The title of this lesson is The
Ministry. The Ministry. You know, there
is a sense in which all of us are in the ministry. You support
the ministry, and you are what you support. You are what you
support. You are a member of the body
of Christ. And there's a sense in which
we all are in the ministry. And Paul is writing to Timothy
here who's in the ministry in preaching. And he left him in
Ephesus to set things in order and to teach those who believe
how to behave in the house of God. and to set forth correct
doctrine, sound doctrine, he calls sound doctrine. Doctrine,
you know what sound doctrine is? It's doctrine that you can
take and go to the Word of God and prove it. See, right there
it is. You know, whenever we speak of
election, God electing the people, that is sound doctrine. That's
not an opinion. I can take anyone to the Word
of God, and from Genesis to Revelation, show them God chose a people. God chose a people. And those
of us who believe the gospel, we believe the gospel because
God loved us, God chose us in Christ before the foundation
of the world. He blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the
heavenly places in Christ before He created the first thing. We
owe our salvation to the eternal electing grace of God. That is sound doctrine. That's
sound doctrine. And that's what Paul tells Timothy
to stay with because it would be good for him. He says there
in verse 16, chapter 4. Let me jump to that verse, then
we'll get started. Take heed to thyself, and unto the doctrine,
continue in them. For in doing this thou shalt
save thyself and them that hear thee. This is the reason we stick
with sound doctrine. It's of God. And it's good for
the soul. It's good for us spiritually.
It's spiritually good for us. Now, Paul has condemned any seeking
of holiness and worship of God by any ceremonies. You know,
people like ceremonies, don't they? It just makes them feel
religious. It just makes people who don't
know God, it makes them feel like they're close to God if
they just have some kind of hocus-pocus ceremony going on. You see in
Catholicism, the priest go down there waving this thing and little
incense and then the smoke's coming up out of it. That just
seems so spiritual. That's nothing but, that's just
devilish is what that is. That's all it is. And Paul condemns
this kind of worship service. He condemns anything like abstaining
from meat, and as Paul told Timothy, some having to abstain from marriage. These things that God has given
to us. Anything that we might use to
find acceptance with God or use in worship of God, he condemns. God is worship from the heart. Worship starts in the heart,
and it goes on in the heart. That's where worship happens,
is in the heart. You know, outward forms and exercises
of religion, he says, is of little profit. It's of little profit. What is real profitable is that
internal worship of God. That's where real godliness is. Real godliness is in the heart. Real godliness is worshiping
God in the heart. Real godliness is found in faith,
hope, and love. That's where real godliness is
found. It's not found in anything else but that. Now Paul says
in verse nine, this is a faithful saying, it's worthy of all acceptation.
What I have given to you, Timothy, is worthy of all acceptance by
any person. By any person. Here's why. It's
true. It's true. It's of God. What
I've given to you, the Lord has given to me to give to you. Hence
what Paul's telling them. It's of God. It's reliable. You can trust it. You can take
what I have given to you, Timothy. You can take it to the bank,
as the old saying would be. You could take it to the bank.
It's true. It's of God. And in verse 10, he says, For
therefore we both, and because of this is true, because it's
true, because, listen, because our acceptance before God is
in Christ, our righteousness is in Christ, our sanctification
is in Christ, our redemption is in Christ, our true godliness
is in Christ. And because of this, he says,
we both labor and suffer reproach. Because what we teach, what we
preach is of God. It's of God. And anything that's
of God, you're going to suffer reproach for it in this world. I'm telling you the truth. If
it's of God, the world is going to hate you because it hates
God. It hates God. This world does not love God.
The vast part of religion hates God. I told a man that one time,
I've told you this before, but it's been years ago. I was just
a young man. He was a young man. We went to
school together. And he was harassing me. He was harassing me. And he used to harass me a lot.
Tried to, put it that way, he tried to. And I told him one
day, I said, your problem is you hate God. And that made him
so mad. I mean, he never professed to
believe anything. He was just rotten as could be.
But when I told him he hated God, it made him mad. I don't
hate God. Yes, you do. That's why you're
harassing me. That's why you are persecuting
me. This world hates God. Listen
to what he says here in verse 10. For therefore we both labor
and suffer reproach because we trust in the living God. That's why we suffer reproach.
Who is the Savior? Who's the Savior of all men,
especially them that believe? What's he mean by that? He's
the Savior of all men. In a providential way, God gives
all men life. No one comes into this world
and has life that God did not give it to them. God's the giver
of life. He's the giver of life. God is
the one who feeds this world every day. Jesus Christ, our
Lord, maintains this world. He maintains this earth day by
day. Even though that rain yesterday
and today is for God's elect, it's for you, it's exactly what
that rain's for, it's for you. But the whole unbelieving, all
those unbelievers around here, they also enjoyed that rain.
Their garden's gonna grow too. So in a providential way, God
is the Savior in that sense of all men. You know, if God did
not keep men and women alive, they wouldn't even make it to
adulthood. You would never get out of those teenage years, I'm
telling you. You wouldn't get out of those teenage years. You'd
do stuff so stupid, you'd kill yourself. But God keeps them
from doing that. I mean, I can look back at my
teenage years, and there are specific times that I could have
been dead. I mean, easily. But God didn't
allow that to happen. Now, I'm one of his children. He didn't allow that to happen,
because he brought me to faith in Christ. But now there are
a lot of others who didn't believe. He kept them alive, too. It's
so easy to die. There are so many ways people
can die. I mean, it's just so easy. We
are so frail. You know, all of humanity is
like a tender plant. Just step on it and it's crushed.
It's so easy to crush these bodies of ours. Look at the diseases.
Look at just one disease out of control can wipe out the human
race. Isn't that so? It can wipe out
the whole human race. One disease. Who keeps that in
check? God does. John Calvin said this,
The word Savior is not here taken in what we call its strict meaning
in regard to eternal salvation, but is taken for one who delivers
and protects. Thus we see that even unbelievers
are protected by God. In this sense, He is the Savior
of all men, not in regard to the spiritual salvation of their
souls, but because He supports all His creatures. His goodness
extends to the most wicked. But now listen, He does all this
because He does have a people that He specially takes care
of. You and I are specially especially
taken care of day by day. Day by day. The psalmist said,
Thy thoughts to usward cannot be reckoned up in order. Sometimes
it feels like God is clean gone. As I believe it was David said,
it's like the heavens of brass. And yet God is always, always
with His children. Christ said, I'll never leave
you nor forsake you. He's always, I'll go with you to the end.
He said, I'll go with you to the end. I'll carry you. I put
that in the bulletin. I'll carry you to your old age.
I'll carry you. We think we're just going along.
No, we're being carried along. The sheep, the sheep here are
on the shoulders of the shepherd. Are we not? Is he not carrying
us to glory right now? Now Paul tells Timothy, here
in verse 11, these things, command, don't suggest them. You know,
I've learned this about preaching and I learned this sitting under
Henry. When you take the Word of God, you speak with authority. You don't get up here and be
timid and apologetic and for anything that's according to
the word of God. You speak with authority because
you have the authority of God on it. And that's what he says here.
These things command with authority and you teach them, teach them
to reject unsound doctrine. Doctrine that
cannot be proven or taken to the Word of God and say, here
it is, here it is. Reject that. Reject all religious
exercises in order to be accepted of God or to think that's worship. That's not worship. But hear
what he says, command and teach, teach them. Teach them to exercise
themselves in the things of God, in the scriptures. Exercise yourselves in the scriptures. Read the scriptures daily. I know by experience what it
is to get so busy. I mean so busy that you just
jump out of bed, put your clothes on, go to work. I've been there.
And go days without reading the word of God. And you know how
over time that you're like that coal that's taken out of the
fire. You take a coal, hot ember, take
it out of the fire and lay it over by itself. Lay it by itself. You know what'll happen? It'll
start to smolder, and it'll start to smoke, and it'll go out. It'll
go out. You command and you teach them
to exercise themselves in faith, love, the things of God. Search the Scriptures. Christ
said, in them you think you have life there, they will testify
of me. We search the Scriptures to learn of Christ. to learn
more of Him, to have a better relationship, a more intimate
relationship with our Lord, with our Lord. You teach them to trust
the Lord Jesus Christ because they are going to suffer persecution.
They're going to suffer hard times. And listen, in verse 12, and
let no man despise thy youth. Henry told us one time in the
preacher school, and I was 23 years old, I was 23. He said,
youth is an asset to everything but the ministry. It's an asset
to everything but the ministry. You know, it's inexperience. There's a lot of things that
you just have to wait till you grow up and experience. to really
be able to enter into. You know, I can look back and
I can see, I'm embarrassed of some things. Just youthful ignorance, youthful
ignorance. That no man, no man, not even the older, the older
men of the church, don't let them despise your youth. Be thou an example, listen, of
believers, of the believers. You know, it's one thing to be
an example when you're out there among the unbelieving world,
and you're an example of God's grace. But to me, it's on another
level when you are an example to the believers, to those who
believe. Let no man despise thy youth,
be thou an example of the believers. And listen, he tells you how
to be an example. First of all, in word. in Word. You know, as a pastor, I'm to
be an example as I stand here preaching the Word, that I preach
the Word, rightly divide the Word of truth. But in Word, part of this I believe also is
in language. You know, we don't talk like the world anymore. My grandkids would be shocked.
Probably my boys would be shocked if they knew the language I used
when I was a teenager. I used some bad language, because
it made me look big. It made me look, you know, when
you're only about five foot seven, you have to use big language
to build yourself up. And, you know, when you was around
those other teenage boys, you know, you just, the language
was awful. It was awful. God changes our
language. He changes our language. When
He changes the heart, I guarantee you, He'll change your language
too. When He gives you a new heart, your language and your
word will be seasoned with grace. It'll be seasoned with grace.
And you won't be trying to show off, make yourself bigger
than you are. Be thou an example to believers
in word, conversation, charity, spirit, faith, purity. Timothy,
you're a young man. God's given you some gifts to
be used in His church. You know, God has given gifts
to young men. He gave Spurgeon. Spurgeon was
a teenager. Henry was 25, 26, whenever he was, you know, God
used him. Brainerd, was it Brainerd that
died at 29? I think it was Brainerd. He was a priest of the Indians.
He died at 29 years of age, but, buddy, he was a mature man at
29. Preaching to those Indians, riding
that horse, spitting up blood as he went along. He was just
sick. He was a sick man. But God used his young men, but
he says here, Don't let your youth get in the
way. Don't let it be a hindrance. Don't let it be a hindrance.
And listen, and I ought to know this from being a young, when
I was a young man and preaching as a young man, we shouldn't
let a young man's youth be a hindrance to us either. If God's given
him the gift to preach, Support him. Encourage him. If
there's anything you can do for a young man that it's evident
God's given him the gift to speak, encourage him. Don't pick at
him, because there's a lot you can pick at. Encourage him. Because the gifts that God's
given him, as he tells Timothy here later, don't neglect that
gift. That gift's going to grow. The gift of preaching And teaching
is going to grow as he grows in knowledge and in grace and
in experience. That's just going to come out
to the church. But it takes time. It takes time. You don't take
a first grader and put him in the 12th grade. And not a person
here would expect that, would you? You wouldn't expect that.
And we shouldn't expect that out of a young preacher. If the
gifts are there, then the patience on our part needs to be there.
and let it develop, and pray for them. Pray for them. I pray God would bring some young
men into the ministry. I mean, there's not many. There's not many. Not now. I
don't see hardly any. Maybe one or two here or there.
Not many. And so Paul instructs Timothy
here to be an example. Listen, be an example in conversation,
in your conversation. In love, be an example of love. In spirit, be an example in your
attitude. In faith, be an example in believing
God. Be the first to step forward on faith. In purity in your life,
temperance, be first in Timothy. I guess the pastor, no, I guess
the pastor ought to be first in these things. If he's the
leader, as Spurgeon said one time, and I've never forgotten
this, the limping of the leader is the lameness of the people.
If you're a limping leader, the people are going to be lame in
these things. Now, he says here, till I come,
give attendance to reading, to exhortation, and to doctrine.
The teaching of God's Word, the doctrine. Paul was hoping to
visit, but he says, until then, you give yourselves to reading
of the Word of God. Now, this doesn't just belong
to the pastor, preacher, this belongs to all of us. This belongs
to all of us. Give yourself to reading. You
know, one of the things that you will find out, and I'm sure
you have, when you read on a regular basis, you read the Word of God
on a regular basis, and then I stand up here and preach, Because
I know this by experience when I sat under Henry. And I stand
up here and preach, it's amazing how all that comes together.
It's amazing what light you get. When you've been reading and
you hear the word of God preached each week, the light, the light
that you get from that, the understanding that God gives you from that,
the ability to use scripture with scripture that you get from
that. Read the Word of God. That's what Paul says to Timothy. Give yourself, give attendance
to reading, exhortation, and doctrine. And give yourself to
these things so that you may grow in grace and knowledge of
Christ and those who hear you may grow in grace and knowledge
of Christ. I said to you not long ago that I do realize that
a large part of your growing in grace and in knowledge of
Christ rests on my shoulders. When I stand up here and I take
the Word of God, and this is one of the reasons I like going
verse by verse, is that we can stick with the Word of God and
keep it in its context, and we can learn together and grow together
in Christ. But now, if I don't do it, you're
not going to get it, are you? If I don't grow in grace and
knowledge of Christ, if I don't study, well, first of all, it's
going to come out in the pulpit. It's going to become evident.
But you're going to become undernourished. Spiritually, you'll be undernourished.
And that's why it says here in verse 14, neglect not the gift
that is in thee, that God's given to you, and it's in you, the
gift to preach. Don't neglect that. Don't neglect
it. And it was given to you by prophecy
in the laying on of hands of the Presbyterian or the elders,
the elders. And so Paul, he tells Timothy
here to, to not neglect the gift. You know, God's given every one
of us a gift. He's given every one of us a gift. My partner I had, it was Kevin
Thacker's dad, Paul Thacker, you all don't know him, but he
was a businessman. Very good businessman. And he
was wealthy. He made good money at what he
did. The Lord blessed. It was like he could touch anything
and it turned green. I mean, it did, but he used it.
He used it. He was a blessing to a lot of
people. And he tried to retire when he was in his 50s. He was
just 50, because he never needed to work another minute in his
life. And he told me one day, he said, you know, God has given
me the gift to make money. He said, and I believe it'd be
wrong for me to lay it down. And so he basically come out of retirement. He went back to doing what he
was always used to doing and being a blessing, being a blessing
and making money. You know, God's given us gifts.
You know, God will retire us in the grave. He'll retire us. You know, I don't really think
about it. I don't think about retirement. I had a man work
for me one time, Carter Brown. Dear friend, he's gone on now.
The Lord has taken him home. He was an elderly man, but he
worked as a salesman. And he told me once, we were
talking about retirement, and he didn't retire until he was
about 80. He said, your body will let you know when it's time
to retire. I mean, I hear people want to retire when they're in
their 40s or 50s. They want to retire. God didn't make us for that,
did he? Now, I know there comes a time
when we might need a change, but someone said this, I would rather
wear out than rust out. I would rather wear out than
rust out. And I believe I would. I believe I would. But I know
this, one of these days, and I hope this, I hope I don't stay
beyond my abilities. When my mind starts to slip or
I just start to become weak, I hope somebody has enough kindness
to pull me aside and say, you know what, you might need to
step aside. Henry told that to Tom Harding
once. I believe it was Tom. I believe it was Tom Harding.
He said, Tom, he said, do me a favor. I'm paraphrase here.
Do me a favor. When you, when you see that it's
time for me to retire, he said, let me know. Let me know. Don't let me embarrass myself.
Let me know when it's time. And so, you know, there is a
time when our bodies are just too, you know, they're just too
wore out. Our minds too wore out. But until then, Until then,
I'm gonna wear out instead of rust out. So he tells Timothy,
don't neglect the gift that's in you. And here's how you don't, here's
how you not neglect it. You read the word of God. You
study, you pray, and you meditate. Verse 15, meditate. You know, our minds can be a
real tool, you know. It can be a real tool. Meditate
upon these things. Give thyself wholly to them,
that thy profiting may appear, thy spiritual profiting, that's
what he's talking about. Your spiritual maturity may appear
to all, and then over the margin it says, in all things. Now,
there are two things he mentions here. He says meditate and dedicate. Meditate upon the Word of God
as you study it. Think about it afterwards. Think
about it. Spend your time studying the
Word of God, praying, seeking the Lord, and then give yourself
completely to the ministry. You know, where Vicki and I was
going to a place there in Milton, the man that was a pastor there,
he worked full-time. He worked full-time. Every person,
every preacher I knew in that area worked full-time and preached
on the side. Paul says to Timothy, you throw
yourself, you throw yourself completely, completely into the
work of the gospel and your Sincerity, your spiritual growth will be
useful and it will be evident to all who know you. Take heed,
last of all, take heed to thyself and unto the doctrine. Continue
in them, for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them
that hear thee. Take heed to yourself first,
your attitude, your attitude. It's easy to get an attitude.
But take heed to your attitude, your conduct. Take heed to that
you grow in faith in the knowledge of Christ. Take heed to yourself. You see, you got to take care
of yourself spiritually because you're the one going to be standing
in front of the congregation. It's amazing how people become
much like their leader. They do. If he's around for a
while, for a good while. and take heed to your doctrine.
See that you preach the truth of the Scriptures. You know,
doctrine is teachings. It's the teachings of Christ.
Now you take heed to that, and you be sure that you take the
doctrine, the sound doctrine of the Scripture, and give it
to the people. Give it to them. In doing this, you'll save yourself
from falling into error, If you continually study the Word, seek
the Lord, meditate on these things, you will keep yourself out of
trouble and also those who hear you out of trouble. They won't
be such easy prey to false teachers if you do this. You'll be like
an instrument in God's hand to the salvation of those you
preach to. You'll be like an instrument
in God's hand. And you'll be an instrument in
leading others to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the ministry. This is
the ministry. The ministry is not part-time.
It's not part-time. It's not a way to make extra
money. The ministry is of God. It concerns God. It concerns
the Lord Jesus Christ. It concerns your soul. Your soul. And that's serious business.
That is serious. There's nothing more serious
than somebody dealing with my soul. What will a man give in
exchange for his soul? Well, he'll give everything.
Because without it, what do you have? Nothing. Nothing. All right. th