The One Year Bible Club with Teaching
Commentary by Nick Boork
Commentary by Nick Boork
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October 19 – 1 Timothy 4
Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, 3 forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; 5 for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. 6 If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed. 7 But reject profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness. 8 For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. 9 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance. 10 For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe. 11 These things command and teach.
12 Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. 13 Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. 14 Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. 15 Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. 16 Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.
OKAY, HERE’S MY TEACHING COMMENTARY
The Holy Spirit revealed to Paul that in the latter times there would be some that would depart from the faith because they listen to deceiving spirits and teachings that are inspired by the devil. We are living in that time right now! It is a well-known fact that one of the largest Christian denominations in the world forbids their priests from getting married. The Lord Jesus Christ never taught that his leaders needed to be celibate. Not marrying as a requirement to enter into the ministry is against nature and has led to all kinds of sexual perversion and abuse in this particular denomination.
Commanding people not to eat certain meats does not make them more spiritual or holy either. Paul encourages Timothy to liberate believers from these kinds of self-imposed satanically inspired disciplines. Rather than yield to these false teachings that are not inspired of God he instructs Timothy to remind the church that all foods are acceptable to eat because they are sanctified by the word of God and prayer. He says it’s more important to exercise himself to be godly or spiritually fit. Nowadays there are all kinds of gym memberships being offered to exercise physically and keep yourself fit which does have some value but Paul says to Timothy the exercise that strengthens his spirit developing godly character brings a blessing from God now and eternal rewards in the life to come. Here’s some spiritual exercises we can all do to strengthen our godly character:
Paul knew that Timothy was a young man and that because of his age many would question his credibility as a Christian minister. He encourages him not to let anyone put him down but to silence them by the spiritual growth that they observed him develop as he dedicated himself to the Lord Jesus Christ and the ministry of the word of God. If you’re going to lead people spiritually in the church then they have to see you living the faith that you preach. Additionally as a teacher and preacher of the word of God the messages that you share need to be full of revelation knowledge, the anointing of the Spirit of God and bring spiritual edification to everyone that hears you. There’s nothing I can’t stand worse than going to a church service and listening to someone preach without the anointing of God. Some preachers will put you right to sleep and you wish you could just get up and leave the service and go do something else but you don’t.
Have you ever thought to yourself right in the middle of a message you were listening to “I think he preached this last year?” Some preachers are just lazy and they don’t study, pray and seek God to prepare themselves and bring a fresh word. When they get up to preach you can tell they just pulled out some notes to recycle from an old message. So the church gets a canned message, microwaved manna, stale bread! If a preacher is not anointed you feel like you don’t get anything from message and that you just wasted your time.
The reason this happens is because the preacher or teacher does not spend the necessary time in prayer and study of the word of God so when they give their message it falls flat and does nothing! Pastors should follow the examples of the apostles. The Bible teaches in acts 6:4 Amplified: But we will [continue to] devote ourselves [steadfastly] to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” Paul tells Pastor Timothy that he absolutely must prioritize the cultivation of his spiritual gift through reading the Scriptures, exhortation and teaching the word of God. Listen to the emphasis on the importance of this kind of spiritual preparation from the following Bibles:
Amplified 4:15 Practice and work hard on these things; be absorbed in them [completely occupied in your ministry], so that your progress will be evident to all.
Message 4:15 Cultivate these things. Immerse yourself in them. The people will all see you mature right before their eyes!
The result of Timothy giving himself to the exercise of godliness and preparing himself to preach the word of God through study, prayer and meditation would be that he would ensure his own salvation and of those that listen to him as well. In other words the preacher will reproduce whatever he is out of his relationship with God and that means either fully committed followers of Christ or a half committed and lukewarm congregation. It’s the pastors responsibility to set the spiritual tone and temperature in the church.
As John Maxwell says everything rises or falls on leadership. The greatest gift that a pastor can give his church is to be rested, fresh, fully prepared and anointed by the Holy Spirit to preach a fresh word from heaven and minister to the people being led by the Holy Spirit with the Lord confirming his message through salvations, restorations, healings, deliverances and people getting baptized in the Holy Spirit.
WHAT’S THE BOTTOM LINE?
1) Beware of being led astray by deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.
2) What you eat does not make you more or less holy.
3) Pastors need to devote themselves to developing godly character.
4) Bodily exercise profits a little but godly exercise profits both now and eternally.
5) A pastors highest priority his relationship with God and preparing himself to preach messages that build up the church.
6) Ministers that are careful to live the gospel that they preach will also reproduce truly devoted followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.
PRAYER TO APPLY THE WORD OF GOD TO OUR LIVES
ORDINATION
We provide Ministry Credentials and Ordination through Diamond Ministerial Association.
Click to learn more and apply! http://www.diamondinstitute.org/ordination
ONLINE COURSES
For Bible courses and ministry resources see our online school Diamond Institute.
Enroll free today! http://www.diamondinstitute.org/enroll
Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, 3 forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; 5 for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. 6 If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed. 7 But reject profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness. 8 For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. 9 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance. 10 For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe. 11 These things command and teach.
12 Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. 13 Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. 14 Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. 15 Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. 16 Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.
OKAY, HERE’S MY TEACHING COMMENTARY
The Holy Spirit revealed to Paul that in the latter times there would be some that would depart from the faith because they listen to deceiving spirits and teachings that are inspired by the devil. We are living in that time right now! It is a well-known fact that one of the largest Christian denominations in the world forbids their priests from getting married. The Lord Jesus Christ never taught that his leaders needed to be celibate. Not marrying as a requirement to enter into the ministry is against nature and has led to all kinds of sexual perversion and abuse in this particular denomination.
Commanding people not to eat certain meats does not make them more spiritual or holy either. Paul encourages Timothy to liberate believers from these kinds of self-imposed satanically inspired disciplines. Rather than yield to these false teachings that are not inspired of God he instructs Timothy to remind the church that all foods are acceptable to eat because they are sanctified by the word of God and prayer. He says it’s more important to exercise himself to be godly or spiritually fit. Nowadays there are all kinds of gym memberships being offered to exercise physically and keep yourself fit which does have some value but Paul says to Timothy the exercise that strengthens his spirit developing godly character brings a blessing from God now and eternal rewards in the life to come. Here’s some spiritual exercises we can all do to strengthen our godly character:
- Read the word of God consistently to build our faith. Romans 10:17
- Develop a daily time of prayer as Jesus instructed we should pray in Matthew 6:9-13
- Offer ourselves as living sacrifices to worship God in holiness Romans 12:1-2
- Fellowship with like-minded believers that love the Lord. 1 Corinthians 15:33
- Repent and confess our sins 1 John 1:9
Paul knew that Timothy was a young man and that because of his age many would question his credibility as a Christian minister. He encourages him not to let anyone put him down but to silence them by the spiritual growth that they observed him develop as he dedicated himself to the Lord Jesus Christ and the ministry of the word of God. If you’re going to lead people spiritually in the church then they have to see you living the faith that you preach. Additionally as a teacher and preacher of the word of God the messages that you share need to be full of revelation knowledge, the anointing of the Spirit of God and bring spiritual edification to everyone that hears you. There’s nothing I can’t stand worse than going to a church service and listening to someone preach without the anointing of God. Some preachers will put you right to sleep and you wish you could just get up and leave the service and go do something else but you don’t.
Have you ever thought to yourself right in the middle of a message you were listening to “I think he preached this last year?” Some preachers are just lazy and they don’t study, pray and seek God to prepare themselves and bring a fresh word. When they get up to preach you can tell they just pulled out some notes to recycle from an old message. So the church gets a canned message, microwaved manna, stale bread! If a preacher is not anointed you feel like you don’t get anything from message and that you just wasted your time.
The reason this happens is because the preacher or teacher does not spend the necessary time in prayer and study of the word of God so when they give their message it falls flat and does nothing! Pastors should follow the examples of the apostles. The Bible teaches in acts 6:4 Amplified: But we will [continue to] devote ourselves [steadfastly] to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” Paul tells Pastor Timothy that he absolutely must prioritize the cultivation of his spiritual gift through reading the Scriptures, exhortation and teaching the word of God. Listen to the emphasis on the importance of this kind of spiritual preparation from the following Bibles:
Amplified 4:15 Practice and work hard on these things; be absorbed in them [completely occupied in your ministry], so that your progress will be evident to all.
Message 4:15 Cultivate these things. Immerse yourself in them. The people will all see you mature right before their eyes!
The result of Timothy giving himself to the exercise of godliness and preparing himself to preach the word of God through study, prayer and meditation would be that he would ensure his own salvation and of those that listen to him as well. In other words the preacher will reproduce whatever he is out of his relationship with God and that means either fully committed followers of Christ or a half committed and lukewarm congregation. It’s the pastors responsibility to set the spiritual tone and temperature in the church.
As John Maxwell says everything rises or falls on leadership. The greatest gift that a pastor can give his church is to be rested, fresh, fully prepared and anointed by the Holy Spirit to preach a fresh word from heaven and minister to the people being led by the Holy Spirit with the Lord confirming his message through salvations, restorations, healings, deliverances and people getting baptized in the Holy Spirit.
WHAT’S THE BOTTOM LINE?
1) Beware of being led astray by deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.
2) What you eat does not make you more or less holy.
3) Pastors need to devote themselves to developing godly character.
4) Bodily exercise profits a little but godly exercise profits both now and eternally.
5) A pastors highest priority his relationship with God and preparing himself to preach messages that build up the church.
6) Ministers that are careful to live the gospel that they preach will also reproduce truly devoted followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.
PRAYER TO APPLY THE WORD OF GOD TO OUR LIVES
ORDINATION
We provide Ministry Credentials and Ordination through Diamond Ministerial Association.
Click to learn more and apply! http://www.diamondinstitute.org/ordination
ONLINE COURSES
For Bible courses and ministry resources see our online school Diamond Institute.
Enroll free today! http://www.diamondinstitute.org/enroll
