Midweek Bible Study | 1 Timothy 4 | Gary Hamrick

alright let's take our Bibles and go to first Timothy chapter 4 we weren't here last week as we had July 4th holiday so we left off at chapter 3 the end two weeks ago but tonight we're gonna be into chapter four if you need a Bible raise your hand the ushers are coming down the aisles with Bibles in hand first Timothy 4 in your New Testaments if you take a Bible from one of our Usher's its page 8:40 in those church Bibles first Timothy chapter 4 while you're finding your place there just to get a running start you'll remember that as we've been looking here at first Timothy which is similar to 2nd Timothy and Titus in that those three books are called pastoral epistles they give us practical guidance of what the church should look like it's God's handbook in a practical sense for how the church should conduct itself what the church should look like how it should govern what are some of the qualities and characteristics of the church and so far we've looked at four different qualities one is it should be a place of sound doctrine there there is an absence of truth in our culture and the church should certainly fill that void by presenting truth and the truth should be consistent according to scripture doctrine is important and Paul challenges young Timothy in this letter who is the pastor of the church at Ephesus to remain true to sound doctrine don't go off into error but stay true to sound doctrine number two it should also be a place of grace where people come in broken sinful messed up and and then they find forgiveness and they find it relationship with Jesus and and they understand his grace you know somebody once said that normal is only a setting on the dryer okay none of us is normal none of us because we're all part of the dysfunctional family we all came from Adam meaning we're all part of the Adams family all right and therefore we're all broken messed up people in need of forgiveness and grace and so the church would be a place where we find that a place of grace number three it should be a place of prayer Paul in Chapter two he says I urge everyone to pray make request prayers and intercession for everyone for kings and all those in authority that we might live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness so he says pray in general for everyone but pray in particular for your elected leaders the church needs to be a place of Prayer and then last week and actually the sorry two weeks ago and and it took us actually a couple of weeks to get through chapter 3 because godly elders and deacons should also be a part of God's church the local church and we spent a few weeks going through Chapter three that talk about the different qualifications for being an elder / pastor not every elder is a pastor but every pastor is an elder some have a particular calling but they still have to qualify and deacons as well they aren't part of the leadership of a church but deacons are part of the lay ministry of every church very important and very valuable to involve the laity in the ministry Church is not just about professional clergy it's about the involvement of the laity it's about the body of Christ serving one another helping using their gifts and in particular there's a group that was raised up in the early church Acts chapter 6 we see the first time that deacons were first called and they were to live by a higher standard that they might be used as instruments of ministry in the body of Christ so between elders and deacons you have people who help care for and minister to and serve within the body of Christ so that's where we left off now we come into chapter 4 and it's only 16 verses I'm gonna read all of it and n will backtrack and and dig this chapter apart and see how far we get tonight so chapter 4 verse 1 Paul says to Timothy the spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons such teachings come through the critical liars whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron they forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods which God created to be received with Thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth for everything God created is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with Thanksgiving because it is consecrated by the Word of God and prayer if you point these things out to the brothers you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed have nothing to do with the godless myths and old wives tales rather train yourself to be godly for physical training is of some value but godliness has value for all things holding promise for both the present life and the life to come this is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance and for this we labor and strive that we have put our hope in the Living God who is the savior of all men and especially of those who believe command and teach these things don't let anyone look down on you because you were 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 the teaching do not neglect your gift which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you be diligent in these matters give yourself wholly to them so that everyone may see your progress watch your life and doctrine closely persevere in them because if you do you will save both yourself and your hearers so Paul opens up this 4th chapter in his instruction to Timothy on kind of a somber note but it's nevertheless a true note and that is that the Bible speaks of a falling away from the faith in the last days and Paul a warns Timothy of this he says that the spirit clearly says that in later times meaning when we get closer to the return of Christ and no doubt we're living in some of those end times at least to one degree or another and and he says that in those later times some will now good news not all but some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons so this is an important point for us to recognize because you know clearly Paul's writing in the first century and and he's speaking about later times so we are later than the first century so obviously we're closer to this fulfillment and I think that we if we stop and recognize a little bit we're seeing some of this happening in our own days now tragically over all while the gospel is going to go to the far corners of the world thanks in large part to advancements of technology I mean we're living in a day when unlike any other day the gospel is reaching remote places around the world through internet and satellite dishes and and you know other kinds of social media and new media the gospel is going forth the reality is that because the gospel is going forth as people hear it they will be without excuse but the sad tragedy is that many will refuse the faith or even abandon it now the word here in the Greek is a fast Amy when it says some will abandon the faith it's the Greek word a fast Amy from two words oppo meaning off and hist Amy meaning to stand so it literally means some will stand off to the faith now I don't necessarily know if this means you know some profess to faith and then they rejected it or whether it just simply means that some will stand off from the faith because they don't want to have anything to do with Christianity to begin with either way it's tragic and Paul says it's going to happen this same Greek word is used again in Hebrews chapter 3 verse 12 you don't need to turn there but I'll read it to you in Hebrews 3:12 it says see to it brothers that none of you has a sinful unbelieving heart that turns away from the Living God same Greek word a fast Amy now this is where we get into all this debate about Calvinism and Arminianism well pastor G what is this talking about people who were saved and now they aren't or does that mean they were never really saved to begin with I don't know okay and the debate doesn't matter the tragedy is real though there are some who either at some point profess and reject or altogether don't wanna have anything to do with Christ either way it's not good news and the Bible predicts it happening and it says even more than just saying I reject Christianity or I don't want to have anything to do with it they actually will turn to deceiving doctrines and things taught by demons and so you know it's even more than just I don't want to hear this it's actually turning from and turning to and when I said a moment ago that we're seeing some of this in reality the truth is that that some religions or some belief systems are rooted in demons and I know that sounds strong to say but listen even from their own historical vantage point certain faith certain belief systems acknowledge that it was inspired by some other angelic being for example in Mormonism Joseph Smith when he was a teenager says he had a vision by an angel called Moroni and then and that that there was a missing part of the holy scriptures and that this angel led him when he was 21 few years later when he was 21 that this angel led him to a place that only he saw that only he found of golden tablets that revealed additional Scripture today called the Book of Mormon now Moroni is an angel never mentioned in the Bible okay and he says that he himself was the only one to have found it the the golden tablets were supposedly written in an ancient Egyptian dialect he didn't know ancient Egyptian and thus he relied this is an testimony he relied on me what he called a seer stone a seer stone that helped him to analyze and to translate this ancient Egyptian dialect but it was all on the basis of quote and angel that appeared him now there's a similar thing in islam islam teaches that the quran has a single author Muhammad but Muhammad was illiterate he could neither read nor write and so he dictated visions to others to write down which we ended up becoming the Quran dictated visions that he said he received from an angel that he named as Gabriel or in Arabic zebra Elam and so he was sitting in caves contemplating life because he married a woman 15 years his senior who was wealthy so you can contemplate life sitting in caves when you do that and he was inspired by this this angel now at first his friends said it was jinn but they were demons who were telling him these things but then sorry he said that he believed these were jinn these were demons that inspired this vision these revelations but others convinced him no it was jibraíeel it was Gabriel and thus the whole Quran came out of a vision from an angel just like the Book of Mormon came out of the vision of an angel but the Bible says in Galatians 1:8 that if Paul says if we or if even an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you let him be eternally condemned so the fact that matters those weren't angels at all that appeared to Joseph Smith that appeared two of Muhammad those were in fact doctrines of demons that have now taken a stronghold even in our culture today so as Paul here is warning says listen in later times people are not only going to reject Christianity they're gonna turn to things taught by demons the influence is happening even in our own day you need to be aware of this but even so far is it depends upon us and and so let's just narrow it down to our own personal responsibility the Bible talks in several places and I'm gonna give you the examples several verses about the falling away from the faith for example in 2nd Thessalonians 2:1 in 3 Paul says concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him don't let anyone deceive you in any way for that day will not come until the rebellion until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness which is the Antichrist has revealed the man doomed to destruction now here it's a different Greek word for rebellion its apostasy if we get our English word apostasy the Bible says part of the end times the revelation of the Antichrist and a falling away and rebellion from the faith Jesus in Matthew chapter 24 he's talking about different signs of the times related to his second coming and in Matthew 24 verse 10 Jesus said at that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other it's a different greek word there it's kinda leads o people be scandalized jesus predicted as we get closer to his return people are going to turn away from the faith and they're gonna be scandalized they will betray and hate each other and in 2nd Timothy chapter 4 Paul writes this verses 3 and 4 for the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine instead to suit their own desires they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths it's a different greek word there as well it's a postre foe so you have four different Greek words in the New Testament because the New Testament originally written in Greek that speak to a falling away a rebellion a turning away from the faith and from truth now again you can debate well what is that what does that mean in relation to was did somebody profess Christ and then they fall away or did they never where they never really saved listen the Bible is coming at different angles using four different Greek words to say basically this as we get closer to the return of Christ you make sure that you're standing firm in your faith don't be deceived by error or false doctrine or even demonic doctrine or or cultural shifts that influence your thinking and behavior just hold true to the Bible hold true to your faith hold true to Jesus that's the message because the warning is that there's this tendency to walk away turn away follow I use use whatever word you want to do but the pictures not pretty so it's a warning to us it's an exhortation to us stand firm in your faith don't be deceived know your Bible so that you can tell what truth is from a lie so you can tell if somebody's trying to deceive you know what you believe and why you believe it and whom you have believed this is important because as we get closer to the return of Christ there's going to be this this this Mass this apostasy this abandoning of the faith people being deceived and following things taught by demons now he adds here back back to our text the adds here in verse two such teachings come through hypocritical liars whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron now circular word conscience in your Bible we've talked about this word before because Paul likes this word here in in first Timothy and it's the Greek word Sunna dayss it's from two words soon meaning with are together and EI doe meaning to seer to know so in vines dictionary vines just translated the word like this a Co knowledge with oneself and God a true healthy conscience is one of self-awareness with God always in the equation and in the Bible throughout the New Testament there are several types of conscience that is mentioned that the Bible speaks about a good conscience it speaks about a clear conscience it speaks about the potential to have a weak conscience or a guilty conscience or a corrupted conscience or the one that Paul writes about here in verse 2 a seared conscience now we're not time to talk about all of them so we're just focused for a moment on this last one this is the worst a seared conscience is the worst conscience to have any and he adds here as with a hot iron to paint the picture that it is possible for someone to be so numb to the truth and so numb to their awareness of God and right and wrong that they actually have a seared conscience as with a hot iron so you know look people with a seared conscious people have no conscience psychologists call them sociopaths those are the ones who commit horrible crimes because they have no moral compass about right and wrong and and so they just do things without any regard to right or wrong they have no no conscience they have no moral compass and Paul says here this is this is the worst thing worse place to be to have have a conscience so seared so so seared as with a hot iron that you're numb that you're desensitized to right or wrong so you know the idea of you know when when you know cattle get branded you know like like seared whatever gets seared ends up having it's it's numb you know any of you who work hard with your hands and you get calluses on your hands you know those are numb now you have no feeling it's desensitized I the back of my throat is completely seared I had my tonsils out twice this is back in the day when they used to take tonsils out now they leave them in there like god no big deal but back in my day growing up around the Civil War they took out your cotton they took out your tonsils and I was so young they took them out again because they grew back if you don't know if you knew that your tonsils could actually grow back so I my tonsils out twice that adenoids out twice I had tubes in my ears my whole head was messed up but it got to the place where after after two times of my tonsils out my ear nose and throat doctors said we're just gonna take care of this we're gonna cauterize the back of your throat and so he literally I mean he was a German doctor he had no bed side manner let me just tell you something he's just like open your mouth we'll take care of this and just cauterize the back of my throat using the chemicals that gets totally C I could swallow glass now and taste the thing I exaggerate but nevertheless cauterizing or searing you know get the imaging in your in your mind that's if it's a picture of being completely desensitized and Paul says this is the worst place to be with your conscience is having it seared now he's talking here about hypocritical liars there are some false teachers who were going around and who are inciting people to abandon the faith and follow this deceiving spirits and things taught by demons and so he's going to talk about these these misguided people here these hypocritical liars in the following verses verse verse three he says they forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods which God created to be received with Thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth he says for everything God created is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with Thanksgiving because it is consecrated by the Word of God and prayer alright so apparently there's some people going around the early church here and Paul was warning Timothy about this who were basically over spiritualizing things and they were saying you know it's more spiritual for example this is what's inferred here that they were teaching was it's more spiritual that you don't marry because because Paul says here they're going around forbidding people to marry so the inference is that they were suggesting it's more spiritual if you're celibate if you're you're more spiritual if you're celibate and you're more spiritual if you're vegan right because he because they're saying like don't don't eat certain food foods and so you know and so they're making this distinction here unfortunately some people can do this even today you know they you you can have certain convictions about things that are non salvation issues and and it becomes a standard for you which is fine but the problem becomes when you make it a standard for other people and if it's not a you know if it's not a biblical thing it's just a personal conscience thing and it's not a salvation thing it's just a personal conviction and so you want to live by certain standard you know I know I know certain people like we're gonna have note TV in her home okay that's fine we're gonna you know we're gonna be eaten totally vegan okay whatever that's fine and you know and we're never gonna go to movies okay that's your conviction but the problem becomes when you think everybody else should be just like that and because you think you're more spiritual and and that if other people do those things that you're convicted about they're less spiritual than you and this is part of what he's addressing yours is there's hypocrisy in this you can't go around you know pointing fingers saying you're more spiritual I forbid you to marry that's wrong it's more you should be like me should be celibate or you know you shouldn't be eating certain foods and and I love the way he just kind of he just you know burns all of that argument down because he talks about in verse four everything God created is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with Thanksgiving talking about food here because he talks about you know abstain from certain foods and then he backs it up he says listen God is a provider of the food that we eat every meal that we have is from the hand of God so we should be thankful for that it's all good God's blessed and receive it with Thanksgiving because it is consecrated by the Word of God meaning God has we know from the Word of God that God is the provider of all things and and by prayer you know so say grace at the dinner table and but receive it all with Thanksgiving it's all good I you know I've confessed my my temptation for Donuts it's a well-known fact around here and and yet it's all good I got a verse about it right here it's all good I just pray before I eat it and then it's all good but but my family and I were at the July 4th parade in downtown Leesburg and we're standing on the sidelines you know just watching as the parade is going by we weren't in the parade we're just watching it and and as we're getting ready for the parade to come by this this boy I don't know maybe he was ten come just comes out of nowhere with an open box of Dunkin Donuts and says hello would you like a doughnut says to me no one else around me just to me and I said I said well how much he how much you selling them for he said oh no we're not selling them we just want to offer you one and then over his shoulder across the street was a family from our church or they're just waving hey pastor Jeannie like we know but you know listen it's all good because the fact is isn't it isn't nutrition complicated these days I mean it's so complicated it's like it's like don't don't eat don't don't drink cow's milk because you're not a calf and only only little cows drink cow's milk so don't drink cow's milk but then somebody else says no drink cow's milk you need vitamin D so drink cow's milk you know but then others are like don't don't drink it and so you don't know what to believe anymore it's it's terrible it's nonsense it's like it's like listen don't you know don't avoid certain foods they're not good for don't eat meat don't eat meat carcinogens don't eat meat eat white meat but don't eat red meat unless you have an iron deficiency then eat red meat then red meats good for you and if you're gonna eat the white meat if you get any chicken make sure it's free-range make sure no hormones no antibiotics make sure you're doing this right by the way avoid certain fruits blackberries strawberries they have a protein called lectins you don't want lectins they make people fat don't eat don't electives but by the way you need bioflavonoids because you don't normally get that in your diet so eat blackberries and strawberries because they have bioflavonoids now listen wait I'm not that be careful polyunsaturated fats now polyunsaturated is better than saturated but saturated fats are not good for you but butters are saturated fat but it's better than margarine so go ahead and eat butter listen you can mess with your head with that or you could just say grace just say Greg I mean it's ridiculous it's all consecrated by the Word of God and prayer bless this cholesterol I'm about to eat Lord you know he'll take it away it's all good it's so messed up all right let's keep going I'm just trying to fulfill the next verse look at verse 6 for if you point these things out to the brothers you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ Jesus brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed then he adds here in verse 7 have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives tales you know just weird stuff that circulates the church in particular rather train yourself to be godly and let's park it there at verse 7 for just a moment the word train in your Bibles here uses a Greek word gum nozzle and so we get our English word gymnasium and he's gonna talk here about training yourself to be godly and in verse 8 he adds for physical training is of some value but godliness has value for all things holding promise for both the present life and the life to come so the next word I want you to notice is in verse 8 and it's the word godliness it's from an old English word God likeness and the original greek language is the word you see via from two words in the Greek the the prefix is u meaning well you know when you when you have like a eulogy at a funeral it's from two greek words Eulogio meaning to speak well of someone that's what you do at a funeral a eulogy so in this case you see B is from two words u meaning well and sublimate a meaning devout worship or reverence real godliness is having a reverence for God that is reflected in your life well that's what it is and Paul says here listen physical training gimnasio gymnasium is of some value but spiritual training for godliness is of greater value because spiritual training for godliness benefits both this life and the life to come physical training is only valuable in part because it only is good for this life now he's riding at a time when the instance games were really popular and the Olympics were coming onto the world scene and you know Paul writes in language where there's no doubt about it because he talked about running the race and perseverance getting the crown that you compete you know and so there's no question in my mind if Paul were here today he'd be watching ESPN and be rooting for the Redskins there's just no question about it because he was a godly man but but he uses a lot of athletic illustrations and and this is one of them either he was athletic who just had an interest in in sports but but he's certainly using this kind of sports analogy get about training yourself because he's probably thinking of either the Isthmus Games or the Olympic Games and and people who train themselves going to strict training now listen we're living in a day when you know people hit the gym and they have gym memberships and and they work hard at keeping their body fit and there's nothing wrong with that although Paul reminds us it only has a benefit in this lifetime but here's my challenge to all of us as much as you know there's a particularly in this day and age this craze about getting in the gym and working out and again you know fine take care of yourself but the reality is this ask yourself do you spend more time in physical training or in spiritual training I mean you know a lot of people I know I'm one of these guys were you know you don't really see me in the gym I mean I'm a guy who prefers to get my exercise either in the yard and and like I'm pulling out root stumps on Monday and I was totally exhausted at the end of the day or playing you know football or volleyball of my kids are doing you know something active I'm not like and another reason I don't honestly prefer to go the gym is because it turns into counseling sessions with all of you people and I'm really here to do that hey pastor G can you just tell me like you know listen I've been going through a hard time my life can you where's that scripture verse on okay whatever but but my challenge is and here's my question you know how many people spend an hour in the gym a day but they won't spend a minute reading their Bibles and physical training is of some benefit but how much more important is our spiritual training for godliness and how many people typically as Christians will spend more time in the gym than they do with their Bibles and with the Lord you know Jesus when he was in the garden Gethsemane before he was crucified he was there with his disciples and he he turned to them and he found them sleeping he said could you not tarry one hour I've always been challenged by that because Jesus made it seem that an hour is a minimum but could you not even couldn't you just Terry one hour can you just wait and pray with me one hour so the question becomes for all of us what are we doing to train ourselves for godliness for again verse eight for physical training is of some value but godliness has value for all things holding promise for both the present life and a life to come the word godliness is a key word that Paul likes here in this letter he uses it eight times eight times and it is found nowhere in the New Testament until you get to this letter now Peter will mention it in his epistle but up into this point you don't see the word godliness in the New Testament until Paul starts to use that word eight times here in first Timothy and it's important for us to examine our lives and to think what are we doing to just really build ourselves up in our faith how are we strengthening our spiritual muscles so to speak what are we doing to in vest in our spiritual life so we taking time in prayer we are we reading our Bibles or we you know and you guys are here at church and so you know that's a that's another way that you were just helping to train yourself so that so I commend you for that but obviously this shouldn't be the only thing there are different ways and you know and now with technology can be listening to podcasts and and I just for example you know one of my favorites I just love listenin Alistair bag and we had him here about three years ago and I keep trying to get him back and he's just so busy but I that man with a Scottish brogue could be preaching heresy and I wouldn't even know it because I just love the Scottish brogue and I was he doesn't preach heresy but anyway just but my point is you have the opportunity listen to podcast you can be you know reading you know I mean filter to make sure they're good Christian books but but you have the opportunity just grow in your faith and and to exercise your spiritual muscles and to strengthen yourself spiritually invest in training yourself for godliness verse nine this is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance and for this we labor and strive that we have put our hope in the Living God I love that reminder he's not a dead God he's a Living God who is the savior of all men and especially and especially of those who believe now that sentence seems a little awkward he's not preaching universalism here you know well God Jesus a savior of all men in everybody was going to get saved that's universalism that's a false doctrine he's not saying that everybody's going to get saved when he distinguishes here by saying who was the savior of all men especially of those who believe he's basically saying that what God intended for all people is actually given to those who receive and believe that's all he means there is it not this is not universalism he just you know God intends for all to be saved that's his heart Bible says he wishes none to perish but all to come to repentance Jesus died for all that all might be saved but the truth is that not all will be saved because not all will receive and believe and so he's saying here what God intended for all Jesus died for all we'll only actually be given to those who receive it by faith because they believe and then he says in verse 14 there verse 11 command and teach these things don't let anyone look down on you because you were young and I love that because you know youth is relative friends Timothy's thirty here so Paul say you know you're young but you know don't let anyone look down on you because you're thirty so it's all relative but set an example notice for the believers in five things in speech in life in love in faith and in period you know some of your translations use a couple of different words I think ESV or new King James uses the word conduct instead of life but he's basically tackling these five areas what you say that your speech how you conduct yourselves how you live out your life that's that's number two that's life the third word love is the word agape in the Greek in this text here it's just being an example of Christ's love for others to see faith but by faith he means faithfulness let other people see your faithfulness to Christ and then in the area of moral purity there's nothing worse than you know a Christian who compromises what kind of an example is that and you know in moral in regards to morality what kind of an example is that for people who were looking at your lives and and I love a quote by Francis of Assisi I'll put up on the screen for you he said preach the gospel and use words of necessary that's just a great quote it's a great reminder to us that you know our lives are constantly on display and so preach the gospel let people know about Jesus but they should be able to also get a glimpse of Jesus just by the way you live so preach the gospel then also use words of necessary a good reminder to us set an example you're never too young and never too old to be used by the Lord and to be an example for the Lord you know if you're here now again Timothy was 30 but you know I've seen children set an example for their parents some of you may be came to faith or at least started coming to church because your kids wanted to come and then you found Christ because you started coming here here in the gospel so kids can be a great example teenagers can be a great example you know young adults us and don't don't look at yourself and think well I'm too young set an example you're not too young set an example and be used by the Lord as an example of his relationship in your life in regards to speech life love faith and purity and he says in verse 13 until I come devote yourself to the public reading of scripture to preaching and to teaching so I've added this as number five on our list as we're keeping track of things that should define the church teaching the Bible now number one was sound doctrine and how is this different because sound doctor is not just you know what you believe but teaching the Bible is part of what the church should be doing every time we gather which is why we put a lot of emphasis on doing what I'm just doing right now you know we're spending in about 45 minutes on a Wednesday night and we're teaching and we're going through the Bible together and it uses two words here is just preaching and teaching those are two different words it just basically means the preaching part means exhortation and the teaching part means instruction there sometimes when going through the course of God's Word it exhorts and other times it informs and it instructs you know sometimes it challenges and sometimes it's it's information that we grow and learn so that's why uses these two different words let me put a little plug in for our women's ministry at this point because Terry's taking the ladies through Scripture right now when do you start back up on in the fall September eighteenth and they're just now this this is a verse that the Lord put on my wife's heart to just kind of get the women into Scripture so that there's not a whole lot of like teaching involved they're just gathering together and they're reading through Scripture and they're just they're just applying it to their lives but they're letting scriptures speak for itself and just devoting themselves to the public reading of Scripture so that's that's what they're doing this this father that this past season they're doing again this coming fall and then he adds here in verse 14 do not neglect your gift which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you now it's difficult to know whether your gift is a reference to the gift of the Holy Spirit in general and and you know sometimes you see in scripture how the gift of the Holy Spirit was given by the laying on of hands but not always you know in Acts chapter 10 as Peter is preaching at the house sword of Cornelius Cornelius believed and his family with him they believed they received by faith and then they also received the Holy Spirit and in Acts chapter 10 that example they spoken in tongues but nobody laid hands on them so is is this a general don't neglect the gift of the Holy Spirit you know don't fan that go ahead and remember Timothy fan that that's that flame and get get that get that gift accelerating that you received at the laying on of your hands or is he speaking about a specific gift like maybe maybe Timothy had the gift of leadership and he's he's kind of shrinking back because he is timid there's sometimes here that Paul addresses that maybe had the gift of teaching and he's neglected that whatever it is if it's a specific gift or if it is in general the gift of the Holy Spirit Paul says don't neglect your gift the elders laid their hands on you when they basically ordained you and commissioned you into ministry and then he finishes this chapter by saying be diligent in these matters give yourself wholly not half-hearted wholly to them so that everyone may see your progress watch your life and doctrine closely persevere in them because if you do you will save both yourself and your hearers amen amen let's pray and ask the Lord to help us to persevere as well lord thank you for this time in your word tonight and thank you for the way that you exhort us and teach us through the pages of Scripture and we pray we would take to heart these things as if you wrote them directly to each of us we know that your word Lord is profitable for instruction correction and training and righteousness and and so to that end we receive this personally that we would train ourselves and godliness that we would want to be godlike in the sense that we want people to see you in our lives as an example and no matter how young or how old we pray that we would be men and women and young people who would set an example for believers in speech and life and love and faith and in purity that we would devote ourselves to the public reading of Scripture Lordan to teaching in to preaching that we would grow in our faith and in our knowledge of your word and that we would persevere Lord that we would persevere that we would watch our lives and doctrine closely that we would consider carefully in watching our lives what kind of an example are we setting to a watching world even to our own kids who might still live in our home to our co-workers to our neighbors may we watch our lives closely and our doctrine carefully may we know what we believe in why we believe it because we are growing in our faith and our knowledge of your word and in our relationship with you and we love your Lord and we thank you for this time together speak to our hearts even as we leave here tonight and we give you praise glory and honor in Jesus name and everybody said amen

Channel: Cornerstone Chapel - Leesburg, VA

Views: 2,509

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Calvary Chapel, Gary Hamrick, Cornerstone Chapel

Id: IUEVGMB4xZo

Length: 43min 18sec (2598 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 16 2019