About a month of ago, many of you got a text message like the one on left from “Pastor Terry Williams” asking for Target gift cards – When I got message, I laughed because I know Terry well enough to know: 1) That’s not his number, 2) He would’ve called me about something like this, not texted me, 3) If he did text me, he wouldn’t have used that many words, 4) He’s probably never signed a text message, “Pastor Terry Williams”
But it was an attempt at deception – It was a lie – And for those who don’t know Terry quite as closely, it was believable enough to elicit a response – Someone was posing as Terry in order to scam caring, generous people out of their money – This was an attempt at deception – And our staff was watching it spread in alphabetical order to all people in our church
In response to dangerous deception that was being spread to members of our church, Rodney jumped on our text thread and sent out a correction: message you see on right, warning people of the scam and encouraging people to delete message
So, deception was countered by a correction – Lie was countered by truth – And, thankfully, no one was led astray – This is a recent, tangible, practical picture of role pastor in shepherding flock away from dangerous lies and toward life-saving truths – And it’s a picture of what Paul tells Timothy in opening verses of 1 Timothy 4
Last week we looked at end of 1 Timothy 3, where Paul describes body of Christ as: 1) “household of God”; 2) “church of living God”; 3) “a pillar and buttress of the truth”
This final description of church as “a pillar and buttress of the truth,” forms bridge by which Paul crosses to next concern in pastoral letter to his protégé, Timothy – Paul ends chapter three by reminding Timothy of the truth and church’s role as reinforcer of truth – And then he opens chapter four by warning Timothy about lies
And, specifically, Paul addresses false teaching that Timothy was encountering as he pastored church at Ephesus – And this was one of main reasons Paul wrote to Timothy in first place – Yes, Paul was writing so that Timothy would know how to properly conduct ministry of church (3:14) – But he was also writing to command Timothy to address false teaching that was swirling around church at Ephesus
Remember, this is how Paul began letter:
3 As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, 4 nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith…6 Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, 7 desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions. (1 Tim. 1:3-7)
So, there were false teachers at Ephesus who had developed an infatuation with religious legends and genealogical records – This infatuation had entangled them in vain discussions and empty speculations – And, ultimately, it had caused them to depart from truth of Gospel and sound teaching
No longer were they teaching truthfully – But they were still teaching confidently –They were still confidently teaching God’s Law, but they were not teaching it truthfully – And people were being led astray by this deception
Thus, Paul commands Timothy to lead a correction – To confront false teachers and to shepherd church in truth – Paul wants Timothy to give clarity where things have become cloudy – And that’s Paul’s aim in first five verses of chapter four
Read 1 Timothy 4:1-5
This morning I want us to look at this passage in two parts – The Deception (v. 1-3) – The Correction (v. 4-5)
Let’s start by looking at The Deception in verses 1-3
Paul warns that “…some will depart from the faith…” – In other words, Paul tells Timothy: “there will be people who, for a period of time, say they are Christians, act like they are Christians, who participate in life of church, but then later depart from faith” – They depart from truth of God’s Word – They leave church – They abandon faith in Christ – This was sad truth for Timothy in 1st century Ephesus – Sad truth for us today in 21st century Wichita – “…some will depart from the faith…”
Phrase “in later times” is related to NT concept of “the last days” which, from our point of reference, is right now – Today, in our time – Time between Christ’s first and second coming – In this age of church – In this era of “already, not yet” Kingdom of God, there will be some who seem to come into fold, but then depart
How does Paul know this? – Because “Spirit expressly says” it – Paul, as apostle of Lord Jesus, had unique status and a unique role of receiving new, Divine revelation from God and passing it along to us – Holy Spirit gave him insight and understanding into these things for our benefit
But, to be clear, Paul is not saying anything new – He is not adding anything to what Jesus, Himself, had already told His disciples during His earthly ministry
In final week of His life, as crucifixion was approaching, Jesus warned His disciples about this very thing: that some would depart in last days – “…many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” (Matt. 24:10-13)
And it should be no surprise to us that Son and Spirit speak in unison, because they are one and same God – Spirit expressly tells Paul what Son had already expressly told us – That, in these last days, “some will depart from the faith…”
How will they be led astray? – “by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons…”
Now, that might sound a bit “out there” – a bit unbelievable – to us because we live in a culture intent on suppressing supernatural – But Scripture is clear that Satan and his demons are real, active spiritual beings who work in spiritual realm all around us to undermine and oppose God’s good purposes for world (Eph. 2:1-3, Eph. 6:10-20, 1 Pet. 5:8) – And, as was demonstrated in Garden of Eden, Satan’s favorite tactic is to subtly slip us an idea (Gen. 3:4) – To send us a devious but believable message – To start a conversation – To pretend to be good or noble – In order to scam people out of their confidence in Gospel and truth of God’s Word
Person sent that text message wasn’t just a “bad person” – Whether they would know it or acknowledge it or believe it, they were deceiving because they have been captured by great deceiver to do his will – Satan his father of all lies and all liars (John 8:39-47) – He speaks confidently, even though he does not speak truthfully – And those who have been captured to do his will speak same way – Swindlers
And sometimes this confident way of speaking about something almost true leads people astray, into danger, into deception – Listen, as finite and fickle human beings, we may not fall for a bald-faced lie, but we’re prone to believe a well-crafted one
Satan is father of all lies – And he loves to use people to perpetuate his deception – This was case in Ephesus: “teaching of demons” was being perpetuated “through insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared…”
Word “insincerity” here is translation of Greek word hypocrisy – The point is that these false teachers knew they were lying – But because they were not motivated by telling truth, they lied anyway – And this hypocritical lying proves that their consciences are seared – That their internal moral compasses had become so broken through misuse that they now indicated they were doing good even as they were doing evil (Rom. 1:28-32)
And so, practically, this is what you and I need to learn from this: Satan and his deceitful spirits are at work right now to lead people away from truth of Gospel and sound biblical teaching – And they aren’t just at work out there, outside gathered church body – They are also at work right here, inside gathered church body – And if messages they sent were only bald-faced lies, maybe we’d be safe – But messages they send are believable – They are almost truths aimed at our points of tenderness and weakness
And sometimes they might even come straight from mouths of people we view as being “teachers” – People who are educated and eloquent – Who teach half-truths with whole confidence – People who look a whole lot like sheep, but are actually wolves – Who have all kinds of credentials but no character – Who have a big following but no faith
Be careful who you give influence in your life – Be careful what you read – Be careful what you listen to – Be careful what you watch on YouTube – And prioritize – Give first importance to listening to real people in our body who you know and who know you, not some outside voice that never gets cross-examined (Prov. 18:17) – Be careful who you give influence in your life
And, even more importantly, commit to knowing truth by first-hand experience – Don’t depend on someone else to tell you what Bible says, read it for yourself – Because this is true: more deeply you know God through His Word, the more laughable the lies become
False teachers at Ephesus had peddled two specific lies: prohibition of marriage and prohibition of certain foods
“…who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods…” (v. 3)
Paul doesn’t tell us why false teachers were prohibiting marriage and certain kinds of food – Whatever reason, these prohibitions infringed upon God’s design and Christian freedom – They were a deception that needed correction – Here’s why:
Marriage was part of God’s good design in creation
Genesis 1-2 tell us that God created both man and woman in His image and that, in whole creation, only woman was made to be a helper fit for man (Gen. 1:18, 27) – After God had formed man and woman, He blessed them and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it.” (Gen. 1:27-28) – Author of Genesis signals institution of marriage implied in all of this, writing, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” (Gen. 2:24) – And God said that all of this was “very good” (Gen. 1:31)
Marriage was part of God’s good design in creation – And although Fall brought frustration into husband-wife relationship, rest of Scripture resolutely upholds marriage as a good, desirable institution of God (Matt. 19:4-6) – Author of Hebrews gives good summary statement on marriage in Hebrews 13:4: “Let marriage be held in honor among all…”
Now, that’s not to say that singleness is a second-class state of existence – Paul argues for a high view of singleness in 1 Corinthians 7 – But, truth remains that God has a high view of marriage – And marriage has an enduring goodness and importance that transcends fall of mankind into sin
So, to prohibit marriage is to prohibit people from entering into and experiencing something innately good – To prohibit people from experiencing a gift of God – And to prohibit people from knowing and reflecting Christ’s gracious love for His church – Prohibiting marriage was one mistake of false teachers at Ephesus
Other mistake was prohibiting certain kinds of food
Food, like marriage, was part of God’s good design in creation – “And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food…16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat…” (Gen. 2:8-9, 16-17)
Giving us food was part of God’s good design in creation – And although fall of mankind brought toil into man-food relationship (Gen. 3:19), God’s gracious provision of food expands after great flood to include animals, in addition to plants (Gen. 9:3) – God provided steak to go with broccoli
Yes, it is true that Law God gave at Mt. Sinai restricted Israelites from eating certain kinds of food as part of Mosaic Covenant – But that covenant was fulfilled in New Covenant of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection (Matt. 5:17) – And, in Christ, food laws that were a part of Mosaic Covenant were annulled
Jesus signals that shift throughout His earthly ministry (Mark 7:14-20) – And then annulment becomes crystal clear in Acts 12 when Peter has vision of unclean animals coming down from heaven in a sheet and God declares, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” (Acts 10:15)
So, where we land in New Covenant is this: in Christ, all foods are clean: steak, broccoli, and even bacon – So to prohibit certain kinds of foods on spiritual grounds is to restrict people from enjoying something innately good – To restrict people from experiencing a gift of God – And to restrict people from knowing and enjoying freedom they have in Christ
The Deception that was happening at Ephesus was wrongly prohibiting marriage and wrongly prohibiting certain kinds of foods – And so Paul continues to provide The Correction in verses 4-5:
Read 1 Timothy 4:4-5
God who is good, only creates good things – Everything you find in Genesis 1-2 is good by design – Sun, moon, stars, birds of air, fish in sea, animals of earth, rhythms of days and seasons – They were all good by design – Man and woman, made in image of God, were good by design – Marriage was good by design – Families were good by design – Work was good by design – Everything created by God is good
When sin entered world, it didn’t obliterate God’s design, but it did cause disorder and disfunction – Result: all of creation is still good by design, but it now groans with disorder – Man and woman are still good by design, but we groan with disorder – Marriage and family and work are still good by design, but they groan with disorder
So, here’s question for us: How can life on this earth, which is good by design but marred by sin, be made holy to us once again? – How can we experience more of goodness of God’s design in a broken and fallen world? – Paul gives us three ideas: the Word of God, thanksgiving, and prayer – As we talk about these I’ll give you a point of application for each
I want to start by talking about Word of God – And I want us to see that life is made holy to us both in the Word of God and by the Word of God
Here’s what we have to understand, first and foremost – That Jesus was the Word of God in human form (John 1:14) – He was one human in all of human history, who lived perfectly within God’s good design – Jesus never sinned – He never rebelled against God – He was tempted in every way, just like we are, but He was never deceived – He never went astray – And, He, in Himself, never experienced sin’s disorder – He was perfectly righteous – He enjoyed perfect harmony with God in God’s good design
And then, and this is amazing part, He traded all of it for us – He bore our sin – Source of our groaning and our disorder on Himself at cross – He gave Himself as a substitute for us – He died as a sacrifice in our place – And then He came back to life again, proving that He had defeated sin and death, disorder and groaning – He had become the firstborn from among the dead – The head of a New Creation free from sin and disorder and groaning
And then He made this offer: “Come and join me” – Come experience life in me – Life according to God’s good design – A life in which groaning will give way to glory – And disorder will give way to devotion
This is ground zero for knowing and experiencing God’s good design for world – You will never discover God’s good design by simply adjusting your behavior – You can only discover God’s good design by first declaring your belief – First and foremost, life is made holy to us in Christ, who is Word of God – Apart from Him you will never experience goodness of God’s design – Life is sanctified to us in Word of God
And life is sanctified to us by Word of God as we walk with Jesus and continue to learn about God’s good design for life as revealed in Scriptures
Let’s stick with marriage as an example – As we search Scriptures, we learn why marriage is good – We learn about boundaries of marriage – We learn about roles of husband and wife – We are warned about some pitfalls to avoid – We learn about marriages blessings, and its limits – God tells us about His good design for marriage – As we read Word and align ourselves with it, marriage is made holy to us by Word of God – We could say same thing about our understanding of food / work / family – Life is made holy to us by Word of God as we align ourselves with what He has revealed in His Word
So, here’s application – If you’ve never trusted in Christ to redeem you from sin and brokenness and restore you to God’s good design for His creation, you have to start there – Acknowledge your sin – Acknowledge that you need help – Acknowledge that you can’t fix your life on your own – And then turn to Christ and trust in Him as the only way to be restored to God
And, if you are a Christian, press on in reading God’s Word, trusting it, loving it, and aligning yourself with what He says – Life is made holy to us in and by Word of God
Second, life is made holy to us when it is to be received with Thanksgiving
Thankfulness helps us see God’s majesty in mundane – It helps us see God’s goodness in our groaning – It has power to turn something rather “secular” into something quite spiritual
When I pause to thank God for my wife, she suddenly becomes a precious gift – When I slow down to thank God for my children, they suddenly become joy of my heart – When I step back to thank God for my work, it suddenly becomes an inspiring stewardship – When I silence my thoughts to thank God for a bowl of boxed mac and cheese mixed with frozen peas, it suddenly becomes a wholesome blessing
Here’s thing – My thanksgiving didn’t change anything about my wife or my kids or my work or that powdered cheese – My wife was always a gift – My kids were always a joy – My work was always a stewardship – My daily bread was always a blessing – My thanksgiving didn’t change anything about any of those things
But it did change me – It changed my attitude – It changed my perspective – It changed my heart – It helped me see God’s majesty in mundane – God’s goodness in my groaning – God’s good creation and design is made holy to us when it is received with Thanksgiving
How do you practice thanksgiving? – Life will never be made holy to you when it’s received with grumbling and complaining – Life will only be made holy to you when it’s received with thanksgiving – What do you need to do to slow down and thank God throughout day? – Who can help you?
Last thing – Life is made holy to us by Prayer
Listen, life in a fallen world is not always simple – God’s Word doesn’t give us a clear-cut answer on every matter of concern in our lives
God’s Word tells us that marriage is good and desirable – But it also says singleness is good – God’s Word tells us about some qualities we should look for in a spouse – But you won’t find name of person you should marry anywhere in its pages, or a timeline for dating and engagement
God’s Word tells us that we are free to eat all kinds of food – But we know that a failure to exercise self-control in how much we eat is a sin (Prov. 23:19-21, Prov. 28:7, Phil. 3:19) – So, we can freely enjoy bacon – But there is also a point when we’ve now enjoyed too much bacon – When bacon has become our master – When we’ve failed to exercise self-control and allowed our stomach to become our “god” – Where is the line?
And what about technology? – What kinds of technology are appropriate for you and your children? – And how much is too much? – Scripture gives us some principles to consider, but no clear-cut answers for some of these things
What do we do in these situations, where there is no clear-cut answer? – We pray – We ask God for wisdom (James 1:5) – We gather all that we can from God’s Word – We get input from our brothers and sisters in Christ – And then we pray that God would give us clarity in our conscience – We acknowledge that we have freedom in Christ – And we acknowledge that we want to do what will glorify God and bring spiritual benefit to those around us – We ask God to make life holy to us
And then, we do our best to follow our conscience as Lord leads us – To live before God and man with a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith (1 Tim. 1:5) – Not demanding that others live according to our conscience on these issues that don’t have a clear-cut answer, but living with confidence and thankfulness in goodness that God offers us on this path that He has given us to walk