1 Timohthy 4:1-16

1 Timothy 4:1-16

God’s Advice For Daily Living: Get Spiritually Fit

Part 4 of God’s Advice For Daily Living series from 1 Timothy

November 11, 2007

For the past few weeks we have been looking at the Epistle of 1 Timothy – the first of 3 – 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus — “Pastoral Epistles” that Paul wrote to address every day problems the early Christians were facing. Paul gave some very practical advice for how to live every day as a Christian. The advice he gave is still great advice – in fact it is God’s advice – to us today.

God’s advice for daily living.

That’s our theme as we look at 1Timothy.

4 weeks ago we looked at 1 Timothy 1:1-11 and saw one piece of advice God gives us: be conformed to Christ instead of conformed to the world.

3 weeks ago we looked at 1Timothy 1:12-20 – and saw a second bit of advice God gives us for our daily lives: be saved by His grace.

Last week we looked at 1 Timothy 3:1-12 – and saw that God advises us to not compromise our integrity.

Be saved by God’s grace

Be conformed to Christ

Don’t compromise your integrity

3 wonderful pieces of advice for how to live our daily lives in God’s ways.

Today we are going to continue looking at 1 Timothy and seeing God’s advice to us for how to live our daily lives as we look at 1 Timothy 4:1-16 – and discover a fourth piece of advice God gives us – Get Spiritually Fit.

Read Passage

God’s advice for daily living:

Be saved by God’s grace

Be conformed to Christ

Don’t compromise your integrity

Get Spiritually Fit

Get Spiritually Fit

Around the end of World War 2 – over 60 years ago — social scientists were predicting that religion would become a thing of the past in western culture. They reasoned that more discoveries would be made in the field of science and people would be more and more educated. They reasoned that society would become more secularized. They thought that these things would cause people to be less concerned about things like God, salvation, and spirituality.

Well, sixty years later sociologists and cultural anthropologists have had to eat crow and admit that couldn’t have been more wrong. People today are more interested in spiritual things than ever before. As far back as 1991 Newsweek did a cover story on the popularity of talk about spirituality. How else can we explain the phenomenal success of the Psychic Friends Network? Books on spirituality make the third largest market among the nations book sellers.

Now, in saying people are more interested in spirituality than ever before, I don’t mean that people are more interested in Christian spirituality than ever before. People turn to a variety of sources to nurture their souls these days. Yes, some opt for more traditional approaches, like reading the Bible, prayer, and worship in a church. But many opt for less traditional options, like yoga, past life regression therapy, hallucinogenic drugs, and so forth. Oprah Winfrey is the closest many people come to having a spiritual mentor or guide or advisor.

One piece of advice God gives us for our daily lives is: Get spiritually fit!

Get Spiritually Fit

Get Spiritually Fit

But – the question we might ask might be — how?

How can we become spiritually fit in the way God wants us to be?

How can we become more truly spiritual people?

How can we take God’s advice and become the spiritually fit people God wants us to be instead of the type of spiritual people Oprah might want us to be?

Are all these bewildering approaches to spiritual growth equal options — kind of like all the ice cream flavors at Baskin Robbins?

Is choosing prayer or past life regression therapy no more different than choosing chocolate or jamoca almond fudge?

I don’t think so!

In fact, I believe that – here in 1 Timothy 4:1-16 – we see two warnings for things to not do and two prescriptions for things to do as we strive to become more spiritual people.

Get Spiritually Fit

Get Spiritually Fit

First – let’s look at the warnings.

1. In verses 1-2 of 1 Timothy 4 Paul contrasts what God’s Spirit says and teaches with what “deceiving spirits” are saying.

1The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 2Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.

Paul writes.

For Paul, the fact that some people abandoned the true Christian faith and followed “deceiving spirits” and the “teachings of demons” was wrong – and Paul encouraged Timothy to grow stronger in his relationship with God so he can combat such deceptions.

Get Spiritually Fit

Get Spiritually Fit

You see — there are right ways to become spiritually fit and there are wrong ways. Granted – that is not a very popular idea these days, but when you think about it, it makes sense. The terrorists behind the September 11 attacks believed they were becoming more spiritual by sacrificing their lives to further their cause. I don’t think anyone can doubt their sincerity or the depth of their commitment, yet we look at what they did and say, “That’s an evil way to try to become a spiritual person.” Many of the people back in the 1960s who used LSD to become more spiritual found their lives destroyed by the chemicals they thought would unlock the spiritual life.

Paul calls the people who teach dangerous ideas about becoming more spiritual “hypocritical liars.” The Greek word the NIV translates “hypocritical” means “to give a false impression”. Paul thought that those who taught dangerous ideas about becoming more spiritual were teaching false and dangerous things.

So — here’s the first warning to heed if you want to become a more spiritual person – if you want to be more spiritually fit as God calls you to be:

If you want to become more spiritually fit, don’t ingest spiritual poison.
You see, not every idea about the spiritual life is a good one. In fact, some ideas are downright poisonous.

William Walsh , a US Scientist, studied strands of hair from the body famous classical composer Beethoven. By studying those strands of hair, Dr. Walsh discovered that Beethoven’s body had one hundred times the normal amount of lead. He concluded that Beethoven’s untimely death at the age of 57 may have been due to lead poisoning – which could be traced to the mineral spa that he went to in order to relax. Think about that: the very thing he thought was bringing him relief and relaxation may have been actually slowly poisoning him to death.
That’s what spiritual poison is like — as people engage in practices and embrace ideas that are spiritually poisonous, they think it is making them more spiritual when in reality it’s gradually killing them spiritually.

Get Spiritually Fit

Get Spiritually Fit

If you want to become more spiritually fit, don’t ingest spiritual poison.

But we also find a second warning here in vv. 3-5.

2.

3They 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. 4For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.

You know, after reading that these ideas about becoming more spiritual are “things taught by demons,” we might be expecting something really, really bad. When we find out that these false teachers are telling people to become more spiritual by forbidding marriage and abstaining from certain kinds of food, it seems a little anti-climactic. We’re expecting people who practice human sacrifice or cannibalism, something horrible and awful. Celibacy and vegetarianism may not be our cup of tea, but at first it hardly seems to merit the dangerous warning Paul gives.
But let’s think deeper about this.

These people were teaching that sexual intimacy between husbands and wives and certain kinds of food were inherently evil and a hindrance to becoming more spiritual. By forbidding people to get married, these teachers were saying that sexual intimacy in marriage prevents you from becoming more spiritual. And by forbidding certain kinds of food they were claiming that some foods are inherently unclean.

Throughout history, religious people have had a kind of love-hate

relationship with sexuality. On the one hand, some people worshipped sex in the name of religion. The temple to the Greek god Aphrodite in Ephesus employed hundreds of temple prostitutes. Men would regularly visit this temple and be with a prostitute as an act of their religious devotion to Aphrodite, and no one would have a second thought about it, not even their wives. So some people turned sex into a religion itself. But on the other hand, a lot of religious people believed that sexuality was inherently evil. Following the ideas of the Greek philosopher Plato, these people believed the physical world was evil. The physical body was thought to be a prison for the soul, and so long as the physical body existed, the soul couldn’t become spiritual and free. So the physical drives of the body (the appetite for food, sexual intimacy, sleep and so forth) were thought of as inherently unspiritual. Gradually this idea developed into a whole new religion called Gnosticism. Apparently some of the people Paul was warning Timothy not to follow had been captivated by this kind of thinking.

We also learn here that some of people Paul warned Timothy not to follow were forbidding the eating of certain kinds of foods. This teaching probably goes back to the Jewish dietary food laws found in the Old Testament. God had given the nation of Israel very precise laws about what they could and could not eat. Since the Christian faith grew out of Judaism, the early Christians struggled with whether they should obey these food laws. The apostles who wrote the New Testament taught that the coming of Jesus had overturned these food laws, and that for the follower of Jesus, no food was unclean in itself. But still many people struggled with this question.

Paul reminds us here that physical intimacy within marriage and food were created by God. Because God made them, we ought to receive these gifts with gratitude. Instead of viewing the physical relationship between a husband and wife as unspiritual and certain foods as unclean, we should rejoice in these good gifts God has created.

Everything created by God is good so long as it’s enjoyed within the parameters God has set up. According to the Bible, human sexuality is a gift of God to be enjoyed in marriage. Although sex outside of marriage is wrong and immoral, it’s not the act itself that’s inherently evil, but it’s the fact that the act is performed outside of the confines God set up. And food is a gift of God, and although the Bible warns us about overeating and becoming slaves to our appetites, we should enjoy the culinary gifts God has given us.

So here we find a second warning about hoe to become spiritually fit:

If you want to become more spiritually fit, don’t reject God’s good gifts.

Rejecting God’s good gifts is not the pathway to becoming a more spiritual person.

Get Spiritually Fit

Get Spiritually Fit

If you want to become more spiritually fit, don’t ingest spiritual poison.

If you want to become more spiritually fit, don’t reject God’s good gifts.

2 warnings Paul gives Timothy about things not to do – or teachings not to follow – in his quest to be more spiritually fit.

We also find 2 “positive prescriptions” – or 2 things to do – if we want to become more spiritually fit.

Get Spiritually Fit

Get Spiritually Fit

Look at verse 6 and the first half of verse7 here in 1 Timothy 4.

6If 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. 7Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales

Timothy has a tough assignment. He had to point out these false approaches to the spiritual life to the people in the church. But — Paul reminds Timothy that his ability to do this will reflect how he’s been brought up in his own faith. The Greek phrase translated “brought up” in v. 8 is a verb that refers to being “nourished” or “nurtured.” Timothy has been brought up to maturity in the truths of the Christian faith and good teaching. This refers to the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. These good teachings are the spiritual food that nurtured Timothy to become the spiritual young man he had become. The opposite of the truths of the faith and good teaching are the “godless myths and old wives’ tales” Paul refers to in verse 7. Many early Christians were devoting themselves to these myths instead of the clear truths of the Christian faith. Paul wants Timothy to entirely avoid these myths and irrational, bizarre ideas.
In the example of Timothy we see the first prescription for becoming a more spiritual person – the first thing to do if you want to become the more spiritual person God wants you to be:

If you want to become more spiritual, look for nourishment in God’s truth.

Be nourished in the truths of the faith and good teaching.

Get Spiritually Fit

Get Spiritually Fit

I heard about a letter to the editor of a British newspaper several years ago that went like this:

Dear Sir: It seems ministers feel their sermons are very important and spend a great deal of time preparing them. I have been attending church for 30 years and I have probably heard 3,000 sermons. I can’t remember a single sermon. I wonder if a minister’s job might be spent more profitably on something else.”

One of the replies that came went like this:

“Dear Sir: I have been married for 30 years. During that time I have eaten 32,850 meals-mostly my wife’s cooking. Suddenly I have discovered that I can’t remember the menu of a single meal. And yet I have the distinct impression that without them, I would have starved to death long ago.”

If you want to become more spiritual, look for nourishment in God’s truth.

Somehow God works through the words I give – or the words others give when they stand to preach – and spiritual nourishment is given. Believe me – I don’t understand how it works – it’s a mystery how the Holy Spirit can use me to touch others with God’s truth – but I trust that it happens. But – you have to look for that nourishment – you have to be prepared to receive that truth.

If you want to become more spiritual, look for nourishment in God’s truth.

Regular attendance at worship is one of the keys to becoming spiritually fit.

But — it’s only one key.

Being here on Sunday morning is not the only thing needed for nourishment in God’s truth. As we attend and participate in Bible study, fellowship times, and times when we reach out to others with God’s love our souls are strengthened – we become more spiritually fit.

Get Spiritually Fit

Get Spiritually Fit

If you want to become more spiritual, look for nourishment in God’s truth.

Regular attendance at worship is one of the keys to becoming spiritually fit.

Participation in the other activities of the Church is another.

Of course, we also need daily times of prayer and study of God’s word.

Every Christian ought to spend time each day reading the Bible devotionally, to find spiritual nourishment in God’s truth.All these are important – and yet many Christians are drawn to speculative ideas that have nothing to do with the truths of the Christian faith. We see it in excessive speculation about Bible prophecy and with the quest to uncover secret Bible codes. We see it when Christians get so enamored with a theological system that they start building excessive speculation about things the Bible only hints at.

These things will stunt our growth spiritually, and cause us to become less and less spiritual people. Instead, we need to follow Timothy’s example and look for nourishment in God’s truth.

Get Spiritually Fit

Get Spiritually Fit

If you want to become more spiritually fit, don’t ingest spiritual poison.

If you want to become more spiritually fit, don’t reject God’s good gifts.

If you want to become more spiritually fit, look for nourishment in God’s truth.

Get Spiritually Fit

Get Spiritually Fit

2. We find another “positive prescription” for becoming spiritually fit in vv. 7-10:

7Have nothing to with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. 8For 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. 9This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance 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.

Instead of jumping on the speculation bandwagon, Paul wants Timothy to train himself to be godly. The word translated “train” here is the Greek verb gumnazo, where we get the word gymnasium. It’s a word that described the physical training an athlete went through to compete. The training of a professional athlete provides a word picture for us of spirituality. Notice he tells Timothy to train himself. He doesn’t say, “Hire a personal trainer” or “take a seminar” but “train yourself.” This is something no one else can do for you.

The focus of this training is godliness. Godliness is simply a God centered life, and this word emphasizes a continuity between what we believe and how we behave. A God centered life is a life that has accurate beliefs about God that are expressed in consistent and appropriate ways in our behavior. Our culture trains us in “self-liness,” a self centered life. We need to engage in training to shift into godliness, a God centered life.

Paul uses physical training as a metaphor for spiritual growth:

8For 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 verse is implying something that only now scientists are beginning to discover. This verse implies that people who have a God centered life are more healthy, more happy, less depressed, and have more satisfying personal relationships. Only in the last few years have scientists begun to confirm what this verse is saying. But a God centered life also has value for eternality because it prepares us for living in heaven.

So here we find the final prescription for becoming spiritually fit:

If you want to be more spiritually fit, engage in a lifestyle of spiritual training.

If you think becoming a more spiritual person is a passive lifestyle where that God simply zaps us with spiritual depth, you’re sadly mistaken. For an athlete to compete, he or she must live a different kind of lifestyle than other people. Olympic marathon runners train between 80 and 150 hours per week. Olympic cyclists ride between 400 and 600 miles during a typical training week. Many athletes train in high altitude areas to build greater stamina and endurance. Often an athlete will focus on strengthening a specific muscle or muscle group to increase their performance. This lifestyle of training enables athletes to compete at their maximum potential.

Paul tells us to look at how an athlete trains, and then to learn from that how to train ourselves to become more God centered. Spiritual training involves participating in spiritual exercises, sometimes called disciplines or habits. These spiritual disciplines are similar to the various exercises an athlete uses to train.
Whether it’s individual disciples such as prayer or Bible study or corporate disciples such as worship study, fellowship, or service — these are things we need to do – to train ourselves in – if we are to become spiritually fit. Neglecting physical exercise makes our muscles flat and flabby. Neglecting spiritual exercise makes us flabby Christians – not the spiritually fit people God wants us to be.

Get Spiritually Fit

Get Spiritually Fit

If you want to become more spiritually fit, don’t ingest spiritual poison.

If you want to become more spiritually fit, don’t reject God’s good gifts.

If you want to become more spiritually fit, look for nourishment in God’s truth.

If you want to become more spiritually fit, engage in a lifestyle of spiritual training.

2 things to do –

look for nourishment in God’s truth

engage in a lifestyle of spiritual training.

and 2 things not to do –

don’t ingest spiritual poison

don’t reject God’s good gifts

if we want to become spiritually fit.

Get Spiritually Fit

Get Spiritually Fit

Along with:

Be saved by God’s grace

Be conformed to Christ

and

Don’t compromise your integrity

 

Get spiritually fit is another piece of advice God gives us for daily living. Amen