
How to Serve with Excellence (1 Timothy 4:6-10)
- this evening we're going to look at how to serve God
with excellence
- within each of our hearts is a desire to serve God
and make an eternal difference
- the fact is that if you are a follower of Jesus Christ,
you are a full-time minister
- I don't care if you're male or female, what you do
for a living, how old you are - the Bible says that you are a servant
of Jesus Christ
- the Bible uses many words to talk about this
- in 1 Timothy 4:6, Paul uses the word "servant"
- the Greek word is diakonos - the one that is
used to describe a deacon
- I don't think Paul is talking about deacons here
- he's talking about anyone who serves in any ministry
on Christ's behalf
- he's talking about you
-
- if you're like me, you want your life to count
- you want what you do to last not just during this lifetime
but for eternity
- you want to stand up before God one day and see that
your life has made a heavenly impact
-
- 1 Timothy 4:6 reads:
- (1 Timothy 4:6) 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.
- you will be a noble, admirable, excellent servant of
Jesus Christ
- the question is, how are we going to be evaluated in
our service to God?
- how are we going to fulfill our function in serving
him?
- one day we're all going to stand before him
- I want to hear one day that "Well done, good and
faithful servant" that he's promised to those who serve him in
an excellent way
-
- once a year, the chairman of the board and the chairman
of property and finance meet in my office and evaluate my service over
the previous year
- it's only happened once, and I'm still here, so you
know that I survived the last and only time this happened
- but how do they evaluate me?
- I think they look at my pulpit ministry - whether or
not my preaching has been faithful to the Word, interesting, relevant,
and applicable
- I think they look at my leadership - whether I'm providing
the sort of leadership needed for the church to move ahead
- they probably look at my work habits and personal example
- probably also the intangibles such as people skills
and what they perceive to be my strengths and weaknesses
-
- but a far more important evaluation takes place every
day
- every day God evaluates my ministry and effectiveness
- I care so much more about his evaluation than anyone
else
- how can I serve him with excellence?
-
- Paul tells us how in this passage
- tonight I want to look at four principles that set
apart excellent servants
- if you want to serve God with excellence, these are
four principles that you need to follow
- they relate especially to pastors and those in church
leadership, but they have to do with everyone
- QUALITY ONE: EXCELLENT SERVANTS WARN PEOPLE OF ERROR
AND AVOID ERROR THEMSELVES
- (1 Timothy 4:6) 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.
- in the first five verses of this chapter, Paul has
warned against some of the errors that were problems in the church of
that time
- as you might have picked up, some of these problems
have never gone away
- they're problems in the church today
- if you are to serve with excellence - no matter what
your role - you will need to warn other people when you see them encountering
errors and false teachings today
-
- the word "explain" or "point out"
in verse 6 is a mild one - it means to suggest or remind
- it's not a word used of commanding people or bullying
them
- it simply talks about gentle, humble persuasion - something
we can all do
- what are we to point out?
- well, I think that Paul is talking about the false
teaching that he just covered in the preceding verses
- in our case, the false teaching might have changed
- but one thing has not changed: we are to warn others
of the unbiblical, demonic doctrines purveyed by false teachers
- and the best way to deal with satanic false teaching
is - how? to be strong in the Word of God
-
- I wonder if you could tell me what you think are some
of the areas in which the church today is dealing with false teaching
- [open for discussion]
- there is a tendency today to see doctrine as boring
- we have perhaps begun to drift towards convinctionless
preaching, watered-down teaching, and we've begun to favor application
over truth
- a lot of us have trouble drawing the line clearly between
truth and error
- for instance, quite honestly, how many of us have been
unable to defend what we believe to an honest skeptic?
- how many of us are scared to death of a cult coming
to our door because we're not sure we know how to defend our beliefs?
- how many of us don't know how to deal with popular
religious books today that are contrary to Scripture - books like the
Celestine Prophecy?
- if we are to serve with excellence, we need to begin
by knowing the truth, and being capable of warning others when we see
error
- (Acts 17:11 NLT) And the people of Berea were more
open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to
Paul's message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to check
up on Paul and Silas, to see if they were really teaching the truth.
- you need to discern error and be willing to warn others
when you see it
-
- (1 Timothy 4:7) Have nothing to do with godless myths
and old wives' tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.
- Paul refers to "godless ideas and old wives' tales"
- the phrase, "old wives' tales" has made its
way into the English language as something cooked up and believed by
certain people without much basis in reality
- far from being sexist, this phrase actually came from
the fact that women in Paul's day were denied educational opportunities
- as a result, within philosophical systems of that day,
certain viewpoints would gain credibility among the uneducated
- but no right thinking person would ever waste time
even considering these viewpoints
-
- so Paul says, "have nothing to do with these"
- his wording is strong
- completely reject these teachings
- put them away
- they are not holy teachings; they are the opposite
- they are silly, foolish myths that are the doctrines
of demons
- Ed talked two weeks ago about what some of these ideas
were
- in Ephesus, a false teaching developed which said that
matter was bad
- the soul is good; the body is evil
- as a result, the God who created matter was not good,
because contact with matter would have contaminated him
- these people were saying that creation was inherently
evil, and they were arguing against enjoying everything that God had
created
-
- and Paul said resoundingly, "No!"
- he said that these teachings were demonic in their
origin
- Paul could see through their false teachings
- a lot of people in churches today are more concerned
with maintaining the peace than in recognizing and confronting error
- get to the point where you can see error for what it
is
- develop discernment
- and when you see error within the church, have nothing
to do with it
- have the courage to call it what it is, and get away!
-
- quality number two is related
- QUALITY TWO: EXCELLENT SERVANTS ARE EXPERT STUDENTS
OF SCRIPTURE
- (1 Timothy 4:6) 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.
- an excellent minister, according to this passage, is
"constantly nourished on the words of the faith and the sound doctrine
which you have been following"
- he or she is fed with the message of faith and the
true teaching
- it's a topic of study for them
- not only is it a source for teaching and preaching,
but it's something that is food for their very souls
- it's not a task or a chore for them to study the Word
of God
- it's necessary for their own spiritual health
-
- when I was a boy we had a dog
- I still remember finishing our steaks and saving the
t-bones to toss to the dog after dinner
- then, for hours on end, our dog would suspend her schedule
and devote the next half a day to getting every ounce of meat and nourishment
from that bone
- this is a picture of how we should be approaching the
Scripture
- as a dog chews a bone, we chew over every morsel of
God's precious truth for our own nourishment
- and an excellent servant is not merely a good programmer,
communicator, or whatever - they are good students of Scripture
-
- William Tyndale was a 16th century reformer and Bible
translator
- in prison shortly before he was martyred, he wrote
a letter to his governor-in-chief in which he asked for:
-
- ...a warmer cap, a candle, a piece of cloth to
patch my leggings...But above all, I beseech and entreat your clemency
to be urgent with the Procurer so that he may kindly permit me to
have my Hebrew Bible, Hebrew Grammar and Hebrew Dictionary, so that
I may spend time with that in study.
-
- in verse 6, Paul says that the excellent minister needs
to be constantly nourished
- it is a continual experience of being nourished over
and over again
- the phrase "the words of the faith" of course
refer to Scripture
- we must know the Word of God, inside and out
- to become experts in what it teaches
- "sound doctrine" is teaching that is firmly
rooted in the Word of God - not human systems of interpretation
- to be excellent servants, we need to be excellent students
of the Word of God
- we cannot give out what we are not taking in
-
- QUALITY THREE: EXCELLENT SERVANTS ARE SPIRITUALLY
DISCIPLINED
- (1 Timothy 4:7) Have nothing to do with godless myths
and old wives' tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.
- (1 Timothy 4:8) 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.
- (1 Timothy 4:9) This is a trustworthy saying that deserves
full acceptance
- a new gym opened up near my house recently
- in the mail, I received a coupon for the first year's
membership fee
- right away I figured out that the membership fee would
only be a small portion of what I would have to pay, and I was right
- even though I already belong to a gym, I still decided
to go check it out
-
- I liked what I saw
- it was a fairly high-pressured sales pitch, and fairly
insulting to my current gym
- but one thing came across pretty clearly: if you're
not interested in getting into shape, don't join this gym
- if you're going to be one of those people who just
join and never work out, we don't want you
- we're for people who are serious about getting into
shape, and just to prove it we have a serious monthly due that you'll
have to pay to join us
- I left appreciating the fact that I could also be serious
about working out at my cheaper gym, but I appreciated their no-nonsense
attitude
-
- we are a culture that is serious about physical fitness
- in Ephesus when Paul wrote, there was a gymnasium,
as in every Greek city
- youths customarily spent a lot of time from the ages
of 16-18 in physical training
- there was a great emphasis on physical training and
athletic pursuits
-
- but Paul takes the same picture and applies it spiritually
- instead of working out just to get a better body, work
out - discipline yourself - for the purpose of godliness
- while physical fitness brings limited benefits for
a limited amount of time, spiritual fitness brings great benefits for
all of time and eternity
-
- as in physical fitness, Paul uses the present tense
- continually do this
- train your inner man for godliness
- the word godliness means reverence, piety, and
true spiritual virtue
- it is a right attitude and response to God
- it is a healthy respect for God, and it costs
- as an athlete has to rigorously prepare for athletic
contests, so we need to discipline ourselves to be godly men and women
- our physical health - no matter how great - is still
susceptible to disease and injury
- but if you have spiritual health, it will sustain you
no matter what you go through
- but the key, according to verse 7, is discipline
- the word speaks of the rigorous, strenuous, self-sacrificing
training that an athlete undergoes
-
- in other passages, Paul compares us to soldiers and
athletes
- the discipline that is necessary to win a war or to
win an athletic contest is necessary in our spiritual lives
- a lack of spiritual discipline leads many into sin
- if we fail to spend time in the Word, prayer, and in
sacrificial service, we'll never make it to spiritual excellence
- if we ignore the spiritual disciplines, taught throughout
the ages, we'll be sunk
- we must discipline ourselves for godliness
-
- this is so important that Paul says in verse 8:
- (1 Timothy 4:9) This is true, and everyone should accept
it.
- it is a self-evident, obvious, axiomatic statement
- excellent servants warn people of error, avoid error
themselves
- they're expert students of Scripture, and they discipline
themselves for godliness
-
- I would challenge you: what are you doing to develop
yourself spiritually?
- if you're getting most of your spiritual food from
other people, you're not going to make it to excellence
- if you aren't living in the Word of God, in solitude,
in prayer, and in journaling - you'll be limited in your effectiveness
for God
-
- QUALITY FOUR: EXCELLENT SERVANTS ARE HARD WORKERS
- (1 Timothy 4:10) (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.
- a ministry of excellence is a demanding calling
- it takes hard work
- the reason it's hard work is because the implications
are eternal
- with the stakes so high, the costs of serving are incredibly
demanding
-
- Paul uses two words in verse 10: "work hard"
which means to work to the point of weariness and exhaustion
- the other word he uses is "strive" or "suffer
much" which is the source of our English word "agony"
- it means to engage in a struggle
- your ministry, if it is going to be effective, will
mean hard work to the point of weariness, as well as some suffering
and struggling
-
- Henry Martyn, missionary to India, exclaimed, "Now
let me burn out for God"
- the missionary to the American Indians, David Brainerd,
was dead before he was thirty as a result of his hard work for the Gospel
- J. Oswald Sanders wrote, "If he is unwilling to
pay the price of fatigue for his leadership, it will always be mediocre...True
leadership always exacts a heavy toll on the whole man, and the more
effective the leadership is, the higher the price to be paid."
-
- there is a cost
- Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 11 of the beatings he experienced,
the imprisonments, the times he was naked and without food
- he talked about the danger he faced from those who
said they were Christians but were not
- he talked about shivering from the cold, without enough
clothing to keep him warm
- and then he said:
- (2 Corinthians 11:28 NLT) Then, besides all this, I
have the daily burden of how the churches are getting along.
- Paul knew what it meant to suffer
- and if you want to serve with excellence, you have
to be prepared for hard work and sacrifice as well
-
- why work so hard?
- two reasons
- "...because we have fixed our hope on the living
God..."
- in other words, because we're seeing life in the light
of eternity
- we've been saved in hope, and therefore live according
to that hope
- we serve God because we are beginning to see the world
through God's eyes
-
- and secondly, because God "is the Savior of all
men, especially of believers"
- this passage talks about God being the Savior of all
men
- this could refer to God's activity in temporally saving
everyone by protecting them, sustaining them, and delivering them from
calamities
- or it could refer to the fact that God wants everyone
to be saved
- God is the Savior of all, but his salvation is effective
for those who believe in him
-
- when we begin to see earth from heaven's perspective,
and when we begin to see other people from God's perspective, we'll
capture a sense of urgency
- I heard a pastor speak on my study break
- he frequently travels to other cities
- as he's landing at night, he often looks out the airplane
window at the lights of the city, and he sees the lights of the cars
as they drive along the highway
- and he thinks of the millions of people in that city
that are lost and bound for hell
- he thinks of the words of Jesus when he looked over
a city and wept:
- (Matthew 23:37 NLT) O Jerusalem, Jerusalem...How often
I wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks
beneath her wings, but you wouldn't let me...
- and this pastor is driven by a sense of urgency
- peoples' eternities are in the balance
- and that's what drives him to work hard, knowing that
if he's strong and steady, always abounding in God's work, nothing that
he does for the Lord will ever be in vain
-
- I wonder if you've ever seen Toronto through God's
eyes
- I wonder if you have ever driven to church through
Etobicoke and realized that God wants to save every single person you
see
- we don't understand the mysteries of election, but
God's desire is that not one of them should perish
- have you cried?
- have you captured a sense of urgency in doing God's
work, because the stakes are eternal?
-
- Richard Baxter, the seventeenth-century English Puritan,
wrote:
-
- The ministerial work must be carried on diligently
and laboriously, as being of such unspeakable consequence to ourselves
and others. We are seeking to uphold the world, to save it from
the curse of God, to perfect the creation, to attain the ends of
Christ's death, to save ourselves and others from damnation, to
overcome the devil, and demolish his kingdom, to set up the kingdom
of Christ, and to attain and help others to the kingdom of glory.
And are these works to be done with a careless mind, or a lazy hand?
O see, then, that this work be done with all your might! Study hard,
for the well is deep, and our brains are shallow.
- hard work is necessary for the servant who wants to
serve with excellence - who sees this world through heaven's eyes
-
- I return from my study break and from speaking at a
camp enthused, encouraged, and ready to move
- I'm excited by what God is going to do at Richview
during the coming year
- let me tell you, I'm ready to recognize error when
I see it, to warn you about it
- I'm ready to apply myself to become an excellent student
of the Word of God
- I'm all set to discipline myself for godliness
- I want to see our task here from a heavenly perspective,
and to give myself flat out in the coming year to do what God wants
me to do
- in short, I want to be an excellent servant
-
- my question is, are you, by God's help, going to join
me?
- are you prepared to pay the price of being one who
serves God with excellence?
- no matter what it costs, are you ready to sign up to
be the kind of servant who one day hears God say, "Well done, good
and faithful servant"?