Posts Tagged ‘1st Timothy 4-6’

Scripture reading for December 8th: 1st Timothy 4-6

Leadership in the church is not an easy task!  Choosing wise deacons and elders is imperative to having a strong church.  Leaders and strong workers are often in short supply because many are not qualified or have not matured by applying the word to their daily living. Much thought and prayer are necessary in filling the offices of leadership.

Leaders will face increasingly difficult times in the last days.  (1st Timothy 4:1-8)  Many will abandon the faith and run after deceiving  spirits and follow teachers who are using doctrines of demons.  Leaders must be discerning and able to confront false doctrine.   They must unfailingly teach the truth and stay true to sound doctrine.  They must avoid myths and old wives tales but strive to live godly in the midst of the apostasy.

“Command and teach these things.  Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.  Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.  Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you.” (1st Timothy 4:11-14)  Youth and maturity are often two different things.  Those who are anointed to lead and have been called by Christ and affirmed by the elders must confidently lead by preaching and teaching God’s word.  We lead by example first, then by our teaching!  God will work with us through the gift bestowed through prayer and by the Holy Spirit.

“Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them so that everyone may see your progress.  Watch your life and your doctrine closely.  Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.” (1st Timothy 4:15-16)  Preachers must stay sharp on doctrine and stay true to sound doctrine!  Moving away from it is dangerous for the preacher and his flock.  Bad doctrine is often played out in daily living.  We must examine our daily life and thought patterns and make sure that lines up with what we believe and teach.  If we believe that Jesus is coming back soon to judge the sinner and save the righteous, we ought to be about saving sinners and living the gospel!

Scripture reading for December 7th: 1 Timothy 4-6

Do you sometimes feel that you are fighting to keep your focus on the goal of seeing Jesus Christ either when He comes or when you go to be with Him?  Do the things of this world compete for your attention and sometimes derail your focus?  Timothy, a young pastor, was encouraged to wage a “good fight” by the great Apostle Paul.  What does this “good fight” look like today?

In Timothy’s day, as ours, one of the distractions happened to be money and riches.  There were those who got caught in the pursuit of riches and wealth and were never content.  The love of money became a driving force.  As people let the love of money drive them and their choices, they fell into temptation and the trap of the Devil.  This opened the door in their lives for ruin and destruction!  (1 Timothy 6:6-10)  Some had wandered from the faith and brought grief into their lives!

“But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.  Fight the good fight of faith.  Take hold of eternal life, to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” 1 Timothy 6:11-12

Paul encouraged his young pastoral protege to flee from this trap of the Devil.  He was to pursue righteousness and all the qualities of godliness.  We get what we pursue and focus on!   The question for us is this: where is our focus?  What kind of fight are we really involved in?  Is it a fight of faith or for money and material things?

The strategy for those who do have money and are rich in the things of this world is to fight the fight of faith by generous giving!  (1 Timothy 6:17-19)  Timothy was to be faithful to warn them not to put their faith in riches.  Riches are very uncertain and can soon vanish or become worthless, particularly when you die.  The only way to insure eternal value is to use your riches to win people to the Lord.  A firm foundation for the future of life with the Lord will be eternal riches of those won to the Kingdom through generous giving!

“Timothy, guard what has be entrusted to your care.  Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and in so doing have wandered from the faith.” 1 Timothy 6:20-21

The war we are in is waged in every-day living.  We must always be on guard.  Some claim knowledge that is opposed to God’s word.  We must know the true word of God and live accordingly to keep from being seduced.  Fight the fight of faith in your life today!  We win eternally!