The Good Servant

1 Timothy 4:6-10

April 11, 2010

We all understand from our study of Scripture

That there are few roles as important as the role of “servant”

Matthew 20:25-28 “But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. "It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

Galatians 5:13 “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”

Just basic Bible study yields the obvious conclusion

That servants are key to Christianity.

They are honored above all else, and indeed we are all called to serve one another.

And I suppose the only way you could compound that concept

Is when you realize that we are not just serving each other,

But that we are also serving Christ.

And if we had a desire to be good servants of one another, how much more would our desired increase if we realized that we are serving Christ?

Colossians 3:22-24 “Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.”

And so while our service sees fellow believers as the initial recipients of our labors, we must all understand that in reality it is Christ that we are truly serving.

After all, Jesus said:

Matthew 25:37-40 "Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 'And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 'When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' "The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'”

And the obvious reality is that everything we do here

Is in reality a service to Jesus Christ.

Our service of others is really our service to Him.

Our love of others is really our love to Him.

Our sacrifice for others is really our sacrifice for Him.

In the sense that we are servants, we are in reality servants of Jesus

And this is what Paul wanted Timothy to focus on in our text tonight.

He wants Timothy to be “a good servant of Christ Jesus.”

And therefore Paul gives Timothy the criteria

By which we measure a good servant.

Timothy was pastor of the church at Ephesus, and as such he had a tremendous responsibility.

While his title may have called him “pastor” his role was still “servant”.

What he did was in service of Jesus Christ on behalf of His church.

And Paul wants him to know how to do that well.

And so while in one regard any and all servants could draw some valuable information from this text, the true application is for those who serve as pastors or overseers of the church.

Paul is telling them how to do their job well.

And this is tremendously valuable information for the church.

Obviously it is valuable for me, for I am the one called to fulfill these verses.

But it is also tremendously valuable for you as well, that you may know what a pastor should be and do.

The church today has gotten confused as to the role of a pastor.

Many have forgotten that the pastor is an “under shepherd” of Jesus Christ.

And as such his role is primarily to feed the flock, to protect the flock, and to nurture the flock. (All those requirements that God revealed to Ezekiel in ch. 34)

But today most think the pastor is simply one who pets the flock.

They think a pastor who is popular with all the people…

A pastor who is always positive and even enabling…

A pastor who pampers and coddles and relates well…

They think this is what a pastor is supposed to be.

But we must not forget.

In serving as a pastor, while our service is received by the flock,

Our service is really for the Lord Jesus.

Therefore, it is not the flock who dictates how we serve,

But the Lord who dictates how we serve.

And so the study of passages like this tonight are extremely valuable to the flock as well, as it enlightens them to the type of leader they should seek, and encourage.

So tonight we listen to Paul outline what it means to be a good servant.

There are three main points I want to make about a good servant

#1 HE LOVES TRUTH

1 Timothy 4:6-7a

One obvious attribute of a good servant of Christ is that he loves the truth.

And here Paul reveals 4 areas in which that is evident in his life.

1) HIS SPEECH (6a)

“In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus,”

Here Paul indicates that for Timothy to be a “good servant”

He must first of all be faithful to reveal certain truths to the flock.

He says:

“In pointing out these things to the brethren”

What are “these things”?

Well, they are what is talked about in the first 5 verses of the chapter.

Namely the threat of apostasy and how it occurs.

Apostasy is Real

Apostasy is Promoted

Apostasy is Subtle

Paul told Timothy that apostasy is far from some minor problem.

People really do fall away from the faith.

They do this because there are scores of false teachers who have seared consciences who are teaching the doctrines of demons.

And in their deceptive teachings they are deceiving some who claim to believe and actually leading them away from the faith.

Apostasy is a real threat

Apostasy is a real danger

And Timothy needed to point these things out to the brethren.

Certainly a preacher does not try to scare his congregation

But there are some dangers that they must be made aware of.

While topics like apostasy are not the most joyful to cover,

If Timothy is to be faithful he must cover them.

Coupled with that is the exposing of the heresy that is being taught.

At Ephesus a very subtle form of legalism was being taught.

Some were teaching that in order to get close to God, men had to abstain from certain foods and even marriage.

It might have sounded like true sacrificial worship, but it was rooted in heresy and extremely unbiblical.

And if Timothy was to be found faithful,

He had to make sure that his congregation

Knew why that teaching was wrong.

“In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus.”

There is no room for a pastor or preacher

Who does not expose error and explain why it is wrong.

Titus 1:9-11 “holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict. For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain.”

Now there are two reasons why men commonly fail at this task.

1) It is not fun to expose heresy (commonly it is believed by many)

2) It is not always easy (it requires diligent study and work)

But a pastor cannot be a “good servant of Christ Jesus”

If he does not fulfill this task.

So a good servant is evaluated by his speech

2) HIS STUDY (6b)

“constantly nourished on the words of the faith”

This really links very closely to the previous point.

If he is going to be able to expose and refute false doctrine

Then he obviously must know the truth.

In order to know the truth he must be a man who is “constantly nourished” on it.

This does not speak of his requirement to feed the flock.

This speaks of the necessity of feeding himself.

In his book on preaching MacArthur quotes an anonymous essay about the importance of the preacher as a studier of God’s Word.

(Read Quote)

Paul told Timothy:

2 Timothy 2:15 “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”

When you have questions you ought to take them to your pastor.

And he ought to be embarrassed or ashamed if he cannot answer them.

The inability to rightly divide God’s Word

Is not a consequence of poor intellect,

But rather a consequence of laziness.

It was impossible for Timothy to be a “good servant of Christ Jesus”

If he was not “constantly nourished on the words of faith.”

His Speech

His Study

3) HIS SOUNDNESS (6c)

“and of the sound doctrine which you have been following.”

Again, this ties very closely to the first two,

But indicates one who has studied well

And as a result has an accurate doctrine.

He hasn’t just studied, he has studied and found the truth.

The truth found in Scripture is often compared to a diamond or a jewel lodged in the earth.

Psalms 119:11 “Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You.”

2 Timothy 1:13-14 “Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.”

Therefore the job of the pastor is to mine out those nuggets of truth.

And any preacher will tell you that the Bible easily yields up some nuggets

And seems to greatly conceal others.

I can’t tell you the time I have spent mining on some chapters of the Bible

Like Romans 5 or Romans 7 or John 6

But if a pastor is to be faithful, he must do the work.

He must study the text to find the point.

If he studies, but fails to find the point, he is not a “good servant”

One of my favorite passages on this topic is:

Proverbs 2:1-6 “My son, if you will receive my words And treasure my commandments within you, Make your ear attentive to wisdom, Incline your heart to understanding; For if you cry for discernment, Lift your voice for understanding; If you seek her as silver And search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will discern the fear of the LORD And discover the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.”

This has to be the practice of a pastor.

And not just to have true doctrine, but then to also follow it.

Paul says to Timothy

“the sound doctrine which you have been following.”

He has to study the truth long enough to know the truth, and then he must follow it.

Otherwise he is not a “good servant”

His Speech, His Study, His Soundness

4) HIS SELECTIVENESS (7a)

“But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women.”

And this is another great truth that a preacher must learn.

GOD DID NOT PUT YOU IN HIS PULPIT TO SPEAK ABOUT

ANYTHING THAT YOU FIND INTERESTING.

God put you in His pulpit to declare His Word.

If a person didn’t know better today,

He would think that good preaching requires

Just as much time reading Newsweek and Zig Zigler

As it does reading God’s Word.

I was flat out amazed the other night watching Joel Olsteen.

He must have quoted 30 illustrations / one line quotes

Such is the equivalent of NOTHING

In my estimation he talked for 35 minutes about nothing.

Paul will later tell Timothy

1 Timothy 6:20-21 “O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called "knowledge" — which some have professed and thus gone astray from the faith. Grace be with you.”

A “good servant” cannot fill the people’s minds with useless information

And cute stories that are powerless to help the people.

If the sheep live on grain you can’t feed them a diet of straw.

That was what God said to Jeremiah

Jeremiah 23:28-29 "The prophet who has a dream may relate his dream, but let him who has My word speak My word in truth. What does straw have in common with grain?" declares the LORD. "Is not My word like fire?" declares the LORD, "and like a hammer which shatters a rock?”

If Timothy was going to be “a good servant of Christ Jesus”

Then he had to love the truth.

He had to study it, he had to discern it, he had to preach it, and he had to avoid everything else that took away from it.

He Loves Truth

#2 HE LIVES GODLY

1 Timothy 4:7b-9

The command is exceptionally clear to Timothy here.

“On the other hand discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness;”

Paul is here drawing on the culture of the day.

The Greek culture was one that put a very high emphasis

On the training of the body.

They worked their body, they disciplined their body, it was important to them.

And I don’t know if you have ever seen a person who is addicted to personal fitness, but it is literally a discipline.

They make themselves get up at all hours and in all sorts of weather to push their bodies to do what they want them to do.

And to be a great athlete it takes a tremendous amount of discipline.

Well, with that present day mindset Paul reveals to Timothy

That he must learn to think the same way.

Only not about physical fitness, but rather spiritual fitness.

“discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness;”

It was this that Paul had in mind when he wrote:

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”

It was a similar picture that the writer of Hebrews had in mind

Hebrews 12:1-2 “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

And the idea of both is that just as an athlete disciplines his body So the man of God must discipline his soul.

He must push himself to be godly.

And then Paul puts it all into perspective.

(8) “for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds for the present life and also for the life to come.”

(This is the verse I cling to every time Lenny wants me to go run with him)

But what Paul is really doing is shaming those ministers

Who don’t strive for godliness.

How is it that an athlete can sacrifice so much to achieve a crown that perishes and you won’t work just as hard to achieve a crown that will endure for all eternity?

Paul is reminding Timothy that he must live a godly life.

And of course the reason as obvious.

Failure to live godly completely undermines your ministry.

1 Timothy 1:18-20 “This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight, keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme.”

You cannot be “a good servant of Christ Jesus”

If you do not set a godly example for the flock you are striving to lead.

Paul would go on to say:

(9) “It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance.”

Meaning, there is no room to argue with such logic.

Any pastor that argues with the necessity of godliness if foolish.

1 Timothy 6:3-5 “If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.”

He must live godly

This is what makes a person “a good servant”

He Loves Truth He Lives Godly

#3 HE LABORS FOR ETERNITY

1 Timothy 4:10

And here Paul gives a little motivation to the concept.

He has thus far challenged Timothy to:

Preach what is hard to preach

Study harder

Be more accurate

Be more selective

Discipline yourself more

To say that can be overwhelming is an understatement.

WHERE WOULD TIMOTHY FIND THE MOTIVATION TO DO SUCH THINGS?

“For it is for this we labor and strive”

Paul is about to tell Timothy why such “labor” was required.

He is about to tell him why he must “strive” so hard in the ministry.

There is a reason.

“because we have fixed our hope on the living God who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.”

There is a reason Timothy (and any other pastor) should work so hard at his service to the Lord.

HE IS WORKING FOR ETERNITY

HIS OWN ETERNITY

“because we have fixed our hope on the living God”

If Timothy has truly forsaken this life…

If Timothy has truly let his dreams and riches in this life go…

If Timothy has truly placed his hope in eternity for reward…

Then why not go all the way and fully forsake the comforts of this life for the glory of the next?

Don’t hold anything back.

Don’t reserve anything.

Live this life like you are really living for eternity.

And when you set your mind on eternity

You will find the strength and the stamina to study harder,

Dig deeper, preacher more accurately,

And discipline yourself more.

Athletes do this.

They absolutely ruin their lives for months at a time

In order that they might receive a few minutes of glory later.

They regulate their sleep

They regulate their diet

They regulate their free time

They regulate their amusement

The sacrifice what most of us find enjoyable for the sake of something later.

Paul wants Timothy to do the same.

Focus on the hope of eternity.

But not just his own eternity.

THE ETERNITY OF OTHERS

“who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.

To bring some understanding to the statement:

This is not universalism.

But in one sense God really “is the Savior of all men”

They are not in hell today…

Satan does not have them now…

Their lungs still work…

Their heart still beats…

He is very much a temporary Savior to all men.

But “especially of believers”

For He is the eternal Savior of those who believe.

And Paul’s point to Timothy is that his service

Has eternal consequences, not only for himself,

And not only for the lost, but also for the redeemed.

Everything Timothy did in his ministry

Effected the eternity of himself and those around him.

HE WAS MAKING AN ETERNAL DIFFERENCE

And this required diligent study, amazing devotion, and Godly discipline.

Coupled with the fact that there was the real threat that some who claimed to be believers really weren’t, and therefore were extremely susceptible to apostasy; Timothy had to be even more committed.

What Timothy was doing mattered to the sheep,

And so he had to make sure to do his job well.

He had to be “a good servant of Christ Jesus”

And that meant:

He Must Love Truth

He Must Live Godly

He Must Labor for Eternity

Anything short renders you less than useable to the Master.

And while this is primarily an admonition to pastors,

Obviously there are things that can be brought into every life.

Those who are the most useable are those

Who are truly devoted to their ministry.

Who sacrifice to do the word that God has for them to do.

Who have an eternal mindset about what they do,

Who will endure any hardship.

It is this type of devotion that makes us all good servants of Christ.

1 Timothy 3:14-15 “I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long; but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.”