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[0:00] Thank you, Phil, and welcome to everyone. It's lovely to see the Reeves this morning, the! children that is. We haven't seen you for a long time, so lovely to see you Freya and Peter.

[0:13] Yeah, and you've got a good crowd this morning, so yeah, praise God for that. So, authentic ministry. This was John Wood's title for this talk, by the way, but I think it's a good one. I've subtitled it, Eight Charges to Pastor Timothy.

[0:43] If you look at the text, you'll see that there are eight injunctions or commandments to Timothy from Paul, the apostle. So, meet Tim, a fairly young Christian man from Sussex. He feels called to pastoral ministry. He's been mentored and encouraged by other godly men and women.

[1:13] who noticed that he has potential for church leadership. He decides to study theology at seminary to deepen his understanding of the Bible and how to handle it. He subsequently graduates and is now looking for a church in which he can minister full-time.

[1:34] A big decision for him and the church who wish to call him. How can a young, inexperienced preacher demonstrate maturity to an older congregation?

[1:51] What disadvantages await a young minister? How can he keep going in pastoral ministry, using his gifts and fanning them into flame?

[2:07] Let's explore these questions from today's text. So, make sure you have your Bible open at 1 Timothy chapter 4, verses 11 to 16.

[2:19] 1 Timothy chapter 5, verses 11 to 16. My first point is, respect Pastor Timothy. Respect Pastor Timothy. Most commentators say that Pastor Timothy, from Lystra, by the way, in Asia Minor, not from Sussex, he would have been around 35 years old when he was ordained as overseer to the church in Ephesus.

[2:48] Did you see that in verse 414? I think it is. Yeah. Where the elders laid their hands on him and appointed him as an elder.

[3:00] They worked this out from other Bible texts, principally in Acts. So, he's around 35, probably. These men who ordained Timothy, which could have been Paul as well, were most probably older than he was.

[3:19] Guthrie writes that many of the Ephesian Christians, and especially the elders, were most certainly of mature years.

[3:30] And if, for some time, they had served under the leadership of the veteran missionary apostle Paul, it is by no means inconceivable that some would look with disfavour and contempt on the younger Timothy.

[3:49] Hence, the command Paul gives to his protege in verse 12. Did you see it? Don't let them despise you. Don't let anyone look down on you.

[4:03] Another commentator says that integrity is no respecter of age. Integrity is no respecter of age.

[4:14] A young person is as likely to have integrity as the senior citizen. Older people have always found it difficult to accept young people as responsible adults in their own right, let alone as leaders.

[4:37] And young people are understandably irritated when their elders keep reminding them of their immaturity and inexperience, and treat them with contempt.

[4:49] Stott writes. Instead, how should Pastor Timothy respond? Or look in verse 12.

[5:01] But, emphasis is given here. But, set an example for the believers in speech.

[5:13] And he goes on. Conversely, Timothy, be an example. Be a role model in the church. Or keep on becoming.

[5:28] That's my second point. Be a role model. He should be constantly improving as a role model for the churches. Not static. The word in Greek, for example, is tupos.

[5:43] Which signifies the firm, heavy blow of an imprinted mark on metal. Pastors should be role models to the flock.

[5:58] In 1 Peter 5, 2-3, it says, Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, watching over them. Not because you must, but because you are willing.

[6:11] As God wants you to be. Not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve. Not lording it over those entrusted to you. But being examples, tupos, to the flock.

[6:27] Paul himself was careful to be a good example. And he's not hesitant to tell his hearers, to imitate him. Now it's Timothy's turn.

[6:40] He then spells this out in verse 12. Giving Timothy five hows. First, in how Timothy speaks.

[6:55] Do you see that in the text? Verse 12. Privately and publicly, he should always speak the truth in love. Marked with grace. Let your conversation be always full of grace.

[7:11] Seasoned with salt. So that you may know how to answer everyone. Colossians 4, 6. His speech.

[7:24] Secondly, his behavior in conduct. How he lives. Outward conduct. We read in Titus chapter 1.

[7:34] The elder must be blameless. Free from accusation. Not overbearing. Not quick-tempered. Not given to drunkenness. Not violent. Not pursuing dishonest gain.

[7:46] Rather, he must be hospitable. One who loves what is good. Who is self-controlled. Upright. Holy and disciplined. His behavior is important.

[7:58] How he lives. His life. Thirdly. Sorry, I forgot to click there. His love. Agape.

[8:10] Famous word in Greek. An active love. Not a passive love. A love for others. Under his care. A love for even his enemies.

[8:23] That's what Paul is telling Timothy. Does he have a love for God? For others? And his faith.

[8:35] It goes on. In faith. Paul must be. Sorry, Timothy. Must be a trustworthy person. In whom others should be able to place their faith.

[8:46] And confidence in. As well as having a personal belief in God. And lastly. It says impurity. In a sense of his moral conduct.

[9:00] And proper sexual purity. So. If Timothy. Were to display these characteristics. As his role as overseer.

[9:13] Then he would. And should be given respect. By others. Regardless. Of his age. Timothy. Wasn't to lord himself.

[9:24] Over others. As a tyrannical leader. Like the Pharisees. Bossy. Controlling. Power seeking. But being a godly. Leader.

[9:35] In whom people. Would look up to. Follow. And imitate themselves. Lordship. And leadership. Are two different concepts.

[9:47] As thought says. The Christian. Leads. By example. Not force. And is a model. Who invites. A following. Not a boss.

[9:59] Who compels one. Thank you. Thank you. And don't we see this. Modelled. In the Lord Jesus Christ. Who demonstrated.

[10:10] What it was. To be a servant king. A great leader. Loving the unlovely. Showing compassion. Touching the leper. Feeding the hungry.

[10:22] Spending time with outcasts. Refuting the hypocrisy. Of the Pharisees. Living a life of integrity. On earth. Obedient to his father.

[10:35] Not giving in to temptation. Being willing. To suffer horrendously. For others. For us. Well in application.

[10:48] Sadly. We live in an age. Don't we. Where there are plenty of bad. Role models. Around us. In the media. In sports. In politics. And sadly. Even in the church.

[10:59] Sometimes. Though there are good ones. Timothy. Is only human. Paul is not saying. That Timothy. Should be.

[11:09] A paragon of virtue. A person. With no. Moral faults. Elders. Are sinners. Like the rest of us. They have struggles.

[11:21] Let's not put them. On a pedal stool. They'll easily fall off. That's for Christ. He should be on the pedal stool. And I think we can apply this.

[11:33] For all of us. Here. In the congregation. How are you doing. In the five inns. How are you doing. In your speech. Your conduct.

[11:45] Your behavior. In your love. For the Lord. Love for others. In your faith. And in your purity. Tough questions.

[11:56] Aren't they. For all of us. How are we doing. Are we. Setting a good example. As a believer. In our lives. As most of you know.

[12:10] We are looking for a pastor. Here at Calvary Church. Let's look at his character. His conduct. Faith. Purity. Speech. Love. His love for the Lord.

[12:21] Love for his people. Not his age. As a criteria. For pastoral ministry. The current candidate.

[12:31] We're looking at. Is younger. Than Pastor Timothy. In some ways. That's great. He'll probably have. More physical strength. Energy. Be more active.

[12:43] To fulfill his duties. Be able to preach. Teach more. And don't we see. It's a high calling. A noble task. To lead a church. There is a high bar.

[12:55] As we've seen. To become an elder. Not to be taken lightly. It's only by God's grace. Grace. So.

[13:13] Timothy. Is to. Be a. Good role model. Set an example. First of all. And.

[13:24] Next. What is he. He should. Should he be doing. Well. Thirdly. Bread. And butter ministry. Principally. What public tasks.

[13:36] Should Pastor Timothy. Be performing. Well. Look at verse 13. It says. Devote. Yourself. Which means. To pay attention to.

[13:48] Apply. Oneself to. Give. Attendance. To these. Things. These. Three. Areas. In public ministry. Did you see them. In verse 13.

[14:00] The first one. Is public reading. Of scripture. In the Jewish tradition. Synagogue. Worship. Consisted. Of reading.

[14:10] The Old Testament. The law. And the prophets. Remember Ezra. Read the scriptures. Allowed to the people. From dawn to midday. And revival.

[14:20] Came to Israel. Jesus. Read out. The prophet Isaiah. In his hometown. Now.

[14:31] God's word. Should be read. In the gathering. Of the church. It's essential. God speaks to us. Through his word. It's imperative.

[14:42] That we have it. Meeting to meeting. It is said. That neglecting. Public reading. Of scripture. Opens the door.

[14:53] To moral. And doctrinal. Apostasy. Let's keep this. At the forefront. Of our meetings. Here. At Calvary Church. Can I hear an amen.

[15:05] Thank you. So. Public reading. Of scripture. Is. Really. Really. Important. For Timothy.

[15:16] For the church. Secondly. Preaching. Did you see that. In verse 13. Which means. Encouragement. Comfort. Consolation.

[15:26] Appeal. Devote yourself. To this. Timothy. Exhorting. The congregation. Comes. After. The reading.

[15:37] Of scripture. As scripture. Is supreme. God's word. Has. The most. Authority. Then. The exposition. Of the text. The instruction.

[15:49] And preaching. Taken from the text. Read. Like. I'm doing now. Do you notice. The list of importance. In verse. 13. What type.

[16:02] Of preaching. Should issue. From the pulpit. Evangelistic. Expository. Topical. I'd argue. From today's text.

[16:13] Expository. Preaching. It trumps. The rest. Though there is time. And place. For other styles. Then we get. The whole. Council. Of God's word.

[16:23] Not just. Cherry picking. What we want. To hear. We'll get. A healthy diet. This way. Notice. Paul doesn't.

[16:33] Talk about. Particular styles. Of preaching here. Every man. Has his own character. Personality. Style. And this can develop. And change. Over time. One style.

[16:45] Is not better. Than another. God uses. Our personalities. In the pulpit. And don't we see that. From week to week. Aaron was different. To me. Feels different. To me. We're all different. And that's fine.

[16:58] Preaching. Devote yourself. To preaching. Timothy. Next one. Is teaching. You see that. Three. Which is. Didaskos.

[17:10] Sounds. Healthy. Doctrine. Is to be taught. Rather than. The erroneous teaching. That we read. Just a minute ago. In chapter four. And in chapter one.

[17:21] Old wives. Tales. Abstaining from foods. Keeping Jewish. Ceremonial laws. Forbidding. People to marry. Silly myths. Deceitful teaching. That we see.

[17:32] In verse one. That will. Abandon. People. Abandon the faith. And follow deceiving spirits. Today.

[17:43] We. Still have full teaching. Don't we? Heretical teaching. Sexual ethics. It's okay. To be a Christian. And. Have a homosexual lifestyle.

[17:54] Universalism. Everyone will be saved. Does it matter? Baptism in the spirit. You are given supernatural gifts. When you are baptized. Timothy.

[18:09] Timothy. Was to refute. Bad doctrine. Point. Them out. To his hearers. We saw that. In their text. Didn't we? Where is it?

[18:19] Verse six. If you point these out. To the brothers and sisters. You will be a good minister. Of. Christ. Jesus. Nourished. On the troops. He was to point.

[18:31] This bad doctrine out. This was a past. Part of his role. As pastor. Dramacki says. That the more devotion. That a pastor. Gives.

[18:41] To these three areas. Of pulpit ministry. The less chance. That people will give heed. To apostate error. I agree. And I think.

[18:55] That's here. The leaders. At Calvary Church. By God's grace. Have done this. During the lifetime. Of this church. Certainly my lifetime. Let's make sure.

[19:08] That we keep this. As a church. That we are reading. Scripture publicly. We are preaching the word. From the text. And we are teaching. Sound doctrine.

[19:19] And refuting. Bad doctrine. May this continue. Sorry. I forgot to click. All the times. I'm engrossed. In my notes.

[19:30] You don't need them. My last. Point. Is exercise. Your gift. Verse 14. Do not.

[19:41] Neglect. Your gift. Which was given you. Through prophecy. When the body of elders. Laid their hands. On you. Exercise. Your gift. Timothy. As Steve.

[19:51] Touched on. Last week. It can be. All too easy. To become lazy. Slothful. Neglecting. Our God given gifts. And put on the pounds.

[20:02] Flabby Christianity. I think Steve called it. However. Pastor Timothy. Shouldn't be like this. But exercise. His gifts. Given to him. By God. The gift.

[20:15] Is not specified here. Is it? One commentator. Suggest. His gift. Was his teaching ministry. Together. With the authority.

[20:25] And power. To exercise it. We see from the text. It was given. To him. When the council of elders. Placed their hands on him. Verse 14.

[20:38] The point implied here. Is that Timothy. Could be tempted. To neglect. His gift. And not. Fan it. Into flame. No. By practicing.

[20:48] His gifts. Exercising them. Being diligent. In his ministry. Giving himself. Holy to them. Timothy.

[20:58] And his congregation. Would see progress. In his ministry. And development. Becoming an example. A model. Maturing in his gifts.

[21:10] So that by the end. Of his ministry. He would be a stronger. Role model. For the church. Than when he was. At the beginning. The verb.

[21:23] Progress. Here. Means to cut forward. Like engineers. Who prepare a road. For the advancing army. By removing.

[21:34] Obstructions. Such as rocks. And trees. This.

[21:45] Gift. Is given. Through prophecy. It's not a static. Permanent. Endowment.

[21:56] Quality from God. But it's. Human recipient. Must use it. And develop it. At start. So.

[22:08] By way of application. If there is a younger. Inexperienced man. Coming. To lead. The church. Here at Calvary. We must be patient. And allow his gifts. To fan into flame.

[22:20] Over the course. Of his ministry. He's not the finished article. He won't be the finished article. We must encourage him. And be gracious to him. I'm sure Phil would say.

[22:31] That he has developed. During his ministry. Here at Calvary Church. Remember. Rod Thomas. Said that when he came. Phil. Wasn't the finished article.

[22:42] In some ways. But. I'm sure. Phil. Would say. By God's grace. He has developed. And. Been used. And. We praise God.

[22:53] For him. Now he's coming. To the end of his ministry. And. Perhaps you can talk about that. Tonight Phil. How you've.

[23:05] Matured. And developed. And. This is great. Isn't it? And that's what. That's. What should happen. To. To elders. And. I think it's brilliant.

[23:17] If we can mentor. This person. And Phil would be. The obvious choice. As an experienced minister. To help this man. We must remember.

[23:28] That Christian leaders. Are. As I said. Earlier. They're not. Are not flawless. And they shouldn't appear. To be flawless. Because. This has two bad results.

[23:39] As thought says. Firstly. None of us are. Perfect. And it's dishonest. To pretend to be. It's hypocritical. And secondly.

[23:50] The pretense. Discourages. People. Who then suppose. Their leaders. Are altogether. Exceptional. And even. Inhuman. And for all of us.

[24:02] I think this is word for us. We have gifts. Don't we? That the Lord has given us. Perhaps not up here. Preaching the word of God. But. Perhaps in music.

[24:13] Perhaps in languages. Encouragement. Administration. Welcoming. Hospitality. I'm sure you can name more. How are you doing in them? Let's fan them into flame.

[24:29] And lastly. Balance your life. Verse 16. Watch your life. And doctrine closely. Preserve in them. Sorry. Persevere in them.

[24:40] Because if you do. You will save both yourself. And your hearers. Balance your life. Timothy. This is key. For the young pastor. He must watch.

[24:53] His personal life. Closely. As well as his teaching. A balance is needed. An equilibrium. Don't. Neglect your life.

[25:03] Your home life. Perhaps. Your family. Your wife. Your children. Your own walk with the Lord. Times of rest. Your devotion.

[25:14] To God. Perhaps your exercise. Your health. Give attention. To your conduct. Neither lose focus.

[25:25] On your duties. As pastor. As we've studied. Watch your priorities. Then there won't be. A dichotomy. A separation from your private.

[25:38] And public life. Don't immerse yourself. So much. In your teaching ministry. That your personal life. Goes out of the window.

[25:49] And don't fixate. Too much. On your own walk. With God. So that you neglect. Ministering to others. Balance your life. Finally.

[26:04] There is a promise. Isn't there? An incentive. For Timothy. To keep pressing on. To keep going. In verse. 16. You'll save.

[26:16] Both yourself. And your hearers. Can he really. Save himself. And others. This seems.

[26:27] Preposterous. Doesn't it? Self. Salvation. Isn't Paul. Contradicting himself. Doesn't Paul say. In Ephesians.

[26:39] It is by grace. You have been saved. Through faith. And this is not. From yourselves. It is the gift of God. Not of works. Faith. This isn't.

[26:50] A contradiction. As the word. Save. Has multiple meanings. As we saw. When Phil preached. 2.15. But a woman.

[27:02] Will be saved. Through childbearing. Ultimately. Christ. Is the one. Who saves us. From our sin. We were singing that. Won't we? There is no other way.

[27:13] By which we must be saved. It's through Jesus. It's only through Christ. And we saw that. Didn't we? In chapter 1.

[27:24] Have a look. Verse 1. Paul and apostle. Of Jesus Christ. Christ Jesus. By the command of God. Our saviour. The famous verse 15.

[27:36] Jesus Christ. Came into the world. To save sinners. Of whom I am the worst. Chapter 2. This is good. And please. This is God. Our saviour. Who wants all people.

[27:47] To be saved. Christ. Is the ultimate saviour. However. Here. Grimacki. Comments. Timothy.

[27:57] Will save himself. From personal. And theological. Error. By scriptural study. And holy living. Second. The preacher.

[28:07] Will deliver. His listeners. From the same. Moral. And doctrinal error. If he lives. And preaches. Correctly. In other scriptures.

[28:18] We read. Continue to work out. Your salvation. With fear. And trembling. Only those. Who persevere. To the end. Will be saved. Calvin.

[28:29] Writes. That. Although scripture. Sorry. Although salvation. Is God's gift. Alone. Yet human ministry. Is needed. He uses evangelists.

[28:41] Doesn't he? Uses us. To spread the gospel. As means to salvation. It's through the message. That people are saved. And we bring that. So to conclude.

[28:57] Let's not look down. On young preachers. But encourage them. Let's make sure. That we are. Reading. Scripture here. In the gatherings. Publicly.

[29:08] Preaching the word. And teaching faithfully. In the pulpit. Let's make sure. We are all. Exercising our gifts. To the glory of God. Fanny them into flame. Especially young preachers.

[29:20] And this is all done. By God's grace. Isn't it? His help. We need him. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[29:32]  Amen.