Somebody that's not a pretender,
but a real one. You remember last week we talked
about how the Spirit speaks expressly. How that in the last times, you
know, men would command men to quit marrying, not to marry,
abstain from certain meats, and do all these bodily exercises,
you know, the way you position your prey, Position you get in
and the things that you do and all the exercising you burn candles
and all these things that people do to make their selves acceptable
to God and He said you know the natural tendency of man is to
be religious and if you'll give him something to do he'll gladly
do it He'll deny himself wear their hair a certain way dress
a certain way talk a certain way and act a certain way, I
mean, they'll do all kinds of things. And they're always interested
in the outward part, the outward things, the outward show. And
that's just normal to human race. But these outward forms of religion,
and we had plenty of them back when we was in religion, we had
our altars, we had our baby dedications, and we had our Amen corner people
hollering and whooping and all that and we you know we and there's
outward forms and people think that's so good But these are
just they have such little profit X bodily exercise profit is little
you can deny yourself of food You can deny you see a self are
so many things You can fast you can get in certain positions
to pray but bodily exercise in religion And that's what he's
talking about profit is very little But oh my, and the things
is that godliness is profitable in all things, all things. And
I tell you internal, this is where godliness is, this is where
in the heart, in the issue, in the heart, that's where, we're
talking about faith, not something outwardly, faith, born of God
in the heart, love and humility. Thanksgiving and praise. These
are profitable. These are profitable things.
They're profitable to us spiritually, profitable to us emotionally,
profitable to us physically, because it actually meets the
needs of the whole person. It really does. And so he goes
on to say here in verse 9, he said, the things that I said,
this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. Now
he said that also over in 1 Timothy 1.15. This is faithful saying,
worthy of all acceptation. He said that totitis, the same
thing. So what I've said to you is faithful.
It's worth repeating. Everybody ought to believe it
and everybody ought to accept it. But he says, because of these
things, because of these things here, they're in verse 10. Paul's
talking to Timothy. He says, in this glorious truth,
of being saved by the grace of God, that our Lord Jesus Christ
is our righteousness, He's our sanctification, we're accepted
in the Beloved, we're complete in Him. And true godliness consists
not in what we eat, not in what we drink, not in what we dress,
anything, that has nothing to do with it. That's why Paul says,
no matter what anybody else does, I'm willing to labor and suffer
reproach. Suffer reproach. And he did suffer
reproach. And God's people will always
suffer reproach. Especially when they try to talk
to somebody about the gospel of the grace of God. You can
talk about free will. You can talk about works. You can talk about God's love.
But when you start telling people that Jesus Christ, His righteousness,
the only righteousness God has ever accepted, the only way a
person will ever be accepted is in the Lord Jesus Christ and
the Beloved. And you're all complete in Him.
And this is real life. It's a living union with the
Lord Jesus Christ. And Paul said, when you preach
these things and believe these things, he said, we're gonna
labor in this doctrine. We're gonna labor in these truths. And we'll suffer reproach for
these things. It don't bother me to be suffering
reproach is what he says. And he said, we're willing to
do hardship We're willing to engulf him to prison. And Paul
spent a lot of time in prison. And you know what he spent time
in prison for? Preaching. Preaching. They didn't get him because he
was a criminal. They didn't get him because he caused uproars.
They didn't put him in jail for anything. They put him in jail
because the Jews hated him so much that they said, we got to
do away with this man. They did Christ that way. And
they laid wait for Paul time and time and time again. Beaten
one time, he is left for dead. They walked off and left him. And the Lord raised him up right
off the ground, right off the ground. But he says, oh my, we're
willing to suffer reproach and persecution from false religionists. And here's the reason, because
we trust in the living God. Not in their wise fables. Not
in our ceremonies, not in rituals, none of those things, not in
any works that we do. But oh my, he goes on to say
that we trust in the living God. Now I want you to, I don't hardly
know how to explain this, who is the Savior, the living God
who is the Savior of all men, especially of those that believe.
Now some believe that that means that Christ being the Savior
of all men, that He's the one that protects all men. It's by
Him we live, move, and have our being. That in Providence, He
even preserves wicked men. He preserves men. He preserves
Pilate. He preserved lots of wicked men
in the scriptures. And He preserves wicked men.
But He especially does special things for His elect. But I'm
gonna tell you what I believe it says. When it says that, we
trust in the living God who is the Savior of all men. What that
means is the only Savior that's ever gonna save any man is the
Lord Jesus Christ. There ain't another Savior nowhere.
There's nobody. I got a neighbor over here, got
a little statue over there, and I got another neighbor up there,
got another little statue. And I don't know what they're
doing with them statues, Buddha and everything else, but I'll
tell you this, I know this, there's only one Savior of all men. If a man's saved, there's only
one Savior. I don't care who he is, there's only one Savior,
and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. He himself told him, he said
this, he says, there is no man, Peter, Paul, Matthew, Mark, Luke,
John, none of you are going to come to the Father but by me.
I don't care if you are an apostle. If you're going to get to God,
you're going to have to go through me. If you want cleansing from
your sin, it's going to be my blood that cleanses you. If you're
going to have a righteousness that makes you acceptable before
God, it's my righteousness alone that will make you acceptable. And if my Father does give you
to me, I'll guarantee you I'll get you all the way to glory.
That's the kind of Savior he is. But he is especially, especially
to those that he's already saved. He does special things for his
elect, those that he's already saved. I think that's what he's
saying here now. Oh my, especially of those that
already believe. You know, we believers have to
start out babies. We all have to start out as babies.
And sometimes after we get full grown, we still act, go back
to being a baby every once in a while. We'll act like a baby.
Act like a child again. Remember, you know, Paul said
we all understood as a child, I thought as a child, but we
all became mad and put away childish things. But ever since the Wild
River Maritime, childhood, our spiritual childhood, and it'll
be manifest by what we said, what we do. But here's the thing,
for those, and especially those who already believe, He is really
their Savior, and they ain't finding no salvation, no comfort,
no assurance, no godliness, nothing at all, except what He gave them,
and what is Christ to us more than anything else. We know He's
going to, we pray God save our children, our grandchildren.
Save our wives, save our husbands. But who's going to be the one
to save them? The Lord Jesus Christ. He's the Savior of all.
If anybody's saved, He's the one. He's the one. And I tell
you what, this eternal salvation that He gives us, I thank God
for it, oh my goodness, this is eternal, and I'm grateful
for it. Then look what else he says here
now. These things I command and teach. And what he's going back
to referring to what he'd already told Timothy about how the Spirit
speaks expressly. He said, you command all men,
you command men, you just tell them, just say, reject all fleshly,
All fleshly things, all profane things, get stow away, shun all
unscriptural doctrines. Don't try to do anything to make
yourself acceptable to God. Teach themselves to love Christ
and to love one another. Teach them to trust the Lord
Jesus Christ. Teach them over and over to trust
Christ. Trust the Lord Jesus Christ.
And also, trust Him and depend on Him for everything you need
in this world. Everything that you need, everything
you desire. And we desire spiritual things. God gives us all the things after
He gives us Christ. Everything else comes with it.
But oh my, he's the only one able to save us from our trouble.
He's the only one able to supply us all of our need. So that's
why he said, I command you to teach people that. Don't go after
that false doctrine. Don't go after the flesh. Don't
go after unscriptural doctrines. Don't do that. Don't do that.
Trust Christ. Lean on the Lord. Depend on him. Trust him. That's what he's telling
you. And then look what he said in
verse 12. Let no man despise thy youth,
but be thou an example of the believers in word, conversation,
in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Now, Timothy, when
Paul was writing, he was a young man, a very young man. He knew
his mother and he knew his grandmother. Paul knew his, Lois was his mother
and And I didn't tell what his grandmother's name was, but Timothy's
mother's name was Lois, and they both were great, strong believers.
But Timothy was a very young man. He says, you know, let no
man despise thy youth. Don't let nobody despise your
youth. He was a young man, very young man. And sometimes people
think because a man's young that he can't be used of God. Well,
Samuel was a child when God called him. He was a child asleep. God come to him three times before
he ever, just a child. David was the youngest of Jesse's
sons. He wasn't even called when it
was time to anoint somebody to be king. He was overtending the
sheep. He was just a shepherd boy. God said, this is the man
after my own heart. This is my king. This is my anointed,
right here. And Solomon, Solomon was just
a child, not much more than probably in his late teens, maybe 20,
early 20s when he took over the throne after David. And Charles
Spurgeon, you know how old Charles Spurgeon was when he started
preaching? He preached in a place called Beechwood or something
like that, he was 17 years old. 17 years old when he started
preaching. He was pastor of New Park Street
pulpit when he was 20. Preaching to thousands when he
was 20 years old. And then Robert Mary McShane.
He was mightily of God. Died when he was 29 years old.
David Brainerd. He was Jonathan Edwards' son-in-law. Married Jonathan Edwards' daughter.
He went off to preach to the Indians, be a missionary to the
Indians. And he died when he was 29 years old. So God has
used young men down through the ages, and He'll always use young
men. And that's why He said, now don't
let nobody despise you. And then look why, because you
be an example. You be an example. You know,
if a man's got gifts, I don't care how old he is, if God gives
him the gifts, for the work that he's called him to. I don't care
if he's 20, I don't care if he's 18, I don't care if he's 22,
25, if God gifts that person, and gives them the gifts suitable
to the ministry, to be able to communicate, and be able to open
the scriptures, then you gotta esteem that person, love that
person, pray for that person. And if they behave well, if they
behave well, And that's why they ought to be honored and esteemed
for their work's sake. I know a young preacher that
they don't want to get him because he's too, they say he's too young
in experience. But oh my goodness, God's using
him, using him mightily. Using him mightily. But he said,
be an example of other believers. Look what he says here. First
of all, in your word, and all in what you say, what the words
that you say, You be an example to them. In word, in how you
talk, how you communicate. And then also, he says here,
in conversation. That word conversation's in your
manner of life. Be an example in your manner
of life. And look what he said here, in charity, in love. Oh, be an example of the believers
in love. Oh, everybody else may love,
but you let everybody know how much you love. You love the people,
you love the Lord, you love his people, you love the gospel,
you love his word. Love, you'll show love. Then look what he goes on to
say, faith! Faith, oh, be an example in faith. Oh, when life starts going bad
for you, and troubles start coming, and trials start coming, don't
have a nervous breakdown. Don't get upset, don't bite your
fingernails off to the quick, no, no. Oh, be an example in
faith and purity of life. And I tell you, respect cannot be demanded. It can't be. The only way a man
will ever be respected, whether he's a young preacher or an old
preacher or whoever he is, you got to earn it. You just keep
on keeping on, and you be the same, and you show love, and
you show faith, and you show your conduct, and how you talk,
and how you deal with people, and I'll tell you what you'll
find out. People start loving you, start respecting you. But
I'll tell you, if they get up and preach the gospel, I don't
care if they're 22, 25, if they do it, and they do it in the
power of the Spirit of God, and it's true to the scriptures,
You esteem them. You hold him up and give thanks
for him. Okay, look what he said now in
verse 13. And he said, until I get there,
you remember he said, till I come, I've told you how to behave yourself
in the house of God. But now he says, till I come,
I got two things I want you to do. He wanted to come visit Timothy.
He wanted to come be with the brethren here. But he says this,
till I come, I want you to do two things. I want you to give
attendance to reading. I want you to read. Now when
he talks about reading, he's not talking about reading books.
He's talking about reading the Bible, reading the scriptures.
Because if he's going to be a preacher, what else is he going to read?
What else is he going to read? You read the scriptures. And
then, you know, then you go in exhortation. and then to doctrine. But here he was, he didn't want
Timothy to be idle. You give attention to reading.
and reading the scriptures. Now here's the reason why people
read the scriptures, especially preachers. I'm not hard on folks
about people not reading their Bible. I mean, I know that religion
teaches people, read, read, read, read. And everybody ought to
have some time alone with God. And if the Lord blesses you to
where you can read a few scriptures a day or something like that,
it's not the how much you read, it's the quality of your reading.
If you can't read but three or four verses, And if you'll stop
and think about them three or four verses, you've done done
something. But everybody wants to read and get through the Bible
in a year. Whether they get anything out
of it or not. Oh, I've got to get through Genesis and so on,
and I've got to get through Exodus. You've got to read through it
real quick. And they don't get anything out of it. But I heard
Bruce Crabtree say, stop down in this. When you hear a word
and you see a word that means something, stop and think about
that word. What does that word mean? That's what he's talking
about here. You give attention to reading
the scriptures. And this is the reason, how are you going to
teach anybody else if you ain't taught yourself? And that's what
he's telling Timothy. How are you going to teach the
scriptures if you don't know the scriptures? How are you going
to tell what the Bible says if you don't know what it says?
And that's what he's talking about here as a young preacher.
And I tell you, man, he's talking to study. He told him over in
another verse, he said, study to show thyself a workman. Needless
not to be ashamed. And I tell you what, and the
reason preachers study, and if you do, read for your own growth
and your own grace. Don't read just to kill time.
Don't read just for the sake of reading. Don't read just to
get through so many verses a day. Don't do that. Read for your
own spiritual growth. Read for the knowledge of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And I'll tell you, and the reason
we do that is for ourselves and then also able to communicate
the gospel to other people. And then he says, not only give
yourself to reading, to exhortation. You know, before exhortation
comes reading. Before, you gotta have something
to say before you get up. And that's what he's talking
about here. You're reading, reading comes before exhortation. For
the scriptures, the foundation of everything we're to believe.
The scriptures is. And then look what he says in
verse 14. Oh, this is something here. Now,
you know, You know, he's talking to a young preacher here, and
I hope we can glean a few things out of it, but he said, neglect
not the gift that's in thee, which was given thee by prophecy,
by preaching, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.
And what he's saying is, don't neglect, don't be a lazy preacher,
don't be lazy. You know, don't neglect the gift
that God's given you. And I tell you, God, He's the
only one that can give a man the grace, give the man the gifts.
And I tell you what, He gave them for the edification of His
church. And I tell you everything, He says, the gifts, the gift
that is given thee. What is the gift? I think it's
strictly the gift of preaching. Although I think that was the
preach, you know, He didn't say gifts, He said gift. And so I
think it was the gift of preaching that God blessed him to have.
And he says, don't you neglect this gift. Don't you neglect
it through laziness. Don't you neglect it through
indifference. Don't go off and find something else to do and
try to make a living that way. And those men that prophesied
at his ministry and when he entered the ministry, they said, boy,
the great things is gonna tend this young man's ministry. But
don't neglect the gift that's in you. And here's the thing,
I don't know how you all, I don't know if you've ever noticed this
before, but when a man starts, the more a man starts, the more
a man preaches, especially a young man, the more he preaches, the
more his gifts are manifest, the more he exercise those gifts.
You can't neglect them, and you know I've, Preachers just went
off and they was very young when they started passing the church
and then in four or five years, it's amazing how much they grow.
And it's because of the gift that God gave them. And then
look what he says in verse 15. Did all they laid hands on him,
you know, that's a. Don Spurgeon said one time, he
said, I don't know why people want to lay empty hands on empty
heads and put them in the ministry. He said, that's what happens
in most places. They put empty hands on empty heads. They don't
put nothing in the brain or the mouth either one. But look how
he emphasized two things for young Timothy to do. And he says,
you meditate upon these things, give thyself wholly to them,
that thy profiting may be emphasized. He said two things, I want you
to get here. I want you to meditate. He says,
you know, whatever you read, you meditate about it, think
about it. Old timers used to say like this, Edward Blalock
used to call me all the time and say, Brother Donnie, I've
been studying. What that means is, is he's been
meditating, he's been thinking. And that's what the scriptures
mean here, think on them. Meditate on them, consider. How
many times do you, in your lifetime, while you're on a job or in your
home or wherever you're at, driving in your car, a verse of scripture
or something will come to your mind and you think about it.
And you meditate on it, you consider it. And that's what he's talking
about, meditation. And not only meditation, but
dedication. Give yourself wholly to this,
completely to this. No, I meditate on the scripture. Spend time in study, spend time
in prayer. Spend time in personal, personal
devotion. And give yourself up wholly and
completely to the ministry of the word of God. And what he
means is throw yourself completely into the work of the gospel.
Oh, and then when people are sick, Your ability, your growth,
and your usefulness will be evident to everybody. I remember years
and years ago, I was thinking about starting a business. I really thought about it, and
going into business, and I was already a pastor in the church,
and Scott Richardson down preaching for us, and I told Scott, what
I was thinking about. You know what Scott said? He
said, the scripture says to lay hold on eternal life. Now you
can't hold on to eternal life and that over there at the same
time. One of them's gotta be turned loose. I forgot that quick. I said, that ain't gonna be no
business for me. He got my attention that quick. You lay hold on eternal
life. And you can't hold on to Christ
and may hold on to eternal life and hold on to something else
at the same time. Can't be done. One of them is
going to be your master. One of them is going to be your
master. And I want Christ my master.
I don't want a job to be my master. I don't want anything that I've
got or possess to be my master. You know, Paul said, I want to
keep my body under subjection so that I'll not be bound by
anything. I will not let nothing bind me. I'll not be brought under subjection
to nothing. I'm not going to let my body
rule me. I'm not going to let my mind rule me. I'm not going
to let men rule me. I'm not going to let flesh rule
me. I'm not going to let some job
rule me. I'm not going to do that. He
said, I'll give myself completely and wholly and entirely up to
the gospel. Up to the gospel. And people
want preachers to do that. They want the preacher to do
that. But don't you think all of us
ought to do that? All of us ought to give ourselves up wholly to
the Lord Jesus Christ. Not just the preacher. Preacher, we're sure glad you're
dedicated, we're sure glad you study, we're sure glad you come
up with a message. But if I give myself holy to
it, shouldn't everybody give their self up holy to it? Huh? Don't you want to give yourself
up holy to the Lord Jesus Christ? Don't you sometimes say, Lord,
if I, that's what David said, if there had been any evil way
in me, Deliver me from it, Lord. Save me from it. Save me from
it. All right, look in verse 16.
And then he said, take heed to thyself. Now this is something
for all of us to do. I'm gonna talk to all of us now.
Take heed to thyself. Don't take heed to your neighbor.
Don't take heed to your wife. Don't take heed to a church member.
Take heed to thyself. And oh, listen, he said, take
heed unto thyself. Take heed to your attitude. Take
heed to your conduct. Take heed to your objectives.
Take heed to your faith, your personal faith. Take heed to
your relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. And then he goes
on to say this, take heed unto thyself and the doctrine. Make
sure your doctrine's right. Make sure that Christ is your
doctrine, that there are doctrines according to the scriptures.
See that you preach, see that you understand the truth of the
scriptures. And look what he says now. He
said, if you do this, you continue in taking heed to yourself and
take heed to the doctrine. Because he says, you know, he
warned him, he said, let no man teach no other doctrine. But
here he says, for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself.
Now how can he go save himself? Huh? Oh my, he shall save himself
first of all from error. Huh? Save himself from the blood
of all men. Save himself from heresies and
false teachers. Save himself becoming a castaway. And he said, and here it's not
only will you save yourself, but if your doctrine's right,
and your teaching's right, and the preaching's right, he said,
not only will you be able to save yourself, taking heed to
yourself and your doctrine, but what you teach and preach, other
people will be saved themselves by what you preach, by the doctrine
you preach. And so, and people, people watch,
you know, People say, well, I can't help people watch me. No, it
don't bother me for folks to watch me. It really doesn't. And follow me around, and I don't care. If you see me doing
something wrong, pray for me. But I tell you, this is one thing
I do know, that I believe all of us as a congregation ought
to make it our business, our personal business, every individual's
business, to give ourselves up to Christ, take heed to ourselves,
and take heed to the doctrine that we preach and the doctrine
that