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CHURCH IMPROVEMENT : BUILDING A CHURCH THAT HONORS GOD AND LOVES PEOPLE BY PROVIDING A PROCESS FOR PROGRESS IN FAITH1 Timothy 4:6-16 INTRODUCTION Like most in our culture I learned to drive a car during the months leading up to my sixteenth birthday. Actually I informally began the process many years earlier when my dad would sit me on his lap and let me steer the car through the country roads as we went to see my Uncle Paul and Aunt Leona who owned a farm outside of Janesville . But in the months before my sixteenth birthday I engaged in the formal process of learning to drive. I went through the classroom portion where we learned traffic laws and the rights and responsibilities of driving. I spent a certain number of hours in a driving simulator. Finally I drove for a couple of hours with Mr. Kissling in the passenger seat overseeing my driving. I also drove quite a bit with my mom and dad in the passenger seat during those months. The week following my sixteenth birthday I took the written test and the road test and passed and was given the license that permitted me to experience the benefits of driving an automobile. The point of this is that in order to obtain the benefits, I needed to go through the process of learning to drive safely. We all now know that simply giving the keys to the car to a sixteen year old with no training is foolish. Everyone must complete the process if they are going to experience the benefits of driving. This isn’t only true of driving. In almost every part of our lives we engage in processes of learning in order to be able to obtain the benefits that come with mastering a skill or obtaining a license or becoming certified. If you are going to adequately perform your job or enjoy your hobby you know that you must go through a process of education and supervised practice, that even includes video games. Barb Roberts didn't wake up one morning able to play the flute the way she does. She had to submit to a process of learning supervised by a person who was better than her at playing the flute. What is true of almost every aspect of our lives generally is equally true of our spiritual lives. Contrary to what many think, the Bible does not teach instantaneous spiritual maturity. Christianity is not a magical religion where God waves his wand over you and you become a spiritual superman, able to perform astounding feats of faith from the moment of conversion. While there is a moment of supernatural, spiritual birth that occurs at the beginning of every true Christian’s life, yet maturity as a Christian is a process, just like physical growth. Everywhere in the Bible it is assumed that every Christian is engaged in a lifelong process of growth in the “grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.” Just as it is assumed in the Scriptures that every Christian is pursuing spiritual growth so it assumes that every local church is organized to facilitate and carry forward that process in each person’s life. The church is supposed to be a place where a person, no matter where they are at in their spiritual development can find help to take the next step forward. We can clearly see that concern in our text this morning. While the letter of 1 Timothy was written to Paul’s young apprentice, Timothy, who was a pastor of the church in Ephesus , yet what Paul wrote was intended for the benefit of the entire church. While the bulk of vv. 6-16 are directed at Timothy it is clear that Paul ultimately has the well-being of the church in mind. You can see this in vv. 6 (point these things out to the brothers), 8-9 (gaining the promise connected to godliness, which is life, is something that all should heartily welcome), 11 (command and teach that God is the Savior of believers and that godliness possesses the promise of life now and forever), 12 (be an example of those who believe) and most clearly at the end of v. 16 (labor to save your hearers). Paul wants Timothy to be fully engaged in the process of spiritual growth and he wants it for Timothy so that the congregation will observe it and emulate it. He is urging Timothy to be totally immersed in “training himself for the purpose of godliness”; of being so devoted to this that all may see his progress and thus imitate him and be saved. He is not only to model it but he is to teach it. MAIN POINT Every church is to engage every person associated with it in a process of spiritual growth, which… I. Has godliness as its goal (vv. 7-9, 10b, 16b) Verses 7-9 are at the heart of this passage as they give definition to the goal or end for which Timothy is to live and teach. The last sentence of v. 7 gives the goal, Timothy, and every Christian, is to discipline himself (or herself) for the purpose of attaining godliness. What is godliness? Often, when I’m trying to understand the meaning of a word I think about its opposite. The opposite of godly is ungodly. Many years ago there was a commercial for the soft drink “7 Up”. The commercial identified 7Up as the “uncola”. What is an “uncola”? It is a soda with no cola in it. It is free from cola and has nothing to do with cola. What is an ungodly person? An ungodly person is a person who is devoid of God and the things of God. To be ungodly is to be a person who has no interest in God, nor the things of God. Therefore, to be godly is to be a person who is full of God, who is taken up with God and the things that God is interested in. Godliness then is the condition of being a person who is full of faith in and love for God and all that concerns God. It is the opposite of indifference to God. It is not only an internal attitude but also reflected in a lifestyle that demonstrates that God is the object of your affections. Reinhold Messner is one of the most famous mountain climbers in the world. He is one of the few men alive to have climbed the 14 tallest mountains on the earth. He has climbed many by himself and without oxygen. His feats of daring skill are legendary. He grew up at the foot of the Alps among people who climbed mountains for fun and so he began climbing with his father and neighbors at an early age. As a young man he spent all of his weekends climbing the mountains of Europe . He trained relentlessly to gain the highest level of physical fitness and endurance possible. It became his lifelong vocation, avocation and obsession. He was a man who disciplined himself for the purpose of mountain climbing. He lived a life that externally exhibited that his heart was full of affection for mountain climbing. He learned that affection from his father and the community in which he grew up. Godliness is not some strange human experience. Rather, to be a godly person is to be a normal human being who has as the object of his or her affection the God of the universe, rather than some created portion of the universe. To be godly is to a person who shows he or she is obsessed with God by how he or she lives. But notice that godliness is not really the ultimate end. Verse 8 tells us why godliness is worthy of our pursuit. The reason to be taken up with God, to be a godly person, is because of the promise that is given to those who are taken up with God, life both in the present world and in the world to come. The value of godliness is compared to the value of physical exercise. We all know that physical exercise leads to many benefits for physical life. The other night I was visiting my mom and dad and the evening news was on. There was report that walking three times a week for 20 minutes at a time improved the mental health of elderly people experiencing the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease and other age related dementia. My dad, who is 92, has experienced some memory and cognition loss due to some minor stroking. When he heard that report he immediately said that he was going to start walking every day. Why did he say that? He believes that gaining back memory and cognition is a good thing. He is eager to engage in physical discipline because of the benefits. We know, even better than Paul, that physical exercise can dramatically improve your physical life. Yet notice that all the benefits of physical exercise are of little value in comparison to godliness, which has value for all things because it has the promise of life connected to it, life now and life in the future. (The literal translation of v. 8b is: "…godliness is valuable for all things because it holds the promise of life, life now and life in the future.") To what does “the promise of life” refer? In 2 Timothy 1:1 Paul uses the exact same phrase but identifies the life he is talking about. It is the promise of life in Christ Jesus. In other words, God promises to those who discipline themselves for the purpose of godliness life in and with Jesus Christ. This is eternal life. All the godly experience life in union with Jesus Christ now and forever. The end of v. 8 is not describing two kinds of lives but rather one life experienced in two different circumstances. We experience the confidence and joy of knowing Jesus now in the midst of this fallen and cursed world and one day we will experience that same life we currently possess in the new heavens and the new earth where we will see Jesus face to face and know him as intimately and thoroughly as he now knows us. In other words Paul commands Timothy to engage in the process of attaining godliness so that he can know Jesus now and forever. This promise of life given to the godly is a fact that, according to v. 9, every one of us ought to embrace enthusiastically. It is a faithful saying, worthy of all acceptance. Giving your life to the pursuit of being full of God is not a vain pursuit, it will result in a life lived in fellowship with Jesus now and forever. This, according to the end of v. 10 and the end of v. 16 is salvation. Salvation is living in union with Jesus Christ now and forever. Here is the question that confronts each of us: Is living in fellowship with Jesus Christ now and forever a great thing or a little thing to me? If you believe that possessing the life of Jesus is a great thing then you will engage in the process of disciplining yourself for the purpose of living a life that is taken up with God and what God cares about. However, if you think living in fellowship with Jesus is a little thing then you won’t. You’ll discipline yourself for the purpose of the joy that comes from mountain climbing or sex or a loving family or an enjoyable career or whatever. Whatever you are disciplining yourself for reveals what you believe to be the best and happiest thing that you can possess. For what are you disciplining yourself? Every church is to engage every person associated with it in a process of spiritual growth, which…
II. Requires disciplined effort (vv. 6-7, 9-10, 15-16) One thing you cannot miss in this passage is that Paul believes that participating in the life that is in Christ Jesus is completely tied up with a disciplined pursuit of godliness. The word in v. 7 that is translated “discipline” is the word from which we get gymnasium. It is the word that was used to describe what the Greek Olympic athletes did to prepare for their competition. If you think about it, v. 7 is simply using the concept of physical training that an athlete engages in to describe the process we are all to engage in spiritually. Every coach tells his athletes to have nothing to do with junk food, to staying up late playing video games, drinking alcohol, using drugs, etc. but rather they are to discipline themselves for the purpose of athletic success by eating right, getting plenty of sleep, and doing all the workouts he gives to them. That is what Paul is telling Timothy, “have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales, rather train yourself to be godly.” You say no to certain things, here Paul identifies godless myths and silly stories and you say yes to other things, to a disciplined life. In v. 10 Paul says that all Christians are laboring and striving for this end, to be godly and thus share in the promise of life that is associated with godliness. The second of the two words in v. 10 is the word from which we get “agonizing”. There is an intensity of effort that characterizes Christians in our pursuit of godliness. This intensity is further reflected in the last two verses of the chapter. Timothy is to pay careful attention to these things. He is to be wrapped up in these things. He is to keep watch over himself and his teaching, persevering in these things. Before we discuss exactly how we are to discipline ourselves I want to show you that Paul is not teaching a way to be saved here that is contrary to what he teaches everywhere else. He is not teaching that you can earn your way into heaven or that your discipline is what gets you into heaven. It is not your godliness that will get you into heaven. First, look at v. 10. Paul says that all Christians have “set their hope on God who is the Savior of all men, especially those who believe.” That phrase cannot mean that God saves all people without distinction but he really saves believers. Rather Paul is saying that God saves all sorts of people who believe in Christ. His salvation isn't limited to a certain race or class of people but he saves people from every category of person you can imagine on condition that they believe. Salvation is not given to those who work hard but to those who believe. The same point is made two verses later when Paul tells Timothy that he is to be an example of believers. It is our faith that unites us to Christ, not our work. Also, in chapter 1:15 Paul says there is another trustworthy saying that is worthy of all acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” There are two trustworthy sayings that every Christian should enthusiastically embrace: Christ only saves sinners who believe and godliness has value for everything because it holds the promise of life in Christ both now and forever. Finally, look over at 2 Timothy 1:8-10. God saves us not by our works but by his own purpose and grace given to us in Jesus. What does all this mean? Every sinner who believes in Jesus is forgiven of their sins and declared perfectly righteous in God’s sight not because of what he or she has done but only because of what Christ has done. And every sinner who believes in Jesus not only believes that Jesus will do what he says, forgive his or her sins, but also believes that being forgiven is the best thing that ever happened to him. So every believing sinner engages in the process of disciplining herself for godliness. Everyone who has faith in Christ believes that to be taken up with God, to be full of God is better than everything else in the universe. We've been given life in Christ and so we are beginning now to live out that life which we will one day enjoy perfectly in the new creation. What sort of discipline does Paul have in mind when he says; “discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness?” What is the labor and striving in which every Christian engages? First of all, if you look at vv. 6-7a it is the discipline of learning the truth of God as contained in the Scriptures. Timothy is able to give sound teaching to the church because he is being nourished by the words of the faith and because he has paid attention to the good teaching. He also is to avoid bad doctrine, godless and silly stories. In addition you can see that learning the doctrines that Bible teaches is the discipline Paul has in mind when you see how many times in these few verses Paul tells Timothy to teach doctrine and read Scripture and explain what it means (vv. 11, 13, 15). Every person who is disciplining themselves for the purpose of godliness is a person who is disciplining themselves to learn the Bible and the doctrine the Bible teaches. We turn off the godless and silly myths on the TV and read the Bible with our families. We ignore the vast amounts of godless and silly myths on the internet and go read theology or listen to sermons on the scores of amazing websites on the worldwide web. The second part of the discipline that we are to exercise is described in v. 12. Timothy is to be an example of those who believe in his speech, his conduct, his love, his faith and his purity. In other words there is a way of life that corresponds to the heart of faith. People who believe that knowing Jesus forever is a great thing, discipline their speech, they watch what they say and don’t say. They use their words to help people. In addition they are careful in what they do in all of the areas of their life. We know that God cares about all that we do and so we discipline our actions. We discipline our love. We exercise love towards others. We look for ways to communicate our affection for other Christians in particular. Then we discipline our faith. We take risks for the sake of Christ, depending on him to care for us. We don’t make decisions based on fear of loss but on faith in Christ to take care of us. Finally, we discipline our relationships with members of the opposite sex. We keep our sexual desires under control and live pure lives, not indulging in any form of sexual immorality. As Paul tells Timothy in v. 16 we are disciplined in both our life and our doctrine. It is possible to be actively involved in the church and its activities, to even be reading your Bible and not be doing it for the purpose of godliness. We don't do these things for the purpose of being known as a godly person by others. We don't do it to prove to God that we are worthy of heaven. We don't discipline ourselves so we won't feel guilty. We don't discipline ourselves so we will be a good witness for Jesus. We discipline ourselves because we want to know this Jesus who has saved a sinner like me. Every church is to engage every person associated with it in a process of spiritual growth, which…
III. Is modeled and taught by leaders who are themselves making progress (vv. 6-7a, 11-16) How does Paul expect the Christians in the church in Ephesus to grow in their faith? What exactly is the process being offered through the church to ensure that the Christians there grow in godliness? The short answer is Timothy. Timothy living and teaching the gospel while in close relationship with the people. As the believers witness Timothy’s example and as they hear him preaching and teaching the word of God, they engage in the process of disciplining themselves for the purpose of godliness because it holds the promise of life. The end of v. 16 contains an astonishing promise. Paul tells Timothy that if he will persevere in living a life in the pursuit of godliness and if he will persevere in the faithful teaching of the Scriptures, then he will save both himself and those who listen to him. Paul is not contradicting what he just said in v. 10 that God is the Savior of all kinds of people who believe. Rather he is stating that the ordinary means that God uses to save people are people. In the church, people are the process, not programs. The evangelism and discipleship program in the church in Ephesus was Timothy modeling and teaching the gospel as he carefully watched that his life and doctrine conformed to the biblical standard. Paul does not believe that every person who witnesses Timothy's life and listens to him preach is going to be saved. Rather he is saying that all who are saved in the church at Ephesus will be saved in this way. Godly leaders who faithfully teach the gospel is the means God has appointed for people to become Christians and grow as Christians. Bringing people to faith in Christ and enabling them to pursue godliness is a relationally, personally intensive process. It cannot be done through slick multi-media presentations or seminars taught by experts or entertaining worship services. You cannot mass produce godly Christians through some sort of one size fits all program. People make progress spiritually in direct proportion to the quality of their spiritual leader's lives and knowledge of the Scriptures and how close they are to them, relationally. There is no quick and easy way to turn sinners into saints. The biblical method is for growing leaders to take the initiative to model, preach and teach the gospel to others who can see that how they are living matches up with what they are saying. Let me say a quick word to every parent who is listening to me, including me. You should read Paul's instructions to Timothy as if they were written to you. The same words used here to tell Timothy how to relate to the entire church are used by Paul when instructing parents on how to deal with their children in Ephesians 6:4 and elsewhere. Parents, do you want your children who listen to you to come to faith? Then discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness. Teach and command these things. Be an example of one who believes in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Doing this will not guarantee every child of yours will become a Christian but this is how those who become Christians and grow will do so. I had the good fortune when I became a Christian to do so in the context of a group of Christians who were absolutely convinced that the way that people came to faith in Christ and the way they grew up in Christ was through older Christians teaching the gospel to and living the gospel with non-Christians and younger Christians. A month after I became a Christian I was invited into the home of an older Christian. We spent every evening for two weeks talking about the gospel and the Word of God. I peppered him with questions. Not only did we talk but I also got to see him interact with his wife and children. Then over the next two years I was with him in a multitude of different situations. I was frequently in his home. I observed him teaching and counseling and sharing the gospel in small groups, large groups and one to one. I had the opportunity to have him watch me do these things and evaluate how I was doing. I talked with him almost weekly about my walk with Christ and the ministry of evangelism and discipleship the Lord was giving me in my dormitory. I am persuaded that what I experienced is to be the normal experience of every Christian in a local church. I want you to look at v. 14. Paul tells Timothy to not neglect the spiritual gift that was given him through a prophetic utterance when the elder board laid their hands on him. What is this talking about? At some point in Timothy’s past he was commissioned or ordained by the elder board of a local church to engage in the work of being an elder/pastor/overseer. We don’t know if this happened in Ephesus or his home church in Lystra or some other local church. What we do know is that just like what happened in Acts 13 when the elders of the church in Antioch laid their hands on Paul and Barnabas to commission them to the work of preaching the gospel among the Gentiles throughout the Roman Empire, so the elders of some local church identified Timothy as a person that God had called to give leadership to the church. In addition, in that ceremony God also gave to Timothy a spiritual gift to enable him to perform what God had commissioned him to do. The existing church leadership recognized that what the church in Ephesus needed was a leader to model and teach the gospel up close and personal. Turn a page in your Bible and notice what Paul commands Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:2. Timothy is to find faithful men who are able to teach (notice the same two requirements that Timothy is to possess) so that he can teach them what Paul taught him so they can teach others. There is no question in my mind that the number one human activity that will determine the spiritual health of a church is the number and quality of spiritual leaders within the congregation. I’m not just talking about the official leaders: elders/pastors. Every church that is truly helping those whom God has sent to it grow in their relationship to him has figured out a way to identify, motivate, equip and support a growing number of growing spiritual leaders who model and teach the gospel in a variety of settings; through small groups, large groups and one to one. These leaders must be both men and women and of various ages. Not every Christian is called to serve the church in this way but within every congregation, some are called to do so. God has blessed our congregation with a group of godly men and women who are giving spiritual help to numbers of people within our congregation. However, we are at a place right now that requires that we become way more intentional about identifying, motivating, equipping and supporting a growing number of growing spiritual leaders. It is our ambition to have a growing number of leaders so that every person whom God sends to us will have the opportunity to have the gospel modeled for them and taught to them by an equipped and supported leader, up close and personal. Developing the process to raise up leaders like Timothy is the number one goal of the elder board this coming year. Please pray for us. Also, I am confident that many of you know that God wants you to be intentionally involved in modeling and teaching the gospel to others. Please talk with one of us elders if you feel that way. We will most certainly be talking with some of you as we move forward with this process. One of the first times I met Jesse he told me that he was looking for twenty men and twenty women who would join with him in making Christ known on the UW-Stevens Point campus where I was a student. He asked me if I wanted to be one of them. I really had no idea what he was talking about. What I did know is that I wanted to know Jesus and I wanted to be able to help others know Jesus. I knew that the way I could learn these things was to be with a person who knew these things better than I and was willing to help me. All of us need this same experience and many of us need to be the ones out front leading the way. May God make it so. Every church is to engage every person associated with it in a process of spiritual growth, which…
© Copyright 2007 John Swanson.
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