If you would, turn with me to
1 Timothy chapter 4. We're going to look at verse 12 as
our text tonight. This is Paul writing to Timothy.
He says, Let no man despise thy youth. But be thou an example
of the believers in word, in conversation, in charity, in
spirit, in faith and impurity. So what initially drew me to
this was looking at Timothy and Paul saying, Let no man despise
thy youth. And so this was while this was
written to Timothy, this was also written to the church in
Corinth. And Paul was telling them that, you know, I'm going
to send Timothy your way and don't despise him if I send him.
And so either this is as a result of something that happened in
the past with them. Timothy had been there and they
didn't, for whatever reason, respond to him. Or this is as
a result of the trouble that they had in that church anyway,
and Paul maybe foresaw maybe some trouble in sending Timothy
there. So he writes that. He wrote it
also to Timothy. And the reason he wrote it to
Timothy, I believe, is Timothy needed confidence. Timothy evidently
had trouble. Timothy, Paul wrote to him, be
not ashamed of the testimony of our Lord. Timothy evidently
had struggled with fear of man, fear of what men thought men
would say this gospel that offends man. And so Timothy may have
also. Needed confidence in his ability
to preach. Paul says, let no man despise that youth at this
time, I believe the historians have indicated Timothy is about
30 years old. And I'm 30 years old right now,
and so I can somewhat identify with this in that, you know,
finding no confidence in myself or my abilities to to preach
and needing confidence. And so I can see why he writes
this to Timothy. This thing of preaching the gospel
is the hardest thing I've ever done. It exposes every weakness
and inability in a man and is no light matter for the for the
here and for the man who bears the message. So I ask you to
pray for me. And like Timothy, the Lord would
give me confidence and boldness to declare his gospel. And my
prayer for myself is that despite myself, the Lord would glorify
himself and would bless you and not send you away hungry. We
come here to feed and hear from him. So back in verse 12, he
says, let no man despise that youth would be an example of
the believers. And this thing of being an example
of the believers, I looked at what did he mean by being an
example? A lot of the old writers suggested that this word example,
they use the word looking glass a lot. I read a commentary that
John Calvin wrote and he kept referring back to this looking
glass, looking glass, looking glass being the mirror image.
And so this can tell us two things about being an example of the
believers is first, We can't be an example of anything that
we're not already. And the mirror is the perfect
example. What does the mirror show us?
The mirror just shows me what's there already. It doesn't show
me what I want to be. It doesn't show me what I don't
want or like about myself. It shows me what's there. And
so when he says to Timothy, be an example of the believers,
Timothy, we can only be what we are already. And secondly,
what our pastors told us, We only truly believe what is seen
by what we do. So what I do is evidence of what
I truly believe. And so when he tells Timothy
to be an example, it's we only exercise what we believe. So
be an example of the believers in word, in conversation, in
charity, in spirit, in faith and in purity. So we'll deal
with it. And those are my six points.
So the first one, be an example in word, be an example in word
is what I say. I don't want the words that I
say to be vain and trite. The scripture says that every
idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof
in the day of judgment. So I don't want my words to be
idle words. I want my words to be words of
wisdom and not witty words of wisdom that I can come up with.
I want them to be the words of God. We speak words of wisdom
and we speak only the word of God. And this is seen by first
in confessing the gospel. We confess the gospel, we confess
to God is God's holy, God's sovereign. He's the creator of everything.
And by all him, things consist and he can do with me as he pleases. And it's right because he does
it. In confessing the gospel, I confess who I am. I'm a sinner. I'm not just a sinner and say,
well, but I do some good things, too. No, I'm a sinner and that's
all I do. That's what we heard this morning. And I'm a sinner
and all I do because I'm constrained by my nature. All I can do is
sin. And in seeing that I'm completely reprobate and incapable of doing
anything but sin, that shows me my need of him, need of Christ,
need of salvation. Christ is the only way to salvation
and there's no other way we come. And in confessing that Christ
is the only way of salvation, that means I reject all other
ways. There's no there's no other way. Secondly, what I say is
evidence of what is in me. So if you will turn over to Matthew,
chapter 15, look at a couple verses over here. So we're being an example in
word what we say, look at verse 11. Not that which goeth into the
mouth, defileth a man, but that which cometh out of the mouth,
this defileth a man. So we can see here evil is not
in things, it's not in the things we take in, it's in the things
that come out. And so evil is in me, it's not
in things, it's in my flesh. So going on over in verse 16. And Jesus said, Are you also
yet without understanding? Do you not yet understand that
whatsoever enters in at the mouth goeth into the belly and is cast
out into the draw? But those things which proceed
out of the mouth come forth from the heart and they defile the
man. For out of the heart proceed
evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness,
blasphemies. These are the things which defile
a man. But to eat with unwashing hands defileth not a man. So
the words from the mouth, it's what comes from the source. So
the words that come from the mouth come from the heart. If
the heart's corrupt, then the words from the mouth are going
to be corrupt and going to be evil. It's evidence of what is
in me. James gave the example of a fountain. He said a fountain can't put
forth both saltwater and freshwater. And so what he means by that,
I believe, is the fountain can only put forth the water it draws
from its source. And so if the source of the fountain
is saltwater, then it can only put forth saltwater. Just as
if I have an evil and corrupt heart, all that can come forth
from my mouth is evil. But what about what basically
is preached everywhere else where you say, well, you know, I put
my, you know, good works in there, too. Well, you you can't have
that because you see if you even if I dump fresh water into that
salt water source and put more and more and more and maybe I
can taste it and say, well, this tastes like fresh water because
I put so much fresh water in there. The salt water is still
there. It's it may be diluted down, but it's still there. It's
not pure. And so you can't mingle grace and works just as you can't
mingle and say that a corrupt heart can be both good and evil.
And so if I'm to speak good and pure words and those come from
a new heart and only God can get that. That can't come from
a choice for me. It has to come from God, the
new man and the new birth. So it can't start out as one
and then become the other. So this new heart will yield
new words and only God can provide this. So I want to give evidence
of the new heart by what I say. And I believe the next ask three
questions next that I borrow from, I believe, Pastor Mahan. Yes. Three questions. And what
we say is it first is true. Well, yes, what I have to say
is true. Is it necessary? Yes. Well, it's true and necessary
what I want to say. Well, is it also kind? Well,
that's where most of the time we stop if we really ask those
three questions. And I believe I'd have a whole
lot less to say if I lived by those three questions and what
came out of my mouth. So I want to give evidence of
the new heart in me by what I say, giving an example in word. So
we're also told that back to our text, Timothy four, to be
an example of the believers in conversation. And in conversation,
this means what I do. So turn over to Romans chapter
six, see a little more on this. And what's written here is more
than what can even be commented on, so I'm just going to read
it, let it speak for itself. Romans six, verse one, what shall
we say then? Shall we continue in sin that
grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that
are dead to sin live any longer than any? Know ye not that so
many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into
his death? Therefore, we are buried with
him by baptism into death, like that as Christ was raised up
from the dead by the glory of the father. Even so, we also
should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together
in the likeness of his death, we shall also be in the likeness
of his resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man,
that's our flesh, that the body of sin is crucified with him,
that the body of sin might be destroyed, and henceforth we
should not serve sin. Go down to verse 11. Likewise,
reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but
alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin
therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it,
and the less thereof. Neither yield your members as
instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves
unto God, and those that are alive from the dead, and your
members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have
dominion over you, for you are not under law, but under grace.
What then? Shall we sin because we are not
under the law, but under grace? God forbid. This thing of conversation,
being a believer in. Example of the believers in conversation,
this is not forced. It's not something I don't want
to do. It's not false. It's not something that I'm not.
And it's not faint. It's not something that I'm faking,
because if it's faint, then it'll go away. This is this is who
the new man is. So Paul tells us to put off our
former conversation. Let it not be said of me for
the gospel to be in question over my conduct. As believers,
we have a responsibility. We are ambassadors to Christ
in this world. And so I want to give you kind
of an illustration that occurred to me as I was working on this
message. A few weeks ago, I went over to Canada for work. And
for my job, I carry tools in my briefcase. And you can only
carry certain things on an airplane or they'll take it from you.
You know, if you have so much liquid, they'll just take it
from you. So they're very restrictive. Do this every week, I know exactly
what I'm allowed to have. I go to Canada, no problem. Do
my job there. As I'm coming back through customs,
I have to go through Canadian customs, which I didn't know
they have different rules. I thought the US would have been
the most restrictive. This man went through my bag
and said, I'm sorry, you have some tools in here. He said,
and they're contraband and you can't have them. I said, I think
you're mistaken. I've made sure these are Boom,
boom, boom, went down the list of what you're allowed to have.
He said, well, he said, that might be true in the US, but
not in Canada. Picked him up and threw him right in the trash
in front of me. Very callous, very ugly. I'm very upset. And he had no sympathy on me
at all. And I explained I'd collected
these over the past seven years. Didn't care. Not my problem.
Move along, please. The illustration I want to give
here is that for some of us, if my whole experience and thoughts
toward Canada and the people of Canada were based on this
one man, then I wouldn't have a very good view of Canada and
the people of Canada and probably wouldn't want to go there. Because of that, our responsibility,
those of us who are believers, there's some of us who, whether
it be our neighbors, the people we work with, or our families,
we may be the only person that they ever come in contact with
that is a believer of the gospel. And I don't want to offend them
or to, through my actions, represent the gospel in a way that offends
them to not listening to or coming to hear the gospel preached.
So for Christ's sake and for the gospel sake, I don't want
to bring shame upon it through my conduct. Evil communications
will certainly corrupt good manners. And so I ask the Lord to hedge
me about to keep me from that. What I say and what I do must
be in agreement. And as I say that I my conscience
is screaming, you're a hypocrite, you're a liar. Because what I
say and what I do are not always the same. And I thank God that
I'm viewing Christ. I was looking for some consolation
in this and that was, I mean, I'm viewing Christ and I don't
have to worry that the Lord looks at me and sees the hypocrisy
of what I'm saying. He looks to Christ. My comfort
was found, I looked in first John, chapter two, where he says,
My little children, these things are right unto you that you sin
not. Well, I'm going to sin. But then he goes on to say and
says, And when you do, we have an advocate with the father,
Jesus Christ, the righteous. This is my comfort. This is,
you know, he is who we look to for this. So back to our text. First, Timothy four. Be an example
of the believers in word, in conversation, and in charity. Charity is in love. So look at
a familiar passage, Scripture in 1 Corinthians 13. Let's start in verse 4. Charity or
love suffereth long. and is kind. Charity envies not. Charity vaunteth not itself,
is not puffed up. Charity does not behave itself
unseemly, seeks not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh
no evil. Charity rejoiceth not in iniquity,
but rejoiceth in the truth. Charity beareth all things, believeth
all things, hopeth on things, and endureth all things. Charity
never fails. And so charity, the love of Christ,
constrains me. It constrains us to believe,
to do, to bow, and to love Christ as he is. We don't make excuses
for him. We actually love him as he is
and rejoice in it. Being an example in charity and
love gives me a love for other believers, other believers. You all are my family. This is
my family. This is who I find fellowship
with. Charity causes someone to show mercy because I want
God to show mercy to me. It causes me to be merciful. Charity causes us to pity and
to help one another because I'm weak, too. I need help. So back
to our text. There's Timothy four. Be that
example of the believers in word, in conversation, in charity and
in spirit. How do you be an example in spirit?
Well, I'm flesh and bones. I don't know how to show an example
in spirit. But what I can do is show evidence
of the work of the Holy Spirit in me. That's what I believe
he means by being an example in spirit. And so this is not
contrived. It's not something that we can
manufacture. It's not something that we're convinced of. You
can't be convinced of the work of the Holy Spirit. If the Holy
Spirit works in us, then we will show forth that. So where the
Holy Spirit makes his abode, how can we not rejoice? The Holy
Spirit brings the spirit of rest, spirit of peace, spirit of joy. There's no more work. Christ
has done everything. He causes me to believe, causes
me to love God. All these things I can't do.
I can't believe anything. I can't trust in Christ. I have
no faith apart from the work of the Holy Spirit. When David
says in Psalm 37 to delight thyself in the Lord. And this is not
just to say, well, you know, though my circumstances may be,
you know, kind of down, I'm going to try to have a positive attitude
about it. It's actually to delight yourself in the Lord, to rejoice
that God's on the throne, that everything's OK and to rejoice
in his salvation and that he's God. And then this is this is
what our joy is and only those holy spirits, only the Holy Spirit
can give us this ability to be an example in spirit. and show
the evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit, we see contentment
in Christ. And this is what we love, to
be found in Christ, to know him, to believe the gospel. There's
no worldly enticements when we have a view of who the Lord is.
He's our joy, he's our hope, he's our expected end. And so
this is where our contentment in Christ comes from, which gives
us faith, strength, perseverance in the gospel. So back to first
Timothy four. That was being an example in
spirits, and now we're going to look at to be an example in
faith. How do you be an example in faith?
Simply put, faith believes God. Abraham, when he was given the
promise through Isaac, He didn't he didn't not fulfill what God
asked him to do. He went to go kill Isaac, and
he believed that the Lord would still raise him from the dead
to bring the promise to pass. Faith believes that the Lord
will provide. The Lord will provide bread for my table, provisions
that I need in this life. Faith believes that the Lord
will provide a sacrifice for my sins. He's justified me and
made me not guilty. And faith believes that he'll
provide a clean and white cloak for my righteousness, my sanctification. If you would turn over to Galatians
chapter 2. This is one of the verses I turn
to often when looking at faith. Verse 16. Knowing that a man is not justified
by the works of the law. But by the faith of Jesus Christ,
even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified
by the faith of Jesus Christ and not the works of the law,
for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. So looking
at what that says there, if my faith is in him by the faith
of Jesus Christ, then his faith is my faith, even we have believed
in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of
Jesus Christ. So if my faith's in him, then
I don't need to know my faith is weak. But if my faith is in
him, that's what God looks to. So I want to be in him and my
faith be found in him. How do we be an example in faith?
Look to Christ. Believe in him. His faith is
what we bring before the father. So our last point of what an
example of the believers is, 1 Timothy 4, is to be an example
in purity. And this one, for me, was a little
harder. I started looking into some of
the commentary on this and saying, how am I going to be an example?
impurity, because you feel so impure and vile as a sinner. And how do you be an example
of impurity? A lot of the commentators use the word pure and chaste
and all this stuff, and I found no comfort in that. So I kept
digging a little further. And so what I found were a couple
of root words. The root meanings for this word,
one is holy and saint, and the second was sacrifice. So that
led me to look at how the example in Purity, Romans 6, yields yourself
unto God and not sin. Romans 12, 1 says, present your
bodies a living sacrifice. And further in Romans 12, he
says, so pour that which is evil, cleave to that which is good.
And so, yielding yourself unto God, presenting yourself as a
living sacrifice. There's a war that we have going
on inside of us. We have the new man and the old
man, the flesh and the spirit and one less against the other.
And so purity for most folks, the way most people define it,
is trying to be a way you really don't want to be, but believe
God wants you to be. It has some sort of respect into
you for trying to be that way. Purity for the believer is out
of love for the Lord. Purity for the believer. says
I don't want to sin, but yet I fail at it anyway. I fail at
it because of my nature, my sinful nature. Purity for the believer
is taking sides with the Lord against myself and condemning
and crucifying this flesh day by day with the strength that
we're giving. This is presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice,
yielding ourself unto God. This is what purity is. And so
with the strength I'm given, I'll do this. So we're to be
an example in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, faith,
and in purity. Lastly, I ask the question, why?
Why do we need to be examples? Paul tells Timothy to be an example
to the believers. So there had to have been five.
Well, first, it glorifies God. We're giving no quarter to our
sin. We side with God against ourselves. This is how we want
to be. This is my new nature. I want
to be this way. And it's out of love for Christ
in whom there's forgiveness of sin and newness of life. So the
second reason as to why we're examples is that it's for the
good of his people. In this life where sin is present,
we still have to go through this experience, even though through
in God's eyes, You know, I'm I'm already in Christ, but yet
we have to go through this experience and sin is a burden on the Lord's
people. But in this thing of being an example of the believers,
we give encouragement to one another. I need strength. I'm
weak. And so I need encouragement.
This gives me encouragement. The example does not earn me
a reward. This is not some sort of work
because I'm God's glory. I'm his redeemed. He redeemed
me. He did all the work. So I can't
get anything for it. I'm a trophy of his grace. You
think, well, how much work does the trophy do in winning the
competition or the game or the battle? Whatever it is, the trophy
is just the end prize. All the glory is to him. He's
the one that did it. I'm just the trophy of his grace.
So I ask the Lord to give us strength to be examples out of
love for Christ and out for the good for his people.