Let us turn to God's Word in
the portion that we've read here in the first epistle to Timothy. And I want to draw your attention
for a while tonight to what we find in the verses 7, 8, and
9. 1 Timothy 4, verses 7, 8, and nine, but refuse profane
and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.
For bodily exercise profiteth little, but godliness is profitable
unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and
of that which is to come. This is a faithful saying, and
worthy of all acceptation." Surely we are to recognize that
this is one of several faithful and true sayings. There are some
five in total in the pastoral epistles. We have three here
in the first epistle to Timothy and then we also have another
in the second epistle and then also one in the epistle to Titus. I suppose the best known of them
all, of course, is that that we find here in the first chapter. That faithful saying, worthy
of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to
save sinners of whom I am chief. Well, after that we have this
further faithful saying that we've read particularly in verses
7 and 8. And it's those verses that I
just want us to consider for a while before we turn again
to the Lord in our prayers. And the subject matter that's
addressed here is surely that of spiritual exercise. Refuse profane and all wise fables,
and exercise thyself rather unto godliness. for bodily exercise
profiteth little, but godliness is profitable unto all things,
having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to
come." This spiritual exercise that is being addressed by the
Apostle and dividing what I say really into two parts to say
something initially with regard to the exercise of godliness
and then secondly the way in which Paul would encourage young
Timothy in such godly exercise. Look at the words that we have
then here and the emphasis, he says there at the end of verse
7, exercise thyself unto godliness. Of course the word rather has
been introduced as we see indicated in our authorized version by
the use of italics. Exercise thyself onto godliness,
is what he literally says. And then he goes on to declare
in that 8th verse that godliness is profitable. There's an emphasis
on this godliness. And we have the word also, of
course, there in the previous chapter, the familiar word at
the end of chapter 3, without controversy great, is the mystery
of godliness. Godliness has to do with true
religion and certainly in that verse we see that such godliness
concerns right doctrine. That remarkable statement that
we have concerning the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, God,
was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels,
preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up
into glory. There's an emphasis then on godliness,
and we have to recognize that godliness is bound up with true
doctrine, with sound doctrine. And, of course, as we see here
in the context, the apostle is warning young Timothy of false
teachings and unprofitable speculations, we might say. Refuse profane
and old wives' fables, he says. Exercise thyself rather unto
godliness. Again, if we go back into the
opening chapter, And there at verse 4 he says, neither give
heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather
than godly edifying which is in faith. So do. And these are
pastoral epistles, these letters to Timothy and also to Titus,
and so not surprisingly we find the apostle repeating these sort
of exhortations throughout the epistle. Again if we turn to
the last verses of this epistle, he addresses Timothy very personally,
O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding
profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely
so caught, which some professing have heard concerning the faith."
The faith there is not referring to the grace of faith, but to
that body of doctrine which faith embraces. And then he closes
of course with the benediction, grace be with thee, Amen. The importance then of of the right doctrine in association
with this exercise onto godliness. And this sound doctrine must,
as Paul indicates, preclude those teachings that are mainly of
men, those traditions that have simply come from men. But it's
not just doctrine that is necessary. there must also be that spiritual
experience. There must be some exercise in
these things. There must be the practice of
godliness in one's living. Now, as we come to consider then
this first point, the exercise of godliness, one has to notice
two things. He is really here making a comparison,
and then he goes on also to issue a word of command or exhortation. Now we clearly see the comparison
in the language that he uses in the 8th verse. A comparison
between bodily exercise and spiritual exercise. Bodily exercise profiteth
little, but godliness, he says, is profitable unto all things. having promise of the life that
now is, and of that which is to come." How important this
is. Exercise thyself rather then.
You see why they've introduced that word in the translation
there at the end of verse 7. Be more concerned about this
spiritual exercise than any bodily exercise. is drawing a contrast, making
a comparison between what is external, what is merely physical,
and what is internal, what is spiritual. And just consider
these two things for a while. We read of that that is of the
body. We can think of The need of course
for the body to be exercised, to be kept in some healthy condition,
but when we think of the training of the body, we shouldn't stop
there really, we should recognize that there can be a sort of bodily
exercise that might appear to be religious in a certain sense. Those who are preoccupied with
the outward aspects of the things of God. That religion that is
outward, physical, earthly, fleshly, natural. And when he gives those
exhortations of course, as we've seen in verse 7 and then again
in the closing verses of the book. Surely we recognize here
that the important thing is that that is internal rather than
that that is external. We need to distinguish between
that religion that is truly of God, heavenly and spiritual in
nature, and that that is but going through the motions as
it were, that that is natural, over against that that is created
by the Holy Spirit, that that God works effectively in the
souls of his people, where God's people are truly concerned, where
they have a real sense of their need, they see and feel something
of their sinnership. They have desires after the Lord
Jesus Christ. They recognize the importance
of the mortification of their sins. They are those then who would
seek to crucify the deeds of the flesh. They that are Christ,
Paul says to the Galatians, have crucified the flesh with the
affections and lusts. They come to a crucified Christ. They live on a crucified Savior. They approach Him day by day. When we think of the religion,
of course, of the Church of Rome, we see that in many ways it is
just physical exercise. It's denying the body, it's scourgings,
it's fastings. And even in the opening part
of this chapter, we see how Paul warns against that that will
come in the latter times, that departure from the faith. Giving heed to seducing spirits
and doctrines of devils, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their
conscience seared with the hot iron, forbidding to marry, and
commanding to abstain from meats which God hath created to be
received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the
truth. Or there are those who think
that real religion has to do with these various observations
and afflicting themselves in the body. That's very much the
religion of the Romanist. But does it not come closer home
to us than that? We deny those things. But what
of us? What of ourselves? It has just
a notional religion. Is it just a round of duties
that we perform? Bible readings, hearing sermons,
attending prayer meetings. Is that all it is? Or is there
that real spiritual exercise? Is there that life of God in
the soul? These are the things that Paul
surely is seeking to bring forth as he draws this comparison.
That bodily exercise probably goes little. But godliness is
profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now
is, and of that which is to come. But besides making comparison
and contrast, we also hear of the word of commands. What he
says at the end of verse 7 is really an exhortation. It's in the imperative mood. He commands, exercise thyself.
onto godliness he is telling this young man what he ought
to do now the word is an interesting one this verb literally if we
transliterate the word we come up with the word gymnasticize
if we might coin a word because the particular word that is used
here is that from which English word, gymnastics, is derived. Exercise, I suppose, is really
a very apt translation. But, literally, we could think
of the gymnast in particular. The hours of training that goes
into what the gymnast will seek to perform in due time. The routine exercises, in order
that his body might be agile, in order that he might be able
to cope with those various movements, The vigor, the grace of the exercise
is that the gymnast is performing. And we can think, can't we, that
some in a sense might exercise some sort of mental gymnastics.
I remember years ago As a young man, when one was first introduced
to the doctrines of sovereign grace, an older minister spoke
to us and said he feared that there was a great danger when
young men began to understand these truths and to embrace these
great truths. that they want to just exercise
their minds in these things, perform sort of mental gymnastics. As we're aware, there's a wonderful
logic, isn't there, to the whole system of reformed doctrine,
Calvinistic doctrine. And I suppose this minister could
see that young men might become carried away here, simply with
the intellectual appeal of these things. Well, we're not to be
satisfied with mental gymnastics. As I said, we need something
more than that. There needs to be experience
and there needs to be practice. The words of Joseph Hart, no
big words of ready talkers, no dry doctrine will suffice. Broken
hearts and humble walkers, these are dear in Jesus' eyes. Oh, it's not so much embracing
the great doctrines of grace, the doctrines of free grace,
but it's knowing the grace of those doctrines, and it must
be evident then. Now we see Paul was continually
exercised about these matters. I exercise myself, he says, to
have a conscience, void of offense before God and men. It's great
concern to embrace the totality of the Word of God. And we see
it in all Paul's epistles of course. It's not just doctrine,
there is this profound doctrine. But as you know the structure
normally is having laid down these great truths. As we come
to the latter chapters of the epistles he spells out all the
practical implications of these things. The doctrine is to impinge
upon the lives of God's people. and of course he weaves in also
so much of his own experience he comes into situations where
he has to write as he does many times to the Corinthians because
of the false teachers he has to explain something of his own
experiences it's all under the sovereign hand of God but you
get that mixture of doctrine and experience and practice in
the writings of the Apostle or were to be like that to embrace
the doctrine, to know the blessings of a sound mind in the truth
of God's Word, but also that exercise in soul, that practice
in life. What does the Apostle say when
he addresses those Corinthians? A very gifted church and yet
much sin amongst that people. Now he exhorts them there in
the second epistle, the opening words of chapter 7, having therefore
these promises, he says, the great promises of the everlasting
gospel, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh
and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord. That's his exhortation. Now we
see him as it were, moving over from what he has declared at
the end of the previous chapter. There's a connection of course
between the chapters, those words at the beginning of chapter 7
in 2nd Corinthians. But what does he say previously
there at the end of chapter 6? Know ye not that your body is
the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have
of God, and ye are not your own? For you are bought with a price,
therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which
are God. Now concerning the things whereof
he wrote unto me, It is good for a man not to touch a woman.
That's 1 Corinthians. I was thinking more particularly
of the language that we have in the second letter. And there
at the end of chapter 6. come out from among them. Be
ye separate, saith the Lord. Touch not the unclean thing,
and I will receive you, and will be a father unto you. And ye
shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." Well,
these are the exceeding great and precious promises. Dearly
beloved, he says, in the light of these things, cleanse yourselves
from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness,
in that fear of the Lord. Again, coming back to the words
of our text and this verb to exercise that we have at the
end of verse 7, it's really derived from the noun that means to be
scantily clad. Scantily clad naked, we might
say. Nothing is to hinder the effort
in this exercise. It's laying aside every weight
and the sin which doth so easily beset us, to run the race that
He set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher
of our faith. Oh, there's command here then. It's part of the exhortation
that the Apostle gives to this young man to exercise his ministry. faithfully in the fear of the
Lord. But besides what he says with regards to the necessity
of spiritual exercise, he does seek to encourage. He doesn't
just give bare precept, but he encourages the obedience of the
command by what he says that this exercise will be a profit,
there's profit in it and there's also promise attached to it look
at what he says in verse 8 that godliness is profitable,
he says, unto all things bodily exercise profiteth little
or for a little, but godliness is profitable unto all things. Now, with regards to this living
of the life of faith, not just embracing the great doctrines
but experiencing the truth and seeking to live the life of one
who is truly a child of God, At times it might seem that there's
little profit here. Are there not many difficulties
in the way? And we know that he warns Timothy
of that quite clearly there in 2 Timothy 3 and verse 12. He says, Yea, all that will live
godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. The godly, those who are concerned
about godly exercise, they're going to suffer. There's going
to be trial, trouble. The Lord says in the world you
shall have tribulation but be of good cheer I have overcome
the world says Christ to encourage his disciples. We know that the
narrow way is a way fraught with many difficulties. He says doesn't he Following
the words of our text, verse 10, therefore we both labor and
suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God. Or there will
be reproach, as well as persecution. And yet he says that this exercising
godliness is profitable unto all things. No exceptions here. It's always profitable. As he
says in the familiar words of Romans 8, we know that all things
work together for good to them that love God, to them who are
the called according to His purpose. All trials and troubles, what
is the effect of them? These difficulties in the way,
these persecutions, do they not cast believers more and more
upon the Lord their God? Wasn't that Paul's own experience?
Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, he says, in reproaches,
in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then am I
strong. In all this he is proving his
complete, his utter dependence upon the Lord God. There's profit.
There's profit then. That's the encouragement. and
he spells it out quite plainly in the text, but not only the
profit of it, but also the promise. Having promise of the life that
now is, and of that which is to come. Now he's not saying,
of course, that this exercise in godliness is profitable because
it earns the blessings and the favors of God, We know that the
promise, the idea of the promise, excludes any idea of merit. Grace is grace. If by grace it
is no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace. If it
be of works, it's no more of grace, otherwise work is no more
work, says the apostle. Oh, it's the promise. What a promise it is. It doesn't
just have to do with this life, it also is profitable, he says,
in the life that is to come. And so he says in verse 16, Take
heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine, continuing them. For
in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear
it. All his labors in the gospel
are not going to be in vain. God has given His promise. And
the promise isn't just for the here and now, it's for eternity. What is the promise? What is
grace? What is the grace of God? Is it not, in a sense, as Boston
says, it's glory in the bite. And what will glory be? It will
be that grace then in the full flower. The Lord is better to
no man. And so, here is the encouragement,
the faithful saying that is worthy of all acceptation. The words
that we have in the seventh and the eighth verses, Refuse profane
and all wives' fables, And exercise thyself rather unto godliness.
For bodily exercise profiteth little, But godliness is profitable
unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and
of that which is to come. Oh, the Lord grant that we might
know what it is then to be exercised in that right sense, in that
spiritual sense, exercised in the things of God and in the
great doctrines of the Word of God, not just assenting with
our minds, but knowing them in the depths of our souls, and
walking these trails out day by day as we seek to continue
in that narrow way that will lead to life everlasting. May the Lord bless His word to
us. Before we turn to prayer, let
us sing our second praise to hymn 901, the tune St. Catherine, 793. The godliness
which feeds on form and lip devotion, barren cheer, will satisfy an
earthly worm who learns to think and call it prayer, contempted
with the husky part, the moving lip and silent heart. O Lord, thy Spirit's aid imparts
and fill me with devotion's fire. Create anew My waiting heart
and heavenly breathings there inspire, bid heart and flesh
cry out for thee, and thou my joyful portion be. The hymn 901, tune 793. I love thee, nestle trees on
foe. An earthly world There earns
to think and calls in prayer Contented with the house he bought
A knowingly and silent home create a new my waiting holds
and every green and flesh to our earth for thee,
and bow my joyful portion be. Let him sit stalking from my
breast, in praise and prayer ascend thy O where I rest, be Thou alone,
surround me still. Thy heavenly intercourse increase,
till as a ribbon flows my peace.