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Amen. I pray that as we sang a moment
ago, that Christ is all. And if He's not all to you, I
pray today and before you leave at the conclusion of this
service, that He would have mercy upon your soul, you would
leave here. And knowing that Christ is all,
He is, the only chance that you have of forgiveness of sin is
the only chance that you have of eternal life.
He is King of kings and Lord of Lords.
And I pray today that all of us would bow to who He is, whether
you have been a Christian for quite some time or whether you
don't yet know Christ, that today Christ would be all and
all to all of us here this morning.
If you have your Bibles, if you would turn to First Timothy,
we'll be looking at the 4th chapter today as we continue
walking through Paul's pastoral epistles.
We continue looking at biblical ministers and biblical ministry.
What? What are we to be as we walk
through this, not only First Timothy, but Titus and Second
Timothy in the Pastoral epistles?
We will see that there is a a frequent and reoccurring theme
in these pastoral epistles. It's often not discussed or or
preached or taught on or even considered.
If we look at the Scriptures and we would look at the Scriptures
properly, we would see that it's prevalent, that it is commanded.
Paul's going to teach us about this particular thing today,
this particular mark of what he calls a good minister.
Remember last week in verse 6 he said you're a good minister if
you do these things, but today he's going to show us the most
important mark of a good minister.
What is it? What is the most important mark
of a good minister? I can tell you this what Paul is
not talking about. He's not saying that they will
be an eloquent preacher. He's not saying that they will
be a great theologian, though. Being an eloquent preacher and a
great theologian, it doesn't hurt anything and it's helpful.
It's not the most important thing that Paul is going to
cover here today. He's not talking about one who
is good at administration or, or who leads well or leads with
purpose or maybe has that charismatic personality or
giftedness. He's not talking about any of
these things. Again, all of these things,
definitely not a hindrance. Definitely helpful to being a
good minister. But what is the most important
mark of a good minister before I tell you what that most
important mark is? Let me remind you of this.
I am not the only minister in this room.
If you are in Christ, you are a minister to.
To. Some capacity.
Perhaps you are a Christian father, You are the minister of
your family. Perhaps you are a Christian
mother. You are the minister.
Day in and day out, hands on, with your children.
You are a minister of Christ. And how are we to be good
ministers? What is the most important
attribute or mark of a good minister?
Paul makes that very clear today and it is the attribute of the
mark of godliness that he is talking about, often forgotten,
often not even alluded to and so-called Christian Church
services. We not, we're not going to make
that error today. We're going to look at it just.
As he is proclaiming it here, a command to be godly.
What is godliness, right? We could come up with all sorts
of definitions, but what does the word mean Eusebia in the
Greek? What does this word dictate?
It means this. It means reverence, respect, and
piety toward God. That's what godliness is.
And we know that if we have reverence, respect, and piety
toward God, we'll do what God has called us to do in Christ.
We'll obey that which he has LED us to obey.
It's a life that reveres and honors God through holy living,
holy practice, practical righteousness, a life that is
lived that obviously values God and what God thinks and who God
is. A godly life would be a person
who they exalt God above all things, especially themselves.
He's talking about this mark as it pertains to ministers.
Godliness as we know comes from a work of God that occurs
inwardly and that God works out of us through holiness,
practically being consistent with that which Peter spoke of
in first Peter chapter one verse 16 where he quotes the Old
Testament and he says for it is written, be holy because I am
holy. Godliness is that holy life
being displayed. DL Moody said this.
He said the world has yet to see what God will do with a man
fully consecrated to him. I want you to think about that
this morning as we are going to be challenged in the area of
godliness. I know many of you have spent
your life in church and have never been challenged with this
particular topic. Godliness, because what we have
done is in our minds, we have created this idea that godliness
is something that's far outside of our grasp.
But today what you're going to realize is godliness lives
inside of you if you were in Christ, and it's not so far as
you think it is. It has not distanced itself from
the true believer. In fact, godliness and a holy
life is exactly what God in Christ has equipped each of you
who are in Christ to live as good ministers for the Lord
Jesus Christ. First Timothy chapter 4.
We look at verse 6 because he says and 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.
He says in verse 7 where we begin today have nothing to do
with godless myths and old wives tales.
Rather train yourself to be godly.
Remember he spoke about the danger and the threat of
apostasy due to unsound teaching and doctrine.
He's encouraging Timothy to be a good minister, and he's
encouraging Timothy to be a good minister so that he will
disciple others there in the church at Ephesus to be good
ministers. He goes on, he says 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. Verse 9 it says this is a
trustworthy saying. You guys remember this, We've
already mentioned this in the study when Paul says this is a
trustworthy saying. He is like that parent, looking
their child in the eye and saying, listen to me, this is of
great importance. This is a trustworthy saying
that deserves full acceptance. And for this we labor and
strive, that we have put our hope in the living God who is
the Savior of all men and especially of those who believe.
Let's pray together, Father, in the name of Jesus, we come to
you, thanking you for your word. Lord, we ask as we look at Your
word today, that you would lead us and that You would guide us
into godliness. That You would guide us into
godliness because we see in Your word that it is Your will to do
so. God, that we would submit
ourselves to you. We would submit ourselves to
being trained and disciplined in righteousness so that godliness
will come forth from our lives, bringing you glory and honor and
praise. God, I pray for the.
Soul who's here today, who does not know Christ.
They are lost and they are undone.
They are without hope and without God, therefore they have
no godliness living in and through them.
God, I pray today that you, as only you could do, would do a
work in them, and by Your mercy you would call them out of the
darkness of their sin and bring them into your marvelous light,
into your righteousness. That you would do a work in them
are Your sovereign grace, regenerating them to life, to
faith, to repentance, to salvation as only you can.
That today they would be born again, born of God.
Now. That in that you would raise up
a group of godly people for your namesake according to your will
and according to your promises. We thank you for what you're
going to do now. We thank you for what you have
already done in the previous service.
We ask that you would move us to godliness in our lives as we
seek to be good ministers of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We pray these things in your mighty name, Lord Jesus, Amen.
So we discussed today this most important mark of a good
minister. There's no sense in really
messing around with this. The thing that we really need to
do is just jump right into what the Word of God says.
That's what I intend to do this morning.
So if you're taking notes, write this down.
The good minister, How many of you say, well, now that I know
that I am a minister and that Kirk's not the only minister in
the room just because he's standing in the pulpit or in
case he's not the only minister? Just because He's leading us in
praise and worship through song. Now that I realize that I'm a
minister, and I hope you do realize that, wouldn't it be
appropriate that we would seek to be good ministers?
To seek to be all that it is that Christ desires for us to
be. So let's look at this the good
minister will first of all be driven to godliness, driven to
godliness. Verse 7 Paul says this have
nothing to do with godless myths and old wives tells rather train
yourself to be godly. Now let me make this very clear
in the original language so that we can all understand this.
Paul is not making a suggestion. He's not filling out a request
in a comment box. Hey Timothy, could you please
consider being godly? When he says to train yourself
to be godly, that is an imperative.
That means it is a command. He is saying Timothy for the
gospel minister who wants. To be a good minister, there is
no other option. Train yourself in godliness.
Train yourself to be godly. And Paul's very practical here.
He doesn't act as if there's no obstacles to this.
He doesn't act as if there's no distractions to being godly.
We all know this, don't we? Those of us who have ever sought
to live a godly life, we know that the earth is full of
distractions, that our lives are full of distractions.
And Paul covers this so practical here, he says have
nothing to do with godless myths and old wives tales.
Instead, or rather then be distracted by these things,
train yourself to be godly. That's what Paul is telling him.
He's giving him some instructions on what the good
minister should do and the good minister should have.
First off, disregard deceptive distractions.
Paul's telling Timothy, don't be sidetracked by unimportant or by
silly things. What is he specifically talking
about? Godless myths that came from
folklore or old wives tales that came from human philosophy?
He's talking about, if you would, the theories of the day
that could easily distract someone from our purpose in
Christ. And our purpose in Christ is not
any of these things, right? Because they're trivial in
nature. So Paul is telling him that
don't, don't get distracted by things that are trivial.
Don't get distracted by the trivial matters of this life.
Because can't we all agree there are some things that matter and
there are some things that just don't matter.
And most of the time, if we're ever distracted from being godly
in our lives, we're distracted by things that don't matter.
It's the trivial and it's the temporal things of this world
that so easily distract us. He's saying, don't fall into
that trap. Don't be distracted by godless
myths and old wives tales, trivial matters or secondary
issues. And don't you know that the
secondary issue mill is churning right now, right?
Because any time there's a bomb that explodes in any of these
ancient lands, boy, the, the, the people jump on this
eschatological band wagon of trying to figure everything out.
Oh, I think because we, we, we're in a war with Iran.
Well, that means we're in the end times.
No, Jesus ascending to heaven meant we're in the end times and
He's going to work everything out according to His will and
plan. And I don't want any of you to
fall into the trap of getting distracted by trying to figure
that out to a degree that you forsake godliness in your life
that you're not concerned with. You know what?
We might be living in the very last of the end times, and you
to be so consumed with that you're not worried about being
godly in your life any longer. Oh, may it never be.
May we see that in order to be a good minister, we can't be just
distracted by these deceptive tools, these secondary issues.
There's just some things regarding eschatology that none
of us know. That's why we have deemed it a
secondary issue. You know what?
I'm not going to split hairs over what eschatological camp
you live in. Live there, stay there, keep it
to yourself unless somebody asks you.
Nobody cares how many episodes of Jack Van Impe you watched
when you were a kid. Some of you know what I'm
talking about, don't you, Rexalla?
But let's not get distracted by secondary issues to the point
that godliness is not something that we prioritize in our life.
We laugh, but we've all met these people, right?
They're trying to uncover every uncover every in time mystery.
There are just some things you're not going to know, so get
over it. Let's get over it and trust what
you do know, what God has revealed.
And I can tell you this, I don't know who the Antichrist is, but
I do know this God still requires me to live a godly life
and it's called me to a godly life.
And that's what I need to be concerned with.
I need to be concerned with what God says I need to be concerned
with, not with what my imagination wants me to be
concerned with. These trivial matters are
secondary issues. What about conspiracy theories?
Who aren't these all flying around?
Some of you spend countless hours reading about them on
YouTube, social media because you want your conspiracy to be
right so bad so it consumes you. All the while these conspiracy
theories are consuming you. Godliness is not did.
You hear that you're distracted by something that is keeping you
from being what God has commanded you to be and that is
godly and to train yourself in godliness.
You're worried about if the government is corrupt or not.
Can I help all of you? Where man is involved,
corruption is present. There has never been a
government that wasn't corrupt. Why?
Because sinners are involved there.
And where there is sin, there is corruption.
So stop spending countless hours on the YouTube machine listening
to your favorite conspiracy theorists tell you how it's all
going to play out in the end and pick up the Word of God and see
that God is very clear and he's very precise, that he is raising
up for himself in the midst of all the chaos of man.
He is raising up for himself a holy people, a godly people,
people who are concerned with godliness over all things.
Those are good ministers of Christ Jesus, not distracted by
all of this other stuff. The controversy, the conspiracy
theory. Well, how sad it is that I've
walked the halls of this church and listened to people try to
convince someone that the earth is flat.
And it's OK if that's what you want to believe.
But why would you be so distracted by it if you would be
worried as much as you are in thinking that NASA somehow
tricked us? If you would be as worried about
godlessness in your life that needs to be confessed and
repented of and godliness in your life that needs to be
worked for the glory of God, you would be a good minister.
But you spend time and you spend the effort and all of these
controversies and all of these conspiracy theories that you see
on, you know, the authority Facebook, shame on you.
Word of God is true and any truth that you need as it
pertains to godliness has been supplied for you right here.
And if the government dupes? All.
Of us, God has never lied to us and He's faithful to everything
that he has ever said. And our hope resides in Helm and
Helm alone. I know.
New way of thinking for the godless American church, isn't
it? We must be driven to godliness,
disregarding all deceptive distractions.
They're out there. I will be the first to admit it.
They were out there when Paul is addressing Timothy to avoid
godless myths and old wives tales.
Things that don't matter, things that aren't true, things that
are controversial, things that are half true.
Did you know? OK, the person who says, well I
believe my conspiracy is true, It might be part true.
But part true is always full lie.
Amen. There is no such thing as 1/2
truth, so don't spend your time distracted by these things
instead. Do what the author of Hebrews
says in Hebrews chapter 12. Here's what he says.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud
of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders.
Before he ever gets to sin, He lets us know there are other
things that can hinder us, there are other things that can
distract us. He says let us throw away
anything that hinders us and the sin that so easily entangles us.
And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, and
watch. What he says next?
Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfector of faith,
for the joy set before him, he endured the cross, scorning its
shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Why is the writer of Hebrews telling us all of this?
Because people can so easily be distracted, and the enemy is so
crafty at distracting you. He would distract you with
things that aren't necessarily sin.
That's what he says there in chapter 12.
It could be sin, but it could be something else that hinders you.
And what does he say to do with it?
Throw it off, Get rid of it. Stop wasting your time being
distracted by it, whether it's trivial matters, a secondary
issues, a controversy or conspiracy theory, or watch this
earthly politics. May I be a good?
Minister to all of you for just a moment.
If you're spending more time on Fox News than you are on your
knees in prayer, you are in the Word of God.
You're not training yourself up in godliness.
You want to be discouraged. Watch what's happening in this
fleeting world. You want to be encouraged.
Open the Word of God and see that God wins in the end through
the Lord Jesus Christ. And all who are in Christ win
with him. Disregard the theft of
distractions. Paul's warning us.
He's warning the Ephesians, he's warning Timothy.
This could apply to all of us. There are things that could
hinder us or distract us. Find Titus another pastoral
epistle in chapter 3, verse 9, he says.
But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments
and quarrels about the. Law because these are
unprofitable and useless. They were fighting about
so-called spiritual things found in the law genealogies
controversy. He says leave those things,
they're unprofitable and useless.
Second Timothy chapter 2 verse 16.
He says avoid godless chatter. Because those who indulge in it
will become more and more what ungodly.
Stop talking about things that don't matter.
Why? Because God's words say When you
participate in godless chatter, you'll become even more ungodly
not to be the. Objective for the believer.
The believer should be I want to progress in godliness, not in
ungodliness. Second Timothy chapter 2.
He goes down in verse 23 and continuing to talk about this,
he says don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid
arguments. I like that Paul uses that term
stupid arguments because I can then confidently call them.
Stupid arguments because you know they produce.
Quarrels. I had a man not that long ago
leave the church because I wouldn't buy into his 1611 King
James only stuff. Is he didn't possess the 1611
King James, he's probably never seen or touched a real 1.
He has to go to a museum to do that.
You find one in a garage sale, buy it, give it to me, then I'll
tell you how much it would be be worth.
But this man spent time and effort trying to convince me,
and I just kept telling. Look, I've already I've already
researched all this from I'm not going to argue with you about
it. This is a needless quarrel.
Not only this is a needless quarrel.
I'm going to agree to disagree with you as a mature believer
and say, hey, you've said where you stand.
I've told you where I stand. I'm not going to try to convince
you otherwise. Please stop trying to convince
me otherwise and let's just live at peace like God would want us
to do. Of course he did.
It's all good 1611 King James people do.
He pouted and went home, took his toys with him, never came
back. And I say thank you for not
causing division in the body of Christ over silly, stupid and
needless arguments. We see it often, don't we?
People distracted from godliness by all of these stupid things,
wanting to win the argument. Who cares if you win the
argument? And you hurt your testimony and
trying to win the argument. People see that you're not as
godly as you once professed to be because you were more
interested from a prideful standpoint, winning an argument.
Oh, how foolish we would be to ever do that.
Paul's warning Timothy about this.
The good minister should disregard deceptive distraction.
Secondly, he should desire godliness.
He says, train yourself to be godly.
He speaks as if Timothy already has a desire in him to be godly.
You know why he speaks like this?
Because he knows Timothy does. And he knows that that desire
didn't come from Timothy himself.
He knew that that that desire to be godly came from the fact that
Timothy was in Christ. And if you're in Christ, the
Holy Spirit indwells you. And if the Holy Spirit does live
in you, you will have a desire for godliness.
Let me also help you with this. If you have 0 desire for
godliness, it's a pretty good indication that the Holy Spirit
doesn't live in you, because the Holy Spirit is not going to be
anything other than holy. That's not just the catchy title
that we tag on the Spirit's name.
That is who He is. He can be nothing else, and He
will not and cannot tolerate you being ungodly as a child of God
who has been raised up in Christ to fulfill a promise that He
made to Abraham about raising up a godly and holy people for
Himself. And so if you sit here today and
you say, you know what? I I don't really desire to be
godly, it's plain and simple. God doesn't live in you.
And so your weak profession of faith is now proven because you
have no desire to live a godly life.
There will be a godly desire, a deep desire, a willingness to be
godly when no one else desires to be godly.
Why? Because this desire comes from
an inward work that God has done by His own grace in the believer
Thomas Watson in the book entitled The Godly Man's
Picture. A book that I am so thankful
that a sovereign God made sure I got that book in my hand.
Because what it taught me is this through many, many hundreds
of references to Scripture. My main objective as a minister,
it's not to be the greatest theologian.
It's not to be the best preacher.
My main objective as a good minister is to be godly.
That book taught me what godliness really looks like
according to the Word of God. The author of that book, Thomas
Watson. Who I feel is a friend of mine
since he has discipled me so much, though I've never met him,
and though he's been dead hundreds of years before I ever
existed. He said this, he said godliness.
Is the sacred impression and workmanship of God in a man's
heart. Knowing that my desire for
godliness didn't come from me, I can't pat myself on the back and
say, well, I'm I'm doing so good because I am desiring godliness.
Now Watson knew this, that godliness is something that God
works in the heart of a man who was once wicked.
It reminds us that any desire for godliness in our life stems
from God himself, stems from God himself and his regenerating
work in Christ. Had He not regenerated us in
Christ by His grace, we would never have a desire for
godliness in our lives. What does that teach us?
It teaches us that the desire for godliness that we as
believers will have, that that desire is indicative that a work
of God has occurred within us. If there is no desire for
godliness in your life, if this morning you've heard the the
title about godliness and you turned me off, you don't desire
godliness in your life. It's also indicative of
something. It's indicative of the fact that
a work of God has not occurred in your life.
You say, Well, that seems like a pretty bold statement, Pastor.
Let me just read for you Ezekiel chapter 36.
Are you ready? It says this verse 26.
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you, and I
will remove from you your heart of stone.
That's that old wicked and deceitful and dead heart.
And he says, and give you a heart of flesh, one that's
actually operating. And he says, and I will put my
spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful
to keep my laws. What is he saying here?
If there is a work of God that is worked in you, it will come
out of you. And that's what is meant by
workout your own salvation with fear and trembling.
It is that which is inside coming out of you as you train
yourself to be godly. It is that new heart, It is that
new mind. It is that new nature that God
wrought on the inside coming out of you.
It begins with desire. Why?
You're never going to train yourself into anything if you
don't first have a desire. Some of the people in the church
recently have run half marathons and marathons.
You know what they didn't do? They didn't wake up on marathon
day, eat a half pound of Bluebell ice cream and say, you
know what? I think I'm going to run 26
point whatever miles it is. No, they had a desire that came
from within, and then with that desire they began to train and
to prepare themselves. This is what Paul's telling.
Timothy here. This is what he's telling to.
All. Those who seek to be good
ministers of Christ be driven to godliness, disregard all the
deceptive distractions, all the things that this world throws at
us, and desire godliness above everything else.
To realize that Second Corinthians 517 says that you
are a new creation. He says the new creation has
come, the old has gone, the new is here.
Well, the old is gone and the new is here.
And you used to be ungodly in your old nature, shouldn't stand
the reason that in your new nature you would seek and desire
godliness? Of course, that makes perfect
sense, and a good minister will be driven to godliness, refusing
to be distracted by things that would hinder that desire that
God has put in them. Oh, I'm thankful for the burning
desire that God has put in me to be godly.
It confirms to me over and over and over again that I am truly
saved because prior to Christ saving me, I had no desire to be
godly. All I had was a desire to
fulfill the cravings of my flesh, to to to go to the next
thrill of my sin. However, because a work has been
done in me through Christ, because I am a new creation,
because I have received that new heart, that old heart taken from
me, I now desire to be the kind of person that God says that I
ought to be, a person who lives for the glory of God and lives
to be obedient. Say, Kurt, do you think you're
perfect? Oh, not yet.
One day I will be, because he who began this good work in me
will also carried on to completion in Christ Jesus.
I'm thankful for that. But I am thankful that every
step closer to Christ, I can also train myself to step a
little closer to godliness because of the resources and the
power of the Holy Spirit He has placed in me, coupled with the
truth of His Word. So the good minister will be
driven to godliness. Secondly, the good minister will
be disciplined in godliness. Paul speaks much about
discipline. He doesn't shy away from it
here. He says in verse 8 for physical
training is of some value. That's for all the people who
say, you know, I'm just going to worry about my spiritual
training and never exercise. He says it's of some value.
He didn't say no value. Take a walk every now and then,
eat right, keep the heart in good shape.
It's good for you. It's of some value.
But he says, but godliness has value.
For all things, this is the important.
Thing that we see. Holding promise for both the
present life and the life to come.
So if we're growing in godliness or if we're going to grow in
godliness. We have to be disciplined in
godliness. A person's never going to be
physically fit who is not physically disciplined.
And so a person is not going to be spiritually fit godly if
they're not spiritually disciplined.
So a person who is growing in godliness and I pray that your
desire. They will be devoted to
spiritual training. They will be devoted to
spiritual training. Now, now I know this many of
you, you spend hours in the gym working on the physique of that
ever fleeting temporal body that will decay and.
Turn back to dust. But it hurts you to spend
minutes in prayer, minutes in the Word of God, minutes
meditating on the word of God. But we must who seek godliness,
be devoted to spiritual training, just as that athlete
is devoted to training. Getting up.
Those Olympic athletes that many of you just witnessed competing
in the Winter Games, they didn't decide to do this a week before
the Winter Games. Their entire life has been
training for this one event. So we as Christians ought to
take note of that. We ought to see that there is a
more important thing at stake here, godliness, which is for
this life and the life to come. As Paul said, we ought to be
devoted to spiritual training, just as those athletes are put
to a spiritual degree, striving for godliness and living a life
of discipline so that we see it in our lives.
First Corinthians 9 verse 26. Paul using an analogy here, as
he often does athletic event, this particular 1A boxing match.
He says, therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly.
I do not. Fight like a boxer beating the
air. He's talking about his spiritual
life here and he's making this analogy and he's saying I beat
myself into subjection. What does he say?
I train myself in godliness. That's why he can pass this
along to Timothy. I fight against my own sinful
desires, my own flesh. I fight these things.
I bring them into subjection. I am disciplined.
In this area, just like physical training, training and godliness
takes discipline. Not only does it take
discipline, it takes time. For all the youngsters who are
here today, you've been a Christian for about two months.
You won't be mature tomorrow, right?
For all the people who get saved and two months later they want
to take my job. It doesn't quite work like that.
Because if you're devoted to spiritual training, you'll also
be devoted to everything that comes with it.
You know what It takes time. It takes time.
I have seen God do a progressive work in my life in the area of
godliness, my entire Christian life.
I'm so thankful for that. But it has taken time.
You know what else that involves pain, right?
Because when when you're seeking to live a godly life, you know
what's coming? Persecution, Paul said.
That persecution is going to come on all.
Who seek to live a godly life. It's coming, it's part of it.
You're going to face pain you're going to have.
People who don't like you. And in fact you have people who
hate you. Many have had people who have
killed them because of their desire to be godly.
Involves pain. It includes sacrifices.
Some of the reasons why we don't see a whole lot of godliness,
why we don't even like to talk about it in the church, because
we start asking people to suffer pain and actually asking people
to sacrifice. Did you know there was no such
thing as a New Testament Christian?
Who got through this world without pain or sacrifice.
Because our Master endured pain and sacrifice, and for following
in his footsteps, we will endure the same.
It comes with a reward though, doesn't it?
It comes with great reward. Just as that person who competes
physically, who trains and disciplines himself.
And in the end, they win the prize.
We run for a greater prize in regard to godliness, an eternal
pride. That's prize.
That's exactly what he's saying here when he's saying that that
godliness has value for all things in this life and in the
life to come. And God has promised that we
must be devoted to spiritual training, discipline and
godliness. I can't say this enough.
A good minister will take this seriously topic of godliness.
Why? Because of what the Word of God
says. Second Peter chapter one, verse
3. It says His divine power has
given us everything we need for a godly life through our
knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.
Through these He has given us His very great and precious
promises so that through them you might participate in the
divine nature. Having escaped the corruption in
the world caused by evil desires, He says in verse 5.
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith
goodness and to goodness knowledge, and to knowledge,
self-control, and to self-control, perseverance and
to perseverance. Here it is class, godliness,
godliness, and to godliness mutual affection, and to mutual
affection, love. You know what he's saying.
Discipline yourself. Be devoted in spiritual training
so that you will keep growing toward maturity.
And a very important part of the maturation process and a
Christian is godliness. Before you will ever love as
Christ loved, before you will ever consider others above
yourself, you must have a devotion to training yourself in
godliness. It's progressive.
Be devoted to this spiritual training because that's what a
good minister will be devoted to.
It'll be devoted to the Word as it trains them in righteousness.
So pastor, that's your job. It's all of your jobs.
You all agreed we're all ministers, right?
We have to train ourselves in the word of God and
righteousness through the word of God.
Second Timothy chapter 3 verse 16 says this all scriptures God
breathe and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and
training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be
thoroughly equipped for every good work, so that you will be a
good minister. Where do we train in
righteousness as we open the Word of God, As we learn from
the Word of God here in this congregation, in your homes as
you start your day and as you finish your day that God has
blessed you with In the Bible studies that are going on and
enriched next door and your families around the dinner
table. As you discuss the things
pertaining to the Word of God in your life as it is examined in
light of that word. This is where godliness happens,
when we're devoted to spiritual training.
Are you, are you devoted to spiritual training in your life,
disciplined and godliness, or is it just something that you say?
I'll take it or leave it. You know, if it comes along,
well, I'll take it. If it doesn't, it doesn't.
It's come along. 2000 years ago, Jesus Christ died on a cross in
your place to rescue you from your sin, to raise you up from
that cesspool and give to you a new life, a new life that
displays godliness. It's come along.
And then he sent his Spirit to live in you, the Holy Spirit.
And the Holy Spirit, the third person of the triune Godhead,
lives in you, giving you a desire for godliness.
So you must devote yourself to it, devoting yourself.
That's spiritual training. You won't see godliness as an
option if you're truly born again.
Ecclesiastes chapter 12 makes that very clear.
Solomon, when he gets to the end of all things, examining life
and seeing what it's all about. He says this in verse 13 to
chapter 12. Now all has been heard.
After you said over and over again, life meaningless,
meaningless, all is meaningless. He comes to this conclusion.
Now all has been heard. Here's the conclusion of the
matter. Here's what we need to focus on
as humanity Fear God and keep His commands, for this is the
duty of all mankind. This is your purpose.
And though your purpose was thwarted because of sin in
Christ, you have been rescued from that sin and you have been
repurposed for godliness to bring Him glory by your life.
The things you do and the things that you say.
Devote yourself to training and this to learning, to growing.
Why? It is the duty of all men fear
God to keep His commands. It's the reason for your
existence. It's the reason that you were
created. Do you think you exist for any
other reason? You've got it all backward.
We don't exist for whatever reason.
We say that we exist. We exist for the reason that our
Creator has said that we exist. That is to obey Him, to keep His
commands, to bring glory to Him. That is our duty.
We are now able to do that in Christ, we who were once not
able to do that. So the good minister will be
devoted to spiritual training. You will devote yourself to the
time and to the pain, to the suffering that it takes.
Well, I don't like to read. Pray that God will give you a
desire to like to read. I watched a man in Arkansas who
couldn't read. He wanted to teach little kids
the Bible. You know what he did?
He said, God, I don't know how to read.
He didn't. You know what God did?
God taught him how to read. He began to read the word of God
so that he could teach little children the word of God.
And to this day, he's still pouring into little children in
that same church. Why?
Because God birthed a desire in him.
Did it hurt? Was it tough?
Yeah. He had to walk into a room where
some of those kids could probably read better than he
could. But he trusted God.
He devoted himself to spiritual training so that he could pour
word of God out to others. That's a desire for godliness.
That's being devoted to what it takes, delighting in the eternal
over the temporal. Paul is making this very clear.
He's just holding promise for both the present life and the
life to come. He says physical training.
You know what, you can train all you want and in the end you're
going to die. It's just for this life.
He might be a gym rat, but I've done enough funerals to know
this. That guy who was once muscled up
and shredded and everybody owed and gnawed over his muscle, he
Withers away. He's put into a casket and he's
put into A to the ground, and he will stand before a holy God and
he will answer for the life that he lived, not for how big his
muscles were. The good minister will be
delighting in the eternal over the temple.
Second Peter 3 says this, but the day of the Lord will come
like a thief in the night. The heavens will disappear with
a roar, the elements with will be destroyed by fire, and the
earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.
Pretty scary, huh? Sounds like some kind of nuclear
Holocaust to some hyper premillennial, doesn't it?
Especially since we're fighting against Iran and Israel's
involved. Yes, all of those things play a
key role in scripture. And if you really think those
things are a big deal, watch what he says next, since
everything will be destroyed in this way.
What kind of people ought you to be, right?
You're saying you're worried about a nuclear Holocaust, Peter
saying God by his hand is going to refine this earth, not ought
to get your attention, not to get your attention for a reason,
since it's going to happen that way.
You can bank on that, right? Because I can't tell you that
the Russians are going to nuke everyone or that America's going
to nuke everyone and, and this thing's all going to end in some
kind of nuclear Holocaust. This is conspiracy theory mixed
with hyper premillennialism. But I can tell you this, the
hand of God will one day refine with fire the earth as we know
it. And that is true. 100% Well,
since it's going to happen, what should we do?
Well, since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind
of people want you to be? You ought to live holy and godly
lives. You can't get any plainer than
that, can you? You ought to live holy and godly
lives. You're really worried about the
the world ending as you know it. It ought to motivate you to live
a holy life. You ought to be delighting in
the eternal over the temple. You ought to be saying this.
You know what that counts for nothing.
The only thing that counts in the eyes of God is holiness and
obeying His commands, bringing glory to His name, sharing the
gospel with others that they might have might have that same.
Hope. And so the good minister will be
disciplined in godliness, devoted to spiritual training
and delighting in the eternal over the temple.
Again, I'm not the only one that this pertains to.
Are you delighting in the eternal over the temporal?
Are you teaching your kids that that's what you're doing?
Are you putting so much emphasis on your kids temporal status?
Right? Do they make the team?
Do they make the cheer squad? Are they going to be a Major
League Baseball player? Watch this.
Probably not. Statistics are far stacked
against them. But you know what they can be if
you teach them properly. Godly, godly.
And if you're a good minister, that's what you're going to be
doing. You're going to be delighting in
the eternal over the temple. And your children are going to
see that. And they're going to say, you
know what, Mom and Dad, they're OK with me playing a little ball
every now and then, but they are not OK with ball becoming an
idol. They're not OK with that.
They're not OK with my my whole existence being about this
thing. I'm glad I got to teach my son
how to throw football. But you know what?
Neither one of us plays football anymore.
You know what I'm more thankful for?
And God showed me the importance of godliness when it comes to my
children and to show them by my example that I delight in the
eternal over the temple, that the things of this world,
they're fleeting. But being disciplined in
godliness, it's good in this life.
And it has eternal value. Why?
Because the godly example that we as good ministers in our
homes leave for our children, they will follow that good
example, and they will follow that good example into the
presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, surrendering.
Their lives to him, and then living their life for him.
It's no coincidence that in the same epistle.
When it came down to the requirements for the overseers,
the bishops in the church, the leaders, it's no coincidence
that he said their house had to be godly, their children had to
be godly. Why is that?
Godly parents produce godly children.
That is by God's design. You can go back to Malachi and
you can look at this. You know what he says?
He says I hate divorce. And why does he hate divorce?
Why? He says I hate divorce because a
family is divided. And he says this about it.
He says forsake not the wife of your youth.
And then he gives you the answer as to why, so that you'll
produce godly offspring. Godly offspring, you say?
Well. Pastor, I've had a divorce.
Are you saying that I can never be godly?
No. In Christ you've been redeemed.
And be thankful for that. God Forgives you for something
that He says that He hates. Hey, And He forgives us for many
things that He says that He hates.
But know this and have this in your heart.
If I could have done it all over again, I would have done it
differently. And now I desire to do that
which is right even in the lives of my children, so that they can
see that godliness is important. Delight in the eternal over the
temple. Be devoted to spiritual
training. The good minister will be
disciplined in godliness, don't forget that.
And lastly, the good minister will be diligent in godliness.
This won't just be a fly by night thing, a good idea that
lasts for a little while. Verse 9, it says this is a
trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance.
And for this we labor and strive.
He says this is the whole reason that we do what we do, that we
have put our hope in the living God who is the Savior of all men
and especially of those who believe.
What's he saying here? He's saying that a good minister
will labor and strive diligently in godliness, enjoying the
assurance of the hope that he has in Christ and in displaying
to others the reason for. That hope through an obedient
life of godliness, he said. This is the whole reason that we
labor and strive. He says this is the reason for
our existence. And Paul saying this to Timothy,
his young protege, saying we we are in Christ and and we are
doing what we do because of godliness and what God desires
to work in and through us. It's all because of the hope
that we have from the living God who is the Savior of all men and
especially of those who believe. Now let me just give you the
theological interpretation of this so you don't get confused.
There are many people say, see there, He's the Savior of all
men. So all they're going to believe
that's universalism, that's heresy, Patrick, that's heresy.
And The thing is, he's never promoting A universalism that
all. People will be safe.
You know what he's saying? That even the lost people right
now are saved by the common grace and the common love of
God. Because he should have already
judged them for their wickedness.
He should have already taken them out.
He's saying that if you have breath in your body, even if you
are not in Christ, you have not yet believed, God is still
saving you and preserving you, perhaps for this very day that
you hear the gospel and you believe.
Because then he goes on, He says.
And especially for those who believe He's saying, you know
what, there is general saving. The fact that God sustains all
of mankind temporarily, but then there is that special salvation
for those who believe that is where He preserves us eternally.
Don't miss that, because if you misinterpret that, you're going
to jump off into the camp of universalism again, which is
heretical. So a good minister, as we get
back to the purpose for this, will be diligent in godliness.
Why will He be diligent in godliness?
Because God has wrought that work in him that we've seen
through Jesus Christ, the one who was once dead and is now
alive, the living God, and who is the Savior of all men and
especially of those who believe. We will be diligent in godliness
because of the work that God has done in Christ through us, a
resurrected Savior giving us new life.
And so diligence and godliness will be write it down, propelled
by hope received. It'll be propelled by hope
received. Paul here talking about the hope
that they have in Christ and. He's saying it's a trustworthy
saying full of that it that it deserves full acceptance.
It's the reason that we exist and it's the reason that we
labor and it's the reason that we strive.
He's Speaking of those who have. Put their hope in the living
God. He's talking about himself and
Timothy, he says. Because we have put our hope in
the living God, let us be propelled by the hope that we
receive. This is the reason that we live,
the reason that we breathe, this is the reason that we work, and
this is the reason that we strive.
Because we have been given hope by the living God through
Christ. Paul's reminding Timothy,
because they've both trusted in the Lord as their Savior, now
they're responsible to live their lives due to that hope
that they have received. First.
Peter 1/3 says this. Praise be the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ. In his great mercy, he has given
us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of
Jesus Christ from the dead. Peter, they're saying we have a
living hope. Because our Savior is alive.
Paul saying the same thing to Timothy here we have living
hope. We have assurance.
Let that propel you. Let that hope that you have
received in Christ, the living God.
Let it propel you in this life to be a good minister and to be
a godly minister. We should be driven by this,
propelled by our hope in Christ. It should propel us to live a
godly life out of appreciation for what Christ has done for us.
I don't live a godly life. I don't seek to live a godly
life thinking that God is going to credit that to my count my
account as righteousness. The only righteousness I'll ever
receive is righteousness that has been imputed to me from
Christ. It is a gracious gift of God,
but because I have that hope, I desire to live a godly life that
I may reflect the work that God has done in me, out of me, and
through me to others. It is the reason, Paul says,
that we labor and we strive. Compelling us by the hope we
have received. Are you propelled by the hope
that you've received in Christ to live a godly life?
I can think of no better reason to live a godly life than that.
To know that I have been saved by God's grace through the
sacrifice of Jesus Christ that he made on my behalf that I did
not deserve. He who knew no sin became sin so
that I might become the righteousness of God.
And in seeing that inside of me, there's this great desire to
distort in me, to be righteous unto God, that is, to live a
godly life. Why?
Because I'm trying to find hope through a godly life?
No, because hope came to me and my response should be a godly
life, every day living in godliness to say thank you,
Jesus, what you did was worth something.
What you did meant something. You are displaying your power in
and through me, how you took a dead man and how you brought him
to life because you are the living God.
You've given me hope in a virtually hopeless world.
May I live my life to honor you and to bring praise to you.
May I be diligent in godliness, just as Paul is telling Timothy
to be here. Oh, what hope He has given us
and the living God through the new life that He's given us in
Christ as we read a moment ago in our scripture reading, Titus
2 verse 11. For the grace of God has
appeared that offers salvation to all people, and it teaches us
to say no to ungodliness. I'm so thankful that the grace
of God teaches me to say no to ungodliness and not like this
Antinomian thinking of the day that since I have grace, I ought
to be able to just do whatever I want to do.
No, His grace teaches me to say no to ungodliness and worldly
passions, and to live self controlled, upright and godly
lives in this present age, in the present age of wickedness,
while we wait for the blessed. Hope, the appearing of the glory
of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself
for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for
Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is
good. Why would Jesus have come to
this earth to die on the cross, to purify a people for His
name's sake and then be OK with us not living godly pure life?
It would be ridiculousness, that's what it would be.
Let us be propelled by the hope that we have received, diligent
and godliness and proclaiming hope to others.
All the while, he says, For this we labor and strive.
What were Paul and Timothy laboring and striving for?
To be good ministers of the gospel.
To be good ministers of Christ Jesus.
Paul's telling him here. In doing that, when you seek
godliness, you give hope to others.
And this is the whole reason that we exist.
Did you know this? A good minister, That's the
whole reason he wakes up every day.
He doesn't wake up every day to enjoy the toys of this earth,
the pleasures of his flesh. True man of God has already done
that. He wakes up every day to say
thank you God, that I'm no longer what I once was, but I am
now a vessel for your glory. Let me live a godly life because
of the hope that I have received in Christ.
Why is that important? Because in doing so, you're
proclaiming hope to others. And we should diligently display
godliness in our lives so that others will see the hope that we
have in Christ so that they can recognize the change He's
brought in US. I told the first service that
when people who I went to school with when I was a younger man
and was not yet a believer find out that I'm a preacher, I get
some strange looks and that's OK.
They should look at me strange because God has wrote a miracle
in this wretched scoundrel. I can tell you that which I'm
very thankful for. They look at your life and you
know what they notice? You're different.
You know what different means? He once were ungodly, and now
you're living a godly life. It's important that the lost
world sees that. Why?
Because in that they see our hope.
Our hope is in Christ. I live a godly life because of
what Christ has done for me and I want others to see that, not
so that they can pat Kirk on the back and say oh Kirk is a good
guy. I'll be the first to tell him
Kirk is a scoundrel apart from Jesus Christ.
Kirk is a man who was once lost in his sin, lost in his own self
deceit. Kirk is a man who still
struggles with the old nature, just like each of you do.
Oh, but the deep desire of Kirk's heart, just as it was
King David, is to please the Lord and to please the Lord
through living a life of godliness so that others will
see there's hope even for them. You know what?
Because that's what those lost friends, when they look at me,
they say, man, if there was hope for Kirk Hall, surely there's
hope for me. Is that not what the Apostle
Paul meant when he said, yes, I'm the worst of sinners?
When God showed his grace to me, Paul was saying is if God can
show his grace to me, he can show his grace to you.
If there's hope for me, there's hope for anyone.
There's not ever been a person that I have shared the gospel
with that I don't tell them that somewhere in that presentation,
look, if there's hope for me, there's hope for anyone.
So don't think that you're counted out just.
Yet what's the greatest way to display that hope, change life,
a new life, godliness. When others see our godly lives
and our service to the Lord and our dedication and devotion to
Him and to His church, you know what's going to happen.
They say that we're driven by that.
They're going to want to know why.
First, Peter 3 verse 15 says this.
But in your hearts Revere Christ is Lord.
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you
to give the reason for the hope that you have.
How would they just be looking at your life and see that you
have a hope that they don't have?
The expression of godliness coming out of your life, the
change that God has brought in your life.
He says we'll do this with gentleness and respect, keeping
a clear conscience so that those who speak maliciously against
you and your good behavior in Christ, they may be ashamed of
their slander. What did he say?
Don't worry about them slandering you.
Just keep living a godly life devoted to godliness.
And even those who slander you will know that they can't even
feel good about that. Why is it important?
Because when we do that, we display Christ.
We just pray Christ. He displayed a perfect and godly
life on this earth, and even those who accused him couldn't
really even say anything bad about him with a clear
conscience. Pilate himself testifying to
that. I find no fault in this man.
I guess so, Pilate. There was no fault in this man.
And when people see the work of God in us through godliness.
You. Know what conclusion they come
to as they see God in US. I find no fault in this man.
I only see hope in this man where there otherwise was not
hope. And I want to know about this
hope. And what did Peter say that they
do? They will ask you to give them a
reason for the hope that you have.
This is where we share the gospel.
This is where we proclaim that the gospel is the only, only
message that a man can hear and be saved.
That it is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe.
What opened that door for you to share that godliness?
So Paul's telling Timothy to be diligent in godliness, to be
propelled by the hope that he has received in Christ, the
living God, and to be proclaiming this hope to others.
Why? Because they need to know.
That He's the Savior of all men, but especially those who believe
that it is God who has preserved you all this while because He is
the Savior of all men. You have breath in your body
because He has allowed you to have it and He's.
Allowed you to have it so you would hear this message of hope
today that hope is in Christ. And if you believe, if you
believe, he says especially for you, it is that special
effectual grace and produces salvation not just in this life
but for all eternity. So do you desire to be a good
minister? I probably should have started
the message with that just to make sure that at least had
someone who was listening this morning in case they wanted to.
But I think those of you who are in Christ and who are truly in
Christ, you can say without a doubt, yes, I desire to be a
good minister because God has put that desire in you.
If you desire to be a good minister, the most important
thing is godliness. And I would encourage you to ask
yourself, are you driven to godliness?
Are you disciplined in godliness and are you diligent in that
same godliness? Are you doing and being that
which Christ died for you to do and to be?
So may we strive, as Paul said, may we labor toward godliness
for our own sake, because of the hope that we have, and for the
sake of others who have no hope that they would see hope in
Christ. Let's pray together.
Father, in the name of Jesus, we come to you.
We thank you for your word. We thank you for the challenge
and the conviction that you've brought through it.
God, I pray that your will would be done as this message has gone
out and as your spirit stirs the hearts of your people and as
your spirit draws those who are not of your fold into your fold
this morning, God, I pray that you would be glorified.
Above all things. I pray and I ask all these
things in the mighty name of Jesus.
Amen. You've been listening to Key
Life Fellowships pulpit ministry podcast.
Join us each week for more teaching from God's Word.