Ryan King - Class 3: 1Ti. 4 - Five Thyself Wholly unto Them

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

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   May our brother Ryan King to speak to us on how thou oughtest behave thyself in the house of God. Give thyself wholly unto them. Amen.

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   Good afternoon, my dear brothers and sisters and the Lord Jesus Christ. Chapters 2 and 3 emphasize the need for sound ecclesial structure based upon the principles of the truth. It's chapter 4 that tells us why that is so important. Because there's going to come a time, brothers and sisters, in every ecclesial experience, where our foundations are going to be tested.

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   The challenge came in Paul's day. We see it very clearly in the chapter that was read for us. And that challenge has well and truly arrived in 2019 for the brotherhood of Christ. And we need more than ever to sit up and take notice of the words of 1 Timothy chapter 4. Because the challenge will come.

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   Our foundations, the pillar and ground of the truth, will be tested. We're going to see what we are made of. Both as individuals and as ecclesias. Verse 1. Now the Spirit speaketh expressly. There's no doubt about this. That in the latter times, some shall depart from the faith. Now the word some there in the New Testament very often does duty for the idea of many.

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   This isn't one here or one there. This was to be a wholesale departure from the truth. In John chapter 6, we're told that some of the disciples believed not. But then two verses later we're told, and many walked no more with them. So the word some in this verse, and very often in the New Testament, has the idea or the connotation of many.

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   And perhaps it would be good to read it that way here. In the latter times, many shall depart from the faith. The word depart there is the usual word, apostasy. There was to be a great falling away from the truth. It started in Paul's day. We see it with the Judaizers. And it budded over time into the Roman Catholic apostasy that still stands astride the earth today.

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   It happened in Paul's day. And it is happening in our day. Some will depart from the faith. In the words of 1 Timothy chapter 4, brothers and sisters, which was our most instructive for us in 2019. What would they do? Well, they would give heed to seducing spirits, doctrines of devils, speaking lies and hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving.

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   So there were to be evident signs of the departure in Paul's day. Look for these things, he says to the young man Timothy. Be aware of them. Know why they're wrong. That you might be able to combat the errors that will arise. And he says to Timothy, you know this. The Spirit has already spoken expressly that this will take place.

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   Now where did it speak expressly, we might ask? Well, the word there, seducing, that we see in verse 1, really means to deceive. It's the Greek word planos, from which we get our word planet. There is to be wandering spirits, wandering teachings, that will arise in the latter times. Why can't you join me in Mark chapter 13?

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    Because this might be the scripture that Paul was reminding Timothy of. Mark chapter 13. Where we're here, we have the same time frame being spoken of. First Timothy 4, verse 1, spoke about the latter years. Well, here in Mark chapter 13, we have the last days of Judah's commonwealth. And there would be obvious signs which the disciples were to look for, to watch, and to avoid.

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    Mark chapter 13, verse 5. When the disciples wanted to show him the glory of the temple, he said, verse 2, Seest thou these great buildings? There won't be one stone left upon another. Verse 5. Take heed, lest any man deceive you. And that word deceive is the very word seducing spirits used in 1 Timothy chapter 4, and verse 1.

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    It says there will be seducers, there will be wanderers. Like planets, wandering teachings that will take men away from the truth. I want you to be on your guard against that, says Jesus. And that, in fact, is the theme of Mark chapter 13. We see in verse 5, Take heed. Verse 6. Many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many.

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    Verse 9. But take heed to yourselves. Verse 23. Take ye heed. Verse 33. Take ye heed. You know, brothers and sisters, those are the last words of 1 Timothy 4. Take heed to yourselves. Be on constant guard, on constant alert for these things, which will threaten our brotherhood in the latter days. And the context of Mark 13 is identical to 1 Timothy 4.

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    1 Timothy 4, the context is the rise of the Roman Catholic apostasy. What do we read here in Mark chapter 13? It's about the abomination of desolation, the rise of the Roman power, which would place itself in the Holy Land. Yes, Timothy, the Spirit is speaking expressly. You know this. Therefore, I want you to take heed.

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    Take heed. 1 Timothy 4, verse 16. Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. That word blepo, rendered take heed here in Mark chapter 13, is actually the word rendered seest in verse 2. Seest, or take heed to these great buildings, there won't be one stone left upon another. The disciples are standing here.

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    They're enamored with the gold of the temple. They're saying, look at all of these great and costly stones. And Jesus says, take heed to the buildings. I want you to take heed to yourself. Take heed to the buildings, verse 2. Seest these great buildings, I want you to take heed, more importantly, to yourself.

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    Forget about what's going on around you, as important as that may be. I want you most of all to take heed to yourselves. For seducers and deceivers will arise.

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    The Spirit speaks expressly that these things will occur. And brothers and sisters, we need to be on our guard against these things. So when we come back to 1 Timothy chapter 4, what were they to be on their guard against?

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    What specifically was coming? Seducing spirits doctrines of devils. Did you count them? Seducing spirits? 1. Doctrines of devils? 2. Lies and hypocrisy? 3. Conscience seared with a hot iron? 4. Forbidding to marry? 5. Commanding to abstain from meats? 6. Here is the development of the man of sin. There would be six things which you are to look for that will show the imminent rise of this power.

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    This power that will take many away from the truth. And Timothy had to know what those things were. Seducing spirits. As we've already said, the word means a wandering teaching. People going all over the place, not centered in the word of God, but dabbling in this and dabbling in that. I want you to be aware of that.

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    Doctrines of devils. The word devils actually is the word demons. Doctrines of demons. We know that the Greeks had these demigods that dwelt between earth and heaven. God's many and Lord's many, said the Apostle Paul of the Greek religion. There would be doctrines of devils. And Brother Thomas in Elbis, Israel, in Eureka, and other places, beautifully aligns this with the guardian saints of the Catholic Church.

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    Because the ideas of paganism, we know, were carried over intact into the Roman Catholic system. There would be doctrines of devils, these guardian saints that supposedly dwell between earth and heaven that protect you. I want you to be aware of that. Lies and hypocrisy. A system that would have a mouth that speaks great things.

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    I want you to be aware of that. A conscience seared with the mark of the beast so that one is impervious to sin. An intoxicating liquor that befuddles the thinking, befuddles the mind, like being seared with a hot iron. I want you to be aware of that. Forbidding to marry, we know, has long been a requirement of priests that they remain celibate in the church.

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    And commanding to abstain from meats as well, starting with the Judaizers and then carrying over into the Roman Catholic system. I want you to be aware of those things. Get ready.

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    Recognize what the errors are that are amongst us. I'm telling you now so that you'll be ready. This was the warning of our Lord Jesus Christ, which Paul is now repeating to the young man, Timothy. And it's a warning, brothers and sisters, that really goes back even farther than Mark chapter 13. If you join me in Daniel chapter 11, just relate Daniel chapter 11 with what we read here in 1 Timothy chapter 4.

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    In the great falling away that was taking place at the time this letter was written, which the brothers and sisters had to be aware of.

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    In Daniel chapter 11 in verse 36, look at the similarity in language between this passage and 1 Timothy chapter 4. And the king, that being the pope, supported by the Eastern Roman emperor, shall do according to his will. And he shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god, shall speak marvelous things against the god of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished.

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    He will be there until the day the Lord Jesus destroys him. And then what factors were they to look for? Verse 37, neither shall he regard the god of his fathers, which as we know in 312, the state religion was changed from paganism to false Christianity. He wouldn't regard the god of his fathers.

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    And he wouldn't regard the desire of women. That's 1 Timothy 4 and verse 3. forbidding to marry. The spirit is speaking expressly. Look out for these signs. Know what they are so that you can avoid them when they manifest themselves in the ecclesia. Nor regard any god. Because the god that Catholicism adopted in 312 was a trinity, which really isn't god.

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    He wouldn't regard any god. For he will magnify himself above all, but in his estate he will honor the god of forces. Now those of you who are familiar with Brother Thomas' writings will know this, that that word there, forces, really is the word bazaars. And if you think about a bazaar, it's a department store where you buy and you sell and you trade things.

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    And that's exactly what the church is. They buy and they sell and they trade in the souls of men. And specifically, what dominates that buying and selling and trading is the guardian saints. Because the word forces there really means protectors. It's a protector. He will honor the god of protectors. Now, 1 Timothy 4 and verse 1 talks about the doctrines of demons, which is exactly the same thing.

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    Brother Thomas, in exposition of Daniel, aligns them together. The bazaars of guardian saints. There's a saint for this and a saint for that and a saint that looks after the fishes in the water and a saint that looks after the pilots in the air. And every conceivable avenue in life has a guardian saint.

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    And they buy and they sell and they trade in this bazaar. It will arise, Timothy. It's coming. The question is, are we ready for it? Is your ecclesia ready for it? Now, do we have wandering spirits today? The church is different today because they're no longer the persecuting power they once were. Revelation chapter 16, they've now taken up the frog-like spirits of liberty and equality and fraternity.

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    The movement of humanism of which this pope has been very successful in advancing. He's a hero to the humanist movement. Now, is that manifestation of the man of sin making its inroads into our brotherhood?

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    Is humanism a problem? I'll allow you to answer that for yourselves. Is post-modernism coming? We see these things coming. And our position, brothers and sisters, we have to see is the very same as Timothy's. Paul is saying, you see these things beginning to develop. How are you going to handle them? How are you going to confront them?

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    We're in the same position today, brothers and sisters. The church is still here and it's putting out all of these things. Are we ready to combat them? The spirit of change is abroad. People want new things, new ideas, new ways. And what I've found, brothers and sisters, is that very often it's not a desire for new things.

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    People are sick to death of old things. people are fed up with repetition, with lectures, with Bible classes, and they want something new. It's not change we want, brothers and sisters. It's revival. That brothers and sisters might take these words and set their sails for the kingdom of God. So how do we confront this?

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    How do we deal with these problems that are coming on our brotherhood, that are threatening our young people, that are challenging the ancient past wherein is the good way? We come to 1 Timothy chapter 4. We're given our first clue.

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    Paul gives to Timothy a number of steps that he was to implement to deal with this great threat. Verse 6. If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and good doctrine whereunto thou hast attained, we must be in remembrance of these things.

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    We must know fully, brothers and sisters, what is truth and what is error. We have to be able to recognize the problems when they come.

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    What's the good of saying that we meet on the BASF only? if we don't have any idea what's inside the covers of the BASF or why that's the correct position? We have to know. We have to be in constant remembrance of these things. Timothy, I want you to know this. I want you to be aware of why these things are wrong, why these things are challenges, and how you can be able to prevent them.

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    And the phrase there in verse 6, nourished up, really means being nourished up. It's not as though you're nourished and then you're never nourished again. It's in the present continuous tense, being nourished up. The familiarity with the scriptures, with our principal doctrines, is to be an ongoing process. We know how those things can be lost if we don't constantly go back and re-familiarize ourselves with them.

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    Hebrews 2 verse 1 says, we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things that we shall hear, lest at any time we should allow them to slip. There is a constant need to go back to the well, as it were, to reacquaint ourselves with the good and ancient traditions that our community has known, which has stood us in good stead over many, many years.

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    Now the AV, unfortunately, is a little misleading in the end of verse 6. It says, whereunto thou hast attained. And that gives the impression that he's already got this and he doesn't need to do it anymore. But the diaglot, and many other translations have, which you have closely followed. Which you have closely followed.

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    It's an unending process of pursuit after godly wisdom. Never can we get to the stage where we think that, I've got enough knowledge and now, I'll just live the rest of my life off what I know. We have to keep going back and going back and going back so that these problems don't come in and seize us, taking us unawares.

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    The first step is, we have to know. Apathy is becoming so much a difficulty in our age, isn't it? People just don't want to know. People are consumed with their own lives so much that they blot out, block out, what is going on in other places. We have to want to know. And we have to want to know why the truth is what it is.

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    But even more than this, brothers and sisters, this labor, this pursuit of godly wisdom, of godliness, is going to be a tiring experience. there will be times where we feel like giving up. There will be times where we feel like it's too difficult. Just look at the words that are used in the next section of this chapter, just from about verses 7 to 10.

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    Perhaps you notice as the reading was done the intensity in language. In verse 7, exercise thyself. The Greek means strenuous exertion. Verse 10, labor. The word is toil. It's used in Philippians 2, verse 16, of athletic fatigue. It's toilsome. Verse 10, suffer reproach. The word is agonized. I have a baptism to be baptized with, said the Lord Jesus.

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    And how am I in agony until it be accomplished? That's that word. To suffer reproach or to strive. Verse 13, give attendance. The Greek means to give your undivided attention to the truth. The truth demands absolute commitment. When we come into the truth, we must commit ourselves totally. We must hold nothing back because it's not going to be easy.

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    And if we don't come with full force when the bad times and the difficulties hit, we can think of shrinking back. We need total commitment to these things. We live in an age of averageness, of casualness, of participation trophies. The truth is to be grasped hold of with both hands and firmly held onto, fully dedicating ourselves to the God whom we serve.

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    And so it's in that vein, brothers and sisters, that we meet our next faithful say. In verse 7, refuse profane and old wise fables, fruitless exercises as we heard earlier. And exercise thyself unto godliness. For bodily exercise profiteth little, but godliness is profitable unto all things, having the promise of the life that now is and that which is to come.

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    This is a faithful saying. Now what's the faithful saying? It's verse 8. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation for therefore we both labor and suffer reproach. So it's a faithful saying. This was probably one of the hymns that the first century ecclesia would have sung. Each one of these faithful sayings.

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    And there's five of them sprinkled through the pastoral epistles. A faithful saying. You know, there seems to be an Old Testament counterpart or parallel to this idea of a faithful saying. I'd like you to have a look at where that is in 1 Kings. A faithful saying.

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    1 Kings chapter 10 and verse 6. The queen of Sheba is amazed at the wisdom of Solomon. And she said to the king, it was a true report that I heard in my own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom. You know, that phrase there, true report, is the equivalent in the Hebrew of faithful saying.

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    In 1 Timothy chapter 4. It's a true report. It's a faithful saying. The Hebrew emeth dabar is the equivalent in the Greek of pistos logos. a true report, a faithful saying. So it has its origins, brothers and sisters, in Solomon. Now you think about this faithful saying we just read in regards to Solomon.

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    Bodily exercise profiteth little, but godliness is profitable unto all things. exercise. Now when the apostle said bodily exercise, he wasn't just talking about physical exercise. He was talking about any activity that we're engaged in whereby we seek to develop some skill. So it could be playing an instrument, for example. That's bodily exercise.

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    It's any activity of the mind that you put your focus and your concentration in to develop a particular skill. That's the bodily exercise of this faithful saying. You think about that in relation to Solomon.

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    Bodily exercise profiteth little. How many projects, how many coordinations of the mind was he involved in, in his life? And yet how much did that profit him? Profit? Bodily exercise profiteth little. That's the Ecclesiastes word, isn't it? Profit, profit. We see it all the way through the book. Solomon learned, perhaps better than anyone, that all of the pursuits, all of the achievements, all the things that we strive to develop in this life yield very little profit.

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    What we ought to focus our time on rather is this aspect of godliness. Godliness profits in all things, having the promise of the life that now is and that which is to come. There is a little profit in bodily exercise.

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    Developing some skill, learning to play an instrument, there is benefit in that, but it's temporary. And the benefit that we might get from that, brothers and sisters, is limited by our mortality. We're only ever going to be able to do so much. And as human beings, we know how frail we are. It's going to be very, very small.

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    But godliness profits to all things. It develops and it goes and it gets bigger and bigger and bigger, stretching finally into the kingdom age itself.

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    When Brother John Martin was here many years ago, he was giving a public lecture. He had about five minutes left in this lecture. And he was trying to give the interested friends that were there some reason for why they should accept the truth. And what he said was, even if I'm not given a place in God's kingdom, what the truth has given me in my life has made life far and made life well worth living.

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    The truth has given me principles that I never would have had. It's given me peace of mind that I never would have experienced. The things that the fellows I work with lay awake at night worrying about, I don't worry about. it profits so much even in this life, let alone the life to come.

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    And isn't that true? The truth, brothers and sisters, has given us so much. It has more benefits in this life than anything that could be attained out there. We know, of course, of people that were in the truth and no longer are with us. And the saddest thing about that is that very often those people leave to pursue things out there that the truth itself could provide.

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    people seek happiness out there. Well, the truth can provide that. People seek better relationships out there. Well, the truth provides that and even better. The truth gives so much, both in this life as well as in the life to come. But there is a qualifier. Mark chapter 10 in verse 30.

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    Verse 29 for connection. Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, there is no man that hath left house or brethren or sisters or father or mother or wife. Or children or lands for my sake and the gospels, but he shall receive a hundredfold now in this time and houses and brethren and sisters and mothers and children and lands.

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    See, these are all the things that the truth can give us. We have better relationships. We have better happiness. But it comes with something. With persecutions. So, yes, we'll get those benefits. But let's never forget that it comes with persecution. with toilsome labor. It comes with criticism. It comes with all of the difficulties that sometimes ecclesial life can bring, but it's so worth it.

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    Godliness profits for this life, and it stretches forward into the life to come. So let's ask ourselves the question. We all have activities. We all have hobbies that we pursue. Ask ourselves this question. Is this a hobby or an activity that is developing godliness? happiness?

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    Is this something that will be continued in the kingdom age? Or is it something that, well, it's not bad in and of itself, but it's really not helping me at all?

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    That's a question we ask ourselves. We examine ourselves in looking at these things. Is this something that I'm doing going to help me get into the kingdom, or will it not? I was speaking to a brother recently who was an avid gardener. He loved gardening. Would be out there quite often.

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    But then he said, you know, although this is enjoyable and although there's certainly nothing wrong with doing it, it's not helping me develop godliness. It's not helping me get into the kingdom. And so he gave it up. And this particular brother says, I'm going to go back to Bible marking. So there's how we can apply the lesson of that faithful saying.

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    There may be things that we do that are harmless. Guard them, playing an instrument. They have a benefit. But what are they doing to prepare us for the kingdom? What are they doing to help us combat the problems that are going to come upon our brotherhood? How are they keeping our minds in the right place?

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    Focus on godliness, Timothy. don't focus upon those things that won't yield much profit. And you know, there's a golden thread that runs its way through these faithful sayings. We come back to 1 Timothy 4 and have a look at verse 10. this golden thread is the savior, which God is, and belief. Look at verse 10, just backing up to verse 9.

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    This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, for therefore we both labor and strive, as the Greek is, because we trust in the living God who is the savior of all men, especially of those that believe. So just take those two words there, savior and belief. Let's come back to the first faithful saying in chapter 1.

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    Chapter 1 and verse 15. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtain mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long suffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe, on him to life everlasting.

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    Salvation and belief are always used in the context of these faithful sayings. Look at the next one over in chapter 2 and verse 15.

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    Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, same word belief as in chapter 1 verse 16, and love and holiness with sobriety. this is a true saying. That should be the last words of chapter 2. Chapter 3 should begin, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desire the good work.

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    The true saying, the second faithful saying, is the statement of chapter 2 verse 15, salvation and belief. Let me look at the verse before us, 1 Timothy 4 and verse 10. End of the verse, he is the savior of all men, especially to those that believe. And you'll find with all the faithful saying, those two words come up, salvation and belief.

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    God is the savior of mankind, but what's the condition? It's only to those that believe. the same group of people that stood in verse 3 against the tide of the man of sin, them which believe and know the truth.

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    So how do we combat the problems? We first, verse 6, know what they are, and then secondly, we focus our time, our energy, our motivations on developing those things, of developing godliness, which helps us survive the difficult times in which we live. But I think we all know it's got to be more than that, doesn't it?

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    We can't just know these things. We can't just give our time to them. There has to be a manifestation of them in our lives. There must be evidence that we really truly believe these things. There must be fruit meat for repentance. And so that's why verse 12 says, I want you to be an example, Timothy, of the believers.

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    Carry this through now into your life so that these things that you have focused on and that you've read and that you're aware of now are seen as living demonstrations in your life. Be thou an example of the believers. Now, did you count them?

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    There are actually five things in that verse that he was to focus on. Now, you might look at me and you probably are thinking this now. I count six there.

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    In word, one. In conversation, two. In faith, three. In spirit, four. In faith, five. In purity, six. In spirit is almost universally regarded as not being there. It's excluded from most manuscripts. So there are actually five things, five examples which they were to show. And these five things in verse 12 contrast the six things dealing with the development of the man of sin in those early verses.

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    So there's the flesh, and then there's those who are motivated by grace. Five. So what are those five things which we'll only be able to speak out about very briefly? In word.

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    That means what we say. perhaps there's no more difficult aspect of our discipleship, brothers and sisters, than controlling what we say. The proverb says that even a fool, when he closes his mouth, is considered a man of understanding.

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    We have to be on our guard against what we say so that our words reflect the hope that we have dedicated ourselves towards. Over in the book of Titus, it's called sound speech. And the word sound is the word hygienic. Hygienic speech ought to be the characteristic of the believer. In Titus chapter 2 and verse 8, sound speech that cannot be condemned.

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    And the word sound there is the word hygienic, which is a theme of Titus. The word Titus means nurse. hygienic speech. So it's the old statement. If we don't have something helpful to say, if we don't have something hygienic to say, then it best not be said. Be an example, Timothy, in your words, but also in your conversation.

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    Now conversation, as we know, means manner of life. your manner of life, your daily activities must be consistent with the things that follow after godliness.

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    So where do we go? Where do we spend our time? If our ecclesial Bible class were to continue based upon our support, would it continue?

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    How much effort do we really devote during the week to the things of the truth? How do we respond when our ecclesia has a need?

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    I've got to walk the dog, I've got to cut the grass, or do we say, I'll do it. I may have other things to do, but I'll do them some other time, I'll do it. What is our conversation, our activities? Are they consistent with the things of the truth? And that's really what the next one is all about, in faith.

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    There must be a consistency between what we say and what we practice. So we're not one thing at work and something else in the ecclesia. We're not one thing in public and another thing in private. We are consistent in our faith, in love. love.

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    As we know, the word is agape. And agape, of course, is that love that's not based upon natural things. Jesus said, agape, your enemies. Now, no one naturally can love their enemies. It's a higher love, one that is reflected from the mind. We have a good illustration of this in the Bible. If you look at 1 Samuel chapter 18, we have an individual who practiced this.

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    1 Samuel chapter 18. Verse 1, It came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. So here was Jonathan who loved David. Now, what was Jonathan's attitude toward David? We just come over page to chapter 20 in verse 4.

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    And this is the love that we're called upon to manifest in our Ecclesias. 20 verse 4, Then said Jonathan unto David, Whatever you need, David, that's what I will do. So that is godly love. Whatever a brother or sister needs, we go to any length necessary to fill that need. Now, you think about the task that Timothy was faced with there at Ephesus.

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    There were many difficulties. There were many challenges as this chapter bears out. But Timothy had to be prepared to go to any length necessary to make sure that the needs of the brothers and sisters were met. Are we aware of our brothers or sisters' needs? Or are we so consumed with our own lives, so have our heads so buried in our cell phones that we don't know?

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    do we go down our ecclesial role each week and just give those brothers and sisters a call to ask how they're doing? There must be a living manifestation of these things. And you know, the word in there, in 1 Timothy 4 and verse 12, where it says inward, in conversation, in love, actually means to be in a fixed position.

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    So this isn't something you do casually or every now and then. it means you are in a fixed position. This is your life. This is the way that you act. And one day, brothers and sisters, there's going to be an examination of what it is that we have done. Because verse 13 says, till I come.

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     Give attendance to reading, to exhortation, and to doctrine. Now, as we probably know, if we flip back to chapter 3 and verse 14, Paul was hoping to visit Ephesus very shortly, to see Timothy. These things I write unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly. So Paul was about to visit there, and he wanted Timothy to know that.

101. 40:46

     But in our context, brothers and sisters, there's another coming that's almost here. I think we all know what coming that is. And when that takes place, brothers and sisters, there's going to be an analysis of what it is that we have done in the truth. Whether for good or for bad, it's like the high priest coming to the leprous house and examining it for blemishes.

102. 41:10

     That's what our Lord's going to do. If you look at Isaiah chapter 5, it's really the language of inspection. The Lord's going to come and he's going to inspect what it is that we have done. What have we done for our brothers and sisters? Have we helped God's or have we hindered them?

103. 41:29

     We all know Isaiah chapter 5. Yahweh had a vineyard, Israel. He did everything possible that that vineyard yield fruit. Chapter 5, verse 2, he fenced it. He gathered out the stones thereof, planted it with a choice's find, built a tower in the midst of it, made a winepress therein. There's five things, five acts of grace, which he did.

104. 41:51

     But then the verse says, verse 2, he looked. He looked. There was an investigation of just what it was they had produced. Verse 4, he looked that it should bring forth grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes. Verse 7, he looked for judgment, but behold oppression, for righteousness, but behold a cry. It's called in the New Testament the day of visitation, the day of inspection.

105. 42:23

     inspection. And very shortly, brothers and sisters, we're going to look into the eyes of our Lord Jesus Christ, and he's going to grab our piece of fruit, and he's going to inspect it. What has the truth produced in your life? Are we an example of the believers?

106. 42:42

     That day is swiftly approaching when what we do, the things that we have done, are going to be carefully and thoroughly inspected. it. So in view of that coming inspection, what must we do? Well, if we come back to 1 Timothy chapter 4, it seems to me that the latter half of the chapter almost repeats what we just looked at.

107. 43:08

     We looked at a faithful saying that encouraged us to develop godliness, which is profitable in all things. we were encouraged to toil, to labor. And the chapter closes on that note. Verse 15, meditate upon these things. Give thyself wholly unto them, that thy profiting may appear unto all. Now, unto all there at the end of verse 15 really means in all things.

108. 43:39

     It's rendered by the Diaglot, and a few other translations that way, that thy profiting may appear in all things. Now, where in the chapter have we read about profiting in all things?

109. 43:52

     We just back up to verse 8. Godliness is profitable unto all things. So it's as though verse 15 is explaining how we make verse 8 a reality in our life. How is it that we have profiting, progress in all things?

110. 44:08

     Verse 15 says, meditate upon these things. Give thyselves wholly unto them. There must be absolute commitment, brothers and sisters, to the things of the truth, nothing less. The ESV has practice and immerse yourself.

111. 44:30

     Nothing short of complete dedication is what is expected. That's what God wants. That's what he is desiring, and that's what we need. If we're going to counter what's going on out there and all the dangers that we face. That word meditate there, in the Hebrew, when the word meditate was used in the Psalms, it means to talk to yourself.

112. 44:50

     It's not a sign of madness at all. It means to talk to yourself. So as you're going about your day, what are you talking to yourself about? Are we repeating the words of scripture to ourselves? As we drive the car down the road, as we're washing the dishes at home, are we talking to ourselves about the things of the word?

113. 45:11

     Meditate upon these things. Give thyself wholly unto them. It's the principle of the burnt offering. Complete and total dedication is what is required. When you made other offerings, you got something back. But when you made a burnt offering, you got nothing back. It was all given to God and burnt wholly upon that altar.

114. 45:37

     So if we dedicate ourselves to the truth, we can't think about the few days a week that we'll reserve for ourselves. We must have absolute and total dedication. And you know, there's a way that we can test this in our lives. How is it that I know that I'm dedicating myself to God, that my walk in the truth is correct?

115. 45:59

     Well, the test is, when you start to do things that please yourself, how uncomfortable do you feel? Do you notice it? Because if you're someone who is active in dedicating yourself to the truth, and then you go off and do something else, you start to feel uncomfortable. You start to think, I shouldn't be doing this.

116. 46:21

     My feet are in the wrong area. I've got to go back to the truth. How do you feel when you're serving yourself? How do you feel when you look back on a week where you haven't done much for God? Do you feel exceedingly uncomfortable? comfortable?

117. 46:36

     That's the test that we can apply. Till I come, give the utmost attention, says Paul, to these things. You know, the words of this chapter, brothers and sisters, are not difficult. There hasn't been anything that we've said that has been hard to grasp. The difficulty lies really, isn't it, in the performance of these things?

118. 46:59

     Till I come, give attendance to reading. Christadelphian libraries sell half the number of books they did 25, 30, 40 years ago. Why is that? We can all read, but are we a generation of readers? Till I come, give attendance attendance to reading.

119. 47:32

     What books do you read? Where is your focus? We put the cell phone down and go quietly into the study and allow God to speak to our hearts, reading and meditating upon his word. Till I come, you put your time and your energy in that. To exhortation, exhortation would be the application of what we read.

120. 47:56

     It's not good enough simply to read. It's not good enough simply to do Bible study. It has to be carried over into practical exhortation in our lives. And to doctrine. The word doctrine is a wonderful word in the New Testament. The word doctrine is used both of our teachings and it's used of carrying out those teachings in our way of life.

121. 48:21

     doctrine is the doctrine. It's the faithful acts that we do are based upon a correct understanding of doctrine. When we understand the doctrines of the truth and what is required of us and we give ourselves to those things, then it should carry over into our life. When you corrupt your doctrine, you inevitably corrupt your practice.

122. 48:41

     So doctrine is the performance of these things. The reading is the learning, the being aware, the exhortation is the application and the doctrine is the performance. Get Titus chapter 2 in verse 7. Here's a case where doctrine is clearly used in a practical application sense.

123. 49:08

     Titus chapter 2 in verse 7. In all things, showing thyself a pattern. That's the same word example of the believers in 1 Timothy 4 in verse 12. A pattern of good works in doctrine showing uncorruptness, gravity, and sincerity. So doctrine is carried out into a way of life that is sincere, that is uncorrupt.

124. 49:31

     That is what you must give yourself to young man Timothy. It's not easy. There will be times where we think it's too difficult, where the expectations of the truth are too unreasonable. But that is what you must give yourself to. And that's how the chapter closes. In 1 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 16.

125. 49:59

     Take heed to thyself and unto the doctrine. Continue, give your whole heart to them. For in doing this, thou shalt both save thyself and those that hear thee. And you wonder, or at least I wonder, what the point of that particular verse is at the end of the section. It seems to be just restating the obvious.

126. 50:24

     Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them because those who listen to you will respond. Wasn't there a tendency, brothers and sisters, in the truth to water down the message, to only provide half the gospel, to only tell people half of what they need to know. Partial belief, partial conviction, those things will not cut it.

127. 50:50

     You must totally commit yourself, Timothy, to the doctrine and to the practice. That by doing so and by communicating that to others, you're able to save all of those who hear you. You may not save all. There will be some, verse 1, that might be taken away, but those who hear you will be saved.

128. 51:11

     They will respond. We tell people what they need to hear. We give them the truth in its plain and its unvarnished forms. That's godly love. That's what I want you to communicate. In doing that, you'll save those whom you love. 1 Timothy chapter 4, brothers and sisters, presents before us a great challenge.

129. 51:35

     There indeed are difficult times in the brotherhood at the moment. Our ecclesia back home is facing some challenges. There are challenges from the world that are creeping in. We, like Timothy, live in the latter years. And the remedy is not very complicated to understand. We have to give ourselves to the things of this book, to know what's truth, what's error, and then to be able to take that truth and correspond and apply that to our lives, that it might be seen as a living manifestation, manifestation, that it might be godliness in action, profiting both for the life that now is and that is to come.

130. 52:18

     We need, brothers and sisters, a strong light in these last days. What else could counter the terrible weight and the terrible things that are coming upon our brotherhood would exist out there? We need a strong light to counter that. And it's the word and the doctrine that will provide that for us. In the words of a hymn, be careful for nothing, the Lord is at hand.

131. 52:45

     Remember the glory, remember the land. Be fervent in spirit, be instant in prayer. Work out your salvation with trembling and fear. Be pure in the doctrine. Be strong in the word. Preserve in its brightness the two-edged sword. The things of the kingdom, the things of the name. Confess it in yon, absolve us from shame.

132. 53:11

     Fulfill ye the joy of the father and son by seeking the peace which their counsel hath won. Our prayers and our praises God's grace will command. Remember the glory, remember the land.