Strengthening True Faith in Faithless Times 1 Timothy 4:6-16 Gallup Poll of US adults: Is religion important in your daily life? • 66% in 2015 • 49% in 2025 This letter now moving away from instructions to imperatives. Last week’s instruction was a description of apostasy – people deliberately walking away from the Christian faith in the last days. The Holy Spirit says so, and we can see it with our own eyes. Beginning in 1 Timothy 4:6 we have the prescription, the medicine, the cure for apostasy. The passage today has 10 short commands to feed/strengthen the faith of Christians in faithless times. Nourish Yourself in Biblical Truth 1 Timothy 4:6 (NLT), “If you explain these things to the brothers and sisters, Timothy, you will be a worthy servant of Christ Jesus, one who is nourished by the message of faith and the good teaching you have followed. 7 Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives’ tales.” • The metaphor is of a Christian on disciplined diet that consumes healthy messages (like healthy food). • The worthy servant of Jesus will be, “constantly nourished” by the message of faith (the Gospel) and good doctrinal teaching. • A worthy servant reads the labels and points out ingredients that promote a healthy spiritual life. • A good spiritual diet is necessary for good spiritual health. • Garbage in. Garbage out. • Keeping the diet metaphor going, this warning in v7 is to stay away from these false teachers who were peddling spiritual junk food. • 1 Timothy 1:4 (NLT), “Don’t let them waste their time in endless discussion of myths and spiritual pedigrees. These things only lead to meaningless speculations, which don’t help people live a life of faith in God.” Train Yourself in Godly Living 1 Timothy 4:7b (NLT), “Instead, train yourself to be godly. 8 Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come. 9 This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it. This is why we work hard and continue to struggle, for our hope is in the living God, who is the Savior of all people and particularly of all believers. 11 Teach these things and insist that everyone learn them.” • Train yourself to be godly is the 2nd command in this chapter. • “Instead” marks the sharp contrast between giving your attention to godless myths to giving your attention to training in godliness. • As the world becomes more godless, Christians must be more intentional in training to be godly. • V8 says, “train and training”. These Gk words in English are “gymnasium and gymnastics.” • A Christian must train in God’s gym and learn the gymnastics of godliness. • How many hours are you and I training for a healthier, stronger spiritual life? • The 10,000-hour rule. • Physical training is good,but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come. • V9 says this is a true statement! • If physical training does wonders for you, how much more will godly training do for you! • Godliness is that reverence for God and conformity to His will that makes us more like Christ. • Godliness takes practice, practice, practice, and the rewards are eternal. Be an Example 1 Timothy 4:12 (NLT), “Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity. 13 Until I get there, focus on reading the Scriptures to the church, encouraging the believers, and teaching them.” Training in godliness means setting a personal example, regardless of your age… • We train so our speech is like Christ’s. • We train so our actions are Christlike. • We train our loves to love like Christ. • We train for greater trust and submission and obedience to Christ. • We train to be pure as Christ is pure. All these things are necessary for training in personal holiness. But, Timothy was also to set an example publicly. • In reading and honoring the Scripture • In encouraging believers • And in teaching • The public reading of the Scripture was the main feature of the early church gatherings. Bibles were not available, and some believers could not read. Justin Martyr said the Christians would gather Sundays and read from the apostles and from the OT and prophets. After reading, someone would give an explanation and encourage the believers to imitate these good things and set an example. Use Your God-Given Gifts 1 Timothy 4:14 (NLT), “Do not neglect the spiritual gift you received through the prophecy spoken over you when the elders of the church laid their hands on you.” • Timothy was a gifted young man in his mid-30’s. • Somewhere in the past, the church elders recognized Timothy’s gift and gave a word to him, encouraging him to use his gift to build up the church. • My guess is Timothy was a gifted teacher. • Our gifts are no good to God or anyone if we are not using them and training in them. • We have heard 6 commands so far in this text today: Do not waste time in ungodly arguments, train in godliness, teach, be an example, read the Scriptures, don’t neglect your gifts. • 4 commands remain in the conclusion…. Conclusion: Let Your Progress be Seen 1 Timothy 4:15 (NLT), “Give your complete attention to these matters. Throw yourself into your tasks so that everyone will see your progress. 16 Keep a close watch on how you live and on your teaching. Stay true to what is right for the sake of your own salvation and the salvation of those who hear you.” • I want us to see that perfection is not the goal, progress is. • Your progress is your witness to the saving grace of God and your training in godliness. • Ill. We all know people who are serious about diet and exercise. We can see their progress! Wouldn’t it be nice to be the church, the Christian, where people notice our spiritual growth? • We can do this by giving more attention to a healthy spiritual diet and training in godliness that will set the example of a Christian deeply devoted to Jesus Christ. “The whole art of life, I sometimes think, is the art of knowing what to leave out, what to ignore, what to put on one side… What you need is just this: the power to concentrate on that which is vital, to leave out everything else, and to keep steadily to the one thing that matters.” - Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones