Forbidden Bible Verses — 1 Timothy 4:11-16

The three-year Lectionary that many Catholics and Protestants hear in public worship gives us a great variety of Holy Scripture.

Yet, it doesn’t tell the whole story.

My series Forbidden Bible Verses — ones the Lectionary editors and their clergy omit — examines the passages we do not hear in church. These missing verses are also Essential Bible Verses, ones we should study with care and attention. Often, we find that they carry difficult messages and warnings.

Today’s reading is from the English Standard Version Anglicised (ESVUK) with commentary by Matthew Henry and John MacArthur.

1 Timothy 4:11-16

¹¹ Command and teach these things. ¹² Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. ¹³ Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. ¹⁴ Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. ¹⁵ Practise these things, immerse yourself in them,^[a] so that all may see your progress. ¹⁶ Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

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Last week’s post discussed Paul’s instructions on being a good servant of Christ Jesus.

Paul is giving Timothy all his commands for good ministry and service to the Lord. Those who are students of Paul’s letters know that the Apostle embodied these throughout his own ministry.

The first part of 1 Timothy 4 concerned pointing out doctrinal error and false teaching, which comes, Paul says, through deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons manifested through liars with no conscience. In the next part (last week’s reading), he tells Timothy to pursue godliness and continue in the study of Scripture and maintenance of the doctrine it teaches.

Once again, Paul is using the word ‘command’, this time directed at the congregations in Ephesus and the surrounding churches rather than at Timothy himself: ‘Command and teach these things’ (verse 11).

Matthew Henry’s commentary explains that this refers to godliness (emphases mine below):

To command and teach these things that he had now been teaching him. “Command them to exercise themselves unto godliness, teach them the profit of it, and that if they serve God they serve one who will be sure to bear them out.”

MacArthur says that Paul intends the sense of making the command a practical one:

He is saying, “Give them something but give it in a command mode, make it a practical thing, but make it a command.”

MacArthur delivered today’s sermons in 1986, when preaching began to lose traction in Protestant churches. Having been raised a Catholic, I would say sermons lost their effect in the 1970s.

MacArthur cites the Puritan preacher Richard Baxter as a good example of a servant of Christ giving a command to the congregation:

Where did we ever come up with the style of preaching we have today? Where did we ever come up with sort of wimpy preaching? Richard Baxter says, “Screw the truth into their minds.” He’s right. I mean there is much interesting preaching but not much powerful preaching. There is some entertaining preaching but not convicting preaching. There is popular preaching but where is the transforming preaching? And where did we ever come off feeling that sort of weak suggestions chatted from the pulpit are really what God wants?

MacArthur reminds us that God and Christ also command believers:

God, it says in Acts 17, commands all men everywhere to repent. And when did we decide that it was only a suggestion? When did we decide that we were supposed to cuddle people into the Kingdom instead of command them? We are in a command mode. Yes, with gentleness; yes with meekness; yes, with love; but nonetheless with a certain amount of authority, a certain amount of assertiveness. Jesus, at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, gave such an authoritative message, in verse 29 of Matthew 7, it says they were in awe of Him because He spoke as one having what? Authority – authority …

Now, I don’t mean you’re abusive and I don’t mean you’re ungracious, but I mean we have got to speak the Word of God, not as a lot of nice platitudes, not as some kind of Pollyanna psychologist, but with a confrontive, strong mode that says, “Do this or else you’re in flagrant disobedience to God with eternal consequences,” right? Somehow we lost that somewhere along the line. But you read through the Pauline epistles, and you will find Paul is often in a command mode. He has his moments of tenderness and his moments of compassion as he speaks to believers, but he does not mitigate in any sense the demand to obey the Word of God.

The faithful servant is bold. He challenges sin head-on. He confronts unbelief, disobedience, and noncommitment, and as God commands all men everywhere to repent, and as God said, “This is my beloved Son, hear Him,” so he carries on that same kind of directive, commanding all men to repent, commanding all men to hear Jesus Christ. Every sermon should have a tone of authority that is unmistakable. And that authority is really built on a foundation. Let me give you that foundation.

First of all, you have to know what you believe about the Bible. If you’re not sure it’s the Word of God, you’re not going to have any authority. Secondly, once you’ve decided it is the Word of God, then you have to decide what it says. And if you’re not sure what it means, you can’t be authoritative, either. So first you have to believe it’s God’s Word, then you have to learn what it means by what it says, and then the third thing is you’ve got to be concerned about communicating it because you care about God’s Word being upheld, and you care, fourthly in the line, about people’s response.

Where does authority come from? One, a commitment to the authority of the Word of God. Two, an understanding of what it means. Three, a belief that God wants it communicated. Four, a belief that men need to hear it. And on that foundation comes authority. If you’re weak on the fact that men need to hear it, if you’re weak on the fact that God wants it communicated, if you’re weak on what it means or you’re weak on what it is, you’re weak, and you won’t have authority.

Our preaching should be filled with commands, not just sentimental pleadings. Instead of trying to sneak up on people and all this subtle kind of stuff, we need to just speak the Word of God and let it do its work. An excellent minister speaks with a practical authority. Yes, commanding and teaching. Commanding and teaching. Here’s the command, here’s what underlies it. Here’s the command, here’s how to carry it out, but with authority. He has authority, pursues godliness, studies the Word, warns his flock, works hard, avoids unholy teaching.

Timothy was probably 35 years old when Paul wrote this letter. He had joined Paul in ministry when he was a teenager, probably at the age of 15. However, those who had been brought up in Greek-influenced culture would not have considered him as having an appropriate amount of wisdom yet.

Therefore, Paul tells Timothy to let no one despise him for his youth but set the believers — the congregations — an example in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity (vesre 12).

Henry says:

“Let no man despise thy youth; that is, give no man an occasion to despise thy youth.” Men’s youth will not be despised if they do not by youthful vanities and follies make themselves despicable; and this men may do who are old, who may therefore thank themselves if they be despised …

Observe, Those who teach by their doctrine must teach by their lives, else they pull down with one hand what they build up with the other: they must be examples both in word and conversation. Their discourse must be edifying, and this will be a good example: their conversation must be strict, and this will be a good example: they must be examples in charity, or love to God and all good men, examples in spirit, that is, in spiritual-mindedness, in spiritual worship,—in faith, that is, in the profession of Christian faith,—and in purity or chastity.

MacArthur gives us the qualities of a good minister as Paul outlines them, then discusses the power of setting a good example:

So the excellent minister has authority, pursues godliness, studies the Word, warns his people, works hard, and avoids unholy teaching … Let’s go to number seven … It’s a very important and basic truth: An excellent minister is the model of spiritual virtue – the model of spiritual virtue. In other words, he is the tupos. The word “example” in verse 12 is tupos. It means the model, the image, the pattern. It’s a pattern laid down.

… It’s the example of setting a pattern of living that others can follow. That is really at the very heart of excellence in ministry. In fact, Thomas Brooks [another Puritan preacher] said, “Example is the most powerful rhetoric.”

This, too, is something that seminaries neglect today, and MacArthur explains why that is:

Recently, a friend of mine visited his alma mater, a well-known seminary in our country, and he suggested to them that the thing he noticed when he was there and the thing he noticed in the graduates coming out from there was a lack of an understanding of true godliness. And he said, “I would like to suggest that the seminary add a class along the lines of holiness and godliness in personal life.” And the rebuttal of the professor was, “That wouldn’t have any academic credibility.”

Well, academic credibility isn’t the issue in the ministry. The issue in the ministry is a godly life, is the model of spiritual virtue – that’s the issue. Give me a godly man, and I’ll show you someone you can pattern your life after. Give me a man whose head is full of knowledge but doesn’t have virtue in his life, and I’ll show you a man you better run from because you’re going to get confused and you’ll start to live like he does, having all the right truth and none of the right behavior, and that kind of a dichotomy is deadly and frightening.

The single greatest tool of leadership – the single greatest tool of leadership – is the power of an exemplary life. It’s the bottom line. Notice verse 12. Paul, writing to Timothy again, whom he wants to be an excellent minister, says, “Let no man” – that’s comprehensive, let no one – “look down on your youth.” How you going to turn that around? By being an example of the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Some versions say in spirit, but that was added later in the manuscripts – doesn’t appear in the earlier ones. Just five: word, conduct, love, faith, purity. You’re to be an example in those areas …

… I heard a man on television the other day, and this man was calling for godliness and a prayer life and this – he was saying, you know, we need to be committed to the Lord and we need to get our lives right with God.

And I know that guy, and I know that guy committed adultery, divorced his wife, ran off with a young twenty-year-old girl, came back four years later, started his ministry all up again. He has nothing to say to me. There’s no credibility in what he says. I’m not interested in hearing that from him. It just smacks of hypocrisy. I’m not interested in that. There’s no conviction, and he can’t move my heart, see? I don’t buy into it.

Whenever the pattern of godliness isn’t in the light, it sucks the power out of the ministry and it becomes hollow and shallow. Sometimes people ask the question, you know, “So-and-so’s such a good preacher, so forth, why doesn’t anybody go to the church?” Well, it might well be that the people who’ve been there have seen the lack of living out what is being preached and the loss of integrity is more than they can handle. The excellent minister, see, is to be a pattern of godly virtue that can be imitated.

Thomas Fuller, the Puritan, had a great idea. He said, “Teaching is like putting nails in the wood. Example is like hammering them deep.” He’s right. You can stick the nails in the surface, but if you want to hammer them deep into the hearts and souls of people, it’s example that does that. You set the pattern. Now, the New Testament is replete with this kind of injunction. And I just survey briefly the text because the Word of God carries the power and authority to convict our hearts. In 1 Corinthians 4:16, Paul writes, “Be ye followers of me.” And he says, “I beg you to be followers of me. I am the pattern” …

Now, when you come into ministry in the church, you are to have a life that can be followed by other people. That’s a tremendous challenge. That’s why James said, “Stop being so many teachers, theirs is a greater condemnation.” Not only because of the seriousness of teaching error but the seriousness of living hypocritically. The life has to match the message, and tragically this is violated, just constantly violated in ministry, constantly.

Be specific – verse 12  … look at what Paul says. What areas are the issue? First of all, “Let no man despise your youth but be an example of the believers.” That’s the general thing. What he is saying here is – now watch this – you are young. With youth comes a certain amount of questioning. You’ve got to have respect if people are going to follow you, right? But if you’re young, you’re going to have to earn that respect. The Greeks subordinated youth to age. If a man didn’t have age, he had to earn respect. So he says to Timothy, “Timothy, you’re going to have to earn respect. You’re not going to get it by your gray hair because you’re not that old” …

So here is a young man, Timothy, under 40, and Paul says to him, don’t let anyone think down, look down, underrate, show contempt on your youth. Now, how are you going to turn that around? How are you going to gain their respect? It’s a question of showing yourself an example to the believers. Reveal yourself to be a model of spiritual virtue. That’s the key – that’s the key …

… the real thing that separates … those who succeed and those who fail is this idea of consistency, who are the loyal, trustworthy, faithful, long-term people who hang in there unswervingly, consistently serving Christ through all the years of their life. That’s the faithfulness, Timothy, just be consistent, unwavering. So important …

So, Timothy, you’re to be an example in all these areas and one more, finally in verse 12, in purity. The word is hagneia. It means purity in the area of sexual chastity and also implies purity in the matter of heart intention. If your heart intention is pure, then your behavior will be pure as well. There is to be purity in the sexual area.

That pertains to those of us in the pews, too:

Your life should be so good and so virtuous, your lifestyle so honorable, so biblical, so Christ-exalting that your critics have absolutely nothing to say. First Peter 3:1 says to a wife with an unsaved husband, “You will win your husband not by your words but by your lifestyle,” by your behavior, your conduct, your godliness. Your chaste conduct coupled with reverence, he says in verse 2. In verse 16 of the same chapter, “Having a good conscience whereas they speak of you as evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good lifestyle in Christ.” Isn’t that wonderful?

It’s how you live. It’s where you go. It’s what you do. It’s how you spend your money. And I’m not saying you should be poor. I’m not saying you can’t accept what God wonderfully, graciously gives you, it’s a question of what you pursue.

Paul tells Timothy that, until he returns to Ephesus, he must devote himself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and to teaching (verse 13).

MacArthur explains this verse and how Paul wrote it in Greek:

The little phrase “until I come” implies that Paul was going to return to Ephesus and meet Timothy there again. In chapter 3, verse 14, he said that, “These things write I unto you, hoping to come unto you shortly. But if I have to tarry long,” and he goes on to say then you need to know what to do, so here he says, “Until I come,” until you receive any further orders, this is what I want you to do. I want you to give your attention to the reading, the exhortation, the doctrine, or the teaching.

Now, this is most important. The verb “give attendance,” prosechō, is a present active imperative, that means it is a continuing command. I command you to continually be giving your attention to. This is to become your way of life. Guthrie, helping us to understand the indication of this verb, says, “The verb implies all that is bound up in the previous preparation necessary to these things.” It isn’t just “until I come, read, exhort, and teach,” it is “until I come, give your whole attention to the reading, the exhortation, and the teaching.”

In other words, it isn’t just the act itself, but the verb embodies all that is behind it. It assumes all of the commitment and all of the necessary preparation. In fact, the same verb is used in Hebrews chapter 7, verse 13, of the priest who goes to the altar and is fully absorbed at the altar. All of his thought and all of his energy is devoted to the work of the altar. And that’s what he is saying here. Your whole attention, center and circumference of ministry, is to be involved in the reading, the exhortation and the teaching. That is the embodiment of your ministry.

Now, what do these words mean? Let’s look at them a little more closely. You’ll find them interesting. First of all, he says give your attention continually to the reading. There’s a definite article there in the Greek, it’s not there in the English, it should be there, “to the reading.” Now, what does he mean by that? Well, that’s a reference to the reading of Scripture. But it’s more than that. The definite article isolates this out. This isn’t just reading the Scripture, this is “the reading,” quote/unquote.

What was “the reading”? During every service in the early church, there was a time for the reading, and the reading was a reading of Scripture with an attendant exposition. In other words, it embodied a reading and an explanation of the Scripture. That was the reading. It implies when it’s used with the verb “give your attention to” that if you’re going to give your attention to the reading, that means you are going to be very careful in the text you select. You’re going to be very, very careful in the correctness of your exposition. You’re going to be very, very cautious in all the matters regarding your preparation. You’re going to give your whole attention to the matter of reading and explaining the Scripture …

Secondly, notice what he says. If the exposition or the reading is to tell what Scripture means by what it says, then what is the exhortation? That is to call people to apply it. So he says, first dimension, explain it, second dimension, apply it – apply it. The third one, by the way, exhortation simply means that, it means to warn people to obey with a view toward judgment if they don’t, that kind of idea. And come alongside, encourage those people to respond properly, and tell them about the blessing if they do and the consequence if they don’t.

So you explain the Bible and then you press it home with an application to their hearts and bind their consciences to respond, exhortation. Sometimes exhortation is counsel, sometimes it’s comfort, but it always is a binding of the conscience …

It’s very difficult to be easy to understand because in order to be easy to understand you have to have mastered your subject. And so you’ve mastered it enough to digest it and put it back out in manageable proportions so people can understand it. But it is not even enough to be understood. I am not content that you should walk out and say, “I understood that.” I don’t want you to leave and say, “I didn’t understand that.” I don’t want you to leave and say, “I did understand that.” I want you to leave and say, “I am going to make sure my life changes to conform to that.” You understand? …

Then he says, thirdly, and here he broadens a little bit his concept, “Give yourself continually to the reading and to the encouragement of people committing themselves to what the reading demands and also to the teaching.” And here he really wraps his arms around a big word, didaskalia, which basically means “teaching.” The idea of it here is give yourself to the whole process of systematically teaching the Word of God. Not just in an expository sermon but in every dimension of ministry.

This could embody the idea of theology, developing a system of theology. It embodies the idea of systematically teaching individual people, one on one, small groups. It’s really a mandate for what the church is all about.

Paul tells Timothy not to neglect the gift he has, given to him by prophecy when the council of elders laid hands on him (verse 14), i.e. ordination.

We will find out more about Timothy’s state of mind in 2 Timothy, but MacArthur posits that he was already going through some sort of inner conflict about his ministry, otherwise Paul would not have mentioned it:

The fact that Paul says “don’t neglect the gift” or “stop neglecting the gift” indicates that either Timothy was about to neglect the gift or had already begun to neglect the gift. Either way, Timothy is in a dangerous spot.

Timothy is where a lot of people in the ministry have been, a point of departure. The place where you say, “That’s enough, I’m getting out, I can’t handle the pressure externally, I can’t handle the pressure internally, I don’t need this, I’m not cutting it, it’s not happening, it’s not fulfilling me, it’s not what I want.” And there is Timothy on the edge of that kind of thing, whether he’s actually begun to neglect or about to neglect, he’s close to that, therefore comes the warning …

Timothy is young. Timothy is struggling in his own heart with his own spiritual development. He’s got a formidable bunch of foes in the Ephesian errorists who have high-powered sophisticated quasi-theology that’s really philosophy. Timothy can’t handle it, he can’t argue with it. He’s not very good in apologetics maybe. He’s up against some real battles. People don’t want to hear what he says. There are errorists in leadership there …

… you’ll know that Paul was one of those elders whose hands were placed on Timothy. “Hey, we were there when it was all begun. We were there when the Spirit of God, by revelation through prophecy, confirmed your ministry, your gift. We put our hands on you. Did you forget that? Stir up that gift.”

I mean it was so difficult for Timothy and the pressure was so great and the antagonism so great and, let’s face it, what ultimately happened to the church at Ephesus? It left its first love and what? It went out of existence. So whatever effort Timothy made here was a very short-lived effort. The opposition was formidable. And he’s – he’s like a guy in a church that’s dying and he says, “I’m trying and I’m giving it everything I’ve got.” And he was the best man there was available. But the thing was going to die. And he was fighting it every way he could. And finally, was he just beginning to say I can’t handle it, I’ve got to give up, I can’t make it, I can’t fight it? …

So in trying to call Timothy to fulfill his calling, he starts by saying, “You have received a spiritual gift for this.” That’s why you can’t – that’s why you can’t give credit to a man for his gift because it isn’t his by choice or by pursuit, it is his by sovereign grace. Don’t neglect the gift that’s in you. Stop neglecting the thing the Spirit of God has given you. “Stop neglecting,” by the way, is present active imperative, it’s a command and it’s a continual idea which leads us to say that it could well be “stop neglecting” because he’s already in the process of neglecting it.

The gift, charisma, what is that? That’s the grace gift … Every believer is given a gift. What is that gift? It’s simply a means or a channel by which the Spirit of God ministers through you to others …

So subjectively, he says, “Timothy, you’re gifted for this.” Objectively, look what he says. “Objectively, Timothy, that gift was given you publicly by a prophecy.” I don’t believe he received the gift through the prophecy, but I believe there was a public affirmation of that gift by direct revelation from God.

When did that happen? Well, in the sixteenth chapter of Acts, Paul was traveling through Lystra, Iconium, and Derbe in the Galatia area and he came to this area, he met this wonderful young man named Timothy who was well spoken of by everyone for his faith in the Lord, a very gifted young man. He had wonderful heritage with his mother and grandmother being stalwart Christians. He came from a Jew-gentile background which made him able to reach into both cultures. He was an ideal young man for Paul to take. And I believe that it was at that time, though it doesn’t say so in Acts 16, it says so here, that there was a prophecy given, a direct prophecy from God came, and the Spirit of God spoke that Timothy was set aside for the preaching and teaching of the Word.

It would be very much like what happened in Acts 13 when the Holy Spirit said, “Separate unto me, Saul and Barnabas, for the work that I have for them.” And there was direct revelation to the church in Antioch that Barnabas and Saul were set apart for ministry. I think Timothy went through the same kind of a situation there when Paul met him in Acts 16, very likely the church came together and the Spirit of God spoke through one of the prophets a direct prophecy, a direct revelation, saying this man has the gift. So he had a subjective confirmation, the internal gift and the desire of his heart. He had an objective confirmation, the voice of God speaking directly a prophecy that this was his to do.

Now, let me say that is not normative. I’m not in the ministry today because God gave me a revelation. This is extraordinary. This is in the apostolic area and this is not normative. Today, that objective, external confirmation would come from providence, not direct revelation. In other words, how God arranges your circumstances, how He arranges your opportunities, how He arranges your situation, how He leads and directs and the people that you meet and the opportunity you have …

The third thing comes at the end of verse 14, this also mentioned not only was he compelled to minister from the gift that was in him and compelled to minister from the revelation that was outside him, but also with the laying on of the hands of the elders. Here is the church confirmation. If the first is subjective and the second is objective, the third is collective.

The church affirms it and says yes. And that happened in Acts 16, surely. The church said yes, he is a fine young man. The Holy Spirit said yes, through the voice of a prophet, this is the young man. The heart of Timothy said yes, this is what I want.

Paul tells Timothy to practise what Paul has written and immerse himself in those things so that everyone can see his progress (verse 15).

MacArthur explains:

An excellent minister is totally absorbed in his work – an excellent minister is totally absorbed in his work. Verse 15, the word in the Authorized is “meditate.” A better one would be “be diligent, be diligent in these things, give yourself continually to them.”

Now let me explain what this part means. It’s very, very good, very helpful. An excellent minister is a one-minded man, he’s not a double-minded man who is unstable and vacillating in all his ways, as James 1:8 says, but he is more like the apostle Paul that said, “This one thing I do.” He is really a single-minded person. Ministry is all-consuming. The word “be diligent,” by the way, it could be translated a lot of different ways, but in looking at every use of that verb, meletaō, in the New Testament, the best meaning is the idea of thinking through beforehand, planning, strategizing, or simply to premeditate …

“Give yourself wholly to them” is an interesting statement. In the Greek, it’s actually just the verb “to be.” It literally would read this way, instead of give yourself wholly to them, it would read, “Be in them,” the verb “to be,” eimi, be in them, be wrapped up in them, be totally absorbed. The construction expresses total absorption, completely immersed. Somebody said, “It doesn’t take much of a man to be in the ministry but it does take all of him.” Bury yourself in your pursuit. That’s so very, very basic. And so an excellent minister is totally absorbed in his work …

… you’re never off duty, don’t ever go off duty. Stay on duty all the time … You’re always on duty. You’re always at your post. My dad used to say to me, “A preacher ought to be able to preach, pray, or die within a minute.” I’m ready – point me in the right direction.

MacArthur updates the list of things required for good ministry:

Warning of error, studying diligently the Word of God, avoiding unholy teaching, cultivating a disciplined holy life, committing to work hard in view of eternity, teaching with authority, modeling spiritual virtue, maintaining a thoroughly biblical ministry of the Word, fulfilling completely the call of God, that demands being totally absorbed in the work.

As for everyone being able to see Timothy’s progress as a servant of Christ, MacArthur says:

Now, what does “progress” admit? It admits that you aren’t what you should be yet, right? So don’t run around trying to play God. Don’t try to convince people that you have no flaws, just let them see you growing. Be that honest …

The word “progress” is used in a military sense for an advancing force. It was used by the Stoics to refer to advancing in learning or understanding or knowledge. It was used of a pioneer cutting a trail by strenuous effort and advancing toward some new geographical location. We are to be advancing toward Christ-likeness. Just let them see that you’re advancing. Don’t try to convince them you’re perfect. Be honest enough to just let them know you’re growing – you’re growing.

When anybody says to me, “You know what you said on your tape back in 1973? And then you contradicted that in 1984. Did you know that?” What’s my answer? “I’m growing, I’m growing, give me a break.” I didn’t know everything in 1980, 1973, and I don’t know everything now, so get ready for another tape. I’m growing. They have to see your growth, that’s honesty. There’s humility there.

This also applies to members of a church congregation:

It applies to you, my friend, because we are to be what we are to be in order that you can see what you ought to be. You got that? We are to be what we are to be in order to be patterns for what you ought to be so you can be what we are so someone else can see what you are and follow that. Not off the hook. This is simply modeling for you, for those who follow you. What a marvelous standard.

Finally, Paul tells Timothy to keep a close watch on himself and his teaching; Paul exhorts him to persist in this so that he will save both himself and those who hear him (verse 16).

Paul means that Timothy’s priority should be his own spiritual condition. If his is in good order, then the congregation’s will be, too.

One can apply the oxygen mask principle here: fit yours first, then your child’s.

MacArthur says:

“Take heed” means pay attention. Focus your attention in on two things, yourself and your teaching is what he says. May I suggest to you that the whole of life comes to that for ministry? The whole of life boils down to those two things, take care of yourself and your teaching. That’s it …

… “Pay attention to yourself, your own life.” Everything starts with your own life. Are you an example? Are you exercising toward godliness? Are you being nourished up in the Word? Are you an example? It’s all summed up in that …

… he says, “Look, Timothy, if you continue in personal holiness and continue in accurate teaching, you will keep moving along the path of the perseverance of the saints to your full and final and glorious salvation.” He’s simply approaching it from the vantage point of perseverance. He doesn’t mean you’ll save yourself in the sense that you’ll be your own redeemer. He means you’ll persevere in godliness and guarantee your full salvation.

John said if you go along for awhile and depart, you never were of us. You remember that, 1 John 2? The one who perseveres gives evidence of being in the faith. So he says if you persevere in holiness and truth, you will save yourself. You’ll come right along to full salvation. Also, if you persevere in godliness and truth, you’ll affect others who hear you by bringing them the message of salvation. We don’t actually do the saving, we don’t save ourselves and we don’t save other people, but we are the agent of that as we preach the Word of God, as we live a godly life.

MacArthur concludes:

… what is impressed on my heart is to just remind you that while we talk about the role of Timothy, the role of a pastor, we really are talking about the obligation of every believer to be all that God would have them to be. If a pastor is less than the perfection of Jesus Christ, then he is less than he should be. And if a believer is less than the perfection of Jesus Christ, he is less than he should be or she should be. We all have the same standard. And so we call upon those in leadership to set the standard of this kind of life in order that others may follow to be more like the Savior.

And so we are commanded to persevere to be like God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. When preaching the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said (Matthew 5:48):

You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Yes, it is a tall order, and that is why we persevere, in faith and in joy thanks to our inheritance of eternal life with Him.

Next time — 1 Timothy 5:1-2