help two little old ladies with their Bible class. They asked me to teach at the end of my first year and I’ve got my mother’s loose leaf Bible, wrote out all my notes, put it out in front of my nose like this, and read my notes to those poor little kids. But you know, over time, by the time I was done with Bible college those at the Bible college shared with me that they thought it was clear God had gifted me to preach. When I was done at seminary I had the same kind of confirmation. I think what goes on here is a confirmation of Timothy’s ministry. It’s not just Timothy’s desire. And the church at Ephesus ought to realize he’s not a self-appointed man. He’s gifted by God and appointed by God to that role, and it’s recognized by others. And it’s not a result Timothy tells them this is it, others see it and confirm it.

So Timothy is to be faithful. Come back to Acts 13, I said we’d look at a parallel passage and we’ll do that before we move on to the next command. And the next commands will go quickly because they are just exhortations that follow through on what he has told him. But in Acts 13, here is the experience of the Apostle Paul along with Barnabas, and you see the similarity, what he writes about Timothy. In Acts 13:1, “Now there were at Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers.” He mentions some of them. Verse 2, “While they were ministering the Word and fasting the Holy Spirit said, set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which they have been called.” Here you have prophetic statements regarding Paul and Barnabas. But Paul is already a gifted apostle. So here there is confirmation through prophetic words that God has set apart Paul and Barnabas for this special ministry. “When they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them they sent them away.” So you see now they laid their hands on them. That seems to be a similar kind of situation with Timothy that was taking place in Acts 16, even though it’s not recorded, that’s what Paul is referring to. In connection with Timothy’s future ministry with Paul, prophets give confirmation. The church leaders lay their hands on them. “So,” verse 4,”being sent out by the Holy Spirit.” You see the package that went together there, it’s all part of the Holy Spirit sending here Saul and Barnabas out, then Timothy.

Come back to I Timothy 4. We ought to be open to what other people tell us, whatever our area of gifts are. We’re not looking for the acclaim of men, but others ought to recognize our giftedness, so we ought to help one another in that. You know as you work and serve in the ministry of the church with people, you see people and you can see they are really used of the Lord in that area. Sometimes a word of encouragement to them, how you see the Lord using them. I am greatly encouraged, people encourage me, and we ought to encourage one another. Sometimes we can help someone who may not be using their gift to the fullest. We can say, you know I’ve had a chance to observe you and the Lord does use you and I think you’re gifted in this area and there is an opportunity here. I’d just encourage you to consider it because I think you could really be used of the Lord there. ?????? final word, but we do want to help people and help one another in being used of the Lord and using our gifts to honor Him in the most effective way.

We have four more commands and they take place in the next two verses. And you can see they are condensed, because they really reflect back on what Paul has said. And really what he is doing is emphasizing to Timothy the importance of following through in what he has told him. So the seventh command is be concerned in verse 15. “Take pains with these things,” be concerned with these things, practice them, take pains with them, cultivate them, one person noted. This word is really the opposite of the word translated “neglect” in verse 14. Same basic word with a negative on the front means, do not neglect. The opposite of neglecting in verse 15, take pains with them, practice them, work on them, take pains with these things. Really make them your life, Timothy.

Be involved, the eighth command, “be absorbed in them.” You’ll note the word absorbed is in italics in your Bible, because literally the command is “be in them” We usually don’t use that kind of expression, “be in them,” we mean “be absorbed in them, be involved in them.” But the basic command here is “be in them.” It implies a complete commitment of your life to something, you’re becoming totally involved here, you immerse yourself in it. So be in them, I mean, this is your life, this is what you do.

“So that your progress will be evident to all.” You have to do these things and the result will be people will see your growth. Remember Timothy was to be an example before believers in verse 12. Those believers are observing Timothy, they ought to see his growth. Timothy hasn’t arrived, he’s not perfect. Neither is Paul. Paul wrote to the Philippians in Philippians 3 and said, not that I am already perfect, I haven’t arrived yet, but I do one thing. I set my focus, “I press on toward the goal of the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” They’re telling Timothy, keep on growing and as you take pains with these things and you are involved in them, you are absorbed in them, then your progress will be evident to all. You’ll be growing, you’ll be maturing, people will see growth and development in you. They may say, well, he’s young, but he’s growing.
He’s young, but he’s very godly and mature for his age. That brings credibility and added impact to Timothy’s ministry.

Be attentive is the ninth command. “Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching,” the two things. Paul exhorted the elders at Ephesus in Acts 20, pay attention “to yourself and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers.” Timothy has to be careful about himself, his own personal life, his own personal walk with the Lord, his character. He’s been told in I Timothy 4:7 to “discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness,” pay close attention to yourself. That’s not self-absorption here, but it’s the proper kind of attention. Am I growing like I should be? Am I applying the Word to my life as I should? Well, pay attention to yourself and to your teaching. Refers to his teaching here. In other words, as he teaches people, pay attention to that, how he’s doing it, what he’s saying. Is he faithfully teaching the truth to others, explaining it clearly? ????????????the Word of God, but that doesn’t mean I should bore people with the Word of God. I can’t change the message I have, it’s the Word of God, but I can work on presenting it as interestingly and clearly as I can with the gifts that God has given me. It may not be as good as someone else who is gifted of God, but I can only do it to the best of the ability God has given me and that’s what I am responsible for. I must constantly be paying attention to that, being attentive to my teaching. It’s part of the pattern in II Timothy 2:2 Paul will tell Timothy, “The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” That’s the pattern that is going on and continues to be developed. Be attentive to your own life and to your ministry.

The tenth and last command is be diligent, “persevere in these things.”
Persistence and the determination to finish well are contained in the charge, one person wrote. You know we have to stay with it, be diligent, persevere. You know the difference between maturity and immaturity, perseverance. Look at the attention of a two-year-old. We don’t bring two-year-olds into the auditorium. You know why? They have no perseverance, they can’t stay with it. And that’s all right, they have a lot to learn and they’re taking in so much. But we don’t expect 22-year-olds to act like two-year- olds. Over time we try to help our children as they grow to develop, focus to become
diligent, to persevere, to stay with something. We tell them, they start something
We say, wait, you stay with that. I don’t want to, I’m tired of it, I’m bored. You stay with that until it’s done. Why? They have to learn to stay with it, to be diligent, to persevere. Timothy, be diligent, persevere, stay with it. We have to finish well, not just run well. The evangelical church fails to appreciate this. We want novelty and the excuse is, we’re the image generation. You know, everything is visual. We watch television so you can’t expect people to pay attention. I don’t expect people to pay attention, but I expect people who have the Holy Spirit of God dwelling in them to be different from the unregenerate world. And we submit ourselves to the Word of God and apply ourselves to it. And oh, it doesn’t come natural to me, I have a short attention span. Well, I don’t read that Paul tells Timothy that that’s an excuse. We’re to be growing and maturing. Maybe when you were converted you had a short attention span, I expect the unregenerate person that has no attention span for the Word of God, for the Spirit of God is working in our lives and we are submissive to Him, then we will persevere in these things. Pastors are the worst example. The average pastorate now will last about two years, I believe. That’s a great model of perseverance. Just go into a church long enough to stir up trouble and then move on, the Spirit is moving me someplace. I’ve never been in a battle here where I haven’t asked the Lord where He wants to take me, told you where I would like to be taken, and here I am. Good for us to have trouble, isn’t it? Pity the children that are raised in a sheltered home that are never going to have any trials, any difficulties because their parents are going to protect them from such terrible things. And now as a grandparent I have to remember that. Why? They need to learn to persevere
under unpleasant Oh, I don’t want them to suffer, I don’t want them to have pain, I
don’t want them to be poor, I don’t want them to have their feelings hurt. Oh, poor little darlings. They grow up to be wretched spoiled brats who don’t know how to apply themselves and we say, I wonder what happened. God doesn’t want to raise spoiled brats.

Timothy, be diligent, persevere in these things. And this is of eternal importance here. There is nothing so important as these things, because in doing this you will save yourself and those who hear you. We have it translated to say “you will insure salvation.” I think it gives the idea that it literally said “you will save yourself.” I didn’t know I could save myself, I thought God had to save me. Well, the “insure your salvation” gives you the idea. In other words, what is the path of salvation? It is in faithfulness to the Lord as I’ve trusted Him and now walk in obedience to Him. It’s the Word of God working in my life, not only has saved me, but is saving me and will save me, as the work of God goes on. As he wrote to the Philippians, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you.”

So Timothy you have to stay with this, this is your salvation, this is the salvation at work in your life. We have people giving up and bailing out and they’re really evidencing the fact they never knew the Lord and the Lord never knew them. As I John says, “They went out from us because they were not of us, for if they had been of us they would have remained with us.” Persevere in these things. You save not only yourself, but you save those who hear you. What is the salvation of people? We think we have to ???? it. That’s wonderful. Doesn’t matter whether they came for the story, they came for the drama, they came for the jazz, they came for whatever. They’re here. And faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. We are born again by the living and abiding Word of God, and yet we want to allow God to speak as little as possible in our churches. We want to give Him as little time as we can. Oh, we wouldn’t put it that way, but God, we’re just not interested in what you have to say. I mean, you understand this is a different generation, Lord. They want a lot happening, they need to be entertained, they need it to be alive and popular and keep it going. And Lord, we’re going to put a few of your words in this, too. I know you’ll be happy to hear that. What is the church? The pillar and support of the truth. How are hearers going to be saved? Oh, I was moved by the story he told. Faith comes by hearing moving stories. Not saying you can’t tell a story to illustrate a point. We’ve come to the point we want the story to illustrate the stories, and the drama illustrate the story which illustrates the drama. And then put a few verses in as decoration. I’ve listened to the most liberal preacher in town and he uses verses, but there’s no salvation for his hearers. This is an important matter, we’re talking about eternal destinies. If people come to the church and they love it and it was good and I felt good, just like the kind of place I like to be. If they don’t hear God speak, they don’t get saved. You save your hearers by persevering in these things.

We have a high and holy calling as the people of God. Our responsibility is clear, God told us what to do. You don’t know? Take the commands and write them down and put them on the refrigerator like you do for the kids. Then we go and look and say, “Oh, yes, that’s what I’m supposed to do.” How do I know? The Bible tells me so. The Word of God, we are privileged to have it, to study it, to believe it.

Let’s pray together. Lord, you are the great and awesome God. We have to tremble in your presence. We should be in awe that You would speak to us, that we should hear Your Word, that we have it in our possession, that we would have Your Spirit dwell within us, that we might understand clearly what You have said. This is a message of salvation, a message of Your love in providing Your Son to be our Savior by dying in our place. It’s a message that brings life and hope, it’s a message that prepares for life and for eternity. Lord, may we take this truth to heart, may we personally, and as the church of Jesus Christ in this place, be faithful to Your command. We pray in Christ’s name, amen.