Crazy Days and Crazy Doctrines - 1 Timothy 4:1-10
Pastor Dennis Bone
11/11/12
CRAZY DAYS AND CRAZY DOCTRINES 11-11-12
A popular song was released about ten years ago by the group REM called, “The end of the world as we know it.” I think by the end of Tuesday night these lyrics ran through the minds of many people as the election results were finalized and the reality of “four more years” was upon us as a nation. Many of us are very disappointed and discouraged over the direction and leadership or our country, but as Christians we are able to have perspective, because we know and fully believe that Jesus Christ is King and as citizens of His kingdom our future is secure, whether or not it’s just another phase in our country or actually the end of the world.
For over 2,000 years Christians have all too often looked at events in this world as “signs” of the end times, as if we can somehow predict Christ’s coming based upon our evaluation of the world. If this were true, he would have come back in every generation – beginning in the first century – because there have always been crazy days and crazy doctrines. We live in a world as Christians that can be described in this same way, and the apostle Paul speaks to Timothy about this way back at the beginning of the church, so that Christians can be prepared to deal with the “craziness” in every era of the church, including ours. As we consider the first 10 verses of I Timothy 4 this morning, we will hear Paul give us four principles that Christians can apply throughout all generations as the church continues to face the challenges of crazy days and crazy doctrines. We will begin with verses 1 – 3:
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.
The first thing that Paul tells us to do is: Turn from false teachers and teaching. He says in verse 1: “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.” We need to recognize that false teaching stems from faithlessness to God’s truth. False teachers always use an element or portion of truth in order to deceive their hearers. Paul reminds us that our greatest challenge will always come from within, not from without. The greatest threat to the church and to us as Christians is not what’s going on in the culture, but what’s going on in the church. The non-Christian world seeks to deceive us to, but those who know the truth, and then abandon it, pose a greater threat.
He warns us of the deception of “later times” – which is not referring to the end of time, or something that isn’t already happening – but to what will be a characteristic of the new covenant age. Paul warns the church in Acts 20 of this threat, which is not a one time issue, but an ongoing one for the church, saying: “Men from your own group will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them, so be on guard.” Jesus warned us of this same thing, and it’s not something that we watch for during one specific time period, but one that we must pay attention to at all times.
Paul focuses on one area of deception in this passage as it pertains to the depravity of perverting God’s gifts. Some will teach against things like marriage and food in order to cause confusion among Christians as to how we view God’s gifts. These false teachers embraced an asceticism that basically imposed an artificial separation between the physical and the spiritual, in order to control a person’s life. This was a serious issue that the early church faced and one that Paul addresses in Colossians 2; Romans 14; and 2 Corinthians 4. I don’t want to delve into the details of this but the application for us is that we must reject these types of cultic groups who distort God’s truth and lead people astray.
Paul then quickly turns to a second principle in verses 4 and 5, as a safeguard against those who seek to restrict or deny the good gifts of God to His people, which is always one tendency of false teaching. As Christians we are to demonstrate thanksgiving for all God’s good gifts. Paul 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.”
How can you say that marriage is bad or food is bad, or to be more contemporary: music is bad or the internet is bad or sex is bad or TV is bad? Of course anything can be used with bad intent or by bad people, but Paul’s point is that all of God’s creation is good; and that it’s God’s truth that should govern how we view creation and man’s creativity. We need to be careful as Christians that we don’t fall into this “separatist” or “legalist” position when it comes to how we deal with culture. We need to have the perspective of prayer and discernment in how we engage with the culture and the things in our culture. Sometimes we view things more out of opinion or taste, or “likes and dislikes,” and make judgments that don’t necessarily align with biblical truth. We must be careful.
The application we should make is this: reject the false distinction between “spiritual” and “secular.” The assumption that because we put the word “Christian” in front of something makes it good is not necessarily true, but even worse is that it often creates a separation from culture that makes it even harder to influence the culture. I personally “like” the fact that I can turn to a Christian radio station and hear a certain type of music (doesn’t mean it’s good); or go into a Christian book store and find a certain type of book (again not necessarily a good one), but how many people who are not Christians are influenced by this? This same mentality allows for non-Christians to make this same false distinction when it comes to government or to the courts. These things are “secular” so leave your spirituality at home or in your church.
This kind of separation does more harm than good; and as Christians we should not “buy into it” for the sake of comfort or convenience. The kind of separation we should seek as Christians is ethical and one of behavior that seeks to use God’s gifts to the best of our ability for the sake of all people, in order to bring glory to God in all we do; and as a result bear witness to the truth of Jesus Christ. In order to do this well, Paul points us to a third principle in verses 6 – 8: Train yourself in godliness.
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.
Paul calls Timothy to train himself in the truth of God’s word so that he can be a good servant of Christ and teach others. Thus the principle for us is that we must receive and apply sound doctrine to our lives as Christians. Our call is also to be good servants for Christ and to point out the truths of God’s Word to others. God’s Word changes and transforms people and its people who have been changed and spiritually transformed by God who impact and change culture. The first question that we ask should not be how does the culture impact us (although we need to be aware of the fact that it does), but how can we impact the culture. The church should take its cue from God’s Word and not modify or deny God’s truth in order to fit in with the culture, but influence the culture by speaking and living God’s truth.
Paul is reminding us, as he writes to Timothy, that it’s the church’s responsibility to know the truth of God’s Word; and to teach it and to live it and defend it within any culture or society we find ourselves in.
If the church doesn’t stay true to the teaching of God’s Word and the message of the gospel, our witness and effectiveness as Christians will be muted and simply become another “voice” in the culture that competes for consumers and customers. In our culture we often see the church as a demographic to be marketed to, or a constituency to be pandered to, instead of a prophetic voice to be listened to. The response of the church should not be to market products and appeal to consumers, but to proclaim God’s truth and make disciples. The challenge itself is no different today in the 21st century than it was for the church in the 1st century. We may have more opportunities to get lost in the culture than former generations, due to technology and innovations, but we also have more opportunities to reach the lost in the culture with the gospel because of these same things.
In verse 8 Paul tells us that the value of physical training illustrates, but is far exceeded by spiritual training. “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.” Paul often uses the example or metaphor of an athletic contest to show the importance of discipline and hard work when it comes to living the Christian life. We are to pursue godliness above all else, and the way we do this is through God’s truth; and God’s truth not only has value for us, in that it makes us more like Christ and pleases God, but it has value for those around us. We become a godly influence to those around us; and it’s this influence that comes from being grounded in God’s Word that truly makes an impact on our culture; both directly and often in directly. It reaps blessings in this life and for the life to come.
Thus Paul tells us in verse 7: “Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales, rather, train yourself to be godly.”
The application that we make is to reject superstition and man-made traditions; and embrace the God’s promises in the present and for the future.
Reject false teaching and traditions that are not productive or profitable and stay connected to God’s Word; and cling to the promises of God that not only teach you and train you, but also bring you comfort and hope as you live and deal with a godless culture; and people who are not pursuing godliness and reject sound doctrine. This then leads to the fourth point or principle that Paul concludes this section of Scripture with in verses 9 and 10: Trust fully in the hope God gives through Christ – “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 Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.”
Paul reminds us first of the reliability and veracity of God’s Word. God’s Word is the basis for our hope in Christ; and is the measuring stick of truth by which we judge teaching and doctrine. We can count on God’s Word, which is why as Christians we trust in and work for the gospel truth that Christ saves all those who believe in Him. Paul committed himself to this truth of the gospel; this is what he worked for and it’s this same truth that we too as Christians should fully embrace. This is not only our true and sure hope, but the only hope for all mankind. Paul refers to God as the Savior of all men, alluding back to the Old Testament, when God refers to himself as the one who preserves and maintains all men by virtue of being the Creator.
But in a far greater way, God is the Savior or Redeemer of those who believe, specifically of those who come to faith in Jesus Christ His Son, who is the Savior. “For God so loved the world He gave His Son so that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.” This is why Paul worked hard and labored as a servant of Christ; and instructed Timothy to pass on these great truths of the gospel to others; and why we too must work hard to pass on this good news as well.
The application to us and to our culture is the same as it was in the first century and every century since: reject the false hope that dead idols and false teachers promote and trust in the living and true God. Every generation has crazy days and crazy doctrines – dead idols and false teachers – it wasn’t just a first century thing, nor will it just be an end of the world phenomenon. It’s this challenge and the opportunity that all Christians face, because we know the hope of Christ; and it’s this hope alone that can change people’s lives; change their futures and change the culture.
©You’re welcome to recycle these resources for your church free of charge. However, if you find them useful, please consider making a donation to the ministry of GCC
Pastor Dennis Bone
11/11/12
CRAZY DAYS AND CRAZY DOCTRINES 11-11-12
A popular song was released about ten years ago by the group REM called, “The end of the world as we know it.” I think by the end of Tuesday night these lyrics ran through the minds of many people as the election results were finalized and the reality of “four more years” was upon us as a nation. Many of us are very disappointed and discouraged over the direction and leadership or our country, but as Christians we are able to have perspective, because we know and fully believe that Jesus Christ is King and as citizens of His kingdom our future is secure, whether or not it’s just another phase in our country or actually the end of the world.
For over 2,000 years Christians have all too often looked at events in this world as “signs” of the end times, as if we can somehow predict Christ’s coming based upon our evaluation of the world. If this were true, he would have come back in every generation – beginning in the first century – because there have always been crazy days and crazy doctrines. We live in a world as Christians that can be described in this same way, and the apostle Paul speaks to Timothy about this way back at the beginning of the church, so that Christians can be prepared to deal with the “craziness” in every era of the church, including ours. As we consider the first 10 verses of I Timothy 4 this morning, we will hear Paul give us four principles that Christians can apply throughout all generations as the church continues to face the challenges of crazy days and crazy doctrines. We will begin with verses 1 – 3:
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.
The first thing that Paul tells us to do is: Turn from false teachers and teaching. He says in verse 1: “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.” We need to recognize that false teaching stems from faithlessness to God’s truth. False teachers always use an element or portion of truth in order to deceive their hearers. Paul reminds us that our greatest challenge will always come from within, not from without. The greatest threat to the church and to us as Christians is not what’s going on in the culture, but what’s going on in the church. The non-Christian world seeks to deceive us to, but those who know the truth, and then abandon it, pose a greater threat.
He warns us of the deception of “later times” – which is not referring to the end of time, or something that isn’t already happening – but to what will be a characteristic of the new covenant age. Paul warns the church in Acts 20 of this threat, which is not a one time issue, but an ongoing one for the church, saying: “Men from your own group will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them, so be on guard.” Jesus warned us of this same thing, and it’s not something that we watch for during one specific time period, but one that we must pay attention to at all times.
Paul focuses on one area of deception in this passage as it pertains to the depravity of perverting God’s gifts. Some will teach against things like marriage and food in order to cause confusion among Christians as to how we view God’s gifts. These false teachers embraced an asceticism that basically imposed an artificial separation between the physical and the spiritual, in order to control a person’s life. This was a serious issue that the early church faced and one that Paul addresses in Colossians 2; Romans 14; and 2 Corinthians 4. I don’t want to delve into the details of this but the application for us is that we must reject these types of cultic groups who distort God’s truth and lead people astray.
Paul then quickly turns to a second principle in verses 4 and 5, as a safeguard against those who seek to restrict or deny the good gifts of God to His people, which is always one tendency of false teaching. As Christians we are to demonstrate thanksgiving for all God’s good gifts. Paul 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.”
How can you say that marriage is bad or food is bad, or to be more contemporary: music is bad or the internet is bad or sex is bad or TV is bad? Of course anything can be used with bad intent or by bad people, but Paul’s point is that all of God’s creation is good; and that it’s God’s truth that should govern how we view creation and man’s creativity. We need to be careful as Christians that we don’t fall into this “separatist” or “legalist” position when it comes to how we deal with culture. We need to have the perspective of prayer and discernment in how we engage with the culture and the things in our culture. Sometimes we view things more out of opinion or taste, or “likes and dislikes,” and make judgments that don’t necessarily align with biblical truth. We must be careful.
The application we should make is this: reject the false distinction between “spiritual” and “secular.” The assumption that because we put the word “Christian” in front of something makes it good is not necessarily true, but even worse is that it often creates a separation from culture that makes it even harder to influence the culture. I personally “like” the fact that I can turn to a Christian radio station and hear a certain type of music (doesn’t mean it’s good); or go into a Christian book store and find a certain type of book (again not necessarily a good one), but how many people who are not Christians are influenced by this? This same mentality allows for non-Christians to make this same false distinction when it comes to government or to the courts. These things are “secular” so leave your spirituality at home or in your church.
This kind of separation does more harm than good; and as Christians we should not “buy into it” for the sake of comfort or convenience. The kind of separation we should seek as Christians is ethical and one of behavior that seeks to use God’s gifts to the best of our ability for the sake of all people, in order to bring glory to God in all we do; and as a result bear witness to the truth of Jesus Christ. In order to do this well, Paul points us to a third principle in verses 6 – 8: Train yourself in godliness.
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.
Paul calls Timothy to train himself in the truth of God’s word so that he can be a good servant of Christ and teach others. Thus the principle for us is that we must receive and apply sound doctrine to our lives as Christians. Our call is also to be good servants for Christ and to point out the truths of God’s Word to others. God’s Word changes and transforms people and its people who have been changed and spiritually transformed by God who impact and change culture. The first question that we ask should not be how does the culture impact us (although we need to be aware of the fact that it does), but how can we impact the culture. The church should take its cue from God’s Word and not modify or deny God’s truth in order to fit in with the culture, but influence the culture by speaking and living God’s truth.
Paul is reminding us, as he writes to Timothy, that it’s the church’s responsibility to know the truth of God’s Word; and to teach it and to live it and defend it within any culture or society we find ourselves in.
If the church doesn’t stay true to the teaching of God’s Word and the message of the gospel, our witness and effectiveness as Christians will be muted and simply become another “voice” in the culture that competes for consumers and customers. In our culture we often see the church as a demographic to be marketed to, or a constituency to be pandered to, instead of a prophetic voice to be listened to. The response of the church should not be to market products and appeal to consumers, but to proclaim God’s truth and make disciples. The challenge itself is no different today in the 21st century than it was for the church in the 1st century. We may have more opportunities to get lost in the culture than former generations, due to technology and innovations, but we also have more opportunities to reach the lost in the culture with the gospel because of these same things.
In verse 8 Paul tells us that the value of physical training illustrates, but is far exceeded by spiritual training. “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.” Paul often uses the example or metaphor of an athletic contest to show the importance of discipline and hard work when it comes to living the Christian life. We are to pursue godliness above all else, and the way we do this is through God’s truth; and God’s truth not only has value for us, in that it makes us more like Christ and pleases God, but it has value for those around us. We become a godly influence to those around us; and it’s this influence that comes from being grounded in God’s Word that truly makes an impact on our culture; both directly and often in directly. It reaps blessings in this life and for the life to come.
Thus Paul tells us in verse 7: “Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales, rather, train yourself to be godly.”
The application that we make is to reject superstition and man-made traditions; and embrace the God’s promises in the present and for the future.
Reject false teaching and traditions that are not productive or profitable and stay connected to God’s Word; and cling to the promises of God that not only teach you and train you, but also bring you comfort and hope as you live and deal with a godless culture; and people who are not pursuing godliness and reject sound doctrine. This then leads to the fourth point or principle that Paul concludes this section of Scripture with in verses 9 and 10: Trust fully in the hope God gives through Christ – “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 Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.”
Paul reminds us first of the reliability and veracity of God’s Word. God’s Word is the basis for our hope in Christ; and is the measuring stick of truth by which we judge teaching and doctrine. We can count on God’s Word, which is why as Christians we trust in and work for the gospel truth that Christ saves all those who believe in Him. Paul committed himself to this truth of the gospel; this is what he worked for and it’s this same truth that we too as Christians should fully embrace. This is not only our true and sure hope, but the only hope for all mankind. Paul refers to God as the Savior of all men, alluding back to the Old Testament, when God refers to himself as the one who preserves and maintains all men by virtue of being the Creator.
But in a far greater way, God is the Savior or Redeemer of those who believe, specifically of those who come to faith in Jesus Christ His Son, who is the Savior. “For God so loved the world He gave His Son so that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.” This is why Paul worked hard and labored as a servant of Christ; and instructed Timothy to pass on these great truths of the gospel to others; and why we too must work hard to pass on this good news as well.
The application to us and to our culture is the same as it was in the first century and every century since: reject the false hope that dead idols and false teachers promote and trust in the living and true God. Every generation has crazy days and crazy doctrines – dead idols and false teachers – it wasn’t just a first century thing, nor will it just be an end of the world phenomenon. It’s this challenge and the opportunity that all Christians face, because we know the hope of Christ; and it’s this hope alone that can change people’s lives; change their futures and change the culture.
©You’re welcome to recycle these resources for your church free of charge. However, if you find them useful, please consider making a donation to the ministry of GCC
