Let's turn to God's Word in Paul's first
letter to Timothy.
The two letters to Timothy and Titus are
among the closing letters that Paul wrote towards
the end of his life.
And all three of them, which were the
last letters that he wrote, 2 Timothy being
the last, are related to the servant of
the Lord, the servant in the church.
And the first letter to Timothy, we could
say the subject is the church and its
shepherd.
The attitude that the shepherds and leaders of
the church should have, the way they should
live and the way they should conduct church
matters.
And it's very interesting to see that these
last three letters of Paul have this as
their theme.
So Paul sort of sensed that his time
on earth was gradually getting over and he
was very concerned that the next generation should
have the same principles and values that he
himself had as a servant of the Lord.
And in the earlier letters, he spoke more
about the Christian life.
But in these last three letters, he speaks
more about the next generation having the same
values, giving them warnings, prophetic warnings about how
things are going to be and to prepare
themselves for that future time.
And it's very interesting to see that if
you see it in that context, that Paul
is unburdening his heart to Timothy and read
this letter with that in mind and you'll
see some of the most important things that
a servant of the Lord must bear in
mind.
First of all, he says in verse three,
don't allow people to teach strange doctrines in
your church.
If you're a leader in your church, you
have a responsibility to see what type of
teaching goes on in your church.
You must be alert.
And if somebody gets up, you know there
was a lot of freedom in the churches
in the early days for people to get
up and share what's on their heart and
some people may have some crazy ideas.
In those days, at least we can say
they didn't have the Bible, New Testament, so
they could speak like that.
But even today with the New Testament, people
have crazy ideas and they get up and
say things in the church.
And you must not allow that.
You must not allow any person to teach
strange doctrines and don't get involved in arguments.
And many times he tells Timothy, don't get
involved in arguments in first letter and second
letter.
It's one of the most important bits of
advice that he gives to Timothy.
Don't get involved in endless arguments and disputes
because that won't help about genealogies and speculation.
Speculation means discussing things which are not written
in Scripture.
Who was Cain's wife?
How does that help you to know the
answer to such questions?
A lot of other questions like that.
Don't get involved in such discussions.
And the goal, in contrast to all that,
remember that the purpose of all our instruction,
verse 5, it's a very important verse.
Do you know what's the purpose of all
teaching in the church?
The ultimate goal is to get people to
have love.
The ultimate goal is love.
And if you people in your congregation have
not learned to love God with all their
heart and love their neighbor as themselves, then
you haven't succeeded in your ministry.
If you've just succeeded in getting them to
go out and give the gospel to others
and not to love God with all their
heart and love their neighbor as themselves, you're
a total failure.
And I'd like to know how many people
who have been preaching the word for so
many years in some church, such a lot
of teaching, have led people to love God
with all their hearts and love their neighbor
as themselves.
We can say such people have been successful
in their ministry.
Love from a pure heart.
I said the other day how a pure
heart is a heart that loves God totally.
No place in the heart for anybody else
or anything else.
And a good conscience and a sincere faith.
So it's not just love.
It's love that comes from a heart that
loves God totally.
Love that comes from a good conscience.
A man living with a clear conscience.
So important.
Paul, towards the end of his life, stresses
this matter of good conscience.
He said it in Acts 23 before the
high priest.
He said it before Felix in Acts 24,
16.
And he says it to Timothy in his
closing years.
Good conscience, good conscience, good conscience.
Because he had seen how many Christian workers
had destroyed themselves by not keeping a good
conscience.
And so here is a good verse for
you to keep in mind when you're trying
to build up a church.
You're a successful minister of the gospel.
If you have worked in that church to
lead people there to have love to God
with a heart that is pure, which is
God's place only for God, and you've led
the people there to live with a clear
conscience at all times, and to have a
simple, sincere faith in the Lord.
You've got people to trust the Lord, not
just to believe in Him to take them
to heaven and forgive their sins, but also
in the daily trials of life.
And he says in verse 6, Some people
have strayed away from these fundamental things.
And when you stray away in your teaching
from all these fundamental issues and get taken
up with small, small matters, these are the
main issues.
And in your teaching, you don't emphasize these
things mainly, but you emphasize all these trivial
little things which are not so important.
It ends up in fruitless discussion.
Argument.
They want to be teachers of the law,
but they don't understand what they are saying
and the matters about which they make confident
assertions.
I've heard a lot of preachers in Christendom
today, and I have to say a lot
of them don't know what they're saying.
Like it says here.
They don't know what they're saying.
They just get up and preach out what
they've read in some book or studied in
some Bible college or heard on some tape.
And they haven't allowed that word to become
part of their life.
They haven't come to a place where they
love God with all their heart themselves.
How in the world are they going to
lead other people to such a life?
The word that you hear from another man
of God, you have received second hand.
All that you are hearing these days is
second hand.
You must take these truths before God and
say, Lord, convert it to first hand.
That means make these things real in my
life.
And then you can speak it as your
message.
It's not just a message you've heard from
somebody else second hand.
You have converted it to first hand by
applying it to your own life.
And you've come into a living experience with
God about these truths that you've heard.
After that, it's no longer somebody else's message.
It's your message.
But if you have not converted it into
your life, it's always somebody else's message that
you're preaching.
Do you know that you can convert every
message I preach into your message?
Very simple.
Apply it in your life.
Many people have asked me, Brother Zach, can
I preach your messages?
I say, sure.
But with one condition.
Live it first.
You don't have to quote me.
You don't have to always say, this is
what I heard from Brother Zach.
No, I don't want any credit for it.
But live it first.
If you try to preach it without living
it, I tell you in Jesus name, you'll
destroy yourself.
That's what I've told them.
And that's what I tell you.
Convert it to first hand.
Live it and preach it.
As your own message.
Otherwise, you'll be like a great teacher of
the law, not knowing what you're talking about.
And he says about the law, we know
the law is good, if you use it
lawfully.
But the law, verse 9, is not made
for a righteous man.
A righteous man doesn't need a law.
Why do you need a law which says,
don't commit adultery, when you're not even sinning
in your thoughts, in that area?
Why do you need a law which says,
don't commit murder, when you're not even angry
with people?
A righteous man doesn't need these 10 commandments.
Because he's living at a higher level.
Why does he need them?
His standard is so much higher.
And further, the law is made for those
who are lawless, rebellious, ungodly sinners, and a
lot of things like that.
And anything else is contrary to the glorious
gospel of the blessed God.
This is, we have considered this earlier, how
we are free from the law when we
walk in the Spirit.
And then he says, this is another thing
that Paul emphasized much towards the end of
his life.
He says, look at my example.
See how I lived.
This is always what he tells Timothy.
You know how I lived?
You've seen how I lived?
I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has
strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting
me into the ministry.
Now, even though God sovereignly calls people to
His ministry, this verse tells us, that before
He puts a man into the ministry, He
tests him.
And I think the Apostle Paul was probably
tested for a period of 10 years, from
Acts chapter 9, where he was converted, to
Acts chapter 13, where he was sent out
to the ministry.
It was a period of about 10 years.
And what was happening in those 10 years?
God was watching this man to see whether
he was faithful in daily life.
And after He tested him for 10 years
and saw his faithfulness, He says, okay, now
I'm going to send you to serve Me.
And you know, when God calls you, He'll
test you.
I know He tested me for nearly 10
years too, after I quit my job, before
He opened up the ministry that He really
had for me.
Don't think that as soon as you go
out, you can step out and get an
anointed ministry.
God will test you to see whether you
are faithful in the little things.
And if you are faithful, and you humble
yourself under authorities God places over you, and
faithful in the little things, faithful to study
His Word, faithful with money, faithful with your
time, upright, honest, faithful in purity, it may
take 10 years, but in 10 years, God
will put you into a ministry.
And when God puts you into a ministry,
you can do more in one year than
if you go 10 years trying to do
something yourself.
He says, He put me into the ministry.
It wasn't any man.
Even though I was a blasphemer, a persecutor,
you know, God doesn't put only holy people
in ministry.
He puts people who are outright sinners in
their past life.
He makes them holy.
But they could have been terrible sinners in
their previous life.
And that's an encouragement to anybody sitting here
who has lived a very wicked life of
sin in the past.
There is a 2nd century writing in which
it says that Jesus Christ, in order to
show that He came not to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance, picked up some
of the worst sinners of His time to
become His apostles.
Of which was Paul.
Because He says in verse 15, Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners among
whom I am number one.
He says, Among all the sinners in the
whole world, I am the greatest.
And Jesus picked me.
And He became the greatest apostle.
So, God doesn't necessarily pick people who have
been brought up in very God-fearing homes
and who have lived very godly lives all
through.
He does sometimes.
But He also picks up people who have
lived in the depths of sin.
He can pick up adulterers and thieves and
drunkards and drug addicts and transform them and
make them apostles to prove that sin doesn't
disqualify a person from becoming even an apostle.
The greatest sinner became the greatest apostle.
As an encouragement to all people who have
lived in sin, who feel, Oh, I have
sinned so much.
God can't do much through me.
God can do a lot through you if
you will trust Him and repent of your
sin.
I want you to notice a progression in
the apostle Paul's attitude towards his own, I
mean, understanding of his own sinfulness.
Many people, they think the closer they get
to God, they will be less aware of
sin in their life.
It's not true.
Any godly person would say, the closer he
gets to God, the more he is aware
of sin in his life.
Because God is so holy.
Isaiah saw the holiness of God and said,
Lord, I am a sinful man.
Job said that.
Peter said that.
John said that.
And Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15, 9, about
10 years before he wrote this letter, he
says, I am what I am by the
grace of God.
I am the least of the apostles.
He thought of himself as the least of
the apostles.
Five years later, in Ephesians 3, 8, he
goes still further down.
He says, I am not just the least
of the apostles.
I am the least of all the believers.
Five years later, when he writes 1 Timothy,
he goes still further down and says, I
am the worst of all the sinners.
So what is spiritual growth?
Spiritual growth is a greater awareness of your
littleness and your nothingness.
How you are the least of the apostles
and the least of the saints and the
worst of sinners.
Is that the way you are growing?
Then you are growing in the right direction.
That means that you are coming closer and
closer to God.
Now a lot of people think that there
will be no consciousness of sin in my
life if I come close to God.
I've got victory over sin.
No, it's not like that.
As we come closer, we discover sins that
we never knew existed in us before.
Okay?
He tells him in verse 18 onwards, to
fight a good fight, wage war, fight a
good fight, by keeping faith and a good
conscience, verse 19, which some have rejected and
suffered shipwreck.
He says there are people who did not
keep a good conscience.
And you know what happened?
They made shipwreck of their lives.
They lost their faith.
How do you lose your faith?
You sometimes read of believers losing their faith.
How do they lose their faith?
Sometimes you, I've heard stories of some child
of God really born again, loves the Lord
and goes to some liberal Bible seminary or
something and he loses his faith after he
hears all that is taught there.
But how did he lose his faith?
He need not have lost his faith.
First of all, he shouldn't have gone there.
Secondly, if he had kept a good conscience,
we lose our faith when we don't keep
a good conscience, when we say things which
are not true, when we don't stand up
for our convictions.
Supposing a person made the mistake of going
to a liberal seminary for getting a degree
and if he had kept a good conscience,
he'd have stood up to his professors and
say, I'm sorry, sir, that's wrong.
That's not according to God's word.
Of course, he'd have been thrown out in
the first month.
But he wouldn't have lost his faith.
Now, a lot of people don't keep a
good conscience.
They just keep quiet.
The Lord is being dishonored left, right and
center in their classroom.
They keep quiet.
But such people deserve to lose their faith.
They deserve to go to hell because hell
is made for the cowardly people, it says
in Revelation 21, 7.
It's made for those who don't have the
guts to stand up for the truth.
If you're like that, you deserve to go
to hell.
Definitely.
But heaven is made for those who stand
up for their convictions.
If you don't keep your conscience clear, you
make shipwreck of your faith.
That's what the Bible says.
Among them are he names them.
Hymenaeus, Alexander.
You know, Paul was not afraid of naming
people.
Some people say we must never mention any
names.
Paul said, I'm not afraid of naming people.
I've got to warn you about this man.
This man, they're leading people astray.
And I have delivered Hymenaeus and Alexander to
Satan so that they may not, they may
learn not to blaspheme.
Okay, chapter 2, verse 1.
Here he says, I want you to pray
and give thanks for all men.
Now, in previous passages we saw we have
to give thanks at all times.
And in everything, always give thanks in everything,
at all times.
And here we find another amazing verse.
Not only at all times, not only in
all things, give thanks.
Here it says, give thanks for all men.
Have you read that verse?
Have you learned to give thanks for all
men?
Does your Bible say, I want Thanksgiving to
be made on behalf of all men.
Last part of verse 1.
It says that.
That means, I say Lord, I'm thankful for
everybody.
The ones who harm me, the ones who
do me good.
Everybody's working for my good.
You can't do that unless you believe in
Romans 8, 28.
And he says, especially you must pray for
kings.
Those in authority.
And do you know who was the emperor
in Rome when Paul wrote this?
Nero.
One of the worst emperors.
A man who persecuted Christians like anything and
who later on chopped off Paul's head.
He said, we got to pray for them.
So we don't pray only for people who
are in authority, who are godly.
Even if it's the most ungodly person like
Nero who persecutes Christians and chops off the
heads of apostles.
Pray for him.
Pray what?
Pray that God will restrain the forces of
darkness from hindering and prevent them from hindering
his purposes on earth.
What should we pray in India?
We're not expecting believers to get in authority
in the central government.
No, that's not what I pray.
Let them be unbelievers.
There were no believers in authority in Paul's
time.
But we pray because we have the power
to influence almighty God who is the greatest
superpower in the universe to influence governments in
every country.
I have believed that for many years.
In our church, we have always prayed at
election time and at other times that God
will control the decisions taken by the government.
And we believe God does that.
If you don't have faith, of course, don't
pray.
If you think God almighty in heaven is
unable to control some small government in some
country, then don't pray.
It's no use praying if you don't have
faith.
But I hope we have faith that a
few people who live godly lives with a
good conscience can pray and influence a country's
government in a way that fulfills God's purposes
in that country.
Now, God's purpose may be persecution.
It was persecution for nearly 200 years of
Christendom.
The early first 200 years.
Okay, that's fine.
It may be persecution in India.
So, I'm not praying against that.
When Jesus himself said, all men will hate
you in the last days, I'm not praying,
Lord, don't let all men hate me.
How can I pray against what Jesus himself
will happen?
When Jesus said, in the last days there'll
be famines, earthquakes and wars, I can't pray,
Lord, don't let there be any famines or
earthquakes or wars.
There will be.
So, we can't pray against what Jesus said.
It will be.
I accept it.
But what we can pray is that the
forces of darkness will be restrained.
See, in 2nd Thessalonians 2, he speaks about
a restraining influence.
And that restraining influence is the church restraining.
And then one day a time comes when
that restraint is taken away and the Antichrist
comes in.
But until then, we must pray for those
in authority and influence them by prayer.
That is the best way.
Not by joining politics.
There's far more power in influencing them by
prayer than by joining politics.
And he says, this is good and acceptable.
Our prayer is not that we won't be
persecuted.
Our prayer is that we can live a
quiet life in godliness and dignity.
And if it pleases God for us to
be persecuted, that's fine.
And then it says here in verse 4,
God wants all men to be saved and
to come to the knowledge of the truth.
It's a wonderful verse which says that God
wants every single person in all the 6
billion people in the world to be saved.
Don't let anybody tell you anything other than
that.
God's will is that every single person in
this world should be saved.
He did not predestine anybody to go to
hell.
This verse teaches that very clearly.
And not only to be saved, He wants
everybody after they are saved to come to
the full knowledge of the truth of God.
Not just be saved.
Once you have saved a person, that's not
enough.
God's next part of His will is that
they must come to the full knowledge.
That's the meaning here.
The full knowledge of the truth of God.
And it says further here, because there is
one God and one mediator between God and
men.
That is the man Christ Jesus.
Isn't it interesting that 30 years after, 35
years after Jesus ascended to heaven, the Holy
Spirit still calls Him the man Christ Jesus.
Not the God-man.
He is God.
But He has taken our nature so completely
that He is still called the man.
Even today after 2000 years, He is the
man Christ Jesus.
You see, Jesus came and took our nature
and He has taken it to heaven to
represent us.
And He has given us His nature to
represent Him on earth.
That's the picture.
He has taken our nature to represent us
in heaven and He has given us His
nature to represent Him on earth.
What a wonderful exchange.
He is doing that job faithfully with our
nature, our human nature.
He is representing us before the Father.
He has given us the divine nature to
represent Him in the same way on earth.
Just like He stands before the Father, we
are to stand before people on His behalf.
Because He stands on our behalf before the
Father.
This is a mediator.
Ok.
In verse 9 onwards till the end, He
talks about the way women should dress and
conduct themselves.
He says, I want the women to adorn
themselves with proper clothing, modestly, discreetly.
That means a woman should be careful that
the way she dresses should not provoke others
to lust.
A lot of women follow the fashions of
the world which are designed to provoke others
to lust.
And you got to make sure when you
tell the tailor how to stitch your clothes
that you don't want the fashions that other
people are having if that fashion involves immodest
exposure of your body or anything which is
provocative to other people.
A woman must be dressed modestly.
That doesn't mean she should be shabby.
I believe it's good for brothers and sisters
to be dressed neatly, smartly, decently and a
woman especially should try to make herself as
attractive as possible but not in a provocative
way to provoke men to lust.
It's very practical.
And it says here in verse 9 further
not with fancy hairstyles and not with gold,
not with pearls and not with expensive clothes.
I find that a lot of churches which
emphasize not with gold do not emphasize not
with expensive clothes.
I don't know why.
They tell that poor sister to take off
her one thousand rupee earring but she wears
a ten thousand rupee sari.
I say what's the difference?
It's in the same verse.
Well, I'm not here to decide about those
things.
I say you take God's word.
He says the main thing is it's not
the main emphasis here is don't make yourself
attractive on the outside but by good works
in a way that's fitting for a godly
woman.
And then it says about how a woman
should behave in the church.
Remember the subject of Timothy is the church
and its shepherd.
He says later on in chapter 3 verse
15 I'm writing these things I may be
delayed I'm writing these things so that you
must know how you ought to conduct yourself
in the church.
And especially when you come to the meetings
in the church be modestly dressed don't make
yourself attractive.
Of course you should be like that all
the time.
And in the church that's the theme of
Timothy 1 Timothy 2.11 a woman must
quietly receive instruction.
Now that doesn't mean that she cannot teach
her children at home she cannot teach Sunday
school that doesn't mean she cannot be an
evangelist and go and preach the gospel even
to men who are unconverted.
She can always do that.
But in the church 1 Timothy 3.15
this is speaking about in the church 1
Timothy 3.15 makes that clear in the
church she must quietly receive instruction with entire
submissiveness and in the church verse 12 I
do not allow a woman to teach or
to exercise authority over a man but must
be quiet.
It doesn't mean that she cannot pray or
prophesy because we read in 1 Corinthians 11
she can pray and prophesy she can sing
but quiet in the sense that she must
not teach men in the church.
She must not stand up as a teacher.
She can get up and give a testimony
she can get up and share some word
that has been a blessing to her but
she must not teach.
And she must not have authority she must
not be an elder in a church.
See, remember if you read Romans chapter 16
you find at least 5 women there mentioned
who were co-workers of the apostle Paul.
They were workers and they were not just
cooking the food.
They were actually serving the Lord.
Evangelism and other things they were doing.
So, women had a tremendous part in the
ministry of the early church.
Think of a country like India.
You know how difficult it is for a
man to speak to an unconverted woman in
India.
Who is going to reach all these 50
% of India which is women?
Sisters!
So, I believe that women have a great
ministry in counseling and evangelism and reaching out
to half of India.
And we must not suppress that ministry.
But as terms of authority it says Adam
was created first and then Eve and second
reason is Adam was not deceived.
The woman was deceived.
That's why a woman should not teach because
she is more prone to deception than the
man.
A lot of cults have come up through
women.
But it says a woman's ministry can be
bearing children.
And that's a ministry too.
Don't think that's not a ministry.
And I'm sure Timothy who got this letter
believed that.
Because he became an apostle because he had
a godly mother.
And he could understand that very well.
If it were not for my mother he
would have said I would never have been
an apostle.
Many people don't realize that discipling your children
at home is primarily the work of a
mother in a sense because she is there
with them most of the time.
I met a family a mother who had
12 children and she said you know like
Jesus I'm also training 12 disciples.
Absolutely right.
So she shall be preserved through the bearing
of children.
There was a curse on the ground and
the Lord told Eve in Genesis 3 that
you'll bear children through a lot of pain.
So when he refers to Adam and Eve
here Paul says a woman doesn't have to
fear God will take care of her when
she's delivering children.
Let her continue in faith and love.
In chapter 3 he talks about the qualifications
for elders and deacons and deaconesses that means
men and women servants in the church who
have certain ministries.
In verses 1 to 7 he deals with
the qualifications for elders.
They must have a good testimony.
They must not have more than one wife.
You know in those days there were people
who were married to two wives or three
wives and supposing the man and all three
wives got converted what do you do?
Well he said they can all be converted
they can come to the church I think
the man must live with one wife and
keep the others away and support them.
But such a man cannot be an elder
even though he can be a good brother
in the church but he must not be
given a responsibility as an elder.
An elder must it's good for an elder
of a church usually to be a married
man because he has to counsel married people
and he must be temperate wise respectable hospitable
able to teach not one who loves wine
and comfortable life and not an argumentative type
who is always arguing with people and gentle
not controversial in terms of again argumentative free
from the love of money very important qualification
notice how much emphasis the New Testament places
on freedom from the love of money which
is never found in the Old Testament in
the Old Testament you are warned about the
danger of wealth but here it is emphasized
on free from the love of money and
then it says one who can control his
own children well if a man cannot keep
his children in his home under control how
can he take care of the house of
God?
if he cannot take care of three children
at home how can he take care of
300 people in the church?
impossible so the way a man brings up
his house and controls his house and keeps
his home in order is one of the
qualifications to be able to have responsibility in
the church which teaches us our home life
is very important if we are to be
servants of the Lord the way we bring
up our children children sometimes you see in
some churches the children of the preacher are
some of the worst behaved children in that
church it's very sad such a man should
never be an elder and further he should
not be a new convert verse 6 because
he can fall into pride he must have
a good testimony with those outside the church
and then deacons also verse 8 to 10
they must not be double tongue that means
they must not say one thing to one
person another thing to another person they must
be sincere and upright see deacons are those
who look after the practical affairs the elders
are the spiritual leaders of the church the
overseers and the deacons are the ones who
look after the like the finances the treasurer
and various practical aspects the looking after the
widows and so many things distribution of food
there are many many practical things like that
those are the deacons and they also must
be people who hold the mystery of the
faith who got a good conscience and many
things like that and then in verse 11
it speaks about deaconesses the women who have
a ministry in the church must not be
malicious gossips and I want to tell you
the word for malicious gossips here is the
same word which is used for the devil
in other places diabolos and so what he
is saying is women should not be little
devils that means always you know speaking evil
gossips gossips gossips of course men shouldn't be
little devils also but women have a tendency
to gossip more than men you know because
the men are out at work and the
women are sitting at home nothing to do
and they decide to visit some other woman
and they sit and if they sit for
half an hour it's ok beyond half an
hour 45 minutes they begin to talk about
other people so women must not be malicious
gossips must be self-controlled faithful then only
they must be given a ministry in the
church and the deacons must be husbands again
a one wife and so on who can
manage their own children even the people who
are responsible for practical details in their church
must also be able to manage their families
well and then he says you know I
am writing all this so that you know
how to conduct yourself in the church verse
16 he moves on to another subject well
I believe this is really the subject that
he goes on to about later in chapter
4 this is the great mystery of godliness
I told you yesterday there are two great
mysteries one is Christ coming in the flesh
here in verse 16 and the other is
the church being one flesh with Christ now
think of this mystery its mystery means you
can't explain it how can God be a
man I don't know I can't explain it
but I believe it He God was revealed
in the flesh He came like us believe
it its a very important thing to believe
its the secret of godliness mystery means secret
what is the secret of godliness what is
the secret of living a godly life the
living bible paraphrased it like that what is
the secret of living a godly life the
answer lies in Christ who came to earth
as a man there is the secret of
living a godly life there was one man
who walked on earth as a man who
lived a godly life and that's why you
and I can live a godly life he
is the proof that a man can live
a godly life he is the proof that
a man can overcome the lust of the
eyes he is the proof that a man
can control his temper that a man need
never be jealous and never be bitter etc
so the secret of a godly life lies
in Jesus Christ who came in the flesh
and was vindicated in the spirit that means
the holy spirit examined every area of his
life and said 100% pure beheld by
angels angels watched this great mystery of God
becoming flesh and walking as a man being
tempted and overcoming and this is what we
proclaim in all the nations of the world
and people believed on him in the world
when he was here also and he was
taken up to glory this is the secret
of godliness and this is the way we
got to go too today we are in
the flesh the holy spirit examines our life
to see whether we are pure angels are
watching us we saw that in Ephesians 3
.10 our life is a proclamation to the
nations about what the gospel is and people
believe and one day we will be taken
up to glory as well if we are
faithful but in contrast to this God's method
of holiness the holy spirit says in the
last days people are going to preach some
other method of holiness in contrast to this
chapter 4 verse 1 and they are going
to listen to deceitful spirits lot of deceiving
spirits are going to come into the world
in the last days they are going to
listen to doctrines of demons now when you
read doctrines of demons you think some horrible
thing doctrines of demons what's that?
you know what a doctrine of a demon
is?
things like verse 3 don't get married does
that sound like a doctrine of a demon?
don't get married Paul says there are some
people who teach don't get married as a
way to godliness the secret of godliness is
don't get married that's a doctrine of a
demon the secret of godliness is verse 3
don't eat certain types of food fasting is
the secret of godliness that's a doctrine of
a demon it's things which appear good discipline
yourself that's the secret of godliness Paul says
rubbish the secret of godliness is Jesus came
in the flesh look at him and follow
him the secret of godliness is not in
avoiding marriage or giving up your job or
in fasting or in discipline of the body
no the secret of godliness is seeing Jesus
who came in our flesh and lived like
us looking unto him make him your example
and let the Holy Spirit transform you into
his likeness that is the secret of godliness
and that is what we must proclaim in
the church and that's why in every church
we must lift up Jesus who came in
the flesh as an example for everybody to
follow otherwise you'll produce a church with a
bunch of rules and regulations brother we must
fast we must pray we must read the
bible all of these things are good but
they can end up as doctrines of demons
if you don't lift up Jesus Christ as
an example for everyone if somebody doesn't want
to get married like Paul that's fine but
don't preach that as a doctrine of as
a secret of holiness if somebody wants to
fast that's fine but that's not the secret
of godliness no and he says the reason
why many of these people are deceived is
because they've got hypocrisy verse 2 in their
life they are liars they are not honest
and their conscience is bad if there's hypocrisy
in your life acting if there's lying in
your life and you don't keep a good
conscience you are a perfect candidate for doctrines
of demons to deceive you ok and then
he tells Timothy if you point out these
things to the brothers verse 6 if you
point out to the brothers the secret of
godliness is not in all these things but
in Christ who came in the flesh you
will be an excellent servant of Christ Jesus
you want to be a good servant of
Christ Jesus point out these things to others
and you will be an excellent servant of
Christ Jesus he was constantly nourished on the
words of faith but he says don't waste
your time listening to all these worldly stories
which are fit only for old women you
know old women who got nothing else to
do sit and talk stories to each other
he says Timothy don't waste your time listening
to all these fancy stories on the other
hand discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness
so he's not against discipline there is a
need for discipline in our life there is
a need for fasting need for prayer need
for discipline but the secret of godliness is
Christ come in the flesh and the Holy
Spirit making us like him but you must
discipline yourself he says bodily discipline physical exercise
has got little value but godliness is profitable
even in this life and in the next
life that means if you live a godly
life it will improve even your physical health
that's what it means I can be physically
healthier if I live a godly life if
I'm free from jealousy free from bitterness free
from anxiety I don't get acidity problems I
don't get asthma I don't get arthritis I
don't get migraine headaches so many things I'm
safe from when I live a godly life
I'm not saying that these sicknesses may not
come due to other reasons but a lot
of cases these sicknesses come because of lot
of lot of sin in a person's life
so it's a value in this life and
in the life to come and it is
because of this that we labor and now
he says in verse 12 just because you're
a young man don't let anybody look down
on you you see Timothy was a young
man in Ephesus and there were people sitting
in that church who were much older than
him and you know how when you go
as a young man to lead a church
there are people sitting older than you and
you can feel intimidated particularly some of those
people are rich people or influential people he
says don't allow them to intimidate you be
such an example to them in your life
by your speech the way you speak there
should be a godliness in your speech the
way you conduct yourself in your love for
them in the way you have faith in
the midst of all your trials in the
purity you have in your life in every
area show yourself as an example now this
is the contrast to what we read in
verse 1 to 4 the false teachers teach
true teachers are an example they speak from
their life the false teachers just teach certain
doctrines don't be a teacher of a doctrine
be an example first and study the scriptures
teach the scriptures it speaks in verse 13
about the public reading of scripture because people
sitting in the congregation didn't have a bible
those days so they had to read large
sections of scripture because then only people would
understand the scriptures today of course we don't
need to read it publicly so much because
everybody's got a bible but he says give
attention to scripture be an example give attention
to scripture and exhort and teach and then
another important thing don't neglect the gifts of
the Holy Spirit don't think that you can
serve God just because you studied the scripture
and just because your life is a good
example those things are good verse 12 be
a good example verse 13 give attention to
scripture verse 14 you still need the gifts
of the Holy Spirit seek God for the
gift of prophecy you remember Timothy verse 14
I laid hands on you and the other
elders laid hands on you and at that
moment you received a spiritual gift when you
were anointed with the Holy Spirit and that
supernatural gift exercise it the bible says covet
to prophesy in 1 Corinthians 14 earnestly long
for the gift of being able to speak
in such a way that your word goes
home to people's hearts like an arrow like
the words of the prophets in the Old
Testament like the word that goes out of
God's mouth like it says in Isaiah 55
verse 11 the word that goes out of
God's mouth will never return empty be God's
mouth and for that you need the anointing
of the Holy Spirit Jesus needed it and
you need it and you need it all
the time it's not just that you got
it once and you have it forever you
need to seek always brothers and sisters your
sons and daughters will prophesy Jesus said seek
that there will be an anointing and be
an example young people be an example don't
think you have to wait till you're 40
years before you start serving God I started
preaching when I was 21 I was just
converted for 2 years just baptized and I
said well I don't know much but the
little I know I can teach ABC to
the kindergarten people and when I grow up
I can teach a little more and grow
up a little more I can teach a
little more teach a little more when can
you start teaching can't a first standard student
teach the kindergarten student sure I used to
sometimes tell my older boy to teach the
younger boy when they were very very small
why do you have to wait till you're
so old before you start sharing God's word
with others the moment you're converted start sharing
with those who know less than you maybe
you can't teach people who know more than
you but you can certainly teach a whole
lot of people who know less than you
and always there are people in the world
who know less than you first of all
the unconverted and if you have grown a
little more in the Lord then younger believers
always be ready to seek God always be
ready to share and seek God for the
gifts of the Spirit and he says in
verse 15 take pains with these things just
like that businessman he takes a lot of
pains to make money to establish his business
if you're serious about serving the Lord you've
got to take a lot of pains studying
the scriptures seeking for the gifts of the
Spirit cleansing your life of everything that's impure
and be absorbed in them what is the
meaning of be absorbed in them that's a
beautiful translation when you're absorbed in these things
your progress will become evident to everybody I'll
give you an illustration I heard a story
once and I know a family close to
where I live who experienced this also one
evening they were watching a television program which
is I don't know what it was some
very popular television program the whole family was
watching it they were absorbed with the television
program and the thieves in Bangalore know when
people are absorbed with television programs and that
is the time it could be day time
and evening say 7 o'clock they know
these people are watching television we can quietly
go into the house and take anything we
want and they went into the house and
stole these people were absorbed now that's a
sad thing that they were absorbed with that
but we can apply that in a good
way I've got to be so absorbed you
know they were so absorbed with that television
that they did not know what is happening
in the house around them and I can
be so absorbed with Jesus Christ and the
word of God that the many many temptations
in the world don't disturb me that's what
I mean apply it like that if people
can be so absorbed with the television program
that they are dead to what's happening in
the next room why can't we be so
absorbed with Jesus Christ and God's word and
our ministry that many things other people are
running after in the world don't attract us
we don't even know this is the meaning
of absorbed so taken up and if you
live like this you will constantly progress every
year you'll be a better Christian a more
effective servant of the Lord verse 16 it
says pay close attention to two things one
is your life and the other is your
teaching there are two things we must watch
always make sure your life is pure make
sure your teaching is pure and persevere in
these things if you continue to persevere in
these things you'll save other people and you'll
save yourself also first you need to save
yourself according to verse 16 then only you
can save others in other words if you
have not been saved from some filthy lust
how can you save other people from that
filthy lust so who has got to be
saved first according to verse 16 you if
you preach something in an area where you
have not been saved yourself you're not going
to be saving other people first be saved
yourself how to be saved yourself be absorbed
in these things watch your teaching watch your
life Christian life is a very serious thing
it's like a man does business he doesn't
play the fool if he plays the fool
his business will go to ruin and dogs
in the same way if you're going to
serve the Lord let's do it more wholeheartedly
than any businessman does his business in chapter
5 he's talking about how to take care
of widows a little verse first of all
for young people like Timothy treat the younger
men as brothers and treat the older men
as fathers verse 1 treat the older women
as mothers and treat the younger women in
your church as your sisters in all purity
if you follow this exhortation you will not
fall into the danger of impurity and fall
sexually like so many people have done treat
the younger sisters as your sisters and treat
the older sisters like mothers then he talks
about widows how to care for widows in
those days many Christians were killed and they
are widows and he says if they are
young widows tell them to get married again
if they are older widows the church must
support them if their own family members cannot
support them practical instruction I just want to
point out one thing here in verse 10
it speaks about some of the conditions don't
choose any widow just make sure that she
has done things like brought up children in
a good way shown hospitality and middle of
verse 10 and if she has washed the
feet of the saints that's the one verse
that teaches us that they did not have
the washing of feet as a regular practice
in those churches in the first century now
some churches practice the washing of feet regularly
I'm not against it all I'm saying is
that's not what Jesus meant when he said
do as I've done unto you what he
meant was like this dirty job I did
for you you must be willing to do
dirty jobs for one another it's not a
ritual and this verse is the one verse
that teaches us that the early church did
not practice it because if the early church
everybody practiced it there's no need for a
verse like this if she has washed the
saints feet what it means is if she's
a widow who was willing to do dirty
jobs for other people take her that's the
meaning and further it says here about how
to treat elders those who are elders verse
17 must be considered worthy of double honor
that means they must be paid properly because
it quotes that verse 18 you shall not
muzzle the ox that treads out the corn
and the laborer is worthy of his wages
now that's a quotation from what Jesus said
in Luke chapter 10 verse 7 I think
the laborer is worthy of his wages and
Paul quotes it as scripture that Jesus said
a man who works for the Lord deserves
to be paid for it there's nothing wrong
in that we should not become super spiritual
and say that those who serve the Lord
should not be paid well if they like
Paul if they support themselves that's fine but
otherwise it's perfectly alright to pay an elder
who is serving the Lord and don't especially
those who work hard at preaching and teaching
you must take care of their financial responsibilities
they should not go around asking for themselves
of course not but Paul tells Timothy you
make sure that such people their payment is
given then he says don't receive any accusation
against such elders unless there are enough witnesses
and don't lay hands suddenly on people verse
22 without making sure that they are really
led by the Lord keep yourself free from
sin verse 23 we see how Timothy also
had a thorn in the flesh and that
was he had frequent stomach pains and he
could not be cured so even though Paul
prayed for him so he said take a
little wine take a little medicine and in
chapter 6 again he comes to the subject
of don't get involved with controversial questions verse
4 and be satisfied with what we have
verse 6 to 10 don't get involved in
the pursuit of money Paul is telling Timothy
such a good man be content with the
measure of money God has given you if
you've got food and clothing be happy it's
very easy for a Christian worker to become
covetous covetous long for something else such people
he says love of money verse 10 is
a root of all sorts of evil those
who want to get rich verse 9 in
Christian work especially will ultimately destroy themselves but
you verse 9 12 fight the good fight
remember the confession Jesus made verse 13 before
Pontius Pilate what did he say to Pontius
Pilate my kingdom is not of this world
Timothy our kingdom is not of this world
let's remember that let's teach the rich people
verse 17 to share what they have with
others money is not the greatest thing one
final word verse 20 guard what has been
entrusted to you it's a very sacred deposit
and one more warning avoid worldly and empty
chatter and arguments guard what's entrusted to you
preserve it and preserve that gospel and that
testimony of the Lord till the end let's
pray Heavenly Father help us to take these
exhortations to heart that we can live as
you want us to do on this earth
as your servants we ask in Jesus name
Amen