Building Spiritual Muscle - [1 Timothy 4:6-10]

Well, I have a question for you. What motivates you to grow as a Christian? What motivates you to want to obtain spiritual maturity. What motivates you to be in kind of spiritual shape? You know when I was in the Sheriff's Academy and it's kind of amazing that they would even have to do this.

But they they brought in a guy Lieutenant Ray McAndrews to talk to us about officer safety to motivate us about officer safety. He talked about the will to win and the necessary preparation to win. And he told us about a man with great drama who had I Guess you don't need to build up the drama, but he had actually murdered two police officers.

And the way he had done this was and in both cases He approached the officers and was unarmed and because he was unarmed. They never convicted him of murder. It was this manslaughter and What he would do and they videotaped him later in prison.

Showing other inmates how to do this is he would take the officers gun away and he would kill them. So he did a couple of stints for Manslaughter, but the gist of this man's speech and we're all just like this.

Because here we are rookies. We're sitting in the Academy and he says listen. You don't know when you stop a car. You don't know who it's gonna be you could stop Raymond Lewis George. And you say you have to be ready.

You have to be prepared you can't be the fat guy behind the desk who just eats doughnuts all day and then expect to go out there and Tussle with Raymond Lewis George and he would practically be he didn't have to scream but he might as well been screaming at us because we knew now that there was a Burden on us.

There was an expectation That we had to train we had to be physically ready. We had to be mentally ready. He would say and I'll never forget this. He would just look at us and say You don't know what's gonna happen.

You have to be ready because you can't say Not today array. I'm not ready. I've got to go prepare. I'll see you next week. He'd say it's the Super Bowl the balls in the air you've got to go. Life itself is like that not Raymond Lewis George, but there are difficulties everywhere.

You can't ignore the challenges that tomorrow is going to bring because if you if you're not prepared for them They're gonna run right over you. What can you do well You can worry about tomorrow. In fact, I think I spent most of this week just saying Tomorrow has or today has troubles enough of its own.

Let's not worry about tomorrow. I Was saying that or with regard to the building? I just keep thinking about the building and I'm like, I don't want to think about the building. You can worry about what's up ahead.

That's not gonna do any good. What does it do? What does worry do? What's that? It does what it doubts God. Yeah. And what it does also just humanly speaking is it takes all your time. You can spend all your time worrying and it takes your joy takes everything out of your life except for your worry and you just become Paralyzed.

Or you can the alternative is you can prepare yourself for the incidents for the troubles of life if physical training is Necessary for police officers in order to defend themselves. Then how much more is spiritual training necessary for Christians?

And if you think about it, isn't that what discipleship is? Spiritual training and isn't that the heart of what Jesus said? He said go and make converts. No, go and make disciples. Teaching them everything that I commanded you why.

Because it is in knowing the truth on focusing on the truth. That we gain strength that we become more Christlike that we are able to deal with the troubles and the difficulties of life. Just to quickly kind of set the table for first Timothy.

And I would invite you to open your Bibles tonight to first Timothy chapter 4. As you well know by now Paul appointed Timothy as the pastor of the church of Ephesus. And he wrote this letter to Timothy to instruct him on what he needed to do what Timothy needed to do both to Run the church and to exemplify godliness to the flock.

Last time we were in first Timothy in verses 1 to 5 Paul gave Timothy a warning against adding anything to the gospel. About a false asceticism as it were about somehow seeking to please God by Denying yourself food or denying yourself Physical pleasure.

That somehow that would ingratiate you to God that he would be more pleased if you would. My favorite example give up chocolate for lint lint lint lint. I Was thinking lint chocolate not lint, you know.

Give up lint chocolate for lint. Can you give up lint for lint? The whole idea that you can somehow Gain extra favor with God by doing something or not doing something is not an activity or a thought that even a Christian should engage in and Paul just writes that all food all of creation.

All that we see is a gift from God and it's all blessed if we view it. Rightly if we do the right things with it if we're thankful for it this evening as we look at our text I want you to see three spiritually strengthening commands.

Drawn from this text so that you will be ready for the rigors of this life and the joys of the life to come. I Want you to see three training tips for building up your spiritual muscle mass and I wanted I want to do the Austrian Accent, but I'm not going to.

No. Absolutely not discipleship. Spiritual training these are the issues That Paul is discussing with Timothy in this letter tonight our first spiritual Muscle mass building tip. Is number one train yourself in truth?

Train yourself in truth. I Would say it this way, I mean obviously in this whole passage Paul is writing to Timothy and he is talking Apostle the pastor and he's giving him personal instruction, but I want to apply this to you tonight.

I Wait you to understand that this has implications for your life. When I say train yourself in truth. How do you do that? Well, I think the first thing the first application of this would be to choose your place of training wisely.

If you want to be a gymnast you go to a place that's known for turning out gymnasts. If you want to be a super fast track star you go and you get somebody to train you who trains track stars. If you want to learn how to play the guitar you talk to Charlie Crane, or you talk to some expert on it.

If you want to know how to be a strong Christian. You choose a church that focuses on sound doctrine. Sound doctrine and you'll see in a minute here as I read this passage that the word church isn't even there.

But let's let's read the passage. If you put these things before the brothers. You will be a good servant of Christ Jesus. Being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed have nothing to do with irreverent silly myths.

Rather train yourself for godliness for while bodily training is of some value Godliness is a value in every way as it holds promise for the clerk for the present life and Also for the life to come. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance for to this end we toil and strive.

Because we have our hope set on the Living God who is the Savior of all people especially of those who believe. You say well, it's a it's not here church isn't here. You know, why should we choose a church?

Well, look what he says in verse 6 if you put these things before the brothers well, obviously again thinking of it as Timothy as the pastor and he's bringing this before the brothers before the other people in the church.

If you put these things, well, what are those things? I would argue Having studied this that it's everything that he's written up to this point. Everything in this letter all the doctrine all the good contents of it.

In fact, what's he taught up to this point? I'm not going to review all of it but I mean everything in the gospel is contained in two in what he's written up to this point and Every pastor is under this same injunction the same command to faithfully teach the family of God the Word of God.

And for you this means that you have the responsibility to choose wisely. You don't want to choose a church For any other reason than it is a church that will teach you sound doctrine. That should be the heartbeat of the leadership of the church.

And I think that's our heartbeat in your previous church. Maybe you liked the dancing ministry. Maybe you thought they had a great food pantry. Whatever the issue is that is not the reason that you want to choose a church.

You better find a church that will faithfully proclaim God's Word, that's how you're going to grow. Again going back to the the gymnasium analogy for obvious reasons. You want to be in a place where you can go in?

Knowing nothing. Except that Jesus loves me this I know and come out a world-class theologian. Again, if you were bent on being a world-class athlete. Would you hire a trainer who told you to eat whatever you want and exercise as you please just go ahead and do whatever you Want.

It's fine course not. Again, look at verse 6 you Timothy Will be a good servant of Jesus Christ Jesus being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. Timothy was to be a good servant by putting these things before the brothers and by the way that same that word servant is the same word from which we get Deacon and He would be a good servant an inherently good servant by teaching the same truths that he had been taught.

By passing on the truths that he had learned and given them to the church. You don't have to turn there, but Paul taught the same thing in 2nd Timothy. I mean these are the kind of things that Pastors and Christians need to hear over and over again.

Listen to 2nd Timothy 2 2 and What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses in trust of faithful men who will be able to teach others also. I Had that put on a plaque that we gave pastor Mike sometime ago.

Why. Because what does that describe that is? Discipleship. Take what you have learned from me Timothy Paul says and pass it on To faithful men who will then teach others. It's the process of Inputting the Word of God into men and women who will then do the same thing as Timothy was trained he was to train others to pass along the words of the faith and the good doctrine that he had learned.

Now when it says trained there that means the process of educating and training from childhood to bring up to rear to nourish so the concept really is of a young child being raised and nurtured by almost by his mother so this is very much that sort of picture and As Timothy was nourished and raised up By his spiritual father Paul on the words of the faith and good doctrine.

So he was to do the same to nourish and raise up others. In other words, he was to disciple them or to equip them for the work of the ministry, which is from Ephesians 4. That's what we do. Commentator kiss democracy.

Is this a minister who neglects to study his Bible and the doctrine based upon it atrophies his powers by disuse. Well, what have you? What if you fail in these areas? What if you fail to study your Bible and to study sound doctrine?

Are you gonna grow? It's the old computer analogy, which is GIG. Oh, which is garbage in and garbage out. How about this B IBO Bible in Bible out that's what you want sound doctrine in sound doctrine out and Timothy was to teach the church sound doctrine truths that build up nourish and strengthen the text notes that Timothy had Followed or as it says there have followed good doctrine perfect tense.

He had followed good doctrine meaning there was a point where he just determined that he was going to follow Sound doctrine and from that moment forward. He just continued following it with an unswerving devotion.

So if this is true of Timothy Why would any believer think these things are not important? Why would any believer why would you sacrifice good Bible teaching. Maybe so your children can go to church with their friends because there's a better youth program somewhere else in Light of Paul's statement that Timothy would be a good servant of Christ Jesus if he taught these things.

Why would any believer give up studying and being taught sound doctrine? The answer is no one should. Every Christian is called to make disciples. Therefore we should all be involved in that ongoing propagation of biblical truth and biblical doctrine.

If you're going to see spiritual maturity. Spiritual growth spiritual strength you've got to work with the material that God prescribes and prescribes for you. He says he commands these things. He tells us they're good for them or for us and some people don't do it.

Anybody here belong to a gym. I've been going to the same gym for years and It's funny to me because you see people it's kind of a seasonal thing. You know where people really get involved in the gym.

But I see people that just come in and I mean they literally come in for I don't know half an hour or 45 minutes. They do a couple of little exercises on a couple machines. They check their emails a lot.

They're on the phone and then they leave and you know what happens. Absolutely, nothing. They just spend 30 or 45 minutes at the gym. But there are no results. Can I just say tonight that I think many Christians fall into that exact same rut.

Not going to the gym spiritually. They read their Bible. Maybe they'll spend 30 45 minutes reading it. Then they're done. They don't study it. They don't think it through they don't contemplate the implication for their own lives.

How do you study good doctrine? How do you study sound doctrine? How do you do that? You study the writings of men who God is blessed and who have devoted their lives to teaching the Bible. Some people might say well, I don't need to do that.

I just show up on Sunday morning. I'm here promptly at 1035. I miss all that worship music. I might even come in a little bit later if if I know Pradeep's gonna be praying. Skip all that. I could show up at 5 minutes to 11.

Pastor Michael give me 50 minutes of Bible teaching and I'm good to go for the week. May I say with all due respect to Pastor Mike. That you might as well say. I want to be tossed around by false teachers.

I want to be thrown from pillar to post by false teachers. Turn your Bibles to Ephesians 4 for a moment. Ephesians chapter 4 verses 11 to 14. This passage is going to be somewhat familiar talking about Jesus and Descending and what does it mean that if he?

Ascended unless he first descended and anyway beginning in verse 11 and He talking about Jesus gave the Apostles the prophets the evangelists the shepherds and the teachers. To equip the Saints for the work of ministry.

That's you for building up the body of Christ. Listen verse 13 until we all attained to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God. To mature manhood to the measure of the stature the fullness of Christ.

Verse 14. Here's the purpose so that We may no longer be children. Tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine by human cunning by craftiness in deceitful schemes. What's Paul saying?

Let me summarize it the Lord has provided gifted men throughout the ages to the church. So that we might be mature so we might listen to them read them. Comprehend their insights so that we might no longer be children that we might be spiritually mature.

Muscular look at what else he says there in verse 14. Mature no longer be children. But also strong in the faith. Says we should no longer be tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine.

Not some kind of spiritual Muppet in that first Muppet movie where they just kind of they get into this bar fight with the bikers. And they just get thrown around. You're not to be that way you're to have some heft some spiritual weight to you some strength.

And also girded against false teachers. Again look at verse 14 not to be Falling for every wind of doctrine by human cunning by craftiness and deceitful schemes. We know that there are false teachers out there, so what do we do how does God?

Equip us to deal with that he's given us these men throughout the ages who faithfully teach the word. They are our coaches as it were. They are the men who will lead us through the exercises the spiritual exercises that we need to put on spiritual mass.

It's not only getting sound doctrine that matters. It's also avoiding unsound doctrine. Going back to first Timothy Paul moves to the polar opposite. The good teaching and the sound doctrine he says in verse 7 have nothing to do with irreverent silly myths.

Irreverent just means something that's pointless meaningless and here it's modifying old wives tales in other words. If Paul were here today if we can kind of summarize those two ideas together he'd say feed on the words of Spurgeon Calvin Lloyd-jones Sproul Machen MacArthur and other sound theologians and Not on those who write fluff.

Not even talking necessarily about false teachers, but he'd say get some meat. Get the good stuff. The word for myths. Implies a willingness to go beyond the bounds of Scripture to add to it even as we saw in verses 1 to 5 look if you were training for an athletic competition.

You wouldn't go you know. I've got to. I've got to get myself set to go do that Triathlon. So here's what I'm going to do to prepare for it. I'm going to spend the next two weeks eating cotton candy. You wouldn't do that.

And Sugary nonsense no matter how good it tastes going down when you're reading it will never build spiritual muscle. It might entertain you it might make you feel better about yourself, but it will not strengthen you.

I looked this week at CBD on the online. Half of the books in the top 50 are novels. Kind of tells you something about the the state of Christianity. I can't really recommend too many of the other books novels.

That's what we spend our time as Christians reading and when tough times come when difficulties arise in life. Those novels will enable you to do what? How are they going to build you up? How are they going to give you some spiritual muscle.

Paul writes refuse to pay attention have nothing to do with that Fluff that stuff that does nothing for you. Is it? Sinful to read a novel. No. But this is a classic good better best situation and the best possible situation.

What you want to do is Read books that will build your spiritual strength. You want to our first tip was train yourself in truth. Second spiritual tip. Train yourself in godliness. Instead of that kind of fluff that leads to spiritual weakness.

I'll tell you exactly what's gonna happen if you engage in cotton candy Christianity. Anybody ever done any serious bike riding? If you have you'll understand you know this word. What is a bonk? What does it mean when you bonk?

Anybody ever done that. No bonking is not falling. Bonking is when you go out, and you have not eaten sufficiently and have not kept your Energy level up there your sugar levels up there, and all of a sudden you just kind of you're disoriented.

You have no more energy. You're just like can somebody please come pick me up. And it just comes out of nowhere, and there's no escape from it, and if you feast regularly on spiritual cotton candy. That's what's gonna happen to you.

You are going to bonk. You're gonna be spiritually weak. Paul writes in verse 7 that instead of that you should rather train yourself for godliness. This verb train, it's the same word from which we get gymnasium.

It's going not so. Same word gymnast. Etc etc etc and it literally pictures this verb an athlete removing every hindrance from giving him 100 effort. In other words whatever would stop him whatever would get in his way.

He just moves everything out of the way, and he's fully focused on giving it as all. You might be sitting there thinking well, I'd expect no less of a pastor after all that's what he's supposed to do.

But again, I ask you what would separate you what would keep you from doing this. Are you supposed to just grow vicariously as you you know listen to pastor Mike talk about what he's been reading? As he does all the spiritual heavy lifting you just go well I really I just kind of feed off the overflow from what pastor Mike does.

If truth and sound doctrine are the spiritual food that we are to take in. Then godliness is the spiritual exercise in which we are to engage in. Think of all the time that people spend physically training.

Training physically all the effort they put into it. I Know some guys who do Triathlons, and they spend countless hours training for that. It's not something where you just wake up, and I certainly wouldn't do this.

Wake up tomorrow morning you go. I think I'm gonna do a triathlon. First of all it would kill me. But you have to prepare for it and this here where he says rather train yourself for godliness. This is a call to complete devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ in all aspects of life.

Godliness is to be the focus of your life from the day of salvation until the day the Lord calls you home. And invite you to turn over to Luke 14 verses 25 to 27. Luke 14 verses 25 to 27 as so often happened in the ministry of Jesus.

He's got a vast following. And he doesn't really Give them what they want. He doesn't really please them in this passage. Luke 14 verses 25 to 27. Now great crowds accompanied him and he turned and said to them if Anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and Wife and children and brothers and sisters.

Yes, and even his own life. He cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be My disciple. It's not setting the bar too low. What did he demand their? Absolute willingness to do anything.

He didn't literally mean that we needed to hate our mother father Wife sister brother. What he meant is in comparison. The way you love me will make everything else seem like hate. Jesus Christ needs to be your all-in-all.

Commentator Leon Morris said this about that passage. He said Jesus meaning is surely that the love the disciple has for him must be so great. That the best of earthly loves in other words the best love for a mother for a father for a brother for a sister for a wife.

Seems like hatred. The listing of the nearest and dearest spells this out with solemnity. Devotion to Christ cannot be less than wholehearted. And I like what this man said. RJ Karras he said discipleship is not periodic Volunteer work on one's own terms and at one's convenience.

And yet I think sometimes that's the way we live the Christian life. When does it work for me? When can I fit it in my schedule. And if we think about this idea you can turn back to first Timothy about?

Come not so about. Exercising about moving everything out of our way and just focusing on godliness. Focusing on your relationship with Christ. Your discipleship with Christ. What hinders you from spiritual training, what are you keeping?

That is stopping you from pursuing Christ wholeheartedly if there's anything. Get rid of it. Hate it. Dump it. Up to this point in your Christian walk. Have you been sort of training? You know what reveals that if I ask someone if they've been training for a marathon, you know, they tell me months ago.

They're gonna run a marathon and I say well, have you been training for it? And they go well sort of. How's that gonna go ask them later? How did it go? Well, you know, I made the first three miles pretty well.

Okay. Good job. Decided to cut it down to 10k. All right, you are to exercise yourself in godliness. Do you think godliness is important. Especially in ministry, you know in this letter alone in first Timothy alone the word for godliness appears eight times five chapters five six six chapters eight times.

Only seven times in the rest of the New Testament. More than half of the times it's in the New Testament right there in that book. Paul again emphasizing this in another book First Corinthians 9 don't you don't have to turn there?

Just listen, do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize. So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.

So I do not run aimlessly. I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. The picture though of running with purpose of Boxing with purpose.

He's applying that to a spiritual analogy and he's saying listen in that same way. You have to have the spiritual discipline. To just pour yourself into this relationship with Christ. To move every distraction out of the way and just pursue him.

Do you have that kind of mindset with regard to your spiritual fitness? Are you a spiritual fitness fanatic? I mean I see people and you see this. I'm sure you know, I we know the cold weather's coming, but there's still be people out there.

I'm driving to church in the morning on Sunday morning. It's 10. It's 12 degrees and there are people out there running and I just want to roll down my window and I would if it wasn't so cold and just go.

You're sick, you're crazy. But they are devoted they are focused. They are going to get their exercise in no matter what because why because they have decided that physical fitness is their number one goal we say I Don't know, you know with everything that's going on.

I just don't feel like Reading my Bible today. I just don't feel like listening to a sermon. I just don't feel like Fill in the blank godliness a life filled Saturated by the Holy Spirit the word prayer a thankful heart service to others within the church body.

Devoted to putting off sin and putting on Christ. One man wrote this godliness is not passive but active as Physical training develops the body and as aerobic exercises improve the function of the heart.

So a godly walk has its beneficial effect on one's character. You don't get godliness by osmosis and look also that godliness now. At this time in life impacts you forever look at verse 8 for while bodily training is of some value Godliness is of value in every way as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

It's okay to be concerned with your physical body. It's okay. Paul says it has what? Some value not no value. It's not a complete waste of time. I mean personally I could tell you that if I do nothing, I will begin to ache because of all the Issues I have with my shoulders and my knees, but what value does it have all this physical training when you die?

Do you want really want to make sure that everybody comes up and goes that's a nice-looking corpse. Is it gonna change what happens in the life to come? Absolutely not. Let me ask you this. What do you spend your time?

Or what do you spend more time worrying about your body your physical body or your walk with Christ? If you can bench press 500 pounds. But you are a spiritual 98 pound weakling. You're focused on the wrong life.

And this whole concept here in verse 8 verse 7. What's just countercultural to the ancient Greek way of thinking athletic prowess? Physical strength endurance. I mean, where do we get the marathon from from those guys who ran the 26 miles 385 yards, you know at the Battle of Marathon?

They were glorified even though they died they were glorified in death because of this physical accomplishment. Those were the pursuits in life that they valued and it's in that context in that culture that Paul writes verse 9.

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that concept that spiritual godliness is something to strive for because it has permanent results and physical Training. Well, that's that's of some value to.

It's no more acceptable today than it was 2 ,000 years ago, I mean do people imagine an exercise or a Commercial where they just focused on spiritual disciplines or godliness everybody go. What is all that about who cares about that?

You know, let's talk about how we can get in better shape. Let's see what kind of medication we can take to lose weight. Let's see, you know, whatever but the church 2 ,000 years ago nearly 2 ,000 years ago.

Had the wisdom to accept it. That's what he means when he says that this saying the bodily training was of some value. But that godliness was of value in this life and the life to come he said that's what they accepted back then does the church today view godliness in that same exalted way and If it does why do we even have to talk about books like your best life now?

How about you know, here's a title for him his next book could be your best godliness now. That would be good. I'd like that one. I'm not gonna wait for it. Okay, so we've seen two tips so far first train yourself in truth.

Second train yourself in godliness. Third train yourself in hope. It's often been said that we can tell what a person values if we look at their checkbook and their calendar. How they spend their money and their time.

Now it's true. But here the focus is on our time. How we use it and what effort we're putting into whatever we're doing again. Look at the language Paul uses in verse 10. For to this end we toil and strive.

We'll get to what that end is here in a minute. But toil means to exert oneself physically mentally or spiritually to work hard to strive to struggle. Think of all the language we've seen here. The gym not so, you know the pushing everything else aside to train ourselves.

Toiling here to work hard to strive to struggle and then the word strive here really means to suffer reproach and. The idea is that we suffer. The slings and arrow of an ungodly world because they hate what we represent as Christians.

So Paul's saying listen you and me Timothy. We have to struggle we have to work hard. We have to work on our spiritual aspects of a life and we have to be willing to suffer reproach the world's hatred.

So what is the end? What is the purpose for which he says that they have to do this again? Look at verse 10. Because we have our hope set on the Living God. Their motivation was Christ. Their hope set or hope fixed again perfect tense of the verb to hope.

So Christians have their hope fixed completely on Christ at one point with ongoing permanent results. Paul saying listen as a Christian you've given up hope in anything or anyone other than Christ. Money.

No hope their Government no hope their physical strength. No hope there your family. No hope there. None of those things are bad necessarily anyway. But they cannot provide Hope. Certainly not in the life to come.

Only knowing the sovereign Lord of the universe the giver and sustainer of all life. The one who judges will judge and yet forgives all sin only he Can give hope. And the end of this verse verse 10 causes some confusion.

Says who is the Savior of all people especially of those who believe. People like to point to this and go well look at that. He's the Savior of all people. All people must get saved. Well, that's wrong.

We'd know that just by knowing that Paul never teaches universalism and there's no reason to think that he would teach it here. What does it mean? Well the subdued it the Greek? translation of the Old Testament.

The Greek word for Savior is often refers to just physical preservation physical preservation of life for example. In Judges 3 9 a man off kneel. One of the judges is called a Savior. Listen to this. But when the people of Israel cried out to the Lord the Lord raised up a deliverer.

For the people of Israel who saved them off kneel the son of Kenaz Caleb's younger brother that word deliverer is the same word that's used here in the Septuagint. It's the same word that's used in first Timothy 410 it means.

In that case he physically saved the lives of the people of Israel and in the same way God is the Savior of the entire world. He physically preserves the lives of every single person. As soon as God or as soon as someone sins God could Immediately judge them and send them to hell.

But the picture here is that God saves or preserves all men from that judgment he gives them life he sustains them in life. But he saves believers in a special way. And that way is to eternal life. When your hope is fixed on the one who has provided you eternal life your perspective changes.

What are your worries worth in light of eternity with Christ? What do your arguments with your family matter in light of eternity with Christ? What do elections? inflation the housing market fashion trends.

Entertainment the latest gadgets. What do any of those things matter in light of eternity with Christ? And again, I'm not saying any of those things are necessarily bad. I am saying that when your hope is entirely fixed on Christ the troubles of the world seem insignificant.

By comparison We are to have our hope fixed completely on Christ. The difficulties of life come. We deal with them. Why. Because we're not fixated on having our best life now. We know our best life is to come.

So we've seen train yourself in truth. Train yourself in godliness. Train yourself in hope. You know in 1967 Man named Jim Fick started running. He's 35 years old. He weighed 240 pounds and he smoked two packs of cigarettes per day.

He quit smoking lost a lot of weight. In fact 10 years later when his book the complete book of running Which spent 11 weeks at number one was published. He weighed 60 pounds less. The book inspired millions of people in his books and on television shows.