Instructions 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 hypocritical 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 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 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.
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.
My Understanding: The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
When Paul spoke to Timothy with regard to the later times in which some people would abandon the faith and would follow deceiving spirits, he was not warning him against Satanic cults and/or the worship of Satan. He was not warning him about other religions outside of Christianity in which Satan had a strong influence. He was speaking about the church, into which Satan would infiltrate with his lies and deceptions, and would deceive the hearts and minds of those who claimed to believe in Jesus Christ, so that they would follow demonic spirits, and perhaps while still feeling as though they were following Jesus Christ. And, the way in which Satan would wield his influence would be through teachers in the church who were hypocritical liars, whose consciences had been seared as with a hot iron.
Also, when Paul spoke to Timothy with regard to the teachings of these hypocritical liars whose consciences had been seared, he was not speaking about obvious false teaching, either. Satan is a liar and a deceiver. He slips his lies into the church’s teaching in very subtle ways so it looks and smells like the truth, but it is not the truth. And, he does this very slowly and slyly over a period of time so that it is barely noticeable that changes in teaching have occurred. Yet, many professing Christians accept it as truth because their pastors and teachers teach it as though it is truth, or because some notable clergy wrote about it in a popular Christian book. Usually it is a mixture of truth and lies so that the lies appear to be truth. These lies are man-made teachings that are added to scripture and/or that remove from or twist the truths of scripture in order for these hypocritical liars to pass off as truth whatever lies they wish to promote and/or to follow themselves.
In the case mentioned here to Timothy, these hypocritical liars would 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. God sets no such restrictions with regard to food and/or to marriage. These are man-made rules added to the word of God, and there are many such man-made rules that are passed off as Biblical truth within the church today which are perhaps not as obvious. The church of today relies heavily upon the teachings of men. Books written by man often take precedence over and even to the exclusion or denial of scripture within our churches today. Yet, many congregants accept these man-made additions to and/or deletions from scripture because they trust their leaders to tell them the truth, or because they are lazy, and it is easier just to believe what they hear rather than check it out themselves, or because they just have not matured enough in their walks with the Lord to be able to discern lies from truth. Whatever the reason, it is imperative that we all get into the word of God ourselves, seeking God’s face, and asking him and his Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth so we are not deceived.
So, Paul instructed Timothy to point these things out to the believers in Christ, so that the followers of Christ would not get caught up in the lies, but would, instead, be followers of truth. If Timothy did this, he would be a good minister of Christ Jesus, brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching he had followed. Yet, these instructions are not for Timothy or for pastors alone. The church in general is taught to instruct one another (Ro. 15:14). We are all ambassadors for Jesus Christ, as though God were making his appeal through us (2 Co. 5:20). Jesus has given to all of us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Co. 5:18). We are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ lives within us in the person of the Spirit of God. So, we are all to be his representatives. We don’t all have the authority over other believers in Jesus Christ, as did Paul and Timothy, yet we are to speak the truth in love, one to the other, so we, as the body of Christ, will grow up into Christ Jesus and will mature in our faith. We all have the responsibility to turn a brother or sister from error to the truth of God’s word. This is what it truly means to encourage and to edify one another, which is what we are all supposed to do, one to the other.
Train yourself to be godly
Timothy was to have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales, rather he was to train himself to be godly. A myth is a legend, fable, fairytale, fiction and untruth. Old wives’ tales are also associated with old stories (legends) that are passed down from generation to generation as though they are truth and offer sound wisdom, yet they are also fairytales. And, there are many such myths and old wives’ tales passed off as truth within the teachings of the church which are just legends and man-made stories. The way in which Timothy was to avoid getting caught up in such untruths was for him to train himself to be godly. Physical training obviously has its benefits, but godliness has eternal value. To be godly means to attain and practice the characteristic traits of God in all his holiness, truthfulness, faithfulness, love, mercy, grace, kindness, compassion, etc. And, it involves training, because we must daily put off the flesh, resist the devil, and draw near to God in sincere faith, full surrender and complete obedience to Christ’s commands for our lives. And, we learn how to be godly through time spent each day in His word and prayer.
We have put our hope in the living God
Paul said that he and his fellow laborers in the gospel of Jesus Christ labor and strive for the hope they have in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe. He was speaking of Jesus Christ, who is the living God. Jesus Christ died on the cross for the sins of all men (all people). He crucified and buried our sins with him. When he was resurrected from the dead, he conquered death, hell, Satan and sin so that we could go free from sin and its judgment against us and its control over us daily. Though Jesus Christ died for all, not all have believed and accepted him personally as Lord and Savior. The way in which we come to receive Jesus Christ as Savior is by God’s grace and through faith. Faith involves turning from our sins and turning to walk in faith and obedience to Jesus Christ and to his commands. Faith involves putting action to our words, i.e. we show we have genuine faith by what we do, i.e. by our obedience to Jesus Christ and by forsaking our lives of sin. Yet, even the ability to repent of sin and to walk in obedience to Christ are gifts from God that we must appropriate to our own lives through our cooperation with the Spirit of God’s work in transforming our hearts and lives and in making us holy.
Set an example for the believers
Paul instructed Timothy not to let anyone look down on him just because of his youth, but he was to set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. This certainly applies to all of us. We should not allow fear of man or what they might think of us to cause us to compromise our faith or to shrink back in our commitments to Jesus Christ. For Timothy, he had to overcome his fear of non-acceptance because of his youth. Others of us may have to overcome other human limitations that Satan may use to tempt us to be less than who God intends for us to be or to do less than God intends for us to do. God made us who we are and he placed us just where he wants us to be, and he can work through any human limitations we feel we might have, so that he is the one who gets the glory. So, we should never be threatened or to feel useless to God because man has tried to convince us that some human factor, such as age, can somehow limit what God can do through us. He is God! Nothing is impossible with him! If we have sin in our lives that is not repented of and/or we are living in rebellion and we are not being obedient to Christ and to his word, that certainly can limit our effectiveness for Christ and his gospel, but age or other natural limitations should never cause us to feel inadequate for Christ’s service.
Instead, we should continue in our faith, we should be resolute in our commitments to obey the Lord Jesus in all things, we should keep on speaking in the name of Jesus and in sharing the truths of his words to all who will listen, and we should keep on loving others in all that we do and say. Most importantly here is that our lives and lifestyles should match our words. We should not only share the truths of God’s words with others, but we should live God’s truths found in his word. None of us is going to do it perfectly all the time, but our goal and our commitment should always be to live what we believe and say, and to speak what we live. In doing so, we will not only tell others how to live the Christian life, but we will set an example for them in how to love others, how to be morally pure, how to have a walk of faith and obedience to Jesus Christ, and how to be ones who, by our speech and by the things we do, demonstrate our commitments to Jesus Christ, to godly living, and to the sharing of the gospel of Jesus Christ to a world in need of a Savior.
Do not neglect your gift
We have all been given spiritual gifts by God if we are truly in Christ Jesus. We should seek God’s face to learn what our gifts are, and we should be faithful in ministering for Christ and for his gospel in the way in which he has gifted us individually. We should be diligent, faithful, and to give ourselves wholly to God’s service, watching our lives and doctrine closely, and persevering in the faith. And, this is for the salvation of human lives.
When in The Stillness / An Original Work / September 26, 2011
When in the stillness
Of this moment,
Speak to me, Lord,
I humbly pray.
Be my desire,
Set me on fire,
Teach me to love always.
Help me to walk in
Fellowship with You,
Listening to You;
Sit at Your feet.
Whisper Your words to me,
Oh, how gently,
Guiding me in Your truth.
While we are waiting
For Your blessing,
Lord, in our hearts
Be King today.
Help us to live for
You ev’ry moment,
List’ning to what You say.
May we not stray from
Your word within us,
Help us obey You,
Lord, in all things,
Walking each moment,
Lord, in Your presence,
Our off’rings to You bring.
Help us to love You,
Lord, our master;
Be an example
Of Your love,
Helping the hurting,
Lift up the fallen,
Showing them Your great love.
Teach them to love You,
Follow You always,
Bearing their cross and
Turning from sin;
Walking in daily
Fellowship with You,
Making You Lord and King.
http://youtu.be/MnTH6DW98EI
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