Trustworthy Sayings - Part 3

This podcast is the Ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church.

For more information on our church, please visit Grandparkway.org.

If you've got your Bible, I want to invite you to take it and open up to 1 Timothy chapter 4.

1 Timothy 4 · chapter mention

We'll continue in the series we're in entitled Trustworthy Sayings, where five times in different books of the Bible, Paul says something and he says, This is a trustworthy saying.

And this morning we're going to read the first 11 chapters of 1 Timothy chapter 4.

1 Timothy 4 · chapter mention

And uh here's my confession.

I don't think I have a whole lot to say this morning, so I want to say what I have to say, and then I want to be done.

Is that fair enough?

Some of y'all are like, we'll believe that when we see it.

Anyway, uh 1 Timothy chapter 4, verse 1, he says this.

1 Timothy 4:1

Now the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and the teaching 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.

If you put these things before the brothers, you'll be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed.

Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths.

Rather train yourself for godliness.

For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life also, excuse me, for the present life and also for the life to come.

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance.

For to this end we toil and strive because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.

Command and teach these things.

Command and teach these things.

Now the context of what we just read is that Paul, an older believer, an older godly man, is writing to Timothy, a younger godly man, who's left in a city called Ephesus that is a very pagan city.

They have a big uh temple to a false goddess there, and all kinds of crazy things are going on.

And Paul left Timothy there because some of the people they were teaching in the church were to begin to teach things that didn't line up with the Bible.

And he kind of says, and the the the the gist of everything, he says all this stuff is going on.

We'll get to that in just a minute.

But he says to Timothy in verse 7, have nothing to do with irreverent and silly myths, but instead train yourself for godliness.

For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of great value, not only in this life, but in the life to come.

And so that's what.

And then he says, and this is a trustworthy saying.

What is a trustworthy saying?

Train yourself for godliness.

Now let me just say this.

I want to talk to you this morning about how do you train yourself for godliness?

What does that look like?

I don't know if you've ever seen the picture.

Every once in a while you go in the mall and they have the poster, and there's a picture of a little fat kid.

He's standing there with his arms behind his back and he's looking up at the refrigerator, and on top of the refrigerator is a pie.

You ever seen that picture?

That little kid's just staring at it like he's trying to figure out how do I get up there and get that pie.

My confession is about the first 10 years of my Christianity, whenever I heard the word godliness, I felt like that little kid, just staring up at something that I so desired, but it was so far out of reach.

I was just like, so when the preacher would say godliness, or I'll talk to you how to be godly, I was just like, don't do that.

Because it's easy because when you hear godliness, you think, if somebody would ask you this week, what's one word to describe your life?

Most of you would not have said godliness.

True or false?

You would have said a lot of things.

Well, it's this, it's that, blah, blah, blah.

You wouldn't say that.

I hope you see that it's not easy.

Not saying it's easy, but it's accessible.

You hear the difference?

It's not easy, but it's accessible.

So, what does it mean to train yourself with godliness?

The first thing it means, and and I want to change the word.

I said in the first service, eat with thanksgiving.

Uh and and and that's, I guess that's we could say it like that, but that'd be the first thing.

Eat with thanksgiving.

If I was going to change the word, it would say, it would say, eat with understanding.

You say, What do you mean?

Now, some people, look at verse 1.

Now, the spirit expressly says that in the latter times, some will depart from the faith.

Now let me just stop right there.

It didn't say they lost their faith.

You but because once a person is genuinely converted, you cannot lose your salvation.

The Bible says you're sealed by the Spirit to the day of redemption.

It's that word depart.

It says, now the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times some will depart from the faith.

It means to flee, to turn away from.

Let me give you a word picture in your mind.

When I was, yeah, I don't know, I was seventh, eighth grade, I think it was eighth grade.

Uh, my my oldest brother Steve bought a brand new, I wasn't no, I wasn't seventh grade.

He bought a brand new 1979 uh uh Monte Carlo.

It was midnight blue, had light blue seats, and that but that bad boy had an eight-track in it.

Anybody?

Hello?

A-track?

He had Tad Nugent cat scratch fever blaring in that bad boy, and my brother was like, he brought that thing home from the dealer.

He looked at me and said, If you so much as touch my car, I'll beat the snot out of you.

Well, I was like, you can't throw down that on a brother.

I was beginning to think, I'm gonna touch his car when he's not looking.

My brother and my two older brothers would go out at night and make decisions that were so poor they would have to sleep a lot the next morning.

Are you with me?

And so that car had been in the driveway for about a month or two, maybe at most.

And one Saturday morning I just woke up and my brother was passed out in there because he got in at three in the morning and he was passed out, and I expressedly heard the spirit say, Go in there and get them car keys, let's drive that Monte Carlo.

So I went in there, I crept in there and got his pants and just picked them up, and I reached in there and found the keys and pulled them out.

You know, there was a time when keys didn't have that little rubber plastic thing on, they were just metal.

Remember that?

Yeah, and they were clinging together, and I was like, got out there.

My mom said, What are you doing?

And I said, I'm not talking like a smoker, that's for sure.

And so I said, I'm gonna go out and look at the car.

I went out and looked at the car, slid the key in the door, unlocked it, got in.

I was so little when I was 13 that I had to sit on the edge of the seat and look out under the steering wheel because it was laid back.

I backed that bad boy out of the driveway because I thought I'm just gonna crank it up.

My first thought.

I cranked it up, and Ted Nugent came on, wow, wow, wow, wow.

And I expressively heard the spirit say, Let's go right around.

So I backed it up and I went downtown.

I grew up in a town of 4,200 people.

That's nothing to be ashamed of.

That's not a bad thing.

Except everybody knows everybody in a town of 4,200 people.

Mark that.

I back it up.

We lived on 305 Moreland Avenue.

I went up the hill, hung the left.

I come rolling slow, had the windows down, had Ted Nugent blaring, went through Main Street, hung the right, went down by the handyman, the convenience store, everyone hung out to get hot fries at one in the morning.

There are things that you do, things that you put in your body that make you want to eat hot fries at one in the morning.

Yeah.

Some of you are in here.

Don't look all self-righteous.

I have no idea what you're talking about.

And then I hung the left at the light, went down, went around the sonic two times because that was the drag, by the way.

No one's at the sonic at 7:30 on a Saturday morning.

I hit it up anyway, went up there by Brookshers, went up by the bank, did a couple loops, driving back, and I'm on Main Street, headed back up the hill to hang around on Morland Avenue, and nothing happened, and I passed a cop.

And it's not like passing a cop in Houston.

You pass a cop, you're kind of like, hey, what's up?

You passed a cop in a town of 4,200 people.

They know you, they know your daddy, they know your mama, they know that's your brother's car, and you shouldn't be driving it.

That sucker whipped around, woo! And I sped up up the hill, and right at the corner of the hill, you hang around it to go down Moreland Avenue.

There's a lady there, and right there by her driveway, she has a, I call it mulberries, little red berries all over the bush.

The bush is about that tall.

How do I know?

Because when you turn right and I was looking back to see if the cob was coming, and when I looked back, I pulled the steering roll that way, and the next thing I've heard I felt was boom-boom, me going over the curve and mowing right over that bush.

Red berries went everywhere.

I looked up and I was headed for that cable that supports a telephone pole.

I swerved out of the way.

I almost stroked out right there in the car.

I'd have been the youngest stroke victim ever, 13.

My heart is pounding.

I got berries everywhere.

I slam on the gas, I go down the hill, pull in the driveway, get all the berries off of it, walk back in, my mother.

Where have you been?

I said, Oh, just out looking at the car.

Went in there and put the keys back in the pocket, laid down, said, Oh, thank you.

Hail Mary and whoever else got me out of that, thank you.

Two weeks later, I walk in, my brother's making a sandwich, he just turns, wham! Hits me right in the chest.

I was like, Who was that for?

Don't you ever drive my car?

I was like, What are you, creskin?

How'd you find out?

Behind the license plate, some red berries were back there.

The big rumor was going around.

This is life in a small town.

The rumor was, who ran over Mrs.

Mayberry's bush up there?

And I was like, that's her name, that old woman that gardens all the time.

Because you can see it was plowed over.

My brother's smart.

I mean, he figured it out.

He's like Matlock.

He pieced it together.

He said, Don't you ever so much as sit in my car ever again.

Why do I tell you that?

Because when the Bible says that some will depart from the faith, it's kind of like you lose your focus and you run off the road.

They didn't lose their salvation.

They started listening to the wrong people.

And so this is what Paul says.

Look at what you say, how do they do that?

Look at that.

He says they depart from the faith.

How?

By devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and the teaching of demons through the insincerity of liars whose consciences have been 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.

Now notice verse 4.

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.

Now there were people in the church that were saying, hey, listen, if you really want to love God, here's what you do.

You don't get married, and there's certain foods that you don't eat.

Men?

Who could join me in saying, I am a better man, and I am a better man because I married the woman that I married?

If you can say that, would you say amen?

See, and so people come along and they said, Hey, you don't need to get married.

Let me tell you something.

I would hate to think about the type of person I would be if I wasn't married, number one, but also married to the person I'm married to, number two.

And I know some people in the first service, especially, because they're tattletales.

I'll say something about my wife, and they run out of here and go, oh boy, he was talking about you today.

My favorite was the lady that said, I tell you what, that's my husband.

I'd slap his face red every time he talked about me.

Because my thought was, if I was your husband, ah.

You ever think things and you think, I don't need to say that?

It's one of those moments.

I was like, she doesn't go to our church anymore, so I could say that.

I was like, hey, let me suggest a few churches to you.

You say, What do you say?

Eat with Thanksgiving.

What's this got to do with godliness?

Here's what God says.

Hey, don't miss this.

These people tried to attain with religious regulation what God says should be enjoyed in the context of relationship.

He says, Hey, nothing is off limits if it's received with thanksgiving.

Which means, by the way, that's why you pray when food comes.

And some of you, the most simple takeaway today is to leave out of here men and start saying to your family, hey, I want us to pray before we eat.

It's to leave out of here and say, hey, when you have lunch, even if it's with the guys at work that tell dirty jokes all the time, when the food comes, you just say, hey, I want to I want to return thanks.

Do you guys mind?

And get prepared for them to say all kinds of stuff.

I mean, I have friends that they're not Christians.

They're like, hey, hey, the food comes, they just start eating, and I just say, hey, I'm gonna I'm gonna return thanks.

Do you guys mind?

Oh, oh, go ahead.

Is that like sprinkling fairy dust on it or whatever?

No, you gluttonous pig.

It's just kind of acknowledged it didn't come out of your paycheck.

Really?

You gotta go there?

Well, I mean, okay, Lance, anyway.

Sometimes the people that work at this church forget to say grace before they eat.

I'm like, what are we paying you for, dude?

Look down there, Lance has got sweet potato fries hanging out of his mouth like a mule.

I'm like, what have you not been eaten in a week or something?

He said, how simple it is.

He says, hey, this is to be received with thanksgiving.

But these people, and by the way, look at verse 4.

I want you to see this.

He says, For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected.

Remember a couple months ago we talked about Genesis.

We talked about the order of creation.

The order of creation is God said it, it was so, and it was.

God said it, it was so and it was good.

I kept waiting on y'all when we were read.

I was reading the 136 Psalms just to come in.

His love endures forever.

But y'all sat there like church people.

Is he gonna repeat this this many times?

Yes.

Yes, we are.

And what why did I tell you that about the order of creation?

God said it, it was so, and it was good.

Because everything God created is good and is to be received with gratitude or thankfulness.

And these people come along and say, no, no, no, no, no.

Listen, you shouldn't eat this, you shouldn't eat this, and you shouldn't eat that, and you shouldn't get married because they want to accomplish by restriction what God accomplishes through relationship.

That's why when the food comes, you should just kind of bow your head and just kind of say, God, thank you.

It's why I love going to eat a meal with my friend Wade Burchess because he understands food the way I understand food.

It's not just physical nourishment.

Like if you ever go to Houston's, they have a prime rib sandwich there.

Oh, sweet fancy Moses and some horseradish dip, and these little shoestring french fries, and they're just like little baby french fries, and I'm gonna eat all of you.

Somebody asked me recently, I love this.

Men are kind of like, hey, dude, you're losing weight.

Women are like, hey, I don't want to say anything, but you look good.

Which is their way of saying, hey, hey, you're not fat anymore, Neil.

Thanks.

And so, yes, I've gotten back into running.

Now, I say back, I was never into running.

I'm not into running right now.

I hate running.

But I run.

I'll go run tonight.

I just sit, you know, and but I'm trying to be more mindful of what I eat and stuff like that.

And I went Friday and Saturday speaking of men's retreat at Cypress Bend Golf Resort on Toledo Bend Reservoir in Manny, Louisiana.

Whoo! That was nice.

I got there, checked in, they said, hey, our section's not till 7, about 6 30.

Uh excuse me, uh, our section's not until 8, about 6 30.

They texted me and said, Hey, we're all down in the restaurant eating.

Some of our guys want to meet you.

And I was like, uh, I don't know if that's a healthy food choice, and I I don't have anything healthy to eat.

I'll just fast or whatever.

So I go down there and I thought I'll just have a glass of tea, and then they all started getting their food, and I was like, Wow, man, hmm, that looks good.

Whew.

I felt like a pyromaniac in a match store.

I was like, and then the waitress came by and I said, Hey, do you have like a special, like a little salad or something?

She goes, Well, we have a grilled, uh, a Cajun grilled chicken sandwich.

And I said, Yeah, all I heard was grilled chicken.

I thought, that'll qualify.

I said, bring me one of those.

She brings me out an oblong dugout canoe with French fries, and there's this white bread with green specks all over it.

She lays it down and she said, Our Cajun chicken sandwich is a fresh grilled chicken breast with cheddar cheese and bacon served on a freshly made jalapeno sourdough bun.

Shut your mouth.

And my first thought was, this is not on my diet.

And then I heard the Spirit expressly say, Rise and eat, it's all clean.

And I just smiled and I picked up that bun.

And you know, sourdough bread, it sounds sour, but it's kind of sweet.

You know that, right?

I picked up that bun and there was bacon.

I haven't had bacon in front.

I was like, hello, bacon.

Remember me?

It's Neil.

Meat candy for Neil and cheese dripping over.

And this wasn't a chicken breast.

This was like, I don't know, like an ostrich.

This thing was hanging over the thing.

I was like, oh, and it's got grill marks on it.

Not like the things that have it subway.

That's not chicken.

I don't know what that is, but it's not chicken.

But I eat it because Jared ate it and lost weight.

And I'm just like, chickens don't come like that.

They're not that long and that skinny.

But this was a chicken.

And I was just talking to it, and one of them looked at my buddy who was there, and he goes, Does he always talk to his food?

And I said, I haven't seen bacon in so long.

And I picked up the bacon and licked it.

Oh yeah.

Put it back on.

You stay right there.

Because part of me said, Take that bacon off of there and it won't be as bad.

Then part of me said, Oh no, you eat that bacon.

So I looked around to see where my wife was.

And I put that bacon back on there.

I see some of you single guys like, oh tell you what, my wife ain't gonna tell me.

You see this shirt?

Where do you think I got this shirt?

It's not magenta, it's not pink, it's coral.

And I'm glad to wear it.

I see some of y'all kind of like, yeah, boy, I'll tell you what.

See, these people forbid marriage.

Men, you you're a better man because you married the woman you married.

For us, we got uh like a like a second mom and a housekeeper and a lover and a friend and all that.

Your wife got a life-size kind all.

They get to dress you and all this stuff.

Now, at this point, if you're a thinking person, you're probably thinking, what has this got to do with godliness?

Here's what it has to do with godliness.

When you hear godliness, you're like the little fat kid in the poster, staring up there at the pie, like, ain't no way I could ever get that.

And God says, Hey, you want to be godly?

You want to train yourself for godliness?

Don't try to accomplish through restriction what has to be enjoyed in relationship.

That chicken sandwich was so good, I ate the whole thing.

I said, ma'am, you got some Tabasco sauce?

She said, Sweetie, this is Louisiana.

I'm sorry.

I've been eating subway a lot here lately.

I got me some ketchup.

You know how much sugar's in ketchup?

You don't want to know.

I went into shock.

I started eating that ketchup.

I was like, I hammered down some Tabasco sauce, ate all those French fries, ate all that chicken, that grilled, uh Cajun grilled chicken sandwich.

It had some cayenne pepper on it, too, by the way.

Oh, it was nasty good.

Went back to my room, laid on the bed, and did snow angels.

Lord, for what I just did, forgive me.

I'm not kidding about this part.

That little voice said, You ain't gonna be forgiven.

Seeing you should feast every once in a while to prepare yourself for the fast.

And see, if you've lost the wonder of God's provision and you can't eat with thankfulness, you see, we eat with ourselves in mind.

I'm sad, I'm gonna eat.

I'm depressed, I'm gonna eat.

I'm angry, I'm gonna eat.

My wife's not being nice to me, I'm gonna eat.

My kids are off the reservation, I'm gonna eat.

And what Paul says is it's real simple.

You don't you you want to train yourself for godliness?

Eat with God in mind.

Eat as much as God says to eat, and and he can still get glory and then be done.

It's very simple.

It's very accessible.

Second thing he tells us, he says, train.

Look at verse 6.

If you put these things before the brothers, because these people are all like, don't do this, don't do this, don't do this.

And God says everything, Paul says everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it's received with thanksgiving.

Now, to all the pot smokers in the house, let me just cut you off at the pass, okay?

Because I know how you think, clones.

You're like, oh, right there, it says everything God created is good.

And y'all are like, You're a kid?

No, I'm not.

Two high school guys come to me to youth camp.

Hey, uh, preacher, we were up last night in our dorm.

We were looking at different Bible verses, and uh, hey, right there, man, everything God created is good.

Does that include marijuana?

Oh, I'm I'm I'm sure it does in California or somewhere.

Uh but you know, the Bible I said, guys, you can't pull, so y'all are a bunch of underwear theologians who can't sleep, so you pull the Bible out and try to get novel with it.

The Bible also says in Romans 13 1, there's no authority except that which is given of God.

So let every man be in subjection to the authority of the land.

The authority of the land says marijuana is illegal.

Where's that again?

Romans 13.1.

So you go back to your dorm tomorrow night and get your little tidy-whites out and get your Bible and find some other crazy verse you want me to clarify for you, because you guys are like scarecrows coming to a bonfire.

I'm gonna burn you down, alright?

The Bible says everything God created is good and is to be received with thanksgiving.

Eat.

If you want to be godly, he says, eat with God in mind, not just yourself.

Secondly, he says, train.

Verse 6 train.

If you put these things before the brothers, you'll be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained, and then two.

Phrases in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed.

Training.

Train yourself.

With what?

With the words of the faith.

What is that?

It's the content of the gospel.

See, Christianity is a body of tradition articulated in a teachable doctrine.

Way back in Acts, I mean Acts 24, Felix, the Bible says of Felix this man, he was like a magistrate, like a judge.

He says he was not a believer, he says, but he was firmly acquainted with the way.

And way is capitalized in Acts 24.

He's talking about Christianity.

In other words, what it means to be a Christian is clearly defined and spelled out in the Bible.

And my fear is, now look at me, beloved.

We're just about done, believe it or not.

You still with me?

My fear is that we're so creative and so sexy and so smooth and so contemporary that we think we can redefine what it means to be a Christian.

No, you can't.

What it means to be a Christian is clearly spelled out in the Bible.

Paul says the words of the faith.

And secondly, good doctrine.

Good doctrine, doctrine is an antiquated, dusty old grandpa word.

You heard doctrine.

Doctrine basically means what you believe, the core teaching of what you believe.

And so you like I was at IHOP meeting somebody for breakfast not long ago, and a guy said, Hey man, uh, I've come to your church some and I just got transferred.

I'm having to move.

What should I look for in a church?

And I gave him these two words.

You look for a church that teaches the words of the faith and good doctrine.

Yeah, yeah, but but I mean, yeah, I mean, I've never really got anything out of church.

I started coming to your church and like the Bible came alive.

And I said, That's not a statement about me.

That's a statement about the Bible and words of the faith and good doctrine.

And I could tell he was like, I don't know what you mean when you say good doctrine.

He goes, I know that when you get up, every Sunday you open up the Bible and you just kind of preach out of the Bible.

Do you preach out of the Bible every Sunday?

I thought he was kidding, but he wasn't.

And I'm not making fun of the guy.

I'm just like, I thought it was just me, but the hostess at the little stand, little podium with the menus was like.

Then I said, Yeah, if people don't teach the Bible, they're not preaching.

He said, Well, we used to go to a church, my wife and I, and because they did mail outs and we got them in the mail all the time.

We went, and the guy would read like a verse or two, then sit it down, and then he would just talk.

And he said, But my wife noticed that when you open the Bible, you keep coming back to it.

That's because I got ADD.

No, it's that's because here's the words of the faith and good doctrine.

You say, Well, what do you mean, doctrine?

It's what you believe.

Like the Bible says, Let me get let me hang flesh on doctrine because you are people of good doctrine.

We labor to teach you what the Bible says, not to club you over the head with it, but to say, hey, you can do this.

When it says train yourself for godliness, you got that.

The Bible says in 1 John chapter 3, if you see your brother in need and you close up your bowels of compassion, how does the love of God dwell in you?

1 John 3 · chapter mention

I was at my daughter's school.

She goes to Oyster Creek over here.

She had forgotten something.

I had to take it and drop it off.

And I walked by, and there's about three teachers or people stand at the front desk, and they're talking about budget cuts and budget cuts and budget cuts and budget cuts.

And they all looked exhausted.

And I walked in and I said, Ladies, cheer up.

Friday's coming.

And one of the ladies said, and then the summer comes.

And I said, Well, hang in there, hold the fort for the night cometh.

And she goes, That's harder than you think.

And I walked away, and doctrine just kind of welled up in me.

And I was like, God, we need to do something about that.

And so we started with Garcia Middle School over here.

We went to Sam's and bought hundreds of dollars of drinks and snacks and candy and chocolate and granola bar.

We called them first.

And we said, Hey, can we just come and stock your teacher's lounge?

And they're like, What?

Can we come and stock your teacher's lounge?

What do you mean, stock it?

With Coke and Diet Coke and Sprite and Dr.

Pepper and Dr.

Pepper and water and Lipton green tea and Hershey bars and Snicker bars and granola for the healthy people.

She's like, What time can you be here?

I said, I gotta go load my truck.

It'll be in the next couple of days.

Okay, so we did that.

We did foster high school, way out there in Egypt where they filmed deliverance.

Elton, go to a Folcher and hang a left.

Went out there.

The people were like, Went to Oyster Creek the other day.

That was the last one we did.

Rolled in there.

My favorite part is kids are lined up along the wall.

When I come pushing a cart loaded with candy, oh man, is that for us?

Get back against the wall.

Ain't none of this for you.

And the teacher said, and I quote, uh, she said the kid's name, I think it's Danny or said, Danny, do you want to get a yellow light?

Because if you get a yellow light, it's one step to a red light.

I'm like, this is the problem with these foolish kids up in here.

You need to be beating some of them kids.

Red light, are you kidding me?

The only red thing my ever dad asked me if I wanted did not involve a light, okay?

My dad grabbed that belt.

You want me to wear you out, boy?

I didn't think red light.

I thought red behind, maybe.

Round in the corner, another kid reached out and grabbed a box of candy bars.

I said, What are you doing?

You want you want to be beat?

Oh, uh, uh, uh, I've already got a yellow light.

Who's that for?

It's for the teachers.

Why are you giving it to the teachers?

Because they are here to accomplish the impossible with a coalition of the one unwilling on behalf of the ungrateful.

Go home and tell your parents that.

That poor kid's eyes just roll back in his head.

Why'd I tell you that?

Look at me.

That's doctrine.

That's what you believe as a church with your skin wrapped around it.

Because a lot of churches, when they build a new building, they get stingy.

We're not going to do that.

You hear me?

We're not going to do that.

We're still going to do missions.

We're going to still give money away.

We're still going to help and bless our city and our community.

Why?

Because of what we believe, doctrine.

Paul says, hey, if you want to be godly, here's how you pursue, here's how you train yourself for godliness.

You eat with God in mind.

Secondly, you train yourself with the words of the faith and good doctrine.

And thirdly, and finally, you remember that godliness is the goal.

Godliness is the goal.

He says in verse 7, have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths.

By the way, don't miss that word irreverent.

See, don't let somebody define for you what it looks like for you to be reverent.

Because the church, we do behavior modification and cling people up.

This men's retreat I was just on, there was a guy there that he had a big old mountain man beard and he had tattoos all down his arms, and he just sat there the whole time staring at me, kind of like, I bet I could kill you and nobody noticed.

I taught Friday night.

I taught Saturday morning.

I taught a little bit before lunch on Saturday.

That cat just a big old beard and just staring at me.

And I just thought, I don't think I'm connecting with him.

So after it was over, I was sitting there talking to this guy who came up and said, Man, I'm an alcoholic.

Can we have lunch?

Absolutely.

This will be much more interesting than any preachers that are here.

And the guy said, I just went through detoxing, man, I'm dry.

And I said, first of all, congratulations.

And we're just talking.

And I looked up, and guess who was standing five feet away?

Mountain man.

He had a knuckle knife.

He was just standing there just looking at me.

I mean, brother, I ain't smiled the whole time.

He's like, I just want to say thanks.

Shook my hands like a vice grip.

I was like, You're welcome.

He walked away.

I was like, oh, thank you, Lord, for not letting him get me.

And about that time, that little voice said, Turn around.

Turned around, and he was standing back here at the pan.

I said, Come here for a second.

I said, By the way, you know you don't have to do this like anybody else, right?

What do you mean?

Never mind, I'm sorry.

No, I said, you don't, you don't have to do that because you're like a man's man.

I mean, like you eat raw meat and you got all tatted up and everything.

And when you come to church, they're gonna want to clean you up.

He smiled for the first time all weekend.

He went, I started starting happening.

I said, God doesn't want to clean you up.

God likes you being just like you are.

You ain't gotta wear long sleeves because you got tattoos.

Pull your sleeves up.

Let me see your ink.

Pulled them up.

I was like, woo, that looks like it hurt.

He's like, didn't hurt at all.

Probably wouldn't hurt me either.

I looked up from his arms to his eyes and he had tears in his eyes.

He said, Ever since I've been coming to church, people are trying to tell me what I gotta be.

You just be you.

Okay?

You comfortable being you?

Why?

Because of what the Bible says right here in 1 Timothy 4.

Look at this.

He says, hey, verse 7, have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths.

Don't let somebody tell you what it looks like for you to be reverent.

Now there's a body of teaching called Christianity, the doctrine, the charisma, the core things we believe that we all submit our lives to.

But you ain't got to do it like everybody else does it.

Paul goes on and says in verse 8, rather train yourself for godliness.

For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way.

Because it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

This saying is trustworthy and deserving full acceptance.

Now, if you're in 1 Timothy, turn to the right to 2 Peter, and we'll be done this morning.

Because you may still be thinking, yeah, but godliness, training, that's not a word I like.

And godliness feels just kind of like, man, that's a million miles away up there.

2 Peter chapter 1.

2 Peter 1 · chapter mention

Verse 3.

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and what's the next word?

Godliness.

Look at me.

I love you.

As hard as that may be, look at me.

God's not going to ask you to do something He doesn't equip you to do.

He's not gonna say, be godly, and go, and figure out what that means.

That'll take your lifetime.

No.

Me and my brothers were cruel little kids growing up.

We were down by the highway in front of our house.

And this lady stopped us and said, Hey, I'm trying to get to Mount Pleasant.

Which way is Mount Pleasant?

Mount Pleasant is that way.

Gilmer is that way.

And before I could say anything, my brother went, Mount Pleasant's that way.

Just turn around and go that way.

I remember getting in bed that night and feeling kind of dirty on the inside.

We sent that lady in the wrong direction.

I hadn't thought about that in years.

I'm gonna call my brother today and shame him with that.

Don't you think you should send money to your preacher, brother, because of that?

I can't repeat what he'll say.

But anyway, look at me.

Here's what I'm saying.

God doesn't send you in the wrong direction.

He gives you everything you need for life and godliness, the Bible says.

Through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence, by which He has granted to us His precious and very great promises, that's the Bible, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

For this reason, make every effort to supplement, to add to your faith with virtue, the virtue knowledge, and the knowledge self-control, and the self-control steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness brotherly kindness or brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.

For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful, or ineffective and unproductive in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

See, godliness is the goal, but it's also what God provides you.

He says He's given us everything we need for life and godliness.

This is a trustworthy saying.

You can bank and build your life on this.

Physical training is of some value, but godliness is of great value.

Why?

Because it prepares you for life in this world, but also in the life to come.

Let's pray together.

The Holy Spirit, thank you that you speak a language we understand, God, and that you speak clearly and loudly.

You've given us a record of your revelation, your will, your desire for our lives.

And you said, Hey, by the way, I've given you everything you need for life and godliness.

You just need to appropriate it.

You need to train yourself to know how to handle these things.

You need to expose yourself to words of the faith and good doctrine.

Because then, like Timothy, you follow it.

And when you don't feel like it, you follow it.

Not because it's your ritual, your tradition, because you know deep inside, at a place beyond what you feel, you know it's the truth.

So, God, you've given us all that in your word, and for that we're grateful.

It's a trustworthy saying, and so we entrust ourselves to it.

We love you.

Keep speaking, and we'll keep listening.

That's our prayer today.

We pray it in Jesus' name, and everyone said, Amen.

Hold your hands out.

When your father tells you to be imitators of God is dearly loved children, he actually believes you can do that.

And so, because he believes it, depart now and do it.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Bless you.

You're dismissed.