Timothy I - Expositional Study
BAD NEWS AND GOOD ADVICE
Scripture Reading: 1 Timothy 4:1-11 (KJV)
Introduction
The Bible is a book true to life. While it delights to record the good, it does not attempt to hide the evil. Consider: Abraham's deception, Moses' outburst, Elijah's juniper, Uzziah's end; it tells the glowing story of Gideon, but does not omit the sad blot on the last page. When an artist came to paint a portrait of Oliver Cromwell, he was commanded to make sure it was a true likeness – "paint wart and all". That is how it is with the Bible portraits – warts and all. That is also how it is when the Scriptures delineate the conditions of life. They are never afraid to tell the bad news. But, thank God, alongside will be found good advice that will serve to meet the situation. That is the way it is in this passage. Paul desires that young Timothy be well prepared for the trouble he is sure to meet in the form of false teaching. Therefore, Timothy receives inspired advice.
Verses 1-5. These verses deal with a caution: to beware. And first in the contrast stated – "Now", which should be "But". Great and glorious things were unfolded at the close of the previous chapter, here it is different. It is as if we had been traversing a lovely road, full of fine houses and beautiful gardens, and then turned a corner into a lane of tumbled-down slum property, abounding in weeds, and rank disfigurement. "But" is usually always for good or ill, the corner-word of Scripture. Timothy will find much good cheer and encouragement in his work; "but" let him beware; there will also be things that are ugly and evil.
Consider now the importance assumed – "the Spirit speaketh expressly". In all reverence, the Holy Spirit does not speak just for the sake of speaking. The matters now to be mentioned are of such high moment that a special point is made of speaking about them. If we have a belief in the Divine inspiration of the Bible then we must hold it all as of great importance, even the seemingly small things. We should take it for granted that it was not for nothing that God caused a certain detail to be recorded. Why, for example, in John 6:4 say that "the passover...was nigh"? The fact appears to have no relevance to the subject. Perhaps to account for the statement later that "there was much grass in the place", which would be the case only at Passover time, the rest of the year being bereft of vegetation. Since it is the Spirit's work, we can be assured that everything in the Bible is there for a purpose. The purposefulness of the present passage is particularly pressed by the use of the word that He speaketh "expressly".
That being so, let us next examine the time expressed – "in the latter times". It seems to mean, times future to the time of writing. The matter envisaged by the apostle, though possibly in bud as he writes, will not be in bloom until later, by reason of the fact that there is no definite article in the Greek; and, "in latter times" would be a quite proper rendering, with the significance of "later on". It is different with the phrase in 2 Timothy 3:1, "in the last days", where the reference is to the period at the close of the present age, immediately prior to the return of our Lord Jesus. This latter is a time that is constantly in the apostle's mind, in his last epistle as well as in his first. But in our present study he is thinking of conditions in the nearer future. Oh, to be ready for either, and to be able to rest with the Psalmist in the knowledge that "My times are in Thy hands" (Ps. 31:15); our past redeemed; our present surrounded; our prospect assured.
Now for the trouble prophesied – "some shall depart from the faith". Some shall depart from the body of truth, from the body of believers. Speaking from the opposite point of view, Paul says, "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith" (2 Cor. 13:5). This is a testing enquiry for every Christian. is my allegiance merely nominal – or is it real? Is my profession of Christianity only an outward thing? A faithful Christian is Christ-centered, every day, every minute. Is this fundamental characteristic mine or is my faith only outside veneer? Keep in mind that in the early church, there were those who were thought to be "in the faith", counted as sheep, who "departed from the faith" and deserted the fold. They were in sheep's clothing, but really messengers of Satan.
Consider now the source indicated – "giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils". We must not suppose that Satan honors us with his personal attentions, as he did with our Lord in the wilderness. But he has armies of evil spirits with devilish doctrines who are sent forth to encourage the downfall of unwary believers. These impious beings are experts in the unholy art of "seducing"; choosing their victim and their moment with cunning precision. They come to a man at a time of intellectual doubt, or devastating sorrow, spiritual failure, bodily weakness. They insinuate the seed of what is false which in course of time, becomes the ruin of a soul – the catastrophe of a life as in the instance of these unfortunate people of whom Timothy is here warned. Let none of us suppose that we are immune from such attacks or free from such dire results. It behooves us all to exercise eternal vigilance.
Now consider the agents described – "speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron". This appears to refer to the human instruments of the wicked spirits, for the evil spirit is ever aping the Holy Spirit. In this, as in so many other ways, he employs human agency to further his wicked designs. It is a startling thought that even the keenest Christians, off their guard, can become the actual tools of the devil. "Get thee behind Me, Satan" (Matt. 16:23), was spoken to Peter because he was temporarily seduced into doing the Evil One's work – wonderful Peter, so high one moment so low the next, allowing himself to be the foul fiend's catspaw. Each one of us should beware and be aware of how these wretched agents work. Their conscience, once so sensitive, is now "seared", as flesh would be by the application of a "hot iron" rendering it almost dead. Time was when they would shrink in horror from the uttering of a "lie", but now that conscience is silenced. With the tongue of "hypocrisy" in their cheek, they can do it without blushing. Yes, if unchecked evil grows in and on a man.
We come now to the question raised – "forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats". As we saw in an earlier study, this sounds like the early beginnings of Gnosticism that greatly troubled the church in the second century, and which Paul deal with so strongly in Colossians. Gnosticism was a teaching whose prohibitive tenets were based on what they held to be the inherent evil of matter. This group seems to have owed much to the sect of the Essenes, an ascetic Jewish brotherhood who repudiated marriage except as a necessity for preserving the race and allowed it only under protest and under strict regulations. They also abstained strictly from animal food. This falsity created something like havoc in some of the early churches of our Lord, not least in Ephesus, which was within Timothy's spiritual charge. It is strange what specious, devil-promulgated doctrines have made mischief among believers through the ages. From such speciousness we are not exempt today, their titles generally ending in "-ism", or "-ist".
Naturally, we want to know the reply given – "which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: for it is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer." Matter is not evil; every created thing from God is good, "God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good" (Gen. 1:31). It is not to be "refused" but "received", and "with thanksgiving." By being acknowledged as God's gift and by reason of the Word used in the prayer of thanksgiving, Food is brought within a holy category, partaken of as nourishing life for God's service: "We thank Thee for Thy good gift of this food. Bless it to our use, and us in Thy service." Prayer before a meal seems to have been the practice in 1 Samuel 9:13, is encouraged from the example of our Lord blessing the loaves (Matt. 14:19), is also encouraged from the example of Paul who gave thanks for the ship's meal (Acts 27:35). Let us get to know and use this Word and by it combat and conquer Satan and his emissaries, as our Savior always did. We now turn from this cautionary ministry.
Verses 6-8. These verses deal with a counsel: to be strong – a weak Christian? This statement should be a contradiction of terms. The Bible records instances of such weakness, leaving us with no doubt of disapproval of such, making no excuse for them. Indeed, all Bible teaching stresses the other side – "Be strong...only be strong...Have not I commanded thee, Be strong...only be strong" (Josh. 1:6, 7, 9, 18); to leaders and people it is "Be strong...be strong...be strong" (Hag. 2:4); "Be strong" (1 Cor. 16:13); "Finally, my brethren, be strong" (Eph. 6:10). The Bible's oft repeated exhortation to soldier, leader, worker and believer is be strong. This is not an expectation for a few, but for all. God has no other purpose or proposal for His people. They must be robust in Christian stamina – strong enough to stand against the blasts of temptation; strong enough to lend an arm to others on the road; strong enough to do solid, hard work for God; strong enough to victoriously engage in the battle of the Lord; strong enough to grow stronger day by day. Such is God's ideal for all of us. And if such is true for us ordinary folk, how much more for those who are called to be bishops! They will need a special measure of this healthful, virile constitution, so they may stand firm and upright helping others to stand. So, our passage speaks of "nourished" (v. 6), and "exercise thyself" (v. 7).
A bishop, as well as the "brethren", is reminded that there are at least two contributory causes of good spiritual health. The first is good nourishment, "nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained". The tense of the verb "nourished" suggests that it is not by one great banquet or by an occasional feast, but by a regular diet of everyday feeding on good, solid food. Not fancy pastries but honest bread and butter, perhaps a little jam. The second is "words of faith and of good doctrine". Doctrine, as an article of die, is out of fashion with some today. So many of us are enamored with the "pastries" of bright, brief, brotherly addresses or short, sweet, sisterly talks that we are impatient with anything "heavy". As a result, we are breeding a race of half-starved Christians. We cannot grow strong simply on a glass of milk and a bun. "Whereunto thou hast attained", in other words, from childhood (2 Tim. 3:15) Timothy had acquired a sensible habit of good spiritual meals. He is a young man, of poor physical constitution, but there is little to complain of in his spiritual stamina because he has known and practiced the secret of sound nourishment – strong "meat" which was beyond the delicate digestion of the Corinthian Christians (1 Cor. 3:2).
We now come to another spiritual health hint: discerning appetite – "refuse profane and old wives' fables". "we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you...our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Pet. 1:16); not frauds, not fables, not fancies, but plain, well-established facts on which our feet can rest and our souls can feed. If we desire spiritual strength, for God and for others, there are certain foods we should "refuse".
The old-wives tales of insidious untruth are often clever counterfeits of the truth – never "received". "Take heed what ye hear" (Mark 5:24), "Take heed how ye hear" (Luke 8:18), both signifying the importance of what and how we spiritually eat. Nothing could be weightier for the well-being and welfare of a Christian than the nature and amount of his spiritual provender and that he know what to enjoy and avoid.
Another secret is strenuous exercise – "Exercise thyself unto godliness. For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." What he says about bodily exercise should not be taken as negative, "little" should be "a little". In other words, within its own limits it has value for preserving health and increasing strength, even multiplying usefulness, rendering a man more capable of giving help in case of hard need, and even saving life. While it is a good thing, we should not overdo it. Do not make a fetish of it. Do not let it so absorb our interest that we lose concern for other, more important things. On the other hand, do not despise or neglect it. A fit body is a fine thing, but far greater is fitness of soul. "Godliness is profitable"; not for a few things but for all. Not for the short time here, but for eternity. There is nothing secular that a man does that cannot be better done because he is a godly man. He should be a better worker than the unbeliever, a better teacher, a better employer, a better everything. A man who is formed, reformed, and informed by the Word of God will do far more effectual work in this world than the same man without God's Word." There ought to be something about all he does that will stamp it as of the highest quality in "all things", secular as well as sacred. In Genesis 39:2, we are told that "the lord was with Joseph". That constituted him a man of godliness. The next verse says, "His master saw that the lord was with him". Perhaps it was something about the way he did his work, that something which godliness should always contribute. As to its profitableness, the record says that "he was a prosperous man". Indeed, "the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand." There it is again, the connection of the profitableness of godliness with "all things". Moreover, the range of this prosperity extends to the life that is to come. All the moral muscle and spiritual sinew that this "exercise" produces pays handsome dividends in eternity. Therefore, let us adopt the daily exercises of the means of grace, the earnest service, and the practice of the presence.
Concerning spiritual vitality, there is one thing Paul does not mention here – pure air. But he has already dealt with it, as seen in our fourth study. As a point of interest, the journey up the hill, breathing the refreshing atmosphere of the mountain top of prayer, will do much toward strengthening anyone habitually seeking God. William Harrison wrote: "We kneel how weak; we rise, how full of power, Why, therefore, do we do ourselves this wrong, And others – that we are not always strong".
And a greater than he said, "they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength" (Is. 40:31). The gymnasium of godliness is an open-air stadium, where the fresh breezes of the heavenly heights play upon the soul, empowering it for the exciting demands of the mounting life, or for the exacting call of the running life. Here are the secrets of the strong: good food, good exercise, and good air.
Verses 9-11. These concluding verses deal with a challenge: to believe – "We trust in the living God". This is the crux of the whole aspect of the Christian life. This continual attitude is this initial act which puts in our hearts the desire to obey the Gospel and be born again (as Paul defines in the first few verses of Rom. 6). It secures for us our diurnal supply of the resurrection power of the living Christ. Have you been born again? Are you daily putting your trust in Him for all the spiritual power you need?
Of course, this practical trust has repercussions some of which are mentioned here – "we labour...because we trust". Faith that does not set us to work is a poor, feeble thing. James calls it a "dead" thing (James 2:20). Is an idle Christian really a Christian? There is so much to be done; there are so few to do it; there is so little time; there is so compelling an incentive, "for the love of Christ constraineth us" (2 Cor. 5:14).
The aspect of belief – "we suffer...because we trust". Paul did. We have only to read 2 Corinthians 11:23-28 to see how much he suffered for his faith. When reading Paul's writings to Timothy, we are often filled with a sense of shame that we have suffered all that much for Him. If need be, are we ready to suffer reproach, shame, loss, ridicule, or anything for His Name? This is a daily challenge. The object of obedient belief is founded upon "we trust in the living God". The force of the Greek preposition is much stronger than the English and means, "we set our hope on"; also in 1 John 3:3. Our confidence does not rest in ourselves, nor in any other person, religious organization, tradition or ceremony but in Him, the Living One, the Savior – potentially "of all men"; actually "of those that believe."
Conclusion
In this guidance we heartily rejoice. What of the young leader, Timothy, to whom it was written "these things command and teach"? As he took up his Ephesian work, how thankful he must have been that such leading and learning was passed on to him by the one to whom, of all men he owed so much and whom he loved so dearly.
