Good morning, welcome back to another rousing edition of the 5 Minute Challenge. As I sit at my desk to start writing this morning, it is raining and very cold outside. Yesterday we had the formation of ice on all the trees and on the house but luckily none on the streets. A few degrees colder and this little episode could have been really nasty.
One of the big things that has been a shock of our first winter back from Maui is being denied the outdoors. Obviously, weather like today dictates that you stay indoors all day. I mean, you can jump in the car and head off to work or to the store but you’re not going to go for a nice long walk in the warm sunshine. That was one thing about Maui, you had access to the outdoors year round with nary a deterrent. It’s just a much different way of life there, probably similar to Southern California or Southern Florida. Oh well, you know the saying "if you don’t like the weather in Texas just wait a few minutes." I saw that on Monday and Tuesday, the highs are going to be near 70! I’ll just have to double up my walks on those days.
This morning I had the joy of experiencing 1 Timothy chapter 4. This chapter is quite the read. If you could somehow build a time machine (a DeLorean of course) and transport yourself back to 54AD and sit in on a meeting between Paul and Timothy, this is exactly what you would hear. What a blessing from God to have this chapter preserved. I think sometimes we forget that God’s Word was written by real men. Real men led by the Holy Spirit of God. Paul wrote this letter to Timothy specifically to encourage and advise his young brother in Christ in the ways to lead and Pastor a church. What we encounter this morning is as pure and personal a correspondence as you will find in God’s Word. It is simply that, Paul writing to Timothy with much Godly wisdom and knowledge….and we simply get to listen in.
I’ve entitled the study today “Words to a Young Pastor” because that’s exactly what they are. Let’s take a look at the words that Paul has to offer young Timothy as he undertakes the great challenge of Pastoring his first church, the church at Ephesus.
1) Beware of wolves in sheep’s clothing that will infiltrate the flock and bring false teaching. (1 Tim 4:1-4) Just as in Paul’s day, today we need to be just as wary of ANY teaching that is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have a friend in our Wed. night small group that mentioned his friend during prayer time. His friend is at a church right down the street and they do not preach the deity of Christ. They have twisted the simple truth of God’s Word and his friend is sitting under this teaching. Guys, I drive by this church 10 times a week and had never given it a second thought! Don’t kid yourselves, the apostasy (abandonment) of the gospel that Paul speaks of is alive today and all around us. We all need to make sure that we are sitting under none other than the teaching of God’s Word EXACTLY as it is written.
2) Nourish up the brethren in the Words of Faith and of good doctrine. (1 Tim 4:6) This is a command for Timothy personally to be fed and to feed the brethren with the Word of God. Friends, as the 5MC plugs along we KEEP coming back to the Word of God. This is where it starts and where it stops. The Word of God is everything we need to know dierct from God. He has given us this complete, whole book, that is stuffed full of goodness, wisdom, knowledge, faith, truth and love. All we need do is open it, read it, study it and then apply it in our lives, in our church, and in our community. The request is open and standing…will you commit to the Word of God?
3) Have nothing to do with irreverent silly myths. (old wives tales) (1 Tim 4:7) Don’t get caught up in the old ways and methodology of men and women. They’re just that, man made and thereby tainted in sin. It also reverts back to the needless creation of laws and customs.
4) Train yourself for Godliness. (1 Tim 4:7) Think about an Olympic discus thrower. He will discover that he has a gift and a passion for the discus. He will not just forget this gift but he will act upon it. He will pursue it. He will train for years and years and dedicate his existence to this event. He will train physically and mentally. He will study and rehearse the mechanics of the throw over and over in his mind. He will have a discus in his hands probably more than any other object. He will always keep his goals close. In his mind he will constantly meditate on the specifics of throwing that disc and he will physically keep his tool close for practice. It is a gift that blooms into a passion. It then creates a routine of life that revolves around an end goal. The story I just described…do that with Godliness. Train yourself for Godliness. God’s Word is your discuss, keep it close and meditate on it’s law day and night.
5) If you stand for Jesus it will cost you something (1 Tim 4:10) We are told this over and over in scripture. If you choose to stand and serve Jesus Christ in this sin filled world you will eventually be called to suffer. But fear not, God is sufficient to see us through and He will see us emerge stronger as a result. It is His plan. “But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.” (1 Peter 4:13-14)
6) Let no man despise your youth. (1 Tim 4:12) Timothy was a young pastor and Paul knew that people would use whatever excuse they could find to discredit or discount him and the teachings of God. Paul gives simple practical advice here, “you might be a young man, but you’re a young man giving out the power of God’s Word!” You know, that’s a great point I should mention. As sinners, we are all in constant rebellion to God and His Word and that transfers to those that are giving it out. Be VERY careful letting your rebellion transfer to those that are giving out the Word of God. I have seen people get sideways and downright hateful with some of the nicest people I have ever met, because they were pastors simply giving out the Word of God. You see those people are not against the Pastor, but the Word of God. If you are right with God’s Word, you will be right with those that God has called to give it out.
7) Practice what you preach. (1 Tim 4:12) Paul says, “set the believers an example in your speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity.” The example starts with us. We set the example for others not the other way around. It reminds me of the old picture of a stubborn mule that won’t budge. You’ve got two choices to get him going, pull or push. If you push it’s simply brute strength. He can’t see you and all he feels is someone back there pushing on his rump. But if you’re out front pulling, he can see you. You can motivate him with a carrot, and maybe even talk to him lovingly as you urge him along. In our walk each and every day, Paul says we are to set the example for others and we do that by getting out front so the world can see us. Now note, we can ONLY hope to do this through the power of the Holy Spirit. Left to my own devices, Dan can be a jerk, but bathed in God’s Word and empowered by the Holy Spirit I can hope to attain how God wants me to treat and lead others. We do that through our words, the way we treat others, our love for others, our faith displayed, and the purity of our walk before others.
8) Devote yourself to the public reading of God’s Word (1 Tim 4:13) Paul is telling Timothy that he should devote himself to this. Devote means to “give all of your time or resource to.” Paul is telling Timothy that every time the church gathers he should be reading God’s Word OUT LOUD. If you’re part of a local church and the public reading of God’s Word is not the norm, you should look for a new church. I have seen pastors in person and on TV and you would think they were allergic to the Word of God. I’ve seen entire “messages” given and nary was God’s Word even mentioned! It was more like a motivational speech based on loose ‘good’ moral principles. My friends, that’s not good enough. Not even close. You’re Pastor needs to be reading God’s Word aloud to the flock. I was talking to a good pastor friend the other day about our service order and we got to the reading of God’s Word. He said, “you know if you think about it, we will only have one perfect thing every Sunday morning and that’s the reading of His Word.” How true. The only pure truth on this planet is God’s Word. Devote yourself to reading it in public. Let it be heard.
9) Immerse yourself in these things (1 Tim 4:15) To immerse means to “to be completely submerged or engrossed in.” We should be absolutely and completely given to these principles. I have to ask myself what I’m really immersed in today. You know, its gotta be something. Something IS getting the bulk of your attention. What are you immersed in today? Making money? Kids? Education? Your own enjoyment? It’s the old adage, “you get out what you put in.” God will bless your immersion in His Word.
10) Keep a close watch on yourself and your teaching. (1 Tim 4:16) Be sure to take a lot of long looks in the mirror. Isn’t it odd when we look into a mirror and really look ourselves in the eye? They say that they eye is the window to the soul and when we look ourselves in the eye something happens. We have to deal with ourselves. Keep a close eye on yourself. Notice it doesn’t say ‘others’ it says ‘yourself.’ Also mind your teaching. If you are going to offer someone advice today it better be rooted in the Word of God. If you don’t know what God says on the subject, don’t give advice. If you do it will just be ‘your advice’ not from the wisdom of God. Keep a close watch on your teaching, make sure you’re teaching what God’s Word says.
11) Persist (1 Tim 4:16) “Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.” Persist is to “continue firmly or obstinately in a course of action in spite of difficulty, opposition, or failure.” Don’t give up. There’s going to be great disappointments, bitter defeats and difficult people in your path, but don’t give up. They’ll be sickness, death and great personal loss, but don’t give up. You’re going to feel loss of purpose, have personal doubts, and encounter internal conflict, but don’t give up. If you give up, they’ll be untold loss, but if you persist? Well, if you persist you will save both yourself and your hearers. Please, I beg you, persist. There is something so great at stake in this struggle, the souls of people that God so loves that He sent His only Son to die for them so that they would not perish but have everlasting life. Persist in these.
I pray that you are reaping greatly from your personal time in God’s Word no matter what chapter or book you might be immersed in. Just be immersed.
God Bless.
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