Category Archives: Pastoral Epistles

Posted on

Don’t Forget These Things

Pastoral Emphases

I love the pastoral epistles. As a young pastor myself, I resonate deeply with the great apostle’s instruction to Timothy and Titus.

All throughout my first decade of ministry I’ve found myself regularly returning to these letters for guidance and comfort. So at the beginning of this year I set out to memorize the book of 1 Timothy. Eight months later, by God’s grace, I have committed that great first letter to memorize. Now I am in the beautiful, yet agonizing, phase of retention.

7 THINGS STAND OUT

Around the age of 10 a few friends and I located a place in the nearby woods where we would build a tree house. On my first few journeys into the forest everything looked the same. To my young mind it was just trees, trees, and more trees. Yet, as days upon days spent in those woods went by I began to notice the uniqueness of certain trees. Some were “squatty” and small, others stately and magnificent in size.

The more I became familiar with the whole, the more prominent the individual parts became.

The same thing happens in memorizing whole books of the Bible; greater familiarity with the entire book causes certain words and truths to more clearly stand out. My time in 1 Timothy has shown that Paul had consistent concern for these things: faith, love, godliness, a good conscience, dignity, self-control, and purity. You might think of these as seven spiritual fruits a healthy pastor emphasizes in his life and teaching. Thus, some of the following verses speak not merely to Timothy, but to what Timothy must exhort into the lives of his brothers and sisters in Christ.

Let’s see how these emphases play out . . .

FAITH

  • “[Promote] the stewardship from God that is by faith.” (1:4)
  • “The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” (1:5)
  • “The grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” (1:14)
  • “Wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience.” (1:18-19)
  • “I was appointed . . . a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.” (2:7)
  • “She will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith.” (2:15)
  • “[Deacons] must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.” (3:9)
  • “Their wives likewise must be . . . faithful in all things.” (3:11)
  • “Those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.” (3:13)
  • “A good servant of Christ Jesus [is] trained in the words of the faith.” (4:6)
  • “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in . . . faith.” (4:12)
  • “But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue . . . faith.” (6:11)
  • “Fight the good fight of the faith.” (6:12)

LOVE

  • “The aim of our charge is love.” (1:5)
  • “The grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” (1:14)
  • “She will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in . . . love.” (2:15)
  • “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in . . . love.” (4:12)
  • “But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue . . . love.” (6:11)

GODLINESS

  • “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made . . . that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way”. (2:1-2)
  • “[Put on] but with what is proper for women who profess godliness.” (2:9-10)
  • “Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness.” (3:16)
  • “Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness.” (4:7)
  • “Godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” (4:8)
  • “If a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God.” (5:4)
  • There is a “teaching that accords with godliness.” (6:3)
  • “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” (6:11)
  • “But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue . . . godliness.” (6:11)

A GOOD CONSCIENCE

  • “The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” (1:5)
  • “Wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience.” (1:18-19)
  • “By rejecting [a good conscience], some have made shipwreck of their faith. (1:19)
  • “[Deacons] must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.” (3:9)
  • “[False teaching comes] through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared.” (4:2)

PURITY

  • “The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart.” (1:5)
  • “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in . . . purity.” (4:12)
  • “Encourage [everyone] in all purity.” (5:1-2)
  • “Keep yourself pure.” (5:22)

DIGNITY

  • “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made . . . that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way”. (2:1-2)
  • “He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive.” (3:4)
  • “Deacons likewise must be dignified.” (3:8)
  • “Their wives likewise must be dignified.” (3:11)

SELF-CONTROL

  • “Women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control.” (2:9)
  • “She will be saved through childbearing—if they continue . . . with self-control.” (2:15)
  • “Therefore an overseer must be . . . self-controlled.” (3:2)
  • “She who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives.” (5:6)

WHAT ABOUT YOUR MINISTRY?

Now, it seems like – at least in my experience – that some of those seven fruits are emphasized in popular discussions on godly ministry. Which ones? Faith, love, godliness, and purity seem to be common enough. But what about a good conscience, dignity, and self-control? I don’t hear much about those, do you? Clearly God believes them to be important for His pastors and people. How prevalent are these fruits in your life and ministry?

Oh! may the Spirit work within the hearts of His gospel ministers and grow us all unto a full flowering of:

Faith
Love
Godliness
A Good Conscience
Purity
Dignity
and Self-Control

Posted on

We Need Progressive Pastors

Progress in Ministry

“Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress.” – 1 Timothy 4:15

My favorite show in television history is Band of Brothers. One of the episodes depicts a counter attack that one member of Easy Company called, “The highlight of all E Company actions for the entire war.”

On the night of October 4-5, 1944 a solider in Easy Company was wounded in patrol, so a small counter attack mission was organized. By the next morning, Lieutenant Winters realized that his platoon of thirty-five men was virtually surrounded by two German companies of 300 men.  Lt. Winters goes out into the field to be alone and think things through; he decided he had no choice but to attack.  So he calls his officers and says, “Talbert, take the third squad to the right. Peacock, take the first squad to the left. I’ll take the second squad right up the middle.” Everyone got set, Winters told his men to fix bayonets. As the sun begins to rise a base of fire is laid down at his signal and off Winters goes.  Storming down in front of his men, he leads them on to an incredible rout of the surrounding Germans.

In 1 Timothy 4:15 Paul tells Timothy to minister in such a way that all will see his progress. This word “progress” (προκοπὴ) is a military term that speaks of an advancing force. Just like Lieutenant Winters bold advance led his men into battle, the pastor’s growth is to be out in front of the people and of the kind that beckons other to follow.

The church needs progressive pastors. Permit me some rather random musings on the issue.

A PASSION FOR PROGRESS

Paul doesn’t require perfection, but he does require progression. The areas in which a pastor must grow are legion and beyond the scope of what I want to emphasize in this post. If you want a potent and pithy detailing of areas in which a pastor ought to show progress see Spurgeon’s lecture “The Necessity of Ministerial Progress.” His motto is “Go Forward”: go forward in personal attainments, forward in gifts and graces, forward in fitness for the work, and forward in conformity to the image of Jesus.

If you need some apostolic inspiration and direction for Spirit-wrought progress I’d encourage meditation on these two verses:

  • Progress in Life: “Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.” – 1 Timothy 6:11
  • Progress in Ministry: “Devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.” – 1 Timothy 4:13

But I want to meditate on a couple clear presuppositions Paul has in his progressive exhortation.

THE PATIENCE OF PROGRESS

Clearly, Paul assumes that Timothy will minister in such a way that the Ephesians can actually see and attest to progress. Churches that only see their pastor behind the pulpit at the weekly worship gathering can affirm some aspects of progress, but not many. How would they affirm progress in managing the home? What about those intangible, yet hard to discern areas of spiritual fruit? If the pastor’s people are to notice his progress in life and ministry, his ministry must be in the life of his people. Increasingly so.

A second presupposition on pastoral progress is built on the reality of fruit being time-tested. Spiritual fruit is quite indiscriminate and organic. One notices it most clearly in hindsight and that hindsight normally has a fair distance attached to it. The longest I have stayed in one church was five years and I felt it was only in year three that discernible fruit was visible. Progress in life and ministry takes time and if the church is to “see” our progress we must be with them for quite some time. Just how long can be debated, but it’s safe to say the length is longer than the average pastor’s tenure. What’s best is staying in one place for life; what progress one church ought to observe in decades of ministry!

This even raises a similar point about church membership: if a pastor’s visible progress is dependent on long ministry in the same place, the church’s ability to affirm that progress is dependent on members staying in the same place for a long period.

Pastors must be progressive in the semper reformanda sense of the term. This kind of progress will be patient, plodding, and public. “Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers” (1 Tim. 4:16).

Posted on

Pastoral Postcard: Sober-Minded, Self-Controlled, Respectable

Pastoral PostcardEvery few weeks I try to write a “Pastoral Postcard,” a post that aims to encourage pastors in the work of ministry. I take one verse of Scripture and apply it to the blessings and afflictions every gospel minister experiences. The postcards originate from a time when I was preaching through 1 Timothy while reading Thomas Boston’s The Art of Man-Fishing. As a young pastor myself, I tried to channel my inner Boston and write short-ish notes to encourage my labor. Hopefully they can be some encouragement to you.

“Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable.” – 1 Timothy 3:2

Pastor, you are called to sobriety and respectability; in other words, you are to be a man of winsome watchfulness.

WATCHING YOUR WAY

Old King James likes to think of a “sober-minded” man as a “vigilant” man, one marked by diligence in keeping the heart. The apostle encouraged young Timothy to “keep on yourself and the teaching.” Thus, a sober-minded and self-controlled man is one vigilantly disciplined to watch his life and doctrine.

First, watch your life. Like a captain who constantly stands on his ship’s bridge to stay the course, so too must you stand on the bridge of your soul and steady it within the paths of righteousness. Winds and waves from the world will whip around you, but with eyes fixed above you must steer toward the eternal waters. Make not mistake, this is not as easy. The Serpent is always scheming to divert your gaze from the Savior, to fix your attention on all that is in the world – the desires of flesh, eyes, and pride of life. Should he not be successful in these areas, the Deceitful Devil will encourage you to overly-avid examination of the heart. He knows that the apostle requires you to examine your heart to see if you are in the faith, so he will work for your gaze to never lift off yourself. Such morbid introspection will cripple your progress in life, for the very progress you are to make comes from looking outside yourself. The Colossians were told, “Set your minds on things above,” for that is where Christ is, and He is “your life.” Disciplined looking at your life thus means disciplined looking unto Christ. The young Scotsman knew this all too well, which is why he said, “For one look at self we ought to take ten looks at Christ.” Remember this principle as you stand on your bridge and fix your eyes on the Captain.

Christ is your life, so place Him ever before your eyes, for only then will you really be watching you life with sobriety and self-control.

Second, watch your doctrine. The Savior equipped you with knowledge, gifting, and ability so that you might feed His flock. This means, ordinarily, you will be more advanced in truth than almost every one of your sheep. This is good and pleasing in the sight of God, for mature pastors are necessary for mature sheep. But don’t forget that this is also good and pleasing in the Serpent’s sight because it is a glorious vehicle for complacency in truth. If he can keep you from being challenged in truth, he will then succeed in making you complacent in truth. He will tempt you to rest on your laurels of knowledge and eschew any sort of engagement that might fluster your presuppositions. Unchallenged pastors quickly become complacent pastors and complacent pastors are ripe for the Raging Lion. Slay his roaring subtlety by daily swimming in the deep things of God. Kill your flesh which desires more to study the fleeting vapors of this world instead of the Eternal One. It is only in Him that the real treasures of knowledge are found, thus it is Him that you must encounter and experience.

So just as watching your life means watching Christ, so too does watching your doctrine ultimately mean watching Christ, for He is both life and truth.

You must understand two further things about this watch. First, it cannot be done in isolation. The Serpent will tempt you to wage this watchful war alone in a foxhole. Yet, the truth is that you fight on a victorious hill, shoulder-to-shoulder with other Christians in strongest army the cosmos has ever seen. Your Christian brothers and sisters will help you see through sin’s deception and the Worm’s wiles, steering your on the paths of life and keeping you in the ways of truth. Dear pastor, watch with witnesses. Second, know that your unique soul will want to give unbalanced attention to one of these two areas. The Worm knows this as well, and so he might currently scheme for you to only watch your life, but not your doctrine. If so you will be a ship sailing with no anchor. Or he might tempt you to only watch your doctrine and not your life. Such a watch means the soul’s ship has an anchor, but no sails.

Fight against any temptation to overly focus on one side and instead fix your gaze on Christ, who is life and truth.

WINSOMENESS IS THE WAY

Your world celebrates freedom from constraint and discipline. Yet, this world is nevertheless drawn to a man sober-minded and self-controlled. Why? Because order and discipline inevitably bring respectability. And respectability is little more than an appealing character; respectability sings and shines; respectability is winsome. So a respectable life is a winsomely appealing life, and is that not what a pastor’s life much be? One that is exemplary and worthy exemplifying?

Watching your life and doctrine fuels a winsome witness to Christ, the One who is your way, life, and truth. Such testimony comes from a man sober-minded, self-controlled, and respectable.

Posted on

3 Lessons for Contentment

Contentment

Yesterday I looked at 1 Timothy 6 and the “rare jewel of contentment. Specifically  “3 Reasons to Be Content”: 1) you can’t take it with you, 2) you have enough already, and 3) discontentment leads to disaster.

Think about the unbelievable witness to Christ that comes from a contented church.  The world around us is marked by discontentment, by striving and searching after satisfaction in worldly things. The church is called to reflect the character of God, therefore any faithful reflection will image forth His self-sufficiency. Fostering a spirit of contentment in the church fuels the reflection of God’s sufficiency. What a testimony to the grace of Christ would it be if a church can say with Paul in Philippians 4:11, “We have learned the secret of being content in every situation.” But notice something significant in this verse. The rare jewel is learned, it is not engrained. We all know this to be true . . . just look at children.

My boys, as I am sure your kids do or did, exemplify the truth that coveting is not a learned response. It is engrained within the heart from birth.  Just stick my two boys in a game room filled with toys and at some point, usually sooner than later, one of them wants whatever the other has. For no other reason than the other has it. There is an old little ditty that sums up my boys’ behavior in a toy room quite well,

If I like it, it’s mine.
If I can take it away from you, it’s mine.
If I had it a while ago, it’s mine.
If I say it’s mine, it’s mine.
If it looks like mine, it’s mine.
If I saw it first, it’s mine.
If you’re having fun with it, it’s mine.
If you lay down your toy, it’s mine.
If it is broken, it’s yours.

We don’t need to be taught discontentment, rather like Paul we need to learn contentment. 1 Timothy 6 gives us three lessons to be learned in order that a church have the sweet aroma of Christ-centered contentment.

  • First, learn the lesson of God’s goodness. 1 Timothy 6:17 tells us that God provides richly for our every need.  Let us learn that God is good and does good.  In every station of life, the goodness of God is present. And the goodness of God is enough for His children.
  • Second, learn the lesson of Christ’s sufficiency. We have remarked on this already, but let us continually remind ourselves that all we have is Christ and He is sufficient for each day.
  • Thirdly, learn the lesson of the world’s vanishment. Whatever we have we cannot take with us and whatever we have is enough. This world and all of its perceived benefits will pass away and cannot satisfy the soul’s for sufficiency.

I have heard it said that a spirit of contentment is like a good watch. Though you move up and down, the spring is not shaken nor are the wheels out of order; the watch keeps perfect motion.  When life moves up and down, a contented spirit protects the heart from being broken and keeps our motion continually heavenward. Steady yourself with contentment on heaven’s path by learning these three lessons.

Posted on

3 Reasons to Be Content

Contentment

Jeremiah Burroughs called a “rare jewel.”1 Thomas Watson said, “I do not know of any jewel in religion that more bespangles a Christian, or glitters in the eyes of God and man more than this . . . How every Christian should be ambitious to wear such a sparkling diamond!”2

Just what is this jewel that we should be ambitious to find? The jewel of contentment.

In 1 Timothy 6:5 Paul says, “But godliness with contentment is great gain.”  Let’s define our terms here.  Godliness in the New Testament references a life of reverence before and obedience to God. Contentment (αὐταρκείας) here is a fascinating word, it literally means “self-sufficient.”  The Stoic philosophers of the first century loved this idea. By emphasizing self-sufficiency, the Stoics advocated a life marked by detachment from things or outside possessions and stressed independence.  And Paul picks up on this word and its importance, but he provides us with the Christian use of the term.  The Bible tells us that in the strictest sense, only God can be said to be “self-sufficient” (His aseity); He rests fully satisfied in and with Himself alone. But it is the glory of God to communicate His sufficiency to His children, thereby making them self-sufficient.  How does that happen?  Through faith in Christ. You see, contentment is not just a rare jewel, it is also a gospel mystery.

The Bible tells us that we were born into sin, therefore envy and covetousness flowed out of our hearts from the minute we first breathed in air. Then as the life of sin moves on it becomes increasingly marked by striving and searching for satisfaction in the things of this world – place, power, pleasure. But true satisfaction in those things never comes. The good news of Christ Jesus is that He came and perfectly satisfied the law of God, then He went to the cross and satisfied God’s wrath against sin by dying as a substitute for any who would place their faith in Him.  And those who place their faith in Christ are not only saved from their sin, but are united to Christ and therefore become partakers of His sufficiency.  So Christian contentment, αὐταρκείας, is not a state of self-sufficiency, but the state of Christ-sufficiency.  This is why Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6:10 that he can possess nothing, while simultaneous be in possession of everything in Christ.

Godliness with contentment is great gain.  Now in 6:7-10 Paul gives us three reasons to be content.

First, in 6:7 he says, “For we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.” Reason number one: you can’t take it with you. Here Paul is merely echoing a couple rich Old Testament texts. After losing almost everything at the hand of Satan Job states in 1:21, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return.” After surveying every pleasure offered in this life Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 5:15 it was all meaningless for, “As he came from his mother’s womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand.”

The second reason is found in 6:8, “But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.” Reason number two for being content: you have enough already. Discontentment always wants something more or something else, it’s why we could say’s discontentment is life’s burglar.  Because even when you get what you think you want – a new home, better job, more toys, clothes, or gadgets – you soon find that you are discontent all over again. I recently bought some weed killer that said it would kill weeds for up to six months – it’s a temporary fix.  Believing contentment comes from possessions is a temporary fix.  You get something new that you want and you might be content for a few months, but soon enough the noxious weed of discontentment will rise again.  That’s because contentment does not come from what you have, but from who you are in Christ. The old hymn has is right, “Thou o Christ, are all I want; more than all in thee I find.”3

Reason number three for being content: discontentment leads to disaster, notice 6:9, “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. The desire for monetary wealth is nothing less than a tempting snare of the devil and according to 6:10 is a root of all kinds of evil.  Let’s make sure to note that Paul is not saying people who are rich fall into this trap, but those who desire to be rich.  The reason why is that through this desire, or what Paul calls a craving, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.  The word pierced more narrowly means “impale”; a love and desire of money has impaled many with grievous pangs and more tragically, caused some to wander from the faith.  Jesus himself said this would happen; do you remember the parable of the sower?  Seed thrown on the third soil lands among the thorns and Jesus said, “As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful” (Matt. 13:22)).  You cannot serve two masters, He also said. You cannot serve God and money.

So the, we have three reasons to be content according to this passage: 1) you can’t take it with you, 2) you have enough already, and 3) discontentment leads to disaster.  What we see in this text is something incredible, that contentment does not consist in adding possessions or pleasures, but in subtracting from our desires.  That’s the paradoxical mystery of this rare jewel of the Christian life. Contentment is reveling in Christ’s sufficiency and brings great gain to the life of godliness. We need to see one glorious truth from this passage, “Godliness is especially sweet when the soul is content in Christ.”

  1. Jeremiah Burroughs, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment ↩
  2. Thomas Watson, The Art of Divine Contentment, v-vi. ↩
  3. “Jesus, Lover of My Soul” by Charles Wesley. ↩
Posted on

Reading God’s Word in Public

Read the Word

The public reading of Scripture is a glorious requirement of faithful pastors. In 1 Timothy 4:13 Paul writes, “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.”

Reading God’s word is no easy task. It’s likely you have been to a church’s public gathering and heard a pastor rapidly read his sermon’s passage, appearing to be more eager in what he has to say about the word than what the word actually says. Or maybe you have been to a gathering where church member stands to read a text, but nervousness causes the moment to be less than it should be. Among the most disheartening things I hear, with some regularity, is monotonous reading of God’s word. Brothers, this should not be so! The word is living and active, thus God audibly speaks when His word is read. Such a reality demands care and thought go into every time His word is read publicly. Here are two simple principles to help every pastor, or church member, read God’s word with faithfulness.

2 PRINCIPLES FOR FAITHFUL READING

Read out the Word’s meaning. We want to read God’s word in such a way that an unfamiliar hearer gets a sense of its meaning. Therefore, when you stand to read be familiar enough with the passage to know what the biblical author is communicating. Which words or phrases need to be emphasized? Are there places where you should pause? Although the original languages don’t have punctuation, those little dots are quite helpful to faithful public reading as they help signal meaning. It’s usually wise to pay attention to verbs, particularly action verbs. Reading verbs right will give the passage appropriate movement and pace.

Read in the Word’s spirit. Faithful reading reflects the spirit, or tone, of the passage. It’s a terrible thing to read a declaration as a contemplation, or a warning as a comfort. Every text has a spirit that you want to unveil in your reading. This doesn’t mean that public reading needs to be theatrical. It does mean that the congregation should get a sense of John the Baptist’s power if you are reading from Mark 1 or David’s sorrow if you are reading from Psalm 51.

Lastly, it is always wise to include a statement such as, “This is the Word of the Lord,” as it heightens reverence.

The pastor must devote himself to publicly read God’s word. Let him read it with faithfulness.

Posted on

3 Devices to Drive Out Deception

Fight the Good Fight

Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared,who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer. – 1 Timothy 4:1-5

In 1 Timothy 1 Paul commands his young protege to remove the false teaching prevailing in the Ephesian church and wage the good warfare of faith. In the passage above we get an idea of how these two aspects of ministry are related. The first two verses reveal three characteristics of false teaching: it is 1) a mark of the later times, and 2) comes from deceptive demons and 3) lying leaders. False teaching is rarely overt, in fact, this passage shows us just how covert false teaching is. Instead of blatantly rejected the deity of Christ or the inerrancy of the Bible the false teachers were advocating an ascetic theology – forbidding marriage and the eating of particular foods.

How then are God’s people to fight against such subtlety? Notice three devices Paul gives in this text to drive out deception . . .

Truth drives out deception.  Paul says that the blessings of marriage and food are to be received by people who believe and know the truth. When Paul writes of the armor of God in Ephesians 6 he begins with the belt of truth. As Thomas Brooks said, “Men take no hold of error till they have let go their hold of truth, therefore hold fast to truth.”1   Holding fast to truth means devotion to the Word.  Hearing the word preached is an underestimated battering ram of truth against the enemy’s fortress of deception.  Reading the word with humble devotion illuminates the mind and heart, driving out the darkness of deception.  Speaking the truth to one another in discipling relationships is vital and necessary, for truth is a community treasure (Eph. 4:17).  In everything we hold fast to Christ, for He is the truth.

Thanksgiving drives out deception.  Two times Paul says that we are to receive God’s gifts with thanksgiving.  In another letter he says, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess. 5:18).  Just how does thanksgiving drive out deception?  Thanksgiving is little more than remembering and acknowledging God – for who He is and what He has done.  To give thanks in everything is to hold fast to God in everything.  He is a mighty fortress, a bulwark never failing. Thanksgiving places our souls next to this bulwark.

Holiness drives out deception. We see in this text that the false teachers advocated a false holiness, which Paul combats with a right understanding of holiness. Jesus said that we are made holy in truth (John 17:17) and the Spirit’s work of holiness produces the fruit of thanksgiving (Eph. 5:20).  We can be sure that where holiness reigns, truth and thanksgiving thrive.  The beauty of these devices is that they all fuel one another; pursuing truth brings holiness and thanksgiving, pursuing holiness dives the soul deeper into the truth and thanksgiving, and increased thanksgiving grows truth and holiness.  Church, we must be about the pursuit of holiness. You want to strive against Satan? Strive for holiness.

Root yourself in Christ by faith and wage the good warfare against Satan’s deception by wielding truth, thanksgiving, and holiness.

  1.  Brooks, Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices, 59. ↩
Posted on

3 Ingredients for a Faithful Church

church_coverI am well acquainted with Diet Coke and Diet Dr. Pepper; some people would call me an addict, I call myself an enthusiast.  My familiarity with this heavenly nectar means I am all too aware when an establishment tries to pass of a fake as the real thing.

Because our church does not have an office at the moment, I spend much of my week working at two different locations of a local BBQ joint. One of these locations regularly has a delicious mix of the heavenly nectar, and the other location . . . well, not so much. The real thing comes from a proper mix of ingredients and, to an enthusiast, can easily be distinguished from imitation.

The same thing is true about a church. I noticed this truth earlier this year as I preached through 1 Timothy. Paul sent a letter along to his young protege so that if he delayed Timothy “may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.” In the short span of six chapters Paul manages to cover an astonishing amount of material related to the church’s faithfulness, and one realizes that three themes prove to be emblematic of a faithful church. Three themes I like to think about as three necessary ingredients for a faithful church:

#1 – Sound doctrine. Paul left Timothy in Ephesus and charged him to deal with the false teachers that had infiltrated the church. Refuting the false teachers meant calling them to repentance (and excommunicating if necessary) and publishing sound doctrine.

#2 – Sound leadership. Sound doctrine must be proclaimed and taught, so who is to do this? Elders. These men must be “able to teach,” thereby ensuring the church’s doctrine is protected and propagated. Chapter three famously delineates the qualifications for elders and deacons, and chapter four is taken up – almost entirely – with pointed instructing on healthy pastoral ministry.

#3 – Sound living. This is, after all, the purpose for Paul’s writing, that the church would “know how they ought to live together.” Sound living flows from a pure heart, good conscience, and sincere faith. It manifests itself in praise to God, modest dress, contentment, honor, and focused holiness.

Sound doctrine, sound leadership, sound living. A three-strand chord of faithfulness hard to separate and hard to break. It’s not easily broken because all three ingredients are only found in Christ, the Unassailable One. He is the Truth, the Good Shepherd, and the Holy One – He is Faithfulness. Therefore, what I think Paul drives at in this letter is the realization that a faithful church is focused on the exaltation of Christ through the empowerment of His Spirit. Christ-centeredness in the church need not be an esoteric idea and pursuit. 1 Timothy bring this glorious aim down to the ground floor of daily practice; Christ-centered faithfulness concentrates on sound doctrine, sound leadership, and sound living. These are the three ingredients of a faithful church.

Posted on

The Sight and Sound of Eternity

Eternity Header

Paul closes his famous section on pastoral ministry in 1 Timothy 4 by saying, “Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.”

How is it that a pastor’s displaying (1 Tim. 4:12,15) and declaring (1 Tim. 4:13) God’s glory works salvation in himself and his hearers? Piper puts it this way: “A pastor’s unflagging moral vigilance over his life and his unwavering theological vigilance over his doctrine are the means of grace appointed by God for his own salvation and the salvation of his people.” In other words, the eternal salvation of a pastor and his people is at stake in the holiness of his life and the truthfulness of his teaching. If a pastor grows lazy in his attention to personal holiness or careless in his teaching the whole counsel of God he will very likely pay with his life and take many of his people with him to hell. See here the gravity of pastoral ministry, it’s a ministry that deals with the things of eternity. The pastor and preacher is God’s ordinary vessel to bring people to faith (Rom. 10:11-14).

When people look at and listen to a faithful pastor, they should see and hear the glory of Christ.