Watch Your Life and Doctrine 1 Timothy 4:1-16

The opening verses about asceticism (abstaining from God-given pleasures for religious purposes) in this text made me think of the Amish people. The Amish are known for their extreme separation from the modern world.... The Amish have a tradition called rumspringa, which literally means, “running around.” When an Amish youth turns 16, they are given the freedom and encouragement to go out and investigate all of the forbidden pleasures of the modern world. Here’s how Josh Harris describes rumspringa: It’s a season of doing anything and everything you want with zero rules. During this time—which can last from a few months to several years—all the restrictions of the Amish church are lifted. Teens are free to shop at malls, have sex, wear makeup, play video games, do drugs, use cell phones, dress however they want, and buy and drive cars. But what they seem to enjoy most during rumspringa is

gathering at someone’s barn, blasting music, and then drinking themselves into the ground.1 I was shocked when I first heard about this tradition. But I was even more shocked when I learned that 80- 90% of Amish teens return to the Amish church and life after rumspringa.2 Three observations from this story (not a statement about all Amish people) and the biblical text to set up our study.

• A life of self-denial and separation can't change the human heart. Only the Gospel does that (Read Col 2:20-23). You might cage the animal of your passions up for a little while, but your heart still wants rumspringa. You can live without cable, a cell phone, or indoor plumbing but that won't make you a Christian. We don't believe in justification by indoor plumbing. • If you are not a Christian, maybe this is a new experience for you. Maybe this is a painful experience for you -- sitting with all these "happy clappy" Christians, but we are glad you're here and want you to know that there are three ways to live,

1 Joshua Harris, Dug Down Deep: Unearthing What I Believe and Why It Matters (Colorado Springs, CO: Multonomah, 2010), p. 2. I'm indebted to Josh Wredberg for passing along this illustration. 2 Ibid., p. 3.

not two. You can be irreligious, religious, or you can be a new creation. We aren't calling you to religion -- keeping a list of rules, or irreligion, but to . There's a third way: not going to a temple, saying an incantation, making a sacrifice. It's about Jesus.

• A life of asceticism fosters self-righteousness, and lack of assurance and joylessness. None of which are products of heart transformation. • We really need to study the to help us grasp how we should relate to things like food and drink, sex and marriage. People are really confused about these things.

One of my favorite phrases is: “Theology leads to biography.” “Your beliefs drive your behavior.” In this passage, we see two competing sets of beliefs, two sets of teachers, and consequently, two different ways to live.

Paul concluded chapter 3 saying that the truth is “the pillar and buttress of truth.” Then he stated the central truth the church confesses, namely, the Gospel.

Now, Paul opens up chapter 4 by saying that the false teachers deny the truth, and reject the church’s confession.3 Some people in were “departing from the faith” (1a) and replacing it with asceticism. The word for “depart” is the word from which we get the word “apostatize.” This is a big deal.

Paul says this was predicted by the Spirit in “The last times” – a reference either to something the Spirit showed him (Acts 20:29), or the general teaching of passages like Mark 13:22. The “last days” refer to the days between the ascension and return of Jesus (cf., 2 Tim 3:1). Others were questioning Timothy’s teaching because of his youthfulness. They may not have abandoned the faith, but some were probably considering it, or not taking the young guy seriously. This same thing happens today.

The concluding exhortation summarizes the application for Timothy and us: “Watch our life and doctrine closely.” Why? “Because you will save yourself and your hearers.” What you believe, really

3 For more on this text see Christ-Centered Exposition commentary, and chapter 10 of Faithful Preaching

matters! How should we watch our life and doctrine closely?

THREE EXHORTATIONS

#1: REJECT FALSE DOCTRINE (1-5)

The problem mentioned here is asceticism, that is, abstaining from various pleasures for some religious goal (contrasted to hedonism, “the pursuit of pleasure,” as illustrated in :1-9). While the Christian is called to abstain from sin, they aren’t called to live as ascetics, who abstain from gifts of God. We're called to rejoice in the goodness of the Creator and his gifts.

1. Asceticism: The Problem (1-3). Here’s the fundamental problem: Ascetics deny God’s good gifts, and they undercut the sufficiency of Christ. The overwhelming attitude of such an approach to religion is self-righteousness. Ascetics are on their own self-salvation project.

• Ascetics see everything in creation negatively. And they see Christ as insufficient – they need to

somehow add to Jesus’ work through self- denial.

• We can’t add to Jesus’ work. And we view creation positively (though we admit it has been affected by the fall.

• Spirituality is not kill-joy; it involves true joy. It involves true joy because God is good, and he cares for his creation, and we rejoice in Him; and it involves great joy because Jesus has paid it all.

2. Asceticism: The Origin (1-3). Where does it come from? It has a demonic origin, and gets spread through human wickedness.

a. Diabolical in Nature It sounds like the garden, “What’s so bad about self-denial?” “Did God really say this about food and marriage?” • False teachers are under the influence of the devil. Satan is a liar, and a deceiver, and that’s what false teachers do: lie and deceive.

• Why is it that intelligent people can join a cult? New Age paganism, Scientology, or

Mormonism? It’s not simply the human logic of the teacher. Something more is happening. Satan is a master. Paul told the Galatians they were “bewitched.”

• People say, “It feels so good” in certain cults. Satan can make things feel good. Or, “these people are so moral.” That was going on in Ephesus. Satan can use morality.

• What would happen if Satan took over a city? (Horton) b. Human instrumentality. Satan uses people.

• Look at this phrase: “Hypocritical liars.” Hypocrisy is deliberate pretense. Lying is a deliberate falsehood (Stott, 111). So here is what Paul is saying: They deliberately deceive people, and don’t believe what they are teaching. • How different this is from true Christian teaching. It’s not characterized by hypocritical lying, but authentic truth-telling.

• Walter Peyton: Wheaties. "Make sure you’re buying what you’re selling" (Lorits) • Notice this next phrase: “Seared Conscious.” They have no feeling or guilt. Their conscious has been seared with “a hot iron” (NIV). The word “Kausteriazo” only appears here in the NT. It was used for the branding of cattle and slaves. The false teachers were branded by their owner, Satan, and they had no moral feeling left. • Remember Paul said that he handed over Hymenaeus and to Satan. Why? He owned them; they had shipwrecked their faith.

3. Asceticism: The Particulars (1-3). What exactly where they telling people to abstain from? Two basic appetites: hunger and sex. Food and marriage.

• The false teachers thought that you were more holy if you were celibate.

• What about food?

• They may have viewed the Mosaic Law wrongly, calling some food unclean, despite the fact that the Lord told Peter that such a view is unwarranted (Acts 10; cf., Mark 7:21). • Or they could have simply believed that all passions are evil. “The body is a nasty thing” they say. Since you can’t go without food completely, they avoid meat.

• So this is the plan for holiness: say no to marriage and meat. No thanks.

• This teaching could have also been the result of what we read in :18. Some were teaching that we are already in the resurrected age. We have returned to Eden, and so we shouldn’t eat meat; and since there is no marriage in heaven, then we shouldn’t marry.

• People have adopted ascetic lifestyles throughout history, calling it superior virtue:

• Qumran community. “rejected pleasures as evil” and “neglected marriage” (Josephus) • Greek Dualism. The Gnostics despised the material creation. • Church Fathers. All sorts of examples. Tertullian regarded virginity is superior to marriage. Some castrated themselves. Some thought sex was only for procreation not pleasure in marriage. Puritans to the rescue!

• Most believed this belief dominated Ephesus, more than Paul’s teaching. • While singleness is an option, Paul says that it’s not the general plan. While vegetarianism is an option; it isn’t superior.

4. Asceticism: The Application (4-5) a. Recognize it and reject it. • Don’t trade complete standing in Christ, and the recognition of God’s good gifts for asceticism

• Why do people go for it?

• Self-salvation plan – default mode of the heart. We want to earn merit before God by making rules. • Religious people often have a tendency to be negative toward material things. • Grace is hard to believe. If you don’t grasp grace and Christian, you are a target for ascetic teachers. Your result is despair or you just give up. • It’s hard to believe in the Holy Spirit. He makes us holy. • People think they only have two options: God and misery, or happiness and hell. If they don like option 2, they might try to explain God away. But there’s a third – there’s happiness in knowing God and following His Word. b. Live with joyful thankfulness before your Creator and Redeemer (4-5)

Verse 4 – “For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with Thanksgiving.”

The principle is plain: How could marriage be bad if God instituted it? It is God’s good design! Rejoice in it!

• Christians are notorious for not knowing how to celebrate. Thanksgiving and celebration are spiritual disciplines like fasting and prayer.

• More grateful celebration there should be among us, uninhibited by our lingering evangelical asceticism. (Stott) • Legalism makes you mad and sad, but grace makes you glad.

• Jesus performed his first miracle at a wedding! He was not a cosmic-kill joy!

• Recognize God’s goodness in creation (Gen 1:31, Mark 7:19).

• Be thankful for his gifts, and let them lead you to worship. Hear Piper: “Sexual relations in marriage are not worship, but may become worship. Smelling toast and bacon early in the morning is not worship, but may become worship. Feeling fall breezes on the skin,

and fall sunshine on the face, and fall colors in the eyes, and fall fragrances in the nose, are not worship, but they may become worship. Tasting and enjoying the pleasures of this world is not worshiping or honoring or loving or supremely treasuring God, but may become that.”

Verse 5 – “for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer”

• When he says “the word of God” he may be (1) referencing Genesis 1. God’s pronouncement over creation as “good” consecrates it for consumption. And later, the texts in the NT.

(2) he may refer to incorporating biblical verses into your prayer time.

(3) “word of God” may refer to the Gospel message specifically. This view says Paul is addressing their false views about food laws, saying that we no longer have to live under these (cf., Col 2:20-23).

I think all of them are true.

• Give thanks with prayer. Prayer doesn’t consecrate it; it acknowledges truth and serves as a way to worship; it puts creation in proper perspective. o Biblical examples of praying before meals: Mark 6:41; 8:6; 14:22-23; Luke 24:30; Acts 27:35; Rom 14:6; 1 Cor 10.

But joyful celebration shouldn’t just be before meals – it should be in all of life. You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and pantomime And grace before I open a book, And grace before sketching and painting, Swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing; And grace before I dip the pen in the ink. - Chesterton

• Let us be a people who give thanks! Let us thank the Creator today that we have taste buds to enjoy honey, and coffee, and guacamole, and chocolate, and Fall weather, and books, and art; and let us give thanks that he has instituted marriage and sex, and let us thank Jesus – that

he did the heavy lifting! Let us thank Jesus that we are saved not by our rule keeping, but by His precious blood.

#2: NOURISH YOURSELF WITH SOUND DOCTRINE (6-10)

Interestingly, Paul goes in the next section to talk about “training for godliness.” So there is discipline in the Christian life, but it’s not asceticism.

Spiritual discipline isn’t about meriting salvation by self-denial, and when we do deny certain things, we don’t deny what God called good; we deny sin.

Paul calls us to “godliness” in this section. The word for godliness (eusebeia) and godly (eusebes) occurs fifteen times in the NT. Thirteen of these occurrences are in the Pastoral Epistles. Nine of the thirteen are occurrences are in 1 Timothy.

1. The Person of Godliness: Jesus is the picture and wellspring of all godliness (3:16). Jesus exemplifies and enables us to pursue godliness.

• If you want to know what godliness looks like, look to Jesus. • Did Jesus eat? Yes. He was called a drunkard and a glutton. • Did Jesus value marriage? Yes. First miracle. The church is his bride – all marriage points to that one! • Did Jesus go out in public? Yes. • But Jesus never sinned.

2. The Path of Godliness: Spiritual Nourishment and Exercise (6-10)

Paul says there are two things we need to pursue godliness: the right diet, and the right discipline.

Diet (6-7a) – verse 6, “trained” (ESV) is better rendered “nourished”

Avoid “Spiritual Junk Food” • Asceticism • Ridiculous symbolism, myths, genealogies • Extra-biblical rules

• Speculation about end times • Appeals to the flesh • Prosperity theology • Empty ritual

Consume Nourishing Food • “these things,” “words of faith,” “good doctrine” • Apostolic doctrine, and the Gospel • Good servants are nourished by the Good news • Psalm 119 • Are you New to the Bible? Start eating. • My life: 1 Peter, Meatloaf

Discipline (7b) Some of you have been doing Shawn T’s “T25.” This is Paul’s “T47.”

• Train – his word gumnazo is the word from which we get our word gymnasium or gymnastics. It implies sweat and effort. It literally meant “to exercise naked” because of

the way the games used to be played. The point is, spiritual godliness involves spiritual sweat. • Discipline is God-centered (Love) • Legalism is man-centered (Merit)

• The thing we are to exercise in, from this context, is the Scriptures. We are to exercise in the Word. This makes sense because everything flows from it. o Reading o Hearing (next passage) o Memorizing o You can't exercise every four years and expect to see change. • Godliness comes from the inside out. It doesn’t come from the outside in. That’s what religion and asceticism tries to do. The word changes us through and through.

• Benefits o Life – now and forever. Physical exercise has some value. But godliness has value for the life to come.

3. The Promise of God (10)

• Who Stands behind this promise: the Living God (10) • The Living God gives us life to come. • The Living God is the Savior of all people – Jew and Gentile. • You must believe. • Paul said this in 2:4-5. There is One Mediator. There is One who saves: Jesus. “Gravity.” Sandra Bullock says, “I’m going to die. Everyone dies, but I’m going to die today. And no one will mourn. Will you say a prayer for me? I would say a prayer, but I don’t know how to pray. No one ever taught me.” How sad and common. You will die. But many don’t know how. They don’t know how to live forever. • My friend, you can. The good news of the Gospel is that Jesus defeated death. If you will look to him, he will save you, and you can pray any time, anywhere.

#3: TEACH OTHERS SOUND DOCTRINE (11-16)

So behind the public ministry of the word is the private study of the word. Paul has just exhorted Timothy to personally nourish himself. Now he tells him to teach it publically.

Verse 11: “command and teach these things” • This phrase introduces the ministry of the word in the verses to follow. • “these things” occurs eight times in this letter. It summarizes the teaching that Paul gave to timothy that he was to pass on to others. • Timothy’s Responsibility – Timothy is to teach “these things” not “his things” – The apostolic instruction.

Situation – There was a great need for sound doctrine, in light of the presence of false teachers in 1-5. • Timothy is under authority. • There is a great need for more to teach these things (like those in verse 16 – the gospel). • We need an army of people to preach the gospel.

Paul gives him four challenges:

1. Exemplify Your Teaching Personally (12)

His command to teach was apparently being undermined by his youth. He is told to set an example.

What made Jesus a tremendous teacher was that he not only taught with authority but he lived with authority. His words explained his life; his life illustrated his words.

Paul says specifically, “Don’t let them look down on your youth.” It had been about 15 years since they met. Timothy was probably between 30-40 from what I have read.

Timothy had been called to a position beyond his years. o Think about what the problems people could have had with Timothy: o Jealousy. They could have been jealous of Timothy being promoted to leadership.

o Disrespect. Some probably looked down their noses at this youth. “Older people have always found it difficult to accept young people as responsible adults in their own right, let alone as leaders.” (Stott) o Criticism. Undoubtedly Timothy did some things that reflected his generation, which received criticism. Spurgeon said you need “one blind eye, one deaf ear” as a leader. o Distrust. Some probably couldn’t trust the young guy. o Misconceptions. He’s young, he doesn’t know what its like having kids, having a close parent die, etc. o Young Leaders: Spurgeon pastor influential church at 20, Edwards at Yale at 13, Perkins wrote, The Art of Prophesying at 34, Calvin, enrolled at U of Paris at 14… Biblical examples as well… o Besides this, the majority of the world is under 25.

How do we respond young leader? Not boastful or in aggressive behavior. (See 2 Timothy 22-25).

Notice the “but” (alla). You must do something entirely different.

Comprehensive Character: o Speech: Sins of the tongue. Difficult as a pastor because you know and deal with lots of things. Sometimes you may want to go off. o Life: don't think you will start praying later, or being generous later. Right now! Maturity is not equal to knowledge: it's about how you live your life. o Love, Faith, Purity. He was called to be a shepherd (not a cowboy); he was to love. i. Perhaps he wanted to go to an island and pastor sea shells. That'd be easy. But ministry is about people. ii. Ephesus was a tough city, but he was called to love it. One of the reasons we love cities is that there's so much imago dei per square inch. God loved people more than trees.

People will be less likely to despise your youth, if they admire your example.

This is Christian leadership 101. Leadership is not lordship – leadership is setting an example and inviting others to follow you.

Lordship is being a boss and making demands and threats. Jesus revolutionized the world of leadership with his model.

Peter, “not lording it over those entrusted to you, but set an example to the flock.” (1 Peter 5:3). Jesus, “Gentiles lord it over you” (Mark 10).

2. Expose the Scriptures Publicly (13)

“This simple sentence is a landmark text in defining the major work of the pastor and the worship of the church” (Kent Hughes). Yes it is.

This is an issue of authority, practice, and worship.

A. Authority

Why should they listen to you, as a young guy? You are the one with the Bible! Your authority comes from the word of God.

• Begg Example – high church

B: Practice The words “public reading of Scripture” is a single Greek noun, “anagnosis” – which often means to reading aloud in public.

Examples of the use of anagnosis • Reading of Wills, Petitions and Reports • Public reading of Scripture, as when the priests read from the law in Ezra’s day (Neh. 8:8) • Jesus’ reading of the Scriptures from Isaiah in Nazareth synagogue (Luke 4:16) • The OT was regularly read aloud in Synagogue, followed by exhortation (See Acts 13:15, 15:21)

This practice was then was taken over by Christians from the synagogue to the church. • This practice later involved reading the apostle’s letters in church • 1 Thess. 5:27 • Col. 4:16 These letters were place on the same level as OT.

Each local church would read from the Apostles, and the OT. By the second century, these readings were part of the accepted liturgy.

Justin Martyr – First Apology “On the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles and the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has finished, the president speaks, instructing and exhorting the people to imitate these things.” Paul tells Timothy these exacts words “teaching and exhorting” – explaining and applying.

Biblical preaching was the apostolic norm.

As Stott notes, “It was already customary in the synagogue for the reading of Scripture to be followed by an exposition, and this practice was carried over into Christian assemblies, being the origin of the sermon in worship.

He continues, “It was taken for granted from the beginning that Christian preaching would be

expository preaching, that is, that all Christian instruction and exhortation would be drawn from the passage which had been read.”

Now I talk to a lot of guys about preaching. Some of them, good friends, say “expository preaching is not taught in the Bible.” “There is no method for preaching… Do whatever works.”

Not according to 1 Timothy 4:13. Is this just for Timothy? I don’t think so? This was a precedent, and it is a command! This shows us how we are to do 2 Timothy 4:2.

While we are not given a form of preaching – that is, a method, like how to do an outline; we are most definitely given two things: • The substance of our sermon: thoroughly biblical (2 Tim. 4:2) • The pattern of the early sermon: Someone read the Bible. Then the preacher did instruction and exhortation from it. What do you call that? I call that expository preaching. • I agree with Stott, from the beginning Christian preaching was expository preaching

– that is, the heart of preaching was the Scriptures. I am saddened not because we have a shortage of excellent young expositors but by the fact that we have thousands who don’t even try.

Preaching is explaining and applying what God has said in His Word, and heralding what God has done in Christ – and we find that in the Holy Scriptures.

C: Worship Notice that this is done in the context of public assembly. Preaching is not after worship – it is worship. “Expository exultation” as Piper calls it.

Martin Luther said, “The highest worship of God is the preaching of the Word.” As we expose the Scriptures, the voice of God is heard.

We are take them into the arena of God’s Word – that they may see his glory.

The goal of preaching is not simply information but adoration. We want people to experience Christ on the spot. o Rupp Arena o “Exegetical Escort” – Robert Smith. Take them into God’s Word and show them their Savior.

3. Exercise Your Gift Passionately (14-15) Notice this gifting in verse 14, and the call to be devoted to it in 15.

A: Gifted There are three parts to this “gift” – all are linked together.

• He mentions the “charimsma” (gift) that came from God. We are not sure what that is, but it seems to be related to the ministry of teaching in the context of the pastorate. Calvin: “the grace with which he has been endowed for the building up the church.” o God gifts people for the ministry to which he calls them. Sometimes people ask if I can make them a preacher if they take my class.

I tell them that I think there are about 8 things you need to be a great preacher, I can’t give you all of them. One of them is gifting. I can’t put in what God has left out.

• He mentions a “prophetic message.” Not sure what this is either but is seems to have been uttered about him (1:18). Maybe this was similar to Paul and Barnabas being singled out in Acts 13:1.

• “The body of elders laid their hands on him” They confirmed God’s gifting and calling on Timothy.

Here are two qualities of a preacher: Calling and Content. I did not send the prophets, yet they ran with a message. I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied” (Jer. 23:21)

Application: And Paul is reminding him of these things so that he can “fan into flame the gift of God.”

• As pastors, we are to develop and use our gifts. • As pastors, we are to seek help in discerning our gifts, cultivating these gifts, and exercising them passionately.

B: Devotion

• “Practice these things” “Immerse yourself in them” o Devote yourself to it – Be absorbed in it. There are too many lazy pastors. o “Live and breathe these things” (Townder) o There is no success without hard work. You can be a workaholic, and that’s no good, but we must immerse ourselves in these things. o What you are doing is more important than a doctor.

• “So that All may see your progress” • Let them see your progress. Set a godly example; don’t pretend that it is a perfect

example. Let them see your grow. Don’t just set an example in godliness – yes – but set them an example of growth in godliness. • Let them see you excited over what you are learning. They need to know that they are drinking from a fresh brook than a stagnant pond.

#4: Examine Your Life and Teaching Persistently (16a)

This is a summary verses for the preceding points, as well as the entire pastorate. o Yourself – not just the flock (Acts 20:28) o 3 Commands actually – Watch Your Life, Watch your doctrine – “persist in this.” Keep a close watch on it. o We don’t like evaluation – my first paper – Kealthy – pen blew up. o Application: Your wife – where do you see crème cheese on my face.

What’s At Stake (16b)

Obviously, we can’t save ourselves; Jesus alone does that. But Paul is talking about Christian endurance, “work out your salvation with fear and trembling.”

For the hearers, God has ordained that people be saved through the preaching of the Word. (Rom 10, 1 Cor. 9, Acts 26).

Who is at the Center of the Word? Jesus Christ. All of it points to Him. • See him as the all-sufficient, gracious Savior who did the heavy lifting. He says come and rest in me. • See him as your source of glad celebration; • as your hope of eternal life; • as your perfect example of godliness, and • As the ultimate source of power to pursue godliness and faithfulness in teaching.