The Disciplines of a “Good Servant”

Transcript

GR 1273
5/23/2004
The Disciplines of a Good Servant
1 Timothy 4:6-11
Gil Rugh


I want to direct your attention to I Timothy 4. Paul is writing to Timothy, a man that played a key part in Paul’s life and ministry. Paul began his association with Timothy on his second missionary journey in Acts 16, and already by that time Timothy was well spoken of by people in the area around where he lived. He had a good testimony, and Paul took him to travel with him. And so Timothy was part of Paul’s life and ministry over his second and third missionary journeys, and also was part of Paul’s life during his extensive imprisonment, which began in Caesarea and continued on into Rome, some 5 years of imprisonment. We know Timothy was a vital part of it because in some of the letters Paul wrote while he was a prisoner in Rome, he includes Timothy in the greeting. He’ll write the letter and say it’s from Paul and Timothy. Even Paul alone is the author, he includes Timothy and the people would know Timothy.

He’s now with Paul in ministry but separated for a time. After Paul’s release from the imprisonment in Rome, he began to travel again and Timothy went with him. When they came to Ephesus, the church there was having trouble and Paul began to deal with it. You remember that involved church discipline, putting out of the church a couple of men who were teaching false doctrine, I Timothy 1:20. Hymenaeus and Alexander were turned over to Satan. Then Paul felt it necessary to continue his journey and leave Timothy there to complete the work of straightening the church out, putting an end to false teaching and false teachers, and putting into practice certain things that needed to be done in the church.

By the time Paul writes this letter to Timothy, Timothy is an experienced servant of Jesus Christ. His travels with Paul have covered perhaps a dozen years. So we think of Timothy as a young man, and in relation to Paul he probably was. He may well have been a man of 40 years of age. So he’s not a kid and he’s not inexperienced. He has played a vital part in Paul’s life and has been out on special assignments, if you will, to difficult places. Here he is in Ephesus, but he has carried Paul’s instructions to Corinth, not an easy church to go to.

Turn back to I Corinthians 4. You know in 10 of Paul’s letters in the New Testament, he mentions Timothy by name. Timothy is also mentioned in the book of Hebrews, that would be 11 if you take Paul as the writer of Hebrews—10 of Paul’s letters and the letter to the Hebrews. So there is no one who has more prominence and more importance in Paul’s life and ministry than Timothy does. In I Corinthians 4:17, and Corinth was another difficult spot. Paul had some strong opposition in the church at Corinth, even to the extent that some were unwilling to acknowledge Paul as an apostle. He sent Timothy there and in verse 17 he says, “For this reason I have sent to you Timothy who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord.” A warm, intimate way that Paul refers to Timothy. “And he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ.” Here is a man who can tell you what I teach, who can tell you how I live. Here’s a man who knows me, and knows from me what you need to hear. And then in verse 18 he refers to the fact, “some have become arrogant.” I want you to note there that Timothy is going into a difficult situation. Paul had confidence in Timothy, said he’s a man who could be trusted to go into such a setting.

As the letter concludes, turn back to I Corinthians 16:10, interestingly Paul is at Ephesus when he writes I Corinthians, and he sends Timothy there. Then when he writes his letter to Timothy, Timothy is at Ephesus, at a much later time, years have gone by.
But note what he says about Timothy in I Corinthians 16:10, “Now if Timothy comes, see that he is with you without cause to be afraid, for he is doing the Lord’s work as I also am. So let no one despise him.” High commendation. Wouldn’t it be an honor for Paul to say of you, if you had lived in that day, he is doing the Lord’s work as I am. Boy, here is a servant and Paul says, does the Lord’s work just as I do the Lord’s work. That’s what he has to say about Timothy.

So here he is now, years have gone by, come back to I Timothy, now Timothy is continuing as he has over the years in faithful service with Paul. Now Paul is writing him a letter at Ephesus. Why we’ve done this little review is, I think it’s interesting, the section we’re going to look into. Here is Timothy who has faithfully labored and served with the Apostle Paul through trials and difficulty, experienced the blessing of the Lord on his ministry. Now Paul is going to write him instructions, telling him how he can be sure he is a good servant of Jesus Christ. He is a tried, tested, approved servant of Jesus Christ, but now Paul writes to him to make clear, here’s how you can be a good servant of Jesus Christ, Timothy. It’s not that Timothy doesn’t know these things, but he needs to continually keep them before him.

They’re not just for Timothy. Obviously, the Spirit has directed that they be included in the Word of God. They are for us. What is involved in being a good servant of Jesus Christ? What should the church of Jesus Christ be like? What should those who lead in the church of Jesus Christ be like? What is a ministry of a pastor? These kind of questions are answered clearly here. And even though there seems confusion in many evangelical churches today regarding what a church is to be, what a pastor is to be. We are always groping around for ideas. And what is expected of pastors continues to change, their roles are restructured. When we come to the Word of God, God’s purposes and plans haven’t changed, and we need to be careful we don’t fall into the very trap that Paul is warning about. And that is false teaching and error is given a hearing and pretty soon it gets a hold in the church and pretty soon it begins to reshape the church. And soon the church is made in the mold of men, rather than according to the plan of God.

We’re going to look in verses 6-11, but really verses 6-16 are about the same subject. We’re going to go down to verse 11 which really transitions us to the latter part of what he has to say. There are going to be a number of commands given, in fact, beginning with verse 11 through verse 16 there will be 10 commands given. We’re going to look into material in verses 6-11, which really are the description of a good servant of Christ Jesus. You’ll note in verse 6, “In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus.” And that’s what he’s describing in these verses. What is a good servant of Christ Jesus, what does he do? Not just a servant, but a good servant of Christ Jesus, one who is pleasing to Him, one who is really doing what his master wants. So easy for us to get diverted. Remember Saul had to be rejected from king and he told Samuel, “I feared the voice of the people.” It’s important we go to the Word of God and find out what God says we are to be, a servant of the Lord is to be.
And then the goal of our life is to do what is pleasing to Him, to be a good servant, an obedient servant, a beautiful servant, one who does what his master requires.

There are several characteristics set out here, and he starts with two participles. Our participles, remember, usually end in “mg” in English, and the first participial phrase here, ‘in pointing out these things to the brethren.” The second will be, “constantly being nourished in the words of the faith and sound doctrine.” These are part of being a good servant of Jesus Christ. It puts the emphasis on “in pointing out these things to the brethren.” These things. What are these things? It appears first. Remember in Greek you can structure your sentences giving emphasis according to the arrangement of the words. In the Greek sentence beginning in verse 6, the first word ispalta, which is translated “these things.” So it starts out, “these things he’s pointing out to be a good servant.” The emphasis is on “these things” and what you must set before the brethren. The “these things” are specifically what he has just talked about in the first 5 verses of this chapter, warning believers about departing from the faith and the danger of the doctrine of demons. He’s not just giving a general warning about false doctrines will come, for in verse 3 he gets specific. Here is some of the doctrine being promoted, a false asceticism, a false legalism, incorrect teaching about marriage and foods, which really is an attack on the creating work of God. Now to be a good servant of Jesus Christ, these are the things you must bring before the brethren, pointing out these things. Means “to make known, to teach, to suggest, to set something before someone.” To be a good servant, Timothy, you will have to put these things before the brethren, fellow believers. Isn’t it interesting, if Paul wants to explain what a good servant of Jesus Christ is to do, he starts out by putting emphasis, you’re going to have to put before them the danger of false doctrine and false teaching. You’re going to have to expose false teaching, expose false teachers, expose the error.

I’ve read you recently examples from our modern day idea of building churches, where it says pastors must be positive, have positive messages, speak about positive things. And here the Spirit of God directs through Paul in instructing Timothy on what a good servant of Jesus Christ is to do, and the first thing with emphasis he gives is, you must constantly, present tense, be setting before the brethren these things of warning about false teaching. Why would he put that first? Same reason people don’t want to do it today. You think the first desire of Timothy was to get engaged in a battle, to point out error, to expose the false teachers? That’s asking for trouble. Some people will be offended. Timothy is a seasoned servant of the Lord, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t need to be reminded. To be a good servant, you have to be pointing out these things to the brethren, setting them before believers, before the church, continually alerting them to false teaching, false doctrine, talking about the kinds of things that infiltrate the church.
That has to be exposed and dealt with. So that’s required of a good servant of the Lord. You must expose false teaching.

Now the way our English sentence reads, you may not see the parallel, but these are parallel participial phrases, participles that both explain what it is to be a good servant. Constantly nourished, or constantly being nourished, another present participle. These are ongoing things. You just don’t occasionally point out and expose error. You are to be constantly setting before the brethren these things that are mentioned in verses 1-5. You, yourself, are to constantly continually be nourished on the words of the faith and sound doctrine. This is about not only to expose and reveal what is false and wrong, but I have to be careful to continually be feeding my own soul on the truth of God’s Word. Continually nourished and the nourishment is God’s truth, the words of the faith and of sound doctrine. We’re talking about the same thing. The words of the faith are the words that we have in our scripture that have been revealed by God. That’s the good doctrine that enables me to be a good servant, same word translated “sound” is translated “good” earlier in the verse—a good servant, nourished on good doctrine, good teaching. That’s to be a constant process, taking in the truth of God’s Word and allowing it to feed my soul. That gives me the perspective I need, the spiritual help I need to deal with the error. If you’re not nourished on the truth, how are you going to expose the error? Many churches are riddled with unbiblical teaching and doctrine today, because the people are basically ignorant of the truth, because they haven’t nourished their soul on the Word of God. Oh, they don’t deny the Word of God, they haven’t necessarily said, “Oh, we don’t believe or we believe it all.” But you know nourishment means you take in the good, healthy diet, dietary things.

“Which you have been following.” Now we move from a present tense to a perfect tense. Remember the perfect tense refers to something that happened in the past and continues in the present. This has been Timothy’s practice and it continues to be his practice right up until now. But that doesn’t keep Paul from reminding him. These are the things you have been following. Timothy has a history of many years with Paul in being faithful to the truth, in being nourished on the truth and allowing that truth to shape his life. What he’s telling Timothy is to stay the course.

Turn back to Colossians, and Colossians is another one of those letters that Paul had written earlier when he was a prisoner at Rome, and Timothy our brother is included with him in the first verse, as he begins that letter. I want you to look in Colossians 2, and really the end of chapter 1 and the first part of chapter 2 cover basically the same material Paul is going to cover in the sections we’re looking at in I Timothy. Look at Colossians 2:6, “Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted, now being built up in Him, established in your faith, just as you were instructed and overflowing with gratitude.” You see, to the Colossians what does he say? Stay the course, stay faithful to Christ. You’ve been firmly rooted, now continue to be built up in Him. Same issue. Timothy, don’t get diverted, don’t get turned aside. And you know Timothy has been a long-time faithful servant, and ?????? a track record, that should build some stability and maturity in your life. But you know what? It opens you up to special dangers as well. If you’ve been a believer very long, you know what it’s like. In the early days the enthusiasm, the excitement, everything is new and fresh, but after you’ve been a believer a dozen years serving the Lord like Timothy has, pretty soon sometimes it can just get to be a little stale. I mean, it’s not new, it’s not fresh in the way it was the first time I heard. You know, I’ve been just hammering it out the same way week after week. You can easily begin to have a desire for something new, something different. You know, something like a spark. Timothy was a human being like you and me, Paul is warning him about the danger.

New things come down and all of a sudden the church says, that’s a spark, our church has just gotten sparked up. What a difference. I’ve read you examples that will talk about the average 20% growth when you implement these principles. Which is saying what? This will bring the change. You know, maybe you’ve just been in the humdrums. Happens to marriages, doesn’t it? The proverbial 7-year itch. What happens? Oh, I don’t know, it’s just gone flat, it’s just gotten sort of boring, it’s just not
the way it was. And pretty soon we become what? Susceptible for something
Oh, I don’t want to abandon the faith, but you know I just like something a little new. Where are you going to go to get it? What are we going to do? And so the church
becomes Well, I would just like that, and I hear my friends talk about what?
How exciting the Word is? No, but they’re doing things. You know the music is a little livelier or it just They have some

So there is reason Paul has to tell Timothy, keep on nourishing yourself, Timothy, on the words of the faith and sound doctrine. Nothing changes. Many have faithfully plugged along with me over the last dozen or so years, many have been used mightily by God in a variety of settings and situations. You may have endured much, but that doesn’t mean now you are above the danger of being diverted. How many ministries have not stayed the course? How many people have not stayed the course? There’ll be Demas Paul will have to write about in his next letter to Timothy, who has forsaken me, having loved this present world. This is a man who had been a faithful companion. What happened? I don’t know, just wasn’t the same for me, ??????? and he turned aside.

So come back to Timothy. Just because Timothy is a well-seasoned servant, doesn’t mean he doesn’t need to be reminded. Doesn’t mean you and I don’t need to be reminded. Being constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following. Let me just remind you of I Peter 2:2, “Like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the Word in order that you might grow in respect to your salvation.” We have to be constantly nourished. Doesn’t matter if I ate well the first 60 years of my life. I don’t say, well, now, I ate well for the first 60 years of my life, I’m going to have apple pie and ice cream for the rest of it—breakfast, lunch and dinner and snack before bed. That won’t be good for you. Oh, it won’t be bad, I’ve eaten well for 60 years. Doesn’t matter, doesn’t take you long when you sick to go down, does it? You get sick, you don’t eat well, pretty soon your strength is sapped. You say I’m amazed. And you recover from an illness after it seems like a short period of time, you go try to do something, what happens? You don’t have any strength. Why? For years you nourished yourself well, then for a few weeks, a few months you don’t and all of a sudden you don’t have any strength left. You’d think if you ate well for 40 years and then didn’t eat well for a month or two it wouldn’t make a lot of difference, but it makes a huge difference.
So it is spiritually, we must be regularly nourishing our souls.

He goes on, verse 7, “but,” and this contrast drawn here is some repeat, “But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women.” He must expose false doctrine, he must be nourishing his own soul on the truth, and he must reject false teaching. Not only expose it, but reject it himself. He must have nothing to do with it, have nothing to do with, reject worldly fables. The word translated “fables,” we get the English word “myths” from it, we just carry it over, buthos, myths. He used it back in I Timothy 1:4, don't pay attention to myths. I don’t know why they translated it fables in chapter 4 and myths in chapter 1, it’s the same word. Isn’t it amazing, here’s Timothy, long time faithful servant, and Paul has to say, don’t pay attention to myths. You could begin to lose confidence in Timothy. I mean, how could Paul speak so highly of him, and here’s a man he’s embraced, he’s going to start to pay attention to myths, fit only for old women. We’ll get to that. I didn’t say it, Paul did. The myths here aren’t things that are just fanciful things that anybody can see. Remember these false teachers come into the church, take the truth of the Word of God, but they alter it somewhat, always in the sense we’re going to help you. You’re going to see things you didn’t see before. That ought to be a red light. If you’ve been in the Word for the last 10 years diligently, and now somebody is going to show you things you never saw before, there ought to be red lights going off all over the place. I may get a clearer understanding of things, but if somebody is starting to show me things I never saw before here, I’m on awful thin ice if there is any ice left. Myths are the teachings of men that are taking the Word of God and adulterating it. Remember Paul wrote to the Corinthians in II Corinthians 2 in that closing section of the chapter, verses 14-17, in verse 17, “We’re not like the many,” the hoipolloi, adulterating the Word of God, being peddlers of the Word of God, “peddling the Word of God.” And the word meant “to alter something to make it saleable.” Paul writes to the Corinthians and says, we’re not like most of the teachers running about. What are they doing? ?????? in the church. Not like the hoi polloi, a word we’ve carried over into English, means “the many.” We’re not like the many, who act as hucksters, peddling the Word of God. They adulterate it to make it more saleable. They’ll take the pure Word of God and then they’ll mix other things with it to make it more appealing to people. And that’s a corruption.

Turn over to II Timothy. Remember the Spirit of God is writing this through Paul. He is the author of this through the Apostle Paul. II Timothy 4:3, “For the time will come,” and this is in the context, he solemnly charges Timothy to preach the Word of God, verse 2, “preach the Word, in season and out of season.” When people like it and when people don’t like it, when people want to hear it and when they don’t want to hear it. Why do you have to be concerned about out of season? “For the time will come,” verse 3, “when they will not endure sound doctrine.” Who will not endure it? Who is Timothy preaching to? We’re not talking about the pagan Romans that worship idols, that wouldn’t hear the Word of God anyway, we’re talking about what’s going to happen in the church and among those who profess to be believers. They won’t be willing to put up with sound, healthy teaching. “Wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires.” You’ll note, they’re not going to abandon the church, they’re just going to want men teaching in the church who will teach what they like to hear. We’re seeing much of that in our day.

Note the next verse, “They will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths.” What a tragedy. They don’t want to hear the truth. People who profess to love Jesus Christ and believe in Him, and they don’t want to hear the truth. They want to hear myths. Men who have taken the Word of God and adulterated it, and now it is presented in a way, this is what I want to hear. And I heard the Word today, it was just in a positive, uplifting, upbeat way. That’s the way it ought to be done. And then they’re willing to fill the church because I’ve found somebody who says it like I like to hear it. We need to be careful. They will turn away from the truth.

Timothy, the next verse is, you’ll have to endure hardship. That’s back to I Timothy 4, second letter is more of the first letter. Come back to I Timothy 4. These “worldly fables,” this is strong language. The word translated “worldly,” it’s not the normal word for world, this is a word that means “profane or godless.” It’s the opposite of the last word in verse 7, godliness. Worldly fables or myths, profaneness, are the godless myths. You see how God views the adulteration of His Word. This is not a game, this is godlessness. Someone who takes the truth of God’s Word and mixes it with men’s ideas is a profane, godless person. He’s promoting a profane, godless myth. Is it not the ultimate tragedy that those who profess to be the people of God, the church of Jesus Christ, would like to have it so? We’ve come to where Israel was in the Old Testament, where the prophets prophesied in their own name. They prophesied falsely, and My people love to have it so. That was one of the messages of the false prophets, according to Jeremiah. They prophesied peace, peace when there is no peace. Don’t tell me what I don’t want to hear, don’t talk about subjects that I don’t find helpful or relevant. Don’t expect me to have to think too hard. You’d better make it interesting, you’d better make it quick, and you’d better make it entertaining. And oh, we love it, we were to church today. A word of warning to Timothy—do not have anything to do with this kind of teaching. It may be the “in” teaching, it may be in season for that, but it’s not for you, because you have to preach the Word in season and out of season.

All right, so he must reject false teaching. The last part of verse 7, on the other hand, and it’s another conjunction, ‘but,” just as you have starting verse 7, “but.” Now, “but discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness.” Don’t have anything to do with profane myths, fit only for old women. I should mention that, somebody will say, why didn’t you mention it. There are a number of ways it’s taken. The simplest, I tried to go through what I could say that would get me in the least trouble, but basically, old wives’ tales. You know in biblical times, and we do it today, grandmothers tell stories to grandchildren. And in biblical times they didn’t even have storybooks to read to them, so they would tell them stories. That’s what grandmothers do. Well, they’re stories, they’re made up, they’re grandma entertaining the kids. This is the kind of realm you’re in. You
see what God says when You know, it’s like you can’t say enough about it,
they’re profane, they’re godless, they’re fit only for old women’s stories. There’s no room for it in the church. You know the church has come to the place, they like the old wives’ tales, I like the stories, I want to get light, I like it interesting.

And now you come to the last part of verse 7, “But you have to discipline yourself for godliness.” People want to come to church and be entertained, they just want to enjoy it, put their mind in neutral, sit back and have a good time. And Timothy is told to be a good servant, you have to discipline yourself for godliness. The word “discipline,” we get the word “gymnastics” or “gymnasium” from it. What is the gym? It’s supposed to be the place where you go to do strenuous exercise, to condition yourself, to ready yourself. That’s what we’re talking about spiritually here. We just carry the word over into English, the Greek word is gymnasium or gymnastics. Exercise yourself, discipline yourself, it’s the spiritual discipline which enables a person to be a godly person. Discipline yourself for godliness, don’t partake of that teaching which in its very character is ungodly, worldly myths or fables. Profane, godless myths don’t produce godliness. They may be interesting, they may be enjoyable, they don’t produce godliness. You have to discipline yourself for godliness. And that is applying the bodily discipline.

I listened to a preacher on the radio as I was traveling back from Illinois this week and this is a man who teaches the Word. But I think he was confused on what he was trying to get across about the doctrine of sanctification. He was teaching you have to learn that it’s not you doing anything, it’s the Spirit of God in you doing everything. And so you have to come to learn in your life if you don’t do anything, God does everything. That’s got an element of truth in it, but it is false. To be a godly person you have to discipline yourself. You had to discipline yourself to get out of bed this morning and come and sit under the ministry of the Word. Oh, Lord, it’s all You and not me, I think I’ll just stay in bed this morning and let You do what only You can do. No sense in my dragging this weary body out of bed since only You can do it anyway. Let go and let God. Sounds so spiritual. I’ve learned the secret to quit trying and just let God. Now just what does that mean? What does it mean I don’t do anything and God does everything? I mean, I think I sort of like the idea, because it means if it’s going to be work I don’t have to do it. Because if I find it hard, it must be not the Spirit doing it in me, because if the Spirit were doing it in me, it wouldn’t be hard. If it were God’s power at work, I sure wouldn’t be struggling. And now I find out I have to discipline myself for godliness. I hope the people listening to that teaching were saying, wait a minute.
Sounds to me like you’ve corrupted the Word of God here. What will you produce with that kind of teaching? You’re telling people that they don’t do anything and they have to learn not to be wearing themselves out and trying to do what God wants to do. Just let God do what only He can do. Well, the element of truth in that is, it’s only God’s power that accomplishes anything in your life. But the error is that you don’t have to wear yourself out in the work of godliness.

Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness. Explanation—‘For bodily discipline,” verse 8, “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.” Bodily exercise. He doesn’t say it’s of no value. He says it’s of little value, little profit. I mean, for a little time and a little extent. Let’s face it, bodily exercise only benefits you in this life. It only benefits you in limited ways. I mean, you can be healthy physically, but that doesn’t mean you’ll have a great marriage. You may, you may not. You may be healthy
physically, but that doesn’t mean your job will be going the way you would like, or you enjoy it. On you go. Bodily exercise has a place, that’s fine, but it’s of little profit. Let’s put it in perspective. You know believers need to note this. I’ll drive to church on Sunday morning as you do, and you pass people running, jogging, walking, bicycling, getting their body in shape. I think, I wonder if they give any care to their soul. You know no matter how hard they run, no matter how much exercise they do, 30-40 years their body is going to be deteriorated if it’s not already in the grave. Just because they are out here getting their body in shape doesn’t mean their marriage is going well.
Doesn’t mean they have the peace of God which surpasses understanding in their heart. And on it goes. Bodily exercise is of little profit.

Now again, it doesn’t say it doesn’t have a place. I get up and walk in the morning and I get on a treadmill and I go nowhere. It’s a good reminder—you know what this is doing for you, Gil? Just look how far you’ve gone, the window is still right in front of me. So I listen to the Bible on tape, that helps me, because I’m going to get two kinds of discipline in the morning—I’m going to take in the Word of God, and I’m going to exercise my physical body. And you know I can find all kinds of reasons. I was going to Illinois, so since I’m going to Illinois for a conference I think I’ll skip my exercise for a few days. I don’t know how the two are connected. Then I got back from Illinois, so since I just got back from Illinois I thought I’d skip it for a few days. Then I had a dentist appointment, I thought I’d skip it. You know you just always find reasons why this would be a good day to skip.

“But godliness is profitable for all things.” There is not an area of your life that is not impacted by godliness. It impacts my marriage, it impacts my thinking, it impacts me at work, it impacts me in all I do. Godliness impacts me in every way, and not only in this life, but in the life to come. It does not mean I won’t have disappointments or discouragements. But godliness bears me up in those times, and even in the most awful times, it enables me to experience the peace of God. In most bitter situations I find God my sufficiency. So it’s not only for the good times, it’s for the bad times as we would view them. It’s not only for this life, but it’s the life to come. Godliness is profitable for everything, and for this life and the life to come. So disciplining myself for godliness comes right to the fore. The church can get more excited about physical discipline. You go to Christian bookstores and the bestsellers are how to eat like a Christian, or how to exercise like a Christian. And eating right has a place, exercising has a place, but godliness is what it’s about. And so I need to discipline myself for godliness, for godliness is profitable for all things. Gets the idea of discipline in my life. You know you discipline yourself for godliness. We have people who aren’t here this morning, not for any good reason, except they just didn’t feel like it. Many people average about twice a month. Now some may have jobs that they are obligated to, obligations that they’re
obligated to. Others just you know, that’s enough, just don’t feel like doing more.
I am busy with other things, we had a busy Saturday, we got our kids in so many things, something has to give. And what gives? Any wonder our kids grow up thinking that being a success in sports and the bodily discipline that goes with it is more important than the spiritual discipline that leads to godliness? It’s how we live. And we scratch our heads and say I don’t know where they got that idea. Bodily discipline is profitable for little, godliness for all things.

“It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance.” And that goes with ?????? about verse 8, “Godliness is profitable for all things.’ This is faith that you can base your life on and everybody ought to agree to it as a believer in Jesus Christ. That’s the point. It’s a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance. Godliness is profitable for all things. There’s not an area of my life and not a time in life, either in this life or the one to come that godliness won’t be profitable. You can bank on it, so to speak. So we must exercise self-discipline, to be godly as a good servant of Jesus Christ.

“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.” Now I’ve cut this out from discipline, we could have put it together. He says “for this,” “it is for this we labor and strive.” That refers back to verse 8, godliness is profitable for all things, and so we have to discipline ourselves for godliness. It’s for this reason we labor and strive, because godliness is profitable for all things. So the self-discipline is worthwhile. So it is for this we labor and strive. ?????????exercise self-discipline, we’re just talking about plain, out-flat, hard work. We must work hard to be a good servant of Jesus Christ.
That’s why I say, this idea sometimes bantered around among believers that you just have to learn to let go. The secret of the Christian life is letting God do the work in you. There’s an element of truth in that, I cannot do what only God could do. But God does not do what only He can do, unless I apply myself and all my energy. I cannot become a godly person as a spiritual couch potato.

‘For this we labor and strive.” Two words, “labor,” it means “toil to the point of physical and mental exhaustion.” “Strive” means “to strive, to struggle.” Paul includes himself here because he’s a good servant. It’s because of the importance of godliness that we discipline ourselves, and we wear ourselves out. We labor, we strive. Two verbs in the present tense, means this is our ongoing practice. We continue to labor, we continue to strive. It’s not just something you do for a period of time, comes in spurts. This is the continual characteristic of our lives. We’re pouring all our energies into the pursuit of godliness, because we have fixed our hope on the living God. He’s the one in whom we have believed, and so those who fix their hope on the living God, place their trust in Him and He is their hope now. Well, then godliness is their life. You know this is a description of the true, good servant of Jesus Christ. It should be raising concerns for much of the church of Jesus Christ today, and people who treat their Christian life as just something casual, done on the side. That’s why we see churches reducing, let’s cut back, let’s do less, let’s have less activities for our kids because they’re involved in so many things at school and sports. Do we have to be running them so much at church? Less services at church because Sunday night is family time. Well, what about Monday night through Saturday night? But we need Sunday night for family time. And mornings, a 3- hour block of time, we need to get done sooner—start later, quit earlier. All of a sudden we treat what is the most important thing in time and eternity as though it was the least important. I strive and work and I come to church, I’m tired, I’ve had a hard week and I like to sit back and have someone speak in a way that I can understand and it’s nice and simple and short and helpful and I’m on my way. And now I find out I have to labor and struggle and discipline myself, apply myself to the truth which will nourish me. And that which produces godliness. Do I not see a slide of the church away from godliness?

This is what is necessary for godliness and godliness is necessary to be a good servant. Where is the evangelical church going today? Unbelievers are just as happy there because it’s just as entertaining as any place you can go. It’s not about the serious grappling with the Word of God and applying ourselves with discipline and ????? to the truth. And applying every ounce of our energy to the pursuit of godliness. It’s being like the world. And if we can do it at church, then there is something good about that. And so we’re happy to have our ears tickled and turn away from the truth to myths. Any wonder Paul had to remind Timothy. It’s not so strange. Churches that once stood for truth now have drifted to that place. People who once stood for truth now have drifted.

We have fixed our hope on the living God who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers. I have to back you up to one passage, since I was in Colossians, go back to Colossians again. Colossians 1:28, “We proclaim Him, admonishing every man, teaching every man with all wisdom. So that we may present every man complete in Christ.” We’re talking about godliness. In verse 22 Paul talked about the time when Jesus Christ Himself will present us in the presence of His Father, holy and blameless and without reproach. Now down in verse 28 he talks about “that we may present.” Same word “present” due to Christ’s work in the future in verse 22 is now used of the work we are doing. That’s why we proclaim Him, admonishing, correcting, teaching, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. That’s godliness, all that God intends us to be. “For this purpose also I labor,” striving. Same connection of words—labor, toil to exhaustion. I’m weary physically, I’m weary mentally, but the struggle goes on, I keep on. “Striving according to His power which works mightily in me.” There’s the paradox. I continue to labor, I continue to strive, and it’s His power working mightily in me. It’s the might power of God using the worn our mind and body of the Apostle Paul to accomplish His work of godliness in lives. That’s the battle. It’s true, sanctification is the work of God Himself in our lives and only He can do it, it’s a work that He only does in the lives of those who are pouring every ounce of their energy and strength and abilities into it. So it’s not let go and let God, it’s give all I have that all the power of God might work in me.

Come back to Timothy. It’s not so hard. What we don’t like about it is it’s hard.
I have to discipline myself to do it, I have to ?????????, now I’m going to think. I’m not going to be entertained, I’m not going to have 3 points and a poem. We’re going to look into the Word of God and take it seriously. We’re going to take it apart and look at my life in light of it and allow the Spirit of God to build it into me. Boy, that’s work. But godliness is worth it.

The living God is the Savior of all men, especially of believers. There is a lot of discussion about this phrase that’s fruitless and empty. And I’ve read some men that I greatly respect who have become confused over the years on what to me is a clear passage and a clear teaching of scripture. It gets into what we call the doctrine of limited atonement. Many of you, most of you may be familiar with this. The doctrine of limited atonement teaches that Jesus Christ only died for the elect. So you really can’t tell someone Jesus Christ died for you, because if he’s not elect, He didn’t die for him. He only died for the elect. Sometime I’m going to do a whole study with you on limited atonement and unlimited atonement, but it’s not going to be this morning. I think it’s clear here. “The Savior of all men,” He’s God, He is the Savior of all men, He is the only Savior. But He’s a Savior in a special way of those who believe. I’m talking about spiritual salvation ?????? I was reading one well-known commentator and he has gone from being clear on this to being muddled. Someone gave me a tape that he did on this subject from 20 years ago, it was as clear and as biblical as you could get. Now the commentary he has on it is a muddled mess. Evil companions corrupt good conduct.

He’s the Savior of all men. Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He’s the satisfaction, the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world. We have a Savior who has provided redemption for the world, but it is applied only to the elect. It is especially for the elect, because they are the ones, believers are the ones who enter into it. So he makes provision for all, but it is only applied to those who believe. I’m going to use an illustration, they told me the last hour not to use it here because it will cause a lot of trouble, but I’ll do it. If I bought tickets to the first Nebraska football tickets for everybody in the church. I didn’t, forget it, but it’s an illustration. If I bought tickets and I said I bought tickets for everyone in this church and you pick up your ticket and they’ll let you in to the first game. I will have made provision for everyone, but only those who have the ticket will get in. That’s all it’s saying here. We could elaborate on that a lot of ways. And what happens with God, He made provision for everyone and no one wanted it. So if everyone said, “No, we don’t want the ticket,” that’s all right. And I went around and put a ticket in the pocket of some, if they went they could get in. That’s what God has done with His work. He’s made provision for everyone, no one wants His salvation, but He in sovereign grace overruled and determined He will apply it to some and bring them to faith.

The point I want to make is the provision is made for everyone, but it is especially applied to the elect, the believer. They are the only ones, because we all become sons of God by faith in Jesus Christ. So if you don’t believe, you won’t be saved. But no one will be able to say He never made a provision for me. The provision is made, He’s the Savior of all men. Listen to Isaiah 45:21-22, “And there is no other God beside Me, a righteous God and a Savior.” Note the connection. There is no other God. I am that God, I am the Savior, because no one can save you but God. “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 turn to God to be saved, He is the Savior. We have placed our hope in the living God, He is the Savior of all men. Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth. But they don’t. But those who do are saved. Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. That’s the point he is making. He is the Savior of all men. That’s why in I Timothy 2:4, God ‘desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.” That doesn’t mean all men are saved, but He is the Savior of all men. Sadly, some will not turn to Him and be saved. But those who do believe are saved.

So a good servant of Jesus Christ has to work hard. And then verse 11, I’ll mention it because it’s where we’ll pick up next week. “Prescribe and teach these things.” The “these things” refer to what he has just talked about in verses 6-10. Remember, that included what he talked about, because you have to point out “these things” in verses 1-5. And really what a good servant of Jesus Christ has to be, he has to be a broker of truth, a truth broker. He is one who is passing on the truth. There are too many men in the pulpits of evangelical churches today who are not truth brokers. They are management gurus, they are men with great ideas, they are able to accomplish wonderful things. They could build great businesses and they’re building big churches. They’re not truth brokers.

Two commands given here—“prescribe and teach these things.” Both in the imperative. First word means “to command.” Command and teach these things. Present tense, “commands.” Be constantly commanding these things, be constantly teaching these things, the things I just told you. With the connection of “these things” and then “these things” in verse 6, takes us all the way back to verse 1. In other words, the man of God, the good servant of Jesus Christ is one who is commanding and teaching the truth of God, exposing error, and being nourished on the truth, disciplined and working hard for godliness. It’s not complicated. It’s not easy, but it’s not complicated. It’s hard work. This is what the church is to be. Do we not want to be good servants of Jesus Christ? Is it not clear?

What has he said? Let me review what we’ve covered and we’re done. A good servant of Jesus Christ must expose false teaching, must be nourished on the truth, must reject false teaching, must exercise self-discipline, must work hard, must be a truth broker. Command and teach truth. That’s what the pastor has to be, that’s what the people in the flock have to be, that’s what the church has to be. Because together we are serving Jesus Christ. That’s what our lives and ministry are about.

Let’s pray together. Thank you, Father, for the clarity of your Word. Thank you we are not left to muddle around in men’s ideas and men’s thinking, but You, the living God, have revealed Yourself, Your mind, Your will. By Your grace You have brought us to salvation in Your Son, Jesus Christ. That same grace has provided us the indwelling Holy Spirit to take the glorious truth You have given and make it nourishment for our souls. Lord, we desire godliness in our lives, we desire that the Spirit might do that transforming work of conforming us into the image of the Savior, as we behold Him in the mirror of your Word. Thank you for raising us up as Your people in these days to be a light in the darkness, to be a center of truth, and to be prepared by You for eternal glory. We praise You in Christ’s name, amen.