1 Timothy 4:6-16 | The Fruit of Hope - Pastor Web Gehring Ordination Service

This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

This is a unique morning in the history of this church.

For the second time in the last year, we are privileged to officially recognize the Lord's work in setting a man apart for his service.

It's almost exactly a year ago that we did this with Jeremy Gonzalez.

Now, a year later, we get to do this with Webb Gehring.

You know, every believer in the Lord Jesus is called to take up their cross and follow him.

That is something that applies to each and every one of us.

But there are some whom the Lord uniquely calls to serve him in what we call today vocational ministry.

But it's historically been the local church's responsibility to acknowledge that setting apart for the Lord's work in a ceremonial charge to that person to follow Christ faithfully.

So on the one hand, we recognize what God has done.

On the other hand, we acknowledge the work is not done.

And we are privileged to do that for Webb Garing this morning.

I didn't ask him if I could say this, so I'll ask for forgiveness later, Webb.

When I got here eight years, seven years ago, Webb had already been here a year.

And when we spoke about vocational ministry, and I asked him, what do you imagine that you want to be?

What's the Lord have in mind for you?

He said, I don't know.

I don't know.

It wasn't too long after that that he he his answer changed a little bit.

And he said, You know, I think the Lord is calling me to be a lead pastor or a solo pastor or senior pastor, something along those lines.

And I said, Great, let's let's aim for that.

And you begin to see the maturity in Christ as time goes on, because that then shifted and later became, you know, I just want to do and to be whatever the Lord has for me.

Whatever that might be.

And that's where he has faithfully served now for eight years, doing whatever the Lord has called him to do in the moment.

Some time ago, the elders recommended him for ordination through the EFCA, Evangelical Free Churches of America, which involves a process of biblical and theological evaluation.

So you have to first write a paper that's about 40 pages in length that details your doctrine and answers some specific kinds of questions.

As a good pastor does, Webb couldn't keep it to 40 pages, it had to go more.

Then you have to defend that before a group of your ministry peers answering questions on the spot.

And Webb did that last March, was it?

Was it March?

I think it was March.

And then that that goes together with a recommendation from our district superintendent Brian Wright, that you will meet in a moment, to the head offices of the Evangelical Free Church.

And that is then approved by the whole EFCA for this moment.

Through it all, Webb has displayed that unique setting apart from the Lord for the work of ministry.

Now the pressures of ordination, both the trial of the process and the commitment to serving Christ in the local church reside mainly in the one being ordained.

So our responsibility this morning is to acknowledge the Lord's work in Webb's life and ministry and to affirm his calling.

To do that, I want to lead us through a portion of 1 Timothy 4 together this morning.

We've already read verses 6 through 16.

If you are following along with us, I'd like to back up a little bit and give a little bit more context to this passage.

So if you have your Bible, I will begin reading in 1 Timothy 3 verse 14 till we get to the part where we already read.

1 Timothy 3:14

Again, that's 1 Timothy chapter 3, beginning in verse 14.

1 Timothy 3 · chapter mention

The Apostle Paul writes, I hope to come to you soon, the you being Timothy, of course, but I am writing these things to you so that if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave or conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.

For great indeed is the mystery of godliness that we confess.

He was manifested in the flesh.

He was justified by the Spirit.

Now, the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and the 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 to be received with thanksgiving.

For it is made holy by the word of God in prayer.

And then that familiar verse to most of us if you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed.

I want to direct your attention to this text all the way through the end of chapter four.

As an exhortation to Webb in this particular moment.

And he had to sit in the very back there so it doesn't hit so hard as up front.

So it's an exhortation to Webb in this particular moment, but it is an appeal as well to you, as part of the family here at faith and part of the household of God.

I want to briefly highlight four significant aspects of this passage.

The focus of Paul's exhortation, the fidelity of good servants, the fruitfulness of training in godliness, and the focus of a good servant in Christ.

Don't worry, we'll go over those some more.

Let's start with the focus of the apostolic exhortation.

It includes you.

It includes you.

Now, if we merely read through our Bibles without pondering or meditating on the text, we can easily miss certain aspects.

One of those elements is the audience that the author has in mind.

He was met by the Apostle Paul on one of his missionary journeys and very quickly became Paul's apprentice and eventually the leader that Paul appointed over the church at Ephesus.

You can see that at the beginning of the first chapter.

So the letter is intensely personal, with apostolic directness to that particular young man with his strengths, with his weaknesses, with his personality and his leadership style.

But Paul's reason for writing this letter to Timothy was directly related to the local church.

That's why I backed up to start in chapter 3, verses 14 and 15.

He says, this is all about how you function in the local church.

I'm writing these things to you so that if I delay, you will still know how to conduct yourself in the household of God, which is the pillar and buttress of the truth.

Timothy is the primary audience so that he, as the leader of the church in Ephesus, might know how do you conduct yourself.

But it also tells us that there is a secondary focus here, and that is the church in Ephesus, and by extension, all local churches.

The Ephesian Christians need to know that their leader would contend for the genuine faith.

If you flip back to chapter 1 and verse 3, you will see, as I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different kind of doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies which promote speculations rather than stewardship from God, that is by faith.

They need to know that he is going to contend for genuine faith, and as verse 5 of chapter 1 continues on to say, to charge the Christians in the community to follow Christ with a pure heart, with a good conscience, and a sincere faith.

And as part of that local church, they also need to know how to behave in God's house.

So this first letter to Timothy is sort of like a family meeting.

Dad has called the family together to hear what he has to say, but the primary focus of his talk is one sibling.

But everybody gets to hear what's said to the one sibling.

And they need to hear it because they are part of God's household too.

So by application, this book is intended for all churches and all believers.

The statements about being a good servant apply to all of us.

The statements about training and godliness are to us as daughters and sons of the living God.

So we are gathered here as a family today in a similar way to the people at Ephesus.

As I declare God's word to Webb, we all hear them because we all need them and we all need to apply them as part of God's household.

That's the first aspect.

Now notice the second aspect, and that is the fidelity of good servants.

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

Now, the particularly personal point of this letter begins in chapter 3, verse 14.

And it continues all the way through the end of chapter 4.

But it starts with a doctrinally rich Christological statement.

That's in chapter 3, verse 16.

We could spend all day.

In fact, Anton could do his whole paradox classes just on verse 16.

That's an idea for you, Anton.

That's free.

We don't have time to go into that.

But it means that chapter 3, verse 16 is speaking about the person of Christ, and it is overflowing with richness about who Christ is and what he's done.

You need to know that everything that is said to Timothy and to Webb and to us is grounded in Christology, in the study of the person of Jesus Christ.

The faithfulness of good servants is grounded in the doctrine of Christ.

How we function as a body of believers, how we fellowship together, how we serve one another is grounded in Jesus.

That's significant because of the first part of chapter four.

There will be times when teaching and philosophy and worldview drift away from biblical Christology.

So Timothy and Webb, Ephesus and faith need a deep, solid mooring in the person of Jesus Christ.

Then comes this familiar statement.

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

Our English translations miss an assumption here.

And they instead kind of turn it into a possibility.

What I mean is that Paul isn't hoping that Timothy will teach others.

He's not saying, you know, Timothy, I hope you do this, and if you do, you'll be a good servant.

No, he's making an assumption.

It's as though he's saying, when you teach others, and I know you're going to, you will be a good servant of Jesus Christ.

A good servant takes the words of Christ in the scriptures and puts them before others.

Full stop.

That is the essence of faithfulness.

The essence of faithfulness in the local church is to take the words of Christ and put them before others.

Timothy is not to put up with falsehood, but to continually feed God's household, his children, with truth.

So you don't come to the gathering of God's household for silliness or for filth, for it is the pillar and the buttress of the truth.

To give people silliness or filth is demonic.

To provide them with truth is faithfulness.

But I want us to think about the motivation for faithfulness in God's servant.

Timothy, you're going to put these things before the brothers.

Webb, you're going to teach people the person of Christ.

You're going to do this.

Why would you do that?

What is behind the motivation to be a good servant for any one of us, no matter what God has called us to?

The Apostle Paul assumes that Timothy will be faithful in verse 6, but it's not until verse 10 that we begin to see what lies behind that faithfulness.

And in verse 10, we see that God's children are not to be motivated by recognition, by large audiences, by retirement packages, by protection from persecution or anything else tied to worldly ideologies.

The motivation for faithfulness among God's children is hope in Christ.

Notice the identification in verse 10 of the living God with the person of Christ who is the Savior.

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 those who believe.

Take note there in verse 10 of the pattern of faithfulness demonstrated through toiling and striving.

Those words describe all throughout scripture exhaustion and agony in the cause of laboring for Christ within the household of God.

I recently asked Webb to be a little more detailed in the monthly report that he submits to me because I know that he is exhausted and I know that he's agonizing many nights away from home in the midst of a very busy season.

You need to know that Webb is faithful in his exhaustion and in his agony on your behalf.

Don't feel sorry for him.

Pray for him.

But that's what a good servant does.

Take note of the faithfulness that is demonstrated through toiling and striving.

This is exhaustion and agonizing labor for the cause of Christ for brothers and sisters in Christ.

Also take note of the path of faithfulness demonstrated in a focus on a living God.

It would be very unwise to be exhausted and to agonize for something that goes away.

In other words, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to labor and to agonize at your job for a brand new car that you're just going to go out and total on the very first day.

Why would you do that?

It doesn't make any sense.

You see, the agony and the exhaustion here is done because there is hope in Christ.

There is a focus that is directly focused on the person of Christ.

Then take note of the pedestal of faithfulness demonstrated in trusting hope.

It's not just you have this belief that there is a living God.

No, it's that you have placed your trust in him and you rely on him day in and day out.

You know that those exhausting moments, those agonizing times, when you don't know exactly what you ought to be doing, but you're keeping on pressing through, you do that because you have placed your trust in the living God, who is not just a living God, but who is your Savior, who has rescued you from a fallen world that is just falling apart.

God's house comprises daughters and sons who have believed in Christ the Savior.

He has become their hope in a dark and dreary land.

And among those daughters and sons are some who labor and agonize as unique servants.

That labor and agony are on behalf of their faith siblings, so that all of us together might continue in hope with correct doctrine and proper practice.

So, what does that mean?

It means that a faithful servant puts the word of truth before the household of God.

It means that a faithful servant rejects silly and vain philosophies of the world, for he knows, he proclaims, and he lives Christ.

His hope is in Christ, the living Savior God.

It means that local churches like Faith Evangelical Free Church, like Ephesus, should know how to respond to those who would serve Christ in this way in their midst.

That is, you hear the instruction.

Not because it comes from some grandiose pattern of speaking, but because it declares Christ.

They see.

And they receive the labor because they know that the heart behind this labor is to produce eternal benefit.

They feel their agony on their behalf, and coursing through it all is a current of enduring hope because of the unfading glory of the living Christ.

That doesn't mean there isn't sadness.

It doesn't mean there isn't pain.

That doesn't mean we're any different from anybody else.

It means a good servant of Jesus Christ displays faithfulness in these things.

And so the fidelity of good servants is found chiefly in their motivation.

It is an enduring hope in a living God that drives them.

Now look with me at the fruit of training in godliness.

That fruit is something that benefits all of us.

It's important to notice, verse 10, again, for to this end we toil and strive because we have our hopes set on the living God.

But right before that is this statement about bodily, bodily training being of some value, but godliness is of value in every way.

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

Notice the difference that's being addressed there.

You can go to the gym every single day, and that will be of some value to you.

If you want to pay for that hideous practice, that's up to you.

It will be of some value to you.

But you can't take it with you when you die.

Training in godliness will benefit you today and forever.

And so he says this is this is a trustworthy statement and deserving of full acceptance.

That there is value in keeping your body healthy and keeping going.

But your focus needs to be not primarily on today, but on forever.

The only way to do that is to have your focus be on the living God, who is the savior of all who believe.

You know, there is a reason that I was not a professional athlete, and it has nothing to do with my stature or my athletic abilities, although my coaches might tell you differently.

The primary reason that I was not a professional athlete is that I don't like to practice.

I hated practices.

An athlete must practice to not only remain in game shape, but also to strengthen and refine their abilities.

But I hated practices, especially those 5 30 a.m.

practices in the middle of winter.

What are they thinking?

There are variations on that theme, right?

Some enjoy practicing, but when they get to practice, they don't work very hard.

They just kind of go through the motions.

Really easy to do at 5 30 in the morning.

Some show up but don't pay attention to what the coach is saying.

We Christians are not much different.

We don't often put much practice into our Christianity.

But practice is needed because very few people are born natural athletes.

And even those who are born natural athletes need development and refinement.

Few folks can lay down a perfect bead on a welding project without practice.

Few can make the perfect pie crust without practice.

Without practice, no one can be a faithful and genuine daughter or son of the living God.

You see, our conduct as sons and daughters in God's household must continually practice commitment to the truth of Scripture that enables us to endure the labor and agony of living in a sin-cursed world.

Have nothing to do, nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths.

Rather, train yourself for godliness.

Practice or training in godliness involves at least two paths.

The first is mental and intellectual knowledge.

It requires studying the patterns of movement, the structure of plays, how to read the opponent, and innumerable other elements of participating in an athletic event.

The other path is the application of that knowledge to the field of play.

You put it in action against a real live opponent, perhaps first in practice and then where it matters against an actual opponent.

Every Christian needs training in godliness, which means we need continual practice, including the diligent learning and application of that knowledge.

We can't just show up to practice and go through the motions.

We focus, we study, we learn, and we apply.

This is especially important for those the Lord has set apart for a unique service to the local church.

Webb, your opponent, is sly and devious, more than you will ever be in your sinfulness.

He is always looking to devour you, to trip you up, if possible, to slay you.

So diligent training is necessary, both in studying the Lord's word and how to live that out in a rapidly changing and evil world.

So, beloved believers at faith, encourage the Lord's servants in their continual training and practice, for by it you will be helped in your training and godliness and protected from the evils of your opponent.

Webb, be diligent in your training.

Resist thinking that it's complete.

It's never done.

Learn to love training in the knowledge and the application of Scripture.

Learn to heed the Lord's discipline and instruction and direction as the means of strengthening your devotion and leading his people in godliness.

You know, here's the good thing.

I hated practice because it was painful in the moment.

I hated it.

I hated the pain because I couldn't see in the moment how the pain of the moment was worth it in the future.

But notice what it says here in verse 8.

Training and practice in godliness holds promise for the present life.

It's good for you now, not just in the life to come.

We can see the benefits of training now.

It's not just to prepare us for an eternity with Christ, but to train us to be faithful in the present.

So in the household of God, we train for godliness with exhaustion and agony because it is worth the fruit it produces.

But most of all, it helps orient our hope in the living God when hopelessness is what surrounds us.

Finally, notice with me the focus of a good servant.

If you look at verse 16, we see the end result.

Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching.

Persist in this, for by doing so you will save both yourself and your hearers.

So there's a mutual kind of salvation that is at the heart of this text.

That a good servant, going all the way back to verse 15 of chapter 3 and verse 6 of chapter 4, and the training of verses 7, 8, and 9, all of this together works together so that the household of God mutually achieves, and that's not working for our salvation, it's that God uses that to bring us to the completion of our salvation all together.

Go verse 11.

What is the essence of toiling and striving?

Command and teach these things.

Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct and love and faith and purity.

Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and to teaching.

Don't neglect your gift, which is given by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you, but practice these things.

Immerse yourself in them so that all may see your progress.

Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching.

Let me summarize the focus of a good servant.

First, his focus is on instruction and on the content of his teaching.

There's a reason that we backed up to verse 14.

I think it's the section that begins this intentionally personal section, but it's also because it grounds it in Christology.

A faithful servant in the local church starts, continues, and ends his instruction on the person of Jesus Christ.

It's as if, sounds like as though Charles Spurgeon was right when he said, if a preacher can get up and preach a sermon without including Christ in any way, he ought to never preach again.

That's the focus.

He is to command and teach the things of Christ.

He is to be motivated to set these things before the siblings in verse 6.

He is to be driven by service to the person of Christ.

He is to be consumed by the things of Christ and to follow Christ such that his devotion to scripture, his exhortation, and his teaching is all evident to everybody.

But that needs to be backed up by personal godliness.

You have to have a focus on personal godliness.

Timothy was to be an example in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity.

It's interesting, though, that he doesn't say, make sure that the fallen evil world around you knows those things about you.

He doesn't say that.

He says, set yourself as an example to the brothers and sisters in the household of God.

See, this is a corporate thing.

That as we recognize those whom God has set apart, we recognize them because they display an example that we are to follow.

And we need to be able to see that.

In personal godliness, this Timothy is to be devoted to practice, to immersing himself in the practice of godliness so that others can observe his growth.

So you have the content of faithful teaching in the person of Christ.

You have personal godliness where that content of the person of Christ has become lived out in daily living, in the midst of other believers in Christ.

But there's also within his service to the body of Christ a focus on the eternal salvation of his hearers.

Notice that there's an expectation here in this text that we're talking about believers.

This is the household of God, which means there are brothers and sisters of faith in this house.

It's God's household.

We are there because our hope in the living God of Christ our Savior has placed us in that family.

And so we set examples to that family in everything, and yet at the same time, everything that we do is motivated and directed towards all of our eternal salvation.

Webb, get out of the ministry if you ever stop having the eternal salvation of your people in your focus.

If that ever departs from a minister's, a servant's mind, his focus suddenly turns to himself, not to the body of Christ.

Proper servant is to have the eternal salvation of his hearers always in mind.

And so these are things that the believers in Ephesus would have heard as this letter to Timothy was read in their midst.

Yeah, it's a family meeting.

One person is the focus, but the whole family's hearing the letter.

The whole family hears the letter so that they can all encourage young Timothy to follow through.

It's to Timothy, the exhortation is, but by extension, it is an appeal to the local church and within it to each and every believer to say, I need to be that faithful servant.

I need to be trained in godliness.

I need to practice these things.

Since the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and to the doctrines of demons, how much more devoted ought we to be in these things?

Some 2,000 years later.

This letter to Timothy reveals how devoted we ought to be to encouraging, supporting, and praying for those whom the Lord has called out and set apart to serve Him as they train, labor, and agonize for our eternal good.

So the good servant of verse 6 is continually others focused.

It's always about the brothers and sisters in Christ.

His teaching is a priority, his godliness is a priority, his service is continually for the eternal good of others, but to do that, his focus on his own spiritual state and growth and practice has to be in line with the hope that comes from Jesus Christ alone.

And that means that the labor and the exhaustion and the agony are worth it.

Because Christ is that glorious.

Would you pray with me?

Lord Jesus, may you be our hope.

We pray at this moment for all of us, the family of Christ gathered together here.

That these words would resound in our hearts and minds.

That it would be our heart's desire to conduct ourselves appropriately in the household of God.

Not to go about as a selfish individual within your house, but that we might always put others as more significant than ourselves.

That you would be the focus of our training and our practice.

That we would see you as our living hope.

That our community would know this is where God's house is.

Not because of the building in which we meet, but because the brothers and sisters are inside.

At the same time, we we know that at the end of your book, you tell Ephesus that somehow they lost their first love.

May we not be Ephesus, Lord Jesus, in the end, but may we hear your word and respond to it properly.

Because you are our hope.

Amen.

That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church.

Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus.

You can learn more by visiting our website at faithfree.com.