House Rule #12 Be Devoted to Scripture (1 Timothy 4:11-16) | Adult Sunday School

And you.

Where does my help come from? Mountain fades for you Sings out The loud song Of joy. For I Have known the living God Good faith That you will withhold.

From those.

Who live to Follow you.

You'll serve. And have.

The riches Of this world.

House Rule #12: Being Devoted to Scripture

Good morning everyone. Good to see you all. I invite you to open your Bibles once again to 1st Timothy. This morning we'll be looking at Chapter 4 Verses 11 through 16. There is an outline available. If you don't have an outline Rick has them and he will Put one in your hands So you can follow along with us.

We're going to be looking at House rule number 12. Be devoted to Scripture this morning. 1st Timothy Chapter 4 verses 11 through 16. And let's Commit our time to our Lord And ask his blessing and guidance As we study his word together.

Our Father.

We do thank you for this Opportunity to gather Together to look into your word once more. And we know we are dependent upon Your spirit to teach us. We thank you that by your grace Through Jesus Christ We are able to look into your word.

And have the great blessing of your spirit's Ministry in our hearts and minds. Pray you would accomplish every divine purpose That you have for us this morning. And we will praise you in Jesus name Amen.

The Basics of Faith Illustrated by Vince Lombardi

In the world of sports there are many Legends. Baseball has its Babe Ruth Basketball of course. Many legendary players like Michael Jordan. American football of course. Many many legendary players and Coaches.

And in any discussion of great professional Football coaches certainly a name high on The list maybe the top of the list Would be the former coach of the Green Bay Packers The late Vince Lombardi. Yes.

He made such a mark on professional football In his career that the NFL named The Super Bowl championship trophy. After him of course it's called the Lombardi Trophy. It was July 1961 And the members of the Green Bay Packers Were gathered for their First day of training camp.

The season before they had made it Into the NFL championship game Against the Philadelphia Eagles. But had lost the game in the fourth.

Quarter.

The story is told that Coach Lombardi walked into The locker room that day on the first day of Training camp and before 38 professional football players And the coaching staff Who just months before Had come close to winning the NFL championship.

He began a tradition In Green Bay Packers training camps A tradition of going back To the basics. It's said that Coach Lombardi began that Training camp by holding up a football And saying gentlemen This is a football.

And he was going to take them Back to basics. Throughout that camp Lombardi and his staff Drilled the Packers In the basics of football Starting with blocking and Tackling and they went all the way back To the first page of their playbook As if they were all rookies.

And they started from scratch. Lombardi was obsessed With the basics of football The fundamentals of the game. Six months later The Green Bay Packers beat the New York Giants in the NFL championship Game 37 -0.

One commentator Commenting on that game Says this Lombardi used a strategy in this game That was common in all the Packers championships A strategy of Fundamentally sound football. The Packers had no Turnovers in this game and only 16 yards of penalties Assessed against them.

And they used this strategy To beat the opposition at their strength In this case running the ball At the Giants linemen. This strategy allowed the Packers to Control the game running 63 Offensive plays to only 43 for the Giants.

In 1959 Lombardi Had taken over a Green Bay franchise That was the worst team In the league The year before in 1958. And in three years he turned them into NFL champions. In a span of seven years As coach of the Packers Lombardi won five NFL championships Including three in a row.

He led the Packers to win the first two Super Bowls. And in the first Super Bowl They hammered the Kansas City Chiefs 35 -10. Lombardi was a successful coach In large part because he coached His players intensively In the fundamentals The basics of football.

And this principle Of being devoted to the basics Is critical to success in any sport Or any endeavor of life. And even though we in the church Usually see things Separate from the way the world functions.

And we should and we do We do have this in common In the life of the church. And in our individual spiritual lives. It is critical that we focus on The fundamentals The basics of our faith. And there is nothing more basic More fundamental to historic Biblical orthodox Christianity Than being devoted To scripture.

We've seen in our study of 1 Timothy so far That the Apostle Paul Often sounds like a coach in a training camp Instructing Timothy How to set things right In the church at Ephesus. So far we've seen Paul urge Timothy To confront false teachers And their false doctrines.

And after being with Paul For probably around 15 years In ministry Timothy certainly would have understood the gospel. By then, right? How many times would he have heard it and seen it in action? And yet in chapter 1 Paul rehearses The very basic gospel message When he says The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance That Christ Jesus came into the world To save sinners.

Now that right there Would not be comprehended In many professing churches All over this world. Liberalism took that concept And in the past several centuries Virtually ignored it. Paul also takes Timothy back To the basics of prayer By telling him and the Ephesian Christians To make supplications, prayers, intercessions And thanksgivings For all kinds of people Because God wants to save All kinds of people.

He even goes all the way back to the basics of creation For God's model. Regarding the roles of men And the roles of women in the church And in the family. The house churches at Ephesus Needed to get back to the basics.

And Paul left Timothy there To do that very thing. Paul had even prophesied to the elders of Ephesus In Acts 20, and we've gone over this several times. But it's very important Because several years before Timothy was left there Paul met with these elders.

He prophesied what was going to happen in that church.

He said.

I know that after my departure Fierce wolves will come in among you Not sparing the flock. And from among your own selves Will arise men speaking twisted things To draw the disciples after them. We are even told In Revelation chapter 2 When Christ tells the apostle John To write to the angel At the church at Ephesus.

Now this is going to be around 30 years After Timothy was there Somewhere around 95 A .D. This was written. He says to the angel of the church in Ephesus Write the words of him Who holds the seven stars in his right hand Who walks among the seven golden lampstands.

I know your works Your toil and your patient endurance And how you cannot bear With those who are evil But have tested those who call themselves Apostles and are not And found them to be false. They had false apostles In 95 A .D.

I know you are enduring patiently And bearing up for my name's sake And you have not grown weary. But I have this against you That you have abandoned the love You had at the first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen.

Repent and do the works You did at first. If not I will come to you And remove your lampstand from its place Unless you repent. Yet this you have. You hate the works of the Nicolaitans Which I also hate He who has an ear let him hear What the spirit says to the churches.

To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life Which is in the paradise of God Even before the close of the first century. The church at Ephesus After all of that ministry by the apostle Paul By Timothy Still had some issues Within that church.

And all through this letter Paul is calling Timothy To get this church in Ephesus Back to being devoted To the basics And for them and for the whole church And for us down through history. Even now that means be devoted To scripture.

Even when Paul mentions a serious problem In this letter that Timothy must address. It's a result of people Within the church departing from the scriptures From the word of God. And this chapter begins With what is really a prophecy From the Holy Spirit as we saw That people would depart From the faith.

It's absolutely critical that the church at Ephesus And everywhere be devoted To scripture. And as we'll see from our study this morning It starts with the individual believer. If your walk with Jesus Christ has developed Some cracks in it If you're having trouble staying on path Maybe you're getting off into a ditch On either side of the truth.

It's quite probable That it is because in some way, shape or form You have departed from the word of God. Jesus Christ is Lord. He's Lord of creation He's Lord of the universe And he's Lord of the church.

He mediates that Lordship In the church through his spirit By his word. And so churches that neglect the word of God Churches that depart from it Don't have the Lordship of Christ Functioning in their midst And in their individual lives.

Now I also know And you should thank God for it That this is a fellowship That this is old stuff for you. That's a good thing. But we're going to go through this anyway. So the first thing we want to see From 1 Timothy 4 verses 11 -16 Is that scripture is authoritative On your outline.

This is Roman numeral number 1. Scripture is authoritative. Paul tells Timothy Command and teach These things. Let no one despise you for your youth. But set the believers an example In speech, in conduct In love, in faith In purity.

First thing Paul wants Timothy to do With the word of God Is to teach it Command it. And he says I'm commanding you. This is a very strong imperative. It's a command force verb. It means give orders To command, to instruct To direct people.

Paul is not suggesting that Timothy do this. He's commanding him to do this. He has used this Same kind of Statement in 1 .3 When he says I urged you When I was going to Macedonia Remain at Ephesus. So that you may charge certain persons Not to teach any different doctrine.

And then in 1 .18 This charge I entrust to you Timothy my child In accordance with the prophecies Previously made about you That by them you may wage the good warfare. And then again 5 .7 He uses this And many other places he uses this idea.

Paul is exercising his apostolic authority Over Timothy. And he's also delegated that authority To Timothy in this very letter. And so Timothy has to do that very same thing Within the church at Ephesus.

In these six verses There are ten command verbs Ten of them Just in these six verses. This is something that the broader Big tent evangelical church Often times does not like to hear. They don't want to hear commands.

They want it to be suggestions. They want it to be options That we are given. But the Bible very clearly is authoritative. And when it's preached and when it's taught It has the force of God Behind it.

And this is what Paul wants Timothy To communicate to the church at Ephesus Many times These commands That are sort of sharp edged. They sort of Cut a little bit in the heart. And preachers And teachers often times want to File down these sharp edges in scripture.

And sort of moderate Them a little bit. File them down until they're smooth. And they don't hurt anybody at all. And then they want to spray paint them With some pastel colors That look good and sound good.

Non-glare, non-toxic. And yet when you read through scripture These, the word of God Is powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. Is it not? So he's to command these things. Command and teach These things.

We don't just give commands to people. We also teach them along the way. This is why a teaching ministry is so important. Think of the great commission. What does he say? Make disciples. That's a strong imperative verb.

Make disciples. And then you have teaching them to obey All that I have commanded. We don't just command people. And then say go out and do what God says. We teach people to obey What God has commanded.

That's how you make disciples. So we not only communicate the force Of the commands in scripture We also talk to people about how to Obey them And how to bring their lives in compliance With the word of God.

So command it, teach it. And then very important Timothy You have to live it as well. Important for Timothy And important for us. Command and teach these things. That verse 11 there Some commentators put it with The end of verse 10.

And that's certainly legitimate to do that With these things. What's he talking about? He says this all the way through here. Back to 3 .14 the theme verse. I am writing these things to you. So that If I delay you may know how One ought to behave in the household of God.

And then down in 4 .6 If you put these things Before the brothers You will be a good servant. And here again command and teach these things. Well you can put that with The previous passage. Or you can put it as we're doing here With 11 -16.

And both are legitimate, why? Because these things is everything Paul wrote in this letter. He wants him to be Comprehensive in his Teaching. Command and teach These things. And the most important part Of this as far as what he teaches Is how he lives his life.

Paul comes back to this every time. Let no one Despise you for your youth. But set the believers an example In speech, in conduct, in love In faith, in purity. Paul not only wants Timothy to teach the truth He wants him to live it out.

The word of God is powerful. It's sharper than any two-edged sword. As we understand from The writer of Hebrews. In 2 Timothy 3 .15 Paul is talking to Timothy About his youth. And how he understood The sacred scriptures Able to make you wise unto salvation.

And he says Sacred writings. In the very next verse he says All scripture is God breathed. He uses the word graphe which means scripture. So writings, scripture. And then in 2 Timothy 4 .2 Which needs to be connected With these other two passages He says preach the word.

So he uses three different terms All synonyms to talk about the word of God. And it's important that Timothy understand the power of it And that it's his task to teach it And preach it. In 2 Peter 1 Peter talks about the word of God.

And he refers to it as something more sure More certain. And he's just got done talking about His witnessing, his personal witnessing Of the glorification of Christ. Remember the mount of transfiguration.

He says that experience Was tremendous but we have something more sure More sure than a personal Eyes on audio Visual presentation of the glory of Christ Is scripture. So there's many other places We could go and as you know As well, Jeremiah 23 From the Old Testament declares Is not my word like fire Declares Yahweh and like a Hammer that breaks the rock In pieces.

And then the great Statement from Isaiah. Isaiah 55 Says this Verses 10 and 11. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven And do not return there but water The earth making it bring forth and Sprout giving seed to the Sower and bread to the eater.

So shall my word be that goes Out from my mouth. It shall not return to me empty. But it shall accomplish that which I purpose and shall succeed In the thing for which I Sent it. When you proclaim The word of God you teach the word of God you Share the word of God understand that God Accomplishes his purposes through that May not be what you think the purpose Is but he guarantees The purpose that he Has for it will be accomplished.

So Paul's Telling Timothy you have to command It you have to teach it and it's So important that you live it out. It's authoritative. These house churches in Ephesus were probably At least 10 to 12 years old.

So they would have had some relatively Mature Christians there. They would have also Had time to had some false teachers Come in and some people To sort of set up shop in some of these House churches and Paul knows That Timothy as a younger man is Going to be walking in there and Correcting things.

You know that are wrong so he might be Taking advantage of. And Paul tells him let No one despise you for Your youth let no one Despise you. It's compound Word it's to two Parts to think down. That word is made it don't let anybody think Down on you or look down on You and literally it's Don't let anybody think Down on you of You the youth.

Okay Timothy probably is around 35 Maybe 40 years old he's not a Not a not a kid he's not a Teenager. He is been with Paul Again around 15 years. Probably and so he may be as Old as 40 years old but even then These churches are going to have some Established people there and some of them Are teaching false doctrine.

Timothy is going to walk in there with this letter And his delegated authority From the apostle Paul and he's Going to have to deal With probably being criticized For being too young. Who are You. Who do you think you are.

And Paul's Antidote for that is not To get in an argument not to get in a fight. What's his argument. Live out. The faith live at your Faith set the believers An example in speech In conduct in Love in faith in Purity doesn't call him to go In there and arm wrestle with people and And engage in all kinds Of argumentation and stuff.

Just live your life live it out. He wants to exercise Your authority by Teaching and preaching the truth but also Yet you have to live it out. Live it out in your speech Avoid falsehood Avoid anger bitterness Slander abusive speech avoid Malice or filthy talk.

And on the positive side Speak the truth Speak what what Builds people up edification Admonition with tenderness Forgiveness and thanksgiving and Especially to Jesus Christ In speech and in conduct. So these are two outward visible Ways that you can live before Other people.

And The inner part is important As well love faith And purity. In some contemporary circles It's been Common and it's kind of gotten to be sort Of a fad for younger preachers To be up in front of people and to Use the language of the World in front of people to Impress people with their Their ability to know What the world is really like.

There's Nothing like that found in scripture whatsoever. In fact the bible condemns that kind Of thing we are to live Our lives before people as An example in speech in Conduct in love in faith And in purity.

So scripture is authoritative Many many more passages We could look at and multiply Examples of it and you could probably think of Many more but this is What timothy has to do. He has to exercise His authority as an apostolic Legate or representative.

He also has to use the word Of god and then second roman Numerals to scripture is to be Proclaimed. Of course this is Verses 13 and 14. He says until I come devote Yourself to the public reading Of scripture to exhortation To teaching.

Do not neglect the gift you have Which was given you by prophecy When the council of elders Laid their hands on you. Timothy is to go back to the Basics of when he first began His ministry when he was first Called and had hands Laid on him and he's to Devote himself that means to Occupy yourself be concerned With it all the time and basically What he's talking about here is what we would call Bible exposition.

He tells him give Devote yourself to the Public reading of scripture To exhortation to teaching. In other words read it Explain it and apply it. This is this is the Classic biblical definition of Bible exposition.

We have a really good example of this In nehemiah 8 invite you to Go back to nehemiah chapter 8. And uh This is nothing new to the new testament. The word of god is always supposed to be Proclaimed to people and here we have This example from nehemiah chapter 8.

Children of israel had come back To the land after 70 years of Captivity and they're they're beginning To rebuild jerusalem and The walls and so on they also have To rebuild the spiritual lives As well and so We're told in uh In nehemiah That uh this this Gathering that takes place is Done and uh Up in verse 66 of verse 7 It says the whole assembly together was 42 ,360 People.

And then Chapter 8 Says all the People gathered as one man Into the square this is In jerusalem before the water Gate and they told ezra The scribe to bring the book of the Law of moses that the lord had Commanded israel.

So ezra the priest brought the law Before the assembly both men And women and all who could understand What they heard in other words. And if they're old enough to understand what was Being read and being Taught they were there.

Babies were back behind a glass Wall back to a cry. Nobody could Hear him. No, it doesn't say that. So he brings out the law. And all these people are there Before the water gate. And in Verse three he read From it facing the square Before the water gate from early morning Until midday in the presence Of the men and the women and those Who could understand and the Ears of all the people were attentive To the book of the law.

And ezra the scribe stood On a wooden platform so they Had him elevated up To some degree so that the people could hear And see and hear better because they Had no electronic amplification. Right. And on a wooden Platform they had made for the purpose and beside Him stood matathiah Shema aniah Uriah hilkiah And maessiah on His right hand and Padiah mishael Malkijah hashum Hashabadadonah Zechariah and meshulam On his left hand.

Perfect pronunciations by the way. Don't even begin to question that. Verse five. And ezra opened the book In the sight of all the people. For he was above all the people. And as he opened it all the people Stood and ezra blessed The lord the great God and all the people Answered amen Amen lifting up their hands.

And they bowed their heads and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground. Also Yeshua banai sherabiah Jamin aqub Shabathai hodiah Masaiah Kelita azariah Jazabad hanan Peliah the levites Helped the people to Understand the law While the people remained in their places.

So you had it read and you had it Explained. Verse eight. They read from the book from the Law of God clearly. And they gave the sense So that the people Understood the reading. They read it they explained it.

They gave the sense of the word of God. Here comes the application. And nehemiah who was the governor. And ezra the priest and scribe and the levites Who taught the people said to the people This day is holy to the lord your god.

Do not mourn or weep. For all the people wept as they heard The words of the law. Then he said To them go your way eat the Fat drink the sweet wine and Send portions to anyone who has nothing ready. For this day is holy to Our lord and do not be Grieved for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

Famous verse that you've probably heard. That's where it comes from. So the Levites calmed all the people saying Be quiet for this day is holy. Do not be grieved. And all the people Went their way to eat and drink and to send Portions and to make great rejoicing.

Because they had understood The words that were declared To them. That's bible Exposition. You read it you Explain it and then you apply it to The people. This is exactly what Paul wants timothy to do In his ministry in ephesus.

And that's what we are to do as well. We read it we explain it And we apply it to people. Bible Exposition One really good Definition From a very Excellent professor of Preaching and a preacher hadden robinson.

The late hadden robinson says this At its best Expository preaching is The presentation of biblical Truth derived from And transmitted through a Historical grammatical spirit Guided study of a passage in Its context which the Holy spirit applies first To the life of the preacher.

And then through him to his Congregation those elements All have to be there. One thing that Happens in some Circles is that the person Who is preaching and teaching does not Apply it to his life. And he just throws it out.

There regurgitates it if it doesn't Change his life before. He communicates it to people that's Not bible exposition Peter.

You were saying earlier Blessing of having that spiritual gift of Teaching that's unique To certain individuals where We're also called to Claim the word But not Not the same way.

Well I think it's Back to the beginning. This is Definitely the task of those who lead in the church. They have to do this. This is a requirement so I think What paul is doing here. He's setting things Right at the foundational level Back in the church at ephesus.

So this is Basic foundational stuff like Blocking and tackling. But when We share the word of god with people We should also be ready to explain What it means talk about it with them And then apply it To their life you know in Whatever way is appropriate at the time.

But I think You're right there are people that do it for a living All the time obviously thankfully. And but but that Is to serve as an example To the rest of us as to how we are Then to handle the word of god.

If we just rattle off a quote from the bible And and don't tell somebody How they how it applies to their life We haven't taken that Full step in in bible exposition. So.

Oh those are the requirements Just for pastors No we're To aspire to all of those. We may not fulfill that For some reason But we're still to aspire to them On one hand but then on the other hand. We're not just because somebody Says oh this is what it says.

They may not have that spiritual gifting And and be in it And expositor of the word. But that doesn't absolve you from Making sure that you're ready To proclaim it. But not for the same Is it authority or Not the same.

If it's the word of god It's authoritative.

There you go.

I.

I'm a little hesitant To let people hide behind. I don't have the gift. Well You have the word of god You have the spirit of god. Maybe the giftedness needs to Be developed a little bit. Paul tells Timothy Pay attention to the gift that you were given.

It's it's something that can be developed. And if you if you put the lid On this concept that you Can't share the word it has to be done by professionals Or pastors or elders or Whatever then I think you take Away everything everything that's going On here you're you're we need To do this in order to help People understand the responsibility To communicate the word of god at whatever level With whoever whoever it is.

Yeah steve. Oh I thought you were just stretching okay. So uh any other thoughts Or questions you might have from what I see. Cornell.

Sure yeah.

The formal teaching you know. From the pulpit. Um as compared to You or I walking out the door. To wherever god would have us. Out there right. That's why it's so Important that we do what we hear. It it and that's how the Word gets spread.

If it's if it's Just in here then we're not Accomplishing what god would have us do. Uh it needs to this. Is back to football. This is like the Huddle you know call the plays. Get people ready and then out.

There run the play out on the field.

You ladies.

Uh are going to get sick of hearing the football analogies.

Don't hide behind that.

If you're a physician and you're.

You're individually sharing your Testimony of the word god and you.

Have an opportunity to speak to More than one person as it might be. Don't shut up.

Well I'm not.

At that moment You're an exposition to more than one person.

Exactly.

That's what you need to be doing. But there will be Conditions and that's probably some of.

Yeah I mean we Do tend to be a little shy. Hey. Let her rip. Throw the seed. Right. You throw a lot of seed. And uh trust god That he'll use it as he says he will Isaiah 55 to Accomplish his purposes.

So. Any other thoughts you might have so far. Steve.

Are always speaking and Ryan and I were here yesterday.

And.

We were leaving after we were here for a short Time you know to move some Stuff and every time I move one Thing I turn around and there's Eight more things coming at me. And we we left. And and Ryan Said wow isn't that Just an example of Think of the power Of a group of people.

One guy Could have done that for a weekend. Or ten guys gets it done in an hour.

With joy.

And uh he was talking About the church and the work the ministry. Which is exactly I think You know the impact that We have. Um it's not Just insular it is beautiful To be here and to be encouraged and to Have that.

But as we go out.

Yeah.

Through our lives and our conduct.

Words.

We are and we should be very very Different to the point that Somebody would say why are you being so.

Strange. Hey that's true.

I'll take it you know. Yeah, I mean it's Ephesians 4 right. There's That list of gifted people. Why. Why did God give those people in church. For the Equipping of the saints. For the work Of ministry the saints are equipped.

For the work of ministry sure We all come and we're edified when we hear The word of God preached and so on. But then That has to have its Got to take root and have its Fruit out there in our lives. So Basic right to Biblical Christianity that's we're talking about The basics today.

So read it Explain it apply it. You Do this with your kids. Right. You would Read it so they would understand it and you would explain it To them and then you would say now here's what you Here's how you apply this in your life.

So it's it's to be. It's to be. It is authoritative and because it's Authoritative it's to be proclaimed. And it's also be to be practiced As we have seen and again Verses 15 and 16 He says practice These things immerse Yourself in them so that All may see your progress.

So you see there's this witness In what he is doing. Practice These things focus on Your life and your teaching. Practice these things Immerse yourself in them so that All may see your progress. Keep a close watch on Yourself and on the Teaching.

Here we're back again to this This dual kind of a Two part. Two pillars. I guess you could Say the church is built on two pillars. It's built on pure doctrine And love pure doctrine and love. And so what We believe and What we do those two things Are there.

And the combination of those Is what the bible defines As godliness. Right. Pure doctrine and love. Ephesians 4 15 Paul Said speaking the truth In love we are to grow up In him. So god sanctifies Us. How we grow in truth and In love.

John 1 14 Jesus was full of grace and Truth the absolute perfect Person in each one of those full Of each one not a 50 50 blend. You know he wasn't half and half. He was full of grace and full of Truth like none of us could ever be right.

The perfect example of godliness. And then again 2nd peter 3 18 the last words to the Church of peter grow in The grace and knowledge Of our lord and savior jesus christ. So paul tells timothy keep a Close watch on yourself and The teaching.

He does a lot Here with the word of god right The the truth all the way Through these pastoral letters. But He's also wants him to focus on his Own life as well. They have to be together. We have to do both two pillars Of the church pure doctrine and Love in john 17 17 in the high priestly prayer Jesus prayed to the father he Said sanctify them in The truth.

Your word Is truth Sanctification right. How we Grow how we become more christlike. How Do we do that in the truth. The word is truth. And that's how we do It. We do it By applying scripture to our Lives practicing it and then Scripture will lead to salvation.

This is the rest of verse 16. Persist In this notice how you Just have to persist. You have to be just Dogged in this Persist in this for by so Doing you will save both Yourself and your hearers. Very interesting statement from him.