1 Timothy 4:6-8 Training for Today and Eternity

1 Timothy 4:6-8 “If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed.  Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” ESV

Some of you following my travels on Facebook are aware that I’ve been spending a considerable amount of time in North Carolina of late.  It’s not just about the barbeque although that I must tell you has been one of the highlights.  The actual reason for my lengthy stay and multiple trips to the east has been for training.  Yes, it is training affiliated with my work and as training goes this has been some of the better time spent over the course of my career under its banner.

You too have had your share of “Training” I’m sure whether it be in the work environment or under the direction of an athletic coach at an earlier age.  Training of course is all about building us up.  It is about taking who we are going in and with proper affect – having some marked improvement when we come out the other side.  In my case, I have earned a nice “Diploma” to display on my office wall as a testament to my successful improvement in the various areas of endeavor.

But what does Scripture have to tell us about “Training?”  Is it there?  Having read the opening passage I’m sure you are aware that it is in fact addressed in Paul’s letter to his protégé Timothy.  In the course of this short section Paul actually gives value to two types of training but a much higher value to one.  Paul says, “If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus”.  What things?  For that we have to look back to the previous section (1Timothy 4:1-5)when Paul talks about certain deceivers that will try to trick believers into uncalled for restrictions around marriage and diet.  Paul is talking to Timothy about correcting that false teaching when he says, “If you put these things before the brothers …”

Paul goes on to declare how it is that Timothy is able to do this, “Being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed.”  Because Timothy was trained in the “Words of the faith” which today we would call Scripture, he was enabled to refute the false teaching.  Someone once taught how experts detect counterfeit currency to a group of students on a tour was not by learning every kind of counterfeit.  Rather the method is to learn the real thing so intimately that anything else is obviously NOT real.  That is the principle Paul is referring to here as well.  He is saying that Timothy’s expertise with the “Words of the faith” is such that he is able to detect and adequately challenge the false teaching.

Now Paul goes on and he indicates that there are other kinds of training that may take place too.  In this case, he refers to physical training or specifically“Bodily training”.  While Paul says this kind of training “is of some value” he goes on to say, “Godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”

So I suppose this all comes down to perspective.  These past weeks during my class I was happy to see several in my class of 24 clearly proclaim their Christian faith as a part of church leadership, musicians in worship and various other aspects in appropriate ways.  I too shared the importance of my faith in my life in an appropriate way.  The message Paul has for Timothy and by extension to me and my fellow Christians in Class 57 is that as valuable as this training might be, it is “Being trained in the words of the faith” and to“Train yourself for godliness” that are of higher importance. 

The reason given is clear – These latter things have value beyond our employment and even this whole life on earth.  These latter things are, “Of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”   The good news for my believing friends in class 57 is that Biblical principals really are consistent with much of the secular training we were given.   AMEN!

Matthew 19:3-9 War on Chicken

Matthew 19:3-9  Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?"  (4)  And He answered and said, "Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE,  (5)  and said, 'FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH'?  (6)  "So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate."  (7)  They *said to Him, "Why then did Moses command to GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE AND SEND her AWAY?"  (8)  He *said to them, "Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way.  (9)  "And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery." (NASB)

So I took some time off this week, the week we would normally be at a lake – Tahoe ideally or Shaver when the gas price is too high to drag everything that far north.  But this year the calendar didn’t work for everyone so we stayed home.  I however had the days booked for vacation and took some time off.  Well, I did a few things around the house and yes I actually did come into work Friday but what I really did was watch the Olympics.  And of course – the War on Chicken!

I frankly had missed the CEO of Chick-fil-A declaring his support for the Biblical view of marriage and his financial support for a couple of organizations that promoted the same.  What I couldn’t miss was the media frenzy over the homosexual marriage supporters bashing this man’s transparency of belief.

On top of that I found it very interesting to find that these folks drew a comparison to Hitler and the KKK for someone standing on biblical principal claiming intolerance not only of homosexuality but marriage of homosexual couples; Intolerance of the “Intolerant”?  Is that what I heard?

Later in the discussion, I’ll not call it a debate – those who heeded the call of Governor Huckabee to support Chick-fil-A by buying lunch were called all sorts of names.  The Bible itself was bashed in several threads I read on Face Book as well.

So, if you’re reading this and you can’t subscribe to the fact the Word of God is the ultimate truth then we have nothing left to discuss.  YOU, may as well tune out now.  For those of you that believe God’s Word is true then stay tuned and we’ll look at what He says about the issue at hand.

First, the Scripture I’ve referred to today was shared by Christ when another group of haters, the Pharisees were trying to trick Jesus.  They asked a “Trick” question about divorce to see if they could stump Him.  They didn’t.  In answering their question for which they did not want to hear the answer, Jesus did give us some real insight into His original and perfect design.

He says, “He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE”.  Referring back to Genesis, Jesus reminds us that the original design of God is one man and one woman.  He goes on and declares what is to happen as humans mature, “FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH”.  This is clearly speaking of marriage.  The man, leaves the home in which he grows up and joins together with his wife and the two become one.  The players are equally clear – one man and one woman  just as He “created them from the beginning”.

So, what is the BIG deal Dale?

Christians know and understand that marriage is designed and affirmed by God as a special institution between one man and one woman.  And something supernatural occurs in the marriage union, "So they are no longer two, but one flesh.”  And they are one flesh because of the marriage bond of one woman and one man joined together not of their own doing but by someone else altogether.  Jesus says, ”What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate."  So, in His own words, Jesus proclaims the union of a man and woman in marriage of His own doing and His own design.

That’s the BIG deal.

Now, sin is sin and two unregenerate people lusting in their flesh for one another even of the same sex is predictable.  Scripture says this, “For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.” Romans 1:26-27 (NASB)  That was written by Paul nearly two thousand years ago, so should we be surprised that the behavior continues today?  No!

As I said, sin is sin and we’ve all sinned and fall short of God’s holy standard.  This is simply one more example.  The rub is when groups attempt to normalize the behavior.

Take the absurd to illustrate the point.  If a group begins harping on a position advocating sex between six year olds we would be up in arms and of course this is wrong.  But what if this group turned the argument into one of intolerance and said leave the six year olds alone, let them enjoy free love like everyone else and if you don’t you’re intolerant and bigoted just like Hitler and the KKK.  In fact this group wants to legally recognize free love between six year olds and bar any interruption parental or otherwise. 

That’s what is going on here folks.  God’s Word clearly points to His design for marriage, specifically  heterosexual unions in the context of marriage between one man and one woman.  Outside of that there is a sin problem.  While individuals will always fall into sin of every sort, when institutional advocacy for making sin the lawful norm takes place, Christians must speak out.  AMEN!