Where do you stand? - Tuesdays with Timothy #37

I Timothy 4: 1-9 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;  Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained. But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness. For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation.

There are two different types of people in the passage, those that preach and those that listen to preaching. Some will listen to truth and submit to its teaching while others will listen to what they want to hear, regardless of whether it will hold up to Biblical examination. You have preachers that are devoted to the truth of God’s Word and you have preachers that will gladly provide what the people want. Paul will urge pastors in the rest of this epistle to be steadfast in doctrine and in declaring the truth of God’s Word.

Where are you in this passage? If you preach the Word, are you faithful to Christ? Would Paul say that you are a good minister? And you drawn to a man and ministry that Paul would approve of? With Timothy, you have a man that is a faithful preacher of the gospel, preaching the truth to a congregation in which some are going to oppose him. There are competing preachers who are going to provide people with something that is more along the lines of their thinking. But Timothy was not to find out what the people want and get ahead of it. He wasn’t to update the message and make it more exciting. In fact, Timothy is to remind the people of the truth. You cannot put people into remembrance of something they haven’t already heard. Not only was he not to update and revamp the message, but Paul urges him to preach the truth again. And again. The pastor has the responsibility to preach the Word faithfully. The listeners have the responsibility to listen to the faithful Word preached. 

All Timothy can do is preach the Word and stay in the Word. He can't control how people are going to receive the message and he cannot force people to listen. People not liking the message? Preach the Word. Some find this new doctrine more appealing and stimulation? Timothy, remind the people of the Word you have already preached.

One of these days, there are going to be a group of people stand before the Lord Jesus Christ. They are going to have to give an account of why they left Timothy’s preaching. They will have to answer for departing from the truth of Timothy’s message and going after false teachers. They are going to have to answer for ignoring Timothy’s warnings while listening to devilish doctrines. I’m sure there were all kinds of reasons why people were leaving and not listening to Timothy, but I wonder what kind of excuses will hold up on that day?