Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Timothy 4:1
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;
1 5. False Teachers mar the Truth of the Incarnate Redeemer
1. Now the Spirit speaketh ] The connexion is this. The teachers and ministers of the Church must hold her central doctrine. It stands strong and firm a rock pillar; ‘Christ the Son of the living God,’ (1) incarnate, (2) redeemer of the world. But there will be, notwithstanding, false teachers, evil heresies, subverting this great mystery of Godliness. See Bp Wordsworth’s note. ‘For example, forbidding to marry is heresy, since by His incarnation the Son of God has married our Nature, has espoused to Himself a Church and so has sanctified marriage. Eph 5:23-32. Commanding to abstain from meats is heresy, since if (as is implied in the command) the flesh was created by the evil principle, and was therefore unclean, God could not have taken human flesh and united it for ever to the Godhead: and it is heresy too, since Christ, the second Adam, recovered for us the free use of all the creatures of God and recovered for them their original benediction.’
‘The Spirit,’ as very frequently, put alone for ‘the Holy Spirit’; where ‘the Spirit saith expressly’ and distinctly that these heresies will arise, is not clear. The words of our Lord (Mat 26:11), of the prophets in various Christian Churches, of St Paul (2Th 2:3) are referred to. But it may be best to take the passage here as itself the new and more explicit utterance by the Spirit in St Paul of what is coming; in a manner similar to St Paul’s statement at Miletus of what would befall himself and the Church at Ephesus, ‘the Holy Ghost testifieth unto me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me I know that from among your ownselves shall men arise speaking perverse things.’ Act 20:23; Act 20:29.
expressly ] The Greek word is postclassical and occurs here only in N.T. As applied to the operation of the Spirit it is very remarkable as implying more than illumination or influences direct communication understood to be such by the recipient.
in the latter times ] Perhaps as R.V. in later times, as distinguishing this phrase from ‘the last days,’ 2Ti 3:1. So Huther, ‘The former points simply to the future, the latter to the last time of the future.’ But the distinction must not be too much pressed: the ‘later times’ predicted here are surely the ‘last hour’ spoken of by St John (1Jn 2:18) some 25 years later, if, as Bp Westcott says of the date of that letter, ‘this may be fixed with reasonable likelihood in the last decade of the first century.’ He adds on 1Jn 2:18, ‘the last days are found in each of the seasons of fierce trial which precede the several comings of Christ. The phrase marks a period of critical change.’
shall depart from the faith ] R.V. fall away, as the parent of a word afterwards used still more definitely, ‘apostate.’ ‘The faith’ objectively as above.
seducing spirits ] Here opposed to ‘the Spirit,’ as in 1Jn 4:6, giving the history of what is here prophecy, we have the cognate substantive: the adjective ‘deceiving’ or ‘deceiver’ occurs Mat 27:63, ‘that deceiver said,’ and 2Co 4:8, but is used in 2Jn 1:7, evidently with reference to the same heresy as here. The substantive has been rendered by A.V. sometimes ‘deceit,’ sometimes ‘error;’ by R.V. always ‘error.’ These deceiving spirits, as Bp Ellicott says, are the spiritual emissaries of Satan which work in their hearts; cf. Eph 6:12. See 1Jn 4:3, where the proof of a spirit being ‘not of God’ is the failure to confess the Incarnation. ‘The many false spirits represent one personal power of falsehood, the prince of the world (Joh 12:31), the devil, whose “children” the wicked are (1Jn 3:10). The many false prophets stand in a relation towards the Spirit like that which the “many Antichrists” occupy towards Christ. Through them evil spiritual powers find expression.’ Westcott.
doctrines of devils ] The last sentence seems an exact paraphrase of this clause, the instructions given by the evil spirits to the false teachers used by them as ‘their organs through whom to speak.’ ‘Devils’ or ‘demons’ is clearly thus a subjective genitive. The word ‘demon’ in general classical usage signified intermediate beings, the messengers of the Gods to men. The notion of evil demons was due to the later influences of the East, and in LXX. the word is generally used of the heathen idols, Psa 95:3; cf. 1Co 10:19-20; but Josephus employs it always of evil spirits, Bell. Jud. vii. 6, 3. Cf. Act 19:12-13, Jas 2:19. From the N.T. we gather certainly that the demons are agents of Satan in his work of evil, probably that they must be the same as ‘the angels of the devil,’ Mat 25:41; Rev 12:7; Rev 12:9, ‘the principalities and powers’ against whom we ‘wrestle.’ See Bp Barry, Dict. Bib.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Now the Spirit – Evidently the Holy Spirit; the Spirit of inspiration. It is not quite certain, from this passage, whether the apostle means to say that this was a revelation then made to him, or whether it was a well-understood thing as taught by the Holy Spirit. He himself elsewhere refers to this same prophecy, and John also more than once mentions it; compare 2 Thes. 2; 1Jo 2:18; Rev 20:1-15. From 2Th 2:5, it would seem that this was a truth which had before been communicated to the apostle Paul, and that he had dwelt on it when he preached the gospel in Thessalonica. There is no improbability, however, in the supposition that so important a subject was communicated directly by the Holy Spirit to others of the apostles.
Speaketh expressly – In express words, retos. It was not by mere hints, and symbols, and shadowy images of the future; it was in an open and plain manner – in so many words. The object of this statement seems to be to call the attention of Timothy to it in an emphatic manner, and to show the importance of attending to it.
That in the latter times – Under the last dispensation, during which the affairs of the world would close; see the notes on Heb 1:2. It does not mean that this would occur just before the end of the world, but that it would take place during that last dispensation, and that the end of the world would not happen until this should take place; see the notes on 2Th 2:3.
Some shall depart from the faith – The Greek word here – apostesontai – is that from which we have derived the word apostatize, and would be properly so rendered here. The meaning is, that they would apostatize from the belief of the truths of the gospel. It does not mean that, as individuals, they would have been true Christians; but that there would be a departure from the great doctrines which constitute the Christian faith. The ways in which they would do this are immediately specified, showing what the apostle meant here by departing from the faith. They would give heed to seducing spirits, to the doctrines of devils, etc. The use of the word some, here tines – does not imply that the number would be small. The meaning is, that certain persons would thus depart, or that there would be an apostasy of the kind here mentioned, in the last days. From the parallel passage in 2Th 2:3, it would seem that this was to be an extensive apostasy.
Giving heed to seducing spirits – Rather than to the Spirit of God. It would be a part of their system to yield to those spirits that led astray. The spirits here referred to are any that cause to err, and the most obvious and natural construction is to refer it to the agency of fallen spirits. Though it may apply to false teachers, yet, if so, it is rather to them as under the influence of evil spirits. This may be applied, so far as the phraseology is concerned, to any false teaching; but it is evident that the apostle had a specific apostasy in view – some great system that would greatly corrupt the Christian faith; and the words here should be interpreted with reference to that. It is true that people in all ages are prone to give heed to seducing spirits; but the thing referred to here is some grand apostasy, in which the characteristics would be manifested, and the doctrines held, which the apostle proceeds immediately to specify; compare 1Jo 4:1.
And doctrines of devils – Greek, Teachings of demons – didaskaliais daimonion. This may either mean teachings respecting demons, or teachings by demons. The particular sense must be determined by the connection. Ambiguity of this kind in the construction of words, where one is in the genitive case, is not uncommon; compare Joh 15:9-10; Joh 21:15. Instances of the construction where the genitive denotes the object, and should be translated concerning, occur in Mat 9:25; The gospel of the kingdom, i. e., concerning the kingdom; Mat 10:1; Power of unclean spirits, i. e., over or concerning unclean spirits; so, also, Act 4:9; Rom 16:15; 2Co 1:5; Eph 3:1; Rev 2:13. Instances of construction where the genitive denotes the agent, occur in the following places: Luk 1:69, A horn of salvation, i. e., a horn which produces or causes salvation; Joh 6:28; Rom 3:22; 2Co 4:10; Eph 4:18; Col 2:11. Whether the phrase here means that, in the apostasy, they would give heed to doctrines respecting demons, or to doctrines which demons taught, cannot, it seems to me, be determined with certainty. If the previous phrase, however, means that they would embrace doctrines taught by evil spirits, it can hardly be supposed that the apostle would immediately repeat the same idea in another form; and then the sense would be, that one characteristic of the time referred to would be the prevalent teaching respecting demons. They would give heed to, or embrace, some special views respecting demons. The word here rendered devils is daimonia – demons. This word, among the Greeks, denoted the following things:
(1) A god or goddess, spoken of the pagan gods; compare in New Testament, Act 17:18.
(2) A divine being, where no particular one was specified, the agent or author of good or evil fortune; of death, fate, etc. In this sense it is often used in Homer.
(3) The souls of people of the golden age, which dwelt unobserved upon the earth to regard the actions of men, and to defend them – tutelary divinities, or geniuses – like that which Socrates regarded as his constant attendant. Xen. Mem. 4. 8. 1. 5; Apol. Soc. 4. See Passow.
(4) To this may be added the common use in the New Testament, where the word denotes a demon in the Jewish sense – a bad spirit, subject to Satan, and under his control; one of the host of fallen angels – commonly, but not very properly rendered devil or devils. These spirits were supposed to wander in desolate places, Mat 12:43; compare Isa 13:21; Isa 34:14; or they dwell in the air, Eph 2:2. They were regarded as hostile to mankind, Joh 8:44; as able to utter pagan oracles, Act 16:17; as lurking in the idols of the pagan, 1Co 10:20; Rev 9:20. They are spoken of as the authors of evil, Jam 2:19; compare Eph 6:12, and as having the power of taking possession of a person, of producing diseases, or of causing mania, as in the case of the demoniacs, Luk 4:33; Luk 8:27; Mat 17:18; Mar 7:29-30; and often elsewhere. The doctrine, therefore, which the apostle predicted would prevail, might, so far as the word used is concerned, be either of the following:
(1) Accordance with the prevalent notions of the pagan respecting false gods; or a falling into idolatry similar to that taught in the Grecian mythology. It can hardly be supposed, however, that he designed to say that the common notions of the pagan would prevail in the Christian church, or that the worship of the pagan gods as such would be set up there.
(2) An accordance with the Jewish views respecting demoniacal possessions and the power of exorcising them. If this view should extensively prevail in the Christian church, it would be in accordance with the language of the prediction.
(3) Accordance with the prevalent pagan notions respecting the departed spirits of the good and the great, who were exalted to the rank of demi-gods, and who, though invisible, were supposed still to exert an important influence in favor of mankind. To these beings, the pagan rendered extraordinary homage. They regarded them as demi-gods. They supposed that they took a deep interest in human affairs. They invoked their aid. They set apart days in honor of them. They offered sacrifices, and performed rites and ceremonies to propitiate their favor. They were regarded as a sort of mediators or intercessors between man and the superior divinities. If these things are found anywhere in the Christian church, they may be regarded as a fulfillment of this prediction, for they were not of a nature to be foreseen by any human sagacity. Now it so happens, that they are in fact found in the Papal communion, and in a way that corresponds fairly to the meaning of the phrase, as it would have been understood in the time of the apostle.
There is, first, the worship of the virgin and of the saints, or the extraordinary honors rendered to them – corresponding almost entirely with the reverence paid by the pagan to the spirits of heroes or to demi-gods. The saints are supposed to have extraordinary power with God, and their aid is implored as intercessors. The virgin Mary is invoked as the mother of God, and as having power still to command her Son. The Papists do not, indeed, offer the same homage to the saints which they do to God, but they ask their aid; they offer prayer to them. The following extracts from the catechism of Dr. James Butler, approved and recommended by Dr. Kenrick, Bishop of Philadelphia, expresses the general views of Roman Catholics on this subject. Question: How do Catholics distinguish between the honor they give to God, and the honor they give to the saints, when they pray to God and the saints?
Answer: Of God alone they beg grace and mercy; and of the saints they only ask the assistance of their prayers? Question Is it lawful to recommend ourselves to the saints, and ask their prayers. Answer: Yes; as it is lawful and a very pious practice to ask the prayers of our fellow-creatures on earth, and to pray for them. In the Prayer to be said before mass, the following language occurs: In union with the holy church and its minister, and invoking the blessed virgin Mary, Mother of God, and all the angels and saints, we now offer the adorable sacrifice of the mass, etc. In the General Confession, it is said – I confess to Almighty God, to the blessed Mary, ever Virgin, to blessed Michael the archangel, to blessed John the Baptist, to the holy apostles Peter and Paul, and to all the saints, that I have sinned exceedingly. So also, the council of Trent declared, Sess. 25, Concerning the invocation of the saints, that it is good and useful to supplicate them, and to fly to their prayers, power, and aid; but that they who deny that the saints are to be invoked, or who assert that they do not pray for people, or that their invocation of them is idolatry, hold an impious opinion. See also Peter Dens Moral Theology, translated by the Rev. John F. Berg, pp. 342-356. Secondly, in the Papal communion the doctrine of exorcism is still held – implying a belief that evil spirits or demons have power over the human frame – a doctrine which comes fairly under the meaning of the phrase here – the doctrine respecting demons.
Thus, in Dr. Butlers Catechism: Question: What do you mean by exorcism? Answer: The rites and prayers instituted by the church for the casting out devils, or restraining them from hurting persons, disquieting places, or abusing any of Gods creatures to our harm. Question: Has Christ given his church any such power over devils? Anser: Yes, he has; see Mat 10:1; Mar 3:15; Luk 9:1. And that this power was not to die with the apostles, nor to cease after the apostolic age, we learn from the perpetual practice of the church, and the experience of all ages. The characteristic here referred to by the apostle, therefore, is one that applies precisely to the Roman Catholic communion, and cannot be applied with the same fitness to any other association calling itself Christian on earth. There can be no doubt, therefore, that the Holy Spirit designed to designate that apostate church.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
1Ti 4:1-3
Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times.
A great heresy
The Spirit referred to is unquestionably the Holy Spirit of God, who had been promised to the Church as its abiding teacher and comforter. In all their agencies and appointments the apostles sought His direction. It sometimes came in outward events, sometimes in strong impulses, and sometimes in the distinct utterances of men who were recognized by their brethren as inspired prophets. The trained ear of a musician can discover meanings and suggestions in a harmony which to an ordinary listener is nothing but a pleasant sound. And the conscience of one who habitually lives near God and listens for Him is sensitive to His whispers, and finds the meaning and the value of the promise I will guide thee with Mine eye. Among the functions of the Holy Spirit was the occasional revelation of coming events; for there were in this sense prophets in the Christian Church, as truly as there had been under the Jewish dispensation. Nor were these always prominent and well-known men. Ananias and Agabus. Glimpses of the future came to some whose one qualification was that they stood on heights of spiritual communion–just as from the summits of the Rigi we have seen flashes of distant scenes through the broken clouds, which would be utterly hidden from one standing on a lower level. It was probably through one of the unknown prophets of the early Church that the distinct prophecy had been given to which Paul here alludes, which pointed out the speedy coming of a great heresy, the main outlines of which were definitely foreshadowed. Let us look at this great heresy, which has often and in various forms repeated itself even down to our own day.
I. As to the source of the heresy Paul speaks in no wavering tones.
1. Be traces it through the human agents to demon power. The Scriptures affirm that this world is the scene of conflict between evil and good, and that outside the range of our senses is, on the one side, the Holy Spirit of the living God, and on the other side are principalities and powers, the rulers of the darkness of the world. The alternations of night and day, of storm and calm, are not more real than are the vicissitudes of this great contest going on in the hearts of men. Allusion is made here to seducing spirits; but mysterious and mighty as may be their power, they are not omnipotent, nor are they resistless, but have control over those only who (to use Pauls phrase) give heed to them. Whether we are tempted to false thoughts, or to impure acts, or to anything else that is evil, it is not in vain that the summons is heard, Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
2. But while we must guard against the evil thoughts which sometimes, as we are conscious, do not arise from ourselves, we have to give heed to this warning against the human agents of wickedness, of whom the apostle says, They speak lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron. If there was one iniquity which more than another aroused the anger of our Lord, it was hypocrisy. A man who is false and unreal has no part in the kingdom of light, but is silently, if not openly, fighting against it. And the evil man here described has his conscience seared with a hot iron–a phrase which blazes with the apostles holy indignation, but expresses a tremendous fact. Just as seared flesh has lost its sensibility, the once delicate nerves in it being destroyed, so there are consciences which nothing can affect. Appeals to honour and to shame are alike useless. The fatal influence exercised by such men was seen in the early Church, and is felt around us still, for no one can fall to be a power either for good or evil. Dr. Chalmers admirably puts it in these words: Every man is a missionary now and for ever, for good or for evil, whether he intends or designs it or not. He may be a blot radiating his dark influence outward to the very circumference of society; or he may be a blessing, spreading benediction over the length and breadth of the world; but a blank he cannot be. There are no moral blanks; there are no neutral characters. We are either the sower that sows and corrupts, or the light that splendidly illuminates and the salt that silently operates; but, being dead or alive, every man speaks.
II. The nature of the heresy thus originated, and propagated, next demands notice. The danger in our day is not towards unwholesome asceticism but towards unwholesome indulgence. Not fasting, but feasting, is the peril of the modern Church. Why then did Paul speak so strongly as he does here against asceticism? That error, which appeared and reappeared like the fabled Phoenix, was this: that there was an evil creator aa well as a good creator, and that while the flesh with all the matter belonged to the evil one, only the spirit belonged to the latter. That was the philosophical reason given for neglecting the body, for eschewing all fleshly relations, and for abstaining from the material satisfaction of appetite; and against it the apostles protested with all their might, and no wonder. For if this were true, God was not the good creator of all things. If this were true, God had not come really in the flesh, seeing that flesh was the product of an alien and hostile power. Hence many came to deny the true humanity of our Lord; they said His body was only a phantasm, not a reality, which implied that His temptations, His sufferings, His death and resurrection took place in appearance only. Paul was not striving about words to no profit when he struck out vigorously against this pernicious doctrine; and before you dismiss such language in the New Testament as exaggerated, try to see what really lay behind it. Even Satan may appear as an angel of light, especially when seen down the vista of eighteen centuries. (A. Rowland, LL. B.)
Forbidding to marry.—
The doctrine, which forbiddeth to marry is a wicked doctrine
I. How far the popish doctrine forbiddeth to marry.
II. That the popish doctrine which forbiddeth the marriage of the clergy, and of all under the celibate vow, is a wicked doctrine.
1. That doctrine which is a false doctrine, and contrary unto the Word of God, is a wicked doctrine: but the popish doctrine which forbiddeth the marriage of the clergy, and of all under the celibate vow, is a false doctrine, and contrary unto the Word of God: therefore it is wicked.
(1) The popish doctrine which forbiddeth the marriage of the clergy, and of all under the celibate vow, forbiddeth that which the Word of God alloweth.
(a) The Word of God alloweth marriage, and maketh no exception of the clergy, or any under the celibate vow. That which God did at first institute and appoint, surely the Word of God doth allow (Heb 13:4).
(b) The Word of God is so far from excepting the marriage of the clergy, that it doth plainly allow the marriage of such persons.
(i.) In the Old Testament times the prophets, priests, Levites, and all those who attended more immediately the service of God, and at the altar under the law, were allowed to marry. Abraham, who was a prophet and priest in his own house, did not take Sarah to be his wife without Gods allowance; otherwise, surely, God would not have so signally owned his marriage, as to make promise of the Blessed Seed unto him hereby. Rebekah was a wife of Gods choosing for Isaac. God never blamed Moses, that great prophet, for marrying Zipporah; neither was Aaron faulty because he had his wife and children. Isaiah, that evangelical prophet, was married, and had children too, in the time of his prophecy; which the Scripture, in the recording of it, doth not impute to him for any iniquity. The priests and Levites generally did marry; and, however some of them are reproved in Scripture for divers sins, yet matrimony is never in the least charged upon them for any crime.
(ii.) In the New Testament times ministers have a plain and express allowance to marry, as will appear by two or three places of Scripture (1Co 9:5; Tit 1:6; 1Ti 3:2; 1Ti 3:4-5; 1Ti 3:11-12).
(2) The popish doctrine, which forbiddeth the marriage of the clergy, and all under the celibate vow, forbiddeth that which the Word of God in some case doth command (1Co 7:1-2).
2. That doctrine which, under the show of piety, doth lead unto much lewdness and villainy, is a wicked doctrine: but the popish doctrine, which forbiddeth the marriage of the clergy, and of all under the celibate vow, under the show of piety, doth lead unto much lewdness and villainy: therefore this doctrine is a wicked doctrine. Whatever it be that leadeth unto lewdness and villainy, is devilish and wicked. He that committeth sin is of the devil (1Jn 3:8).
3. That doctrine which forbiddeth the marriage of any, that hereby they may merit the kingdom of heaven is a wicked doctrine: but the popish doctrine which forbiddeth the marriage of the clergy, and of all under the celibate vow, forbiddeth the marriage of such, that thereby they may merit the kingdom of heaven.
4. That doctrine which is a badge or character of antichrist is a wicked doctrine: but the popish doctrine which forbiddeth the marriage of the clergy, and of all under the celibate vow, is a badge or character of antichrist: therefore this popish doctrine is wicked.
III. Answer the popish arguments which they bring to prove the unlawfulness of the marriage of the clergy, and such who are under the celibate vow.
1. Their first argument is drawn from the uncleanness which they affirm to be contracted by marriage; such as the clergy, and all who are more immediately devoted unto God, must abstain from. This they endeavour to prove–
(1) By the Levitical uncleanness (Lev 15:1-33.); and the speech of Abimelech unto David (1Sa 21:4).
(2) Such as are married, they say, are in the flesh, therefore unclean, and so cannot please God (Rom 8:8). Answer
1. There is no uncleanness or unholiness in marriage itself, or in any use thereof; which is evident, because marriage was instituted in Paradise, in the state of mans innocency; and marriage, being Gods ordinance, must needs be holy, because all Gods ordinances are so. Moreover, the Scripture calleth marriage honourable in all, where the bed is undefiled by adultery (Heb 13:4).
2. The papists will find it difficult to prove that there was ever any Levitical uncleanness by the use of marriage; that Scripture in Lev 15:1-33. speaking of something else, as will appear unto such as read and seriously weigh the place.
3. It is a gross misinterpretation of Rom 8:8, to apply it unto married persons, as if they were the persons spoken of by the apostle that are in the flesh, and cannot please God.
4. As to their inference from 1Co 7:5,–because such as would give themselves to fasting and prayer, must abstain for a while, therefore ministers must abstain from marriage altogether, is such a non sequitur, as the schools will hiss at.
2. The second popish argument is drawn from 1Co 7:1, It is good for a man not to touch a woman; and, verse 8, I say therefore unto the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I. If it be good for the unmarried and widows to abide in a single estate like unto the apostle, then, say they, it is evil for such to marry; and therefore the clergy should abstain from this evil. That may be good for some, which is evil for others. A single estate may be good and best for such as have the gift of continency, and are persuaded in their heart that in this estate they may most glorify God; whereas this estate may be evil for such as are without this gift, or in likelihood may most glorify God in a married estate. It may be good at some time not to marry; namely, in the time of the Churchs persecution; and all that have the gift at such a time, should choose the celibate estate, that they might be the more ready both to do and suffer for Christ, and be the more free from temptations to apostasy. The apostle is so far from asserting it to be an evil for any in the worst of times to marry, that he asserteth the quite contrary when there is a necessity for it: If need so require, let him do what he will, he sinneth not: let them marry; (1Co 7:36, 38).
3. The third popish argument is drawn from 1Co 7:32-34 :
Answer
1. It is not universally true, that all who are unmarried do care for the things which belong to the Lord, how they may please the Lord, and that hereby they are taken off from minding and caring for the things of the world. As to the latter, who intermeddle more with secular affairs than many of the popish unmarried clergy?
2. Neither is it universally true, that such as are married do care for the things of the world chiefly, so as to neglect the things of God; as instance may be given in the holiness of many married persons, which the Scripture doth take notice of. It is said that Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters (Gen 5:22). Abraham, who is called the friend of God; Moses, unto whom the Lord spake face to face; Samuel, who was so highly in favour with God; David, who was a man after Gods own heart; Isaiah, Ezekiel, and almost all the prophets, were married persons: and we hardly read of any in the Old Testament that were famous for integrity and zeal for God, but they were such as were married.
3. Men may care for the things that belong unto the world moderately, and labour to please their wives in the Lord subordinately, and not transgress the bounds of their duty. (T. Vincent, M. A.)
Celibacy, its advantages and disadvantages
This state is as honourable, useful, and blessed as that of marriage. John was the unmarried disciple whom Jesus loved. The family at Bethany of two sisters and a brother was the family that Jesus loved. They had all loveworthy characters even by Him. The advantages of celibacy are threefold–
1. It is a state of larger liberty.
2. It allows more money to give away.
3. It affords more time for direct work for God.
The dangers are twofold–
1. For the women; they are liable to become shallow and frivolous, mere butterflies or wasps.
2. For the men; they are liable to become selfish and sensual, mere octopi, grasping all for their own self-indulgence. The one safeguard is to live close to Christ. (R. A. Norris.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER IV.
Apostasy from the true faith predicted, and in what that
apostasy should consist, 1-5.
Exhortations to Timothy to teach the truth, 6.
To avoid old wives’ fables; to exercise himself to godliness,
7, 8.
To labour, command, and teach, 9, 10, 11.
To act so that none might despise his youth, 12.
To give attendance to reading and preaching, 13, 14.
To give up himself wholly to the Divine work, 15.
And so doing he should both save himself and them that heard
him, 16.
NOTES ON CHAP. IV.
Verse 1. Now the Spirit speaketh expressly] Manifestly, openly. It is very likely that the apostle refers here to a prophecy then furnished by the Holy Ghost, and probably immediately after he had written the words in the preceding verses; and as this prophecy contains things nowhere else spoken of in the sacred writings, and of the utmost moment to the Christian Church, we cannot hear or read them with too much reverence or respect.
In the latter times] This does not necessarily imply the last ages of the world, but any times consequent to those in which the Church then lived.
Depart from the faith] – They will apostatize from the faith, i.e. from Christianity; renouncing the whole system in effect, by bringing in doctrines which render its essential truths null and void, or denying and renouncing such doctrines as are essential to Christianity as a system of salvation. A man may hold all the truths of Christianity, and yet render them of none effect by holding other doctrines which counteract their influence; or he may apostatize by denying some essential doctrine, though he bring in nothing heterodox.
Giving heed to seducing spirits] Many MSS. and the chief of the fathers have spirits of deceit; which is much more emphatic than the common reading. Deception has her spirits, emissaries of every kind, which she employs to darken the hearts and destroy the souls of men. Pretenders to inspiration, and false teachers of every kind, belong to this class.
And doctrines of devils] Demons; either meaning fallen spirits, or dead men, spectres, &c., or doctrines inspired by Satan relative to these, by which he secures his own interest, and provides for his own worship.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
It was usual with the prophets, when they declared the oracles of God, to assert in the beginning of their revelations, that the Lord hath spoken, Isa 1:2; Jer 1:2; Joe 1:1. The apostle in the same manner, in the beginning of his prediction of things future, declares
the Spirit speaketh expressly, that is, either clearly revealed it to me, as Act 10:19, and Act 13:2, thus expressly is opposed to obscurely; for sometimes the revelations given to the prophets were under shadows and figures in divers manners, but the Spirit discovered in a most intelligible manner what seducers should come in the church, &c.
Now the Spirit speaketh expressly; either hath inwardly revealed it to my Spirit, as Act 10:19; 13:2, or, (which is more probable), because the verb is in the present tense, , it saith it in the written word, which must be in the Old Testament, for the New was not at this time written: but then the question is, where the Holy Ghost hath expressly in the Old Testament spoken of the apostacy of the latter times. Our famous Mede answers, in Dan 11:1-45, where from Dan 11:30 is a plain prophecy of the Roman empire, and Dan 11:35-39, of antichrist, where it is said: Some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, & c.; and he speaks of a king, that shall do according to his will, and shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods.Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god, but magnify himself above all. Where that learned man thinks is an excellent description of the Roman empire, their various victories, successes, declinations, and mutations, and amongst other things, Dan 11:36, that they should cast off their old pagan idolatry, and after that make a defection from the Christian faith, and not regard marriage, (called there the desire of women), nor indeed truly regard any god. This the apostle saith should be in the latter times. The last times (saith the afore-mentioned famous author) are the times of Christs kingdom, which began in the time of the Roman empire; during which time this Epistle was written, where the apostle speaking of time yet to come, the
latter times by him mentioned must needs be the latter part of the last times, which he saith began in the ruin of the Roman empire, upon which followed the revealing of antichrist, that wicked one, mentioned 2Th 2:7. Concerning these times, the Spirit said expressly,
that some should in them depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits; by which some understand the devils themselves; others, false teachers, or false doctrines, which are afterwards mentioned, called doctrines of devils, by which some understand doctrines suggested by devils, or published by the cunning and art of devils. But others think that by doctrines of devils here are not to be understood doctrines so published, but doctrines concerning devils; and that the meaning is, that in the last times the pagan doctrine concerning demons should be restored. The pagan demons were an inferior sort of gods, a kind of middle beings between their highest gods and men, whose office was to be advocates and mediators between men and the highest gods, because they judged it was not lawful for men to come to the highest gods immediately; these they worshipped by images, even as the papists at this day make use of and worship angels and saints. See more fully what Mr. Mede saith upon this argument in his own book, and in Mr. Pools Latin Synopsis upon this text; and what he saith seems very probably the sense of this text, especially considering the two doctrines mentioned 1Ti 4:3.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1. NowGreek, “But.”In contrast to the “mystery of godliness.”
the Spiritspeaking bythe prophets in the Church (whose prophecies rested on those of theOld Testament, Dan 7:25; Dan 8:23;Dan 11:30, as also on those ofJesus in the New Testament, Mt24:11-24), and also by Paul himself, 2Th2:3 (with whom accord 2Pe 3:3;1Jn 2:18; Jdg 1:18).
expressly“inplain words.” This shows that he refers to prophecies of theSpirit then lying before him.
in the latter timesinthe times following upon the times in which he is now writing.Not some remote future, but times immediately subsequent, thebeginnings of the apostasy being already discernible (Ac20:29): these are the forerunners of “the last days”(2Ti 3:1).
depart from the faithTheapostasy was to be within the Church, the faithful one becoming theharlot. In 2Th 2:3 (writtenearlier), the apostasy of the Jews from God (joining the heathenagainst Christianity) is the groundwork on which the prophecy rises;whereas here, in the Pastoral Epistles, the prophecy is connectedwith Gnostic errors, the seeds of which had already been sown in theChurch [AUBERLEN] (2Ti2:18). Apollonius Tyanus, a heretic, came to Ephesus in thelifetime of Timothy.
giving heed (1Ti 1:4;Tit 1:14).
seducing spiritsworkingin the heretical teachers. 1Jn 4:2;1Jn 4:3; 1Jn 4:6,”the spirit of error,” opposed to “the spirit oftruth,” “the Spirit” which “speaketh” in thetrue prophets against them.
doctrines of devilsliterally”teachings of (that is suggested by) demons.” Jas3:15, “wisdom . . . devilish”; 2Co11:15, “Satan’s ministers.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Now the Spirit speaketh expressly,…. The prophecy hereafter mentioned was not an human conjecture, but, as all true prophecy, it came from the Spirit of God, who spoke or delivered it; either in the prophets of the Old Testament, who, as they spoke of the Gospel dispensation, so of the defection that should be in it; and particularly of antichrist, and of the apostasy through him, which is what is here intended, especially in Daniel’s prophecies, under the names of the little horn, and vile person, Da 7:1 and
Da 11:1, or in the Lord Jesus Christ, who foretold that false prophets would arise and deceive many; or in some of the prophets in the Christian church, such as Agabus, and others, who might in so many words foretell this thing; or rather in the apostle himself, at this time, since this prophecy was delivered not in dark sayings, in an enigmatical way, in an obscure manner, as prophecies generally were, but in plain language, and easy to be understood, and wanted no interpreter to unriddle it; and seeing that it is nowhere to be found in so many express words elsewhere: and moreover, the apostle does not say the Spirit “hath spoken”, but the Spirit “speaketh”; then, at the time of the writing of these words, in and by him. The prediction follows,
that in the latter times some should depart from the faith; that is, from the doctrine of faith, notwithstanding it is indisputably the great mystery of godliness, as it is called in the latter part of the preceding chapter; for from the true grace of faith there can be no final and total apostasy, such as is here designed; for that can never be lost. It is of an incorruptible nature, and therefore more precious than gold that perishes; Christ is the author and finisher of it; his prevalent mediation is concerned for it; it is a gift of special grace, and is without repentance; it springs from electing grace, and is secured by it; and between that and salvation there is an inseparable connection; it may indeed decline, be very low, and lie dormant, as to its acts and exercise, but not be lost: there is a temporary faith, and a persuasion of truth, or a mere assent to it, which may be departed from, but not that faith which works by love: here it intends a profession of faith, which being made, should be dropped by some; or rather the doctrine of faith, which some would embrace, and then err concerning, or entirely quit, and wholly apostatize from. And they are said to be some, and these many, as they are elsewhere represented, though not all; for the elect cannot be finally and totally deceived; the foundation of election stands sure amidst the greatest apostasy; and there are always a few names that are not defiled with corrupt principles and practices; Christ always had some witnesses for the truth in the darkest times: and now this defection was to be “in the latter times”; either of the apostolic age, which John, the last of the apostles, lived to see; and therefore he calls it the last time, or hour, in which were many antichrists, 1Jo 2:18. And indeed in the Apostle Paul’s time the mystery of iniquity began to work, which brought on this general defection; though here it has regard to some later times under the Gospel dispensation; to the time when the man of sin, and the son of perdition, was revealed, and when all the world wondered after the beast: and indeed, such will be the degeneracy in the last days of all, that when the son of man comes, as the grace, so the doctrine of faith will be scarcely to be found in the world: the means by which this apostasy will obtain and prevail will be through men’s
giving heed to seducing spirits; either to doctrines which are of a deceiving nature; or to men who profess to have the Spirit of God, and have not, but are evil men and seducers, deceiving, and being deceived; that lie in wait to deceive, and handle the word of God deceitfully; and by attending on the ministry of such persons, through hearing them, and conversing with them, the defection was to begin and spread; and therefore such should be carefully avoided, and their ministry shunned; nor should they be received, nor bid God speed.
And doctrines of devils; such as are devised by devils, as all damnable doctrines be; and all lying ones, for the devil is the father of them; and as are all the false doctrines introduced by antichrist, for his coming was after the working of Satan; and particularly those doctrines of his concerning worshipping of angels, and saints departed, may be called the doctrines of devils, or of “demons”; being much the same with the demon worship among the Heathens, of which the devil was the inventor: unless by doctrines of devils should be meant the doctrines of men, who for their cunning and sophistry, for their lies and hypocrisy, for their malice, and murdering of the souls of men, are comparable to devils.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| Apostasy Foretold; Christian Liberty. | A. D. 64. |
1 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; 2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; 3 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. 4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: 5 For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
We have here a prophecy of the apostasy of the latter times, which he had spoken of as a thing expected and taken for granted among Christians, 2 Thess. ii.
I. In the close of the foregoing chapter, we had the mystery of godliness summed up; and therefore very fitly, in the beginning of this chapter, we have the mystery of iniquity summed up: The Spirit speaks expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith; whether he means the Spirit in the Old Testament, or the Spirit in the prophets of the New Testament, or both. The prophecies concerning antichrist, as well as the prophecies concerning Christ, came from the Spirit. The Spirit in both spoke expressly of a general apostasy from the faith of Christ and the pure worship of God. This should come in the latter times, during the Christian dispensation, for these are called the latter days; in the following ages of the church, for the mystery of iniquity now began to work. Some shall depart from the faith, or there shall be an apostasy from the faith. Some, not all; for in the worst of times God will have a remnant, according to the election of grace. They shall depart from the faith, the faith delivered to the saints (Jude 3), which was delivered at once, the sound doctrine of the gospel. Giving heed to seducing spirits, men who pretended to the Spirit, but were not really guided by the Spirit, 1 John iv. 1. Beloved, believe not every spirit, every one who pretends to the Spirit. Now here observe,
1. One of the great instances of the apostasy, namely, giving heed to doctrines of demons, or concerning demons; that is, those doctrines which teach the worship of saints and angels, as a middle sort of deities, between the immortal God and mortal men, such as the heathen called demons, and worshipped under that notion. Now this plainly agrees to the church of Rome, and it was one of the first steps towards that great apostasy, the enshrining of the relics of martyrs, paying divine honours to them, erecting altars, burning incense, consecrating images and temples, and making prayers and praises to the honour of saints departed. This demon-worship is paganism revived, the image of the first beast.
2. The instruments of promoting and propagating this apostasy and delusion. (1.) It will be done by hypocrisy of those that speak lies, the agents and emissaries of Satan, who promote these delusions by lies and forgeries and pretended miracles, v. 2. It is done by their hypocrisy, professing honour to Christ, and yet at the same time fighting against all his anointed offices, and corrupting or profaning all his ordinances. This respects also the hypocrisy of those who have their consciences seared with a red-hot iron, who are perfectly lost to the very first principles of virtue and moral honesty. If men had not their consciences seared as with a hot iron, they could never maintain a power to dispense with oaths for the good of the catholic cause, could never maintain that no faith is to be kept with heretics, could never divest themselves of all remains of humanity and compassion, and clothe themselves with the most barbarous cruelty, under pretence of promoting the interest of the church. (2.) Another part of their character is that they forbid to marry, forbid their clergy to marry, and speak very reproachfully of marriage, though an ordinance of God; and that they command to abstain from meats, and place religion in such abstinence at certain times and seasons, only to exercise a tyranny over the consciences of men.
3. On the whole observe, (1.) The apostasy of the latter times should not surprise us, because it was expressly foretold by the Spirit. (2.) The Spirit is God, otherwise he could not certainly foresee such distant events, which as to us are uncertain and contingent, depending on the tempers, humours, and lusts of men. (3.) The difference between the predictions of the Spirit and the oracles of the heathen is remarkable; the Spirit speaks expressly, but the oracles of the heathen were always doubtful and uncertain. (4.) It is comfortable to think that in such general apostasies all are not carried away, but only some. (5.) It is common for seducers and deceivers to pretend to the Spirit, which is a strong presumption that all are convinced that this is the most likely to work in us an approbation of what pretends to come from the Spirit. (6.) Men must be hardened, and their consciences seared, before they can depart from the faith, and draw in others to side with them. (7.) It is a sign that men have departed from the faith when they will command what God has forbidden, such as saint and angel or demon-worship; and forbid what God has allowed or commanded, such as marriage and meats.
II. Having mentioned their hypocritical fastings, the apostle takes occasion to lay down the doctrine of the Christian liberty, which we enjoy under the gospel, of using God’s good creatures,–that, whereas under the law there was a distinction of meats between clean and unclean (such sorts of flesh they might eat, and such they might not eat), all this is now taken away; and we are to call nothing common or unclean, Acts x. 15. Here observe, 1. We are to look upon our food as that which God has created; we have it from him, and therefore must use it for him. 2. God, in making those things, had a special regard to those who believe and know the truth, to good Christians, who have a covenant right to the creatures, whereas others have only a common right. 3. What God has created is to be received with thanksgiving. We must not refuse the gifts of God’s bounty, nor be scrupulous in making differences where God has made none; but receive them, and be thankful, acknowledging the power of God the Maker of them, and the bounty of God the giver of them: Every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, v. 4. This plainly sets us at liberty from all the distinctions of meats appointed by the ceremonial law, as particularly that of swine’s flesh, which the Jews were forbidden to eat, but which is allowed to us Christians, by this rule, Every creature of God is good, c. Observe, God’s good creatures are then good, and doubly sweet to us, when they are received with thanksgiving.–For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer, <i>v. 5. It is a desirable thing to have a sanctified use of our creature-comforts. Now they are sanctified to us, (1.) By the word of God; not only his permission, allowing us the liberty of the use of these things, but his promise to feed us with food convenient for us. This gives us a sanctified use of our creature-comforts. (2.) By prayer, which blesses our meat to us. The word of God and prayer must be brought to our common actions and affairs, and then we do all in faith. Here observe, [1.] Every creature is God’s, for he made all. Every beast in the forest is mine (says God), and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains, and the wild beasts of the field are mine,Psa 50:10; Psa 50:11. [2.] Every creature of God is good: when the blessed God took a survey of all his works, God saw all that was made, and, behold, it was very good, Gen. i. 31. [3.] The blessing of God makes every creature nourishing to us; man lives not by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God (Matt. iv. 4), and therefore nothing ought to be refused. [4.] We ought therefore to ask his blessing by prayer, and so to sanctify the creatures we receive by prayer.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Expressly (). Late adverb, here alone in N.T., from verbal adjective (from root ). The reference is to the Holy Spirit, but whether to O.T. prophecy (Ac 1:16) or to some Christian utterance (2Thess 2:2; 1Cor 14:1) we do not know. Parry recalls the words of Jesus in Matt 24:10; Matt 24:24.
In later times ( ). Old adjective (Mt 21:31) usually as adverb, (Mt 4:2). Relative time from the prediction, now coming true (a present danger).
Some shall fall away ( ). Future middle of , intransitive use, shall stand off from, to fall away, apostatize (2Co 12:8).
From the faith ( ). Ablative case (separation). Not creed, but faith in God through Christ.
Giving heed (). Supply (the mind) as in 3:8.
Seducing spirits ( ). Old adjective (, wandering), here active sense (deceiving). As substantive in 2Co 6:8. Probably some heathen or the worst of the Gnostics.
Doctrines of devils ( ). “Teachings of .” Definite explanation of the preceding. Cf. 1Co 10:20f.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Now [] . Better but, since there is a contrast with the preceding confession of the norm of faith.
Expressly [] . N. T. o. o LXX In express words.
In the latter times [ ] . The phrase only here. For kairov particular sesson or junture, see on Mt 12:1; Act 1:7. Not the same as ejn ejscataiv in the last days, 2Ti 3:1, which denotes the peliod closing the present aeon, and immediately preceding the parousia; while this signifies merely a time that is future to the writer. There is not the intense sense of the nearness of Christ ‘s coming which characterises Paul. The writer does not think of his present as “the latter days.”
Some [] . Not, as ch. 1 3, the heretical teachers, but those whom they mislead.
Shall depart from the faith [ ] . The phrase only here. The verb in Paul only 2Co 12:8. Quite frequent in Luke and Acts. The kindred noun tasia (Act 21:21; 2Th 2:3) is almost literally transcribed in our apostasy.
Seducing [] . Primarily, wandering, roving. O planov a vagabond, hence deceiver or seducer. See 2 John 7, and comp. oJ planwn the deceiver, used of Satan, Rev 12:9; Rev 20:10; to pneuma thv planhv the spirit of error, 1Jo 4:6. Once in Paul, 2Co 6:8, and in LXX, Job 19:4; Jer 23:32. Evil spirits animating the false teachers are meant.
Doctrines of devils [ ] . Better, teachings of demons. Comp. Jas 3:15. Didaskalia teaching often in Pastorals. A few times in Paul. See on 1Ti 1:10. Daimonion demon only here in Pastorals. Very frequent in Luke : in Paul only 1Co 10:20, 21. Teachings proceeding from or inspired by demons. The working of these evil spirits is here specially concerned with striking at the true teaching which underlies godliness. It is impossible to say what particular form of false teaching is alluded to.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
A GOOD MINISTER’S WORK
1) “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly” (to de pneuma hertos legei) “Now the Spirit in strong rhetoric says;” This is an emphasis that affirms inspiration of-the Holy Spirit for things Paul wrote regarding the walk or course of life a good minister should take. New Testament writers wrote by Divine inspiration as surely as Old Testament writers, Exo 4:15; Joh 16:13; 2Pe 1:21.
2) “That in the latter times” (hoti en husterois kairois) “That in the latter seasons,” the seasons of the Gentile dispensation; conditions of apostasy, falling away from the body of Christian and church truth, in belief and walk, had already begun and was here predicted to continue, 2Ti 3:1-8.
3) “Some shall depart from the faith” (apostesontai tines tes pisteos) “Some will depart from the faith,” the body of Christian truth, the system of faith; 2Th 2:3; 2Ti 4:3-4; Luk 18:8.
4) “Giving heed to seducing spirits” (prosechontes pneumasin planois) “Holding on to, having, or containing misleading or deceptive spirits.” Those departing from the faith, falling away, or apostatizing, shall be hearers and followers of demon spirits that incite, seduce, speak to, and lead their hearers to turn their backs on the Word and ways of God, 1Jn 4:1; 1Jn 4:6; Rev 16:13-14.
5) “And doctrines of devils;” (kai didaskaliais daimonion) “Even teachings of demons,” or fallen, deranged spirits. These deranged, fallen demon spirits speak through false teachers and prophets, leading them in moral anarchy against Christian principles, 2Pe 2:1-22; Jud 1:4; Jud 1:8-16.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
1 Now the Spirit plainly saith He had industriously admonished Timothy about many things; and now he shews the necessity, because it is proper to provide against the danger which the Holy Spirit forewarns to be fast approaching, namely, that false teachers will come, who shall hold out trifles as the doctrine of faith, and who, placing all holiness in outward exercises, shall throw into the shade the spiritual worship of God, which alone is lawful. And, indeed, the servants of God have always had to contend against such persons as Paul here describes. Men being by nature inclined to hypocrisy, Satan easily persuades them that God is worshipped aright by ceremonies and outward discipline; and, indeed, without a teacher, almost all have this conviction deeply rooted in their hearts. Next is added the craftiness of Satan to confirm the error: the consequence is, that, in all ages, there have been impostors, who recommended false worship, by which true godliness was buried. Again, this plague produces another, namely, that, in matters indifferent, men are laid under restraint; for the world easily permits itself to be hindered from doing that which God had declared to be lawful, in order that they may have it in their power to transgress with impunity the laws of God.
Here Paul, therefore, in the person of Timothy, forewarns not only the Ephesians, but all the churches throughout the world, about hypocritical teachers, who, by setting up false worship, and by ensnaring consciences with new laws, adulterate the true worship of God, and corrupt the pure doctrine of faith. This is the real object of the passage, which it is especially necessary to remark.
Besides, in order that all may hear with more earnest attention what he is going to say, he opens with a preface, that this is an undoubted and very clear prophecy of the Holy Spirit. There is, indeed, no reason to doubt that he drew all the rest from the same Spirit; but, although we ought always to listen to him as communicating the will of Christ, yet in a matter of vast importance he wished especially to testify that he said nothing but by the Spirit of prophecy. By a solemn announcement, therefore, he recommends to us this prophecy; and, not satisfied with doing this, he adds that it is plain, and free from all ambiguity.
In the latter times At that time certainly it could not have been expected that, amidst so clear light of the gospel, any would have revolted. But this is what Peter says, that, as false teachers formerly gave annoyance to the people of Israel, so they will never cease to disturb the Christian Church. (2Pe 3:3.) The meaning is the same as if he had said, “The doctrine of the gospel is now in a flourishing state, but Satan will not long refrain from laboring to choke the pure seed by tares.” (70) (Mat 13:20.)
This warning was advantageous in the age of the Apostle Paul, that both pastors and others might give earnest attention to pure doctrine, and not suffer themselves to be deceived. To us in the present day it is not less useful, when we perceive that nothing has happened which was not foretold by an express prophecy of the Spirit. Besides, we may here remark; how great care God exercises about his Church, when he gives so early warning of dangers. Satan has, indeed, manifold arts for leading us into error, and attacks us by astonishing stratagems; but, on the other hand, fortifies us sufficiently, if we did not of our own accord choose to be deceived. There is therefore no reason to complain that darkness is more powerful than light, or that truth is vanquished by falsehood; but, on the contrary, we suffer the punishment of our carelessness and indolence, when we are led aside from the right way of salvation.
But they who flatter themselves in their errors object, that it is hardly possible to distinguish whom or what kind of persons Paul describes. As if it were for nothing that the Spirit uttered this prophecy, and published it so long before; for, if there were no certain mark, the whole of the present warning would be superfluous, and consequently absurd. But far be it from us to think that the Spirit of God gives us unnecessary alarm, or does not accompany the threatening of danger by shewing how we should guard against it! And that slander is sufficiently refuted by the words of Paul; for he points out, as with the finger, that evil which he warns us to avoid. He does not speak, in general terms, about false prophets, but plainly describes the kind of false doctrine; namely, that which, by linking godliness with outward elements, perverts and profanes, as I have already said, the spiritual worship of God.
Some will revolt from the faith It is uncertain whether he speaks of teachers or of hearers; but I am more disposed to refer it to the latter; for he afterwards calls teachers spirits that are impostors. And this is ( ἐμφατικώτερον) more emphatic, that not only will there be those who sow wicked doctrines, and corrupt the purity of faith, but that they can never want disciples whom they call draw into their sect; and when a lie thus gains prevalence, there arises from it greater trouble.
Besides, it is no slight vice which he describes, but a very heinous crime — apostasy from the faith; although, at first sight, in the doctrine which he briefly notices there does not appear to be so much evil. What is the case? Is faith completely overturned on account of the prohibition of marriage, or of certain kinds of food? But we must take into view a higher reason, that men pervert and invent at their pleasure the worship of God, that they assume dominion over the consciences, and that they dare to forbid that use of good things which the Lord has permitted. As soon as the purity of the worship of God is impaired, there no longer remains anything perfect or sound, and faith itself is utterly ruined.
Accordingly, although Papists laugh at us, when we censure their tyrannical laws about outward observances, yet we know that we are pleading a cause of the greatest weight and importance; because the doctrine of faith is destroyed, as soon as the worship of God is infected by such corruptions. The controversy is not about flesh or fish, or about a black or ashy color, or about Friday or Wednesday, but about the mad superstitions of men, who wish to appease God by such trifles, and, by contriving a carnal worship of him, contrive for themselves an idol instead of God. Who will deny that this is revolting from the faith?
To deceiving spirits He means prophets or teachers, to whom he gives this designation, because they boast of the Spirit, and, under this title, insinuate themselves into the favor of the people. This, indeed, is true at all times, that men, whatever they are, speak under the excitement of the spirit. But it is not the same spirit that excites them all; for sometimes Satan is a lying spirit in the mouth of the false prophets, in order to deceive unbelievers, who deserve to be deceived. (1Kg 22:21.) On the other hand, every one that renders due honor to Christ speaks by the Spirit of God, as Paul testifies. (1Co 12:3.)
Now that mode of expression, of which we are now speaking, originated at first from this circumstance, that the servants of God professed to have from the revelation of the Spirit, everything that they uttered in public. This was actually true; and hence they received the name of the Spirit, whose organs they were. But the ministers of Satan, by a false emulation, like apes, began afterwards to make the same boast, and likewise falsely assumed the name. On the same grounds John says,
“
Try the spirits, whether they are of God.” (1Jo 4:1.)
Moreover, Paul explains his meaning by adding, to doctrines of devils; which is as if he had said, “Attending to false prophets, and to their devilish doctrines.” Again observe, that it is not an error of small importance, or one that ought to be concealed, when consciences are bound by the contrivances of men, and at the same time the worship of God is corrupted.
(70) “ A force d’yvroye et mauvaises herbes.” — “By means of darnel and pernicious herbs.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES
1Ti. 4:1. Doctrines of devils.The term devils seems to give the spirit of the apostles meaning more accurately than the more literal demons would.
1Ti. 4:2. Having their conscience seared with a hot iron.R.V. branded in their own conscience. As a runaway or offending slave was sometimes punished by having the brand of his infamy stamped on his brow, so these men carry about with them their own condemnation.
1Ti. 4:3. Forbidding to marry.It does not appear whether they forbade all to marry or only the aspirants to peculiar sanctity. To abstain from meats, which God created to be received.The strongest condemnation of ascetic practices, St. Paul seems to think, is that they contravene the good purpose of God. With thanksgiving.The true attitude towards the gifts of God. It was a maxim even of the heathen that the good gifts of the gods were not to be refused (Ellicott).
1Ti. 4:5. For it is sanctified.Not merely declared holy, but made holy.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.1Ti. 4:1-5
False Doctrine
I. Leads to apostasy.Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith (1Ti. 4:1). Signs of apostasy were already discernible in the operation of the Gnostic heresy. Apollonius Tyanus, a notorious heretic, came to Ephesus in the lifetime of Timothy. The defection was within the Church; and the active cause of the apostasy was the false teaching of the heresiarchs. It is perilous for members of the Church to give heed to the seductive voice of error.
II. Is the suggestion of evil spirits.Giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils (1Ti. 4:1). The spawn of devilish malicethe reckless sport or cunning designs of inveterate wickedness. The throne of Satan was shaken by the introduction of the gospel, and the opposition of evil spirits was the more fierce and malignant. In warning the Thessalonians the apostle connects the mystery of iniquity which was working such mischief with the activity of some wicked demon acting under the instigation of Satan.
III. Is discoverable by unmistakable marks.
1. By the character of its teachers. Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron (1Ti. 4:2). They are hypocritical liars, self-branded with crime: not only speaking lies to others, but having their own consciences seared. Professing to lead others to holiness, their own consciences all the while defiled. A bad conscience always has recourse to deception. They are branded with the consciousness of sins committed against their better knowledge and conscience, like so many scars burnt in by a branding-ironan image taken from the branding of criminals. They are conscious of the brand within, yet with a hypocritical show of sanctity they strive to deceive others. Pollok called the hypocrite the man that stole the livery of heaven to serve the devil in.
2. By its enforcing a spurious outward sanctity. Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats (1Ti. 4:3). Sensuality leads to false spiritualism. Their own inward impurity is reflected in their eyes in the world around them, and hence their asceticism. By a spurious spiritualism which made moral perfection consist in abstinence from outward thing they pretended to attain to a higher perfection. Those who do not keep from ambition, covetousness, hatred, and cruelty endeavour to obtain righteousness by abstaining from those things which God has left at large. Not long after the death of the apostle arose Encratites, Tatianists, Catharists, Montanus with his sect, and at length Manichans, who had extreme aversion to marriage and the eating of flesh, and condemned them as profane things. Such is the disposition of the world, always dreaming that God ought to be worshipped in a carnal manner, as if God were carnal.
IV. Degrades the true use of the Divine gift of food.
1. All Gods gifts are good. For every creature of God is good (1Ti. 4:4). A refutation by anticipation of the Gnostic opposition to creation, the seeds of which were now lurking latently in the Church. Judaism was the starting-point of the error as to meats: Oriental gnosis added new elements. The old Gnostic heresy is now almost, extinct, but it remains in the celibacy of the priesthood, and in Church fasts from animal meat, enjoined under the penalty of mortal sin. In and for itself no food is objectionable, yet on condition that it be used with thanksgiving to God. Creatures are not called good merely because they are the works of God, but because through His goodness they have been given to us.
2. Gods gifts are good to us only as we receive them in a devout and thankful spirit. And nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer (1Ti. 4:4-5). Just as in the Lords Supper the thanksgiving prayer sanctifies the elements, separating them from their natural alien position in relation to the spiritual world, and transferring them to their true relation to the new life, so, in every use of the creature, thanksgiving prayer has the same effect, and ought always to be used. One of the most beautiful models of the primitive Grace before meat, consisting almost wholly of Scripture, was this: Blessed be Thou, O Lord, who hast fed me from my youth, who givest food to all flesh. Fill our hearts with joy and gladness, that, having always what sufficeth, we may abound unto all good works in Christ Jesus our Lord, through whom be unto Thee honour, glory, and power, for ever and ever. Amen (Calvin, Fausset).
Lessons.
1. False teachers, deceived themselves, deceive others.
2. Error in doctrine leads to sins in practice.
3. Prayer and thanksgiving are safeguards against false doctrine.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
1Ti. 4:2. A Seared Conscience.Note the successive stages which lead to a seared conscience.
I. Dull conscience.Not quick and active, but slothful; like a storm-bell ringing in the storm, when it should be as a storm-signal run up in a blue sky.
II. Uneasy conscience.Multiplied sins, small and trifling as each may appear, will lead to this, just as accumulated snow-flakes bend the strongest bough.
III. Guilty conscience.Accusing the sinner of his sin and folly. This may be either an awakened or a remorseful conscience.
IV. Hardened conscience.The hardened need not be invulnerable; there may be a joint somewhere where the arrow of conviction may enter.
V. A seared conscience.Cauterised. A nerve diseased or almost paralysed may possibly be healed; but when it has been subjected to the cauterising iron it is perished. What hope for a man whose conscience is cauterised?E. Conder, D.D.
1Ti. 4:4-5. The Gifts of God
I. Though good, may be abused.
II. Should be enjoyed in a thankful spirit.
III. Should be hallowed by prayer in harmony with the word of God.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
IV. FALSE TEACHERS 4:116
1.
THEIR COMING 1Ti. 4:5
Text 4:15
1 But the Spirit saith expressly, that in later times some shall fall away from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 through the hypocrisy of men that speak lies, branded in their own conscience as with a hot iron; 3 forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by them that believe and know the truth. 4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it be received with thanksgiving: 5 for it is sanctified through the word of God and prayer.
Thought Questions 4:15
112.
To whom did the Spirit address the words of 1Ti. 4:1?
113.
Define the limits of later times.
114.
Are we to understand that some evil forces are at work in a direct manner with the spirit of man?
115.
How would it be possible for demons to be teachers?
116.
Satan works through men; why will some men speak lies in preference to the truth?
117.
Who applies the hot iron to the conscience?
118.
To what purpose do some command that a man live a life of celibacy?
119.
What do meats have to do with holiness?
120.
In what sense is every creature good?
121.
We are to reject nothing God has created but be thankful for all. Explain why.
122.
Just how are marriage and meats sanctified through the word of God and prayer?
Paraphrase 4:15
1 But, although the church, by preserving the mystery of godliness in the world, be the support of the truth, the Spirit expressly saith to me, that in after-times many in the Christian church will apostatize from the faith of the fundamental doctrines of the gospel, giving heed to teachers who falsely pretend to be inspired, and to doctrines concerning the power of angels and departed saints, and the worship due to them, whereby the worship due to Christ, as Governor and Mediator, will be wholly neglected.
2 This belief of the doctrine concerning demons, and the other errors I am about to mention, will be propagated under the hypocritical pretense of humility, and superior holiness, by lying teachers, who are seared in their conscience, and who will invent innumerable falsehoods, to recommend their erroneous doctrines and corrupt practices to the ignorant multitude.
3 These lying teachers will forbid the clergy, and such of both sexes as wish to live piously, to marry; and command the people to abstain from certain meats, which God hath created to be used with thanksgiving by the faithful, who thoroughly know the truth concerning that matter;
4 That every creature of God, fit for mans food, is good, and may be used, being received with thanksgiving to God the giver; and no kind is to be cast away, either from peevishness, or from the fancy that it is unlawful.
5 For, under the gospel, all meats are made lawful to us by the command of God, allowing us to eat of every kind in moderation; also by prayer to God, that he would bless us in the use of it.
Comment 4:15
1Ti. 4:1. The use of word but seems to indicate some contrast; this is indeed what is intended. Great is the mystery of godliness, but great also is the mystery of lawlessness. This prediction or announcement is a very emphatic one. We believe the communication was to Paul by the power of the Holy Spirit; it is here transmitted to Timothy, and through Timothy to the church. The later times has reference to no one particular period but rather to the total time from Pentecost to the Second Coming; we say this on the basis of a study of this expression and the expression the last days. During this period some shall fall away from the faith; could the some of this text be those described in Act. 20:29-30? We must conclude that the body of belief was so well defined that defection from it could be immediately known. If some were in the faith and then fell away from it, what will be their end? If apostates do not return, shall they yet be saved in their error? We only pose these questions because we feel a false emphasis has been given by some.
Are we to understand that those who fall away from the truth do so because they are influenced by supernatural evil powers? We believe it is even so. Satan has his power, and his preachers, and in this sense he is a counterpart, as well as a counterfeit of the true. The seducing spirits are from beneath, and are in contact with the lying teachers. The teaching of such men proceeds from and through demons. The tragedy is not that we have such hypocrites, for they have always been with us, but that multitudes will give heed to their Satan inspired doctrines.
1Ti. 4:2. The pronouncements of such evil men are always given as if they proceeded from God. Only by attributing their teaching to a divine source could they beguile the heart of the innocent and lead astray the very elect. These men know they are liars but they have conveniently and intentionally forgotten the truth. The great influence of Satan here described should be a warning to all. The condition of a mans conscience is a mark of his spiritual progress or failure. These teachers of lies were able to do so because their conscience had been and was cauterized. Just how such a condition arises is not at all easy to say. We are sure it does not happen all at once. Such persons are past feeling. Cf. Eph. 4:19.
1Ti. 4:3. Timothy will immediately be able to recognize such teachers by the context of their teaching. We must try to remember the historical setting of these words. Such false teachers were to arise in Timothys day, and shortly thereafter, who would teach that God did not create matter because matter is evil. According to such errors an evil deity created matter. The command by such persons to abstain from meats and marriage is based upon the supposed evil of matter, Various applications of this concept have been used by Satan down through the years, Sin will never be overcome by treating the instrument through which it works. Perhaps diets of the extreme nature, so popular in our day, and the constant reference to the widespread immorality, is treating the result rather than the cause. There is nothing wrong with food (meats) or with marriage; the difficulty is in gluttonywhose god is their belly, and lustwho mind the things of the flesh. To those who know and believe this, meats and marriage are received with deepest gratitude.
1Ti. 4:4. This is an enlargement of what has already been said. When God finished the different phases of creation, He said of the objects He had created, it is good. Since God is Himself the very essence of goodness, nothing He would create or make could be otherwise than good. Note the force of the word rejected: it is no light thing to cast aside that which God has blessed. The definite inference in the little expression: if it be received with thanksgiving, seems to be that some reject Gods gift because they fail to see their good purpose. If we look at life through Gods eyes we will see His loving provisions for man, and will thus receive them with gratitude.
1Ti. 4:5. The word sanctified simply means set apart but carries with it the connotation of being set apart for a holy purpose. Where and when did this happen? Please read Gen. 9:3-4 for some help in this connection. Gods definite statement of purpose in animal and plant creation as given in this passage, answers the question.
How does prayer set apart the food we eat? To ask is to infer the answer. We all should pray over our food before we eat it, and thus thank the giver of every good and perfect gift. To insist as some commentators do that we must include some of the word of God in our prayer, i.e., to quote Bible references in our prayers, seems to be insisting on too much. Out of the depths of a grateful heart, we can thank our Father for our daily bread.
Fact Questions 4:15
85.
How shall we relate this section to the one preceding? Show the contrast.
86.
The paraphrase seems to relate this section almost exclusively to a prophecy of the sins of the Roman Catholic church. Do you agree with the application? Explain.
87.
Upon what do we base our conclusion that the later times refers to the special period from Pentecost to the Second Coming?
88.
Show how Act. 20:29-30 relates to this section.
89.
What is the faith from which some fall away?
90.
If some fall away from the faith, does this mean they were never in the faith? Explain.
91.
Satan is at work today. Can Satan speak to you and me? If so, how? Is Satan speaking to man today? How?
92.
What is the mark of a mans spiritual progress or failure? Discuss.
93.
Explain the greatest tragedy in the evil work of Satan.
94.
Explain the immediate as well as future application of 1Ti. 4:3.
95.
What modern day application can we see in 1Ti. 4:3?
96.
How does the nature of God relate to the goodness of His creation?
97.
What is the force of the word rejected?
98.
Discuss Gen. 9:3-4 in connection with 1Ti. 4:5.
99.
Explain how meats and marriage are set apart by prayer.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
IV.
(1) Now the Spirit speaketh expressly.Rather, But the Spirit. But (de) in very strong contrast to the sublime mystery of Redemption St. Paul has been speaking of as the glorious treasure contained in the Church of which Timothy and his colleagues were ministers: but in spite of that sublime truth which should occupy the thoughts and fill the hearts of Christians, men will busy themselves with other and very different things; with a spurious mock devotion, dreaming that Gods mercy and love were to be purchased by mere abstinence from certain meats, or by an unnatural renunciation of the home and family life. The words of the Spirit here allude to a mysterious power, to a divine gift, traces of which occur again and again in the New Testament pages. Among the supernatural signs which were vouchsafed to the first generation of believers, and with very rare exceptions only to the first generationto men and women, many, if not most, of whom had seen Jesus, and had had personal contact with Himmust be reckoned those mysterious intimations of the will of the Holy Spirit which guided and encouraged the Church of the first days. That intimation came in varied forms: to the Twelve in the form of fiery tongues (Act. 2:1-12); to a more numerous company (Act. 4:31); to Peter on the occasion of the conversion of Cornelius (Act. 10:10-16; Act. 10:19-20); to St. Paul on three occasions in the course of his second missionary journey (Act. 16:6-7; Act. 16:9-10); through the medium of the prophet Agabus (Act. 21:11). St. Paul alludes to many such voices of the Spirit, and heavenly intimations, when speaking to the elders of Miletus (Act. 20:23). One of these special revelations, made to himself, he here quotes.
In the latter times.All those ages are here referred to which succeed the coming of the Lord. In these Paul lived, and we are still watching the slow and solemn march past of these latter ages. The errors foreseen then, have more or less affected the internal government of the Church during the eighteen hundred years which have passed since St. Pauls words were written. In no age, perhaps, have they been more ostentatiously thrust forward than in our own.
Some shall depart from the faith.By denying what is true, by adding what is false, says Bengel.
Giving heed to seducing spirits.This expression must not be watered down by explanations which understand this expression as referring to false teachers. The seducing spirits are none other than created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. (4) For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be evil powers and spirits subject to Satan, and which are permitted to influence and to work in human hearts. (See Eph. 2:2; Eph. 6:12passages in which these spiritual communities of wickedness and their powers over men are again alluded to by St. Paul.)
Doctrines of devils.Doctrines and thoughts taught by, suggested by, evil spirits. The personality of these unhappy beings is clearly taught by St. Paul. Of their influence in the heathen world and their antagonism to Christ and His followers, see 1Co. 10:20-21.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Chapter 4
THE SERVICE OF GOD OR THE SERVICE OF SATAN ( 1Ti 4:1-5 ) 4:1-5 The Spirit clearly says that in the later times some will desert from the faith, through paying attention to spirits who can do nothing but lead them astray, and to teachings which come from the demons, teachings of false men whose characteristic is insincerity, teachings of men whose conscience has been branded with the mark of Satan, teachings of those who forbid marriage, and who order men to abstain from foods which God created in order that men might gratefully take their share of them in the company of those who believe and who really know the truth; for everything that God has made is good, and nothing is to be rejected, but it is to be gratefully received; for it is hallowed by the word of God and by prayer.
The Christian Church had inherited from the Jews the belief that in this world things would be a great deal worse before they were better. The Jews always thought of time in terms of two ages. There was this present age, which was altogether bad and in the grip of the evil powers; there was the age to come, which was to be the perfect age of God and of goodness. But the one age would not pass into the other without a last convulsive struggle. In between the two ages would come The Day of the Lord. On that day the world would be shaken to its foundations; there would be a last supreme battle with evil, a last universal judgment, and then the new day would dawn.
The New Testament writers took over that picture. Being Jews, they had been brought up in it. One of the expected features of the last age was heresies and false teachers. “Many false prophets will arise, and lead many astray” ( Mat 24:11). “False Christs and false prophets will arise, and show signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect” ( Mar 13:22). In these last days Paul looks for the emergence of “the man of sin, the son of perdition,” who would set himself up against God ( 2Th 2:3).
Into the Church at Ephesus such false teachers had come. The way in which their false teaching is regarded in this passage should make us think very seriously. At that time men believed in evil spirits who haunted the air and were out to ruin men. It was from them that this false teaching came. But though it came from the demons, it came through men. It came through men whose characteristic was a smooth hypocrisy and whose consciences had been branded by Satan. It sometimes happened that a slave was branded with a mark identifying him as belonging to a certain owner. These false teachers bear upon their consciences the very brand of Satan, marking them out as his property.
Here is the threatening and the terrible thing. God is always searching for men who will be his instruments in the world; but the terrible fact is that the forces of evil are also looking for men to use. Here is the terrible responsibility of manhood. Men may accept the service of God or the service of the devil. Whose service are they to choose?
ENSLAVERS OF MEN AND INSULTERS OF GOD ( 1Ti 4:1-5 continued) The heretics of Ephesus were propagating a heresy with very definite consequences for life. As we have already seen, these heretics were Gnostics; and the essence of Gnosticism was that spirit is altogether good and matter altogether evil. One of the consequences was that there were men who preached that everything to do with the body was evil and that everything in the world was evil. In Ephesus this issued in two definite errors. The heretics insisted that men must, as far as possible, abstain from food, for food was material and therefore evil; food ministered to the body and the body was evil. They also insisted that a man must abstain from marriage, for the instincts of the body were evil and must be entirely suppressed.
This was an ever-recurring heresy in the Church; in every generation men arose who tried to be stricter than God. When the Apostolic Canons came to be written, it was necessary to set it down in black and white: “If any overseer, priest or deacon, or anyone on the priestly list, abstains from marriage and flesh and wine, not on the ground of asceticism (that is, for the sake of discipline), but through abhorrence of them as evil in themselves, forgetting that all things are very good, and that God made man male and female, but blaspheming and slandering the workmanship of God, either let him amend, or be deposed and cast out of the Church. Likewise a layman also” (Apostolic Canons 51). Irenaeus, writing towards the end of the second century, tells how certain followers of Saturninus “declare that marriage and generation are from Satan. Many likewise abstain from animal food, and draw away multitudes by a feigned temperance of this kind” (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 1, 24, 2). This kind of thing came to a head in the monks and hermits of the fourth century. They went away and lived in the Egyptian desert, entirely cut off from men. They spent their lives mortifying the flesh. One never ate cooked food and was famous for his “fleshlessness.” Another stood all night by a jutting crag so that it was impossible for him to sleep. Another was famous because he allowed his body to become so dirty and neglected that vermin dropped from him as he walked. Another deliberately ate salt in midsummer and then abstained from drinking water. “A clean body,” they said, “necessarily means an unclean soul.”
The answer to these men was that by doing things like that they were insulting God, for he is the creator of the world and repeatedly his creation is said to be good. “And God saw everything that he had made and behold it was very good” ( Gen 1:31). “Every moving thing that lives shall be meat for you” ( Gen 9:3). “God created man in his own image…male and female he created them. And God blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” ( Gen 1:27-28).
But all God’s gifts have to be used in a certain way.
(i) They have to be used in the memory that they are gifts of God There are things which come to us so unfailingly that we begin to forget that they are gifts and begin to take them as rights. We are to remember that all that we have is a gift from God and that there is not a living thing which could have life apart from him.
(ii) They have to be used in sharing. All selfish use is forbidden. No man can monopolize God’s gifts; every man must share them.
(iii) They are to be used with gratitude. Always there is to be grace before meat. The Jew always said his grace. He had a grace for different things. When he ate fruits he said: “Blessed art thou, King of the Universe, who createst the fruit of the tree.” When he drank wine he said: “Blessed art thou, King of the Universe, who createst the fruit of the vine.” When he ate vegetables he said: “Blessed art thou, King of the Universe, who createst the fruit of the earth.” When he ate bread he said: “Blessed art thou, King of the Universe, who bringest forth bread from the ground.” The very fact that we thank God for it makes a thing sacred. Not even the demons can touch it when it has been touched by the Spirit of God.
The true Christian does not serve God by enslaving himself with rules and regulations and insulting his creation; he serves him by gratefully accepting his good gifts and remembering that this is a world where God made all things well and by never forgetting to share God’s gifts with others.
ADVICE TO AN ENVOY OF CHRIST ( 1Ti 4:6-10 ) 4:6-10 If you lay these things before the brothers, you will be a fine servant of Jesus Christ, if you feed your life on the words of faith, and of the fine teaching of which you have been a student and a follower. Refuse to have anything to do with irreligious stories like the tales old women tell to children. Train yourself towards the goal of true godliness. The training of the body has only a limited value; but training in godliness has a universal value for mankind, because it has the promise of life in this present age, and life in the age to come. This is a saying which deserves to be accepted by all. The reason why we toil and struggle so hard is that we have set our hopes on the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, and especially of those who believe.
This passage is close–packed with practical advice, not only for Timothy, but for any servant of the Church who is charged with the duty of work and leadership.
(i) It tells us how to instruct others. The word used for laying these things before the brothers is most suggestive (hupotithesthai, G5294) . It does not mean to issue orders but rather to advise, to suggest. It is a gentle, humble, and modest word. It means that the teacher must never dogmatically and pugnaciously lay down the law. It means that he must act rather as if he was reminding men of what they already knew or suggesting to them, not that they should learn from him, but that they should discover from their own hearts what is right. Guidance given in gentleness will always be more effective than bullying instructions laid down with force. Men may be led when they will refuse to be driven.
(ii) It tells us how to face the task of teaching. Timothy is told that he must feed his life on the words of faith. No man can give out without taking in. He who would teach must be continually learning. It is the reverse of the truth that when a man becomes a teacher he ceases to be a learner; he must daily know Jesus Christ better before he can bring him to others.
(iii) It tells us what to avoid. Timothy is to avoid profitless tales like those which old women tell to children. It is easy to get lost in side-issues and to get entangled in things which are at best embroideries. It is on the great central truths that a man must ever feed his mind and nourish his faith.
(iv) It tells us what to seek. Timothy is told that as an athlete trains his body, so the Christian must train his soul. It is not that bodily fitness is despised. The Christian faith believes that the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. But there are certain things in Paul’s mind. First, in the ancient world, especially in Greece, the gymnasia were dangerous places. Every town had its gymnasium; for the Greek youth between the ages of sixteen and eighteen, gymnastics were the main part of education. But the ancient world was riddled with homosexuality and the gymnasia were notorious as hotbeds of that particular sin. Second, Paul is pleading for a sense of proportion. Physical training is good, and even essential; but its use is limited. It develops. only part of a man; and it produces only results which last for so short a time, for the body passes away. Training in godliness develops the whole man in body, mind and spirit, and its results affect not only time, but eternity as well. The Christian is not the athlete of the gymnasium, he is the athlete of God. The greatest of the Greeks well recognized this. Isocrates wrote: “No ascetic ought to train his body as a king ought to train his soul.” “Train yourself by submitting willingly to toils, so that when they come on you unwillingly you will be able to endure them.”
(v) It shows us the basis of the whole matter. No one has ever claimed that the Christian life is an easy way; but its goal is God It is because life is lived in the presence of God and ends in his still nearer presence, that the Christian is willing to endure as he does. The greatness of the goal makes the toil worth while.
THE ONLY WAY TO SILENCE CRITICISM ( 1Ti 4:11-16 ) 4:11-16 Make it your business to hand on and to teach these commandments. Do not give anyone a chance to despise you because you are young; but in your words and in your conduct, in love, in loyalty and in purity, show yourself an example of what believing people should be. Until I come, devote your attention to the public reading of the scriptures, to exhortation and to teaching. Do not neglect the special gift which was given to you, when the voices of the prophets picked you out for the charge which has been given to you, when the body of the elders laid their hands upon you. Think about these things; find your whole life in them, that your progress may be evident to all. Take heed to yourself and to your teaching; stick to them; for if you do, you will save yourself and those who hear you.
One of the difficulties Timothy had to overcome was that he was young. We are not to think of him as a mere stripling. After all, it was fifteen years since he had first become Paul’s helper. The word used for youth (neotes, G3503) can in Greek describe anyone of military age, that is up to the age of forty. But the Church has generally liked its office-bearers to be men of maturity. The Apostolic Canons laid it down that a man was not to become a bishop until he was over fifty, for by then “he will be past youthful disorders.” Timothy was young in comparison with Paul, and there would be many who would watch him with a critical eye. When the elder William Pitt was making a speech in the House of Commons at the age of thirty-three, he said: “The atrocious crime of being a young man…I will neither attempt to palliate or deny.” The Church has always regarded youth with a certain suspicion, and under that suspicion Timothy inevitably fell.
The advice given to Timothy is the hardest of all to follow, and yet it was the only possible advice. It was that he must silence criticism by conduct. Plato was once falsely accused of dishonourable conduct. “Well,” he said, “we must live in such a way that all men will see that the charge is false.” Verbal defences may not silence criticism; conduct will. What then were to be the marks of Timothy’s conduct?
(i) First, there was to be love. Agape ( G26) , the Greek word for the greatest of the Christian virtues, is largely untranslatable. Its real meaning is unconquerable benevolence. If a man has agape ( G26) , no matter what other people do to him or say of him, he will seek nothing but their good. He will never be bitter, never resentful, never vengeful; he will never allow himself to hate; he will never refuse to forgive. Clearly this is the kind of love which takes the whole of a man’s personality to achieve. Ordinarily love is something which we cannot help. Love of our nearest and dearest is an instinctive thing. The love of a man for a maid is an experience unsought. Ordinarily love is a thing of the heart; but clearly this Christian love is a thing of the will. It is that conquest of self whereby we develop an unconquerable caring for other people. So then the first authenticating mark of the Christian leader is that he cares for others, no matter what they do to him. That is something of which any Christian leader quick to take offence and prone to bear grudges should constantly think.
(ii) Second, there was to be loyalty. Loyalty is an unconquerable fidelity to Christ, no matter what it may cost. It is not difficult to be a good soldier when things are going well. But the really valuable soldier is he who can fight well when his body is weary and his stomach empty, when the situation seems hopeless and he is in the midst of a campaign the movements of which he cannot understand. The second authenticating mark of the Christian leader is a loyalty to Christ which defies circumstances.
(iii) Third, there was to be purity. Purity is unconquerable allegiance to the standards of Christ. When Pliny was reporting back to Trajan about the Christians in Bithynia, where he was governor, he wrote: “They are accustomed to bind themselves by an oath to commit neither theft, nor robbery, nor adultery; never to break their word; never to deny a pledge that has been made when summoned to answer for it.” The Christian pledge is to a life of purity. The Christian ought to have a standard of honour and honesty, of self-control and chastity, of discipline and consideration, far above the standards of the world. The simple fact is that the world will never have any use for Christianity, unless it can prove that it produces the best men and women. The third authenticating mark of the Christian leader is a life lived on the standards of Jesus Christ.
THE DUTIES OF THE CHRISTIAN LEADER WITHIN THE CHURCH ( 1Ti 4:11-16 continued) Certain duties are laid upon Timothy, the young leader designate of the Church. He is to devote himself to the public reading of scripture, to exhortation and to teaching. Here we have the pattern of the Christian Church service.
The very first description of a church service which we possess is in the works of Justin Martyr. About the year A.D. 170 he wrote a defence of Christianity to the Roman government, and in it (Justin Martyr: First Apology, 1: 67) he says: “On the day called the day of the Sun a gathering takes place of all who live in the towns or in the country in one place. The Memoirs of the Apostles or the writings of the prophets are read as long as time permits. Then the reader stops, and the leader by word of mouth impresses and urges to the imitation of these good things. Then we all stand together and send forth prayers.” So then in the pattern of any Christian service there should be four things.
(i) There should be the reading and exposition of scripture. Men ultimately do not gather together to hear the opinions of a preacher; they gather together to hear the word of God. The Christian service is Bible-centred.
(ii) There should be teaching. The Bible is a difficult book, and therefore it has to be explained. Christian doctrine is not easy to understand, but a man must be able to give a reason for the hope that is in him. There is little use in exhorting a man to be a Christian, if he does not know what being a Christian is. The Christian preacher has given many years of his life to gain the necessary equipment to explain the faith to others. He has been set free from the ordinary duties of life in order to think, to study and to pray that he may better expound the word of God. There can be no lasting Christian faith in any Church without a teaching ministry.
(iii) There should be exhortation. The Christian message must always end in Christian action. Someone has said that every sermon should end with the challenge: “What about it, chum?” It is not enough to present the Christian message as something to be studied and understood; it has to be presented as something to be done. Christianity is truth, but it is truth in action.
(iv) There should be prayer. The gathering meets in the presence of God; it thinks in the Spirit of God; it goes out in the strength of God. Neither the preaching nor the listening during the service, nor the consequent action in the world, is possible without the help of the Spirit of God.
It would do us no harm sometimes to test our modern services against the pattern of the first services of the Christian Church.
THE PERSONAL DUTY OF THE CHRISTIAN LEADER ( 1Ti 4:11-16 continued) Here in this passage is set out in the most vivid way the personal duty of the Christian leader.
(i) He must remember that he is a man set apart for a special task by the Church. The Christian leader does not make sense apart from the Church. His commission came from it; his work is within its fellowship; his duty is to build others into it. That is why the really important work of the Christian Church is never done by any itinerant evangelist but always by its settled ministry.
(ii) He must remember the duty to think about these things. His great danger is intellectual sloth and the shut mind, neglecting, to study and allowing his thoughts to continue in well-worn grooves. The danger is that new truths, new methods and the attempt to restate the faith in contemporary terms may merely annoy him. The Christian leader must be a Christian thinker or he fails in his task; and to be a Christian thinker is to be an adventurous thinker so long as life lasts.
(iii) He must remember the duty of concentration. The danger is that he may dissipate his energies on many things which are not central to the Christian faith. He is presented with the invitation to many duties and confronted with the claims of many spheres of service. There was a prophet who confronted Ahab with a kind of parable. He said that in a battle a man brought him a prisoner to guard, telling him that if the prisoner escaped his own life would be forfeit; but he allowed his attention to wander, and “as your servant was busy here and there he was gone” ( 1Ki 20:35-43). It is easy for the Christian leader to be busy here and there, and to let the central things go. Concentration is a prime duty of the Christian leader.
(iv) He must remember the duty of progress. His progress must be evident to all men. It is all too true of most of us that the same things conquer us year in and year out; that as year succeeds year, we are no further on. The Christian leader pleads with others to become more like Christ. How can he do so with honesty unless he himself from day to day becomes more like the Master whose he is and whom he seeks to serve? When Kagawa decided to become a Christian, his first prayer was: “God, make me like Christ.” The Christian leader’s prayer must first be that he may grow more like Christ, for only thus will he be able to lead others to him.
-Barclay’s Daily Study Bible (NT)
Fuente: Barclay Daily Study Bible
1. Now Greek, but, contrastive between the incarnation and matter-hating Gnosticism.
The Spirit The divine inspirer of all prophecy. The apostle does not here refer to any written prophecy, although the same essential prophecy we now have at any rate in the epistles of John. He had himself briefly uttered the same prediction to the elders of Ephesus in Act 20:29-30. He had written to the Thessalonians (2Th 2:7, where see notes) cognate predictions. The Spirit, therefore, is here the permanent prophetic witness within himself speaking forth on its own occasions.
Expressly Not in parable, allegory, or symbol; but in explicit, unmistakable, literal words.
Latter times The various phrases of this kind are of course antithetical, and to be explained by the former period to which they stand in contrast. In these last days, Heb 1:1, stands in antithesis to the Old Testament days, and means the days of the Christian dispensation. The last days of 2Pe 3:3, plainly refers to the last days before the second advent; of which Martha, in Joh 11:24, mentions the very last day. In 1Jn 2:18, we have a (not in Greek the) last time, which, in our note on 2Th 2:7, we imply to be the close of the apostolic age. It is the same period with the latter times of this verse, when, the apostles having deceased, and the apostolic age closed, the Church is handed over to their successors, and their hands having ceased to write, the completed canon becomes her guide. John’s many antichrists are the very same as the seducing spirits of Paul here. Hegesippus, the earliest of Church historians, near the end of the second century, says, in a fragment quoted by Eusebius, (Book iii, 32:) “The Church remained until then a pure and incorrupt virgin. If there were any that desired to corrupt the healthful type of gospel doctrine they lurked in dark retreats. But when the sacred choir of apostles departed from life, and the generation privileged to listen to their divine teachings passed away, then the system of godless error took a start, through deception of teachers varying from the apostolic doctrine. No one of the apostles surviving, they attempted with bare face to preach a falsely-styled gnosis in opposition to the preaching of the truth.”
Some The followers, of whom the seducing spirits are the leaders.
Depart from the faith As a true church officer should hold the faith. 1Ti 3:9; Tit 1:9.
Seducing spirits The demoniac opposite of the Spirit just mentioned. The Holy Spirit gives warning of the diabolic spirits.
Doctrines of devils Doctrines propagated by demons; not doctrines about demons.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘But the Spirit says expressly, that in latter days some will fall away from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons,’
Paul tells us that the Spirit has spoken ‘expressly, in specific terms’. This may have been through the Scriptures, or through the teaching of Jesus, or it may have been through prophecy (Act 11:28; 1Co 12:3; Rev 2:7 and often) or some other method (Act 8:29; Act 11:12; Act 16:7).
Being seduced by spirits and doctrines of demons was in mind in Moses’ words in Deu 32:16-17, when he spoke of Israel sacrificing to false gods and ‘to demons’, compare also ‘they mingled themselves with the nations, and learned their works — they sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons’ (Psa 106:35; Psa 106:37). It was not therefore a totally new idea, and may suggest a return to idolatrous ideas. Furthermore Micaiah in 1Ki 22:22-23 speaks of ‘lying spirits’ who ‘speak through the mouth of prophets’ (compare Deu 13:1-3; Jdg 9:23; Jer 5:31; Jer 14:14; Jer 23:16; Eze 14:9). And this idea of a lying spirit is connected with ‘that Day’ in Zec 13:2-3. Paul may well have connected these ideas with Jesus’ teaching about false prophets (Mat 7:15; Mat 24:11; Mat 24:24; Mar 13:22 compare also 2Pe 1:1; 1Jn 4:1). ‘The Spirit says expressly’ may therefore mean through Jesus with the Old Testament background in mind.
‘In latter days.’ Paul is clearly indicating here that they are already in the latter days, otherwise he would not have spoken of it here when speaking about the false prophets. ‘This was spoken of as to happen in the latter days, and here it is happening’. It was in fact the combined opinion of the early church that they were ‘in the last days (Act 2:17), and ‘at the end of the ages’. Thus Peter tells us that ‘He was revealed at the end of the times for your sake’ (1Pe 1:20), so that he can then warn his readers ‘ the end of all things is at hand’ (1Pe 4:7). In the same way Paul says to his contemporaries that what he describes is ‘for our admonition, on whom the end of the ages has come’ (1Co 10:11). So the first coming of Christ is seen by both as ‘the end of the ages’, not the beginning of a new age. Similarly the writer to the Hebrews tells us ‘He has in these last days spoken to us by His Son’ (Heb 1:1-2), and adds ‘once in the end of the ages has He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself’ (Heb 9:26-28). Thus all these early writers see their own days as being ‘the last days’, for as far as they were concerned this present time is the culmination of all that has gone before and leads up to the end.
‘Seducing spirits and doctrines of demons.’ Notice the emphasis on ‘seducing’. There are forces at work that seek to seduce men and lead them into false ideas and thus into receiving what can only be described as ‘doctrines of demons’ which as we have seen includes idolatry, although not necessarily so here. These are in contrast with the Holy Spirit and sound doctrine (1Ti 4:6; 1Ti 4:16; Act 2:42; Rom 6:17; Tit 1:9; Tit 2:1; Tit 2:7; Tit 2:10; 2Jn 1:9; consider also Heb 13:9; Eph 4:14; 2Ti 4:3).
Note the emphasis on falling away from faith (or the faith). They are in contrast with those who are holding to faith. Compare for this 1Ti 1:4-6; 1Ti 1:14; 1Ti 1:19 ; 1Ti 2:15; 1Ti 3:9 ; 1Ti 3:13.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Warning Against False Teachers Who Seek To Enforce Asceticism, Rather Men Should Receive What Is Good From The Hand of God With Thanksgiving ( 1Ti 4:1-7 ).
Having been exalted into Heaven we are now brought down to earth with a bump. In contrast with the church of the living God which is upholding the truth (1Ti 3:15), are those who are influenced by the powers of evil, who come speaking lies. These may be the false teachers already referred to in 1Ti 1:19-20, and may even be connected with those described in 1Ti 1:3-4, although not necessarily so. For these ban marriage and the eating of what God had created in order that it might be ‘received with thanksgiving’ and prayer, while those mentioned previously gave heed to fables and endless genealogies. The ones in mind now are ascetics, the previously mentioned ones fantasists (but see 1Ti 4:7 a).
Unable to appreciate the fullness of the Gospel, these present false teachers seek by following the pathway of asceticism to attain the necessary purity that will make them acceptable to God. Such ideas are to be ‘refused’ (1Ti 4:7 a), and Timothy, like all God’s people, must rather be nourished in the words of faith and of good doctrine.
Analysis.
a
b Branded in their own conscience as with a hot iron (1Ti 4:2 b).
c Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from certain types of food (1Ti 4:3 a).
d Which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth (1Ti 4:3 b).
c For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it be received with thanksgiving (1Ti 4:4).
b For it is sanctified through the word of God and prayer (1Ti 4:5).
a If you put the brothers (and sisters) in mind of these things, you will be a good minister (diakonos) of Christ Jesus, nourished in the words of the faith, and of the good doctrine which you have followed until now, but refuse profane and old wives’ fables (1Ti 4:6-7 a).
Note that in ‘a’ reference is made to falling away from the faith and to doctrines of demons, and the hypocrisy of men who speak lies, while in the parallel Timothy is to be nourished in the words of the faith, and in good doctrine, and is to refuse profane and old wives fables. In ‘b’ the false teachers are branded in their own conscience with a hot iron, while in the parallel creatures received with thanksgiving are sanctified through the word of God and through prayer. In ‘c’ there is a commanding to abstain from certain types of food, while in the parallel ever creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if received with thanksgiving and prayer. Centrally we learn that God created things to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Paul Now Gives A More Detailed Account of What Timothy’s Ministry Will Involve ( 1Ti 4:1 to 1Ti 6:10 ).
It is interesting how much the second half of this letter is patterned on the first. Both sections commence with an account of false teachers (1Ti 1:3-11; 1Ti 4:1-5). This is followed by a requirement for faithful service (Paul in 1Ti 1:12-15; Timothy in 1Ti 4:6-11) and for an example to be given to others (by Paul in 1Ti 1:16; by Timothy in 1Ti 4:12-16). Then follows a reference to the particular responsibilities of those in the church (men, women, responsibility of women of child-bearing age, overseers, servant (deacons) in 1Ti 2:1 to 1Ti 3:13; elder and younger men, older women, responsibility of women of child-bearing age, elders, bondservants in 1Ti 4:1 to 1Ti 6:2). It is a practical application to the individual church of the principles already enunciated.
Yet at the same time this next section is again in the form of a chiasmus, as follows:
Analysis.
a
b Timothy has to exercise himself towards godliness and set his hope on the living God Who is the Protector/Saviour of all men and especially the Saviour of believers (1Ti 4:7 b-11).
c Timothy is to work out this salvation that God has given him by being an example to others and fully utilising in faithful teaching his God-given Gift, which was given by the laying on of hands (1Ti 4:12-16).
d Older Christian men and younger Christian men are to be seen as family and treated accordingly (1Ti 5:1).
e Older Christian women and younger Christian women are to be treated similarly (1Ti 5:2)
f The church is to ‘adopt’ older Christian widows who have no family expressing God’s care for the most helpless and the most needy (1Ti 5:3-8).
e A contrasting approach towards older and younger Christian widows. (1Ti 5:9-16).
d Timothy’s and the church’s responsibility towards the older men and Elders (1Ti 5:17-21).
c Paul gives instructions to Timothy about the importance of being discerning in the laying on of hands, pointing out that he himself must be pure in every way and must ensure that his appointees will be so also (1Ti 5:22-25).
b Christian slaves must be faithful to all their masters as though to God, and especially to those who believe (1Ti 6:1-2).
a Teachers who fail to teach these things and the doctrines which contribute to genuine godliness are false teachers, and are puffed up and led astray into false ideas, while those who follow godliness will be content and enjoy food and clothing from God in contrast with those whom riches destroy (1Ti 6:3-10).
Note that in ‘a’ false teachers are duly described and are to be rejected, while the godly give thanks because they receive their food from God and in the parallel the same applies. In ‘b’ Timothy has to be a faithful servant to God Who is the Protector Saviour of all men and especially Saviour towards those who believe, while in the parallel slaves are to be faithful towards all their masters, and especially towards those who believe. In ‘c’ Timothy is to full use the gift he received by the laying on of hands, and in the parallel is to be discerning on whom he lays hands. In ‘d’ older men and younger men are to be treated as family, and in the parallel the church’s responsibility towards older men and Elders is revealed. In ‘e’ older women and younger women are to be treated as family and in the parallel instructions are given concerning both. Centrally in ‘e’ (God puts in the centre what we pass over quickly as almost irrelevant) the helpless and needy widows are especially to be catered for. It is they who represent those whom God has always especially cared for, the ‘widows and fatherless’ (Exo 22:22; Deu 10:18; Deu 14:29; Deu 16:11; Deu 16:14; Deu 24:17-21; Deu 26:12-13; Deu 27:19; Job 22:9; Job 24:3; Psa 68:5; Psa 94:6; Psa 146:9; Isa 1:17; Isa 1:23; Isa 10:2; Jer 7:6; Jer 22:3; Eze 22:7; Zec 7:10; Mal 3:5). They should therefore be a central concern of the church.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Warnings of Apostasy In 1Ti 4:1-5 Paul prophesies of a coming apostasy within the Church in the last days. Why is this passage on apostasy in 1Ti 4:1-5 following 1Ti 3:14-16 in which Paul states his purpose for writing this first epistle to young Timothy, which is to set the church in order while he is absent? Because when these times come, it will be important to know how to live godly in Christ Jesus when people begin to depart from the faith and live worldly. It takes a strong Christian to not be moved away the Word of God when many others have left the faith.
Paul knew what it was like to contend with the doctrines of men, such as those who adhered to extreme asceticism, which taught, “Touch not, taste not, handle not,” (Col 2:20-23).
Col 2:20-23, “Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, (Touch not; taste not; handle not; Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.”
Paul knew the burdensome rules and regulations of strict Judaism, which reduced everyday life to a ritual. Paul contended with these Judaistic beliefs within the Church in Act 15:1-41. This passage says that they “had no small dissension and disputation with them” (Act 15:2).
Act 15:2, “When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.”
Jesus contended with the Pharisees about their distorted views of tithing because they “made clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but their inward part is full of ravening and wickedness.” So, Jesus said in Luk 11:41 to “give alms as you are able and all things become clean.” In other words, they were to serve the Lord with their act of tithing so that would serve as an act of worship and sanctification in their lives.
Luk 11:41, “But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you.”
This passage in 1Ti 4:1-5 clear shows that the apostasy will take place with some of those within the Church, who initially embraced the Faith. This passage is actually a prediction of the fragmentation of the Church into denominations and religion sects and cults that will take place, especially in these last days before the Coming of Jesus Christ. Never before have there been so many cults and denominations using the name of Christ. There will be a progression of events that take place in their lives to gradually lure them away from Christ Jesus as their Saviour. They will first “give place” to other information (1Ti 4:1). This will leads to them “speaking lies in hypocrisy” (1Ti 4:2). Finally, their conscience will “become seared” so that they no longer are able to discern the voice of the Holy Spirit, and between right and wrong (1Ti 4:2). The sad part is that these former believers have been deceived in such a way that they believe they are still in the way of righteousness. They will form doctrines that deny all fleshly pleasures, such as marriage and foods for the body (1Ti 4:3). In 1Co 8:1 to 1Co 11:34 Paul gave a lengthy discourse to the Corinthian church about idolatry and foods offered unto idols. This was on extreme view of how to deal with the flesh, which was by satisfying it with all manner of sinful acts. Now, the deception that Paul predicts in 1Ti 4:1-5 will take the opposite extreme position of totally denying marriage and sex, as well as certain foods. Thus, Paul tells Timothy to keep this truth balanced so as not to fall in the ditch on either side of the extreme. He says that marriage and foods are sanctified by God when they are received and used as a gift and blessing from God (1Ti 4:4-5). Thus, we see progression of someone becoming indoctrinated into demonic doctrines induced by seducing spirits. They are no longer able to receive the indoctrination from the Word of God by servants of God. Their ears and mind hear words of seduction and they give place to it within their hearts (1Ti 4:1). Their mouth then speaks these doctrines that they have embraced (1Ti 4:2). This process of indoctrination causes them to deny what their pure consciences have been telling them so that it becomes dysfunctional, or “seared” (1Ti 4:2). Their lying words progress into false teachings as they endeavour to indoctrinate others (1Ti 4:3). Paul mentions such people in his second epistle to Timothy, by saying, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;” (2Ti 4:3) Paul wants this process of indoctrination to work for good in the lives of the believers, but he explains to Timothy how Satan can use the process of indoctrination to work for evil and cause some to be lost.
1Ti 4:1 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;
1Ti 4:1
Comments – It is interesting to note that from the Greek word we get the English word “planet.” This is easy to understand from the perspective of astronomy. For we know that a planet may look like a regular star at first, but over time it wanders out of its place and is no fixed in position like a true star. This is why Jude calls the planets “wandering stars” (Jude 113).
Jud 1:13, “Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars , to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.”
1Ti 4:1 Comments – In 1Ti 4:1 Paul tells Timothy that there will be those who have been saved, but leave the Bible doctrine for false teachings, therefore forsaking God. They will turn to demonic teachings brought by seducing spirits. There are two ways to depart from the faith. (1) Men can give heed to seducing spirits by listening to the spiritual voices of devils and following these voices. There are many different types of demon spirits mentioned in the Scriptures. There are familiar spirits, unclean spirits, spirits of divination, lying spirits, spirits of infirmity and seducing spirits. Each one of these titles describes the office of these demons. Thus, a seducing spirit is a demon that brings doctrines of devils to deceive men. (2) They can also embrace doctrines of devils by allowing themselves to be taught by men whose doctrines are not scriptural. These doctrines came to these men through seducing spirits. These doctrines come by the hypocrisy of lying men who are no longer sensitive to God through a seared conscience (verse 2). These teaching devised in hell by Satan and his fallen angels are designed to send strong delusions. These doctrines are cause people to think that they can sin and disobey God’s Word and go to heaven. Note how the serpent tricked Eve in the Garden of Eden with a false doctrine.
Paul warned Timothy in the opening passage of this epistle not to give heed to teachings that minister doubt rather than godly edifying:
1Ti 1:4, “Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.”
Jesus warned about those who allow demons to return into a house and bring seven more with him more wicked than himself and leave a person in worse condition (Mat 12:43-45). This appears to be the case in Paul’s description of a person departing from the faith and giving heed to seducing spirits with doctrines of devils.
Mat 12:43-45, “When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.”
The Bible says not to spend time giving our attention to cults and their literature. However, it is good to study them to know how to combat against their false doctrines. But, we are to train ourselves for combat in this world through striving for godliness. This will prepare us for spiritual warfare. We must give our energies to obtaining knowledge of God and having fellowship with Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. We cannot do this if we entertain our time with foolish fables and ideas.
1Ti 4:2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
1Ti 4:2
1Ti 4:2 “having their conscience seared with a hot iron” Comments – These men have so branded their minds with false doctrines of devils that they are no longer sensitive to the doctrine of the Holy Bible, nor are they open to receive any other corrections in their beliefs. How many people today do we see like this? Branded, or cauterized, flesh is dead and has no more life. It becomes insensitive, numb or callous to feelings. So is this man’s conscience and heart to the Holy Spirit.
The opposite of a seared conscience is a sensitive heart, which is referred to in the prophecy in Ezekiel.
Eze 11:19, “And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:”
1Ti 4:3 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.
1Ti 4:3
Comments – The two doctrines mentioned in 1Ti 4:3 regarding forbidding marriage and abstaining from meats appear to be extreme reactions to the pagan rituals of the Greco-Roman culture where feasting on meats offered unto idols and fornication were acts of worship to their gods. Paul deals with these to pagan practices in 1 Corinthians 8-10, where he gives the Corinthian church guidelines on how to conduct themselves in the midst of such heathen practices.
1Ti 4:3 “which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth” Comments – Both the institution of marriage and the eating of meats was designed by God. God’s original diet in the Garden of Eden was made up of plants and no meats of animals. God only allowed man to eat certain meats after the Flood. Thus, in the beginning man’s diet was vegetarian. 1Ti 4:3 uses the word meat in a general sense to mean solid food. Thus, we know that God did not originally create animals for man’s food. Thus, the word ( ) most likely refers to the plant kingdom, but allows the consumption of animals if pressed to the point.
1Ti 4:4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:
1Ti 4:4
Gen 1:10, “And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good .”
Note other uses of the word “good”:
Psa 84:11, “For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.”
Pro 3:27, “Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.”
1Ti 4:5 For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
1Ti 4:5
1Ti 4:5 “by the word of God” Comments – The type of food that we eat must be according to the Word of God. We find a list of foods that God has given to mankind to eat in Lev 11:1-42. The book of Leviticus prescribes ways in which the children of Israel were to sanctify themselves before the Lord, spirit, soul, and body. The dietary laws were given for the Israelites to sanctify their bodies. Thus, Paul says that the Word of God sanctifies what we eat. The context of 1Ti 4:3-5 says that all meats that God has sanctified are fit to eat. Paul is not saying in this passage that all meats are fit and healthy to eat. Rather, he is saying that the type of foods must be in accordance to God’s Word. Even Noah, who lived 1,500 years before the Mosaic Law, understood the divine truth of clean and unclean meats (Gen 7:1-2). In addition, the manner in which we eat foods has to be in accordance with the Word of God. For example, Paul would not eat meat or drink wine if it caused a brother to stumble (1Co 8:9-13).
Gen 7:1-2, “And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.”
1Co 8:9-13, “But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak. For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol’s temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols; And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ. Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend.”
1Ti 4:5 “and prayer” Illustration – Note that Jesus prayed and blessed the food before feeding the five thousand and then the four thousand. In the Old Testament, an anointed altar (when the horns have been anointed by oil) sanctified every gift offered upon it (Mat 23:19). Thus, prayer blesses and sanctifies a meal.
Mat 23:19, “Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?”
1Ti 4:5 Comments – Everything that we receive must be in accordance with God’s Word, and if it is, our prayers will bring God’s blessings upon it. What we do must be done according to God’s Word and we should pray, or ask God’s blessings the things that we do each day.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Setting the Church In Order 1Ti 2:1 to 1Ti 6:19 is the body of the epistle in which Paul gives Timothy specific instructions on how to set the church in order. Young believers do not know how to conduct themselves unless they are taught how to do this; thus, Paul places a special emphasis on respect and reverence upon the house of God, because it is a place dedicated to God. A new believer has to learn how to conduct himself in church since it is a new and sacred experience for him.
After Timothy is given his commissions and told how to appoint leadership (1Ti 1:3-20), Paul gives him three things to do in order to set qualified and trained leadership over the church of Ephesus. First, Timothy is to establish this church by calling the congregation to corporate prayer, where godly men will be identified (1Ti 2:1-15). This instruction includes the role of women role in the church. In a new church with new converts, women can dress very immodestly, so Paul is telling Timothy to set these issues straight so that prayer is not hindered. (Note that Jesus set the temple in order by driving out the moneychangers and saying that God’s house must be established as a house of prayer [Mat 21:12-13 ].) These times of corporate prayer will help Timothy identify those with a pure heart. Second, Timothy was instructed to appoint and train elders and deacons by giving them certain qualifications to meet (1Ti 3:1 to 1Ti 4:16). Timothy will begin to look for those who qualify as leaders out of the faithful who follow him in corporate prayer and exhibit a pure heart, and appoint them as bishops and deacons (1Ti 3:1-13). Finally, he will train those whom he has chosen to be future leaders (1Ti 3:14 to 1Ti 4:16). Thus, the steps to becoming a church leader are to first become a man of prayer (1Ti 2:1-15). As the desire for the ministry grows, a person will allow the Lord to develop his character so that he can qualify for the office of a bishop (1Ti 3:1-13). Finally, this person is to train himself unto godliness (1Ti 3:14 to 1Ti 4:16). We see this same method of selecting and training leaders in the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. He left home and called many to follow Him. For those who did forsake all and followed Him, Jesus chose twelve, whom He then trained for the work of the ministry. The third aspect of setting the church in order is regarding those church members who do not aspire to leadership positions of bishops and deacons. Thus, Paul gives Timothy guidelines on how to set in order additional roles of each member of the congregation (1Ti 5:1 to 1Ti 6:19). The passage on corporate prayer (1Ti 2:1-15) will emphasize the spiritual aspect of the congregation as the members prepare their hearts before the Lord. The passage on the appointment and training of church leadership (1Ti 3:1 to 1Ti 4:16) will emphasize the mental aspect of the congregation as certain members train for the ministry. The passage on the role of additional members (1Ti 5:1 to 1Ti 6:19) will emphasize the physical aspect as they yield themselves to a godly lifestyle.
Outline Here is a proposed outline:
1. The First Order: Corporate & Personal Prayer 1Ti 2:1-15
2. The Second Order: Appointing & Training Church Leaders 1Ti 3:1 to 1Ti 4:16
3. The Third Order: the Roles of the Congregation 1Ti 5:1 to 1Ti 6:19
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Second Order: The Appointment and Training of Church Leaders (Emphasis on Renewing of the Mind) 1Ti 3:1 to 1Ti 4:16 gives a lengthy discourse on how to identify and train members for the offices of bishops and deacons, the primary leaders in a local congregation. This passage will emphasize the renewing of the mind for Christian leadership.
Outline Here is a proposed outline:
1. The Appointment of Church Leaders 1Ti 3:1-13
2. The Training of Church Leaders 1Ti 3:14 to 1Ti 4:16
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Training of the Leaders: A Sincere Faith The next stage in setting a church in order is to train those who have been called out as bishops and deacons. Paul first establishes the purpose and function of the Church on earth by saying that it is “the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1Ti 3:15), placed upon this earth to reveal the “mystery of the Gospel of Jesus Christ” (1Ti 3:16). Thus, 1Ti 3:14-16 establishes our faith. However, there are those who will depart from this foundation of faith in Christ because of seducing spirits that deceive men with doctrines of devils (1Ti 4:1-5). Therefore, Timothy is to teach sound doctrine by “reading, to exhortation, to doctrine” (1Ti 4:6-16). It is in the continuation of teaching sound doctrine that a sincere faith is developed among the leadership as well as laity.
Outline Here is a proposed outline:
1. Defining the Role of the Church 1Ti 3:14-16
2. Warnings of Apostasy 1Ti 4:1-5
3. Exhortation to Teach Sound Doctrine 1Ti 4:6-16
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The False Doctrines of the Last Days and Their Refutation.
v. 1. 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;
v. 2. speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
v. 3. 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.
v. 4. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving;
v. 5. for it is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer. Just as the apostle had begun this section of his letter with a warning against errorists, so he also closes it with a specific reference to some of the most dangerous doctrines of the last days: But the Spirit says distinctly that in the latter times certain men will apostatize from the faith, giving heed to spirits of error and to doctrines of demons. The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of prophecy, who transmits the divine revelations, was especially active in the early days of the Christian Church, also by unveiling the future and thereby conveying warnings to the believers. In this case the Spirit, probably through the mouth of one of the prophets among the disciples, or through a revelation made to Paul personally, had expressly, with distinct words, declared that there would be a falling away from the truth in times to come. After the first love of the apostolic days had died down, many Christians remained with the congregations only for conventional reasons, just as many do in our days. But in addition to that, men would actually apostatize from the faith, would fall away from the sound doctrine of the Gospel. How extensively this was fulfilled is seen in the case of the great number of anti-Christian sects that have arisen in the very midst of the Church. Although many of these men were brought up in the true faith, they have deliberately denied it by giving heed and assent to the spirits of error, to such teachers as have not only left the paths of truth for their own persons, but are also making every endeavor to lead others astray. Spirits of error the apostle calls the false teachers, because they have yielded to, and are driven by, the spirit of lying and deceit. Therefore their doctrines are also called teachings of demons, the evil spirits themselves being the originators of their false ideas, of their perversion of the truth.
The apostle continues to characterize the errorists: in hypocrisy speaking lies, being branded in their own conscience. With a fine show of piety and interest in the welfare of men the demons, or rather the false prophets actuated by them, teach lies. The insidiousness of the temptation therefore consists in this, that it bears the appearance of godliness. See Mat 7:15; 2Co 11:14. Such people are fully conscious of the fact that they are working harm with their hypocritical conduct, but they have branded, seared, their own conscience; they bear the knowledge of their guilt and culpability around with them at all times. The more actively they carry on their propaganda for their false doctrines, the more deeply they drive the hot iron into their conscience. Yet they harden their hearts and are finally lost with their false doctrines.
The apostle now enumerates some of the errors which would be taught in the very midst of the Church: Forbidding to marry and (commanding) to abstain from foods which the Lord has created for enjoyment on the part of them that believe and acknowledge the truth. The state of holy wedlock is God’s ordinance and institution, and it is His will that the average normal adult person enter into this state. But certain false teachers did not hesitate to pervert even this order of God by prohibiting marriage, by denying men and women the right and the duty of entering into holy wedlock. But their insolent arrogance did not stop there, since the same teachers also had the temerity to issue orders that men must abstain from certain foods. Not only meats were included in this commandment of men, but foods of every kind. The apostle’s judgment of the false teachers, therefore, is sharp, for he calls such teaching doctrine of devils, proclamation of lies. If we take the characterization of the apostle as a whole, it certainly applies, so far as deliberate lying, doctrines of men, the prohibition of marriage and of foods is concerned, to the Church of Rome. As one commentator has it: “There can be no doubt of its applicability to the papal communion. The entire series of doctrines respecting the authority of the Pope, purgatory, the Mass, the invocation of the saints, the veneration of relics, the seven sacraments, the authority of tradition, the doctrine of merit, etc. , is regarded as false. Indeed, the system could not be better characterized than by saying that it is a system speaking lies. ‘ The entire scheme attempts to palm falsehood upon the world in the place of the simple teaching of the New Testament.”
In refuting the false doctrine, the apostle says of the foods, first of all, that God has created them for the use and enjoyment, with thanksgiving, of those that believe and know the truth. The believers, those that know the truth, those that, by the grace of God, have come to the understanding of the truth of the Gospel and have made this truth their confession: they alone receive the gifts of God in the right spirit, namely, with thanksgiving with a heart that acknowledges Him as the Giver of all good things. It is true, indeed, that God lets His sun rise upon the evil and upon the just, and sends rain upon the good and upon the bad, but the only people that accept His goodness in the right spirit are the believers, who, in Christian liberty, make no distinction in foods and do not believe in false asceticism.
The Christians know, as the apostle writes: For every creature of God is good, and nothing objectionable that is accepted with thanksgiving: for it is sanctified through the Word of God and prayer. Here is a definite rejection of the errorist position as to foods. Everything that God has created, everything that His almighty power has brought into being, is good, is excellent even by virtue of its being a product of His goodness. Everything that God has intended for food should then be regarded as such and not prohibited as useless, dangerous, and sinful It all depends upon the manner of acceptance, for if the heart of him that receives the gift is full of ungrateful, sinful thoughts, if he does not accept the goodness of God with thanksgiving, then the purpose of the Creator in donating the gifts is not fully realized. Luther’s explanation of the Fourth Petition shows that he really grasped the meaning of this verse: “We pray in this petition that God would teach us to know it, and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving. ” So far as God is concerned, His gifts are indeed not influenced by the conduct of those that receive them, but so far as men are concerned, their behavior in accepting the gifts and their use of God’s blessings make a big difference indeed. He that makes use of any of God’s gifts, including food and drink, only for the gratification of sinful desires, thereby profanes these blessings. On the other hand, the grateful acceptance of the gifts of God by the Christians with the Word of God and with prayer is a consecration of these blessings. Undoubtedly the apostle here had in mind the prayers at meat, which are usually clothed in Bible language, and which always make mention of the dependence of man upon the Creator, the Giver of every good gift This spirit of the Christians incidentally keeps them from despising and abusing any blessing that comes down from above. The errorists with their prohibition of foods can gain no foothold in a congregation where this knowledge is still held.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
1Ti 4:1
But for now, A.V.; saith for speaketh, A.V.; later for the latter, A.V.; fall away for depart, A.V. The Spirit saith expressly (); only here in the New Testament, and very rare in classical Greek. But the adjective , in the sense of something “laid down,” “definite…. expressly mentioned,” is common. It was, doubtless, on account of these prophetic warnings of a falling away from the faith, that the apostle gave the preceding heads of Christian doctrine in such a terse and tangible form, and laid such a solemn charge upon Timothy. (For examples of these prophetic utterances, see Act 11:28; Act 13:2; Act 20:23; Act 21:11; 1Co 12:8; 1Co 14:1-40. ’30, 32, etc.) Shall fall away (). So St. Paul says (2Th 2:3) that the day of Christ will not be, “except the falling away ( ) come first” (comp. Heb 3:12). The faith; objective (see 1Ti 3:9 and 1Ti 3:16, note). This “falling away” is to take place ; not, as in the R.V., in “later times,” but as in the A.V., “the latter times.” The adjective is only found here in the New Testament. But in the LXX. (e.g. 1Ch 29:29; Jer 1:19; Jer 27:17, LXX.), means “the last,” as opposed to “the first.” And so the adverb always in the New Testament (see Mat 4:2; Mat 21:37; Mat 26:60; or more fully , Mat 22:27). Here, therefore, is equivalent to (Act 2:17) and (2Ti 3:1; comp. Jas 5:3; 1Pe 1:5; 2Pe 3:3; Jud 2Pe 1:18). It should be observed that in all these passages there is no article. Giving heed (); as in 1Ti 4:13; in 1Ti 1:4; Tit 1:14; Act 8:6, and elsewhere. Seducing spirits ( ). Such were the “lying spirits” who deceived () Ahab to his destruction (2Ki 22:1-20 :22). , seducing, is not elsewhere found in the New Testament as an adjective (see Mat 27:63; 2Co 6:8; 2Jn 1:7, in all which places, however, it is almost an adjective). The idea is “causing to wander,” or “go astray.” St. John warns his people against such deceiving spirits (Joh 4:1-6). He calls them generically , “the spirit of error.” Doctrines of devils; i.e. teachings suggested by devils. So the unbelieving Jews suggested that John the Baptist had a devil (Luk 7:33), and that our Lord himself had a devil (Joh 7:20; Joh 8:48, Joh 8:52; Joh 10:19).
1Ti 4:2
Through the hypocrisy of men that speak lies for speaking lies in hypocrisy, A.V.; branded in their own conscience as with for having their conscience seared with, A.V. Through the hypocrisy of men, etc. The construction is rather obscure, as the most obvious way of construing is that of the A.V., where must agree with . But then the clause, “having their conscience seared with a hot iron,” does not suit “devils.” It is therefore, perhaps, best to translate the clause as the R.V. does, and to explain, with Bishop Ellicott, that the preposition , which precedes , defines the instrument by which they were led to give heed to seducing spirits, viz. the hypocritical preterites of the men who spake lies, and whose consciences were seared. If agrees with , we must conceive that St. Paul passes insensibly from “the devils” to the false teachers who spake as they taught them. In the Gospels, the speech of the devils, and of those possessed by devils, is often interchanged, as e.g. Luk 4:33, Luk 4:34, Luk 4:41; Mar 1:23, Mar 1:24. Men that speak lies (); only found here in the New Testament, but occasionally in classical Greek. Branded (); here only in the New Testament, but used in Greek medical and other writers for “to brand,” or “cauterize;” and , a branding-iron. The application of the image is somewhat uncertain. If the idea is that of “a brand,” a mark burnt in upon the forehead of a slave or criminal, then the meaning is that these men have their own infamy stamped upon their own consciences. It is not patent only to others, but to themselves also. But if the metaphor is from the cauterizing a wound, as the A.V. takes it, then the idea is that these men’s consciences are become as insensible to the touch as the skin that has been cauterized is. The metaphor, in this case, is somewhat similar to that of . The latter interpretation seems to suit the general context best, and the medical use of the term, which St. Paul might have learnt from Luke. The emphasis of , “their own conscience,” implies that they were not merely deceivers of others, but were self-deceived.
1Ti 4:3
Created for hath created, A.V.; by for of, A.V.; that for which, A.V. Forbidding to marry. This is mentioned as showing itself first among the Essenes and Therapeutic by Josephus (‘Bell. Jud.,’ it. 8.2, and ‘Ant. Jud,’ 18., 1.5). It became later a special tenet of the Gnostics, as stated by Clem. Alex., ‘Strom.,’ 3.6; Irenaeus, “Haer.,” 1.22, etc. (quoted by Ellicott). See other quotations in Pole’s Synopsis. Commanding to abstain from meats; (1Co 8:8; Heb 9:10; comp. , Col 2:16; Rom 14:17). The word “commanding” has to be supplied from the preceding , “commanding not.” Some of the sects prohibited the use of animal food. A trace of this asceticism in regard to food is found in Col 2:16, Col 2:21, Col 2:23. The chief passages relating to it are those referred to above from Josephus: , “They despise marriage;” , “None of the Essenes marry”; “Gens sine ulla femina, venere abdicata””A people without a single woman, for they renounce marriage” (Plin., ‘Nat. Hist.,’ 5.15). As regards their food, Bishop Lightfoot says, “The Essene drank no wine; he did not touch animal food. His meal consisted of a piece of bread, and a single mess of vegetables”. Professor Burton (in Kitto’s ‘Cyclopaedia,’ art. “Gnosticism‘) says of the later Gnostics that, from their principle of the utter malignity of matter, and the elevating nature of , two very opposite results ensuedone that many Gnostics led very profligate lives; the other that many practiced great austerities in order to mortify the body and its sensual appetites. Some of our modern Eneratites, in their language concerning the use of wine and beer, approach Gnosticism very closely. To be received ( ); a classical word, but only found here in the New Testament, not used by the LXX. With thanksgiving. Observe the identity of thought with Rom 14:6. These passages, together with our Lord’s action at the last Supper (Luk 22:17, Luk 22:19), at the multiplication of the loaves and fishes (Luk 9:16), and St. Paul’s on board ship (Act 27:35), are conclusive as to the Christian duty of giving thanks, commonly called “saying grace” at meals. The truth (see 1Ti 3:15; Joh 18:37; Eph 4:21, etc.).
1Ti 4:4
Is to be rejected for to be refused, A.V. Nothing is to be rejected. The A.V., “nothing to be refused,” manifestly uses “nothing” in its adverbial sense (“in no degree,” “not at all,” Johnson’s ‘Dict.’), as in Greek is also commonly used (Liddell and Scott). In fact, it is very difficult to construe the passage as the R.V. does. To say “nothing is to be rejected if it is received,” is scarcely sense. But to say that every creature of God is good (and on that account not to be rejected) if it is received with thanksgiving is very good and edifying sense. Creature (). The form commonly used by St. Paul is (Rom 8:20, Rom 8:21, Rom 8:22; 2Co 5:17, etc.). But stands by the side of , like by the side of by the side of by the side of , and many more. The form is found in Jas 1:18; and twice in Revelation. Good (); with reference to Gen 1:10, Gen 1:12, etc. To be refused (); only here in the New Testament, but found in classical Greek, and not uncommon in the LXX. and other Greek versions, for that which is “unclean,” or “abominable.” If it be received with thanksgiving. This clearly refers to “every creature of God,” and is the condition on which it is good in relation to the receiver. Nothing can be clearer or more certain than that the apostle is not arguing against the Manichean doctrine of the evil of matter, or the works of the Demiurge, but against Jewish scruples about meats. “Every creature of God,” he says, “is good”words which would have no force if the creatures in question were not admitted to be the works of God, but thought to be the works of the Demiurge. But applied to the Jewish scruples, the words are perfectly relevant. Every creature of God is good, and on no account to be treated as common or unclean (Act 10:15, Act 10:28), provided only that it be received with thanksgiving.
1Ti 4:5
Through for by, A.V. It is sanctified through the Word of God. Considerable difference of opinion prevails among commentators as to the precise meaning of this verse, especially of the phrase, “the Word of God.” Some refer to Gen 1:4, Gen 1:10, Gen 1:12, etc.; others to Gen 1:29; Gen 9:4, as containing the original grant of meats for the use of man; others to the scriptural phrases embodied in the words of the , the prayer of thanksgiving. Another possible reference would be to the Word of God recorded in Act 10:13, Act 10:15, Act 10:28, by which that which had previously been unclean was now made clean or holy; or, lastly, it might mean “the blessing of God” given in answer to the “prayer” on each occasion, which suits well the present tense, . Prayer (; see 1Ti 2:1, note).
1Ti 4:6
Mind for remembrance, A.V.; Christ Jesus for Jesus Christ, A.V. and T.R.; nourished for nourished up, A.V.; the faith for faith, A.V.; the good for good, A.V.; which thou hast followed until now for whereunto thou hast attained, A.V. If thou put the brethren in mind of these things ( ); if thou suggest these things to the brethren, lay them down as principles upon which their conduct is to be based; or, enjoin them (Liddell and Scott). It only occurs in this metaphorical sense here in the New Testament, but is very common in classical Greek, and not infrequent in the LXX. It has often the meaning of “to advise” or” counsel.” Of course, “hypothesis,” the assumed basis from which you start, is the same root. The brethren ( ). The distinctive name for the members of Christ’s Church, throughout the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles. The whole body is called “the brotherhood” (1Pe 2:17; 1Pe 5:9). A good minister (). The application of this term to Timothy, like that of to presbyters (1Ti 3:2), is an indication of the early date of the Epistle, before the distinctive names of the Church officers had quite hardened down into a technical meaning. Nourished (); here only in the New Testament, and not used in the LXX.; but in classical Greek not uncommon in the sense of “brought up in,” “trained in from childhood.” In Latin, innutritus. The phrase, “nourished in the words of the faith,” etc., explains the , and shows what a man must be to deserve the appellationone, viz., who is nourished in the words of the faith, etc. The faith; here again objective, as in verse 6 (see note). The good doctrine, etc. In opposition to the “doctrines of devils” in verse 1. The different epithets of this true Christian doctrine are (as here); (1Ti 1:10; Tit 1:9; Tit 2:1); (1Ti 6:3); and in 1Ti 6:1-21. I we have simply , without any epithet. In like manner, , , severally denote the Christian religion. Which thou hast followed until now ( ). This is a rather more faithful rendering than that of the A.V.; it is, literally, which thou hast kept close to, either for the purpose of imitating it, or, as 2Ti 3:10, for the purpose of observing it. Or, to put it differently, in one case so as to teach it identically, and in the other so as to know it perfectly. In this last aspect it is also used in Luk 1:3. The classical use is “to follow closely any one’s steps,” or “the course of events,” when used literally; or, metaphorically, “to follow with one’s thoughts,” “to understand.”
1Ti 4:7
Unto godliness for rather unto godliness, A.V. The R.V., by putting a full stop after “fables,” disturbs the natural flow of the thought. The two imperatives and connect and contrast the thoughts in the two clauses of the verse, as the A.V. indicates by the insertion of “rather.” Profane (; 1Ti 1:9, note) Old wives’ (); only here in the New Testament; not used in LXX.; rare in classical Greek. Exercise thyself unto godliness ( ). The verb occurs in the New Testament only in this place, twice in the Epistle to the Hebrews (1Ti 4:14; 12:11), and once in 2Pe (it. 14). In the LXX. it occurs only once, but is common in classical Greek. The metaphor is drawn from training for gymnastic exercises. As regards the whole passage, it seems that there were current among the Jews at this time many “fables” (1Ti 1:4; 2Ti 4:4; Tit 1:14; 2Pe 1:16), childish legends and doctrines, some of them directed especially to enforcing certain rules about eating and drinking, and other “bodily exercises,” which St. Paul utterly discountenances, and contrasts with that “good doctrine” which he directs Timothy continually to teach. This would account, naturally, for the introduction of the phrase, .
1Ti 4:8
Is profitable for a little for profiteth little, A.V.; for, for unto, A.V.; which for that, A.V. Bodily exercise. Exercise which only affects the body, such as those rules which the Jewish ascetics enforced. only occurs here in the New Testament, and not at all in the LXX., but is not uncommon in classical Greek. Another form is , and is the place where such takes place. For a little; margin, for little, which is the best rendering, , as Ellicott well remarks, may mean either “for a little while” or “for a little” (better, “for little”), but cannot mean both. The contrast with determines its meaning here to be “for little,” which is exactly the same meaning as the A.V. Promise of the life. The genitive here is the genitive of the thing promised, as in Act 2:33; Gal 3:14; 2Ti 1:1. And the thing promised is “the life that now is,” meaning, of course, its enjoyment in peace and happiness (comp. Psa 34:12 [33., LXX]., where is parallel to .. ); and “that which is to come,” viz. eternal life). There is no occasion to strain after greater grammatical precision. There is no contradiction between tiffs statement of the happiness of a godly life and St. Paul’s statement in 1Co 15:19. Another possible way of construing the words is that of Bishop Ellicott and the ‘Speaker’s Commentary:’ “Having the promise of life, both the present and the future.” But in this case we should have had …
1Ti 4:9
Faithful is the saying for this is a faithful saying, A.V. (1Ti 1:15, note). Here, however, the is that which precedes, viz. that “godliness is profitable for all things,” etc., which we thus learn was a proverbial saying.
1Ti 4:10
To this end for therefore, A.V.; labor and strive for both labor and suffer reproach, A.V. and T.R.; have our hope set on for trust in, A.V.; them for those, A.V. For to this end; or, with this in view. He thus justifies his assertion that the saying he had quoted is a faithful one, by showing that the promise and all that it contained was the ground of all his labors and those of his fellow-laborers in the gospel. Strive (); so many good manuscripts, instead of T.R. ; but the reading is doubtful. The sense of the T.R., “suffer reproach,” seems preferable, and the expression more forcible, as conveying something more than mere laborthe bitter reproaches and persecutions which he endured (2Ti 3:11; 1Co 4:9-13; 2Co 11:23-27); and all because of his firm trust in the promises of the living God. Our hope set on. Rather a clumsy phrase, though it expresses accurately the ; but it was hardly worth altering the A.V., “we trust in the living God.” In 1Ti 5:5 we have , with no appreciable difference of sense. Specially of them that believe; and therefore we who believe have special cause to hope in him, and to trust his promises.
1Ti 4:11
Command (; see 1Ti 1:3, note; 1Ti 5:7; 1Ti 6:13, 1Ti 6:17). It is used very frequently in the Gospels of our Lord’s commands to the apostles and others, and by St. Paul of his own apostolic directions to the Churches (1Th 4:11; 2Th 3:4, 2Th 3:6, etc.).
1Ti 4:12
An ensample to them that believe for an example of the believers, A.V.; manner of fife for conversation, A.V.; love for charity, A.V.; R.T. omits in spirit, A.V. and T.R. Let no man despise thy youth. The construction of the sentence is manifestly that adopted in the A.V. and followed in the R.V. Timothy would certainly be under forty years at this time, and might be not above thirty-five. Either age would be decidedly early for so responsible an officeone in which he would have many elders () under him (1Ti 5:1, 1Ti 5:17, 1Ti 5:19). An ensample (); properly the original “pattern” or “model” after which anything is made or fashioned; hence a “pattern” or “example.” It is used in the same sense as here in Php 3:17; I These. Php 1:7; 2Th 3:9; Tit 2:7; 1Pe 5:3. Them that believe. The R.V. has apparently so translated in order to assimilate it with the in 1Pe 5:10. But are simply “believers,” or “Christians””the flock,” as St. Peter has it, and had better be so rendered. Timothy is exhorted to make it impossible for any one to question his authority on the score of his youth by being a model of the Christian graces required in believers. In word. Specially in his teaching. The exhortation to Titus (Tit 2:1, Tit 2:7, etc.) is very similar, “Speak thou the things which befit the sound doctrine. In all things showing thyself an ensample of good works; in thy doctrine showing uncorrupt-ness, gravity, sound speech ( )” etc. (comp. too 1Ti 5:17; 2Ti 1:13). Manner of life (; see 1Ti 3:15, note). Purity (); elsewhere in the New Testament only in 1Ti 5:2, where it has the same special sense (compare , 2Co 11:2; 1Ti 5:22; Tit 2:5; 1Pe 3:2).
1Ti 4:13
Heed for attendance, A.V.; teaching for doctrine, A.V. Till I come (1Ti 3:14; 1Ti 1:3). Reading ( ). The public reading of the Scriptures (the Lessons, as we should say). This we know was the practice in the synagogue (Luk 4:16, etc.; Act 13:27; Act 15:21; 2Co 3:15). We see the beginning of reading the New Testament in the Christian assemblies in Eph 3:4; and Col 4:16; and generally in the fact of Epistles being addressed by the apostles to Churches. The , the reader, lector, was a regular order in the third and fourth centuries. The Grace is being revived in our day. Exhortation ( ); see Act 4:36, where Barnabas’s name is interpreted as meaning “Son of exhortation” (R.V.), and Act 13:15; comp. Rom 12:7 (where, as here, and are coupled together); 1Th 2:3, etc. Teaching (); almost always rendered “doctrine” in the A.V. But here, where the act of teaching (like the act of reading, the act of exhorting, in the two preceding clauses) is intended, “teaching” is perhaps the best word according to our modern usage. As regards the difference between and , the former would express “doctrinal teaching,” whether of dogma or of precept, the latter entreaties to believe the one and practice the other (see Act 11:23 and Act 14:22 for good examples of ).
1Ti 4:14
The gift (). The verb means “to give anything freely,” gratuitously, of mere good will, without any payment or return (Luk 7:42; Act 27:24; Rom 8:32; 1Co 2:12, etc.). Hence came to be especially applied to the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are preeminently “free gifts” (see Act 8:20). It is so applied in Rom 1:11; Rom 12:6; 1Co 1:7; 1Co 12:4, 1Co 12:9, 1Co 12:28, 1Co 12:30, 1Co 12:31; 1Pe 4:10. Here, then, as in the similar passage, 2Ti 1:6, the “gift“ spoken of is the special grace given by the Holy Ghost to those who are separated for “the office and work of a priest in the Church of God by the imposition of hands” (Ordering of Priests). This gift St. Paul bids him not neglect ( ). The word contains the idea of contemptuous neglectneglect as of an unimportant thing. In Mat 22:5 the persons invited to the feast made light of it, and went away to other things which they cared mere about. In Heb 2:3, , and Heb 8:9, imply a contemptuous disregard. So here Timothy is reminded that in his ordination he received a great , and that he must value it duly, and use it diligently. It must not be let lie slumbering and smoldering, but must be stirred up into a flame. The lesson here and in 2Ti 1:6 seems to be that we must look back to our ordination, and to the spiritual grace given in it, as things not exhausted. The grace is there, but it must not be lightly thought of. Which was given thee by prophecy. This seems to be explained by Act 13:1-3, where Barnabas and Saul were separated for their work by the laying on of the hands apparently of the prophets and teachers, at the express command of the Holy Ghost, speaking doubtless by the mouth of one of the prophets. Timothy, it appears, was designated for his work by a like command of the Holy Ghost, speaking by one of the Church prophets, and received his commission by a like “laying on of hands” by the elders of the Church. If St. Paul refers, as he appears to do, to the same occasion in 2Ti 1:6, then it appears that he laid his hands on Timothy, together with the presbyters, as is done by the bishop in the ordination of priests. The presbytery ( ). The word is borrowed from the Jewish nomenclature (see Luk 22:6; Act 22:5). In a slightly different sense for “the office of a presbyter,” Sus. 5.50 (Cod. Alex.).
1Ti 4:15
Be diligent in for meditate upon, A.V.; progress for profiting, A.V.; be manifest unto for appear to, A.V. Be diligent, etc. ( ). Give all your attention and care and study to these things. It is just the contrary to in 1Ti 4:14. The verb , besides this passage, occurs in its classical sense of “premeditating” or “getting up a speech,” in Mar 13:11 (where, however, the reading is doubtful), and again in Act 4:25, in the sense of “premeditating” certain actions. A kindred use in classical Greek is “to practice” or “exercise” an art, as rhetoric, dancing, shooting with a bow, and the like. It is very common in the LXX., in the sense of “meditating,” practicing in the thoughts. Give thyself wholly to them ( ); literally, be in these things; i.e. be wholly and always occupied with them. The similar phrases in Greek and Latin classics are (Plutarch); “Omnis in hoc sum” (Her., ‘Ep.,’ Eph 1:1. 1); “Nescio quid meditans nugarum, et totus in illis” (Her., ‘Sat.,’ 1. 9. 2); and in the LXX., (Pro 23:1-35. 17). Thy progress ( ). Progress, advance, or growth, is the idea of . It is used twice in Phip Act 1:12, Act 1:25. A good example of its use in classical Greek is that in Polyb., Act 3:4, . The use of the verb for “to advance,” “make progress,” is still more common (Luk 2:52; Rom 13:12; Ga L 14; 2Ti 2:16; 2Ti 3:9, 2Ti 3:14). It is used equally of progress in good or evil. Unto all. The R.T. reads for in the T.R., which may be rendered either “to [or, ‘among’] all persons” or “in all things.”
1Ti 4:16
To for unto, A.V. (twice); thy teaching for the doctrine, A.V.; these things for them, A.V.; save both for both sate, A.V. Take heed (); as in Act 3:5 (see too Luk 14:7). Thy teaching. The A.V., the doctrine, is the better rendering, though the difference of meaning is very slight. The use of in 1Ti 6:1 and 1Ti 6:3, and Tit 2:10 strongly supports the sense of “doctrine,” i.e. the thing taught (see note on Tit 2:13). Continue in these things ( ); comp. Act 13:43; Rom 6:1; Rom 11:22, Rom 11:23; Col 1:23. It is impossible to give a satisfactory solution to the questionWhat does refer to? It seems to me necessarily to refer to what immediately precedes, viz. , and so to refer rather to the sense of the words than to the exact grammar. The things which he was to “take heed to” were his own conduct and example (included in ) an d the doctrine which he preached; and in a steady continuance in these thingsfaithful living and faithful teachinghe would save both himself and his hearers. The application of the words to the of Col 1:15, or to all the things enumerated from Col 1:12 onwards, or, taken as a masculine, to the Ephesians, or the hearers, as variously proposed by eminent commentators, seems alike impossible.
HOMILETICS
1Ti 4:1-16.Latter-day apostasies.
The history of the Christian Church is the history of the sowing of tares as well as of the sowing of good grain; and it describes the work of seducing spirits as well as that of the Spirit of God. The work of heresy is not merely the denial of true doctrine, but it is the invention and propagation of a multitude of false doctrines. Nor, again, are the false doctrines so invented and promulgated, on the face of them, necessarily ungodly doctrines. On the contrary, they often assume to themselves to be holier, stricter, more heavenly doctrines, than those of the Church of God. The Church of God is not holy enough for these spirit-taught separatists; the precepts of Jesus Christ do not attain a standard high enough for their exalted aspirations; the apostles do but grovel in the dust of commonplace piety, while these self-sent teachers soar to the heights of the true knowledge of the Infinite. But not only does Church history record the rise, in a lamentable succession, of the various troublers of the spiritual Israel, the men who have done more to hinder God’s work on earth than all the persecutors and atheists put together have accomplishedthe Cerinthuses, and Marcions, and Montanuses, and Manicheuses, and Socinuses, and countless other sectaries of later timesbut the spirit of prophecy revealed beforehand for the Church’s warning that so it should be. The Holy Ghost, in no obscure or doubtful words, made it known to the Church that there would be apostasies many and grievous from the faith once delivered to the saints, that the leaders of those apostasies would be seducing spiritsspirits of antichrist, as St. John has itand that some of them at least would put on the hypocritical appearance of greater holiness, for the purpose of the better deceiving the hearts of the simple. Thus while Christ taught by his apostle that “marriage is honorable in all,” these forbade to marry; while the Word of God declared that “every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving,” these commanded “to abstain from meats,” saying, “Touch not, taste not, handle not.” The Word of God teaches that God gives us richly all things to enjoy; these enjoined every kind of austerity to the body”bodily exercises” which profited little. The Word of God bids us approach bodily to the throne of grace through the mediation of Jesus Christ; these would keep men back from God, and substitute, in the name of humility, the worship of angels. And that these pernicious doctrines were not confined to the first ages of the Church, the history of the Church too sadly teaches. The most opposite forms of heresy which have in all ages distracted the Church have always had this in common, that, pretending to improve upon the sound, sober, and wise teaching of the Word of God, they have corrupted and forsaken it. Enforced celibacy for pure-minded chastity; artificial rules of abstinence for habitual temperance and self-restraint; groveling saint and image worship for direct communion with the living God; self-righteous separation from the world for holy living in the world; bruising the body for mortifying the soul; pretentious rejection of wealth for self-denying use of it; leaving the state of life in which God has placed a man, instead of adorning the gospel in it; making those things to be sins which God has not made sins, and those things to be virtues which God has not made virtues;these have ever been the characteristics of those “doctrines of devils,” the purpose of which is to turn the simple away from the truth. “The good minister of Jesus Christ” must hold his course boldly and straightforwardly in the teeth of all such false doctrine. He must not parley with the teachers of heresy, nor mix the wine of the gospel with the water of falsehood. He knows that the Word of God is purer, and holier, and wiser, and higher, than all the subtleties of human invention, and will stand in its glory when they are all swept away into nothingness. And, knowing this, he must give himself wholly to teaching the truth, whether men will hear or whether they will forbear, being fully assured that in so doing he will both save himself and them that hear him.
HOMILIES BY T. CROSKERY
1Ti 4:1, 1Ti 4:2.A predicted apostasy in the Christian Church.
In opposition to this exhibition of the mystery of godliness, the apostle places the prediction of a serious apostasy from the faith.
I. THE APOSTASY IS A SUBJECT OF EXPRESS PREDICTION. “But the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in after times some shall depart from the faith.” It may seem strange that apostasy should be thought of so soon after the foundation of Christianity, but the Church is fully forewarned of the coming danger. It was foretold, not obscurely, but expressly, in the prophecies by Daniel (Dan 7:25; Dan 8:23), of our Lord (Mat 24:4, Mat 24:11), and of the apostle himself (2Th 2:1-17.; Act 20:29, Act 20:30; Col 2:1-23.). But he here alludes more specifically to a development of error in the future, the germs of which he discerns in the present.
II. THE TIME OF ITS APPEARANCE. “In after times.” The words signify any period subsequent to the age in which the apostle lived, for he saw in the apostasy of the present the beginning of a still more serious apostasy in the future. The mystery of iniquity had already begun to work. But it would project its evil shadow far forward into the dispensation, in many various forms.
III. THE EXTENT OF THE APOSTASY. “Some shall depart from the faith.”
1. Some, not all. Not the whole visible Church, but a considerable part of it. Thus an assurance is given that the true Church of God shall not be extinguished.
2. The apostasy is from the doctrine of faiththough it be the mystery of godlinessnot the grace of faith, which, being of an incorruptible origin, cannot be lost. Christ is the Author and Finisher of faith. The elect cannot be finally deceived. The doctrine of faith was to be corrupted by “denying what was true, by adding what was false.”
IV. THE REASON OR PROCESS OF THE APOSTASY. “Giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.” The prime movers were not false teachers, but unseen agents in the spirit-world.
1. Man does not stand isolated in this world. If he is not influenced by the Holy Spirit, he is influenced by the spirits of delusion, who are the emissaries of Satan. If we are not possessed by the truth, error will make an easy conquest of us. Often the heart that is made empty by skepticism is the most ready to welcome superstition.
2. It is possible for evil spirits to influence the human mind.
(1) Satan could tempt David to number the people (1Ch 21:1). As the father of lies, the suggestion of error would be a congenial work. The coming of the man of sin is to be after the working of Satan.
(2) There is a sacrifice to devils, a communion with devils, a cup of devils, a table of devils (1Co 10:20, 1Co 10:21). There is a spiritual wickedness in high places capable of compassing great destruction by error.
(3) The apostle teaches the personality of such evil spirits.
(4) There is no more difficulty in understanding their communication of thought to man, than in understanding the communication of thought from one evil man to another. An evil man can communicate evil by a glance of his eye. But if the Spirit of God can, without the intervention of the senses, influence the minds of believers, it is easy to understand that seducing spirits can have access to the centers of thought and feeling without any similar intervention.
V. THE CHARACTER OF THE FALSE TEACHERS UNDER SUCH EVIL INSPIRATION. “In the hypocrisy of speakers of lies, being branded in their own conscience as with a hot iron.”
1. They assumed a mask of holiness which they did not possess, with the view of giving better currency to their lies. Their assumed sanctity would throw the unwary off their guard, and lead to the confounding of truth with error. The lies they taught were that holiness was to be attained through abstinence from marriage and particular kinds of food.
2. They were essentially corrupt, for their conscience had become so seared through transgression that they had lost the true distinctions between right and wrong, error and truth. They were incapable of relishing the “mystery of godliness,” and therefore devoted themselves to the arts of religious seduction in the interests of an essentially unspiritual asceticism.T.C.
1Ti 4:3-5.The practical features of the apostasy.
The apostle does not enumerate the doctrinal errors of the apostates, but touches upon two practical characteristics which would fall under general observation.
I. THERE WAS A PROHIBITION OR RESTRAINT UPON MARRIAGE. “Forbidding to marry.”
1. This was an ascetic tendency already manifested in the East, especially among the Essenes of Palestine and the Therapeutae of Egypt.
2. It may have already influenced Christian opinion in the Corinthian Church; for the apostle is obliged to solve spiritualistic doubts regarding marriage (1Co 7:1-40.).
3. The tendency developed in less than a century into a Gnostic contempt for marriage.
4. It entered patristic theology in the form of an exaggerated admiration for virginity, to the disparagement of married life.
5. It developed inside the Latin and Greek Churches into the celibacy of the clergy and the religious orders.
6. It was a tendency wholly opposed to Scripture teaching.
(1) It forbade what Scripture allowed: “Marriage is honorable in all” (Heb 13:2).
(2) It forbade the marriage of ministers, while Old Testament priests and New Testament ministers were to be “husbands of one wife” (1Ti 3:2). “Have we not power to lead about a wife, a sister?” (1Co 9:5). Several of the apostles made use of this power: “As well as other apostles…. and Cephas.”
(3) The reason why the apostle says so little here concerning the restriction on marriage, and so much on that respecting meats, is probably because the one was so manifestly opposed to the whole plan of creation, that the common sense of men would reject it as unnatural and wrong. Perhaps, also, the one tendency had not assumed so definite a form as the other. The very liberty allowed under the gospel to abstain from marriage was not grounded on the idea of the superior holiness of celibacy or virginity, but on its affording in special circumstances greater opportunities and freedom for spiritual work (1Co 7:32-37).
II. THERE WAS A PROHIBITION OR RESTRAINT UPON THE USE OF CERTAIN KINDS OF FOOD. “And commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving by them who believe and know the truth.” Probably the restriction was as to the use of flesh. The Essenes and the Therapoutae abstained from particular kinds of food. The Gnostic schools developed the tendency still more, and in due time it was stereotyped into the penitential usages of Romanism. The apostle argues strenuously against this abuse.
1. It was contrary to God‘s design in creation.
(1) All food was from the hand of the Maker; nothing was therefore to be accounted common or unclean under the gospel.
(2) All food was good. “For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused.” It was not, therefore, for man to place restrictions upon what God had given with such a liberal hand for his use. “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.”
2. The conditions under which the true design of God in creation is fulfilled.
(1) The food was for all creatures; but “believers and those who have known the truth” had a covenant right to it, and the true end of creation was only fully satisfied in them.
(2) The right manner of receiving the food provided. “If it be received with thanksgiving;” for it is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer. This implies
(a) that food is to be gratefully received as God’s gift;
(b) that our thanksgiving is presented on the objective side by the Word of God, and on the subjective side by prayer. Thus the custom of grace before and after meat is grounded in a Divine command.T.C.
1Ti 4:6, 1Ti 4:7.The due equipment and duties of a minister of Christ.
I. THE MINISTER MUST BE ALWAYS TEACHING. “By setting forth these things to the brethren, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ.” It was the duty of Timothy to counsel the brethren at Ephesus concerning the present signs of the coming apostasy, and to instruct them how they should counteract its mischiefs. It is probable that some at Ephesus had already been betrayed by ascetic seductions into an unhealthy mode of life. Timothy was to be mindful of the present truth and the present error.
II. THE MINISTER MUST BE ALWAYS LEARNING. “Nourishing thyself up in the words of the faith and of the good instruction which thou hast diligently followed.”
1. There must be a continuous and permanent process of self-instruction, as the tense of the participle signifies. The minister must never cease to learn, because he has to set the truth in new lights, and to counteract error out of the large storehouse of Divine truth.
2. The minister‘s armory is the Word of faith and good instruction thoroughly mastered.
(1) Nothing but God’s Word received by faith will enable Timothy to fight the battle of truth. He is not to overcome in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
(2) He is to adhere faithfully to the truth already attained. Progress in knowledge does not imply a constant changing of opinions.
III. THE MINISTER MUST BE ALWAYS WORKING TOWARD A PROFITABLE RESULT. “But the profane and old wives’ fables avoid, and rather exercise thyself unto godliness.”
1. Negatively, the minister is to avoid foolish and unprofitable studies. The apostle referred to fables familiarily known, Jewish in origin, perhaps with a mixture of Gentile theosophy, which were morally unfruitful, but practically dangerous as preparing the way for the apostasy of the future. The minister must himself stand free from all sympathy with such injurious formalism as was embodied in the rabbinical studies, as leading to the neglect of the weightier matters of the Law.
2. Positively, the minister is to exercise himself unto godliness.
(1) This implies that godliness is a pursuit that demands the strenuous application of all our energies of mind, body, and spirit.
(2) It implies that godliness must be the chief business of a minister as well as the chief aim of his life to promote it among the members of his flock.
(a) It has its inner seat in the heart.
(b) It works outward into the life.
(c) It is a progressive state.
(d) It was the one chief concern of the apostle himself. “One thing I do.”T.C.
1Ti 4:8, 1Ti 4:9.The advantage of true godliness.
The apostle gives a reason for his exhortation to godliness.
II. THE SUPERIORITY OF GODLINESS TO ANY MERE BODILY EXERCISE. “For bodily exercise profiteth to a small extent.”
1. The allusion here is not to the ascetic discipline already noticed, because:
(1) Though it might apply to the more developed austerities of later timesflagellations, pilgrimages, and weary vigilsit cannot fairly apply to the disuse of marriage and of certain kinds of food. There is no bodily exercise implied in such a quiescent habit or aspect of life.
(2) It is impossible to think that the apostle should even concede that such austerity was profitable to the smallest extent, for he is opposed to the whole idea of it.
(3) Besides, this was not the immediate subject in hand, which was the excellence of true piety.
2. The allusion is to the gymnastic training which occupied so much of the time and energy of the Greek youth. It was profitable for the healthful development of bodily life, but by its very nature it was both temporal and temporary in its results and its rewards.
II. THE GROUND OF THE SUPERIORITY OF GODLINESS. “But godliness is profitable unto all things, having the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.” It has the profit and the promise of a double life.
1. It has the profit and the promise of this present life.
(1) There is the promise of length of days. “The wicked live not half their days.”
(2) There is the prophetic promise that they “shall inherit the earth.”
(3) There is the profit
(a) of a good name,
(b) of riches and honor; for they will want no good thing.
(4) Godliness is profitable for all things included in the scheme of a holy life.
2. It has the profit and the promise of the life to come.
(1) This does not signify that it merits eternal life, but that it is essentially connected with it in the Divine scheme of salvation.
(2) Thus godliness is “great gain” for the whole life of man in the next life. It involves the highest blessedness of man.
(3) Happy is the man whose future is provided for as well as his present.
III. CORROBORATION OF THE APOSTLE‘S ASSERTION RESPECTING GODLINESS. “Faithful is the saying, and worthy of all acceptation.” It was a truth of universal acceptance among Christian people, because, in spite of all the drawbacks of a persecuting time, it had been happily realized in their checkered experience.T.C.
1Ti 4:10.The practical effects of this truth in apostolic experience.
Looking to the realization of this promise, the apostle reminds Timothy how he was borne up by it in all his labor and suffering.
I. ITS SUSTAINING EFFICACY. “For to this end do we labor and suffer reproach.”
1. The apostle did not regard the life promised to godliness as one of mere corporeal enjoyment.
2. His life was actually one of severe and toilsome labor as well as of trying but unmerited reproach.
3. Yet he was stimulated to increased toil and supported under the infliction of unjust reproach by the thought of the promise involved in the life of true godliness.
II. THE SOLID BASIS OF CHRISTIAN EXPECTATION UNDER TOIL AND SHAME. “Because we have set our hope upon the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those that believe.”
1. The blessed nature and continuity of this hope.
(1) It is the good hope through grace which we enjoy.
(2) Life would be a blank without it. “If in this life only we have hope, we are of all men most miserable.”
(3) It is linked with patience. “But if we hope for that which we see not, then do we with patience wait for it” (Rom 7:25).
(4) It is a permanent and continuous hope, as the tense of the verb here signifies.
2. The ground or basis of this hope. “Upon the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those that believe.”
(1) This hope is from the “God of hope” (Rom 15:13), who is the living God; that is, no mere God of imagination, but a real personal Agent, the very Fountain of life in infinite sufficiency.
(2) It is a hope linked to salvation in its widest senseboth “the life that now is, and that which is to come.” For God is “the Savior of all men, especially of those that believe.”
(a) The Saviorship here has relation to the two lives of men, as expressed in the context. In the one sense, God is a Savior of all men, since by his watchful and sustaining providence he preserves them from destruction; in the other, he offers and bestows eternal life.
(b) The words do not warrant the Universalist conclusion that all men will be ultimately saved. The passage makes an express distinction between all “men” and “believers” inconsistent with this view.T.C.
1Ti 4:11, 1Ti 4:12.A series of admonitions for the guidance of Timothy.
I. TIMOTHY IS ENJOINED TO EXERCISE A DUE AUTHORITY. “These things command and teach.” He is to instruct the Church at Ephesus with all authority in all that concerned the nature of true piety, the dangers to be guarded against, and the duties to be faithfully discharged.
II. TIMOTHY IS ENJOINED TO CULTIVATE A GRAVITY OF DEPORTMENT THAT WOULD MAKE HIS YOUTH RESPECTED. “Let no man despise thy youth.”
1. Timothy was only relatively a young man. It is highly probable that he was very young when he first joined the apostle (Act 16:1-3)perhaps nearly twenty-five years of ageand as eleven years had since intervened, he would probably now be about forty years old.
2. As Timothy had to give counsel to persons much older than himself (1Ti 5:1), and even to call them to account (verse 19), it was necessary that he should cultivate a gravity of manner that would admit of his age being forgotten. Perhaps, also, as he was of a rather timid dispositionmore disposed to obey than to commandthe counsel of the apostle was more needed. He must be firm and manly, and destitute of every aspect or element of pretentious assumption.
III. TIMOTHY IS ENJOINED TO BECOME A PATTERN TO ALL BELIEVERS. “But become thou a pattern of the believers in word, in behavior, in love, in faith, in purity.” Thus would he counteract any disadvantage arising from his youth. He was to be a pattern in all the leading characteristics of the Christian minister.
1. “In word.”
(1) As to his public teaching, which must be according to God’s. Word, showing in it uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, sound speech that could not be condemned.
(2) As to social intercourse, which must be
(a) not corrupt, vain, or foolish;
(b) but always with grace, seasoned with saltwise, grave, edifying.
2. “In behavior.” In the Church, the family, the world, he must maintain a deportment becoming the gospel of Christ, in all godliness and honesty, with simplicity and godly sincerity, so as to stop the mouths of gainsayers and earn a good report from them that are without.
3. “In love, in faith.” These are the two motive forces of the Christian life to influence both the speech and conduct of the minister. The one is set in motion by the other; for “faith worketh by love.”
(1) He is to be a pattern in love to God and man, without which, even if he has the tongue of angels, he is nothing.
(2) In faith, in the grace of faith, in the doctrine of faith, in the profession of faith.
4. “In purity.” The minister must be pure in life, in thought, in language, and in all his relations to the world.T.C.
1Ti 4:13.The duties of Timothy’s public ministry.
The apostle urges him to the diligent exercise of his calling. “Till I come give attention to the reading, the exhortation, the teaching.”
I. THE READING. This referred to the public reading of the Scriptures in the Church. The Old Testament Scriptures, and probably part of the New Testament, would thus be read at such meeting of the saints. This reading was necessary because
(1) the Scriptures were the sources of all religious knowledge;
(2) the test or standard of doctrine by which opinions were to be tried;
(3) the means of sanctification (Joh 17:17);
(4) the spring of Christian hope and comfort (Rom 15:13).
II. THE EXHORTATION. This refers to public ministry. Timothy was practically to enforce the duties of Christian life out of the Scriptures.
III. THE TEACHING. This refers to the matter of doctrinal instruction. Thus full provision would be made for building up the saints in their most holy faith, and in all the graces and virtues of a holy life.T.C.
1Ti 4:14.The duty of improving the Divine gifts of exhortation and teaching.
“Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee through prophecy, with laying on of the hands of the presbytery.”
I. THE SPIRITUAL GIFT CONFERRED ON TIMOTHY.
1. It is not mere intellectual equipment, nor the mere possession of Divine grace, but the gift, which qualified Timothy for preaching the gospel. “For the work of an evangelist.” It was a gift of interpreting the Scriptures, of dispensing the mysteries of grace with edification, of bringing forth things new and old out of the good treasure of a holy heart informed with truth.
2. It was a gift conferred by means of prophecy. The Holy Spirit had, by one or more of the prophets, declared his will to confer this gift upon Timothy. The prophecy was the Divine assurance as to Timothy’s qualifications.
3. The response to this Divine act is signified by the action of the presbytery in formally designating him to his special ministerial work.
II. THE DUTY OF EXERCISING AND IMPROVING THIS GIFT. “Neglect not the gift that is in thee.” There were several reasons to enforce this duty.
1. The prophetic declaration accompanied by the concurrence of the whole body of presbyters would fill his mind with a sense of his high privilege and great responsibility in the possession of such a gift.
2. The exercise of a gift is the only method of preventing its complete lapse. The disuse of a limb causes it to decay. All faculties must be kept bright and vivid by constant exercise.
3. Our Lord, by the parable of the talents, teaches us the sin and danger of hiding our talent uselessly in the ground.T.C.
1Ti 4:15, 1Ti 4:16.The necessity of a minister giving his whole energies to his work.
The apostle here concludes his solemn instructions to his chosen representative at Ephesus.
I. THE DUTY OF BEING MINDFUL AND DEVOTED TO ONE‘S MINISTRY. “These things do thou care for: be in them.”
1. A minister‘s heart ought to be anxious about his work. It is this anxiety that secures the efficiency of work in this world. But the minister’s concern is full of an inspiring zeal for God’s honor, and is sustained by encouraging promises of help from on high.
2. A minister ought to devote himself exclusively to his work. “Be in them.” The obstacles to this devotion are:
(1) slothfulness,
(2) worldliness,
(3) the pressure of duties right in themselves, but lying outside the sphere of the ministry.
II. THE MOTIVE FOR THIS EXCLUSIVE DEVOTION. “That thy progress may appear to all.”
1. This does not imply that Timothy was to have exclusive regard to his right standing with the Church. This might be a questionable motive.
2. It implies that his devotion to his work should be so altogether conspicuous that it could not but be seen by all.
III. THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE PERSONAL LIFE AND THE OFFICIAL WORK OF THE MINISTER. “Take heed to thyself and to the teaching; continue in them: for in so doing thou shalt save both thyself and them that hear thee.”
1. The direct object of the minister of the gospel is the salvation of studs.
2. This salvation comes by hearing the gospel. “Faith cometh by hearing.
3. It is the duty of the minister to persevere with a pious insistency on all the objects of his ministry. “Continue in them.”
4. Nothing is so well adapted for the salvation of ministers as their pious labors in behalf of the salvation of others.
5. There is to be a double service in this ministry. The minister must first look well to his life, exemplifying the holiness of the gospel in word and deed (1Ti 4:12); and then his teaching must be good (1Ti 4:6) and salutary (1Ti 1:10). Thus he will be the instrument of much good; he will thus cover the multitude of sins, and save a soul from death (Jas 5:20).T.C.
HOMILIES BY W.M. STATHAM
1Ti 4:4.A false asceticism.
“For every creature of God is good.” The gospel stood in a difficult position. On the one hand was asceticism, with its hermits of every creed, and its retreats in Asia, Africa, and Egypt; on the other hand was Epicureanism with its philosophy of enjoyments, which ran into lawless excess. We must judge a new religion by its first teacher; for Christ was his own religion alive and in action. John the Baptist was an ascetic; but Christ came eating and drinking, and his enemies said, “Behold, a wine-bibber, and a friend of publican and sinners.” His first miracle was at a marriage festival, and he dined with the Pharisees. We have here an example in morals. Every creature or creationnot necessarily a living thingis good. Show that it is from God, and then it must be good. In the story of Creation, after every new day, “God saw that it was good.”
I. ASCETICISM MAKES A FALSE WORLD OF ITS OWN. It narrows life; it empties the fountains of joy, it destroys the hopes of youth, it degrades the body, and treats matter as though it were evil. God’s idea of life is that body, soul, and spirit are to be redeemed.
II. THE CHRISTIAN. FAITH MAKES A TRUE WORLD OF MEN‘. We are to be trained through use, even when use is dangerous; for test makes manhood. “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation.” We are to have the analogy in Nature. She is to stand the storm, and be strengthened by it. So the atmosphere is purified, so the roots of the trees take faster hold of the soil. What a world of disease and death this would be without currents and waves and storms!
III. THE CHRISTIAN FAITH HAD FALSE INTERPRETERS. It could but be that the surrounding tendencies affected the Christians. Just as there were Judaistic Christians, so there were those affected by the old Manichean doctrine “that matter was evil.” Consequently they would treat the body as corrupt and evil. The apostle, therefore, is not only general, but specific in his statement, “Some forbid to marry and forbid to eat meats;” and he repeats the expression, “which God hath created.” The same tendency appeared, and was fatally developed, in the monastic life of the Church. The monk and the nun appeared to possess a special sanctity, but it was not really so. The forces of nature, if they have not pure avenues of enjoyment, will be sure to find impure channels; and history shows that monasteries have been associated with hidden vice and criminal deeds of shame, though softened over with vesper chants and morbid garments of melancholy hue.W.M.S.
1Ti 4:4.A universal use.
“And nothing to be refused.” The apostle has shown that government is a creation of God; we are to pray for kings and all in authority, and this is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior. And he has taught us to obey the powers that be; for they are ordained of God. He has shown that the place of man in the Creation is of God. A woman’s lot is not to be the world’s leader or teacher, but the equal companion of man. All social economies break to pieces that deny God’s ordinations in the universe. No order that he has created is to be refused.
TO REFUSE IS TO IMPLY A SUPERIOR JUDGMENT TO THAT OF GOD. The wisest must know best. He who is from everlasting to everlasting has given a revelation for all aspects of society and all ages of men. Individual liberty is left. We are not to forbid to marry or to command to abstain from meats; though, if any thought the meat was offered to idols, and that they sanctioned idolatry, they might refuse it; as our temperance friends think that when use runs to abuse, and is a stumbling-block, they have a perfect right to use liberty of abstinence. “Nothing to be refused.” Wonderful words! The imagination of the mind is a creation of God. Poetry, affection, and art alike may be used in the Christian sphere. The intellect of the wise is a creation of God; it is not to be blindfolded. We are not to say, as Rome said to Galileo, “Faith does not inquire;” but we are to use it in its own sphere, reverently looking up to God for more light. “Come, and let us reason together, saith the Lord.” All natural beauty is of God. It is no sign of religion to love ugliness. Only let your beauty not be meretricious beauty. Let it be pure, as God is pure. “Nothing to be refused.”W.M.S.
1Ti 4:4.A grateful heart.
“If it be received with thanksgiving.” We are always to be conscious of dependence, or else our very blessings turn to curses. We become full, and we deny God. There is a prosperity without God which makes men proud and hard. Men lose the consciousness of the transitoriness of earthly good, and of their entire dependence upon God. We are, therefore, to live in an atmosphere of gratitude. We are not to receive mercies as though we had a right to them, but always, as Paul says, “Be ye thankful.”
I. THINK OF THE THOUGHT MANIFESTED IN THESE GIFTS, Every student of nature becomes surprised that beauty is born out of such strange elements, and that there should be such harmony of forces that, taken alone, would be terribly destructive. God’s thoughts are, toward us, precious thoughts, spoken in all ages by holy men, and symbolized in the world of nature. God has thought out all that is needful for our life. He has stored the earth, interlaced it with rich metallic veins, filled it with limestone and coal, that all might be ready for his child. And in grace we see how God promised a Savior, and, when his Son came into the world, “all things are now ready.”
II. THINK OF THE FORBEARANCE THAT CONTINUES THEM. Men have abused God’s mercies. If men destroy the nobleman’s shrubs, he closes his grounds. If men deface the pictures, the galleries are no longer free. And yet God bears with all the sin and frailty of man; and from generation to generation this is the thought that should move man mostnot only the forgiveness, but the forbearance, of God.
III. THINK OF THE PLEASURES RECEIVED FROM THEM. What millionfold ministrations of pleasure there are! What has not nature been to you, and love, and thought, and home! There is no more wonderful contemplation than the varied pleasures of heart and mind.
IV. THINK OF THE UNCREATIVE POWER OF MAN. We cannot create an atom; we can only readjust and combine. And the artist cannot create his colors; he can only mix them. The physician cannot create his remedies; he can only find them. The builder cannot create his stones, he can only quarry them. The child can gather the flower; but a whole universe of men cannot give it life again. Let every creation of God be received with thanksgiving..W.M.S.
1Ti 4:5.Creation sanctified.
“For it is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer.” Here, then, is an exquisite harmony. We have been talking of creation, and now we come to consider the Word of God. And these creative things are to be “sanctified by the Word of God and prayer.” Men can talk with God. His fellowship is a test of all our pleasures and companionships and associations”Would the Bible be out of place here?” It is never out of place in nature’s gardens and groves. The best descriptions of nature are in the Bible. It is never out of place in pure festivities. It records the marriage supper, and the music and the dance when the prodigal came home. It is never out of place in children’s joys; for it gives the picture of a glad and happy childhood. The prophet says, “The streets of the city shall be full of girls and boys playing;” and Christ took up little children in his arms, and blessed them. It is never out of place in pure human love; for that is poetized in one entire book of the Bible. It is not out of place in the earnest pursuit of secular things; for the proverbs appeal to personal endeavor, and to the right enjoyment of riches and honor. The Bible sanctifies life from the cradle to the grave, and any social economy apart from the Word of God is only a paper defense against tyranny and wrong. “And prayer.” For we may speak to God. The neutral face of nature is ghastly without him. “Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth.” Can I ask God to be there at all? Can I ask him to aid me in my work? Can I ask him to comfort me if I fail? Can I ask him to quicken my powers and enlarge my opportunities? Can I ask him to sanctify my associations? These are vital questions; for nothing is sanctified without him, and everything is “sanctified by the Word of God and prayer.”W.M.S.
1Ti 4:6.A wise reminder.
“If thou put the brethren in remembrance.” We cannot create truth, any more than the artist can create nature. Revelation is not imagination. A teacher can combine, harmonize, reproduce, and call to remembrance. Timothy cannot add to the gospel. In the eleventh verse of the first chapter it is called “the glorious gospel, which was committed to my trust.” A trustee does not alter the will, neither does he add to it. All that he has to do is sacredly to carry out the last wishes of the testator. And when Christ had finished the gospel by his ascension, then he sent them into all the world to preach it.
I. THE CHURCH A BROTHERHOOD. “Put the brethren.” Here is no priestly domination, no hierarchical pretension.
1. Brotherhood in service. We may have different functions, but we are all servants. We have it in type in the great Servant, “who came not to be ministered unto, but to minister.” We ought never to be ashamed of service. The old guilds in England were beautiful things. It is a pity now that retirement is thought more honorable than service.
2. Brotherhood in sympathy. The most precious element in life is the sentiment of pity. Some men despise sentiment; but without it you take away the atmosphere of life, as in nature atmosphere is the drapery of the hills and the haze of the mountains. This sympathy is subtle, not merely spoken, but breathed in tones and glances at us in looks of thoughtful love. It is an angel of help, always swift to help, and ready to fly to sorrow. Shakespeare calls it “Heaven’s cherubim horsed.”
3. Brotherhood in pilgrimage. In Church life there will be absence of mere etiquette and ceremony. It will be a contrast to the world. It will not be easy to come and go from a true pilgrim Church. Pride may not care for it; fashion, in its novelistic literature, may laugh at it; but the Christian knows that there is something strengthening in the fellowship of the saints.
II. THE GOSPEL A REMEMBRANCE. “Put them in remembrance;” because of their preoccupation. Business life, the cares of home, make us forget the heavenly Word. Too often the angels of God stand outside the heart. In a busy age like the present there is nothing men so much need as quiet hours for the quickening of memory. “Remembrance;” because of familiarity. As the Swiss mountaineer thinks little of the beauty which the traveler goes miles upon miles to see, so the gospel has been round about our childhood and youth, and there is a danger lest we make light of that which is so familiar to our thought. “Remembrance;” because of pride. We forget that we need the gospel, and once felt ourself to be chief of sinners; forget that we were slaves, and can now go back and take up the broken chains of old sins. “Remembrance;” because we may seek to make a new religion for ourselves. Earnestness may take the forms of Pharisaism and asceticism; we may try Emersonian self-dependence. We are to remember that the gospel of the grace of God is what we all need unto the end.W.M.S.
1Ti 4:6.Ministerial vocation.
“Thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.” Taking your own medicines. Eating the bread you recommend. A good horticulturist will show you his own garden. The test, therefore, of Christian faith and good doctrine isbeing nourished up.
I. IT MAKES MEN STRONG TO ENDURE. Ministers are men of like passions with others; as Shakespeare says
“We are all men!
In our own nature, frail, incapable.
Of our flesh, few are angels.”
Paul realized all this himself, and said, “We are men of like passions with yourselves.” In the daily conflict, the soul that is nourished up and made strong in Christ can “endure as seeing him who is invisible.”
II. MADE STRONG TO ENJOY. Full of deep and quiet joy. It is a poor strength that can merely show self-denial! There must be self-exercisethe ability to show that life in God leads to a ministry of service that shall be full of heart and hope.
III. MADE STRONG TO TESTIFY. “Nourished up in the words of faith,” so as not merely to expound them or to give elaborate exegesis of doctrine, but to live out the heavenly truths. Timothy was to attain unto this, and to let no man despise his youth, because age alone is not wisdom, and Paul speaks of him as having “attained.”W.M.S.
1Ti 4:8.Religious recompense.
“Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is.” It is a fair charge against mediaevalism, that it left out of sight the Christianization of this present life, and became only another-worldism. The host carried to the dying was everything; the elevation of the earthly life was nothing. Marshes might remain undrained, habitations unimproved, knowledge be imprisoned, science be garroted, and this earth neglected, provided the people became true sons of the Church and possessed the priestly passports to eternity! The religious nature (and there is that in every man) was perverted. Man became the subject-power of those who, in the name of God, darkened the moral sense, and degraded human nature under the pretence of saving it. The gospel has always had the promise of the life that now is; it saves men from selfishness and sin, as well as from Gehenna.
I. THE LIFE THAT NOW IS WAS CREATED BY GOD. Human life and human history are not accidents. God created us, and not we ourselves. Better to be born and to die in the same hour, than to live on through weary years, if human life has not a heavenly purpose in it. God thought out this world. God designed us to use it; and when we mourn over sin and ignorance and darkness, we rejoice that Christ came to put away sin, and to bring in an everlasting righteousness, Nature is ours, with all her mountains and seas, her pastures and flocks, the silvery thread of her rivers, and the Gothic arches of her forests, richly to enjoy. Christ came to claim humanity, to redeem humanity. The broken harp he will restring and set to divinest music. We will not put sepia into all the pictures of earth’s to-morrow; for “the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: and the glory of the Lord be revealed, and all flesh see it together.”
II. THE LIFE THAT NOW IS TO BE MOULDED BY GOSPEL INFLUENCES. We read that Paul “persuaded and turned away much people.” If the gospel has the promise, we must help in the fulfillment of the promise. When we see wrongs, we must try to remedy them. When God gives us the remedy, we must take care to point to the great Physician alone. We need not be afraid. The gospel is unique; it stands alone. It has done more for this sin-stricken world than any words of man can tell. And Christ still lives on, and his Spirit is one of restraint in men, even when it is not a salvation. If caricature could have crushed Christianity, it would have been silenced long ago. The life that now is was molded by the gospel, so that men who were once darkness had light in the Lord. Humanity breathed again; slavery felt its grasp grow weaker; polygamy became a cruelty and a shame; and as we look at its beneficent progress, and see orphanages and homes and refuges rising up on every hand, we have abundant evidence that the gospel is promise of the life that now is. Suicide, that had been the euthanasia of Rome, ceased, Men who had lost their love of life in the satiety of its pleasures, and to whom death was a relief from its ennui, gave place to a race who found new hope and new joy in the pursuit and pleasures of the life that now is, under the lordship of Christ.W.M.S.
1Ti 4:8.The great beyond.
“And of that which is to come.” It is not too much to say that the gospel alone, in this age, is the witness to immortalitya witness preserved in three aspects: it is taught by Christ’s words; illustrated in Christ’s life; and attested by Christ’s resurrection. Outside the gospel we Lave materialism, which denies it; agnosticism, which says it does not know about it; and the modern school who use the word “immortality,” but mean immortality of influence, or a life which has on earth its permanent pervasive power after we are gone: just as the oak is immortal which sends on, from acorn to acorn, its being. Before Christ came:
1. Immortality had its place as an instinct. The philosophers admitted that.
2. It had its place as an imagination. The poets made dreams out of it.
3. It had its place as an ancient revelation.
The Hebrews had knowledge of it. But secularism, in the fashionable school of Sadducees, had darkened it. Christ came to bring life and immortality to light by the gospel. It is this light in which the gospel is bathed; the perspective behind all its picture-teachings; the consolation of apostles, confessors, and martyrs. But Paul links it with the life that now is, because he would not let the doctrine of immortality become basely used, as it was in Persia. There slavery and wrong were unredressed. Persia said to the oppressed, the poor, the serf, the miserable, “Never mind, Ormuzd will make it right hereafter!” Not so says Paul. Religion has its rectitude’s and its rewards here as well. The gospel has the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.
I. THEN LIFE IS CONTINUOUS; THERE IS NO BREAK. Death is not a dividing power. It is a dark arch through which the river flows. If a pure river, then he which is holy shall be holy still. If a fetid river, then he which is filthy shall be filthy still. This is life eternalto know Christ; and, having him, we have glory and immortality. The insect does not die when it changes its garment from the grub to the winged being, when it exchanges earth for air. Nor do we die. We are unclothed that we may be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven. The body sheds itself often. At seventy we have had ten bodies; but the mind, the heart, the conscience, the memory, have a consciously unbroken continuity. We never shed them! The road is seen today from the child’s first step; the river flows through town and city, but it is the same river. We feel this; it is the mystery of personality; it is the symbol of continuity. Through all the years we have had one being, and through the dark arch of death it flows on into the life that is to come.
II. THEN LIFE IS A PROPHECY. There is no difficulty here. As the child is the prophecy of the man, so the man is the prophecy of the immortal. In a mirror, and that mirror himself, man may read the future world. His tastes, desires, pursuits, pleasures, all globe themselves in the microcosm of his heart. He need consult no augurs about future destiny. Here are the mystic pages: “He that believeth on the Son hath life;” its form, shape, color, quality. Christ has changed the nature, and made it God-like and Divine. The Christian life may be shady, imperfect, and stained with evil; but it is a God-like thing; its pity, purity, righteousness, holiness, are attested. Perfect it, and you have heaven. It were well for men to think, not only of what is, but of what is to come. Even bad men hope to alter. Men think a sudden change at last may come; a turn of the helm just as the vessel nears the rapids may cause it to glide into the river of life. But life here is a prophecy. It is the earnest of the inheritance of reward or shamethe life that is to come, with its advent hour so quiet, so sure, so solemn; coming but once, but coming to all. We thank God for the great sky of immortality above us, and for the rest that remaineth for the people of God.W.M.S.
1Ti 4:10.Adequate reasons.
“For therefore we [both] labor.” To understand a man’s history, we must understand his philosophy of lifethat is, his motives and his reasons. For no life has unity without this. It may have spasmodic activities and instinctive virtues, but no completeness or consistency. Here is
I. THE ARGUMENT OF A TRUE FAITH“THEREFORE.” A man’s thought does not always rule his life, even though conscience enforces truth as a duty. A man’s conscience does not always rule his life. It is said that man is a will; and this is true, for it is ever the supreme power. Man is made up of three things”I can,” “I ought,” “I will.” Christ had become the Master of Paul’s life; therefore he labored, because the gospel was a fact, not a fable (1Ti 4:7) spun out of Jewish brains. Men like Strauss have tried to prove it a mythsomething that grew up in the minds of men. Imagine the Jewish mind that had grown more ritual and legal, developing into the simplicity of Christianity! Imagine philosophy that had grown more and more proud and exclusive, developing a religion for the common people! The gospel was a faithful saying, and St. Paul did not alter and improve his doctrine and teachings; he preaches the same gospel in his earlier and later Epistles. He was a man of sober judgment and of intellectual power, and no mere rhapsodist. He says, “It is worthy of all acceptation”by the scholar and the peasant, the Jew and the Gentile, the bond and the free. The Jew would find it fulfilled his Law, his symbols, his prophecy. The Gentile would find it answered to his instinct, his hidden desire, his deepest intuition. “Therefore” is the argument of a true faith. We are not the disciples of a new sentiment or a mere romantic embassy; for the new temple is built, like the temple of Jerusalem, upon a rock.
II. THE TOIL OF A TRUE FAITH. “Therefore we labor,” not simply “we teach” nor “formulate opinions.” That might be done with ease, like philosophic teachers, in the garden and the porch. “We labor!” A word involving pain and tears, as well as toil. The tendencies of the times are against us. The corrupt taste of a degenerate age is against us. The cross is to the Jew a stumbling-block, and to the Greek foolishness. We do not please men, like the rhetoricians. We do not amuse men, like the sophists, We labor in journeyings, in perils, in hunger, in stripes. Think of St. Paul’s outcast condition, so far as his own countrymen were concerned. Think of his relation to the Roman powersuspected of sedition; and accusations of his fellow-countrymen, the Jews. At a time when Rome swarmed with spies, he was laboring in the face of certain danger and death.W.M.S.
1Ti 4:10.Apostolic endurance.
“We suffer reproach.” This is hard to bear, even when it is not deserved. All who have broken old ties of Church or home know its power. Men ever brand with heresy that which conflicts with their own opinions. Against St. Paul men brought false charges. We must not surround the gospel then with the glory associated with it now. We put the nimbus on the heads of the saints and martyrs; their enemies crowned them with shame.
I. THERE WAS THE CONSCIOUS LOSS OF ALL THAT THE WORLD HOLDS DEAR. A good name and a fair fame, how precious these are to us all! But if we move daily in an atmosphere of suspicion and false accusation, how full of misery the outward lot becomes! It is a proof of how precious Christ was to Paul, that he counts all things but offal that he may win Christ. Reproach itself became a source of joy when he felt that it was endured for the Master’s cause. “If ye be reproached for the Name of Christ, happy are ye.”
II. IT WAS A SURE PROOF OF THE REALITY OF THEIR RELIGION. “Because I testify of it that the works thereof are evil,” said Christ, “therefore they have hated me.” The Master was reproached as a blasphemer, a wine-bibber, a seditionist, a friend of publicans and sinners. It was a testimony to his earnest character that Paul suffered reproach. Wolves do not worry a painted sheep, and the world does not persecute a mere professor. In every age of religious earnestness reproach has had to be endured. The Covenanters of Scotland in their wilderness-worship, when they spread the white communion cloth on the yet whiter snow; the Puritans in their hidden assemblies; and missionaries like Carey, satirized by the reviews! Even now it is not an easy thing to be a Christian; but we find in the gospel that which no secular inspiration can givethe power to live in the face of an antagonistic world.W.M.S.
1Ti 4:10.Sustaining motive.
“Because we trust in the living God.” One remarkable fact in the history of St. Paul was that nothing damped his ardor. It was not so with such men as Luther, who seemed to feel at last that all is vain. There were no outward forces to sustain the life of the new Church. Well may the ancient words be used in contrasting the cause of Mohammed with that of the gospel: “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we trust in the Name of the Lord our God.”
I. “IN THE LIVING GOD.” The tendency of Judaism was to leave God in the past! The age of inspiration had passed, the prophetic roll had closed, and the Jews became scribes and traditionists. They had a codex of finished Law, and gathered up the opinions of the rabbis upon the minutest matters of ceremonial and duty. Paul preached a God who was then baptizing men with firea Holy Spirit that was working in the hearts of the faithful.
II. “THE LIVING GOD” BECAUSE THE GOSPEL SHOWED ALL THE MARKS OF LIFE. It embodied Divine power, it manifested a living purpose. It had an echo in the conscience and heart of men. God, who in times past had spoken to the fathers by the prophets, had in these last days spoken unto them by his Son. God was manifest in the flesh. The Spirit had descended after Christ’s ascension, and Pentecost had already taken its place in history.
III. “THE LIVING GOD” HAD SHOWN THAT HE COULD TAKE CARE OF HIS SERVANTS. He had opened ways for them; he had touched the hearts of men. As they preached, the message had been accompanied with power from on high; and Paul in his imprisonment had received grace according to his day.
IV. “THE LIVING GOD” WHO WOULD CONTINUE HIS WORK IF HIS SERVANTS DIED. Empires might fall; dynasties might change; the ancient Jewish Church might fulfill its day; but the living God had designed a new heaven and a new earth, wherein righteousness should dwell; and thus his apostles trusted, not in an arm of flesh, but in a living God.W.M.S.
1Ti 4:10.The universal Redeemer.
“Who is the Savior of all men, specially of those that believe.” Paul had no limited atonement to preach, but that Christ died for all, and was the propitiation for the sins of the whole world. There was no court of the Gentiles; for all alikeJew and Greekwere included under sin that the grace of God might appear to all men. In Christ Jesus there is neither Greek nor Jew, bond nor free; all are one in the provision; all need it; all must have it. “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” But
I. HE IS THE SAVIOR SPECIALLY OF THEM THAT BELIEVE; for unless faith looks up mid lays hold on Christ, the virtue will not come out of him, either of forgiveness or life. It matters not that the lifeboat is provided for all in the sinking ship, unless men will leap into the lifeboat. It matters not that the electric cord conveys the current, unless men adjust it to their wants.
II. AND THIS SALVATION IS MADE MANIFEST IN EVERY AGE. In that age it stayed suicide, it raised hospitals, it emancipated Ephesians and Corinthians from lust, it uplifted women, it purified law, and it created brotherhood between Samaritan, Gentile, and Jew. In the early centuries we see it at work in the varied peoples that united in its worship, whilst the bishops of the Church were African, Greek, Roman, and Armenian. It saved men in the catacombs from despair, and constrained them to write on their epitaphs words that breathed of hope; and it continues to save. It enlarges the kingdom of Christ; it breaks up the heptarchy of evil in the heart, as province after province becomes loyal to God; and it redeems body, soul, and spirit. “Beside me there is no Savior” is as true today as ever. The love of beauty often ends in mere sensuous aestheticism. The seeking after righteousness often leaves the upas tree of the heart with its deadly leaves within. New ideals of social economy find man’s selfishness supreme in every new adjustment of law. Selfishness never has been slain, save at the cross. But this gospel saves them that believe today. Men too often prefer costly ritual and formal ceremonial; but a new heart means a new life, and the gospel saves them that believe.W.M.S.
1Ti 4:12.A young teacher.
“Let no man despise thy youth.” Apart from the direct reference of these words to the Christian apostolate, they are appropriate to us all in the season of youth. Spring-time is so different from autumn! Nature then is full of promise. As in spring the buds are bursting, and the birds building, and Nature’s flower-show preparing, and her orchestra tuning,still we pause to think what may come. Locusts may eat up all green things; the hot sirocco winds may wither the verdure, and the fruit of the vine may fail. Still there is a blessed promise in early days. No sane man will be found to despise youth in itself. As well despise the acorn because it is not an oak, or the orange blossom because it has not fruited. The spirit of the text is thisDo not act so as to lead men to despise you.
I. MEN DESPISE MERE WORD–HEROISM. Be an example in word; in conversation, which means citizenship; in charity, which means every aspect of love to God and man; in spirit, which means the atmosphere that surrounds your life; in faith, which means vital obedience to the doctrines of the gospel; and in purity, the absence of which was the curse of Asia Minor and the cities of the East. Nothing gives greater power than conduct. “Character,” says Ossili, “is higher than intellect.”
II. MEN DESPISE THE TRIFLER AND THE IDLER. If the word and the conversation be frivolous; as death and life are in the power of the tongue; then the man who is the rattle-brain of society is not likely to be the ornament of the Church or the admiration of the world. Men will, and ought, to despise such. There may be a dignified youth as well as a dignified age. It is not necessary to have a formal and unnatural decorum, but it is necessary for those who speak on the high matters of religion to show that they live in that world of solemn realities of which they speak.W.M.S.
1Ti 4:14.Spiritual negligence.
“Neglect not the gift that is in thee.” This is a counsel specially for Timothy as a teacher; but it applies to us all.
I. THE GIFT IS A RESPONSIBILITY. We are not merely receptive beings. A lake, unless the living waters flow through it, is stagnant and dangerous. The world of youth and beauty is a world of life. The sun parts with its beams. The ocean exhales its moisture. The tree yields its fruit. The air passes through the lungs. The river makes music of progress as it passes to the sea. Here in nature there is no arresting hand, no force of self-restraint, no self-hood. God has “set in order” the courses of the rivers, and made a path for the light; and they obey his will. Man can say “No” to God’s moral ordinationsnot, of course, without harm and penalty; but he can, and too often he does
(1) pervert the gift, and turn it to disloyal uses; and at other times
(2) he neglects ithe lays up the talent in a napkin.
He turns selfish, and mars the use of his gift by misuse and by personal ease and indulgence. The world is no better for his birth. The Church finds him a selfish epicure at the banquet of God’s grace.
II. THE GIFT VARIES. It is, however, somewhere within us. There are forces of life hidden in the soul, gracious gifts of help and healing; but man neglects them. Sometimes he undervalues them with a perilous modesty, which forgets that the weakest vessel can hold some water; the simplest speech be eloquent for its Lord; the slender time be rich with opportunities. God has not made a mistake in our creation. Them are gifts of service, gifts of sympathy, gifts of prayer, which, if envy were angelic, angels might envy. Neglect not thy gift. It will be required of thee again. It needs not age to ripen it and make it ready. “Let no man despise thy youth; be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” “Be great in act as you have been in thought,” says Shakespeare. This is our dangerneglect. We know what it means in education, which has its now; in the dwelling, which, however well furnished, soon becomes unhealthy and unlovely through disuse and dust; in exercise, which, neglected, imperils muscle and blood and nerve. So in religion we are to be active and earnest, not resting on the couch of personal comfort, or merely enjoying, from the observatory of revelation, the vision of the heavenly shores.W.M.S.
1Ti 4:15.Mental absorption.
“Meditate upon these things.” They need and will bear meditation. Divine truths are too awful and august m their deep significance to be exhausted by superficial notice. They need to be focused to the eye, and studied in all their central depth and beauty.
I. FOR MEDITATION IS THE VERY ATMOSPHERE OF RELIGION. It requires the silent study that we may enjoy “the harvest of a quiet eye,” and see deeply into the “wondrous things” of the Divine Law. Meditate; for thus only will you understand your real self, and so know better the adaptation of the gospel to your need and your sin.
II. FOR IN MEDITATION WE ARE STUDYING GOD‘S THOUGHTS; these require on our part time and insight. This is the fault of our ageit does not meditate. It is superficially critical; apt to fly off at some tangent of mental difficulty; and is so impatient with the key that it injures the lock. We cannot think well in a hurry, any more than we can work well in a hurry. Many of the worst human mistakes of life we should avoid if we meditated more.
“Evil is wrought by want of thought,
As well as want of heart.”
Our prayers would be wider in scope and richer in feeling if we meditated more; and our judgment would not be so hard about the dealings of God with us if we meditated on “the way the fathers trod,” and the Divine revelation of our need of discipline. Meditate, and then the cross will stand out in its august significance; the heart will feel that it needs a Savior as well as a Teacher; and instead of feeling that you know all about that wondrous mystery of Divine provision, you will pray that you, like Paul, may “know the love of Christ,” which passeth knowledge. “Meditate on these things.” They are pluralized; for they are many. The gospel facts and the gospel doctrines constitute a wide range of subjects affecting alike our temporal and eternal interest.W.M.S.
1Ti 4:15.Observation of others.
“That thy profiting may appear to all.” The Christian teachings are not like Eleusinian Mysteries; they are revelations to be lived out in the broad daylight of history. A religion that ends in meditation makes the mystic a religion that confines itself to solitudesmakes the ascetic, who shuts himself out from the world.
I. THE PROFITING IS NOT TO BE A MATTER OF MERE FEELING; or, in other words, is no mere emotionalism that may coexist with lax character and feeble morality. Too often this has been the case, and the Church has been apt to palliate the sins of the fraudulent trader or the bankrupt trustee, if, though he has wronged others and brought whole families to beggary and ruin, he has still preserved his spiritual emotions, his seraphic rhapsodies of expression, and his fervent interest in missionary agencies.
II. THE PROFITING MUST APPEAR IN THE CHARACTER. It must come to the touchstone of action and character. It must energize the conscience, quicken the passive virtues of humility and submission, and brace the will for the stern obedience of the soldier and the faithful obligations of the steward.W.M.S.
1Ti 4:16.A dual heed.
“Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine.” These two God hath joined together, and let no man put them asunder. Let not self-hood become a self-righteousness, which ignores the doctrine that we need Christ as our Strength and our Savior, and the Holy Spirit as our Sanctifier. Taking heed to ourselves must not make us daringly self-confident. Some superficial men think that they can go this warfare on their own charges. The whole amour of God is needful, and not the mere equipment of personal judgment and unaided strength. But taking heed to the doctrine, let us remember that it is not a dead dogma, but that the Christian verities are spirit and life. We must not be hearers for others or critics of others, judging one another, and measuring our own virtue by the shock produced in us at the inconsistencies and failings of others.
I. TAKING HEED TO OURSELVES AS HAVING STILL THE WEAK FLESH TO DEAL WITH. Knowing what war there still is in our members. Knowing that this same gospel says, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Remembering that the richest lives have made shipwreck, and the loftiest monuments been the first to be shattered by the storm. We must remember that the teacher elevated by honor may be the first to fall.
II. TAKING HEED TO OURSELVES, BECAUSE NONE CAN DO THIS FOR US. We know more of ourselves than any other can know. Our tastes, our tendencies, our secret desires, our constitutional weaknesses. We see how the “needle” trembles in the presence of certain loadstones of evil, and we must therefore look within, and he watchful. “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”W.M.S.
1Ti 4:16.The life-endurance.
“Continue in them.” There must be perseverance or pressing forward. And this is the great point. “Ye did run well” applies to many who were first in the Atlanta race. “That your fruit may remain,” said Christ. Permanence. This is beautiful. How many actual blossoms never come to fruit at all! and how much fruit becomes the subject of blight and withering. Young life, like Timothy’s, is lovely in its enthusiasm; but
I. WHAT A WORLD IS BEFORE HIM! How little he knows yet of the perils of the way! Churches may become corrupt like Ephesus, or divided like Corinth. Demas may desert; Hymenaeus and Philetus may make shipwreck. Opposition may increase. Enemies may multiply. The work may grow harder; and the atmosphere in which it is done grow colder. Continue in them
II. BECAUSE THIS IS THE TEST OF ALL TRUE HEROISM. The vessel with her freshly painted hull, her gay bunting, her trim sails, her beautiful lines, may float swan-like in the harbor, and then skim the waters like a thing of life. But she is nobler when, with battered sides, and gaping bulwarks, and rent sails, and dismantled rigging, she reaches her destined haven. “Continue in them.” The sword may not be so bright with the silvery sheen of newness; the helmet may not be so undinted; the apparel may not be so unstained; but the hero has won the war, fought the good fight, and finished his course.W.M.S.
1Ti 4:16.Saving others.
“For in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.” Not, of course, as providing the salvation or applying it; the first is done by the Savior, the second by the Holy Spirit; but in working out the salvationin making use of all Divine means and instrumentalities.
I. PERSONAL SALVATION. “Save thyself;” for in the heaven-voyage the captain is not to be lost while the company and the crew are saved. In this war the enemy is not to pick off the sentinels and the captains alone. No; Divine grace is sufficient for pastor as well as for people; but it would be a terrible thingalas! not an unknown thingthat the minister who has taught others, himself should be a castaway. Next follows
II. THE SALVATION OF OTHERS. “Them that hear thee.” A simple word, “hear.” The pulpit must not be the place for the airing of personal crotchets, or the use of arrows and shafts of mere wit, or the discussion of mere critical themes. “The things that ye have heard” are such as the apostle definesaugust and real, vital and eternal realities. To hear may seem a light thing, and so it is if the message be light. But the true minister does not tremble before his audience, any more than Paul did before Felix. If the congregation be his patron, he may please them to secure his living; if they are his Sanhedrim, he may be heard before them in test of his judgments; if they are his guests, and not the Master’s, he may cater for n banquet suited to their tastes; but if he is the minister of God to them for good, if woe is his if he preach not the gospel, if he has the sacred responsibility of one who is put in trust with the gospel,then hearing is a solemn thing. On that may hang character, influence, destiny. He is not there as lord over God’s heritage. He is not there to have dominion over their faith. He appeals to reason, to conscience, and all that we mean by heart and soul. But he does not create a gospel or propound some new philosophyhe is to preach (1Ti 2:5, 1Ti 2:6) “one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,” and yet Christ Jesus the Lord; the God who was “manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory” (1Ti 3:16). “And them that hear thee.” Ours is a solemn relationship; but it may be a sweet and sublime one too. In the far-away land we may greet each other as victors in the same war, winners of the same race, companions on the same pilgrimage. Saved with the ancient swords stored in the heavenly armory. Saved, with the great sea behind us and Canaan in possession, with sweeter grapes than those of Eshcol, and more triumphant strains of victory than those of Miriam. I say it may be so with us, and with some who have heard and whispered the sacred words to themselves as on the last pillow they went home to God. The very sentence, “them that hear thee,” has in it all the pathos of the past, as well as all the realism of the present. The lips that speak are only these of man, but the message is the Word of him who “would have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Is it true of us, as we face each other, that we shall see one another againyea, years to comeand that these words may rise up against preacher, and hearers, or both? Is it true that waiting angels will bear back the message, “This and that man [woman, child] was born there”? The living Church of God is holy ground. Then truly we need no meretricious aids to make our ministry pleasant, or to make the Church harmonize with the age. Eternity will reverse many of the verdicts of time. Much of our judgment now is touched and tarnished with the worldly ideal. The hour is coming when he who said, “Go… and speak in the temple… all the words of this life,” will call us all alike into his presence; and then it will be seen and known before God and the holy angels whether we have both saved ourselves and them that heard us.W.M.S.
HOMILIES BY R. FINLAYSON
1Ti 4:1-5.Timothy warned.
I. APOSTASY. “But the Spirit saith expressly, that in later times some shall fall away from the faith.” This was to be properly an apostasy, or movement away from Christ from within the Church. Some who were professed believers were to fall away from the faith. They were unworthily to use their Christian position, Christian enlightenment and reputation, against Christ. This was to take place in “later times,” not in the times before the completion of the kingdom of God, but simply in times subsequent to the time that then was, not all in one time but, as pointing to more than one anti-Christian development, in times. This was explicitly foretold, the prophecy being traced, not to the consciousness of the apostle, but to the inflatus of the Spirit. The prophecy had already been made known, but we may understand that it was still already witnessed in the consciousness of the apostle. If the mystery of godliness was operating, there was also, as announced in 2 Thessalonians, already operating the mystery of iniquity.
II. HOW THE APOSTASY WAS TO BE BROUGHT ABOUT.
1. Source. “Giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils.” The apostle points to the apostasy as having its origin from beneath. There is the agency of those who are the tools of the devil. These are seducing spirits, their object being to lead away from Christ. And they are demons, hostile to souls, who give rise to soul-destroying doctrines. This is the quarter from which the apostates are to draw their inspiration and their faith. It has been remarked here how we cannot stand isolated. If we are not influenced by the Holy Spirit, we must fall under the power of one or otherfor they are a plurality, and do not agree unless in their endof the deceiving spirits. If we do not give heed to the doctrine of God our Saviorone and thoroughly consistent as well as sublimewe must give heed to one or other of the doctrines of devils, many and inconsistent.
2. Instrumentality. “Through the hypocrisy of men that speak lies, branded in their own conscience as with a hot iron.” The evil spirits are to be thought of as working in and through these heretical teachers. They are hidden from our view and from the consciousness of the teachers themselves; but there seems no reason to doubt that those who pay no heed to the leadings of the Spirit of truth lay themselves open to be possessed, in an ordinary way, by one or other of the spirits of falsehood whose instruments they become. The heretical teachers are suitably described as speakers of lies. They were to give forth as truth what were lieswhat did not agree with the nature of things, what did not agree with the nature of God, with the facts of human nature, that for which they were without evidence, and of which they had no clear conviction. They were to be like men wearing a mask, laying claim to superior sanctity and to show the way to sanctity, but only to conceal their own turpitude. For they were to be branded in their own conscience, branded as criminals were branded, and branded where the marks of their crimes could not be concealed from themselves.
III. TWO POINTS IN THE HERETICAL TEACHING THAT WAS TO BE THE PRECURSOR OF THE APOSTASY. “Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats.” This asceticism was already appearing in Essenism. The honorable, and even exaggerated, estimate of marriage which was characteristic of the Jew, and of the Pharisee as the typical Jew, found no favor with the Essene. Marriage was to him an abomination. Those Essenes, who lived together as members of an order, and in whom the principles of the sect were carried to their logical consequences, eschewed it altogether. To secure the continuance of their brotherhood, they adopted children, whom they brought up in the doctrines and practices of the community. There were others, however, who took a different view. They accepted marriage as necessary for the preservation of the race. Yet even with them it seems to have been regarded only as an inevitable evil. They fenced it off by stringent rules, demanding a three years’ probation, and enjoining various purificatory rites. The conception of marriage as quickening and educating the affections, and thus exalting and refining human life, was wholly foreign to their minds. Woman was a, mere instrument of temptation in their eyes, deceitful, faithless, selfish, jealous, misled and misleading by her passions. But their ascetic tendencies did not stop here. The Pharisee was very careful to observe the distinction of meats lawful and unlawful, as laid down by the Mosaic code, and even rendered those ordinances vexatious by minute definitions of his own. But the Essene went far beyond him. He drank no wine, he did not touch animal food. His meal consisted of a piece of bread and a single mess of vegetables. Even this simple tare was prepared for him by special officers consecrated for the purpose, that it might be free from all contamination. Nay, so stringent were the rules of the order on this point, that, when an Essene was excommunicated, he often died of starvation, being bound by oath not to take food prepared by defiled hands, and thus being reduced to eat the very grass of the field (Lightfoot). In Gnosticism, which came to its full development after the apostle’s day, these points had great prominence, being grounded in the idea of matter as being the principle of evil. The same points come out ver remarkably in Roman Catholicism. The ordinance of marriage, which our Lord honored, is thus depreciated in a decree of the Council of Trent: “Whosoever shall say that the married state is to be preferred to a state of virginity or celibacy, and. that it is not better and more blessed to remain in virginity or celibacy than to be joined in marriage, let him be accursed.” In the same line superior sanctity, or special merit, is connected with abstinence from meats. Thus the prophecy received striking fulfillment.
IV. REFUTATION OF THE SECOND POINT IN THE HERETICAL TEACHING.
1. Position to which it is opposed. “Which God created to be received with thanksgiving by them that believe and know the truth.” God has created meats, and he has created them for the use of all. At the same time, it is true that the purpose of creation is only fulfilled in the case of them that believe and know the truth. They alone can appreciate the condition attached to the use of meats, viz. receiving with thanksgiving. “A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this.” But those that have experience of the truth as believers are sensible of their mercies, and give God thanks for them.
2. Substantiation.
(1) Broad principle. “For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it be received with thanksgiving.” This is one broad principle on which practice is to be based. “And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” We must lay holdagainst a false asceticismof the essential goodness of whatever God has made for food. It may have to be refused on the ground of health, on the ground of moral discipline as expressed in 1Co 9:27, on the ground of benefit to others as expressed in 1Co 8:13. But apart from such considerations, to which only their due weight must be attached, a creature-comfort as good in itself has no unholiness to us, if the condition is fulfilled, viz. receiving with thanksgiving. It is a very important consideration, which we must not lose sight of in feeling the claims of abstinence, that by our creature-comforts God is seeking to make us glad, and to attach us to himself in thankfulness.
(2) Elucidation of the good creature of God having no unholiness to us. “For it is sanctified through the Word of God and prayer.” By conversing with God through his Word we rise above our own low ideas and aims, and get into the region of his thoughts and purposes. We get at the principles which are to regulate us, and the feelings which are to animate us, in our daily life. We thereby connect God with our daily life, and are prepared for sitting down to the meals of the day. But we are to connect God more immediately with our meals by prayer. We are to ask God, from whom our table mercies come, to bless us in the use of them, and to accept our thankfulness for them. Here is a very old form of grace before meat: “Blessed be thou, O Lord, who hast fed me from my youth, who givest food to all flesh. Fill our hearts with joy and gladness, that, having always what sufficeth, we may abound unto all good works, in Christ Jesus our Lord, through whom be unto thee honor, glory, and power, for ever and ever.” By such reasonable acknowledgment of God before our food is it sanctified to us. We can partake of it as a holy thing, as that which we have as a covenant privilege. Nothing is said about the first point in the heretical teaching. But it can be refuted on much the same ground. God has instituted marriage for our happiness. The end of the institution is carried out in the case of them that believe and know the truth, by their thanking God for the happiness which is thus ministered to them. The married life is made holy by being connected with the Word of God and prayer.R.F.
1Ti 4:6-10.Guidance of Timothy.
I. AS TO THE TRUE FAITH.
1. Positively. “If thou put the brethren in mind of those things, thou shalt be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished in the words of the faith, and of the good doctrine which thou hast followed until now.” The apostle has been referring more immediately to the principles of asceticism which were to have their development in subsequent times. That Timothy should put the brethren (not excluding holders of office like himself) in mind of these things, was the condition of his being a good minister of Christ Jesus. Whereupon Paul takes occasion to give his idea of “the good minister,” under a particular aspect. He is one who makes the Divine words his continual nourishment. As there are foods which are nutritive for the body, so what is nutritive for the soul is what God says to us, especially about himself and his feelings toward us. These Divine words are words of faith, or words which require faith for their apprehension. They are also words of good doctrine, or words in which instruction is given. It is well that there are infallible words for faith, and that we are not left to the unreliable guidance of reason. It is upon these that teaching must be founded, if it can be called good. The good minister is one who has his own soul nourished in words which he cordially believes, and in which he is well instructed. Paul had been the instructor of Timothy, and he testifies that his instructions had hitherto been followed by him.
2. Negatively. “But refuse profane and old wives’ fables.” The apostle, we may understand, refers to such doctrines of the current philosophy (mystic in its character) as, mingling with Christianity, would form what was known as Gnosticism. These doctrines, such as that of emanations (endless genealogies), were myths, or what had no foundation in reality. They were profane, or fitted to shock religious feeling. They were also anile, or only fit for mindless and credulous old women. Timothy was to resist all tendency to incorporate Eastern mysticism with Christianity. And, when we consider the danger that arose to the Church from this quarter, we must recognize the wisdom of the apostolic advice.
II. AS TO THE HIGHER GYMNASTIC. “And exercise thyself unto godliness.” There was a straining in connection with ascetical exercises. Timothy was also to strain himself, but in such exercises as prayer and meditation, which lead to godliness, or the cherishing of right feelings toward God and the practice that is pleasing to him.
1. Bodily gymnastic. “For bodily exercise is profitable for a little.” The apostle apparently has in his eye such bodily exercise as was associated with asceticism; but it is as separated from asceticism, not as part of asceticism, that he says it is profitable to a small extent. Of asceticism in this century the most notable example is Lacordaire. “Once in the convent at Chalais, after having delivered an affecting sermon on humility, he felt irresistibly impelled to follow up precept by example. He came down from the pulpit, begged the assembled brethren to treat him with the severity he deserved, and, uncovering his shoulders, received from each of them twenty-five strokes.” “The chapter-room of the convent at Flavigny was supported by a wooden pillar; he made of it a column of flagellation, to which, after confession, he would cause himself to be bound.” “In the ancient church of the Carmelites at Paris, there is a certain crypt or subterranean chapel, in which, one Good Friday, he raised a cross, and, bound to it with cords, remained upon it three hours.” The apostle views asceticism in respect of bodily exercise. For, although it may not always exalt it into a religion, yet it lays great stress on it as a means of suppressing the corruption of the heart, of entering into sympathy with the crucified Savior, and of making atonement for the sins of men. The apostle lays hold upon this, and says that it is profitable to a small extent. It is profitable for the health of the body, for the improvement of its powers, for the obtaining of a living. It may even be allowed to have a bearing, not by itself, but in connection with right principle, on holy living (1Co 9:27).
2. The gymnastic that is universally profitable. “But godliness is profitable far all things.” The apostle regards it as recommended by its profitableness. “It is that which will exceedingly turn to account, and bring in gains unto us exceedingly vast; in comparison whereto all other designs, which men with so much care and toil do pursue, are very unprofitable or detrimental, yielding but shadows of profit or bringing real damage to us. Godliness enables a man to judge of things in their true nature and proportions, and to fulfill his duties in all his relations. It enables him to act uniformly, so that he understands what he is doing, and can make himself understood. It enables a man to act in his own best interest.” “If we mark what preserveth the body sound and lusty, what keepeth the mind vigorous and brisk, what saveth and improveth the estate, what upholdeth the good name, what guardeth and graceth a man’s whole lifeit is nothing else but proceeding in our demeanor and dealings according to the honest and wise rules of piety.” It fits a man for all conditions, makes him humble, grateful, and faithful in prosperity, makes a man trustful, and full of comfort in adversity. It furnishes us with fit employment, “alone fasteneth our thoughts, affections, and endeavors upon occupations worthy the dignity of our nature, suiting the excellency of our natural capacities and endowments, tending to the perfection and advancement of our reason, to the enriching and ennobling of our souls.” It furnishes us with the best friendships. It is said even, “Thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field, and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.” It unites us to good men in holy communion. It makes our friends doubly precious to us.
(1) Its profitableness for this life. “Having promise of the life which now is.” Godliness has a tendency to promote a man’s earthly good, in making him industrious, temperate, prudent. On the other hand, there are respects in which it may be said to hinder his earthly good. It keeps him back from that greed which would lead him to devote his whole time to worldly business, which would forbid him to work for others. It debars him from seeking gain by unworthy means. It may call upon him to make liberal contributions from his income for benevolent objects. It may bring him into a position in which his health is injured. It may call upon him to give up all his goods, and even life itself. Yet it is true that it has the promise of this life. “Although God hath not promised to load the godly man with affluence of worldly things; not to put him into a splendid and pompous garb; not to dispense to him that which may serve for pampering the flesh or gratifying wanton fancy; not to exempt him from all the inconveniences to which human nature and the worldly state are subject; yet hath he promised to furnish him with whatever is needful or convenient for him, in due measure and season, the which he doth best understand. His care will not be wanting to feed us and clothe us comfortably, to protect us from evil, to prosper our good undertakings.” He has promised that, if we seek first the kingdom of God, all things that pertain to this life shall be added thereto. With Christ, he has promised to give us all things. He has promised that all things will work together for good to those that love God. It is the godly who stand in a right relation to this life. They put the right value upon it. They regard all that they receive as a gift from God, as what they are unworthy of, as what may be taken away from them, as what they ought to be grateful for, as what they are faithfully to use for God.
(2) Its profitableness for the life to come. “And of that which is to come.” If the godly man has the true enjoyment even of this life, to him especially belongs the life to come with its incomparably greater blessings. He has the inheritance uncorruptible, undefiled, never-fading. He has an exceeding, even an eternal, weight of glory. He has the beatific vision of God, the satisfaction of awaking with God’s likeness. Formula of confirmation. “Faithful is the saying, and worthy of all acceptation.” This calls attention to what has gone before as deserving of our best consideration.
III. UPBEARING HOPE. “For to this end we labor and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, specially of them that believe.” With a view especially to the promised life to come, the apostle placed himself at worldly disadvantage. Instead of consulting his ease, he toiled. Instead of consulting his popularity, he suffered reproach, as the true reading is. Under this he was borne up by hope, which was set, not on a dead idol which could do nothing, but on the living God who could do all things for him. He who was able to fulfill his promise was also disposed. He is designated “the Savior of all men.” There is a universality in his benevolence. He willeth that all should be saved. And what he has performed in Christ has been for all men. He has provided satisfaction for the sin of all men. He has entered into a covenant on behalf of all men. He has procured competent aids for all men. He has thus made all men salvabiles, capable of salvation, and salvandos, that should be saved, though all men are not in effect saved. “As he that freely offers a rich boon is no less to be accounted a benefactor and liberal, although his gift be refused, than if it were accepted; as he that opens a prison is to be styled a deliverer, although the captive will not go forth; as he that ministers an effectual remedy, although the patient will not use it, deserves the honor and thanks due to a physician; so is God, in respect of what he has performed for men and offered to them, to be worthily deemed and thankfully acknowledged Savior, although not all men, yea, although not one man, should receive the designed benefit.” While this is true, he is the Savior specially of them that believe. He is our Savior before we believe, but it is when we believe that we realize in our personal experience all that he is and has done for us. It is by hoping in him as our Savior, peculiarly, that we are borne up under toils and reproaches.R.F.
1Ti 4:11-16.Directions to Timothy.
I. DIRECTION FOUNDED ON PRECEDING CONTEXT. “These things command and teach.” What was enjoined on him he was to hold up before the community over which he presided at Ephesus. He was to command, or hold up before them, an authoritative standard of conduct. This was to be characteristically godliness; not a working on the mere human ground, but a bringing God into connection with the life, cherishing proper feelings towards him, and observing his rules. He was also to teach, or hold up before them, revealed views of truth. While laying down faith as the condition of salvation, he was not to forget to set forth God as the Savior of all men.
II. DIRECTION WITH REFERENCE TO HIS YOUTH. “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an ensample to them that believe, in word, in manner of life, in love, in faith, in purity.” Timothy was a youth, still living with his parents, when Paul first took him as his companion. After the lapse of perhaps fifteen years, he is still regarded as a young man. We may understand that he was still young for the work entrusted to him; he was young to instruct, and, it might be, to exhort (1Ti 5:1) elders (many of them old men). A young minister is placed in the same position; he has to speak to men whose experience goes far beyond his. He has in this respect a difficult position to fill, and it becomes him to consider well the course he takes, and, if need be, to take counsel of more experienced men in the ministry, so that he shall have thus the gravity of years, and shall give none occasion to despise him on account of his youth. The idea of a minister is that he is to be an ensample to them that believe, especially to them over whom he is placed. There are five things in which he is to lead the way. The first two go together. There is the external life of word. A minister is to have the right tone in his private utterances (what seem principally to be referred to as public utterances are introduced in the next verse); he is to be able to direct the minds of others away from trifles to important matters. There is also the external life of deed. His actions are to go along with his words; he is to give direction by the very way in which he acts. Word and deed reveal the inner life, the motive forces of which are next expressed. There is the motive force of love. He is impelled by love for an unseen Savior, and for souls purchased by him. There is also the motive force of faith. He is impelled by what faith reveals, viz. a Master to whom he is responsible, whose honor he is to be careful of, whose reward for faithfulness he is earnestly to covet. Thus moved in his inner being, then, as the fifth and last thing, his life is characterized by purity. He does not receive the contamination of the world, but a pervading holy influence from a source above the world. The young minister who seeks to go before his people in these five things is taking the right plan of placing himself above being despised for his youth.
III. DIRECTION AS TO HIS USE OF THE SCRIPTURES. “Till I come, give heed to reading, to exhortation, to teaching.” Timothy was not so much a resident minister as Paul’s assistant, which involved his moving from place to place. The special arrangement by which he presided over the central Church of Ephesus was to continue in force until Paul’s arrival, which was expected at no distant date. Meantime he was to give his attention to his public duties. There was first of all the reading of the Scriptures. This was carried down from the Jewish synagogue, in which the Old Testament Scriptures were regularly read. And the Christian Church, in the lifetime of the apostles, being under infallible guidance, we can understand that parts of the New Testament would gradually be introduced into the Christian sanctuary. This public reading of the Scriptures served a purpose then beyond what it does now. There were very few copies of the sacred Books to be obtained then. Members of Churches were, therefore, to a great extent, dependent for their Bible knowledge on what was publicly read. Meetings would require to be frequent, and a large place in these meetings would require to be given to mere reading, in order that the people might become familiar with the exact language of Scripture. With reading was associated exhortation and teaching. We are to understand this as being on the basis of what was read. “Scripture is the fountain of all wisdom, from which pastors ought to draw whatever t hey bring before their flock” (Calvin). There was exhortation to duty, or an appeal to the feelings, conscience, to influence men to be decided for Christ, and to keep closely by the Law of Christ. And there was teaching of truth, or the opening up of Scripture in its facts and principles, to show especially what Christ was and had effected for them. It was possible to combine the hortatory and instructive, though at one time attention would be directed more to appeals, at another time more to explanations.
IV. DIRECTION AS TO THE USE OF HIS GIFT. “Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying-on of the hands of the presbytery.” There is reference to his ordination, which probably took place years before he was assigned his present work in Ephesus. At that interesting time the ministerial gift, or the power of governing and the power of handling the Word, was imparted to him. Not that he was altogether without qualification before; for there were prophecies going before on him, apparently founded on the proof that he was making of himself. But then, in all its authoritativeness, and in the fullness of the qualification in a special influence of the Spirit, the gift was imparted to him. There were two coexistent circumstances which entered into the ordination. The first was extraordinary in its nature, viz. prophecy, or any inspired utterance. Apparently it amounted to an intimation to the assembled congregation that Timothy was really called, and there and then fully endowed. The second concomitant, or circumstance entering into the ordination, was the laying-on of the hands of the presbytery. This was ordinary, and therefore continues to be connected with ordination, prophecy being represented by the ordination prayer and address. The presbytery then apparently consisted of the elders of the particular congregation in ‘connection with which the ordination took place. As we learn from the Second Epistle, Paul was associated with them. It is to be noted that ruling elders took part in ordaining a teaching elder. The imposition of hands is symbolic of the impartation of a gift. Christ employs those who have been themselves gifted by him to be the medium of imparting his gift to others. The ministerial gift Timothy was not to neglect or to allow to be unused. We have read of fishes inhabiting the water of a dark cave that, never needing to use their eyes, eventually, after successive generations of them, a modification has been produced in their organism. And there not being the need, nature has ceased to make provision for it, the strange spectacle being presented of an eyeless race. So, for want of use, pleading for Christ would become a lost gift to him.
V. DIRECTION AS TO HIS APPLYING HIMSELF. “Be diligent in these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy progress may be manifest unto all.” Paul had not the idea that a communication of the Holy Spirit superseded application. After saying that the gift in Timothy was not to lie unused, he now says that he was to be diligent in these things, viz. in the duties of his calling, as set down in the thirteenth verse. And, in the way of strengthening this, he adds that he was to give himself wholly to them. A minister has to make himself thoroughly acquainted with the meaning of Scripture, in order that he may open it to others. He has to know how to apply Scripture truth to the wants of his people, that he may incite them to right action. This he cannot well do along with the demands of a secular business. He needs to have his whole time to devote to it, and he needs, in the time that he has, to put out to purpose his whole strength. Close application will soon tell. His profiting will appear in a more skilful handling of the Word, in a more earnest pleading with souls.
VI. RECAPITULATION WITH ENFORCEMENT. “Take heed to thyself, and to thy teaching. Continue in these things; for in doing this thou shalt save both thyself and them that hear thee.” He first recapitulates what was said in 1Ti 4:12. “Take heed to thyself.” A minister is to take heed to himself, that he is really a subject of saving grace, that he is making satisfactory increase in grace, that his conduct does not run counter to his teaching. He next recapitulates what is said in 1Ti 4:13. “And to thy teaching.” A minister is to see that he makes every endeavor to bring out the meaning of the Word of God, and to bring it to bear upon the wants of his hearers. Having thus recapitulated, he makes it stronger by adding, “Continue in these things,” viz. in his private and public exercises. And a minister is encouraged to do this by the consideration that, in doing this, he shall save the souls of them that hear him. He shall reach his end; and what a felicity to be the means, under God, of saving souls! He can only expect to do this by exacting from himself a high standard of living and of preaching. And, through this, he shall reach the end of his own salvation. He has to win or lose, as well as his hearers. “And many shall say at that day, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy Name?” who shall be answered with, “I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” He has the same evil heart to contend with. “Sin dwelleth in us when we have preached never so much against it; one degree prepareth the heart for another, and one sin inclineth the mind to more.” He may expect to be more severely tempted than others, as the honor of Christ lies more on him than on others.R.F.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
1Ti 4:1-2, Now the Spirit, &c. This passage, perhaps, would be better translated, But the Spirit speaketh expressly. He had before been speaking of the mystery of godliness, ch. 1Ti 3:16 and now he proceeds to speak of the mystery of iniquity in opposition to it: But the Spirit, &c. I. The first thing to be considered is, the apostacy here predicted, “Some shall depart, or rather apostatize, from the faith.” An apostacy from the faith, may be total or partial; either when we renounce the whole, or when we deny some principal and essential article of it. It is not every error, which makes an apostacy from the faith: it is a revolt in a principal and essential article,as, for instance, when we worship God by any image or representation, or when we worship other beings besides God, and pray unto other mediators besides the one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. This is the very essence of Christian worship, to worship the one true God, through the one true Christ;and to worship any other god, or any other mediator, is apostacy, and rebellion against God. Such is the nature of the apostacy from the faith here alluded to by the apostle;and it is implied, that this apostacy should be general, and affect great numbers. For though it be said only some shall apostatize; yet, by some, in this place, many are understood. The original word frequently signifies a multitude; and there are abundant instances in scripture where it is used in that sense, as the reader will perceive from Joh 6:64; Joh 6:66. Rom 11:17. 1Co 10:5. This apostacy may be general and extensive, and include many, but not all. II. It is more particularly shewn wherein the apostacy should consist, in thefollowing words: Giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; or rather, doctrines concerning demons; where the genitive case is not to be taken actively, as if demons were the authors of these doctrines; (though these seducing spirits had a principal concern in introducing them;) but passively, as if demons were the subjects of these doctrines. In Jer 10:8. Act 13:12. Heb 6:2 the genitive case is used in this manner; and by the same construction doctrines of demons, are doctrines about or concerning demons. This is therefore a prophesy, that the idolatrous theology of demons professed by the Gentiles, would be revived among Christians. Demons, according to the theology of the Gentiles, were middle powers between the gods and mortal men, and were regarded as mediators and agents between the gods and men. Of these demons there were accounted two kinds; one kind were the souls of men, deified or canonized after death; the other kind were such as had never been the souls of men, nor ever dwelt in mortal bodies. These latter demons may be paralleled with angels, as the former may with canonized saints; and as we Christians believe there are good and evil angels, so did the Gentiles that there were good and evil demons. The doctrines of demons then, according to this prophesy, which prevailed so long in the heathen world, were to be revived and established in the Christian church: and is not the worship of saints and angels now in all respects the same, that the worship of demons was in former times? The name is only different, the thing is identically the same. The heathens looked upon their demons as mediators and intercessors between God and men: and are not the saints and angels regarded in the same light by many professed Christians? The promoters of this worship were sensible that it was the same, and that the one succeeded the other; and, as the worship is the same, so likewise is it performed with the same ceremonies. Nay, the very same temples, the very same altars, the very same images, which once were consecrated to Jupiter and the other demons, are now re-consecrated to the Virgin Mary and other saints. The very same titles and inscriptions are ascribed to both; the very same prodigies and miracles are related of these as of those. In short, almost the whole process which formerly belonged to Paganism, is converted and applied to Popery; the one is manifestly formed upon the same plan and principles as the other. III. Such an apostacy as this, of reviving the doctrines of demons, and worshipping the dead, was not likely to take place immediately; it would prevail and prosper in the latter days. The phrase of the latter times or days, or the last times or days, signifies any time yet to come; but denotes more particularly the times of Christianity. The times of Christianity may properly be called the latter times or days, or the last times or days, because it is the last of all God’s revelations to mankind: see Heb 1:1-2. 1Pe 1:20; 1 Peter 4. Another remarkable peculiarity of this prophesy is, the solemn and emphatic manner in which it is delivered:The Spirit speaketh expressly. By the Spirit is meant the Holy Spirit of God which inspired the prophets and apostles. The Spirit’s speaking expressly, may signify his speaking precisely and certainly, not obscurely and involvedly; or it may be said, that the Spirit speaketh expressly what he speaketh in express words in some place or other of divine writ: and the Spirit hath spoken the same thing in express words before, in the prophesy of Daniel. Daniel has foretoldin express words the worship of new demons or demi-gods, Dan 11:38. The Mahuzzim of Daniel in this sense are the same as the demons of St. Paul; gods protectors, or saints protectors, defenders, and guardians of mankind. This therefore is a prophesy, not onlydelivered by immediate inspiration, but confirmed by the written word of the Old Testament. It is a prophesy, not only of St. Paul’s, but of Daniel’s too. V. The apostle proceeds, 1Ti 4:2 to describe by what means and by what persons this apostacy should be propagated and established in the world: Speaking lies in hypocrisy, &c. or rather, “Through the hypocrisy of liars, having their conscience, &c.” It is plain then, that the great apostacy of the latter times was to prevail through the hypocrisy of liars, &c. And has not the great idolatry of Christians, and the worship of the dead particularly, been diffused and advanced in the world by such instruments and agents; by fabulous books forged under the names of the apostles and saints; by fabulous legends of their lives, by fabulous miracles ascribed to their reliques, by fabulous dreams and revelations, and even fabulous saints, who never existed but in imagination?
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
1Ti 4:1 . In the first five verses of this chapter, Paul speaks of the heretics, directing special attention in 1Ti 4:3 to one point in their doctrine.
] The connects this verse with the beginning of 1Ti 3:16 , and connects it by way of contrast. is the Holy Spirit, as the source of prophecy. To explain the expression by (Heydenreich) is inaccurate. Paul goes back here to the fundamental basis of all prophecy.
( .) means: “ in express words ,” and is used particularly with quotations. [151] Heydenreich is inaccurate in explaining it as equivalent to , ; Luther: “distinctly.” The apostle, then, appeals here to a prophecy of the Spirit expressly worded. Such a prophecy of the future apostasy lay before him in many utterances, both of Christ and of others; besides, the Spirit declared them to the apostle himself.
Leo is wrong: animus mihi praesagit.
] We might readily take here as equivalent to (comp. 2Ti 3:1 : ; 1Pe 1:5 : ; 2Pe 3:3 ; Jdg 4:18 ; in Ignatius, Ep. ad Ephes. c. xi.: ); but we must not overlook the difference between the two expressions. The former points simply to the future, the latter to the last time of the future, immediately preceding the completion of God’s kingdom and the second coming of Christ (so, too, van Oosterzee, Hofmann). It is unsuitable to press here in the sense of “the fitting time,” and to translate it with Matthies: “in the fitting time hereafter.”
are not the heretics, but those who are led away from the faith by the heretics. The apostasy belonged to the future, but the heresy to the present. Hofmann thinks differently, assigning the heresy also to the future, though the apostle’s expression does not warrant this. [152] We must not, however, with Otto, infer that in the apostle’s time the heretics were still outside the church.
] “This sentence forms the antithesis to what has preceded, 1Ti 3:15-16 ” (Wiesinger); for the expression, comp. Luk 8:13 ; Heb 3:12 ; Wis 3:10 ; 1Ma 1:15 , and other passages.
] comp. 1Ti 1:4 ; the partic. tells how the apostasy is brought about.
] the are in contrast with the in 1Ti 4:1 ; and the former are as little to be identified with the heretics, as the latter with the prophets (Wolf: spirituales seductores, i.e. doctores seducentes). The are rather the active spiritual powers hidden in the heretics, the tools and servants of the devil. As the truth is one, so also is its principle one: . Error on the other hand is manifold, and is supported by a plurality of spirits, who may, however, be regarded as a unity: , 1Jn 4:6 .
These are called , because they seduce man from the truth to falsehood; comp. 2 John 1Ti 4:7 .
] is not the objective (Heydenreich: “doctrines regarding demons, a characteristic of Essene-gnostic heretics who spoke so much of the higher world of spirits, of aeons,” etc.), but the subjective genitive (Wiesinger, van Oosterzee, Winer, p. 176 [E. T. p. 233]). The are the source of the doctrines which are opposed to the truth, of the (Jas 3:15 ); comp. Col 2:22 . It is wrong to suppose that the are the heretics themselves. As with in 1Ti 4:1 , Paul goes back here to the inner grounds; the proceeding from these form the opposite of the . [153]
[151] [Huther must mean that is . in the N. T.; for it is found in Sext. Empir. adv. Log. i. 8: ; also in Strabo, i. p. 4 B, and Polybius, ii. 23. 5. TR.]
[152] Plitt is not wrong in observing that “the errors now described by the author were no longer matters purely of the future; they were already appearing.”
[153] The expression occurs often in the synoptic Gospels; in John only in the singular. Paul has it only here and in 1Co 10 . Otto uses this last fact as a proof that the two epistles were contemporaneous, but he is wrong; the reference is different in the two cases; in the passage of 1 Cor. it is not the “gnostic” heresy that is spoken of.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
IX
Warning against errorists, and exhortation to bear himself against them as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.Description and in part confutation of the errorists
1Ti 4:1-5
1Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; [,] 2Speaking lies in1 hypocrisy; [,] having their [own] conscience seared with a hot iron; [,] 3Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received [for participation] with thanksgiving of them [in or upon the part of them] which believe and know [acknowledge] the truth. 4For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: 5For it is sanctified by the word of God, and prayer.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1Ti 4:1. Now the Spirit speaketh expressly. The Spirit of prophecy is denoted, which under the new covenant also continues to speak and to work. The question whether this means a revelation of the Spirit in the mind of Paul, or an announcement received by him from othersin other words, whether a direct or an indirect prophecy should here be understoodcan only be left to conjecture. From Act 16:6; Act 20:23, it appears that the one as well as the other existed in the first age of Christianity; besides, the writings of the Old Testament, as well as many words of our Lord Himself, gave sufficient ground to the Apostle to predict, in the tone of firm conviction, a coming apostasy. To the inquiry why he clothes this warning in the form of a prophetic oracle, Calvin gives the correct answer: Quo majore attentione excipiant omnes, quod dicturns est, prfatur certum esse at minime obscurum oraculum Spiritus Sancti. Non est quidem dubium, quia reliqua ex eodem Spiritu hauserit, verum utcumque semper audiendus sit tanquam Christi organum, tamen in causa magni ponderis, voluit hoc testatum, nihil se proferre, nisi ex spiritu propheti. Solemni itaque prconio nobis hanc prophetiam commendat, nec eo contentus, addit, esse claram nec ullo nigmate implicitam.In the latter times. Altogether undetermined; ; not, . (2Ti 3:1). Not the period which immediately precedes the advent of the Lord, but the advent in general, is here denoted, whose first development the Apostle already discerned in the circle around him.Some. The heretics themselves are not designated (Matthies, Heinrichs), but members of the church who might be misled by the heretics, as appears from the following.Depart from the faith (comp. Luk 8:13; 2Ti 2:18). Vera negando, falsa addendo; Bengel.Giving heed to seducing spirits. Here, as frequently, the cause of the phenomenon is indicated by a participial connective. The whole discussion in the beginning of this chapter forms, too, a formal antithesis to 1Ti 3:15-16, as is shown in 1Ti 4:1 of this chapter by the diminutive .Seducing spirits, , are not the heretics themselves, but the evil spirits or powers which inspire them, and which are counted tools of the devil himself (comp. Eph 2:2; Eph 6:12). This is evident, too, from what immediately follows: and doctrines of devils. This latter expresses still more exactly the conception generally denoted by the preceding . These heresies have sprung from such demonswere inspired and spread by them. From 1Co 10:20 it appears that the Apostle considered these demons as personal powers ruling in heathendom, and hostile to Christ.
1Ti 4:2. In hypocrisy, . This verse has been connected with the preceding in various ways (see De Wette on this passage). It seems best to refer the words directly back to (Wiesinger, Huther). Just as this was the cause of the apostasy, so the was the cause of the ; here, therefore, the error of the understanding had a psychological ground in the state of the corrupt heart. The hypocrisy of the heretics lay in this, that, giving allegiance to such a spiritualism (1Ti 4:3), they had the appearance of a real spiritual life (Huther).Speaking lies, (. .), (2Pe 2:1), and thus still more severe than the (1Ti 1:6).Having their conscience seared, ; that is, those who, like criminals branded for crime, bore in their own consciousness the mark of their guilt. Others with less probability explain it thus; their conduct has been such, that their consciences have by degrees become seared against all moral and holy influences. (cauteris notare) was done not only to slaves, but to criminals, who were known to be such by the brand on the forehead. It was thus with the heretics, qui sauciam scelerum conscientia habent mentem (Wahl). This insensibility was, without doubt, a natural consequence; yet this is not exactly the meaning of the Apostle. While they profess to lead others to a true holiness, they bear in their own conscience () the brand of guilt and shame.
1Ti 4:3. Forbidding to marry. As the Essenes and Therapeut had before done (comp. Joseph., A. J., 14, 2, and Philo, De vita contemplativa). According to later Gnostic principles, also, marriage and begetting children were wrong, because the condition of marriage was looked upon as an institution of the Demiurge; and because, in this way, souls pure and innocent in a former state were imprisoned in impure bodies, and, by union with corrupt matter, became sinful and wretched. The germs of this tendency existed already in the day of Paul, as is clear from the Epistle to the Colossians. The Apostle continued even to the end of his life in conflict with this error.And [commanding] to abstain from meats. See other examples of an ellipse, such as occurs here, in 1Co 14:34; 1Ti 2:12. How strongly the earliest Gnosticism insisted on this, is plain from Col 2:16. Later, Manichus held that wine sprang from the blood and gall of the devil. Perhaps the food here designated is only meat (comp. Rom 14:2; Rom 14:21). The command probably arose from the Gnostic fancy, that the materials which nourished the body were not the work of the Most High God, but of the Demiurgus, and thus from the evil principle, the of Satan. The absurdity of this notion Paul clearly shows in what follows.
[Much light is yet to be thrown by Oriental researches on the heresies alluded to in the Epistles of the New Testament. Yet, so far as these Pastoral Epistles are concerned, there is nothing to sustain the view of Baur, who would disprove their Pauline origin by referring these passages to the later Gnostics; but it seems clear that they describe the earlier Jewish errorists of the church. A collation of passages will prove this. 1Ti 1:7, they are teachers of the law. Tit 1:10, deceivers of the circumcision. Id. 1Ti 4:14, Jewish fables. Id.1Ti 3:9, genealogies are classed with strivings about the law. If, again, we study the errors themselves, we shall find them connected with notions of the Jewish schools. Our author has cited from Josephus and Philo the peculiar tenets of the Essenes. We must, however, correct one of his references. The book of Philo, Omnis probus liber, gives a sketch of the practical Essenes, who are nearer to the type than the Therapeut of the Vita contemplativa. Abstinence from marriage and meats formed the distinctive marks of this and kindred ascetic sects; 1Ti 4:1-3. The genealogies, 1Ti 1:4; Tit 3:10, are as fully explained by the Jewish fables of angelic hierarchies, as by the ons of the later Gnostics.See Nicolas, Doctr. relig. d. Juifs, c. 2, p. 88; 100:3, p. 234. The translation of the Avesta by Spiegel has cast fresh light on the Persian origin of the Jewish angelology. Einleitung, c. 2. Lastly, the doctrine ascribed to Hymeneus, 2Ti 2:18, has its root in the Essenian idea of the resurrection of the soul from carnal ignorance to the life of the spiritual man. Nicolas, c. 2, p. 88. See also, for an admirable summary of the whole argument, Schaff, Apost. Church, B. 5, c. 3, and the account of Gnosticism in general, in his Church History, vol. i. p. 221. It is true, as was said by older scholars like Prideaux, long before Baur and Reuss, that no direct trace of the Essene school is visible in the age of the New Testament. Yet it is not of Essenism as a distinct sect, but of its ideas and tendencies we speak, and these unquestionably had largely leavened the Hebrew mind. All the strange mixtures of Eastern and Greek theosophy had their influence on the later Jewish culture, and the Christian Gnosticism was only the ripening of the germs then planted in the church.W.]
1Ti 4:3. Which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving, = ., …, . For the participation, the acceptance, and enjoyment of His own creatures, God in the beginning ordained food, and human prohibition is thus purely wilful.With thanksgiving. This added clause meets the conceit, that the Apostle gives an unbridled freedoma freedom that so easily leads to excess. Enjoyment with thanksgiving must eo ipso be moderate and seemly, as befits those who believe and know the truth. The are, in the Apostles view, the true . As to the main thought expressed in this restriction, we recall the words of Calvin: Paulum de usu licito hic agere, cujus ratio coram Deo nobis constat. Hujus minime compotes sunt impii, propter impuram conscientiam, qu omnia contaminat, quemadmodum habetur ad Titum1:15. Et sane proprie loquendo, solis filiis suis Deus totum mundum et quidquid in mundo est destinavit, qua ratione etiam vocantur mundi hredes.
1Ti 4:4. For every creature of God is good. As the previous verse has shown us Pauls fidelity to the position of genuine Christian freedom, which he holds also in the Epistles to the Romans and the Corinthians, so here, according to his usual custom in the discussion of a special case, he utters a universal principle. This is an internal evidence of the genuineness of the Pastoral Epistles, which should not be overlooked., creature, a created thing; while elsewhere, with Paul, occurs in a passive sense. Naturally the word is to be understood here of those which are specially made for our nourishment. Comp. Rom 4:14; Rom 4:20; Act 10:15., good, suited to its end, healthful. In and for itself, no food is objectionable, yet on condition that it be used with thanksgiving to God.
1Ti 4:5. For it is sanctified, . The ground of the preceding. The sense is: it is set apart as food holy and well-pleasing to God (comp. Lev 19:24). In itself, the food is not holy, nor is it at all unholy, but mere matter. Yet it can be raised to a higher rank, to that of things consecrated to God; and it really becomes such by the word of God, and prayer. By the word of God is meant not a special passage of Scripture, e.g., Gen 1:29 (Mack), nor a Divine command in the general sense (Matthies), nor the prayer itself, which is offered to God (Leo, Wahl), since this would be tautological; but most probably the word of God uttered in and with the named in addition. The customary prayer at the table probably consisted of words of holy Scripture; or the person praying should be regarded as speaking by the Spirit, and thus with the word of God. For an example of such a prayer at table, see Huther on this passage. [One of the most beautiful models of the primitive Grace before meat is cited by Conybeare from the Apost. Constitut., 7, 49. We translate it here: Blessed be Thou, O Lord, who hast fed me from my youth, who givest food to all flesh. Fill our hearts with joy and gladness, that, having always what sufficeth, we may abound unto all good works, in Christ Jesus our Lord, through whom be unto Thee honor, glory, and power, forever and ever. Amen.W.]
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. As the gospel is the fulfilment of the prophecy of the Old Testament, it contains also predictions of those great events which precede the second coming of the Lord. The Lord Himself had already declared that false prophets also should then arise (Mat 24:11): Etsi omnia scula inde usque ab initio generis humani multas magnas confusiones religionum, bella et vastationes habuerunt, tamen vox divina spe testatur in ultima senecta mundi majores futuras esse confusiones, quam fuerunt antea. Et crescunt mala propter tres causas. Prima, quia cumulatis malis sequuntur majores pn. Secunda, in his ipsis peccatis et pnis natura fit languidior et disciplina dissolutior. Tertia, quia rabies diabolorum crescit, qui jam scientes instare diem judicii, odio filii Dei magis sviunt in Ecclesiam; Melanchthon.
2. While the heretics, opposed by Paul in the Epistle to Titus, are regarded as then present, he speaks of them in both the Epistles to Timothy in a more prophetic tone. Even then his prediction, though rooted in the present, reaches on to the far future. The errors here opposed are only the germs of those which in the course of centuries reveal themselves continually in new and varied forms; and which, though not at all exclusively, appear in the papacy. The Reformers consequently asserted the truth, but not the whole truth, when they found in 1Ti 4:3 a distinct description of the erring mother-church. Such phenomena may be regarded as among the many signs, although not the highest reach of Anti-christ. Already in the second century the heresies, here opposed, appeared in their first strength, and the whole sickly asceticism of the middle ages is only a variation of the theme here treated by the Apostle. [Thus Latimer, Sermons, ed. Parker Soc., p. 1Tim 162: Here learn to abhor the abominable opinion of the Papists, who hold that marriage is not an holy thing, and that the minister of the word of God be defiled through marriage, which is clean against God and His Word. Therefore, seeing beforehand in the Spirit, St. Paul saith, 1Ti 4:3, which prophecy is verified in this our time. The stout old Reformer had no nice criticism of the text; but he saw the real identity of the false principle in the Jewish-Christian asceticism, and that of the later Latin monkery.W.]
3. Between the two cliffs of spiritualism and materialism we see the bark of the Church continually tossed hither and thither in the course of the centuries. It has scarcely escaped the one, when it runs into peril of being stranded on the other. In our time, with the prevailing love of pleasure and luxury, there seems little danger of such severe morality as Paul here describes. But will there not be, sooner or later, a necessary reaction? and does not history clearly show that one extreme leads to the opposite?
4. It is a sad evidence of the blindness and pride of the sinner, that, when God has freed him by grace from a law that can only condemn him, he will not rest until he has again put himself under the yoke of a law fashioned by himself. So eager are we to build up a righteousness of our own before God, so loth simply to be blessed by free grace. Self-righteousness always remains the fond idol of the natural man; nor does he perceive that he must thus fall into new and worse unrighteousness.
5. The perfect law of liberty (Jam 1:26) has annulled the letter of the Mosaic command in regard to meats and drinks for the Christian man, and he needs no longer agree with those who say, Thou shalt not handle that, thou shalt not taste that, thou Shalt not touch that (Col 2:21). But this very emancipation from the letter of the law is the best fulfilment of its spirit and substance; for when the Christian sanctifies all Gods gifts through prayer and thanksgiving, all food becomes pure, even that which under the old Levitical code was unclean. Thus Christian freedom is not a passport for license, but the best bulwark against it.
6. The special design of every outward gift of God is to lead to the knowledge and praise of the Giver; to lead from the earthly and temporal to the heavenly and eternal. As this design of God is not fulfilled in the unbelieving, if they continue in unbelief, He has in this view made all these things not for them, but for His children who know the truth; Von Gerlach.
7. The dark visions which Paul opens to us of the future, directly conflict with the optimistic and sanguine hopes of those who believe that, from the unceasing growth of knowledge, all on earth and in the Church of Christ is becoming always better, more harmonious, more peaceful. The same Scripture which gives the promise of the last glorious day for the Christian, utters its ever-increasing lamentations over the last times which are to precede that day. Yet without the pains of travail, and in the , the full glory of the cannot break forth.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
The prophecy of the New Testament the continuation and crown of the Old.The prophetic character of the New Testament.When God builds a church, the devil builds a chapel hard by.The weeds in the Lords garden do not grow slower than the wheat.The diabolical feature in the heresies of the Church.False spirituality not rarely the cloak of immorality.A forced celibacy the devils mask.Is this the fast which I have chosen? (Isa 58:5).True and false asceticism.True Christian freedom likewise the highest restraint.The high purpose for which God created food.Passing enjoyment a chosen aid to lead us to the abiding good.All things are yours, but ye are Christs (1Co 3:21-23).The sanctity and worth of grace at table.To glorify God even in the little things of domestic life, the Christians honor, duty, and blessing.
Starke: Great comfort, that God has revealed to His poor Church what is to come, that it may have the less cause to complain.Cramer: The devil always finds his followers; and it is vain to hope that in this world all religious strife shall cease.Anton: Whoso will shun false spirits, must first beware of his own spirit.False teachers use for their craft hypocrisy, and the appearance of sanctity; they go about in sheeps clothing, and inwardly are ravening wolves (Mat 7:15; Mat 23:28).If every creature of God be good, it is godless for the Papist exorcists to pretend to cast out the devil from water, salt, and oil, and, by certain passes with the cross, and conjurations, drive him away.Hedinger: If food should be received with thanksgiving, then man must not seek his bread by extortion. cheat, theft, and the like; for no one can give thanks for these.Luther (in his Larger Catechism) teaches that marriage is not to be esteemed lightly or scornfully, as the blind world and our false spiritual guides do, but is to be regarded according to Gods word, whereby it is made fair and holy; so that it is not only set on a level with all other estates, but is honored before and above them all; wherefore both spiritual and secular estates must humble themselves, and all accept this estate.Heubner: The devout spirit, enlightened by God, may often have glimpses of the future, so far as it is of importance for the present.The corruptions and discords of Christianity are allowed by God for manifold reasons.All that God made is in itself good; only through mans distrust it becomes evil. The Christian knows how to sanctify even his own pleasures.The unholy and the holy enjoyment of the gifts of God.Lisco: The contradiction of all mere outward restraints imposed by man, to the witness of the revelation of God in Christ.
Footnotes:
[1]1Ti 4:2.[Whitby translates , instrumentally=. Through the hypocrisy of liars. He appears to connect the phrase with ; so Wiesinger and Huther. The construction is difficult, several words being in apparent apposition with , as if the devils were liars, seared in their conscience, and the rest. He would he a bold commentator who would maintain that the Apostle here calls heretics devils. Yet, in Php 3:2, he writes, Beware of dogs.E. H.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
God the Holy Ghost is here introduced as speaking expressly of the Latter-day Heresies. Paul cautions Timothy to be on the look-out with the Church against the Times of such Peril.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
(1) 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; (2) Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; (3) 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. (4) For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: (5) For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
The opening of this chapter is uncommonly interesting. When God the Spirit speaks, well may man hear. But beside this attention in a general way, there is somewhat here, which from the manner of expression made use of, calls up that attention with more awakened earnestness. God the Spirit speaketh expressly. We do not find a similar phrase in all the Bible. We very frequently hear of the Lord speaking by his servants the Prophets, in the Old Testament Scripture, saying, Thus saith the Lord; and, The Lord hath spoken. But here the Spirit, in his Person, is described as speaking, and speaking expressly. Was it not as if to silence the awful blasphemy, of the latter day times, which we now live to see, when his Almighty Person, and ministry, and glory, in the economy of grace, are so openly denied? If the Spirit speaketh expressly, can He be otherwise than a Person who thus performs the action of a Person? And if the Spirit at such a distance as Paul wrote, spoke expressly in declaring the heresies which should come in the last days, could He be less than God who thus exercised the perfection and attribute of foreknowledge? And if the Holy Ghost thus spake in the Church at that period, did He not thereby exercise his ministry in the Church when he thus presided over? Reader! if this verse alone be fully considered, what an unanswerable decision doth it give to the blasphemies of some, and the disregard of others, in this God dishonoring Christ-despising, Holy Ghost disowning generation?
I do not think it necessary in this place, to go over again the many precious testimonies with which the word of God abounds, to the Person and ministry of God the Holy Ghost, having already, in many parts of this Poor Man’s Commentary, somewhat largely considered the subject. I would particularly refer the Reader on this account to Act 2 and Act 13 and Heb 9 .
But we must not stop here. If the Spirit speaketh expressly, and speaketh of the latter-day heresies, which so plainly refer to our own times, we have yet a more abundant reason to attend, and to hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches. Rev 2:29 . The relation of them is truly awful. 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. Oh! what a trembling account! But, blessed be God, though some shall be thus found, yet not all. And the faith, though some depart from, is not the faith of God’s elect; for God hath said of all such that in the everlasting covenant he hath made with them, he will put his fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from him. Tit 1:1 ; Jer 32:40 . A departure from the mere faith of a profession, may be, and indeed must be, for it holds by nothing which can keep it. It was taken up by hearsay, or head-knowledge, and will be put down again when these fail. But where God the Spirit regenerates, there the faith of God’s elect is given, and through grace, the soul then chooses that good part, which shall not be taken away. Luk 10:42 .
I cannot, in a work of this kind, enter into a long discourse concerning the heresies here spoken of expressly by the Holy Ghost. Very sure I am, that the same Almighty Lord who foretold the people of their coming, will keep his people from finally falling by them. But it is impossible to say to what lengths they may be permitted to proceed. It is the happiness of the Church, however, that their security is in Christ, And though the Lord Jesus hath admonished his people, that there will be awful judgments, and delusions so great, that, if it were possible, they would deceive even the very elect; yet the Lord’s most gracious words, while he speaks of those things, decidedly prove, at the same time, that to deceive them is impossible. Mar 13:22 .
What greater apostacy, among Professors of Christianity, than the present days manifest, may be yet for to come, I know not, and what seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils, as we approach nearer the end of the world will appear, is not for me to conceive. Very much more than even the crying sins which now come with uncovered front before us, may, according to Scripture, be looked for. Mar 13:20 ; Rev 12:12 . But, in my apprehension, there never was a period, since the Reformation of less vital godliness, and more of the form and carcase of religion, than the present. It is too notorious to be unknown, and too awful to be known without trembling for the eventual consequences. But, when we find a liberty assumed, under the cover of religious freedom, of denying all the glorious and distinguishing truths of our most holy faith, and both the press and pulpit, in every direction, teem with discourses which set at nought that faith which was once delivered unto the saints, we may reasonably conclude that impending judgments are not far remote. Jud 1:3-7 .
And what appears to me among the most alarming signs of the present times is, that many who profess themselves the glorious truths, which distinguish our holy faith, manifest a total indifferency as to the conviction of them by others. There is a spirit of accommodation crept in among us, under the specious covering of universal love, which makes a sacrifice of divine truths. We conceal our belief in what is dearer to us than life, in order that those with whom we mingle for general purposes of charity, may not take offence. And we fondly persuade ourselves that all descriptions of religion may meet together, and join to promote the divine glory, when those blessed truths which bring the greatest glory to the Lord, are cautiously kept out of view. Surely, that faith can be but little valued by us, if fearful to be owned. And if the Godhead of Christ, redemption by his blood, justification by his righteousness, be dearer to me, (as that they are,) than my necessary food, I cannot, I dare not, conceal those sentiments, nor knowingly join with those who deny them, under the mistaken idea of promoting the divine glory, while restraining the open confession of my faith to the divine praise. The Lord pardon me if I err. But according to my view of things, this accommodating spirit is among the most awful signs of the present day. I know that I am singular. But it appears a time to be singular. God the Spirit hath spoken expressly of those latter ages of the Church. Consistent with my apprehension of the Lord’s speaking, let others think as they may, I cannot think otherwise than I have said. Though concealing our attachment to the great truths of God, may not amount to a denial, yet is it not a tacit departure from the faith? Though not giving heed to seducing spirits, yet is it not giving in to a Laodicean spirit, which the Son of God so highly condemns? Rev 3:15-16 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
1Ti 4:2
It is not the suffering, and mutilation, and death of man’s body that most needs to be diminished it is the mutilation and death of his soul. Not the Red Cross is needed, but the simple Cross of Christ to destroy falsehood and deception.
Tolstoy (preface to Sevastopol).
References. IV. 3. Expositor (7th Series), vol. vi. p. 177. IV. 6. Ibid. (5th Series), vol. i. p. 337. IV. 7. W. J. Hocking, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliv. p. 187. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture Timothy, p. 361. IV. 7, 8. C. J. Ridgeway, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlvi p. 403.
The Promise of the Life Which Is to Come
1Ti 4:8
St. Paul assumes that there is a life to come; and he asserts that, of this life, godliness has the ‘promise’. In other words, men live after they die; and the life after death depends upon the life before death. No living man is in a position to say that, when we die, we have done with the life that now is, and that there is no life of any sort to come. And be it borne in mind that the life which is to come is not starting anew; it is simply going on. It is not a second life begun; it is the first life continued. There is a life which is to come; that life is bound to come; and of it, godliness has the promise.
I. This promise is twofold; and in two places we read it (1) In the letter of Holy Scripture, Rom 2:7 : ‘To them who by patient continuance in welldoing, seek for glory and honour and immortality,’ God will give ‘eternal life’. In plain words, God has made eternal life to follow loving obedience. (2) We read the promise, not only in the letter of Holy Scripture, but in the spirit of vital godliness. Evangelical religion is an earnest and pledge of the blessedness of the life which is to come, because it actually consists in that life already begun in the soul of the true believer. To a good man there is, strictly speaking, only one life. I hold it fatal to any worthy standard of Christian living to think of death as a miracle, and to think that dying will work some marvellous change in ourselves that is, in our nature. Death is but a circumstance. Life in the better land will be present Christian experience developed, broadened, matured; and at the same time purged of certain incidents which now are apt to disturb our peace and mar our joy.
II. Of the ‘life which is to come,’ godliness has the ‘promise’. But I beg you to see to it that your godliness has these five marks: (1) Godliness personal, not hereditary. (2) Godliness possessed, not simply desired. (3) Godliness vital, not formal. (4) Godliness evangelical, not ritualistic. (5) Godliness kept as well as got.
Joseph Busk: A Memorial, p. 163.
References. IV. 8. T. Stephens, Christian World Pulpit, vol. liv. p. 151. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xvi. No. 946. James Baldwin Brown, The Divine Life in Man, p. 167. R. F. Horton, This Do, p. 133. IV. 8, 9. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xvi. No. 937. IV. 10. Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlix. p. 175. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. li. No. 2964. John Watson, The Inspiration of Our Faith, p. 203.
Influence: Is It Good Or Is It Bad?
1Ti 4:12
Our subject is ‘Influence: Is it good or bad?’ It must be the one or the other, and for a text I cannot choose a better than the words I have just read, taken from the First Epistle to Timothy, which is appointed for our Second Lesson at Evening during one of the days of the past week.
I. Example Tells. In one sense we are alone. We are individuals, we personally live, we personally die, and we must personally appear in the judgment of God. Every man shall give account of himself before God. But in another sense we are not alone. We are not and we cannot be alone. No man liveth to himself. He must influence those who are about him by speech, by conduct, by the whole tenor of his life. Supposing you tell lies; some one hears and and knows. Supposing you talk against religion and sneer at sacred things, and disparage Christ’s Church and Sacrament and Bible-reading and devotion, cognisance is taken of what you say. Live for the world, for its pleasures and lusts, for self, some one is influenced. Children watch you and copy your ways and speeches.
II. If Influence be for Good there must be Certain Characteristics.
(a) There must be a holy disposition. The heart within must be right with God, or else the external conduct will be unsatisfactory.
(b) You must also have peace of mind, that peace which God gives, that legacy, that grand legacy, that Christ the Prince of Peace left to His followers in all ages.
(c) There must also be absolute integrity. Wrong principles and deviation from anything that is right essentially is detrimental.
(d) There must also be likeness to Christ. Men must be able to take knowledge of you that you have been with Jesus.
Reference. IV. 12. Expositor (5th Series), vol. vi. p. 382.
1Ti 4:13
Bishop King of Lincoln wrote in his paper on Clerical Study: ‘It is because in all true knowledge we draw near to God that reading and study have such an alluring and refreshing pleasure. This exercise of the mind in the discovery of the truth has its own alluring delights, and reward; but we, with the light of Christian revelation, can see more clearly what the cause of that high pleasure is, it is the drawing near of the mind to God; the knowing more of His ways that we may know Him more, and knowing Him more that we may love Him more; for so our minds and hearts will be at rest.
‘It is this which made Lord Acton in his inaugural lecture say: “I hope that even this narrow and disedifying section of history [ i.e. modern history] will aid you to see that the action of Christ, Who is risen, upon mankind, whom He redeemed, fails not, but increases”.’
The Love and Wisdom of God, pp. 347, 348.
Reference. IV. 13. F. J. A. Hort, Village Sermons in Outline, p. 78.
The Charisma ( An Ordination Sermon )
1Ti 4:14
The history of the Church of God in the past and her existence today attest that she possesses a Divine presence and is instinct with the life of her risen Lord. Nations have risen and flourished, have decayed, fallen, and disappeared, but the Church has remained. ‘Every power has touched it, every science has scrutinised it, every blasphemy has cursed it,’ but the gates of hell have never prevailed against the Church because her Lord who was dead is alive for evermore. She saw the last days of the Roman Empire; she stood at its grave, and bestowed upon it a parting blessing. She stood at the cradle of the English nation, fostered its infancy and youth, and has preceded every national advance as the pillar of fire before the host of Israel. Her forms have changed, her appearance is altered, but her nature has ever been the same. Her creed is what it was in the days of the Apostles.
I. ‘Lo, I am with you all the days, even unto the end of the world.’ This all-important truth is the secret of the perpetuity of the Church’s life, and lies at the very foundation of the solemn service of this morning. The Great High Priest still walks amidst the golden candlesticks. Today the children of Christ and members of His kingdom take up the strains of the hymns of victory of the ancient Church: ‘ Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat ‘. Whatever may be our qualification, natural or acquired, one thing is absolutely essential to make a man an efficient minister of Christ it is that earnestness of purpose, that persistent and single-hearted energy, which can only be described as life, and which can only be communicated by the ‘Lord and Giver of Life’ Himself. It is in the combined manifestation of Divine and human authority that we are enabled to ‘serve God with one spirit in the Gospel of His Son’.
In such an hour as this I would, with God’s help, give you comfort. Your hearts must not be cast down today, but lifted up to the Lord with the holy joy and with the ardent courage of soldiers of the cross, who are to receive from the hands of your Prince in heaven, through His deputed agent, the golden spurs of knightly service, and that which no earthly prince can give the strength to wear the armour which He Himself supplies to meet those special conflicts which lie before you.
II. I have chosen my text because in it St Paul distinctly states that in Ordination a gift is bestowed which meets this sense of need which doubtless you are keenly feeling at this present time. ‘Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.’ The Apostle says that the gift came to Timothy through the concurrent means of prophecy and of the laying on of hands. I cannot enter into any question of Church government I would simply remind you that in his second Epistle to Timothy St. Paul writes, ‘Stir up the gift of God which is in thee by the putting on of my hands’. Today, in the words of the Rubric, ‘The Bishop with the priests present shall lay their hands upon every one that receiveth the order of priesthood’. As certainly as, in answer to the prayer of faith in the rite of Confirmation, the candidate, in the laying on of hands, in the words of the catechism of the Eastern Church, ‘receives the gift of the Holy Ghost for growth and strength in the spiritual life,’ so certainly does the candidate for Ordination, who is Divinely called, receive the power of the Holy Ghost in the laying on of hands. The word , which occurs fourteen times in the Pauline Epistles and nowhere else in the New Testament, excepting 1Pe 4:10 , always means an endowment, or gift of grace, bestowed by the Holy Spirit for some special ministration or official service. In the text before us the call of the Spirit was through prophecy, i.e. through inspired preachers, who declared the Spirit’s will to invest Timothy with the for the work. The laying on of hands was the act which formed, with the prophecy, ‘an appropriation of the Spirit in prayer, through the instrumentality of others, for a definite object’.
III. ‘ Neglect not the gift.’ In the verses before the text St. Paul writes to Timothy, ‘Be thou an example of believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine,’ and thus ‘neglect not the gift’. The life which God gives, spiritual as well as physical, is dependent upon human effort, and the employment of the means which He Himself supplies. Be ‘wholly in these things’. ‘Give heed to thyself and the teaching’ to the culture of thine own spiritual life, and of the function and duties of religious instruction. ‘Continue in them.’ Habitual, not fitful and spasmodic service will meet with reward. ‘In doing this thou shalt save both thyself and them that hear thee.’ What does the Apostle mean? The traveller who stands on the shore of the Dead Sea near the mouth of the Jordan wonders why this inland lake should be so salt that no animal life can exist in it, as he looks upon the volume of sweet water which is ever entering in. He has the chief answer to the enigma in the fact that this sea receives but never gives. It has no outlet. Let a river flow into a lake whose waters flow out, and not only does it irrigate and fertilise the barren lands beyond, but the lake itself is enlivened and purified. ‘Neglect not the gift that is in thee.’
J. W. Bardsley, Many Mansions, p. 118.
Reference. IV. 14. Expositor (6th Series), vol. vi. p. 396.
The Man and the Teacher
1Ti 4:16
There is an intimate relation between the preacher’s ‘self’ and his ‘teaching’. This relation is of two kinds: (a) The preacher’s ‘self’ largely determines the force and influence of his teaching. (b) It largely determines the contents of his faith. It is clear that, if our message be one of infinite importance and it is then in virtue of that message the person of the true preacher becomes of very great importance also, and such a one must not lightly esteem the significance of his own life.
I. Let me enumerate the moral qualities which appear to me fundamentally necessary to give force to our preaching. (1) The first is, Manliness. This general idea of manliness may be summed up in four qualities: (a) Sincerity. Preachers have great temptations to become actors, imitators, and copyists. But, depend upon it, if God has singled you out to be a prophet, He has given you an individuality of your own, which you should strenuously preserve. As sincere men, too, we should have a horror of cant, whether new or old. (6) Manliness includes Generosity. Meanness is execrable in a preacher. His heart should be large, his sympathies wide and warm. (c) You may think it strange that I should include Humility in the qualities of manliness. Yet humility is both strong and lovable; pride and arrogance are both unlovable and weak. (d) Further, the Fearlessness which is an attribute of complete Manliness, gives unquestionably great force to the utterances of the preacher. (2) The Christian preacher should earnestly cultivate personal holiness. If we would fire the world, our spiritual life must burn brightly.
II. Yet, notwithstanding this great influence of the ‘self upon the ‘teaching,’ the injunction, ‘Take heed to yourself needs to be supplemented with ‘Take heed to your teaching’. (1) Without entering into the controversy concerning the nature of inspiration, there are certain facts that must be absolutely final for the Christian preacher. ‘Jesus is God incarnate, and the Expiator of sin.’ For him that denies these truths Christianity ceases to be. (2) Need I put in a plea for the diligent study of the Bible, for an agony of wrestling with its great truths? (3) Don’t, for the sake of God and men, lower the holy standard of the kingdom of God. Our message will have power in proportion as our own power is renewed; it will inspire others in proportion as it inspires us.
John Thomas, Myrtle Street Pulpit, vol. II. p. 169.
References. IV. 16. C. G. Finney, Penny Pulpit, No. 1578, p. 13. J. Caird, Sermons, p. 301. V. 1, 2. R. F. Horton, Christian World, Pulpit, vol. lvi. p. 392. V. 4. J. Stalker, ibid. vol. liv. p. 275. T. Sadler, Sermons for Children, p. 69. V. 6. J. Bolton, Selected Sermons (2nd Series), p. 68. Expositor (4th Series), vol. i. p. 205; ibid. vol. ii. p. 424. V. 8. Ibid. (5th Series), vol. i. p. 144. V. 17. Ibid. vol. iv. p. 378. V. 18. Ibid. (4th Series), vol. ii. pp. 71, 76; ibid. vol. iii. p. 305. V. 20. Ibid. (6th Series), vol. iv. p. 205. V. 21. H. D. M. Spence, Voices and Silences, p. 127.
Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson
VI
THE MYSTERY OF LAWLESSNESS. A GOOD MINISTER OF JESUS CHRIST
1Ti 4:1-16
Our last discussion considered the church of the living God, upholding the mystery of godliness. This chapter commences with a view of the synagogue of Satan, upholding the mystery of lawlessness. God’s intervention was a mystery. Satan’s intervention was a mystery. Both a mystery because super” natural. The two mysteries are in opposition the one working to man’s salvation the other to man’s damnation. Both propagated by human agency; both, a fulfilment of prophecy 1Ti 4:1 “But”: This conjunction teaches that what follows is not in line with the foregoing, but in opposition.
1Ti 4:1 “The Spirit saith” may mean either “hath said” in a former revelation, or “now saith” by inspiration of the apostle writing. In this case it is both. That constant inspiration rested on the apostle appears from Act 20:23 :”The Holy Spirit testifieth unto me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me.” So we are not necessitated to find that what the Spirit here said is a quotation from a previous record. In fact, however, the substance of it, and more besides, appears in 2Th 2:3-12 .
Here we find that a great apostasy and the revelation of the man of sin must precede the final advent of our Lord; that this apostasy is a “mystery of lawlessness” already commencing to work; that Satan is back of it; that just before the final advent he will incarnate himself in the man of sin, accrediting him with miracles, “power, signs, and wonders,” intended to create a lying impression, working a delusion with all deceit in unrighteousness in them that perish; that God permits this subjection to Satan because they received not the love of the truth. All of which is in accord with our lesson and the later testimony of Peter (2Pe 3:1-4 ) and of John (1Jn 4:1-3 ).
1Ti 4:1 “Some shall fall away from the faith.” This is apostasy, not from personal faith, but from “the faith” the truth embodied in the mystery of godliness.
1Ti 4:1 “Giving heed to seducing spirits.” These spirits are demons, Satan’s evil angels.
1Ti 4:1 “Doctrines of demons.” As the mystery of godliness was embodied in doctrines considered in last chapter, so the mystery of lawlessness is embodied in doctrines, some of which are to be named here, and others elsewhere.
1Ti 4:2 “Through the hypocrisy of men that speak lies, branded in their own consciences as with a hot iron.” On this sentence note:
(1) As the mystery of godliness is propagated through human agents under the influence of the Holy Spirit, so the mystery of lawlessness is propagated through human agents under the influence of Satan.
(2) Over against the “good minister of Jesus Christ” (1Ti 4:6-16 ), we have here the character of the evil minister of Satan:
(a) They received not the love of the truth;
(b) They are hypocrites;
(c) They have Satan’s brand on their consciences, as Paul bore the mark or brand of Jesus;
(d) They teach lies;
(e) They are God-abandoned to a delusion of Satan that they may perish.
What then are the “doctrines of demons” that embody this mystery of lawlessness?
1Ti 4:3 “Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by them that believe and know the truth.” So far as this scripture testifies, these doctrines consist of one prohibition: “Forbidding to marry,” and of one command; “To abstain from meats.” Both are tenets of the Gnostic philosophy condemned in all the later New Testament books, and to which so much attention is devoted in John’s Gospel and in the letters of the first Roman imprisonment, and which abound in the letters of Peter and Jude and Revelation.
The theory of both the prohibition and the command is based on the heresy that sin is limited to matter, residing in the body alone, and so by ignoring sexual relations, and restricting food to a vegetable diet, the body may be kept in subjection and sin avoided. It is the doctrine of celibacy and asceticism, and is responsible for all hermits, whether heathen or Christian, that seek escape from sin in isolation from one’s fellows, and is the father of monasteries and the mother of nunneries. It is the doctrine of Buddha and the Papacy. It opposes the gospel teaching that sin is of the inner man “apart from the body” and consists of spirit alienation of mind and heart from God. Envy, malice, jealousy, lying, stealing, blasphemy, pride, vanity, slander, idleness, selfishness, and the like, are sins. These proceed from the inner man. To eat meat on Friday is not a sin. To marry, multiply and populate the earth and subdue it was the original commission of man in innocence. The very depths of Satan are disclosed in making that to be sin which is not sin, and in making that to be righteousness which is sin. And especially is this doctrine deadly in the assault on the gospel teaching that marriage is honorable in all. In the beginning of time the Father instituted it, in the fulness of time the Son honored it with his presence, in the end of time the Holy Spirit sanctifies it by bestowing its name on the relation eternally subsisting between Christ and his church. No idle hermit in his cave, no ascetic monk in his cell, no nun in her convent can bar out sin which resides in the spirit.
The prayer of Jesus was: “I pray not that thou shouldest take them from the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil one.” External barriers do not keep out the evil one. He can enter wherever atmosphere enters. Experiment may show what diet in particular cases promotes physical health. Let each one eat the food, whether vegetable or animal, which in his own case is promotive of a sound body. Says this section: “Meats which God created to be received with thanksgiving by them that believed and knew the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it be received with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified through the word of God and prayer.” The temporary, symbolic distinction of the Mosaic law between “clean and unclean meats” was nailed to the cross of Christ. Therefore says our apostle elsewhere: “Let no man judge you in meats and drinks,” and particularly pertinent are his words: “If ye died with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, do ye subject yourselves to ordinances: handle not, nor taste, nor touch all things are to perish with the using after the precepts and doctrines of men? Which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will, worship, and humility, and severity to the body, but are not of any value against the indulgence of the flesh.”
A GOOD MINISTER OF JESUS CHRIST (1Ti 4:6-16 )
We have just considered on 1Ti 4:2 the evil minister of Satan, and now sketch on opposite canvass, in salient strokes, the outline of a good minister of our Lord.
1. The matter of his preaching.
(1) Positively, having been himself nourished in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine, of the mystery of godliness, he puts the brethren in mind of them.
(2) Negatively, he refuses to teach profane and old wives’ fables. Here we have “fables” opposed to revelations from God. These fables are the lies spoken by the hypocritical, conscience-seared ministers of evil; they are doctrines inspired by seducing demons, and hence profane, irreverent, godless. From Tit 1:14 it appears that these fables were of Jewish origin, “commandments of men” that make void the word of God. They are further characterized as the fables of old wives. This alludes to the fact that there are certain women among the ministry of Satan, and suggests another form of Gnosticism unbridled license equally derived with asceticism from the one root heresy that sin resides only in the body and as the body perishes without a resurrection, it made no difference of what uses it was made an instrument. In the next letter to Timothy these teachers are thus described: “Holding a form of godliness, but having denied the power thereof: from these also turn away. For of these are they that creep into houses and take captive silly women laden with sins, led away by divers lusts, ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. And even as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also withstand the truth; men corrupted in mind, reprobate concerning the faith” (2Ti 3:5-8 ).
The phrase “old wives,” however, does not refer to corrupt women who are willing victims of these evil ministers of Satan, but to godless old women themselves teachers of fables. They are of the class who deal in palmistry, magic, or other methods of fortune telling, gathering their herbs for love philters, or other materials for working charms, and brewing their potions with incantations, somewhat after the method of the three hags in Macbeth.
Edward Eggleston, in The Hoosier Schoolmaster , gives a fitting description of one of these old “grannies” that filled a neighborhood with evil superstitions. I myself knew one who wrought serious evil in several families by persuading the wives that marriage was an evil institution, thus bringing about separations that wrecked homes and scattered children.
2. His athletics in teaching and practice. While not underestimating physical athletics, he stresses rather spiritual athletics. He concedes some profit in physical training. “Bodily exercise is profitable for a little in this life.” But his ideal man is not a winner in the Olympic Games, in the Ephesian Amphitheatre, in prize rings, ball games, or foot races, or boat races. His heroes are not gladiators. As elsewhere in many of his letters he uses the exploits and activities of the outer man athlete as images of a spiritual race course or gymnasium, because exercise in godliness has the promise of both this life and the life to come.
The saying which gives the greater glory to spiritual exercise is not only a “faithful one,” but “worthy of all acceptation.” He is indeed a good minister of Jesus who can develop among Christian people an enthusiasm for spiritual culture that will equal the world’s enthusiasm for physical athletics. John Bunyan on this line, in his Heavenly Footman and Pilgrim’s Progress, not only won a tablet in Westminster Abbey but is heard today in all the languages of the world, and welcomed in all its homes. Without endorsement of some of their teachings, the author rejoices to honor John Wesley and Savonarola in their great reformations toward “exercising unto godliness.” Nor does he hesitate to say that John Wesley’s class in spiritual athletics has not only conferred more honor upon Oxford University than all its boat clubs and ball teams, but its enthusiasm has fired the Western continent and awakened myriads to “strive unto holiness.” A good minister “labors and strives to this end, because he has his hope set on the living God who is the Saviour of all men, especially of them that believe.” That preacher’s doctrine is defective and his ministry narrow and barren who stops at election, predestination, and justification, and ignores the salvation in us sanctification developing the life given in regeneration and has no heart and hopefulness in preaching a universal gospel.
3. His own example:
(1) In himself heartily believing, without wavering, the vital doctrines of the faith. Loose views on any fundamental doctrine should forever bar a man from the ministry. That presbytery is itself disreputable and disloyal that lays the hands of ordination on a man who has loose views on the incarnation, the vicarious expiation, the resurrection, the exaltation, and intercession of our Lord, and upon the inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, and upon the necessity of regeneration and sanctification.
(2) In character and life: “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an ensample to them that believe in word, in manner of life, in love, in faith, in purity” (1Ti 4:12 ).
(3) In diligent study and practice: “Till I come, give heed to reading, to exhortation, to teaching” (1Ti 4:13 ). “Be diligent in these things; give thyself wholly to them, that thy progress may be manifest to all” (1Ti 4:15 ).
(4) In stirring up by exercise any spiritual gift: “Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery” (1Ti 4:14 ).
In Timothy’s own case a prophecy went before by Paul. Silas, or some other prophet that a great gift of the Spirit would rest on him, and it did come on him as the hands of ordination touched his head. Indeed, the laying on of hands symbolizes the imparting of Spirit power as appears from Act 8:17 ; Act 19:6 . On these two passages in Acts, with Heb 6:2 , the Six Principles Baptists always followed baptism with a laying on of hands, and strangely enough Episcopalians, founded on the same passages the rite of Confirmation by the laying on of the hands of their bishop.
As illustration of (2) above, I may allude to a warning I once gave to a spoiled boy preacher: “My boy, you are in great danger. You have been complimented so much for the fire of your offhand, maiden sermons you have quit studying. You have no library and do not read. You have already contracted the habit of relying on preaching over your first dozen revival sermons. Such a habit calls for a wide range of ever-changing pasturage. The first time such a sermon is a juicy roast, next time it is only warmed over, next time it is hash, next time it is soup out of the bones. Soon these sermons that once warmed your heart will no longer taste well, not even in your own mouth, and then you may be sure they do not taste well to the congregation. The spiritual stomach, as well as the physical, calls for freshness, variety, and change in the food served. When this stage of nonappreciation in your hearers arrives, you have to move on to another field; you soon will acquire the reputation of not being able to hold any field long. When your family increases you will find that ‘three moves are equal to a burn.’ Then will you become sore and soured in spirit, and doomed to join the murmurers, complainers, and kickers you will be avoided as ‘the man with a grievance.’ “
I am sorry to say my foreboding in his case came to pass. I solemnly warn young preachers against mental and spiritual laziness. The unused gift or faculty, whether natural or spiritual, goes into paralysis and bankruptcy. When a stream ceases to flow it stagnates. Even the waters of Ezekiel’s River of Life that became sidetracked into basins of stillness became only salt marshes. When a tree ceases to grow, it begins to die. When a farmer does not take in new ground and put out his fences, the bushes and briers in his fence corners require him to move in his fences. We must give attention to study to enlarge our stock of preaching material. We can’t always preach on the first principles. Besides, it is robbing the churches.
I believe it was Booker T. Washington who tells the story of his rebuke of a Negro church for violation of contract in not paying their pastor, and how completely he was silenced by a remark of one of the sturdy members: “We done paid for them sermons last year.”
Moreover, I warn again that to secure novelty and freshness, we do not need to turn to that crassest and most unprofitable of sensationalism hat goes out of the record for pulpit themes. Leave that to worldly lecturers. The Bible is an inexhaustible mine to the student delver and all the student preachers of the world, generation by generation, may let down their little buckets into the wells of salvation without fear of lowering the waterline. “Save thyself and thy hearers.”
QUESTIONS
1. How is the last paragraph of 1Ti 3 contrasted with the first paragraph of 1Ti 4 ?
2. Why in both cases a mystery and through whom each propagated and was each foretold?
3. What conjunction suggests the oppositions between, the two mysteries?
4. “The Spirit saith.” Does that mean “now saith” or “hath said” or both?
5. Show how 2Th 2:3-12 contains the substance of the present saying of the Spirit and with what subsequent writings it ac- cords.
6. The meaning of “falling away from the faith”?
7. Who the “seducing spirits” of 1Ti 4:1 and how their seductions embodied?
8. On 1Ti 4:2 answer: (1) What agents propagate the “doctrines of demons”? (2) Their characteristics? (3) With whom in this chapter contrasted?
9. So far as this context extends what the doctrines of demons?
10. What philosophy inculcated both and what books of New Testament discuss the philosophy and where did it originate?
11. On what heresy is the theory of these doctrines based and what evils resulted from it and in what two religions are they embodied?
12. Show how an attack on the honor and sanctity of marriage and a teaching that isolates one from his kind controverts the mission of man as a race and the teaching of both Testaments.
13. What regimen of diet should each individual follow?
14. Show how the gospel abrogates the temporary and symbolic distinction between “clean” and “unclean” animals for food and characterizes present prohibitions thereon.
15. With whom is the “good minister of Jesus Christ” in 1Ti 4:6-16 contrasted?
16. Gather up from the paragraph what should be the matter, negative and positive, of the “good minister’s preaching.”
17. What one word characterizes the negative matter of preaching to what is it opposed and why the descriptive “profane,” and what means the other descriptive “old wives”?
18. Show from Titus the natural origin of the “fables” in question.
19. How does the one heresy, sin resident only in matter in body teach two opposing evils asceticism and isolation from one’s fellows on the part of some and unbridled license ill association with one’s kind on the part of others?
20. Where the heresy tends to unbridled license give the apostle’s description of its subjects in the second letter to Timothy.
21. Give in description and illustration the “old wives” who teach vicious superstitions adverse to gospel revelation.
22. What the second element of a good minister of Jesus Christ and what his attitude toward physical athletics?
23. Is it possible to develop an enthusiasm for spiritual athletics equal to the world’s enthusiasm for physical athletics?
24. On this point what said the author concerning John Bunyan and John Wesley?
25. What may you say of a preacher’s doctrine and ministry whose preaching and life stops at election, predestination, and justification ignoring the salvation in us through sanctification’s development of the life in regeneration and ignoring a universal gospel?
26. What the third element in a good minister and what the particulars in which this element is exhibited?
27. What the incident given by the author bearing on the third particular, i.e., the necessity of study? Cite the Booker T. Washington incident.
28. According to what and through what was a special spiritual gift conferred on Timothy?
29. What does “the laying on of hands” symbolize?
30. Show what use the Six Principles Baptists and the Episcopalians make of 1Ti 4:14 in conjunction with Act 8:17 ; Act 19:6 ; and Heb 6:2 .
31. What follows the neglect to stir up by exercise a natural or spiritual gift and how did the author illustrate it?
32. To what should a preacher not turn to satisfy the natural craving for freshness, variety, and progress and why is this resort not necessary?
1 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;
Ver. 1. Speaketh expressly ] Verbis non disertis solum, sed et exertis. Abroad and aloud, that it may be heard all the Church over, .
Some shall depart from the faith ] As did the ancient heretics the Papists (in whom all the old heretics seem to have fled and hid themselves), and the present prodigious sectaries with their opinionum portenta, our modern Antitrinitarians, Ariaus, Anti-scripturists, Anabaptists, &c.
Doctrine of devils ] Vented by Satan’s emissaries and instruments. About the time of Pope Hildebrand, letters were dispersed up and down, that were said to be sent from hell; wherein the devil gives great thanks to the Popish clergy for the great multitudes of souls that by their seductions came thronging to hell more than ever in any age before. (Mat. Paris, Hist. A. D. 1072.) Nicolas Orum, an Oxford doctor, is said to have written those letters. He preached also at Rome, before the pope and his cardinals; discovering and condemning their errors, and foretelling their destruction.
1 16 .] Of future false teachers ( 1Ti 4:1-6 ); directions to Timotheus in reference to them ( 1Ti 4:7-11 ); general exhortations to him ( 1Ti 4:12-16 ).
1 .] But (contrast to the glorious mystery of piety which has been just dwelt on) the Spirit (viz. the Holy Spirit of prophecy, speaking in the Apostle himself, or in others, or, which is most probable, in both in the general prophetic testimony which He bore throughout the church: cf. , spoken from the same point of prophetic foresight, 2Ti 3 .]. Some (even Wiesinger) have supposed the Apostle to refer to some prophetic passage of the O. T., or to the general testimony of the O. T. prophecies (Dan 7:25 ; Dan 8:23 ; Dan 11:30 ), or those of our Lord (Mat 24:4 ff., Mat 24:11 ), or of the Apostles (2Th 2:3 ff. 1Jn 2:18 . 2Pe 3:3 . Jud 1:18 ), or all these combined. But in the two former cases, we should hardly have had , but , or , or the like; implying rather the present agency of the Spirit: and the latter is only a less clear way of putting the explanation given above: for why should writings be referred to, when the living men were yet testifying in the power of the Spirit among them? Besides, see the way in which such written prophecies are referred to, in Jud 1:17 ) expressly (‘plainly,’ ‘in so many words:’ is a postclassical word, found once in Polyb. (iii. 23.5: given by Schweigh., Lex., and Palm and Rost, wrongly, ii. 23. 5; and by Liddell and Scott, in conseq., Polyb. without a reference), , and often in later writers cf. examples in Wetst., especially Sext. Empir., , ( ) ; see also Plut. Brut. 29), saith, that in after times (not as E. V. ‘in the latter times ,’ which though not quite so strong as ‘in the last times ,’ yet gives the idea of close connexion with them: whereas here the Apostle speaks only of times subsequent to those in which he was writing: see the difference in 2Ti 3:1 . and compare Act 20:29 ) certain men (not the false teachers: rather, those who will be the result of their false teaching) shall depart (or decline: not by formal apostasy, or the danger would not be that which it is here represented: but subjectively, declining in their own minds and lives from holding Christ in simplicity) from the faith (objective the doctrine which faith embraces, as so often), giving heed to (see reff.: the participle contains the reason and process of their declension) seducing spirits ( , as Huther remarks, is in contrast with , 1Ti 4:1 ; it is to be understood as in 1Jn 4:1 ; 1Jn 4:6 , in which last verse we have the cognate expression . Wolf’s ‘spiritualibus seductoribus,’ or ‘doctoribus seducentibus’ is quite inadmissible. The spirits are none other than the spirits of evil, tempting, energizing in, seducing, those who are described, just as the Spirit directs and dwells in those who abide in the faith), and teachings of dmons (doctrines taught by, suggested by, evil spirits: gen. subjective: cf. , Jas 3:15 , and Tert. de prscr. hr. c. 7, vol. ii. p. 19, “H sunt doctrin hominum et dmoniorum, prurientibus auribus nat:” see Col 2:22 . So Thdrt. (Chrys. is vague), and the fathers generally: (Grot., vaguely,) Wolf, Bengl, Olsh., De W., Huther, Wiesinger, Conyb., Ellic. Two wrong interpretations have been given: (1) understanding the genitive as objective, ‘ teachings concerning dmons ;’so Mede, Works, p. 626 ff., supporting his view by , Heb 6:2 , &c., and Heydenreich (‘a characteristic designation of the essene-gnostic false teachers, who had so much to say of the higher spirit-world, of the ons, &c.:’ in Huther) but against the context, in which there is no vestige of allusion to idolatry (notwithstanding all that is alleged by Mede), but only to a false and hypocritical asceticism: (2) applying to the false teachers, who would seduce the persons under description (so Mosheim, Mack, al., and even Calvin ‘quod perinde est ac si dixisset, attendentes pseudo-prophetis et diabolicis eorum dogmatibus’); but this is without example harsh and improbable. The student may refer, as a curiosity, to the very learned disquisition of Mede on these : not merely for the really valuable information which it contains, but also as a lesson, to assure the ground well, before he begins to build with such pains) in the (following in the , giving the element, in which: see below) hypocrisy of those who speak lies (the whole clause belongs to , the previous one, , being complete in itself. Bengel gives the construction well: ‘construe cum deficient, Hypocrisis ea qu est falsiloquorum , illos auferet. , aliqui , illi sunt seducti; falsiloqui , seductores: falsiloquorum, genitivus, unice pendet ab hypocrisi . falsiloquorum dicit relationem ad alios: ergo antitheton est in , sua. ’ This is much better than to join the gen. with (so Wegscheider and Conyb., but understanding that which is said of the dmons as meant of those who follow them), or with (Estius, ‘doctrinis, inquam, hominum in hypocrisi loquentium mendacium’), as making the sentence which follows apply to the false teachers (cf. ), whom the follow. And so De W., Huther, Wiesinger: and Mede himself, book iii. ch. 2, p. 677), of men branded (with the foul marks of moral crime: so Cie, Catil. i. 6, ‘qu nota domestic turpitudinis non inusta vit tu est?’ Livy, iii. 51, ‘ne Claudi geuti eam inustam maculam vellent:’ Plato, Gorg. 524 E, , . See more examples in Wetst. and Kypke.
is properly to burn in a mark with a , a branding-instrument of hot iron. Thl. explains: , . Thdrt. gives an explanation more ingenious than correct: . . . , . . The idea rather seems to be as Bengel, “qui ipsi in sua sibi conscientia, inustis ei perfidi maculis, infames sunt:” cf. Tit 1:15 ; Tit 3:11 , where seems to express much the same. Or, as Ellic., ‘they knew the brand they bore, and yet, with a show of outward sanctity (compare ), they strove to beguile and seduce others, and make them as bad as themselves.’ The genitive still depends on , as does also) on their own conscience ( , as Beng. above these false teachers are not only the organs of foul spirits, but are themselves hypocritical liars, with their own consciences seared by crime. The accusative is one of reference: cf. ch. 1Ti 6:5 ), hindering from marrying (this description has been thought by some to fit the Jewish sects of Essenes and Therapeut, who abstained from marriage, Jos. B. J. ii. 8. 2: Philo de vit. contempl. 4, 8, vol. ii. pp. 476, 482: cf. Col 2:18 ff. But as De W. remarks, the abstinence by and by mentioned seems too general to suit the idea that they were Jews (see below): besides that the Epistle does not describe them as present but as to come in after times), ( commanding ) (see a like ellipsis ( zengma ), in which a second but logically necessary verb is omitted, and must be supplied from the context, in ch. 1Ti 2:12 , 1Co 14:34 . Bengel quotes a similar construction from Chrys., , , ) to abstain from meats (compare Col 2:16 . It does not appear here from what sort of food this abstinence would be enjoined: but probably the eating of flesh is alluded to. Euseb. H. E. iv. 29, quotes from Irenus (i. 28. 1, p. 107), , , , . These seem to be the persons here pointed at: and though the announcement of their success in after time is prophetic, we may fairly suppose that the seeds of their teaching were being sown as the Apostle wrote. The existence of gnosticism in its earlier form is certainly implied in ch. 1Ti 6:20 ; and in 2Ti 2:17-18 , we find that denial of the resurrection which characterized all the varieties of subsequent gnosticism. See the whole subject discussed in the Prolegg. ch. 7. i. 12 ff.), which God made for participation with thanksgiving for (dat. commodi) those who believe, and have received the (full) knowledge of the truth . This last description of the worthy partakers of God’s bounties is well illustrated by Calvin: ‘Quid ergo? annon solem suum quotidie oriri facit Deus super bonos et malos ( Mat 5:45 )? annon ejus jussu terra impiis panem producit? annon ejus benedictione etiam pessimi aluntur? est enim universale illud beneficium quod David Psa 104:14 decantat. Respondeo, Paulum de usu licito hic agere, cujus ratio coram Deo nobis constat. Hujus minime compotes sunt impii, propter iropuram conscientiam qu omnia contaminat, quemadmodum habetur ad Titum, 1Ti 1:15 . Et sane, proprie loquendo, solis filiis suis Deus totum mundum et quicquid in mundo est destinavit, qua ratione etiam vocantur mundi hredes. Nam hac conditione constitute initio fuerat Adam omnium dominus, ut sub Dei obedientia maneret. Proinde rebellio adversus Deum jure quod illi collatum fuerat, ipsi una cum posteris spoliavit. Qnouiam autem subjecta sunt Christo omnia, ejus beneficio in integrum restituimur, idque per fidem Posteriore membro definit quos vocat fideles, nempequi notitiam habent san doctrin.’ On , sec 1Co 10:30 ; and below on 1Ti 4:4 .
1Ti 4:1-5 . Over against the future triumph of the truth, assured to us by the finished work of Christ, we must set the opposition, grievous at present, of the Spirit of error. His attacks have been foreseen by the Spirit of holiness. They are just now expressed in a false spirituality which condemns God’s good creatures of marriage and food.
1Ti 4:1 . : The Apostle here passes to another theme, the manifestation of religion in daily life. The connexion between this section and the last is as indicated above. There is a slightly adversative force in the connecting .
The Spirit is the Holy Spirit Who speaks through the prophets of the New Dispensation, of whom St. Paul was one. Here, if the following prophetical utterance be his own, he speaks as if Paul under the prophetic influence had an activity independent of Paul the apostle.
: The latter times , of course, may be said to come before the last days , (Isa 2:2 , Act 2:17 , Jam 5:3 , 2Pe 3:3 ; , 1Pe 1:5 ; . , Jud 1:18 ).
But a comparison with 2Ti 3:1 , a passage very similar in tone to this, favours the opinion that the terms were not so distinguished by the writers of the N.T. In this sort of prophetical warning or denunciation, we are not intended to take the future tense too strictly. Although the prophet intends to utter a warning concerning the future, yet we know that what he declares will be hereafter he believes to be already in active operation. It is a convention of prophetical utterance to denounce sins and sinners of one’s own time ( ) under the form of a predictive warning. Cf. 2Ti 4:3 , , . . . It gives an additional impressiveness to the arraignment, to state that the guilty persons are partners in the great apostacy, the culmination of the world’s revolt from God.
is intentionally vague. See note on 1Ti 1:3 . It is not used, as in Rom 3:3 , of an indefinite number.
: As the Church is guided aright by the Spirit of truth, He is opposed in His beneficent ministrations by the Spirit of error, (1Jn 4:6 ), who is , whose agents work through individuals, the “many false prophets who have gone out into the world” (1Jn 4:1 ).
must be, in this context, doctrines taught by demons , a (Jas 3:15 ). See Tert. de Praescr. Haeret . 7. The phrase does not here mean doctrines about demons , demonology. Still less are heresiarchs here called demons . This is the only occurrence of in the Pastorals. In Act 17:18 the word has its neutral classical meaning, “a divine being,” see also Act 17:22 ; but elsewhere in the N.T. it has the LXX reference to evil spirits. For . see note on chap. 1Ti 1:10 .
1 Timothy Chapter 4
The assembly, in its practical and responsible standing before men as the witness of God’s revealed truth and will, naturally leads the apostle to treat of Satan’s efforts to undermine and falsify the truth, not without warning on God’s part.
“But the Spirit saith expressly that in latter times some shall fall away from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and teachings of demons, by hypocrisy of legendmongers, branded in their own conscience, forbidding to marry, [bidding]* to abstain from meats which God created for reception with thanksgiving by those faithful and fully acquainted with the truth. Because every creature of God [is] good, and nothing to be rejected when received with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified through God’s word and intercession” (vers. 1-5).
* This is a case of what the grammarians call Zeugma, where another verb is implied by the context, as in 1Ti 2:12 .
The mischief here set out is not the wider and later evil of 2Ti 3:1-9 , when Christendom would be but men professing the Lord’s name, a form of piety with the denial of its power, no better than heathen in reality (cp. Rom 1:28-32 ), though with the semblance and the responsibility of God’s final revelation of grace and truth in Christ. Still less is it the frightful apostacy of 2Th 2:3-12 , which is to close the age before the Lord Jesus be revealed in judgment from heaven to introduce the new age and the kingdom of God to be manifested in power and blessing universally over the earth. No such absolute or comprehensive enmity to the gospel and the Lord is seen here, but rather a sentimental and intellectual affectation of ascetic sanctimoniousness, the germs of which were even then at work and which were soon to develop into the Gnostic sects. It was human pretension, and not the faith of the holy communications of the divine mind nor the submission of heart to His will Who cannot but direct us for His glory through the corruptions of a world ruined by lust.
Here the liberty which characterizes those who have the Spirit is supplanted by a systematic bondage of man’s will, setting up to be holier than God, and founded on airy conceits, which, being exaggerations of the imagination, are never the truth which in the highest degree they claim to be. It is not the ease but the pretentious effort of the flesh inflated by the enemy, which at a later day brought in the oriental error of two divine principles, an evil as well as a good: the good having to do with the soul and characterized by light; the evil with the body and characterized by darkness; the God of the New Testament in contrast with the God of the Old in its ultimate Manichean form of heterodoxy. The root of this is apparent here. Slight on the creatures of God issues in slight of the Creator. Nor is the error dead yet, though it may retreat into cloudy phrases, shunning collision with the truth. In our day it has taken the shape of death to nature and neglect of relationships. It is the same principles which the Holy Spirit denounces here as the denial of fundamental truth, with which the highest revelations are never inconsistent. He that wrote to the Romans wrote also to the Ephesians, and the same apostle is the author of the Epistles to the Colossians and to the Hebrews. So it will always be found that those who are most truly versed in the mysteries of God are careful to maintain the immutable truths of His nature and the due place of the creature.
Here all was at fault. “Some shall fall away from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and teachings of demons, by hypocrisy of legend-mongers.” There were thus three parties in the abandonment of the faith; first, the victims of the errors, secondly, the unseen power of evil, the spirits or demons that misled, thirdly, the legendmongers who were the medium. This shows the importance of a correct translation. For it is not meant that the demons were the utterers of lies in hypocrisy, any more than that they were branded with a hot iron in their conscience. And this probably led to the softening down of the true phrase. Restore the medium, and any such necessity disappears. A man may utter falsehoods in hypocrisy. We can scarcely talk of a demon’s hypocrisy; and scripture certainly gives no warrant for attributing conscience to a seducing spirit. But this is exactly true of the false teachers who were carried along by these unseen agents of evil. They were the hypocrites, and they had “their own” conscience branded in distinction from the unhappy but less guilty men who were led astray by their means.
They forbade to marry and bade men to abstain from meats which God created for reception with thanksgiving by those faithful and fully acquainted with the truth. There was the assumption of extraordinary purity. But the wiles of the devil were in it; for the assumption impeached God’s institution of marriage, the bond of society here below. And God is not mocked. The result soon showed that the evil one was its author, for the deepest moral corruption was the consequence.
Grace may call a servant of God for special and worthy reasons to a path inconsistent with the married relation, because its duties could not be fulfilled with the due accom plishment of the objects of that path. So we see in the apostle Paul himself, as he lets us know in 1Co 7 . But this very chapter maintains the ordinary rule of the marriage state, as elsewhere he exhorts that it should be every way in honour. Only the call of God is paramount. Yet he that is so called respects and never despises the ordinary rule because of that exception. Error lays hold of the exception (for even error cannot subsist without a scrap or show of truth) and converts the exception into a human rule. It is Satan occupying the place and rights of the Lord; his aim is to bring God into contempt and lead man dazzled with the vain hope of higher holiness into the depths of corruption. It is the truth (and no lie is of the truth) which sanctifies.
So in bidding men to abstain from meats the same disrespect of God appears. He created them to be received with thanksgiving. No doubt all mankind were meant to share the benefit and do so in their measure; but many partake like brutes without real thanksgiving, often without even the form. The faithful thoroughly acquainted with the truth receive such gifts from God and give thanks. Satan exalts some to such a height of philosophic folly as to deny that they come from His hand Who reconciled them to Himself by the death of His Son; then to imagine them to be the temptations of an evil being; finally to conceive that there is no such thing as creation or consequently a Creator. So that the error if but a little in beginning becomes the beginning of a very great evil.
Here, again, the importance of fasting is in no way impaired by the thankful reception of daily bread. Rather do both things go together in every sound and godly mind. But the wiles of the devil were shown in availing himself of abstinence from food. Fasting is admirable in its own place and for special reasons from time to time as the grace of God may direct. Wholly opposed is the delusion of seducing spirits, which the legend-mongers turned into a law, as in the eschewing of marriage: “Because every creature of God is good and nothing to be rejected when received with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified through God’s word and intercession.” Thus the ordinary prohibitions of the law disappear, for in this respect as in others the law made nothing perfect. The gospel, the full revelation of Christ, whilst it rises to the glory of God in the highest and stands in presence of the inscrutable depths of God’s most holy judgment of sin in the cross, vindicates all the ways of God in creation as well as in providence. Hence the Christian, if not the Jew, can say that every creature of God is good and nothing to be rejected; but there is the proviso – “if received with thanksgiving.” An ungrateful saint is an anomaly. The simplest believer cannot more than the most intelligent overlook the kindness as well as the wisdom of God, Who created all things and has Himself said, “I will in no wise fail thee; neither will I in anywise forsake thee” (Heb 13:5 ).
But the apostle adds a reason which confirms the thanksgiving of the believer; “for it is sanctified through God’s word and intercession.” Thus is the use of every creature of God guarded. It is no mere indiscriminate licence; but as the restrictions of a law for a circumscribed people vanished before the light of the gospel, and the goodness of God was heard declaring that He had cleansed what Jewish prejudice would have to be common (“to the pure all things are pure”), so the receiver proved his faith in “God’s word” by the answer of his “intercession.” Not their will but His word sanctioned the use of every creature good for food; and their hearts, brought to know His grace in salvation, draw near in that free intercourse which is assured of, as it springs from, His love made known to us in Christ and His redemption. But it is an intercourse based on His grace, which takes in the least things as not too little for God, as it has learnt in Christ that the greatest things of God are not too great for His children.
The word is here translated “intercession,” in order to keep up its speciality in accordance with its sense elsewhere, as in 1Ti 2:1 . “Prayer,” though seemingly less harsh, and as in all the earlier English so still in the Revised, is too vague to express the free intercourse which grace has opened with God for His children. I admit that “intercession” sounds inadequate; but I know no better counterpart in our language and therefore have ventured to explain what appears to be conveyed. If God’s word communicated the reality and extent of His gracious will, the faithful can speak unrestrainedly their heart’s sense-of His loving bounty. Thus all that is received is “sanctified.” For, now that we know Christ dead and risen, here too we can say that the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new. And all things are of God Who reconciled us to Himself through Christ (2Co 5:19 , 2Co 5:20 ).
Thence the apostle turns to a more precise application and, at the close, to what is yet more strictly personal. (vers. 6-16).
“Setting these things before the brethren, thou wilt be a good servant of Christ Jesus,* nourished in the words of the faith and the good teaching which thou hast followed up. But the profane and old-womanish fables refuse, and exercise thyself unto piety; for bodily exercise is profitable for a little, but piety is profitable for all things, having promise of life that is now and of that which is to come. The word [is] faithful and worthy of all acceptance; for unto this end we **labour and **suffer reproach, because we have our hope set on a living God Who is Saviour of all men, especially of faithful [men]” (vers. 6-10).
* The preponderance of ancient and excellent authority favours this order against that of Text. Rec., which has not the support of a single uncial in its primary reading. – Other variants in this verse and the three following are not worth recording here.
** “Both” is not represented in the oldest copies, nor, in any ancient versions, contrary to Text. Rec. – But “we strive,” or “we combat,” is supported by prn A C Fgr Ggr K and eight cursives against the rest which have as in Text. Rec.
The language employed is of studied moderation. Suggesting these things to the brethren Timothy would be a good minister of Christ Jesus. Dignity does not lose by lowliness in any: in a young man it is most becoming, and gives the most weight to a solemn warning. The object of all ministry is the exalting of Christ, but this cannot be at the expense of truth or holiness. The substitutes of the enemy may look fair and certainly flatter the flesh; but God’s word alone can be trusted. He infallibly secures not one thing only but all in the harmony of his revealed will. Human tradition is as worthless as human imagination, and both if accepted will be found in the long run only to supplant God’s word, and play into the power of the enemy through yielding to the will of man. To lay before the brethren what the Spirit expressly speaks is good ministry; – it is to serve Christ Jesus. So He Himself walked and served here below. His food was to do the will of Him that sent Him and to finish His work. What more blessed than so to walk and serve Him now? Men are best kept where Christ alone is the object, as He is the source of all power in the Spirit to guide and sustain. He called and He sent forth at His charges. How different the moral effect, for the minister as well as for others, of serving a society, even if that society were the church of God as the mistress of the service! He who seeks to please men cannot be thoroughly Christ’s bondman. We cannot serve two masters.
Timothy, in putting forth divine truth, would be a good servant of Christ Jesus: “Nourished in the words of the faith and in the good teaching which thou hast followed up.” This is of moment. To go on well in Christ’s service one must be trained or nourished up in the words of the faith. To give out, one must take in. But the proper material is not the science or literature of men, but the “words of the faith.” The good teaching, which Timothy had already followed up closely, yields matter for the right service of Christ Who repudiates the wisdom of this age. The words of the faith are ever beyond the age and above it. It is to Christ’s dishonour to mingle with them the persuasible words of man’s wisdom. The Holy Ghost has been given that there should be no lack through God’s bounty and also the most complete preservative against the seductions of the prince of the world.
What can be more contemptuous towards the constant snare of Jews as well as Gentiles than the apostle’s exhortation: “The profane and old-womanish fables refuse”! So he characterizes that which takes the place of God’s word, the food of faith. Where there is no healthy appetite of the new man, fabulous dreams have ever had an attraction for the heart and mind of man; and these which surely abound in proportion to distaste for divine revelation. They stimulate, they inflate, they in a measure satisfy nature. But the true God is not there, nor Jesus Christ Whom He has sent, and least of all where they dare most profanely to conceive and set forth either God or His Christ according to their own imaginings. What can be more offensive than the pseudo-evangels about the Lord? How palpable the darkness in contrast with the true light which shines in Him according to the Gospels! How absurd, indeed morally impotent and positively mischievous, the imaginary miracles of His childhood! How holy and wise and perfect the glimpses we have of the truth in the Gospel of Luke!
From old-wives’ fables Timothy was to turn away. But, says Paul, “exercise thyself unto piety.” Service of Christ is admirable; yet there is no greater danger if piety be neglected personally. It is of prime moment that this be kept up in the soul, as otherwise the comfort and joy as well as the sorrows and dangers of His service are most absorbing. The lightminded Corinthians were in great peril from the neglect of piety (1Co 9:24-27 ). The apostle had therefore transferred the exhortation and for their sakes applied it to himself, when he told them that he was in the habit of buffeting his body and leading it captive, lest, after having preached to others, he should be himself reprobate or rejected. Not that he was careless of holiness and piety, but that they were. But he makes himself the example, unlike as it was to his way, that they might be warned of a very real danger for their own souls, not at all in distrust of God as to himself.
Here as in 1Co 9 the figure of “exercise” appears to be taken from the public games and the necessary preparation for them, so familiar to the Greek mind. Timothy was to be in constant training: “Exercise thyself unto piety, for bodily exercise is useful (profitable) for a little, but piety is useful (profitable) for all things, having promise of life that is now and of that to come.” The allusion is evident. Outward exercise profits physically or as he says strictly, “bodily exercise is useful for a little.” Piety is spiritual exercise and demands as constant vigilance, as holy self-restraint, as complete subjection to the revealed will of God, even as training for the games called for habitual abstinence from every relaxing habit and for daily practice toward the end in view. How little the latter goal! How transcendent the former! Piety is profitable for all things, having promise of life that is now and of that to come. Christianity does not take tithes like Judaism, but can allow no reserve though all be grace. It has and from its very nature must have the entire man, dead to sin and alive unto God, right through the present life into eternity. And this wide practical scope of godliness is pre-eminent in these pastoral Epistles; not so much heavenly privilege or dispensational peculiarity is enforced as a sound and devoted life according to godliness. This the apostle presses on Timothy, as Timothy was bound to press it on others.
Hence the repetition of the formula so frequent in these Epistles: “The word is faithful and worthy of all acceptation; for unto this end we labour and suffer reproach, because we have our hope set on a living God Who is Saviour of all, especially of faithful [men].” It is no question here, it appears to me, of Christ’s work in the salvation of the lost who believe. It is of the living God as such that the apostle speaks – of God in His character of preserver of men, as also Job speaks (Job 7:20 ). God’s providential care and government are before us, wherein nothing escapes His notice. So He clothes the herbage of the field and nourishes the birds of heaven which sow not, nor reap, nor gather into granaries. So He makes His sun rise on evil and good, and sends rain on just and unjust. How much more prized are not His own than many sparrows, even the hairs of their heads being all numbered!
No Christian could forget for a moment the infinite privilege of eternal life and redemption, of heavenly hope and everlasting glory; but, in presence of these unseen and eternal things, he might to his own great loss as well as to the Lord’s dishonour overlook the constant daily and special care of God in the ordinary matters of this life. Against such an error, this verse (10) as well as the previous context would guard the soul. The highest privileges do not supersede nor even enfeeble the unchanging truth in its lowest range of application every day. It is the unfailing mark of the heterodox where it is so; and this let faithful men note well. It was never more rife than now. Grace never disparages law nor despises nature; but an intellectualism which avails itself of privilege to destroy responsibility and relationship is guilty in both respects.
“These things charge and teach. Let none despise. thy youth, but be a pattern of the faithful in word, in conduct, in love,* in faith, in purity. Till I come, give heed to reading, to exhortation, to teaching. Neglect not the gift that was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the elderhood. Bestow care on these things; be wholly in them; that thy progress may be manifest to all. Take heed to thyself and the teaching; continue in them; for in doing this thou shalt save thyself and those that hear thee” (vers. 11-16).
* “In spirit” stands in the Text. Rec., but against the best MSS. and all the ancient Vv.
The Sinaitic has some slight support against all the rest in the strange blunder of “the elder.”
The Text. Rec. adds “in” as in the margin of the Authorized Version. But “to” is the true reading. Did the Authorized Version owe it to the Vulgate?
Here we have plain personal precepts for Timothy. Absence of assumption gives more, not less, weight to a solemn charge or a faithful teaching; and there was the more need for admonition as he was young, though any who despised him on that account was inexcusable. But it was a serious reason for Timothy himself to cultivate such speech and manner of life, such love and faith and purity as ought to disarm even the naturally froward with whom he might have to do among the believers.
The adjoining terms give conclusive proof that the “reading” was not personal study but rather the public recitation of scripture for general instruction, since the “exhortation” and the “teaching” must refer to others; the importance of his own walk had been carefully insisted on just before.
Hence, immediately after, he is reminded of that gift of grace which was imparted to him, the ground of his ministry: for no practical grace, however momentous morally and for God’s glory, entitles a soul to go forward in Christ’s service without such a gift. It was, as we are told afterwards (2Ti 1:6 ), through the laying on of Paul’s hands that the gift was in Timothy; but none the less were the elderhood associated with the apostle in the imposition of hands. They were its comely witnesses and his honoured associates, though only to apostolic power under the Lord was the gift really due. And this is not more fully borne out by the facts and the language elsewhere than by the nice distinction of the prepositions in the account given in the two Epistles to Timothy. So little are they to be heard who assume either vagueness in a style strikingly precise, or a love of mere variety without intentional distinction in phrases more exquisitely correct than in any work of any classic of antiquity, however accurate. Here only, in inspired writ, can we be sure of the exact expression of the truth without affectation of any kind.
The connection of “prophecy” as well as of the “laying on of hands” is well illustrated by Act 13:2 , Act 13:3 , where the Spirit designated Barnabas and Saul for the special mission to which they were separated; and their fellow-labourers thereon laid their hands on both, conjointly commending them to the grace of God for the work they were about to undertake among the Gentiles. There is, however, this marked difference among others, that none of those who then laid hands on these already blessed servants of the Lord pretended to confer a gift on either. It was simply fellowship in commending men superior in position and power to themselves; and it seems certainly to have been repeated with Paul and Silas in Act 15:40 , as perhaps often. In Timothy’s case,* through the apostle was given a gift which he must not neglect. Use of means that the gift be turned to the best account is of moment; but the gift from the Lord for ministerial work must be there as a foundation. “Bestow care on these things; be wholly in them that thy progress may be manifest to all.” Diligent following up is called for, without distraction from other objects. Thus only is there growth and advance, which all fair men cannot fail to see.
* Bengel is utterly wrong in construing “prophecy” with the elderhood, and in including Paul in that elderhood.
But there is another caution of prime value, which if attended to entails rich blessing: “Take heed to thyself and the teaching,” and do so in this order. Vigilant and holy self-restraint is needed by no man so much as a teacher of the truth; for nothing corrupts one to the Lord’s dishonour and the stumbling of souls more than a careless behaviour combined with the highest doctrine. A consciously low walk ever tends to drag down the testimony in order to seem consistent; as the maintenance of the highest truth without a corresponding walk directly leads into hypocrisy. In doing aright in both, “thou shalt save both thyself and those that hear thee,” says the apostle. Salvation often as here means safeguarding all through this life.
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 1Ti 4:1-5
1But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, 2by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, 3men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. 4For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; 5for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.
1Ti 4:1 “But the Spirit explicitly says” This may refer to
1. OT prophecy
2. Paul as the recipient of direct inspiration from the Spirit (cf. Act 20:33)
3. inspired messages from other gifted, contemporary leaders (cf. Act 21:11)
NASB, NRSV,
TEV”later times”
NKJV”latter times”
NJB”last times”
Paul, like the prophets of the OT, was speaking of his own time, but relating it to the last days before the Second Coming. Paul teaches a delayed Parousia in 2 Thessalonians 2. Therefore, this characterization of rebellion and false teaching describes his own day (cf. 2Ti 3:1) as well as the time between the first coming of Christ and the second (cf. 2Pe 3:3; Jud 1:18).
The NT often characterizes these later days or end-times much like the OT prophets who took a crisis of their day and projected it into an eschatological setting (cf. Mat 24:10-12; Act 20:29-30; 2Th 2:3-12; 2Ti 3:1-9; 2Ti 4:3-4; 1Jn 2:18-19; 1Jn 4:1-3).
SPECIAL TOPIC: A DELAYED SECOND COMING
NASB”fall away”
NKJV”depart from”
NRSV”renounce”
TEV”abandon”
NJB”desert”
This is a compound of apo (from) and istmi (stand). It is used in the sense of defection here, in Luk 8:13, and Heb 3:12. In 2Ti 2:19 it means “abstain from.” In form it is a future middle indicative. One evidence of a true salvation is that one remains in the church (cf. 1Jn 2:18). See SPECIAL TOPIC: THE NEED TO PERSEVERE at 1Ti 4:16.
SPECIAL TOPIC: APOSTASY (APHISTMI)
“the faith” This term (usually with the article) is used in the Pastoral Letters for the body of revealed Christian truth (cf. 1Ti 3:9; 1Ti 4:6; 1Ti 5:8; 1Ti 6:10; 1Ti 6:12; 1Ti 6:21; 2Ti 2:18; 2Ti 3:8; 2Ti 3:10; 2Ti 4:7; Tit 1:5; Tit 1:13; Tit 2:2). Here it is not necessarily referring to their salvation as much as to the false teachers.
“paying attention to” This is a present active participle which emphasizes continual action. These apostates continue to believe and give credence to demonic teaching.
1Ti 4:2
NASB”by means of the hypocrisy of liars”
NKJV”speaking lies in hypocrisy”
NRSV”through the hypocrisy of liars”
TEV”spread by deceitful liars”
NJB”seduced by the hypocrisy of liars”
These claim to be “teachers of the Law” (cf. 1Ti 1:7). There was obviously an element of Judaism involved. They are vividly described in 1Ti 1:3-7; 1Ti 4:2-3; 1Ti 4:7; 1Ti 6:3-10; 1Ti 6:20-21.
1. they teach strange doctrines (1Ti 1:3; 1Ti 6:3)
2. they pay attention to myths and genealogies (1Ti 1:4)
3. they have turned aside to fruitless discussion (1Ti 1:6)
4. they make confident assertions about what they do not understand (1Ti 1:7; 1Ti 6:4)
5. they are hypocritical liars (1Ti 4:2)
6. they have seared consciences (1Ti 4:2)
7. they forbid marriage (1Ti 4:3)
8. they advocate abstaining from foods (1Ti 4:3)
9. they put forth fables (1Ti 4:7)
10. they are conceited (1Ti 6:4)
11. they have a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words (1Ti 6:4)
12. they cause constant friction (1Ti 6:5)
13. they have false knowledge (1Ti 6:20-21)
14. they have gone astray from the faith (1Ti 4:1; 1Ti 6:21)
NASB”deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons”
NKJV”deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons”
NRSV”deceitful spirits and teachings of demons”
TEV”lying spirits. . .teachings of demons”
NJB”deceitful spirits and doctrines that come from devils”
Paul’s view of these false teachers is very negative. He attributes their teaching to the work of Satan (see Special Topic: Satan at 1Ti 3:6, cf. 1Ti 2:14; 1Ti 3:6-7) and to the demonic. In many ways Paul’s view of these heretics parallels the OT view of Canaanites’ fertility worship. God told the Israelites to totally destroy these people because they would corrupt the faith. These same warnings are found here (cf. 2Th 2:9-10; Jas 3:15; 1Jn 2:18-19).
SPECIAL TOPIC: THE DEMONIC (UNCLEAN SPIRITS)
NASB”seared in their conscience”
NKJV”having their own conscience seared with a branding iron”
NRSV”consciences seared with a hot iron”
TEV”consciences are dead, as if burnt with a hot iron”
NJB”consciences are branded as though with a red-hot iron”
This refers to one of two things.
1. The false teachers were beyond the place of repentance (cf. Eph 4:19; Tit 1:15). We get the English word “cauterize” from this Greek term.
2. This phrase refers to Satan’s brand showing his ownership (e.g., Rev 13:16-17; Rev 14:11; Rev 16:2; Rev 19:20; Rev 20:4).
Because these men refused to see truth, they are now incapable of seeing truth (cf. 2Co 4:4). This is the unpardonable sin of the Gospels and the sin unto death of 1 John 5.
See notes on “conscience” at 1Ti 1:5.
SPECIAL TOPIC: SIN UNTO DEATH
1Ti 4:3 “who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods” Here are two of the ascetic teachings of the false teachers. The first, forbidding marriage, is related to the Greek background (Gnostic) or possibly the Jewish Essene (Dead Sea Scroll Community) influence. Marriage is a gift from God (cf. Gen 2:24) and the will of God (cf. Gen 1:28; Gen 9:1; Gen 9:7). Marriage is the norm; celibacy is a special call and gift (cf. Mat 19:11-12; 1 Corinthians 7).
The second, abstinence from certain foods, seems to be related to the Jewish background (cf. Leviticus 11), but could refer to Gnostic prohibitions. Both concepts are dealt with theologically in Gen 1:28-31. There has always been a tendency among religious people to depreciate the material world, to think of celibacy as a more spiritual state and to view abstinence from both food and drink and asceticism in general as a superior spiritual condition (cf. Mat 15:11; Mar 7:17-23; Rom 14:1 to Rom 15:13; 1Co 8:8; 1Co 10:23-33; Col 2:8-23). The list of qualifications of leadership in chapter 3 is probably related to these false teachings. Notice both marriage and wine are permitted (cf. 1Ti 3:2; 1Ti 3:12; 1Ti 5:9; 1Ti 3:3; 1Ti 3:8; 1Ti 5:23).
“those who believe and know the truth” This is an unusual grammatical construction (i.e., an adjective and a participle, cf. Michael Magill, NT TransLine, p. 785). This same form appears in Tit 1:15. These believers are described as
1. believers pronominal, dative, plural, masculine, adjective
2. ones who have known perfect, active, plural masculine participle
The truth here (see Special Topic at 1Ti 2:4) is that all creation is from God and He should be thanked for it. Asceticism violates this truth.
1Ti 4:4 “For everything created by God is good and nothing is to be rejected” For this tremendous truth on the goodness of all things see Gen 1:31; Rom 14:14; Rom 14:20; 1Co 6:12; 1Co 10:26; Tit 1:15. However, we must balance this with the fact that though all things may be good and clean to those who know their origin is in God, not all things edify the church (cf. 1Co 6:12; 1Co 10:23). Therefore, we as Christians limit our freedoms for the sake of others out of respect for Christ (cf. Rom 14:1 to Rom 15:13; 1 Corinthians 8-10).
The word “rejected” is literally “to throw away.” Moffatt translates it “tabooed.” Be careful about cultural and/or denominational traditions (cf. Isa 29:13; Col 2:8-23).
1Ti 4:5 God’s spoken word brought about creation (cf. Gen 1:3; Gen 1:6-7; Gen 1:14; Gen 1:20; Gen 1:24) and affirms the original goodness of all things (cf. Gen 1:31). The believer thanks God (cf. 1Ti 4:4 b) for His creation and provision (cf. Rom 14:6; 1Co 10:30-31).
“prayer” This term (enteuxis) is only used twice in the NT, both times in 1 Timothy (cf. 1Ti 2:1; 1Ti 4:5). It denotes meeting with someone for the purpose of visiting with them. It is often translated “intercession” (cf. 1Ti 2:1); in this context, “thanksgiving” seems more appropriate. Remember that context, not dictionaries, determines the meaning of words!
Spirit. App-101.
expressly = in express words. Greek. rhetos. Only here. in. App-104.
latter. Greek. husteros, Only here as adjective.
times = seasons. See Gen 49:1. See App-196.
some. App-12.4.
depart = apostatise. Greek. aphistemi.
faith. App-150.
seducing. Greek. planos. See 2Co 6:8. spirits. App-101.
doctrines = teachings.
devils = demons.
1-16.] Of future false teachers (1Ti 4:1-6); directions to Timotheus in reference to them (1Ti 4:7-11); general exhortations to him (1Ti 4:12-16).
Chapter 4
Now the Spirit speaks expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils ( 1Ti 4:1 );
Here Paul speaks of a departure from the faith. There are some who claim that such a thing is an impossibility. But “the Spirit speaks expressly, that in the latter times there would be some who would depart from the faith.” Jesus in speaking of His return said, “When the Son of man returns, will he find faith on the earth?” ( Luk 18:8 ) A question. He also told His disciples that because of the iniquity of the earth abounding, the love of many will wax cold. And so it means that living in the last days is going to be living under a great-pressured situation. We are finding that to be true.
The opportunity of fulfilling a person’s fantasies for sin are all around. You can indulge yourself now in just about any type of a sinful fantasy that you may desire. Read the personal columns in your Santa Ana Register. Any kind of a experience that a person may desire is available for a price. Pornography, the openness of our society, the breakdown of the moral values, has opened a door of opportunity for anyone to just indulge themselves in their flesh.
Jesus said “because the iniquity of the earth shall abound, the love of many will wax cold.” The Spirit speaks expressly of the latter days that many will be departing from the faith.” It is not easy to live the Christian life in this world in which we live today that is so totally given over to the flesh. You cannot look at any of the media without being exposed in some way or other to the things of the flesh. It’s not easy to live a Christian life now. These last days it is going to be harder. To keep the faith, it is going to take a positive commitment. As Daniel, you’re going to have to determine in your heart that you’re not going to defile yourself with the opportunities in the world around you. But that you’re going to live completely and totally for God a life of godlikeness and you cannot do it without the power of the Spirit.
So the Spirit speaks expressly of the last days. It’s going to be tough. Many will “depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits.” And how much seduction is in the world today! Seductive spirits are in the world today. I mean it’s there, it’s all around you. The seductive spirits. And “to doctrines of devils.” And I’ll tell you, in our society today men are espousing the doctrines of devils, telling you that any kind of life is acceptable to God. The Lord said, “because they did not want to believe the truth, God turned them over to believe a lie” ( 2Th 2:10-11 ). And men would believe a lie rather than the truth.
And I have found this so true today. You take any kind of a screwy heresy and it can spread all over the world in six months. If you want to become popular, just dream up some new heresy for the church. Oh how I wish to God that they would be more careful in the things that they allow to be proclaimed. I wish they would just stick to the Word of God. People are so reticent to receive the truth but so ready to receive a lie, a heresy.
People are so ready to believe that California is going to get wiped out during the Olympics in an earthquake. How many people have called all worried, you know. Oh my. This earthquake’s going to come. I have lived through at least ten of these visions and it hasn’t come yet. Now I’ll tell you what’s going to happen. I’ll make my own predictions now. When the Olympics are over and the earthquake did not hit, they are then going to start taking credit that their prayers kept it from happening. I mean, there’s no way they’re going to loose. They fasted and they prayed and they saved California.
How look how that thing in just a couple of weeks time has swept through the whole community. Our switchboard has been swamped this week with this nonsense. Hey, if you want to predict that there’s going to be an earthquake in California, man, there’s nothing to that. Of course there’s going to be. I mean, this is earthquake country. We’re surrounded by faults. But I predict that we won’t have a major earthquake during the Olympics.
Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron ( 1Ti 4:2 );
I really wonder how these evangelists and all can really sleep at night with all of the gimmicks that they pull. “Speaking lies in hypocrisy.” I don’t know if you’ve been cursed to be on their mailing list or not. But we keep a file and the things that they can dream up to extract money from people. And you wonder, How can they do that? In the name of God, how can they tell such outlandish lies? The only answer is “their conscience has to be seared with a hot iron.” They have no conscience. For them to live in palatial mansions, do the things they do and then get up and say, Friends, we need your money.
Our tour guide in Israel gets after me. He said, “You don’t know how to operate a tour.” He said, “Tour leaders with famous names never travel with the people on a tour. They don’t travel on the jets with the people, they fly over in their own private jets. And they don’t get on the buses with the people, they get in private limos and they’ll meet the people twice during the tour and then fly home in their jets.” He said, “You travel all around with the people. He said, You never make deals with the tourist shops and all.” And he said, “You just don’t know how to operate a tour.” He said, “Now you ought to come and watch some of these fellows at work.”
The conscience is seared with a hot iron. How in the name of God can they do these things? Except their conscience is just seared with a hot iron. Now in some of these last day weird things, there are those who will be,
Forbidding to marry ( 1Ti 4:3 ),
Of course, marriage is becoming almost a thing of the past. It’s, “Move in with me.” And there are so many just move-in relationships without marriage. That’s the thing of the day.
Abstaining from meats, which God has created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth ( 1Ti 4:3 ).
A lot of the cult things and occult things get into vegetarianism. But Paul tells us these things meat is to
be received with thanksgiving ( 1Ti 4:4 ):
Of course.
For the meat is sanctified by the word of God and prayer ( 1Ti 4:5 ).
So pray over your meal and eat it.
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 ( 1Ti 4:6 ).
So remind the brethren of these things, Paul said, writing to Timothy. If you do, then you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ as you nourish them in the words of faith, sound, good doctrine.
But refuse the profane and old wives’ fables, but exercise thyself rather to godliness ( 1Ti 4:7 ).
Now you can waste a lot of time in earthquake scares, reading a lot of the junk that’s published. Better to exercise yourself unto godliness.
Bodily exercise profits a little [or for a little] ( 1Ti 4:8 ):
Doesn’t really forbid it. It’s good, got a little profit to it. But more profitable is.
godliness it’s profitable unto all things, having the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come ( 1Ti 4:8 ).
Years ago when I really made my choice between Medicine and as a career and the ministry as a career, as the Lord was dealing with me and speaking to my heart concerning the ministry, He pointed out to me that by going into medicine, by becoming a medical doctor, by ministering to people’s physical needs, I could help people but at the best, it would only be temporal. So they’re strong and healthy and live for a hundred years. But if I would go into the ministry and minister to the spirit of man, healing the spirit, bringing spiritual healing, that I would be involved in something that would benefit them eternally. And He more or less put it up to me, How do you want to benefit man? In the temporary way or in an eternal way? And when He put it to me that way, I had no choice.
Now Paul is saying the same thing about exercise. Physical exercise has temporal benefits. But godliness has eternal benefits. Now we are living in a day of you know it’s sort of a craze, this physical exercise. Jogging, aerobic exercises. The other night my wife and I were eating at a restaurant, we looked across the street we saw all these heads bouncing up and down and all. And man, the whole time we were eating they were bouncing. I did admire them. And I didn’t eat desert. But this bit of physical fitness, it’s a craze, it’s swept America. And that’s alright. Paul’s not really coming down on it. I mean, bodily exercise has some value. Toning up yourself and all, there’s nothing wrong with that. But godliness, exercising yourself in godliness, hey, that you will reap eternal dividends.
Let me tell you what, I used to be about the most physical fit person around. In time, it will get all of you. I mean, you may you know go for it for a time, sure it’s great. But ultimately, what was it, the guy that did all the writing on everything you want to know about running, how about that? Died of a heart attack while he was jogging. Mister Fix. Better watch out for that jogging, it’s dangerous to your health you know, it will wipe you out.
There are things that have temporal values, there are things that have eternal value and a man who is wise will engage in those things of eternal value. He will choose the eternal over the temporal, if you’re really wise. There are things that can bring you temporal gain. There are things that can bring you eternal gain. The man who is wise would choose the eternal over the temporal. So Paul is telling Timothy the same. Bodily exercise it profits. Timothy was a younger man, probably keeping in shape. It’s fine. But hey, don’t neglect the godliness, spiritual exercise. Now again,
This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation ( 1Ti 4:9 ).
It’s again Paul uses this phrase. It’s a true saying, and it’s worthy that all should accept it. And that is that the spiritual is superior to the physical or the material. That it is better to exercise yourself in spiritual matters than in physical matters. One has only temporary value; the other is of life now and also that which is to come, the eternal. And because of this declaration, Paul said, the superiority of the spiritual over the physical, which is the opposite of the worldly view.
Therefore we labour and we suffer reproach ( 1Ti 4:10 ),
The world reproaches us. They take an opposite view of this completely. The time in church to them is a waste of time.
because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe ( 1Ti 4:10 ).
Jesus died for the sins of the world. But only those who believe receive the forgiveness of sins. Jesus died to redeem the world, but He will only take His treasure out of it. And so He died and is the Saviour of all men, but specifically those who believe. He provided salvation for all men, but not all have received it.
These things [Paul said, you should] command and teach. Let no man despise thy youth ( 1Ti 4:11-12 );
How old was Timothy? Well, he had been with Paul now traveling as a companion for fifteen years. Assuming that he was fifteen years old when he started out with Paul, and that’s probably a little young, but let’s say that he was only fifteen, he’s at least thirty years old now. So he’s not just a kid. When Paul said, “Let no man despise your youth,” you shouldn’t be thinking of some fifteen, sixteen-year-old kid. Timothy is probably thirty or more at this particular point. But when the elders were not really considered elders until they became fifty, there was that tendency to look down upon a younger man as lacking in the wisdom that comes from age and maturity. So “let no man despise your youth,”
but instead be an example of the believer, in the word, in your manner of life, in love, in the spirit, in faith, and in purity ( 1Ti 4:12 ).
Set the example, Timothy. Now what Paul writes to Timothy is good for all of us. We should be examples of what a Christian is. Paul said to the Corinthians, “You are living epistles, known and read of all men” ( 2Co 3:2 ). As a Christian, the world is watching you. Be an example of the believer, not unto the believer but of the believer. What a believer should be. This is how a believer should live. This is how a believer should act and react. Be the example of a believer, in your words. The word “conversation” there is an old English word that it is just doesn’t mean in you know in your conversing with each other, but in your manner of living, your total manner of living. Let it be as becomes godliness and Christianity. “In your love, the agape, in the spirit, in faith, in purity.”
Now till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, and to doctrine ( 1Ti 4:13 ).
So these are the three things that were done in the early church. The reading of the Scriptures. It was a very prominent and common practice in the early church when the Christians gathered together to read the Scriptures. These letters that Paul sent to the churches were to be read to the churches. So he tells Timothy, “Give attendance to the reading of the Scriptures.” There’s value in just the reading of the word of God. But then also the exhortation. As you are then prompting people to act upon the word. “To be doers of the word, and not hearers only” ( Jas 1:22 ). Now trust in the Lord. Now give thanks to God. And so the exhorting of the people and then also to the doctrine.
And neglect not the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery ( 1Ti 4:14 ).
So Paul here is mentioning how that when Timothy had hands laid upon him by the presbyturos, by the elders, they laid hands on Timothy and a prophecy came forth and in the prophecy, Timothy’s ministry was declared, directed. And now Paul tells him, don’t neglect that gift that was given to you by the word of prophecy when the elders laid hands on you.
Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that your profiting may appear to all. Take heed to yourself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this you will both save yourself, and those that hear you ( 1Ti 4:15-16 ).
Interesting. Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them: for in doing this you not only save yourself, but you save others. It is important that we are reaching out. Important for our own continuance that we go on and that we’re pressing on and that we’re reaching out. There’s really no place for stagnation.
This is something that I think that we all ought to really carefully examine our own hearts. The Bible says, “Now let a man judge himself. For if we will judge ourselves, we will not be judged of God” ( 1Co 11:28 , 1Co 11:31 ). And I think that we should all examine our own hearts and our own present relationship to Jesus Christ. And as I examine my present relationship to Jesus Christ tonight, is there a time in my walk with the Lord that I was more fervent than I am tonight? Is there a time when I was more excited about the things of Jesus than I am tonight? Is there a time when I was more diligent in my serving the Lord than I am tonight? And if in the examining of your heart, your present relationship and your past experiences, if tonight you do not have a deeper, richer, more enthusiastic relationship with the Lord, then you are in a backslidden state.
If at any time in your walk with God, your relationship to Him was more richer, more committed than it is tonight, then you are in a backslidden state and you should be very careful about that. The Spirit speaks expressly concerning the last days. That because the iniquity of the world will abound, the love of many is going to wax cold. Are you one of those in which the love is waxing cold? And it should cause us very serious consideration.
Jesus said to the church of Ephesus, “I have this against you, because you have left your first love. Now repent, do thy first works over; or else I will remove the candlestick out of his place” ( Rev 2:4-5 ).
There is a story told of a man who was lost in a blizzard. And as he was just blindly walking through the snow, blinded by the blizzard, he was becoming tired and weary until he just stumbled and fell and he just felt, I’ll lie here for a little while. I just don’t have the strength to go on. But as he was lying there, he came to the realization that what caused him to stumble was a body that was lying there being buried in the snow. And so realizing that there was another person there, he picked him up, felt that the pulse was still there, picked him up and started trudging through the snow, carrying now this other person with a superhuman effort and within fifteen feet, he came to the door of a cabin where he was saved. But he came to a very interesting discovery. And that is, in saving this other person, he in reality saved himself.
That’s what Paul is saying to Timothy. “Take heed to yourself and to your doctrine, continuing in them for in saving others, you really save yourself.” You see, you cannot minister unto others without being ministered to by the Lord. I’ve often said the best way to learn is to teach because you have to study so much more in order to be able to give out that in teaching a subject, you really learn the subject thoroughly. And the best way to learn is to teach. The best way to develop is to give. To give out. “Take heed to yourself and to your doctrine.” Continue in them for in saving others, in reaching out to others, you’ll find that it will be your own salvation. It will be your own enrichment. It will be to your own blessing, strengthening in the things of the Lord.
Father, as Your Holy Spirit has again tonight caused us to look in the mirror, to see the truth, to face the reality of what we are, help us, Lord, not to be so foolish as to just go away and forget what we saw. But Lord, I pray tonight that there might be within our heart that renewed commitment to the things of the Lord. Things of the Spirit. Lord, we know that we are in the last days. Many have departed from the faith. Have been caught up with these seducing spirits, following after the flesh, turning away from the things of God. Being drawn into the things of the world. God, help us in these days to be like You. God, give to us a renewed experience in the Spirit that we might walk in the Spirit and live in the Spirit and be led of the Spirit. A new sense, Lord, of spiritual values. The examination of our priorities, our energies going into those things that are going to fail and those things that are going to crumble and those things that are going to be reduced to ashes while we neglect the eternal. Physically fit but spiritually bankrupt. God, may that not be our case. Renew our hearts in the things of the Spirit, our walk and life with Thee. In Jesus’ name, Father, Amen.
May the Lord be with you to guide and direct you this week in the path of righteousness for His name’s sake. May you be empowered by the Holy Spirit that you might be blameless, walking in love, walking in the things of the Spirit. A witness to the world around. An example of what the believer ought to be. Bringing glory unto God through your commitment to Jesus Christ. God help you in these last days to stand strong. Stand firm. Giving heed to things of the Spirit, the doctrine, saving others, saving yourself. In Jesus’ name. “
1Ti 4:1. , [now] but) The antithesis is between , the ground, ch. 1Ti 3:15, and , shall depart or fall away; as also between the mystery of godliness, and the mystery of iniquity, of which the apostle speaks here by description, and by name at 2Th 2:7.-) expressly, as of a thing of great importance, which will speedily come to pass, in a set form of words.-, speaketh) by the prophets in the time of Paul, or by Paul himself, who also was a prophet; hence he says, This know, 2Ti 3:1.- , in the last times) Paul shows that these times, following after the ascension of the Lord, ch. 1Ti 3:16, were then already in existence, inasmuch as he uses a present remedy for the then existing evil, 1Ti 4:5-6; comp. 2Ti 3:1, et seqq. is used comparatively (latter), for expresses a different idea (the last times of all).- , some shall depart, or fall away, from the faith) Comp. 2Ti 2:18; shall depart, viz. by denying what is true and adding what is false.-) some, i.e. many, and gradually more; Rom 3:3, note.[28] Their names are not mentioned. There are not wanting those who suspect the person meant to be Apollonius Tyanus, who came to Ephesus in the lifetime of Timothy. They do not deserve well at the hands of the truth, who too much extenuate the heretical doctrines of the first century.- , from the faith) which in all its exactness maintains Divine revelation, 1Ti 4:6, [and of which the foundation was a little ago described (1Ti 3:15-16).-V. g.]- , seducing spirits and doctrines of demons) Seducing spirits are those who speak by false prophets, and are called spirits, not only in respect of their own nature, but because they inspire[29] (with their deceit) these false prophets; therefore the word spirits is parallel to doctrines [not to demons]. , of demons, is the genitive of the cause (the source from which the doctrines flow). is often taken in a good sense by the Greeks; for example, by the Athenians, Act 17:18 : but with the LXX. interpreters and the apostles, it always denotes evil spirits.
[28] Some, for many. An Euphemism. And moreover unbelievers, though they be many, are spoken of as some, indefinitely, because they are not much taken into account.-ED.
[29] The use of spirant in connection with spiritus, cannot be imitated in a translation.-TRANSL.
1Ti 4:1
But the Spirit saith expressly,-There are two kinds of revelations made by the Spirit as presented in the Bible: one was a revelation to an individual for his obedience, the other a revelation by inspiration to enable those inspired to work miracles and teach others. The prophets and apostles were subjects of this latter inspiration. Connected with the knowledge to be revealed was the ability to work miracles to prove that the message was from God. This species of inspiration, miraculous in character, was confined to the apostolic age of the church, and continued in force only until the full revelation of God to man was made and confirmed by testimonies that no one can gainsay. This inspiration was effected by Gods Spirit taking possession of the human body, using the human tongue and through it speaking to the world. Gods Spirit on the day of Pentecost took possession of the tongues of the apostles and gave the very words then spoken. (Act 2:4; Act 2:14-36; Act 2:40.) The Spirit used the apostles organs of speech, through which to make known to the world his message. Sometimes the Spirit spoke without the intervention of mans tongue. (Act 8:29.) He spoke in an audible voice on the occasion of the baptism of Jesus. (Mat 3:17.)
that in later times some shall fall away from the faith,-From the time at which he was writing and forward in all periods of the church, men nave apostatized from the faith.
giving heed to seducing spirits-Spirits that so beguile them as to lead them from the truth. Every spirit that teaches that man can in any manner set aside the law and appointment of God, or substitute mans devices for the order of God, is a seducing spirit that turns man from the truth.
and doctrines of demons,-Demons are the evil spirits. The means the devil used to beguile Eve was to convince her that another way was better than that which God had directed, and thus he beguiled her and led her to follow what seemed best to her rather than to give heed to Gods directions.
Having thus dealt with the Church, the apostle showed Timothy how he was to fulfil his responsibility. He had a duty toward the truth, and therefore toward the Church. In order to correct errors which would arise, Timothy was to give definite instruction. Abstinence from lawful things is a matter for personal decision and action, and must never be made a necessity of religious life or godliness. The apostle then described the secrets of strength for those who were called upon to defend the truth against error. A faithful saying, and worthy of acceptation, is that God is “the Saviour of all men, specially of them that believe.”
The teacher must be such a man as to carry conviction. The injunction, “Let no man despise thy youth,” has the force of, “Do not be despicable.” How Timothy may fulfil this injunction is then stated. He is to be an example of the believers in godliness of life The apostle’s final instructions concerning Timothy’s duty to the truth are strikingly comprehensive in their description of the true method and habit of the Christian minister. They may be divided thus:
(1) his public work (verse 1Ti 4:13),
(2) his private work (verses 1Ti 4:14-15), and
(3) his general attitude, and its consequent issue (verse 1Ti 4:16). The greatest power of the preacher is personality; continuity in his work is the way of his salvation, and so also the way of salvation for others.
4:1-5. Warning against false teaching.
Paraphrase. Yet, though each church has to uphold the truth, and though it knows the secret of the true human life, inspired prophets have given us clear warning that, in after days, some Christians will fall away from the true faith: they will pay heed to evil misleading spirits, to doctrines inspired by heathen deities, embodied in the false teaching of insincere men-men whose own conscience bears the brand of sin upon it, men who teach others that it is a duty not to marry, and a duty to abstain from certain kinds of food. Yet it was God who created those foods, and created them that those who have accepted Christ and come to know His full teaching might enjoy them with thankfulness. For every created thing has the Creators stamp of excellence upon it, and there is none that need be cast aside, if only it is accepted with a grateful heart, for then it becomes consecrated by the Divine blessing and our responsive prayer. Cf. Mat 24:11, Act 20:29, Act 20:30, 2Th 2:1-12, 2Ti 3:1-5, Tit 1:14-16, and notice how in the address to the elders at Ephesus the warning against grievous wolves follows directly on the duty of feeding the flock and on the mention of the Church of God.
The false teaching referred to. The prohibition of marriage and of certain foods finds an exact analogy in the Gnosticism of the 2nd century; cf. Iren. Hr. i. 28, of the Encratites, , . . . : ib. 24.2, nubere et generare a Satana dicunt esse. Multi autem et ab animalibus abstinent, per fictam hujusmodi continentiam seducentes multos (both of which passages seem reminiscent of this place). Cf. the Acts of Paul and Thekla, c. 12. If the Epistle is not genuine, this is doubtless the reference. But there is no allusion here to the Gnostic central doctrine of an inferior Demiurge (cf. 3 note), and there is nothing that goes beyond the teaching already denounced in Rom_14, Col 2:16-23, Heb 13:4, Heb 13:9. We may therefore trace it possibly to a Judaism of the dispersion influenced by Essenism ( , Philo, p. 633; Josephus, B.J. ii. 8; cf. Ep. Diogn. c. 4), or perhaps more probably (cf. ) to Oriental tendencies which developed into Gnosticism. In such a syncretistic city as Ephesus there is no need to assume only one set of false teaching.
On the other hand, the allusions are too definite for it to be merely an apologetic vade-mecum for all anti-Gnostic controversy (Dibelius).
1. ] With slight antithesis to 3:15 and the substance of 3:16.
] The Spirit of the Lord speaking through some prophet, possibly the writer himself, sibi, Ambros.; cf. Act 20:29, but vide next note.
] clearly, unmistakably, or more probably in express terms, implying that he is quoting a prophecy (cf. Justin Martyr, Apol. i. 63). If so, the utterance of the Spirit will not have been made to the writer himself, but he is quoting that of some other Christian prophet. The person is ignored: the fact of his inspiration emphasized; cf. Charles, Revelation, 1. p. cix.
] In later days, at some later crisis (the plural not being pressed; cf. , Tit 1:2 note); cf. , Plato: , Plut. ap. Wetstein; Acta Carpi, 5, . . . . The writer contemplates that this is a present danger, cf. 6-11: hence we may paraphrase, there is a past prophecy about a later crisis, which is now being fulfilled; cf. 1Jn 4:1-3.
…] Cf. Mat 24:15, 1Jn 4:6, Rev 16:14 , hence probably from some heathen source; cf. 1Co 10:20, 1Co 10:21, Jam 3:15 .
] Insincere, because their own lives are inconsistent; cf. Mat 23:4, Rom 2:17-23.
The clause is connected closely with , teaching embodied in insincere utterances of lying teachers.
.] Not rendered callous as by medical treatment, cf. Eph 4:19, but rather branded with the brand of slavery to their true master Satan, cf. 2Ti 2:26, and contrast Gal 6:17 . Claudian in Rufin. ii.504, en ! pectus inust Deformant macul, and other illustrations of the metaphor in Wetstein here and on Gal. l.c.
3. , ] Forbidding to marry, bidding to abstain; cf. 2:12. Hort unnecessarily conjectures or , W.-H. note ad loc.
, i.e. probably only: it might include marriage also; cf. Apost. Canon 51, , : so 53 of food only, .
.] those who have accepted the gospel-so not for the Jews on whom the Levitical law was still binding: -so not for weak Christians who have till late been used to idol worship or scruple about eating meat; cf. 1Co 8:7, Rom_14, esp. v. 14 , and 23.
4. . . ] A reminiscence of the sevenfold refrain of Gen_1, . Cf. also Ecclus 39:16, 24, 27 , .
had become almost a proverb based on Il. iii. 65, (cf. Field, Ot. Norvic. ad loc., and Wetstein). Both Holy Scripture and Greek proverbial wisdom condemn these teachers.
] If taken as a gift-not treated as a right-and with gratitude. The divine word is constantly , (Mat 26:26).
] It becomes holy to the eater; not that it was unclean in itself, but that his scruples or thanklessness might make it so to him. Possibly there is the further thought, it is protected from the power of evil spirits () cf. Lake, Earlier Epp. of St. Paul, p. 195.
] possibly by the Word of God in the Johannine sense, cf. Justin M. Apol. i. 66, , and cf. J. Th. St., April 1923, p. 310: but more probably, as this technical sense seems foreign to our writer, through Gods utterance, with Gods blessing upon it, referring directly to Gen_1. God said, perhaps more exactly to the word implied in . But this word is thought of as taken up in some word of Scripture used from meal to meal (, not ) as grace: e.g. Psa 24:1 , which St. Paul quotes as sanctioning the eating of all food sold in the market (1Co 10:26), cf. Justin Martyr (ubi supra), . Cf. Sinker, Essays and Studies, p. 115; and for the influence of Jewish forms of grace upon the blessing of the bread and wine and other offerings in the Eucharist, von der Goltz, Tischgebete und Abendmahlsgebete. T. und U., N. F;. xiv., who quotes Athanasius, : c. 13, : cf. Irenus, Hr. v. 2, .
4:6-6:2. Personal advice to Timothy, as to (a) his teaching and life as the chief officer of the Church (4:6-16); (b) his conduct to various classes of the members of the Church (5:1-6:2).
6-16. Timothys own teaching and life ( 16 sums up the paragraph, but the two parts are not kept distinct).
Paraphrase. Put these foundation truths before the brethren, and you will be a true servant of Christ Jesus, keeping your own soul trained by the precepts of the faith and of the true teaching which you have accepted and taught so faithfully until now. But as for those irreligious and old wives fables which are so prevalent at Ephesus, have nothing to do with them at all.
Yet there is a training which you will need, and now you must be your own trainer, the training which helps towards a holy life. The bodily training of the athlete has some little value, but a holy life is valuable in every respect:
To it Gods promise standeth sure
Of life that ever shall endure.
That saying is quite true and worthy of whole-hearted acceptance: for it is to win life that we spend our days in toil and take part in the spiritual contest, for our hopes have been set on a God of Life, on one who is a Saviour of all men, but, in the deepest sense, of those who put faith in Him. Hand on these truths from me and enforce them in your own teaching.
So teach and so live that no one shall slight you for your youth; nay, rather show yourself a model of what believers should be both in speech and in your dealings with others- loving, trustworthy, pure. Until I can reach you, do you superintend the reading of the Scriptures, the sermons and the instructions given at the meetings. Do not neglect the divine gift which is in you, remembering that it was a gift from God, given after the guidance of prophets, and confirmed by the whole body of presbyters when they laid their hands on your head. Think carefully of these duties; throw yourself heart and soul into them, that everyone may note your constant growth. Keep careful watch over your own life and the teaching that you give persevere in all these tasks. So will you work out your own salvation and that of those who hear you.
The keynotes of the paragraph are: (i) Doctrinal. , , (10, 16), . A true self-discipline, ministering to holiness of life, and so laying hold of the salvation which God offers to all, and which is true life. (ii) Personal. Timothys growth. , (see note), , . You have passed from childhood to manhood, when you can so act that no one will slight you; but there must still be growth, still constant self-discipline.
6. ] either, suggesting, a gentle word suited to Timothys youth ( , . , Chrys.; cf. Philo, de vita Mos. ii. 8, ) or supplying, as a foundation for their faith, the metaphor of building (3:15) being still in his mind; cf. Jud 1:20.
] The metaphor of the family is still in his mind; Cf 3:15 and 5:1.
] Possibly the metaphor is that of feeding; cf. 1Co 3:2, Heb 5:12-14, and Epict. iv. 4, 48, M.M. s.v., reading and inwardly digesting; but more probably training yourself in: cf. Eur. Phn. 368, , with 7 (so Hillard). Chrys. adds to emphasize the present tense.
.] recalling 4:3 .
.] recalling 4:3 . , the teaching which will make a .
] cf. a 2Ti 3:9, combines the ideas of understanding, as frequently in Epictetus, with that of practising perseveringly.
7. . . . ] The myths which the false teachers are propagating, cf. 1:4 note; not necessarily to be identified with the teaching in 1-5 supra.
] ineptas, Vulg.; profanas, O.L., Ambros.; contributing nothing to .
] such as old women tell to children (Plato, Rep. i. 350 E, ), quite unfit for strong young men who have to be trained to discipline themselves (ib. ii. 377 A, ).
] but you are full-grown, you have to be even your own trainer-perhaps with the thought in my absence (so Bengel) implied. Your training must be of your whole self, body and soul, not for health or a crown in the games, but for living a religious life. Dibelius quotes Isocr. ad Nicoclem, 10, . Ps-Isocr. ad Demonicum, 21, , . This the would need; cf. 2Ti 3:12. For further very interesting illustrations see Wetstein.
8. . ] corporalis exercitatio, Vulg. The reference is to either: (i) ascetic discipline, the thought of 3 being still in his mind: you, too, will need discipline of the body, but it must be from a right motive, and only as a means to an end, for in itself it goes a very little way. On this interpretation the best comment is Col 2:20-23; or (ii) athletic discipline: an illustration from the ordinary training in the gymnasium; and the best comment 1Co 9:24-27. This is the more probable, as the subject of 3 seems to have been dropped at 5, and it is supported by 10.
] e.g. (1Co 9:25) (Lucian, Macrob. 6, . . . ).
. …] cf. Tit 1:2 . . . . . . ; Jam 1:12, 1Jn 2:25, Rev 2:10. The saying may have been based on the Lords own words, Luk 18:30 , cf. Luk 12:15 for the thought, but it has earlier Jewish analogies; cf. Pirke Aboth iv. 2. Who is rich? He that is contented with his lot: for it is said, Happy art thou in this world, and it shall be well with thee in the world to come. True life lies in contentment (6:6), in the glad acceptance of our lot, in gratitude for Gods common blessings, in the sense that all things are ours through union with Christ, 1Co 3:22; cf. Chrys. ad loc., or Trahernes Meditations.
9. ] probably the preceding verse, which is more stereotyped in form and wider in application than the Christian experience which supports it ().
] cf. 1:15 note: here perhaps anticipating 10 as leads up to . Those who have faith have found this saying trustworthy, and it is worth all mens while to accept it.
10. .] Cf. 1Co 9:25-27. : living, and therefore able to give life now and hereafter; cf. 3:15 note.
. (salvator, Vulg.; salutaris, Ambros.) ., perhaps, as giving them their life (quia ex ipso et per ipsum vivunt, Ambros.; cf. 6:13 : Act 17:28) and protection from danger (Chrys. Bengel, servat omnes), but, much more deeply, as giving them the instincts that feel after Him (Act 17:27), and as longing for their full spiritual salvation (2:4).
] as completing their salvation, giving grace in response to their faith and in proportion to every need, and life to meet a daily dying; cf. 1Co 15:31, 2Co 4:10-15. The difference of treatment lies not with God, but with men themselves. He is always Father and Saviour; but they who trust Him as such and accept the revelation through His Son, know that He is such and gain a fuller life. Cf. Plut. Alex. p. 683 A, , (Wetstein). Christians have to imitate the Divine method and proportion in their well-doing, Gal 6:10, Php 4:5.
] cf. 6:12, 1Co 9:25, 2Ti 4:7. For the reading cf. Introd. p. xxxvii.
] Cf. Rom 15:3, Rom 15:1 P 4:14, Heb 10:33, Heb 10:13:13; but the thought of persecution and reproach is not found in this Epistle, nor is it very appropriate to this context.
11. ] ut fiant, quomodo fiant, Pelagius. does not occur in Titus, and is perhaps more suitable to Timothys age-hand on my message. Contrast Tit 2:15 (Ramsay, Expositor, 1910, p. 331).
12. . . . ] contrast Tit 2:15. It is perhaps a side hint to the Church, who would hear the Epistle read (6:21, cf. 1Co 16:11, and Ign. Magnes. c. 3, ), but mainly advice to Timothy, so to act that none may be able to despise him. Cf. 2Ti 2:22.
] used of grown-up military age, extending to the 40th year; cf. Iren. c. Hr. ii. 22, triginta annorum tas prima indolis est juvenis et extenditur usque ad quadragesimum annum. For fuller illustration cf. Ramsay in Expositor, 1910, p. 327, and Cities and Bishoprics of Phrygia, i. p. 110.
. . . ] not so much a model for the faithful to follow ( , cf. 1Th 1:7, 2Th 3:9, but also , 1Pe 5:3) as a model of what the faithful are (cf. Tit 2:7 ), which will make its appeal to all men (cf. 10, 15) and attract them to complete salvation (cf. 2:3-8).
, ] in conversation (preaching is dealt with in the next verse), and all intercourse with others; cf. 3:15, 1Pe 3:1, 1Pe 3:2. These give the sphere, the next three the qualities in which he is to be a model.
] Possibly faith, but more probably, owing to the context, fidelity, trustworthiness. Cf. Gal 5:22 and the combination , true and upright advocates. Pap. Oxyr. i. 41, 29 (M.M. s.v. ).
] purity of act and thought. The transition from ritual to moral purity had already been made by the Greeks; cf. the Inscription on the temple at Epidaurus:
. .
Clem. Alex. Strom. v. 1. 13.
Cf. the account of the early Christians given to Pliny, Ep. x. 97, soliti essent se sacramento obstringere ne furta, ne latrocinia (= ), ne adulteria (= ), committerent, ne fidem fallerent, ne depositum appellati abnegarent (= ).
13. ] i.e. the public reading (cf. , 5:5, Act 2:42), as in the Jewish synagogues (cf. Charles on Rev 1:3). This would, with the O.T., include Apostolic letters (1Th 5:27, Eph 3:4, Col 4:16, Euseb. H.E. 4. 23), apocalypses (Mar 13:14, Rev 1:3; cf. Tert. Apol. 39, cogimur ad litterarum divinarum commemorationem si quid prsentium temporum qualitas aut praemonere cogit aut recognoscere), the memoirs of the Apostles or the writings of the prophets (Justin M. Apol. i. 67).
] This will include his own reading (cf. Tit 1:9) and that of any official to whom it was deputed. It will imply-
(a) A wise choice of the passages to be read: cf. Apost. Const. ii. 5 (infra).
(b) Audible reading: cf. Apost. Canons, 19, .
(c) A power of correct exposition: cf. ib. . . . , : Apost. Const. ii. 5 of the bishop: , .
Such supervision will necessarily imply previous private study; cf. Apost. Const. i. 5, , , … Hippol. Canons, 27, Sol conspiciat matutino tempore scripturam super genua tua. Cf. 2Ti 3:15.
For an interesting analogy, cf. Pap. Oxyr. iii. 531, from a father to his son, .
. ] cf. Rom 12:7 and Tit 2:1-14, which shows that the teaching will include moral and doctrinal instruction.
14. ] an individual capacity with external recognition. The gift of authority by the Society strengthens the individuals power and confidence: cf. 3:13. Here the gift combines the capacity to preach himself and the authority to control others.
] cf. 1Co 12:7 ff., 2Co 12:7.
] Possibly through the gift of prophecy given to Timothy himself, which carried with it the lesser (Pelag. Ambros.); but Timothy is never elsewhere treated as a prophet, hence, almost certainly, through the utterance of some prophet or prophets; cf. 1:18.
…] This may well have been combined with the laying on of the Apostles hands, 2Ti 1:6; but here stress is laid on the action of the presbyters, because Timothy has to exercise discipline over them (13 5:17-25). They have themselves recognized your authority.
When and where was this gift given? Either at Lystra on the first choice of Timothy as minister (so Hort, Christian Ecclesia, p. 187, and, more doubtfully, Ramsay, Expositor, 1910, p. 325), or at Ephesus when left there by St. Paul. The latter suits this context better.
To what office? The laying on of the hands of the presbyters would, if later usage is a guide, point to the presbyterate cf. The Egyptian Ch. O. (Connolly, pp. 178, 179); but it might be to an overseership, a presbyter being associated sometimes with the bishops in the ordination of a bishop: cf. Wordsworth, Ministry of Grace, p. 167. For the very doubtful tradition that at Alexandria presbyters alone consecrated a bishop, vid. C. H. Turner, in Cambridge Medival History, i. pp. 155-61.
15. ] either meditate upon (A.V.); cf. Seneca, Ep. 16, hoc quod liquet firmandum et altius cotidiana meditatione figendum est (Wetstein), and Darwins advice to G. J. Romanes- Always cultivate the habit of meditation.
Or, practice; cf. . Make this your profession, cf. 5:13 : and for the whole verse, Epict. i. 1. 25, , , (Field, Ot. Norvic. ad loc.).
] an unusual phrase, picking up the duties and qualities enumerated above 12 , , , , . Cf. Hor. Eph_1Eph_1. i. 11, omnis in hoc sum. , Cf. Php 1:12, Php 1:25: a favourite word in Stoic writers of a pupils progress in philosophy. Bonhoffer, Epict. p. 128. : so that no one may despise thee 12.
16. ] Give heed to, keep an eye upon (cf. Luk 14:7, Act 3:5) thy own life and the teaching which you (Qy. and others, Cf. 13) give. Cf. Act 20:28 .
] Cf. 1:15, 2:15, 4:10. cf. 1Co 9:27. , cf. Joh 10:9 (= ) , (himself) (for his sheep).
W.-H The New Testament in Greek, with Introduction and Appendix, by Westcott and Hort, Cambridge, 1881.
J. Th. St. The Journal of Theological Studies, London, 1910-
T. und U. Texte und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der Altchristlichen Literatur, von Gebhart und Harnack, Leipzig, 1882-1895.
Pap. Oxyr. The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, ed. Grenfell and Hunt, vols. i.-xv., London, 1898-
A.V. Authorized Version of the English Bible.
Reject False and Foolish Teaching
1Ti 4:1-8
We have here the Apostles forecast of the last times, i.e., the condition in which men will find themselves as the age draws to a close. Notwithstanding all that Christ has done, the prevalence of evil will be enormous, not because of any failure in God but because the Church has failed to be the organ through which His saving help could reach mankind. The symptoms are set forth with great clearness, such as demon spirits dwelling and working in men, error taught under the specious guise of excessive religious devotion, consciences seared, natural instincts thwarted and outraged. On the contrary, let us believe that the whole body, and all gifts that are natural and innocent, are to be cherished and used under three sanctions:
1.They must be accepted and enjoyed with thanksgiving to the Creator and Father.
2.They must be sanctioned by the Word of God.
3.Their use and enjoyment must, not interfere with our prayer-life.
The minister of Christ must be daily nourished by the words of Christian truth. If he is not fed on Christs body and blood, his teaching will soon deteriorate, Joh 6:1-71. He must also exercise himself in godliness with as much care as the gymnast, who is continually exercising his joints and muscles so as to keep supple and alert. This is also Gods purpose in the spiritual trials and discipline which He sends.
Chapter 9 The Latter Days
1Ti 4:1-6
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, where-unto thou hast attained, (vv. 1-6)
It is a remarkable fact that our blessed Lord and His apostles indicated, before they left this scene, the decadence of the very system which they came to introduce, that is, they came to introduce what we commonly call Christianity. Yet both our Lord and His followers afterward warned the early church that there would be a great departure from the truth and that increasing apostasy would be manifest as the years wore on, until eventually there would be a complete turning away from the faith. Men would accept antichrist instead of the Christ of God.
As we look back over the centuries that have passed since apostolic days, we can see how literally these predictions have been fulfilled. All down through these centuries there has been increasing departure from the simplicity of the gospel. All kinds of false systems have come in, until there was a time when it seemed as though false teaching was the real thing, and the truth of God was looked upon as heresy. There has been a revival in the preaching of the gospel, however, for which we can be thankful to God.
Here the Apostle warns of a time of apostasy which was to come, as he intimates, in the latter times. The latter times are to be distinguished from the last days described in 2Ti 3:1, This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. There he depicts conditions that will prevail in the professing church immediately before the return of the Lord Jesus Christ- conditions which do prevail largely today throughout Christendom. But the period spoken of here in chapter 4 is called the latter times. This period is for us in the past. We look back, not forward, to the latter times. The events described here have taken place already. They have been fulfilled already.
In 2Th 2:7 we read, For the mystery of iniquity doth already work. That is, vain, unscriptural teaching was even then beginning to permeate the church. Here Paul warns Timothy, and through Timothy all other believers, of some of the results of the condition that was to be manifested later on.
Now the Spirit speaketh expressly. All prophecy is by the Holy Spirit. It is He alone who can foresee the future. It is not given to man to do this. Men may guess what the future may be, and sometimes their guesses may turn out to be correct, but no man can speak authoritatively as to the future. He does not know what the next day may bring forth. But the Spirit of God, looking down through the centuries of time, empowered certain of Christs servants to predict many things that were to prevail long years ahead. In the Old Testament, a large portion is devoted to prophecy, but we also have prophecy in the New Testament. Here is an instance of the Spirit speaking 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.
You will notice there are three classes of personalities brought before us here. First we read of some who will depart from the faith; some who were nominal Christians, members of the professing church, but who would drift away from the truth as given by our Lord Jesus Christ and His inspired apostles. One needs only a slight acquaintance with church history to know how these words were fulfilled in what we call the Dark or Middle Ages, but which the Roman Catholic Church calls the Age of Faith, because those were the years in which people forsook the teachings of the Word of God and received the superstitious traditions of the Roman Church. They departed from the faith. They substituted the authority of the church for that of the Holy Scriptures.
The second class is called seducing spirits, who propogate doctrines of devils, or teachings of demons. These evil spirits are ever active in seeking to turn men away from the faith once for all delivered to the saints. They are in rebellion against God, and yet are permitted for some strange, mysterious reason to influence and even possess men and women who are not subject to the instruction of the Holy Spirit. They are led by their prince, Beelzebub, and are actively engaged in combating the faith of Christ.
Then there is a third class. We might not realize this from our King James Version, but the translation made by that great Greek scholar, William Kelly, reads: Some shall fall away from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and teachings of demons by hypocrisy of the legend-mongers. That is the way evil teaching was to be presented to men, through the hypocrisy of legend-mongers-men who substituted legends for the truth of God. We look back through the centuries and see that these came in very early.
There were not many copies of Scripture available during the Middle Ages, and the great majority of Christians did not have even a part of the Bible, nor would they have been able to read it if they had possessed it. The few manuscripts that were available were generally in the hands of teachers. Many of them were kept in monasteries. And so it was easy for interested persons to foist legends and traditions upon the common people in place of the inspired revelation which God had given. Many such legends were promulgated in those dark ages.
It is amazing, as we look back, to see how ready people were to accept all kinds of myths rather than the precious gospel as made known in the Bible. One legend was that of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, the teaching that she was born without sin, and so in that sense she was like her Son, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Another legend that was foisted upon the people was that Mary never actually died, but was taken up into heaven, crowned, and today reigns as queen of heaven. The legend of purgatory was substituted as a place of cleansing from sin instead of the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ alone. Many others came in and similarly nullified the plain teaching of Holy Scriptures. They were accepted as though of the same authority as Gods Holy Word, and so brought mens hearts into bondage.
Those who were Satans agents in vending these legends, instead of the truth of the gospel, are said to have their conscience seared with a hot iron. They reached the place where conscience no longer responded to the voice of God. Notice the contrast between these and those who stood for the truth in verse 9 of the previous chapter. The Apostle speaks of Christians as holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. The people of whom he is speaking in verse 2 of this fourth chapter turn away from the faith and accept false theories and invalid legends. They are said to have their consciences seared with a hot iron. They became utterly calloused.
In the next verse we read of certain manifest signs that help us to identify the persons whom the Spirit of God has in mind when He speaks so solemnly here. 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. Here are two outward things that would make it very easy for anyone to understand, when the time came, who and of what the apostle Paul was speaking as he wrote by inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
It was during those dark ages that an apostate church arose which taught that a celibate priest or monk was a holier person than the Christian father or husband, and an unmarried nun was on a higher moral plane than a godly wife or mother, and so certain ones were forbidden to marry. Now Scripture maintains that there are occasions when it is better to remain unmarried. For instance, if Christian workers are exposed to great dangers, it is far better not to think of marrying and dragging wives and possibly children into such circumstances. But God Himself instituted marriage for a holy purpose. Men attempting to be wiser than God put the ban upon marriage, so that certain persons who were separated from the world as nuns, monks, and priests had to take a vow not to marry. By this we may see to whom the Apostle was referring here.
Then observe the next mark: Commanding to abstain from meats. Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself told us, Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man (Mat 15:11). But there soon grew up in the professing church the notion that the eating of meat on certain days should be refrained from because by so doing one could better master the desires of the flesh-a theory which has proven to be false. Men are still as sinful as before. Vegetarianism has never worked for greater holiness than the ordinary method of nourishing the body, which is according to Gods own order. But men cannot seem to get away from this outward thing, which is the teaching of demons.
In Foxes Book of Martyrs an incident is related of a man who was to be burned at the stake because he would not bow down before a wafer and worship it as God incarnate. The wood bundles were piled around him, and the executioner was waiting to put the torch to them. A priest stood on a high platform nearby and preached a sermon. He took for a text the first two verses of this chapter: 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. These words he applied to the martyr about to die as a condemned heretic. Having finished the sermon, the priest said, Have you anything to say before you are burned? Will you recant and receive the absolution of the church? The man, looking up, replied, I have nothing to say except that I wish you would read aloud the next verse following the two you have read. The priest looked at the passage: 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. Instead of reading it he gave the signal to put the torch to the wood, and then he threw the Testament into the fire. It was too much. It condemned him, and showed exactly where the evil was, and what was meant by the Holy Spirit when He spoke of the doctrine of demons to be made known in the latter times.
This evil system which began in the latter times is prevalent today all over Christendom, and there is a definite line drawn between the Holy Scriptures and these superstitions that have been foisted upon people as inspired and authoritative traditions. We ought to thank God for the open Bible, where truth is found so crystal clear!
The Apostle adds, For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving. I wonder if we are as conscientious as we should be about giving thanks to God for the good things He has provided. It is shocking to notice Christians who sit down in public eating places and give no evidence that they have thanked God for what is before them. Perhaps they do thank Him silently, but do not let those around them realize it. Christians, wherever you are when you partake of food you should be careful to honor God by giving thanks. Many opportunities will arise to speak to needy souls, even at the same table or at a table nearby, if you bow your head in a restaurant or hotel and give thanks before partaking of your food. Christians should never sit down to a table at home without giving thanks for that which God has spread before them. Yet I am afraid many of us fail even in this.
On the other hand, I have seen people sit down to a table and it may be that the husband will give thanks, and but within a few minutes he begins to fuss and growl about the food, complaining about it. Perhaps the poor wife has done her best, and that is all the thanks she gets! If we receive the food with thanksgiving then we should not complain about it. After all, no matter how poor it is, it is still too good for sinners. Had God treated us according to our deserts we would be in the pit of woe, forever beyond the reach of mercy.
Sanctified by the word of God and prayer. What a blessed thing it is when the Word of God is honored and the voice of prayer ascends to heaven as the family gathers about the table to enjoy the good things the Lord has provided. Many of us look back on such scenes of family worship, and how we thank God for the impressions made upon our hearts and lives in early days.
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 [or healthful teaching], whereunto thou hast attained. The minister of Christ is responsible to bring these things to bear upon the hearts and consciences of the people of God, in order that He may be honored and they may be preserved from the unholy teachings which Satan uses to lead many astray.
1Ti 4:7
I. The word godliness signifies a religious character in all its integrity, with special reference to God: it is therefore the highest idea to which your aspiration can be raised. It is not simply salvation from sin, or holiness as separation from evil, but the result into which both flow. It is religion known by its highest possible name. And this piety, thus clothed with its perfection, you are bidden to seek as the business of your life: as the goal of all other aspirations. There is not in the Bible a more impressive and stimulating appeal to your own individual energy. The words assume it as the universal law of the supernatural order that one condition of our spiritual wellbeing, indeed of our spiritual life, is our own sedulous self-discipline. There is much music in the air that is not played to this note. There is a danger of our resting on Jesus and casting all our care on Him, in a sense for which He gives no authority.
II. Exercise thyself unto godliness. With regard to all the exercises of a holy life, whether the training of the soul to overcome sin, or its education to habits of deep devotion, ever more remember that the aim must be godliness, and nothing but that. Here is, the protection of all religious discipline against the abuse to which it is liable. For instance, if your end is likeness to God, to God as revealed in His all-holy Son, you will never rest in the means. You will not mistake the aids and helps of religion for religion itself; you will for ever be freeing your way through them to Him who is the end. And if the whole soul is set on genuine godliness, no failure will divert its pursuit from that. The very sincerity of its desire will shield it from despair.
W. B. Pope, Sermons and Charges, p. 314.
Reference: 1Ti 4:7.-R. G. Gould, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xii., p. 228.
1Ti 4:8
The Right Human Life is its own Reward.
I. The life which we have received from nature, beyond a very brief stage, is impracticable: it will not hold together. One and one only human life can hold its own and renew itself for ever. Therefore, clearly, it is the only wise life, the only profitable life. All your real interests for time and all your real interests for eternity, you may stake on the life that recognises God for its source and law. It is as reliable as God’s own existence. It will repay all your training, unfolding and unfolding for ever into higher and higher forms of humanity. Your strength and labour spent on any other human life will be lost and your time wasted.
II. The Highest, the Eternal, is capable of human development. More, God, who is the infinite Love and Reason, and Law and Power, seeks to unfold Himself in man. More, He can only reveal Himself to men and women, as He unfolds His powers in them. He has revealed Himself, He is now revealing Himself, and He will be for ever revealing Himself to humanity. Whether in the heavens, or on the earth, humanity is the throne and the kingdom of His manifestation.
III. Godliness is not gloom, nor asceticism. It makes no man a monk, no woman a nun. To enjoy with God, all that God has created, is godliness. Godliness despises no good thing, no beautiful thing, but rather freely receives all good things in thanksgiving and turns them into gladness. In the enjoyment of this world’s blessings, cherish the confidence that they are shadows, and only shadows, of richer blessings-the perfectly human blessings and delights of our Father’s Home-kingdom.
J. Pulsford, Our Deathless Hope, p. 115.
The Twofold Promise.
Paul’s words are often quoted as if he meant that through godliness we might make our fortune here and hereafter, and as if a skilful Christian man might find life a sort of palatable soup, pleasant to the hungry and even to the dainty, by the due mixture of earthly and heavenly ingredients. The wages Christ earned of a wicked world were paid Him in full at Calvary. He entered into glory afterwards. His disciples, indeed, carried a wallet which was never without generous alms; and so godliness paid its way, as it always will do, but that way led it by the Cross. And so Christians may find that godliness is profitable for a livelihood and little more: a little more here, and much more hereafter. Here, a livelihood and afflictions; hereafter, rest and Divine riches; and so godliness with contentment is great gain.
I. We were born to advance and increase; and, therefore, to seek a higher place and a broader field may be, not only natural but godly. But God, who is highest of all, and in whom there can be no ambition, when He comes down to commence an ascending career, carries upward the world of sinners and sufferers in His own progress. As He rises, we rise. If, then, we set our affections on things above, they must be things where Christ is, not where Satan is.
II. The promise of godliness for the life to come is rest, satisfaction with God in that rest, and enjoyment of the results of our labour in that satisfaction. Rest is a sweet and necessary thing: so necessary that without a day of rest our days of work would be unendurable: so sweet, that it is the first thought of the wearied earthly traveller that he will find it at the end of his journey. In the heavenly Canaan, the land of promise, we shall be rich and happy. Yes, but we shall find rest. Two things must have our care in exercising ourselves unto godliness; and these will be one sure test of our advancing proficiency-(1) We must pray; (2) we must revise our estimate of things temporal that are things desirable; (3) our proficiency will be shown in the ready, unprompted movement of our mind towards God in times of common or special activity.
T. T. Lynch, Three Months’ Ministry, p. 25.
The Promise of Godliness for the Present Life.
The Apostle meant by godliness life under God’s direct personal guidance, inspired by love to God, led in obedience to God and in personal communion with God. The Apostle means, further, to say, that to such a life God promises good and profitable things, not only in heaven, but here upon earth. That godliness has its possibilities of joy, of usefulness, of attainment, of victory, of knowledge, of social good, of spiritual stature, in this world as well as in the heavenly world.
I. And it seems to me that this must be true from the nature of the case. For if godliness consists in being loyally under God’s administration, then it follows, of course, that a godly man is under that administration no less on earth than in heaven. A sovereign whose kingdom embraces mountain ranges and valleys, does not impose one law on the mountaineers and another on the men of the plains. The administration is one, and the loyal subject at the foot of the hills shares its privileges with the mountaineer. Conditions are different, but the king is the same, the law is the same; and whatever privileges of that administration are possible to the dweller in any part of it, are freely his.
II. I wonder if we all realise how much the Bible has to say about this life as compared with the next. Whatever the Bible may be, it is preeminently something to live by here. The more the significance that attaches to the future life, the stronger is the reason for giving us a manual for this life. Christ brings life to light by bringing immortality to light. Instead of turning away our thoughts from earth to heaven, He makes earth lighter and earthly life more significant with the light of heaven. There is too strong a tendency to make escape rather than victory the keynote of life. But the kingdoms of the world are promised to Christ. Sin is mighty, but Christ is mightier. God did not make this world to lose it. He did not make you and me to be dwarfs in holiness and weaklings in holy effort.
M. R. Vincent, The Covenant of Peace., p. 33.
References: 1Ti 4:8.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xvi., Nos. 937, 946; G. E. L. Cotton, Sermons to English Congregations in India, p. 66; H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. ii., p. 99; Ibid., Plymouth Pulpit Sermons, 3rd series, p. 355; J. Pulsford, Our Deathless Hope, p. 115; J. Tinling, Ibid., p. 338; Ibid., vol. iv., p. 104; A. J. Griffith, Ibid., vol. xv., p. 348; H. P. Liddon, Ibid., vol. xx., p. 353; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. v., p. 27; vol. x., p. 84.
1Ti 4:10
I. Whether we take the words, “the living God,” in our text to apply to Christ Himself, or to the Father acting by Christ, it is equally asserted that Christ is the Saviour of all men, that the salvation which He wrought is, in and of itself, co-extensive with the race of man. What He did, He did for, or in the stead of, all men. Christ, being the Divine Son of God, and having become the Son of man, was no longer an individual man, bounded by the narrow lines and limits of His own personality, but was and is God manifest in the flesh: a sound and righteous Head of our whole nature, just as Adam was its first and sinful head. Hence it is that, whatever He does, has so large a significance. Hence that, when He fulfils the law, His righteousness is accepted as ours. From the vicarious work and sacrifice of the Redeemer, consequences not only possible, but actual, flow forth to every member of our common race, in virtue of that common membership, in virtue of their physical union with Christ in their common humanity. Whether these consequences will be to them an advantage or a disadvantage, a gain or a loss, must, from the very constitution of our nature, both physical and spiritual, depend on further considerations, involving the exercise of their own spiritual faculties and capacities. “Christ is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.”
II. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” He is the Saviour of all men, in that He included them all in that nature which He took on Him, and bore the whole world’s sin, and made a way for all to God. He is specially the Saviour of them that believe, in that in their case only does this His salvation become actual and come to its ripeness and perfection; in them only does His Spirit dwell; they only are changed into His image; they only shall be with Him and behold His glory where He is and be perfectly like Him, seeing Him as He is.
H. Alford, Quebec Chapel Sermons, vol. vi., p. 108.
References: 1Ti 4:10.-R. W. Dale, Discourses on Special Occasions, p. 121; W. C. E. Newbolt, Counsels of Faith and Practice, p. 88; J. T. Stannard, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xi., p. 136. 1Ti 4:12.-J. Thain Davidson, Sure to Succeed, p. 207; R. Tuck, Christian World Pulpit, vol. v., p. 224; Ibid., vol. xxxii., p. 18. 1Ti 4:13.-C. Babington, Church of England Pulpit, vol. viii., p. 20; W. G. Horder, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxi., p. 107.
1Ti 4:16
Self-discipline.
I. What, as regards man, guilty man, is the final cause of the atoning Cross, the red altar of the all-blessed substitute of the sinner? It is the creation, in the penitent who embraces that one hope set before him, of a character in harmony with that God, equally absolute in grace and in “severity,” who spared not His own Son. I do not say that this is the immediate purpose of the Cross, as set out in Scripture. No, it has first to effect, not transfiguration of character, but acceptance of person. It has to effect the objective reality of a righteous pardon. But that sacred pardon, or call it rather acceptance, a nobler word, is all the while a means and not an end. Its end, as far as the justified are concerned, is the transfiguration of character. The millstone of condemnation is lifted away, on purpose, above all things, that the penitent may be made effectually willing, with a will disengaged from the fears and the repulsions of the unpardoned state, to be trained into a character in harmony with God and capable of His heavenly presence.
II. We inhabit a period full of subtle tendencies to self-indulgence. I mean the moral self-indulgence which, in plain words, abhors not evil; the temper that can tolerate what ought to be intolerable to the conscience, even if it be some elaborate romance of sin, it only it comes in a garb that commends it to the intellect and the imagination. Too often the soul that has grasped personal justification yet forgets to grasp what should be its direct result; no negligent repose in sacred privileges, but the real and glorious work of the will in the strength of the peace of God. The assured and gladdened disciple too often needs to be reminded that his liberty is the liberty to observe, and love and do every detail of his Redeemer’s will; that in his happy faith he is to find the nerves of his unwearied virtue; that from his whole plan of life down to its minutiae of daily personal habits, public, private, and solitary, aye, down to his sleep, his table, and his dress, he must habituate himself to the moral and spiritual consciousness of being under discipline. For he is being trained under his Lord’s grace and guidance, into the character of the Gospel.
H. C. G. Moule, Christ is All, p. 175.
The Teacher and the Taught (Sermon to Sunday School Teachers).
I. You are workmen of God. The great Worker has called you to His counsels, and He has assigned to you a task. Much of His purpose and government, of His mercy and judgment, proceeds in utter independence of all human aid or cooperation; but there is a larger portion of His blessedness which He only communicates to men through the human mind and heart. God waits and asks for the cooperation of His children, and finds for every kind of talent, intellect, and moral energy, some work to do. In one sense, indeed, every atom of every world is busily at work for God; and in one sense, every mind has a work to do for God, consciously or unconsciously, which no other mind can accomplish. Surely the highest dignity God could confer on any human being is to use Him for a purpose and work like this.
II. You are students of God’s Word. If you are not students, if you are not doing your best to understand God’s truth, you will soon exhaust your stock of capital, you will be perpetually baffled when you need not be, by the inquiries of the youngest children; you will not be thoroughly furnished for this great work. If Timothy needed to give himself to reading, exhortation, doctrine, it is equally necessary that you should devote yourselves to the study of revealed truth within your reach, and commune with the Spirit of its Author.
III. You are servants of the Church. One great function of the Church is to teach the world. It may be the function of some to exhort, of some to console. There are some in the Church whose great work seems to be to rule; the work of others is to give. The teaching office of the Church is not and cannot be confined to the pastorate. The Church should regard the school as a portion of its own operations, and the teachers as its own servants or representatives.
IV. Once more, you are watchers for souls. It is a wise and wonderful thing to save souls, to win souls. Are you habitually aware of the grand dimensions of your work? Do you never slip into routine? Are you always alive to its magnitude? Take heed to your doctrine that it be (1) scriptural, (2) comprehensive, (3) connected and ordered upon some plan, (4) appropriate to the class of minds with which you have to deal. “Take heed to thyself.” Thou art not only to be free from the blame of others, and from the accusations of thine own conscience, but to be a pattern of purity and honour, of spirit and love, of word and conversation. Thou art to be a specimen of what a Christian ought to be, in the transactions of daily life, at the innermost shrine of earthly affections, on the highways of the world. A pattern to believers. Ordinary believers naturally look to those who teach for the deepest faith and for the highest kind of life. Patient perseverance in such godlike work is a way not only of securing the salvation of others, but our own salvation too. This taking heed to ourselves is, indeed, necessary, in order that we should have any influence with those that hear us. This taking heed to the doctrine is utterly indispensable to our own salvation. Let us continue in them, and remember that when we thus seek the salvation of others, we are seeking our own.
H. R. Reynolds, Notes of the Christian Life, p. 311.
The Comparative Influence of Character and Doctrine.
As a means of moral and religious influence, life should precede doctrine, character be regarded as of even greater importance than verbal teaching. We may perceive this by reflecting-
I. That life tends very greatly to modify a man’s own views of doctrine.
II. It affects also his power of expressing or communicating truth to others.
III. It has in many respects an influence which direct teaching or doctrine cannot exert. Actions are (1) more intelligible, (2) more convincing than words, and (3) they are available in many cases in which the teaching of the lips cannot, or ought not, to be attempted.
J. Caird, Sermons, p. 301.
References: 1Ti 4:16.-W. Elmslie, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxiv., p. 305; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. ii., p. 257.
The Life to Come.
Consider:-
I. The certainty of the life to come. I admit that our storehouse of proofs is here, in the revelation of God. It is here that life and immortality have been disclosed by the Great Teacher, who came down from heaven, and not only disclosed in His instructions, but set in a most vivid light, by the miracles He wrought, in bringing men back from the grave, and by His own resurrection, the type and pledge of the resurrection of the race. The teaching of the Bible accords with the workings of the human mind, with the analogies of things, as we see them around us, and with the general constitution of nature.
II. What are the characteristics of the life to come? The future is to be but the full development, in different circumstances, and in a different form of life, of the present. The symbols used in the Scriptures, and the analogies they adopt to illustrate and throw light upon the subject, all show that the life which is, is to give shape and form and impart its elements to the life which is to come.
III. While we shall be the same beings, as far as our moral consciousness is concerned, the materials of thought, the objects which shall excite the passions and determine the experience shall be the same. The present is the great storehouse of the future, wherein we are laying up the elements of our future experience. Our emotions in the life to come, whether present or prospective, shall exist in view of the past. He that is holy shall be holy still; and he that is filthy shall be filthy still; rising in holiness or sinking in degradation for ever.
E. Mason, A Pastor’s Legacy, p. 186.
Reference: 1Ti 5:1-16.-Expositor, 1st series, vol. in., p. 380.
IV. CONCERNING THE LATTER-DAY APOSTASY
CHAPTER 4
1. What the Spirit has predicted (1Ti 4:1-5)
2. The remedies against apostasy (1Ti 4:6-16)
1Ti 4:1-5
The mystery of godliness having been mentioned, the apostle speaks of Satans power in opposition to the faith and truth of God (the mystery of godliness here, and the mystery of iniquity in 2 Thessalonians). But the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons. It is a prophetic warning. Paul had given a similar warning to the Ephesian elders gathered at Miletus a number of years before, and elsewhere in the New Testament the Holy Spirit gives the same warning concerning an apostasy in the future days. Inasmuch as the faith is the foundation upon which everything rests, Satan aims to destroy this first, knowing if faith is given up and the truth of God denied, that he, the master-mind, can easily introduce his seducing spirits and substitute for the faith, demon doctrines.
All this is fully evidenced in our days, the latter times which are the perilous times (2Ti 3:1). The mystery of godliness, the doctrine of Christ, is being increasingly denied and rejected by seducing spirits, active in systems like the destructive criticism, Unitarianism, the New Theology and others. And in Christian Science, Spiritism, Mormonism and other cults we find the very doctrines of demons. Anyone who rejects the mystery of godliness, no matter what else he may put in its place, has departed from the faith and becomes the prey of seducing spirits who lead him on to destruction and eternal ruin. And these seducers and seducing spirits, Satans ministers, appear as ministers of righteousness (2Co 11:15). They feign sanctity, speaking lies in hypocrisy. They teach the most deadly error under the cloak of piety, devotion and of deeper religious knowledge. Evil and error put on the form of truth and godliness. All this fits the different systems which claim to be Christian, but which are anti-Christian. They have seared, that is branded, consciences; claiming to lead others into righteousness and holiness while their consciences are defiled.
Two things are especially mentioned, forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats. (The Roman Catholic Church forbids her priests to marry, and also commands her members to abstain from certain meats on certain days.) This austere asceticism was a pretension to superior piety. Men began to teach these heresies even in apostolic days. They developed later into systems like Gnosticism; and today we see the same principles advocated in theosophical and other occult movements. They forbid what God has established in creation, for marriage is an institution which God has sanctified, and to use that which God has created to be received with thanksgiving by them which believe and know the truth. They claimed that their superior holy character would not be consistent with marriage and eating meats.
Forsaking the real and practical holiness of communion with God, and of His commandments by Christ, they created a false sanctity for themselves, which denied that which God had ordained from the beginning, and thus exalted themselves against the authority of Him who had ordained it, as though He was an imperfect or perhaps evil being (Synopsis of the Bible).
The Spirit of God through Paul assures us that any creature of God is good, and nothing to be rejected, if it be received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer. If that which God has made for the creature for its use is refused and rejected, it is sin. But all that the Creator has provided must be received from Him with thanksgiving, and the acknowledgment of a dependence upon Him. Prayer is needed for that, to sanctify to our use what He has so graciously given.
1Ti 4:6-13
The rest of the chapter consists of exhortations in view of the threatening apostasy, how these evils may be combated and remedied. If Timothy put the saints of God in remembrance of these things, he would be a good minister (deacon) of Jesus Christ, and be continually nourished up in the words of faith and good doctrine. To remember the apostolic instructions and to maintain by them faith and good doctrine effectually counteracts error and the doctrines of demons. Then profane and old wives fables must be avoided and refused, We have an all-sufficient revelation of God; speculative things of the human mind intruding into things unseen (Col 2:18), following the theories, imaginations and traditions of men, only lead away from godliness, and lead from foolish questionings into that which is profane. (A believer has no business to investigate Spiritism, Theosophy, or occupy his mind with things not made known in the Word of God. We must avoid these things, refuse to have anything to do with them, else we step upon the territory of the enemy, and lay ourselves open to his attacks.)
The true exercise must be unto godliness, pious, consecrated living; and the true exercise is self-judgment, maintaining a good conscience and communion with God. Bodily exercise by erratic living, abstaining from meats and other things, profits but little. It is far different with true godliness. It is profitable for everything, both in this life and that to come. This is another faithful word and worthy of all acceptation (1:15). And for this doctrine the apostle labored and suffered reproach; but he had faith in the living God, who as Saviour-God, by His power and providence, sustains all men. He is the preserver of all men, but especially of those who believe. As Creator He is the preserver and benefactor of all men; but for those who believe He is much more than that. In this God as Creator and Saviour, preserver and keeper, the believer trusts. These things command and teach. It is another remedy against the seducing spirits and doctrines of demons. None should despise his youth. Timothy was very young when he joined Paul (Act 16:1-3), and now after some eleven years he was still youthful, especially in comparison with Paul the aged. He urges him to be in his life and walk a model of the believers–in word, in conduct, in faith and in purity.
These are the evidences of true piety and holding sound doctrine. Then as to himself and his service, till Paul came, he was to give himself to reading, which of course must mean the Holy Scriptures, to exhortation and to teaching. He was not to neglect the gift that had been bestowed upon him. In his case this gift was a direct bestowal of prophecy, the voice of the Spirit making it known (as in Act 13:1). The laying on of hands by the elders had not communicated the gift. It was the outward expression of fellowship with the gift imparted unto Timothy. This gift had to be used and developed like every other gift of the Spirit. A gift may be idle and neglected, but if rightly used it will grow and be used in blessing. To do all this and meditate in these things, be whole-hearted in them, progressing constantly in godliness, is a safeguard against all error. Take heed to thyself and the doctrine; continue in them; for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee. Some have perverted this instruction as if it meant the salvation of the soul, for eternal salvation. It has nothing to do with eternal life and salvation. This the believer has in Christ through grace. Save has here the same meaning as in Philippians, a present salvation from the dangers in the way, being saved from error.
mystery (See Scofield “Mat 13:11”).
angels (See Scofield “Heb 1:4”).
world kosmos = mankind. (See Scofield “Mat 4:8”).
the Spirit: Joh 16:13, Act 13:2, Act 28:25, 1Co 12:11, 1Jo 2:18, Rev 2:7, Rev 2:11, Rev 2:17, Rev 2:29, Rev 3:6, Rev 3:13, Rev 3:22
expressly: Eze 1:3
the latter: Num 24:14, Deu 4:30, Deu 32:29, Isa 2:2, Jer 48:47, Jer 49:39, Eze 38:16, Dan 10:14, Hos 3:5, Mic 4:1, 2Ti 3:1-9, 1Pe 1:20, 2Pe 3:3, Jud 1:4, Jud 1:18
depart: Dan 11:35, Mat 24:5-12, 2Th 2:3, 2Ti 3:1-5, 2Ti 4:4
seducing: Gen 3:3-5, Gen 3:13, 1Ki 22:22, 1Ki 22:23, 2Ch 18:19-22, 2Co 11:3, 2Co 11:13-15, 2Th 2:9-12, 2Ti 3:13, 2Pe 2:1, Rev 9:2-11, Rev 13:14, Rev 16:14, Rev 18:2, Rev 18:23, Rev 19:20, Rev 20:2, Rev 20:3, Rev 20:8, Rev 20:10
and doctrines: Dan 11:35-38, 1Co 8:5, 1Co 8:6, 1Co 10:20, Col 2:18, Act 17:18, Rev 9:20,*Gr.
Reciprocal: Gen 49:1 – last days Lev 15:8 – General Deu 31:29 – the latter days Deu 32:17 – sacrificed 2Ch 11:15 – for the devils 2Ch 18:22 – the lord hath Job 24:1 – seeing Psa 102:23 – He weakened Pro 11:9 – An hypocrite Pro 14:25 – General Pro 19:9 – and Isa 30:8 – the time to come Jer 23:26 – prophets of Eze 13:4 – like Eze 13:8 – behold Eze 13:10 – seduced Dan 7:24 – another Dan 7:25 – and think Dan 8:23 – in the Dan 11:34 – cleave Dan 11:38 – But in his estate Hab 2:18 – a teacher Mat 7:15 – which Mat 15:9 – teaching Mat 18:7 – for Mat 24:11 – General Mar 7:7 – the commandments Joh 2:1 – a marriage Act 8:29 – General Act 10:19 – the Spirit Rom 1:18 – who hold 1Co 3:12 – wood 1Co 11:19 – there 2Co 2:17 – which Gal 1:7 – pervert Col 2:4 – lest 2Th 2:11 – that 1Ti 1:19 – concerning 2Ti 4:3 – the time Heb 13:9 – carried 1Jo 2:26 – concerning 1Jo 4:1 – many Rev 11:2 – it is Rev 16:13 – three
VERSE 1Ti 4:1 of chapter 4 must be read in connection with the last two verses of chapter 3 God dwells in the church as His house by the Holy Spirit and the church is the pillar on which the truth is inscribed. Now the indwelling Spirit speaks in defence of the truth, warning of the devices of the devil to be expected in the latter times, and He speaks expressly, there is no indefiniteness about His utterances.
When the Apostle wrote the Holy Spirit was still giving inspired messages through prophets, as we see in Act 13:2. The apostles and prophets who were the vehicles of inspiration belonged to the foundation of the church (See, Eph 2:20) and inspiration has ceased, though we have as the result of it the Holy Scriptures. Still though He no longer speaks in that authoritative way He abides with us for ever and His direction may often be perceived by those who have eyes to see.
The Spirits warning in the first three verses has often been taken as applying to Romanism. We believe that the reference is rather to that deliberate trafficking with demons which we see today in spiritism. It is true that Rome imposes celibacy on her clergy which looks like a fulfilment of the opening words of verse 1Ti 4:3. Spiritism advocates both celibacy and vegetarianism as necessary if anyone aspires to be a good medium, and this fulfils both parts of the verse.
The Holy Spirit then warns us that His speaking will be imitated by unholy and seducing spirits, their object always being to turn away from the faith. They may pose as being very cultured, and as wishing to refine our food on aesthetic grounds, and this may be all that is in the mind of their dupe, who acts as the medium, yet the unclean demon who manipulates the dupe has other thoughts and his ulterior aim is ever the overthrow of the faith If they can divert from the faith and inculcate their doctrines their end is achieved.
Men may raise prejudice against sound doctrine by calling it dogma, but they only end by substituting some other doctrines, probably the doctrines of demons. So, you see DOCTRINE DOES MATTER after all.
In the early verses of our chapter the Spirits warning is against the doctrines of demons, which, if received, altogether turn men from the faith. In verse 1Ti 4:7 the warning is against a danger of a somewhat different order, Profane and old wives fables. Timothy is urged to stand firm against both errors.
The Apostles instructions in verse 1Ti 4:6 seem to have specially in view the first of these dangers. We are to be kept in remembrance of these things, and here he alluded not only to what he had just written in verses 1Ti 4:4-5 but also to the great truth unfolded in 1Ti 3:16, and indeed to all his instructions given earlier in the Epistle, for verse 1Ti 4:6 of chapter 4 cannot be disconnected from 1Ti 3:14. Thus we as well as Timothy may be nourished with the words of the faith and of good doctrine and this will effectually render us proof against the seducing doctrines of the devil. But this must be attained or fully followed up for it is only as we become fully acquainted with the truth that we can detect error and consequently refuse it.
Godliness is set in contrast with the profane and old wives fables, from which we gather that they were mainly concernmed with the superstitious ideas and customs which have always played so large a part in heathendom and which creep so easily into Christendom. The poor heathen mind is in bondage to endless superstitions connected with the bringing of good fortune or the averting of evil, and all these customs appeal to, and bear far more hardly upon, the womenfolk than the men. Hence the Apostles term- old wives fables. Now godliness brings GOD Himself into the details of ones life, since it is based upon that trust in the living God of which verse 1Ti 4:10 speaks.
It is instructive though sad to note the great increase in recent years of superstition amongst nominal Christians. The war doubtless gave it a great impetus when hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of charms were made for the protection of soldiers. The cult has spread everywhere and now mascots abound, and more and more people observe customs which are designed to bring good luck or avert bad luck. All this argues the decline of godliness. If God is shut out of the life these stupid abominations creep in.
Our God is the LIVING God. Nothing escapes His notice and He is the Saviour [or, Preserver] of all men, specially of those that believe. The poor heathen enjoying a wonderful deliverance may attribute his escape to the potency of the charm given to him by the medicine man. The British motorist, a nominal Christian, just escaping a fearful crash may declare that he never comes to any harm so long as he has his black cat mascot on board-he has never known it to fail. They are both wrong though the latter is far more guilty. Both are victims of profane and old wives fables. The truth is their deliverances came, whether directly or indirectly from the hand of God.
Gods preserving mercy is specially active towards those that believe, so a simple trust in Him should mark us. It marked Paul and carried him through his labours and reproaches. We are to exercise ourselves to godliness. This is a mental exercise of far greater profit than mere bodily exercise. That is profitable in some small things whereas godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of life, both now and to eternity.
Here let us recapitulate for a moment. Godliness is, we may say, the main theme of the epistle, and it is enjoined upon us because we are of the house of God. The knowledge of God Himself as He has been revealed in Christ is the secret spring of it, and it very largely consists in that God-consciousness, that bringing of God into all the details of our daily lives, which is the result of trust in the living God. All this has come before us, and the question would now naturally arise in our minds as to whether any practical instructions can be given which will help us in exercising ourselves unto godliness according to the instructions given in verse 1Ti 4:7 ?
Verses 1Ti 4:12-16 supply us with a very ample answer. Timothy was a young man yet he was to be an example to the believers who were to see godliness expressed in him, a godliness which affects us in word, in conversation or conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. To this end he was to give himself with all diligence to reading, to exhortation to teaching. The reading enjoined upon him was, we suppose, that public reading in the presence of believers generally which was so necessary when copies of the Scriptures were few and far between, yet it should impress upon us the importance of reading the Scriptures both privately and publicly. When Paul came Timothy might have the joy of hearing Gods Word from the inspired lips of the Apostle; until then he must pay all heed to Gods inspired Word in its written form.
The Christian who neglects the study of the Word of God never makes much progress in the things of God nor in the development of Christian character. Give attendance to reading should be a watchword with all of us, for only as we are well furnished ourselves can we be of help to others.
Timothy was to exhort and teach others and for this a gift had been deposited in him in a special way. Hence neglect not the gift that is in thee is the second word instruction. By reading we take in: by exhortation and teaching we give out. Not all of us have received a special gift but all of us are responsible to give out in one way or another, and we neglect it at the peril of our own spiritual good.
Meditate upon these things is the third word that comes before us. By reading our minds become well furnished with truth. By meditation the truth in its force and bearing is brought home to us. Just as the ox not only feeds in the pastures but also lies down to chew the cud so we need to ruminate, to turn things over in our minds, for it is not what we eat that nourishes us but what we digest. If we meditate upon the things of God, getting right into them so that they control us then our profiting, our spiritual advancement, becomes apparent to all.
A fourth word of great importance if we would grow in the ways of godliness is that in verse 1Ti 4:16, Take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine. First of all we must get the truth itself, which is set forth in the doctrine, clearly before us. Secondly, we must take heed to ourselves in the light of the truth, testing ourselves and our ways by it, altering them as the truth demands. This of course is the crucial matter.
Too often the truth of God has been taken up in a purely theoretical way when it becomes just a matter of argument, a kind of intellectual battleground. When however we come face to face with it in practical fashion we at once become aware of discrepancies between it and ourselves and our ways, and serious questions are raised. Now comes the temptation to somewhat alter or pare down the doctrine so that we may leave our ways untouched and the discrepancy largely if not entirely disappears. May God give us all grace to reverse that procedure and rather alter our ways that they may be in conformity with the doctrine. Thus we shall be rightly taking heed to ourselves and to the doctrine as well, and continuing in the truth we shall be saved. The salvation here is from the dangers of which we are expressly warned by the Spirit in the earlier part of the chapter, whether doctrines of demons or profane fables.
1Ti 4:1. Speaketh expressly means to speak in express or exact words. This is what is known as verbal inspiration, where the Spirit gives the apostle or other hearer the message in the exact words to be received and communicated to others. That is not the usual method of inspiration, but instead, the Spirit reveals the truth on the subject being considered, but leaves it to the one being inspired to use his own words in handing the message over to others. This accounts for the fact that the various writers can be distinguished from each other by their own peculiar manner of speech; such as that of Paul or Peter or John, etc. But since the Spirit supervises the whole revelation, it assures us that the writings of all these men are inspired and hence what they say is divine truth. Latter times represents an indefinite date, only that it is in the future from the time the apostle is writing. Depart from the faith denotes a foresaking of the true faith in Christ as it is revealed in the Gospel. While the original Greek word is not the same as that used in 2 Thessalonians 2 regarding the apostasy, the meaning is the same. It is a prediction of the false dectrine of Rome, that came out from those headquarters after the “man of sin” (2Th 2:3) came into being in his full power. Seducing spirits refers to the deceiving men who pretend to speak by inspiration, such as the clergy of the church of Rome. Doctrines of devils. The last word means demons, spirits in the intermediate state, which is usually translated by the word “devil.” The Romish church makes great claim of having communications with beings in the unseen realm, and the doctrines (or teaching) that were claimed to have come from the intermediate state were put out by Rome as of great significance, and were believed by the disciples of the “man of sin.”
1Ti 4:1. Now. Better but, as introducing a contrast to the mystery of godliness in 1Ti 3:16.
The Spirit speaketh expressly. The reference is clearly not to Old Testament prophecies, which would have been cited in terms, and quoted as Scripture, nor to our Lords words in Mat 24:11, which if known to St. Paul, would have been assigned to Him, but to the direct teaching of the Spirit at or about the period at which St. Paul wrote. Whether that teaching came immediately to the apostle, or through the utterances of other prophets, we cannot decide. On the whole, the atter view seems the more probable. There seems, from 2 Peter 2 and Jud 1:17, to have been about this time a burst of prophecy throughout the Asiatic churches indicating the approach of a time of trial and persecution for the faithful, the increase of heresy and iniquity; and to such utterances, analogous to those to which St. Paul refers in Act 20:23, and to his own warnings on that occasion (Act 20:29-30) he is probably alluding. 2 Thessalonians 2 presents predictions of a like kind.
Some shall depart from the faith. The falling away or apostasy of 2Th 2:3.
Seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils. The apostle here distinctly recognises a preternatural element in the workings of evil in the Church. They are many and diverse in contrast with the unity of the Spirit, but they have this in common, that they all lead astray. So St. John (1Jn 4:1-3) and St. Paul himself (1Co 12:1-3) recognise the work of evil spirits in the simulated prophecies or ecstatic utterances which disturbed and startled the assemblies of Christians, and give tests for discriminating between the reality and the counterfeit. The meaning of these words determines the interpretation of those that follow. The doctrines of devils or demons are not doctrines about demons, as some have contended, pressing the text into the controversy against the Romish doctrine of the worship of the departed spirits of the saints, but doctrines that came from demons, the frenzied ravings as of men possessed by a nature more evil than their own. Comp. St. Jamess description of false wisdom as earthly, sensual, demon-like (1Ti 2:15).
Division 4. (1Ti 4:1-16.)
The latter-day apostasy.
The fourth division stands in the saddest contrast with that which we have just been looking at. The brighter the light, the darker the shadows. The corruption of the best becomes the worst corruption; and, alas, as soon as ever we speak of what is entrusted to man, there is sure to follow the demonstration of man’s wilful incapacity. We must never lose sight of the wilfulness which is the incapacity. Scripture never forgets the complete responsibility of man in every way, and never allows that he fails through weakness simply, through mere incompetency. The apostle goes on now, therefore, to speak of the foreseen apostasy, even from a faith like this; the power of Satan working where the power of God is working, and man giving heed to Satan rather than to God. How blessed, however, to realize that here also, where it may least seem so, God is absolute Master of all circumstances, and that even the worst revolt of the creature shall at last glorify Him! For us also the knowledge of these things should be also the knowledge of that which is in our own hearts, and which should make us cleave, in the consciousness of our weakness, to Him, with fuller purpose and desire, who alone is able to deliver us from all that is within as well as all that is without.
1. It is remarkable how much the apostle connects, in all that is here, the present with the past, carrying us back to the very beginning, to the creation and the fall, and showing us the apostasy in Christendom as being still the revolt of the creature against the Creator, the spurning of that which God instituted at the beginning, so that just as Christianity embodies in itself also the principles inherent in God’s first creation, so the apostasy too sums up in itself the elements of all apostasy, which is seen to be rebellion all along the line of history, as we may say. How gracious of God that all this is marked out for us, that we might not be dismayed or overborne by that in itself so startling, the spirit of evil yet unconquered and manifesting itself only the more, the more God’s grace is manifested! “The Spirit,” then, “speaketh expressly that in the latter days some shall apostatize from the faith.” We have not here exactly, as in Thessalonians, the fully organized apostasy. It is the individual, rather, and in that way so soon to manifest itself. The faith is here what is struck at in the first place, as it is, as we know, the foundation of all. Other things will follow; and if the faith can be destroyed, the fruits of faith will of necessity follow. Men may make, as they are making now, light of doctrine. Satan is wiser, and, with all this, while he encourages it, is only making manifest his own estimation of doctrine. He knows how to exalt morality at its expense, and to be here, apparently, the angel of light contending for righteousness. Only, in fact, his lies begin with a doctrine which his followers must receive, and in which all is found for the accomplishment of that which it is in his heart to accomplish. Apostasy from the faith will be found always to be the “giving heed to deceiving spirits, and teachings of demons,” although there may be times in which this may be palpable, and, as the darkness increases, demonolatry may, and naturally will, become more openly in fashion. It is all about us today; by which we may judge of the darkness; but the apostle’s words are not to be limited to this. A certain homage to the truth, if we can call it so, is found in these lies in hypocrisy. Evil has to put on the form of godliness, and is a successful imitator of that for which it can be no substitute. The conscience is, in fact, being seared at the same time that there is the utmost pretence of following it, and of something higher than even ordinary Christianity itself can produce. Of this character is the “forbidding to marry,” and “bidding to abstain from meats,” an asceticism which puts Stylites upon his pillar, and is a real satisfaction of the flesh, abhorrent to Him whose delight is that His creatures should freely enjoy that which He has created to be received with thanksgiving. Self-denial is, of course, all well, when there are interests to be served by it, and which make it, therefore, to be really this; but this is the mere caricature, the aping of self-denial, not the reality. It is plainly nothing like what you find in Christ at all, in whose presence there was a rejoicing as of the men of the bride-chamber in the Bridegroom come. Christianity has now, therefore, removed even the restrictions of Judaism, and justified God in His creation of every creature as good. The Jewish restrictions had, as we know, their typical significance, and were shadows for the time -not even then the very image of the true. The word of God thus sanctifies the reception of all that He has made for us and put into our hands; and it is the mere part of unbelief to refuse anything. With this reception there is, of necessity, that which is the acknowledgment of our dependence upon Him which all this implies, and of our need that He should make it to us that which He has ordained it for. Our very food is not sanctified to us, does not rightly become our own for Christian use, except by prayer.
2. The apostle goes on now to exhort, in view of all this, that everything that is not sanctified by the word of God should be refused. There must be no speculation, no dreaming outside the Word, nothing which would bring in uncertainty. We must walk amid realities, in the light of ascertained truth. In putting the brethren in remembrance of these things, Timothy would be a good minister of Jesus Christ, himself nourished with the words of the faith and of good doctrine, which he had fully followed up; for in all doctrine there must be that which ministers to the need of the soul, in order that there may be the fruit from it also for which it is intended. He was to avoid, therefore, “profane and old wives’ fables,” the merely speculative and the profane never being far apart; in fact, lacking in the very beginning of it the sobriety of mind which finds all-sufficient the revelation of God, and distrusts all human ability to transcend it. Piety was to be sought, and to this he was to exercise himself, the body being but a small part of it here, and the exercise of it being profitable for a little, but piety profitable for everything; having promise of the present life and of that which is to come. It is plain that even the Lord’s words as to the losing of one’s life in this world are not contradictory to what the apostle says here. A path with the light of heaven upon it, whatever be the path itself, must be a bright one; and God has amply provided for this. Happiness, indeed, is the only thing that will satisfy Him.
Faithful is this word and worthy of all acceptation: even the laboring and striving because of hope in a living God grows out of faith in One who is the Preserver of all men, especially of those who believe. The character of a Saviour-God for all is here again, as we have found it before in the epistle. Sin has brought in all the distress there is, all the hardship, all the straits and limitations. In these we are not called to rejoice, save only as indeed God works by them to give us the necessary lessons of our schooling time’ but His glorious, beneficial love is that which we are called to believe in, and to see everywhere thus, whatever may be the appearances.
These things, then, Timothy was to command and teach. Youthful as he might be, he was to allow no one to despise him on that account. His own growth and maturity in the Word were to be manifest, as well as all the moral character which attaches to this. He was to give himself to exhortation, to teaching, developing by using the gift which had been given to him. He was not to neglect that which was in him. How many do this, perhaps by the false humility which would make the gift to be but little -false, because the smallest gift from God is not to be despised, and contains in it a germ which may indefinitely grow, if only God is served in it. In Timothy’s case this gift had been given through prophecy, with the laying on of hands of the eldership. It was not the laying on of hands that communicated the gift, although it owned it, no doubt. The gift was given through prophecy, the voice of God announcing it, as prophecy means here as elsewhere. He had thus a special place which none of us can now pretend to; but with all this there is only the more need of recognition of how dependent he was upon the thing upon which we too are dependent. His gift did not release him from that which Christianity imposes upon all. He was to occupy himself with these things that he ministered, to be wholly in them -an immense point, as he declares, for a progress which was to be made manifest to all. There is nothing for power like real occupation, heart-occupation with our own things. We are relieved from the pressure of things upon us, from the cares which fret away the good of life. The things eternal assuming their proper place with us, nothing that is of time can be a real hindrance. To these things, then, he had to take heed, and to the teaching; himself not alone being concerned in them, he would both save himself (that is, in the working out salvation after the manner we have seen in Philippians) and those also who heard him.
CONCERNING FALSE TEACHERS
In 1Ti 4:1-6 these false teachers are foretold and described. At what period are they to appear? Notice that this agrees with Pauls teachings to the Thessalonians about the apostasy. It also has a bearing upon the current question as to whether the world is growing better or worse. That question is too vast for mortal to answer, and we can only fall back upon what God says about it. In this and in other places, He has told us what to expect as the end of the age draws near, and it is for us to square our understanding and conduct accordingly.
Notice the detail of the Holy Spirit in describing these false teachers. They shall be under what kind of influence (1Ti 4:1)? What two leading tenets of their system are mentioned in 1Ti 4:3? How does the apostle contradict these teachings in 1Ti 4:4-5? Here we need to guard against the disposition to limit the application of this false teaching to Roman Catholicism. Celibacy and abstinence from meat suggest that phase of Christianity, but the teachings of the occult sciences, Christian Science included, enlarge our horizon considerably in estimating what the Holy Spirit meant in this case.
1Ti 4:7-16, or perhaps beginning at 1Ti 4:6, may be regarded as an exhortation to Timothy himself to that steadfastness and growth in his Christian life and calling so imperative in view of the false teaching he was called upon to combat, the germ of which had already sprung up. How does 1Ti 4:7 indicate that, in Pauls estimation, these heresies were mere abstract speculations without any connection with the historical realities and practical tendencies of Christianity? The reference to bodily exercise in 1Ti 4:8 is interesting. According to many it had reference to the physical abstinence from certain food, from marriage, etc., referred to above, which the heretics commended, but which Paul condemned. According to others, he means the gymnastic exercises so much in vogue with the Greeks, especially the Olympic games. He would have the youth Timothy appreciate that the exercise begins with the inner man.
QUESTIONS
1. What bearing has this chapter on the questions whether the world is growing better or worse?
2. To what current heresies besides Roman Catholicism may 1Ti 4:1-6 apply?
3. How does Paul feel about these heresies in his day?
4. In what way may the reference to bodily exercise be explained?
As if our apostle had said, “Although the mystery of godliness, the doctrine of Christianity, be so clearly revealed, and fully confirmed, yet the spirit of prophecy has very plainly told us, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith once embraced by them, either in whole or in part; turning apostates, by giving heed to impostures and doctrines of men, teaching erors suggested by devils, who cover their lies with hypocritical pretences, and are men of hardened hearts, seared consciences, profligate lives, forbidding some, whom they have seduced, to marry, and commanding them to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving by them which do believe and know the truth.”
Observe here, 1. That the apostasy and defection of a considerable part of the Christian church in the latter times was foreseen and foretold very long before it came to pass: by Daniel, say some, Dan 11:28; Dan 11:38 &c. by St. Paul, say others, in his second epistle to the Thessalonians; and in his first epistle to Timothy, the Spirit speaketh expressly, that some shall depart from the faith, that is, from the doctrine of the faith received; which we know the church of Rome has most notoriously done.
Observe, 2. The cause of this apostasy and defection from Christianity, Giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.
Quest. But what is here meant by doctrines of devils?
Ans. These (says our reverend archbishop Tillotson) can be no other doctrines than those tending to idolatry, which the scripture every where doth in a particular manner ascribe to the devil, as the inventor and promoter of; therefore he tells us, that, in some ancient copies, the words run thus: In the latter times some shall apostatize from the faith; for they shall worship the dead, having regard to doctrines of devils:– so that the particular kind of idolatry into which some part of the Christian church should apostatize, is here pointed out, namely, that they should worship souls departed, or the spirits of dead men, which was part of the heathen idolatry, into which the people of Israel did frequently relapse; these departed souls were called Daemons, and were esteemed a middle sort of divine powers, between the supreme gods and mortal men, whose office it was to be agents and mediators between the gods above and men below; thus is the holy city trodden down by the Gentiles, that is, overwhelmed with the Gentiles’ idolatry.
Observe, 3. The persons revolting, who they are foretold to be; not all, but, but some only: In the latter days, some shall depart from the faith; not the whole visible church, but a very great and considerable part of it.
Learn thence, That the true church of Christ was never wholly extinguished, nor the light of the gospel ever quite put out , no, not in the greatest darkness, that ever was, to overwhelm it; some (only) and not all, that shall depart from the faith.
Observe, 4. The persons described who should be the occasion of this apostasy and revolt: namely, such as speak lies in hypocrisy, and have seared consciences, that is, such stupid consciences as have lost the sense of good and evil, and no longer do their office. These lies, which the apostate church of Rome is guilty of, the profound Mr. Mede styles, “Lying miracles, fabulous legends of the acts of saints and sufferings of martyrs, counterfeit writings under the name of the first and best antiquity.”
Lord! who could have coined or believed such monstrous stuff as the popish legends are fraught with, but such as are cauterized, past all feeling and tenderness both of conscience and sense itself.
Observe, 5. The doctrines discovered which these apostates would teach, namely, the forbidding marriage to some, and enjoining abstinence from some meats as unlawful and unclean to others, both which are called doctrines of devils, that is, wicked and devilish doctrines.
Learn thence, That the Popish doctrine forbidding marriage, not absolutely to all, but with restrictions and limitation to some, to wit, their clergy, and all such as shall enter into holy orders, is a devilish and wicked doctrine: for it forbids that which the word alloweth, nay, in some cases commandeth, Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled; Heb 13:4 if honourable in all, then surely lawful for all; under the Old Testament, the prophets, priests, and Levites, did marry; under the New, the ministers of God have a power to marry; Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife? 1Co 9:5 And that they made use of their power is evident from the following words, as well as other apostles and Cephas.
The other wicked doctrine concerning meats is also found in the church of Rome, who by a law to oblige some orders of men, as monks, to abstain from certain meats reducing them thereby from Christian liberty to a conformity to the legal rites, which may well by reckoned as an apostasy from the Christian faith; for although St. Paul, Romans 14 doth allow the forbearance of some sorts of meats to avoid scandal, yet he doth no where condemn the eating of them as unclean: the doctrine therefore of the church of Rome, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, is wicked and devilish.
The Coming Apostasy
Despite the fact that Jesus had been fully shown to be Lord, the Spirit plainly revealed to Paul a coming apostasy. At some time in the future, Paul said some would abandon or desert the sum of things believed by Christians. Instead, they would addict themselves to the teaching that leads men astray. This doctrine comes from evil spirits through the men who allow themselves to be used as their instruments ( 1Ki 22:20-22 ). The teaching may be called the doctrine of demons in the same sense or it may refer to false teachings about demons. These false teachers would knowingly teach error. A hypocrite is one who plays a role or acts out a part. These false teachers would use their role playing to deceive others and lead them away from the truth. Like a man who builds up a callous through hard work, these teachers would consciously turn themselves away from the truth until they became hardened to it ( 1Ti 4:1-2 ; Eph 4:17-19 ).
Paul said those false teachers would forbid marriage and the eating of meats as a part of their false doctrine. Some had the belief that flesh was evil, which might have led to this erroneous teaching in the late first and early second century. In our own times, others have obviously followed the same course. Yet, God did not disallow marriage or the eating of meats ( Heb 13:4 ; Mar 7:18-19 ). God made marriage because it was not good for man to be alone. He also made meat for man to eat. Any teaching contrary to this is in error ( Gen 2:18-25 ; Gen 9:1-4 ). Man was forbidden to eat the blood of animals with the meat, but not the meat. Everything God created is good if it is used in a manner befitting God’s purpose. Of course, all things given by God should be received with thanksgiving and not be considered taboo. All things were made holy by God’s word in the creation ( Gen 1:4 ; Gen 1:12 ; Gen 1:17 ; Gen 1:21 ; Gen 1:25 ; Gen 1:31 ). We set it apart for God’s service when we give thanks for it ( 1Ti 4:3-5 ).
1Ti 4:1. Now the Spirit By calling the Christian Church, in the end of the preceding chapter, the pillar and support of the truth, the apostle taught, that one of the important purposes for which that great spiritual building was reared, was to preserve the knowledge and practice of true religion in the world. Nevertheless, knowing that in after times great corruptions, both in doctrine and practice, would at length take place in the church itself, and that the general reception of these corruptions by professed Christians would be urged as a proof of their being the truths and precepts of God, on pretence that the church is the pillar, &c., of the truth, the apostle, to strip these corruptions of any credit which they might derive from their being received by the multitude, and maintained by persons of the greatest note in the church, judged it necessary in this chapter to foretel the introduction of these corruptions, under the appellation of an apostacy from the faith, and to stigmatize the authors thereof as hypocrites and deceivers. And to give his prediction the greater authority, he informed Timothy that it was revealed to him in a peculiar and express manner. The Spirit, says he, speaketh expressly As concerning a thing of great moment, and soon to be fulfilled. Some have thought the meaning of the apostle to be, that the Holy Spirit had revealed what follows by Daniel, and some of the other prophets; but, says Macknight, the things here mentioned are not in Daniel, nor anywhere else in Scripture, not even in the prophecy which the apostle himself formerly delivered concerning the man of sin. I therefore think these words were, for the greater solemnity and certainty, pronounced by the Spirit in the apostles hearing, after he had finished the preceding passage. But the apostle might mean, that the Holy Spirit had revealed this, not only to him, but also to other contemporary prophets.
That in the latter, or after times As the phrase may be translated, because it denotes future times, without marking whether they are near or remote. Or if, as Mede thinks, Daniels four monarchies are referred to, as it was under the Roman that the God of heaven set up the kingdom of his Son, the latter, or after times here intended, may be the last part of the duration of the Roman empire. Some shall depart Or rather, shall apostatize, from the faith The apostle had predicted the same thing before, 2Th 2:3, where see the notes. There the character of the teachers who were to introduce the apostacy is described; but in this epistle the erroneous opinions and corrupt practices which constituted the apostacy are foretold. And as the apostle hath introduced this prophecy immediately after his account of the mystery of godliness, is it not probable that his design in so doing was to give the faithful an opportunity of comparing this mystery of iniquity with the mystery of godliness, that they might be more sensible of the pernicious nature of it? It may be proper to observe, that it is not every error or heresy that is an apostacy from the faith. It is a revolt in the principal and essential articles, as when we worship God by an image or representation, or when we worship other beings besides God, and pray unto other mediators besides the one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. It is the very essence of Christian worship, to worship the one true God through the one true Christ; and to worship any other God or any other Mediator, is apostacy and rebellion against God and Christ. It is, as St. Paul says, (Col 2:19,) not holding the head, but depending upon other heads; it is, as St. Peter expresses it, denying the Lord that bought us, and serving other lords; and the denial of such an essential part may as properly be called apostacy, as if we were to renounce the whole Christian faith and worship. It is renouncing them in effect, and not regarding God as God, or Christ as Christ. Such is the nature of apostacy from the faith, and it is implied that this apostacy should be general, and infect great numbers. For though it be said only some shall apostatize, yet by some in this place many are understood, which is the case also in many other passages of the Scriptures, as Bishop Newton has fully proved. Giving heed to seducing spirits Who inspire false teachers; or to men that persuade others to believe them by the pretence of some inspiration or revelation of the Holy Spirit, and thereby cause people to err from the true faith of the gospel. The apostle means those gross frauds by which the corrupt teachers, in the dark ages, would enforce their erroneous doctrines and superstitious practices on the ignorant multitudes, under the notion of revelations from God, or from angels, or departed saints. In the same sense St. John is to be understood, when he says, (1Jn 4:1,) Believe not every spirit, every pretender to inspiration, but try the spirits whether they be of God. And to doctrines of devils Or rather, doctrines concerning demons. The word , translated demons, was used by the Greeks to denote a kind of beings of a middle nature between God and man. They gave the same name also to the souls of some departed men, who they thought were exalted to the state and honour of demons for their virtue. The former sort they called superior demons, and supposed them to have the nature and office which we ascribe to angels. The latter they termed inferior demons. These were of the same character with the Romish saints. And both sorts were worshipped as mediators. When therefore the Spirit of God foretold, that in after times many would give heed to deceiving spirits, and to doctrines concerning demons, he foretold that, on the authority of feigned revelations, many in the church would receive the doctrine concerning the worship of angels and saints, and the praying souls out of purgatory; and called it the doctrine of demons, because it was in reality the same with the ancient heathenish worship of demons, as mediators between the gods and men. Thus the sin for which many are represented as being punished, (Rev 9:20,) is said to be their worshipping, , demons, that is, angels and saints; not devils, as our translators have rendered the word, for in no period of the church have devils been worshipped by Christians.
1 Timothy Chapter 4
But there would be some who departed from the faith, from this knowledge of the one Creator and Saviour-God-Him who was manifested in the flesh. They would attack precisely these points which we have named. It might be that they would pretend to carry the idea of Christian privileges farther than all others had done, as well as that of profound knowledge of God; but they would sin against first principles, against the faith which connected the Saviour God revealed in Christianity with the one only Creator-God. According to Christianity, the eternal God had not only created the world but had revealed Himself in Christ. These apostates, bringing in doctrines of demons, would seek to deny that it was this one and only God of nature who had manifested Himself in grace. Seduced by demons, and their conscience being seared,they forbade that which God had established in creation, that which He had given to man in full right after the flood: as though the superior holiness which they preached, and relationship with a more exalted God, were not consistent with such customs. Forsaking the real and practical holiness of communion with God, and of His commandments by Christ, they created a false sanctity for themselves, which denied that which God had ordained from the beginning and thus exalted themselves against the authority of Him who had ordained it, as though He was an imperfect or perhaps evil being.
Thus the restraint of the fear of God was lost, and the door opened to license and dissoluteness. The Spirit of God warned the assembly of this, and the faithful apostle communicates it to Timothy and through him puts the faithful on their guard. He does not therefore speak of privilege. Faithful to the glory of God, he returns to the first principles of His glory, and maintains the incontestable rights of the one and only God; faithful to God, not making boast of his knowledge, but seeking in love to guard the assembly from all departure from God.
We must not confound the few here who forsake the faith with the general apostacy of 2 Thessalonians. Here a few depart from the truth, seduced by demons; and the assembly still subsists to be guarded from the invasion of these hurtful principles. Quite another thing is the general apostacy, and the manifestation of the man of sin, which is not mentioned here at all. Here we have the faithfulness which repels error by truth, reminding the brethren of the latter, in order that they may not be seduced. There it is the manifestation of the one who sits in the temple of God, and who is destroyed by the brightness of the Lords presence. Here all that had to be done was to recall in simplicity the goodness of the Creator, and that His gifts, received with thanksgiving, were always good, and not to be refused: assuredly not that they were to use them for the gratification of their lusts, but as sanctified by the word of God, which brought them to us as Gods gifts, and by prayer, which connects us with God in using them. They were to be received as from Him, as the gift of His hand; and they were sanctified, as is the case with everything that comes from Him and bears the stamp of His will and His goodness. Man had forfeited everything in forsaking God: what he had he had not now with God, would eat merely as an animal, and worse as having left God. The word of God replaced the relationship in grace, and prayer used it on this footing. Here (although in other circumstances it has gone much farther) the monastic principle, in the heart and in form, is fully judged; however sincere any individual may be who seeks to follow it in order to honour God. God does not withdraw the gifts on which man, so to speak, has seized by his will; but his use of them, instead of being the gratification of his will and lusts, is now as received from God by His will in thankfulness, and owning Him.
This in fact the apostle shews in that which follows. By teaching thus Timothy would be a good servant of Jesus Christ, nourished in the truth: bodily exercise profited little, but godliness much-both here below and for eternity; warning him again against the idle and profitless speculation of the human mind, to the danger of which he continually recurs. It is for this doctrine of God-true and worthy of all acceptation-that the apostle laboured and suffered reproach; because he had faith in the living God, who, by His providence and by His supreme power, [8] governed, preserved, and took care of all men, and especially of those that believed. It was this same only God, Creator and Saviour, in whom he trusted while laboring for the Lord. Timothy was to teach this and enforce it with authority.
Afterwards, in connection with this authoritative instruction, the apostle speaks of the person and position of Timothy himself. He was young, but he was to maintain his place, and gain by his conductthat weight which years did not yet give him. He was to be an example to the believers, and occupy himself, till Paul came, with reading, exhortation, and instruction. Moreover, in his case God had given a special preparation for his work; he was not to forget or neglect it. A gift had been imparted to him: God had pointed him out to this end by prophecy; and this immediate testimony from God, to which the operation of His power was united, had been accompanied by the seal of testimony from man, that is, that of the elders among the Christians. (Compare Act 13:1-3.)
Thus all things concurred to strengthen Timothy in his service, and in the authority that he exercised at that moment in place of the apostle. He should always present the weight of an irreproachable conduct, which would have its influence over hearts and consciences; but he was inwardly strengthened by the consciousness of having been formally set apart by God for the work; the gift of God had been imparted to him, and the sanction of all that had weight in the assembly had been laid, as a seal, upon him. Thus strengthened, he was to devote himself to the things of the Lord in such a manner, that his progress should be evident to all men-a demonstration of his communion with the Lord. At the same time he was to take heed to himself and to the doctrine, and that continually, which should be the means of salvation both to himself and to those who heard him.
Footnotes for 1 Timothy Chapter 4
8: Compare Mat 10:29
ARGUMENT 9
DEMONIACAL POSSESSIONS OF THE PREACHERS IN THE LAST DAYS
1. The Spirit positively says, that in the last time certain ones will depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and the teachings of demons,
2. Speaking lies in hypocrisy, having been cauterized as to their own conscience. Multiplied millions of demons throng the air, all doing their best to find a home in some human heart. They constantly transform themselves into angels of light, and pass themselves on Christians for the Holy Ghost, and on Spiritualists for their dead relatives, thus deceiving the world by wholesale. A preacher stands in the pulpit, and a demon behind him gives the message and the utterance, passing himself for the Holy Ghost. It does not mean that the conscience of the people is seared with a hot iron, but that of the demons. Hence, their hopeless reprobacy. As the powers of Satan increase upon the earth in the last days, these demons literally flood the fallen Churches, inundating the pulpit. What is the remedy? Nothing but entire sanctification, in which dispensation we live, and for which we are especially responsible to God. The baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire burns out all of the jungles of inbred sin and all the morasses of depravity, leaving the demons no hiding-places, so they can no longer play off on you. You should always follow Jesus, led by the Holy Ghost; as these demons have no incarnation, they can not counterfeit Jesus, but as the Holy Ghost has no incarnation, they can counterfeit him. The Divine leadership is triple,the Word, Spirit, and Providence. If you are true to this threefold leadership, you will never get sidetracked by these demons. I am satisfied they manipulate many pulpits and rule Churches not a few this day. I am in the forty-fifth year of my ministry. O what a fearful apostasy in my recollection! Entire sanctification is the only attitude in which you can securely avail yourself of the Divine leadership. If you will not have it, you must take chances among the demons.
1Ti 4:1. Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, learnedly, openly, perspicuously, and not in shadows, as was the manner of the ancient prophets. THEOPHYLACT. See the note on 2Th 2:1. By the Spirit we understand the same Spirit which inspired the ancient seers.
That in the latter times some shall depart from the faith. By apostasies near at hand, Timothy was apprized of more general defections in the later ages. In Pauls time some departed from the faith to judaism, and others to the splendid dreams of gentile philosophy.
Giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of demons. Satans attempt was upon the Godhead of Christ. If thou be that Son of God, which the voice has declared, command that these stones may be made bread. Satan knew that the Messiah, or Word of the Lord, created the heavens and the earth, according to Psa 33:6. And ministers being the pastors whom the sheep obey, he allures them to be the first corrupters of the faith, and the great agents of all the turbulent controversies that have rent the church.
1Ti 4:2. Speaking lies in hypocrisy. They not only spake falsely of the apparitions of saints, of miracles wrought at the tombs of martyrs, but they knew that they spake falsely; and thus their conscience, burning at first with guilt, gradually became seared by the habit of lying and seduction.
1Ti 4:3. Forbidding to marry. Antichrist thus exalts himself above all that is called God, even the great Creator, who had blessed the happy pair, and said, be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth. The christians favoured the exiles who had returned home after the storms of pagan persecution had subsided, by allowing them to live as solitaries, having acquired that habit in exile. Thus the monastic habits obtained, and spread at first through the east. In later ages monasticism was encouraged in all parts of the west, the nations then having but little foreign trade to demand their attention.
In England, during the wars of the bloody Saxons and Danes, the monks were almost the only men that cultivated letters, and caused Roman and Saxon literature to flourish. The venerable Bede, born on the banks of the Tyne in the year 701, and who died, according to Baronius, at the age of a hundred and five, was the common father of the monastic orders in this Durham, York, Fountains Abbey, Sherborne, Glastonbury, and numerous Kirkstal Abbey, three miles West of Leeds, I can speak with some degree of certainty, Mr. Bramley having lent me a Latin manuscript, written by one of the monks immediately after its sequestration.
Lacey being sick, about the year 1100, made a vow on his recovery to build a monastery, and obtained a grant of land from the king in the lovely Kirkstal. It was a daughter of Fountains Abbey, two miles from Rippon, the residence of monks of the sequestration, those fathers possessed four thousand sheep, two hundred and fifty head of horned cattle, and an equal number of yearlings and encreased, for every man of landed interest was in a manner obliged to leave them an ox-gang, or two hides of land, to enfeebled the state, and were altogether unsuited to a commercial nation. And in St. Pauls ideas, it would seem, that to deny existence to the human Pauls advice was that the young women should marry, and guide the house: 1Ti 5:14.
Commanding to abstain from meats. particularly the langtein, and support of the nation, and is contrary to the law of nature, every creature of the Lord being good, and sanctified by prayer.
Bodily exercise profiteth little, To persons of voluptuous habits, bodily exercise may be profitable, and so may depletion, but not the superstitious observances here referred to.
Among people, however, where temperance is a daily habit, fasting is needful, except it be on special occasions to seek the Lord by earnest prayer.
But godliness, , piety as described Eph 3:14; Col 1:28; 1Th 5:23-24; is profitable to all things, God, and makes us partakers of the divine felicity. Piety exalts our privileges which the church enjoys. Piety produces domestic happiness, and places our children in the way of enjoying all the good promised to them, as well as to their fathers. Yea, it leads to riches and honour. Psa 112:3. Piety is the grand support of the mind in the time of sickness and manifold afflictions; it stays with us, and brightens when earthly comforts are withdrawn. In the hour of death especially, it swells the soul with divine ardours, to inherit the promises of immortality and eternal life. Religion is the heritage which the poor may enjoy in all its plenitude of hope and consolation.
1Ti 4:9-10. This is a faithful saying, an assured truth, as illustrated in 1Ti 1:15. Therefore, for the hope of obtaining the promise of the present life, and also of that which is to come, we both labour and suffer reproach. We likewise continue in those labours, and support those conflicts, because we trust in the living God, who is, , the Saviour of all men, especially of those that believe. The term Conserver of all men, does not fully express the apostles meaning; for unless a man believe that God willeth all men to be saved, says Theophylact, how should he sustain all those conflicts for their salvation? Timothy is excited here to endure sufferings, and not relax in duty, nor seek help in afflictions from any other source, but hope in him who ever lives, and who is the only Saviour.
1Ti 4:12. Let no man despise thy youth. The people do not expect in young ministers the wisdom of grey hairs; they are pleased when they see a promise of it. But there are some extraordinary young men, as Fenelon remarks, whose wisdom equals that of the aged, consummate in virtue. La sagess extraordinaire de quelques jeune hommes, qui egalent les vieillards, consomms en virtu. Telem. livre 8.
Timothy was now little turned of thirty years, and the more aged presbyters might have their feelings on seeing so young a bishop placed over them. But his word in the sanctuary, his conversation in private, his charity in all her divine forms; his spirit, full of ardour and zeal; his faith and courage, like Pauls, who had seen the Lord, superior in conflicts; his purity irreproachable, would cause the church to see that he filled the place which heaven had designed.
1Ti 4:13. Give attendance, be attentive to reading. The jews deeply lament the loss of their books. Augustine also laments, that though the writings of the first ages were innumerable, yet few had come down to them. All however are not lost; we have invaluable remains of antiquity, and of the moderns we have more than we can read. A minister must spend his mornings with his books, especially the works of the fathers. To be ignorant, says Cicero, of what was done before we were born, is always to live children. An aged minister, the Rev. Robert Hopkins, once advised me, in reading my morning chapter, to expound it as though a congregation were before me: this, he said, would make me apt to teach.
1Ti 4:14. Neglect not the gift that is in thee. All natural, all divine, and all acquired endowments require cultivation. The expanse of thought can find no limits. Heaven feeds the flocks in fresh and green pastures.
By the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. Erasmuss note here is, so some copies have it; but the more ancient coincide with the Greek, which hath , that is, presbyters, and not presbytery. Ambrose also reads, sic quidam habent codices. According to these fathers, unction and benedictions attend those offices. Act 13:3.
1Ti 4:15-16. Meditate upon these things. Dwell upon every thing which belongs to the ministry. Give thyself wholly to them, with the enthusiasm of painters, poets, and of all who study the fine arts. If they do it for an earthly crown, how much more shall ministers do it for the heavenly crown? Take heed then to thyself in all moral, and all mental qualifications, because thy own salvation, and that of thy hearers, is connected with these improvements.
REFLECTIONS.
The apostle having stated the pillar and ground of the truth to consist in the Godhead of Christ, justified in his claims by miracles wrought by the Holy Spirit, and discovered incarnate to angels, here adds, that from this faith many should apostatize, and dishonour and rob him of his glory by the worship of dead men, here called angels or demons. The apostle called the gods of the gentiles demons, when addressing the Athenians, Act 17:18, which was also a common name in their poets. But ah, how was this strange calamity brought upon the church? Why did her watch-men slumber? It was occasioned much in the same way as idolatry was brought upon the sons of Noah at Babel. They deified Belus after his death, the Baal of Israel, the Bel of Babylon, and the successor of Nimrod. They paid divine honours to ancient princes and patriarchs, and supposed them to be their guardians and protectors. In the primitive church, when the heathens accused the christians of impiety in not honouring departed merit, Eusebius replies, that they did worship or hold their assemblies at the sepulchres of the martyrs. Prp. Euang. lib. 13. So far all was harmless, though on the verge of danger. But gradually, as offerings came from a half pagan church, especially utter the time of Constantine, and as the clergy lost the spirit and power of religion, being corrupted with the times, they first winked at divine honours being paid to the statue of the martyr in each church, and then, as gain and corruption encreased, they began to enjoin the worship of saints. They accounted the souls of martyrs as the Mahuzzims, or towers of their city and church. Dan 11:38. Now the pope and his cardinals, with all canons, councils, and clergy, really accounted by protestants the apostate church, are guilty of systematically framing and enforcing this idolatry in the grossest sense. The chaste bride of Christ is become the whore of Babylon, a mystical name for Rome, which tyrannized in the west, as Babylon once did in the east.
It was foretold that the apostate church should be distinguished by hypocrisy and lies, by signs and lying wonders; and whoever reads Daill on the right use of the fathers, will see that to support the supremacy of Rome and image worship, they corrupted the early writings of the church, forged new ones, feigned myriads of miracles to be wrought at the tombs of the martyrs, and wrote legendary lives of the martyrs, uniting facts to fiction, to make their plea complete, and to draw simple souls to idolatry. All christians are therefore bound to shun their worship, in which they cannot unite without giving countenance to idolatry. Like Paul at Lystra, we should be ready to rend our garments at a deed which gives the glory of Gods omnipresence to a creature, by supposing the blessed Virgin, or the martyr, to be present in all christian assemblies, and in heaven also at the same time. What is this but ascribing divine attributes to mere creatures, though the Lord himself has said, my glory will I not give to another. Protestant martyrs refused to bend the knee at the shrines of idolatry, and preferred rather to suffer at the burning stake.
The forbidding to marry and to eat various kinds of meats, is a farther mark of antichrist. No priest, no monk, no friar, no nun, can marry, under the penalty of excommunication. God has said, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth; but this armillum improbum, this armed wicked one, this man of sin, this antichrist, has exalted himself above all that is called God, by forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats. Decrees of this kind are made efficient to supersede the canon of scripture. Thus error and interest combined in the mystery of iniquity to form the antichristian hierarchy, which God has sentenced, as the punishment of apostasy, to afflict and oppress the church for twelve hundred and sixty years. Rev 12:6.
It is of great consequence also to note, that the apostle delivered this luminous comment on the prophecy of Dan 11:36-39, for the good of Timothy, and of all the ministers under his care, that being warned, they might be nourished up in the words of faith and of sound doctrine. Woe then to those watchmen who first suffered the pure and apostolic faith to be corrupted. Their base supineness produced the long and grievous mischiefs which have since afflicted the church. Let us abide by the scriptures, the sweet fountains of life: the bible and the bible only contains the religion or faith of the protestant world.
1Ti 4:1 to 1Ti 6:2 a. The Charge respecting Timothys own Behaviour within the Church.
(a) 1Ti 4:1-16. Timothys Attitude to Error.
1Ti 4:1-5. The False Asceticism.Despite the greatness of the revelation, however, even within the Church error will arise. Prophets, inspired by the Spirit, foretell an apostasy which will be brought about by men inspired by evil spirits (cf. 1Jn 4:1 ff.) and bearing on their conscience the mark of their master, Satan (contrast Gal 6:17). Already there flourished outside the Churche.g. among the Essenes (p. 624) and the Therapeut, a false asceticism by which marriage and certain foods were regarded as impure. Such conceptions wouldand, indeed, in respect to food (Col 2:16), had begun toinvade the Church itself, despite the fact that everything created by God is good (cf. Mar 7:15, Act 10:15), if it be consecrated by the scriptural grace pronounced over it by every Christian (cf. 1Co 10:30, Rom 14:6).
1Ti 4:2. branded: other interpretations are: (a) with conscience made non-sensitive (AV), (b) with the penal branding of criminals.
1Ti 4:3. and commanding, etc.; Hort suspects corruption of the text, and conjectures either or to touch or and to take. Neither form of asceticism in this verse requires a late date for the epistle.
The solemn warning here is in startling contrast to the preciousness of what we have considered as to God manifest in flesh. How cold is the heart of man that he will turn deliberately from a faith so vital and valuable! Not that this verse 1 speaks of a general apostasy, as will be true in the last days, for the apostle speaks only of “some” apostatizing. Yet it is a determined effort of Satan to corrupt the truth of the sacred Word of God and to obscure the glory of the manifestation of God in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us observe the unusual expression here, “The Spirit speaks expressly.” He speaks certainly in all the Word: but this matter is one of specially serious import, a prophecy to be taken deeply to heart, for it indicates the subtle way in which the truth of God would be glossed over by the introduction of proud human merit, self-abnegation, etc., not an outright denial of the truth, but a cunning displacing of it. Some are greatly attracted by this kind of thing, but the Spirit of God calls it no less than apostasy, that is, an actual giving up of true Christianity. It is direct entertaining of the suggestions of seducing spirits and teachings of demons-that which is spoken of in Col 2:23 as “will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body.”
This kind of teaching always involves “lies spoken in hypocrisy.” Appearing very specious and plausible, the
hypocrisy of it snares unwary souls who have not learned that “the flesh profiteth nothing. But those who propagate such things ignore their own consciences to such a degree that they become seared as with a hot iron, and of course eventually become without proper feeling. We must not dare to treat conscience in this way, but allow it always its true, sensitive activity. Sensitive members of our body are vitally important to warn us against dangers that threaten health and even life. To be deprived of their ability to function may come without warning. If the lens of a lighthouse lamp is covered with grime, the warning light will not be seen.
Notice in verse 3 the negative character of the teachings of such deceivers. “Forbidding to marry” may sound very holy and self-denying, but it is not so. A sect may be easily formed on a basis of this kind, but it is opposed to the truth of Christ. They may justify it by insisting that Christ was unmarried, and Paul was unmarried, which two facts are true. But the Lord Jesus nevertheless confirmed and emphasized what Genesis had declared, that “For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh” (Mat 19:5). And Paul no less strongly declares the truth of the purity of the marriage bond in Scriptures such as 1Ti 5:14; Heb 13:4; and 1Co 7:28. He himself had voluntarily made himself a eunuch for the kingdom of heaven’s sake (Mat 19:12), willingly foregoing marriage that he might the more fully serve the Lord. But he would adamantly oppose any suggestion of men to make such a thing a rule: this would be utter evil.
The same may be said of making any rule of abstaining from meats. Paul himself tells us that, “If meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no meat while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend” (1Co 8:13)’
Here is the very real personal exercise of one whose care for souls is such that he will gladly sacrifice his personal rights for the sake of the blessing of another. But this is far removed from making any rule as to abstaining from meats. Nor does he consider that eating or refraining from eating has any effect on the spiritual state of his own soul (1Co 8:8). These things must be kept clearly distinct. Meats themselves have been created by God to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.
Under law it is true that certain meats were forbidden to Israelites (Lev 11:1-47); but not because the eating of those meats was in itself sinful. Rather, it was a symbolical lesson to Jews as to their maintaining a distinct separation from the Gentile nations, and impressing upon them the rigidity of the legal covenant. This is plainly indicated in Act 10:1-48, when Peter was given a vision by God in which every type of animal was depicted in a vessel let down from heaven, and Peter was told to “Rise, slay, and eat.” When he objected, God told him, “What God hath cleansed, that call thou not common.” This was done three times to emphasize its importance (Act 10:9-16). The dispensation of law was over: its regulations must not be carried into Christianity. The middle wall of partition between Jews and Gentiles had been broken down by means of the cross; and with it, of course, the regulations concerning the abstaining from meats were done away (Eph 2:14-15).
Verse 4. “Every creature of God is good.” There is no evil whatever in the fact of eating any of the various meats therefore. The question of what may be harmful to health in specific cases, is not, of course, considered here, but the spiritual implications of eating. If one knows he cannot tolerate certain foods without suffering for it, then it is only sensible for him to avoid these. But eating or not eating makes no spiritual difference. “If it be received with thanksgiving” is an important condition noted here. If I do not thank God for my food, then whatever I eat, the spiritual implications are bad. That which sets the food apart as God’s provision is the Word of God and prayer.
These things had been faithfully taught before, but to put the brethren in remembrance of them is a matter that must constantly exercise the servant of God. Timothy was not told to concern himself with teaching new things, but to unwearyingly go over that which had been known before, to present it as the ever fresh ministry of the Spirit of God vitally needed as food for the soul. In so doing he would be a good minister of Christ Jesus, his own soul not only instructed, but nourished, and therefore fitted to nourish others. For it is surely not because of intellectual ignorance that men give heed to seducing spirits, but because their souls are not nourished satisfyingly with the pure truth of God. “Words of faith and of good doctrine” then are in contrast to “seducing spirits and doctrines of demons.” And the measure to which one has attained is in proportion to the nourishment digested in his own soul.
Verse 7. Profane and old wives’ fables are of one piece with what is seen in verses 2 and 3: a true connection with God is lacking in it all. People may claim these things are only supplemental to the truth of Christianity; but if it is not Christianity, then in no way does it supplement Christianity: it must be refused. “Profane” is simply secular, as distinct from what is sacred, and in fact in contrast to it. It must be kept distinct: it cannot add one iota to the truth of God. In fact, such fables may sound very flattering and confirming to the truth, but this is one of Satan’s most cunning methods: if he can persuade Christians to accept such things, the door is open to any untruth, and the truth itself is soon displaced.
But besides “profane” these are called “old wives’ fables,” that is, they are perpetuated and disseminated by idle gossip, not by the pure energy of the Spirit of God. This type of thing is to be resolutely refused, and the positive exercise of godliness cultivated. This calls for a constant stirring up of the heart in concern for the glory of God and conformity to His own character. As physical exercise promotes the health and vigor of the body, so this spiritual exercise is necessary for the normal health of the soul.
Bodily exercise, it is conceded, does profit for a little while, that is, it is of value temporarily (therefore not to be ignored): but godliness has both present and eternal value: this life is benefited by it inestimably, and it has in it a character that reaps eternal results. How well worth cultivating!
Verses 9 to 11 emphasize the importance of these things, for these are matters of more importance than we are naturally likely to attribute to them, and Timothy is urged to keep in mind the fact that for these very things the true servant of God both labors and suffers reproach, his trust being in the Living God. Unfeigned faith is to be a consistent motivating power in all this, and this same spirit of faith is that which the servant seeks to cultivate in the hearers. The eye is to be undividedly upon the Living God, and if this is true, then the servant’s labors will certainly bring reproach, but will gain the approval of God, who is Himself the Preserver of all men, specially of those who believe. All men are dependent upon His preserving care in the very details of their lives: if so how much more believers should depend on Him fully; for whatever the reproach they may bear, they will be unfailingly preserved of God.
Timothy was to command and teach these things: Divine authority was behind them: they must not in the least be compromised. He was not to allow men to despise his youth. This could only be accomplished through what follows. Young man though he was, he was to be an example of the believers, not one merely following passively the example of others. “In word” is first mentioned, for it is this that others will first observe. “By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” Words reveal that which most occupies the heart.
“In conversation” is rightly translated “in conduct,” (Darby Trans.), and refers to conversing not only audibly, but in our actions. This too will claim the observation of others, who should see in it a godly example. “In love” is a precious addition to conduct, for this is the warming, attracting character that draws souls, and does require true cultivation. “In faith” is surely no less important, for the soul must learn to always look out from mere circumstances to the Living God, with unfeigned confidence in His truth and faithfulness, drawing from Him the grace to meet the many problems of the way. If this is true, how precious an example for others! “In purity” evidences a single heart that allows no admixture of principles, no adulteration of truth, but honestly keeps separate the precious from the vile. This certainly will be noticed too, not always appreciated by men, but valuable in the eyes of God, and a necessary example for others.
Verses 13 and 14 have direct reference to Timothy’s service to others, while the last two verses are personal to him. His giving attendance to reading then is doubtless reading in public for the sake of others. It is evident, however, that if he was to do this effectively, he would first have to read privately. Reading would provide food for the mind: exhortation would stir the heart and conscience as regards what has been read: doctrine, or teaching, would give the accurate, clear significance of what has been read.
The danger was present too of Timothy’s neglecting the use of the gift God had given him. The timidity of his nature was evidently such that he needed this exhortation. In fact, one is saddened to think that he did not sufficiently take to heart this admonition; for in the second epistle (ch. 1:6) the apostle uses a much stronger expression, “That thou rekindle the gift of God which is in thee” (Darby Trans.). If we pay close attention to the first, we shall not need the second. Yet the grace of God is still available should we have so neglected our gift that it requires the more radical energy of rekindling.
The way in which Timothy’s gift was given was evidently exceptional, for we read of nothing like this of others. “By prophecy” seems to indicate that God revealed beforehand to at least one other what character of gift Timothy was to have. 2Ti 1:6 appears to show that this exercise of prophecy was on the part of Paul, for the gift was given, he says, “by the putting on of my hands.” It is not “by the laying on of the hands of the presbytery,” but “with”; so that apparently the actual gift was given by God by means of Paul’s putting on of his hands, but accompanied by the same gesture of fellowship on the part of elders, simply as expressing their concord with this. It does not, of course, deny the fact that “one and the selfsame Spirit divides to every man severally as he will” (1Co 12:11), but in this exceptional case the Spirit used the apostle Paul as the medium of the communication of the gift. The general rule is Plainly the free and independent action of the Spirit of God in giving gift according to His own will.
In caring for the needs of others, Timothy must not neglect the inward prosperity of his own soul. Indeed, how can service for others be right if the laborer is not enjoying personal communion with his Lord? And meditation is the means whereby the precious truth of the Word is worked livingly into the heart, of which chewing the cud is an apt symbol. These things were to be Timothy’s very life, he himself completely given to them. This surely is not asking too much, yet alas, how far short we fall of such simple, single-hearted devotion! If it were true of us, others would certainly see the value of it in our lives.
He must “take heed,” be concerned and watchful as to his own spiritual state and conduct, and also as to “the doctrine,” the teaching of the truth of God. This cannot be maintained in its truth and purity apart from an exercised heart and conscience. These two things were imperative in order that he might save himself and those who heard him, from the subtle snares of the enemy of souls. For it is, of course, a present, practical salvation of which the apostle speaks, a salvation from the dangers that would work spiritual harm to saints of God. Let us weigh well here both the serious question of our own preservation from the horrible pitfalls of evil on almost every side; and the influence of our own lives upon others also.
Verse 1
Doctrines of devils; corrupt and wicked doctrines.
4 Warnings against Religious Flesh and Instruction in Piety
(1 Timothy 4)
Having instructed us in the order of God’s house and the secret of all right behaviour on the part of those who form the house, the apostle, in the remainder of the Epistle, warns us against certain fleshly activities that are destructive of right behaviour, and instructs us as to true piety that alone will guard the faithful from these different evils.
In 1 Timothy 4 the apostle warns more especially against apostasy, and religious flesh manifesting itself in the false principle of asceticism. In 1 Timothy 5 we are warned against worldly flesh, showing itself in wantonness and self-gratification. In 1 Timothy 6 we are warned against covetous flesh with its love of money.
The safeguard against these evils is found in godliness. The truth of godliness (or, according to the better translation, piety) has a very prominent place in this First Epistle to Timothy. The word is used sixteen times in the New Testament, nine of these occasions being found in this Epistle (1Ti 2:2; 1Ti 3:16; 1Ti 4:7; 1Ti 4:8; 1Ti 5:4; 1Ti 6:3; 1Ti 6:5; 1Ti 6:6; 1Ti 6:11). Piety is the confidence in the known and living God that leads the believer to walk in the holy fear of God amidst all the circumstances of life. It recognises and honours God, and is therefore the very opposite of sanctimoniousness that seeks to exalt self.
In chapter iv the apostle first warns us against the apostasy of some who turn from Christianity to a religion of the flesh (verses 1-5); then he brings before us the life of piety as that which will guard the soul from the evils of the flesh (verses 6-10); finally, the apostle gives personal exhortations to Timothy, containing instruction and guidance for all the Lord’s servants (verses 11-16).
(a) Warnings against religious flesh or asceticism (verses 1-5)
The apostle has closed the previous portion of the Epistle with a beautiful unfolding of the faith setting forth the great truth of Christianity as the manifestation of God in Christ. Now the Spirit expressly warns that, in the latter times of the Christian profession, some will depart, or apostatise, from the faith. Later, the apostle warns us that some, by their practice, will deny the faith (v. 8); some, by covetousness, will wander from the faith (1Ti 6:10); and some, by speculation, will miss the faith (1Ti 6:21).
(Vv. 1, 2). Here he speaks of apostatising from the faith. Clearly, the apostle is not speaking of the great apostasy foretold in the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians, which refers to the apostasy of Christendom as a whole after the rapture of the church. In this passage the apostle says some shall apostatise, evidently referring to the apostasy of individuals taking place in the latter days before the coming of the Lord.
While the assembly of God is still on earth, there will arise those who once made a profession of Christianity but who give up the great cardinal truths of the Christian faith concerning the Person of Christ.
(V. 3). Behind this apostasy there is the direct influence of seducing spirits leading to the doctrines of demons in contrast with the truth. The apostate is not simply one who neglects the truth, nor rejects the truth. He is one who, having made a profession of the faith, deliberately gives up the truth and takes up some other religious creed as being superior to Christianity. The demons speak lies while professing to maintain the truth. The devil we know is a liar (Joh 8:44) and beguiled our first parents by speaking lies in hypocrisy. The fact that the truth has no power over their souls and that they give heed to doctrines of demons clearly proves that their consciences are so seared that they are no longer able to distinguish between good and evil. Apostasy, then, involves not only the giving up the truth but also the adoption of error – the doctrine of demons.
In place of the truth the apostate affects a religion of the flesh which professes to be of the very highest sanctity. They make the assumption of extraordinary purity by forbidding to marry, and great self-denial by abstinence from meats. In reality, having turned from the faith, they deny God as our Saviour and, in refusing marriage and meats, they deny God as the Creator. This means the loss of all true piety which fears God, and in result opens the door to licence and wantonness. These seducing spirits, pandering to the pride of the flesh, hold out before men the promise of the greatest sanctity in order to lead them into the deepest corruption.
(V. 4). True piety avails itself of every mercy which God places within our reach. The mercies of marriage and meats, which are rejected by those who depart from the faith, are to be received with thankfulness by those who believe and know the truth.
(V. 5). The world and its ways are not sanctioned by the word of God for the believer; but these natural mercies, which are available for all the world, are set apart for our comfort while passing through the world. Nevertheless, their use is guarded for the believer by the word of God and prayer. The word of God regulates their use, and by prayer the believer takes them up in dependence upon God.
(b) Piety or trust in the living God (verses 6-10)
(V. 6). The apostle has set before us certain dangers against which the Spirit expressly warns us. Timothy was to put the brethren in remembrance of these things, and so doing would prove himself to be a good servant of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine with which he was fully acquainted. The seducing spirits, of which the Holy Spirit speaks, sought to exalt man with a sense of religious importance and sanctity. The true servant seeks to exalt Christ by ministering the truth.
To be a good servant of Jesus Christ it is not enough to know the truth, and hold the truth; we need to be nourished by the truth, and, in practice, to follow up fully the truth. Our own souls must be fed if we are to feed others. We must be nourished, not simply in the words of teachers, however true, but with the words of the faith which convey to us the good teaching of Christianity and, if followed up, will produce a practical effect in our lives, preserving us from the evils of the latter times.
(V. 7). Having exhorted us to follow the truth, the apostle warns us to refuse all that which is outside the words of the faith. The imaginations of men will always tend to profanity and foolishness, which the apostle characterises with contempt as old wives’ fables. Our great exercise should be to be found walking in piety. We may put service first; but there is ever the grave danger of being active in service while neglecting personal piety. The good servant will exercise himself unto piety that he may be meet for the Master’s use, and prepared unto every good work. We may, at times, like the Corinthian saints, be very active in service and boast in our gifts, and like them be very unspiritual through not exercising ourselves unto piety.
(V. 8). To emphasise the importance of spiritual exercise as to piety, the apostle contrasts it with bodily exercise. The allusion is probably to the public games, as in 1Co 9:24; 1Co 9:25, where, in speaking of the public races, he says, Every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. He continues to warn us in that passage that such exercise in temperance has only a passing advantage; at best it obtains only a corruptible crown, in contrast with the incorruptible which the Christian has in view. So here, he says, that this bodily exercise is only profitable in some small things; but the spiritual exercise of piety is profitable unto all things, being rich with blessing in this life as well as in that which is to come.
(Vv. 9, 10). The apostle presses the importance of this exercise as to piety by stating, This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. It was because of his piety that the apostle can say, For this we labour and suffer reproach. We may be prepared to labour and be prominent before men, and thus labour and gain applause, or labour to exalt self. But if piety is behind our labour, it will inevitably mean labour and reproach.
The apostle proceeds to show that the spring of piety is confidence in God. We trust in the living God who is the preserver of all men, specially of those that believe. Piety is that individual confidence in God that takes up every circumstance of life in relation to God. The unregenerate man leaves God out of his life; the believer recognises Him in all the details of life and thankfully receives and uses every mercy that He places within his reach without abusing the mercies. Thus, piety is the antidote to all the evil influences of the latter days, whether the evil takes the form of asceticism, celibacy, abstinence from meats (1Ti 4:3), neglecting one’s own house and living in habits of self-indulgence (1Ti 5:4-6), or attaching importance to worldly advantage and money (1Ti 6:3-10).
(c) Personal precepts for the servant of the Lord (verses 11-16)
(Vv. 11, 12). These things Timothy was to enjoin and teach. Being a young man he was to be specially on his guard against any assumption or youthful pride which would mar his testimony by leading him to be despised because of his youth. If his exhortations and instructions to others were to be effectual, he would have, in his life, to be a model of the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Alas! how often we mar our testimony through failing to exhibit these beautiful qualities of Christ. If the truths we teach do not affect our own lives, can we expect our teaching to affect others?
(V. 13). His own life being pure, the servant would be free in seeking to help others by reading, exhortation and teaching. The connection of reading with exhortation would seem to show that the reading has no reference to his personal study, but rather to the public reading of the Scriptures, which in those days had a place of special importance.
(V. 14). Moreover, in the case of Timothy, a gift for ministry had been imparted to him, and for which he had been specially marked out by a prophetic word from God, and with which the elderhood had expressed their fellowship by the laying on of hands. Such prophecy and laying on of hands had been fully set forth in the case of Barnabas and Saul (Act 13:2; Act 13:3). However right and beautiful the Christian life, it would not enable the servant to take the definite place of a teacher. For this a gift from the Lord was necessary. In Timothy’s case he could go forward in the confidence that this gift had been imparted by a direct word from God, and could be exercised in the consciousness that he had the full fellowship of the elders of the Lord’s people. The gift had been given by prophecy, and by the laying on of Paul’s hands (2Ti 1:6). It had not been given by the laying on of the elders’ hands: they laid their hands on Timothy as expressing their fellowship with him. Thus encouraged, he was to beware of neglecting the gift through any natural timidity.
(V. 15). Thus strengthened and encouraged, Timothy was to devote himself to the Lord’s things, as the apostle says, Occupy thyself with these things (N.T.). Too often we allow ourselves to be distracted by other objects than the Lord and His interests. Good for us to embrace heartily Christianity and make the things of the Lord our interest – to be wholly in them (N.T.). Then, indeed, our spiritual progress would be manifest to all.
(V. 16). The apostle sums up his exhortation to Timothy by saying, Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine. To press the doctrine while careless of our own walk, or to make much of personal piety while asserting that it is of small matter what we hold, are two snares into which many have fallen. Both alike are fatal to all true testimony. It is only as we take heed to ourselves and to the doctrine that we shall both save ourselves and those that hear us from the evils of the latter times.
CHAPTER 19
My wife and I were looking for a church home after moving to a new community. We looked in the yellow pages and tried a number of churches.
After a time, I found it more profitable to call and talk to the pastors of the prospective churches to see what I could find out. At times this saved us a distasteful visit.
I called a church that was a member of a fairly sound association that had the phrase “theologically conservative” in its description of itself. I called the pastor and was very excited with what I heard.
We arrived enthusiastic at the prospects and found the adult Sunday school class and settled in.
The discussion before the class began centered around everything but the Lord, but that isn’t all that abnormal.
The class began and degenerated quickly into a discussion of whether Paul really was right when he called for male elders.
Before the class was over it was evident that the teacher and others felt Paul was in error at times in the word, and most were really rejecting the inspiration and inerrancy of the Word.
Shocked, we entered into the church service and settled into a service that was right on. In fact the pastor was one of the best I’ve heard.
Later that day I called the pastor and told him of my confusion over his messages conservativeness and the Sunday school’s liberal bent.
He asked what class we had gone to. After a description of where it met he said, “well in that class you are probably right. They don’t have a high regard for the inspiration of the Scripture. He explained that the class was a split off of another, more liberal, church in town that had decided to settle with his church. He mentioned that the other adult class would be more to our liking.
A fundamental church allowing false teachers to occupy their classrooms and foster the spreading of their false doctrine!
We want to look at ACCEPTING FALSEHOOD in verse one, PRACTICING FALSEHOOD in verse two and three, and REJECTING FALSEHOOD in verses four and five.
I. ACCEPTING FALSEHOOD
1Ti 4:1. 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;
Off hand I personally can’t think of many people that I have known that have departed from the faith. Most have continued on in the Word and followed the Lord to His benefit.
Indeed, however we seem to be in the last days from all indications. Those leaving the faith are becoming more and more prominent. They are leaving the truth for the half-truth of Satan.
We have seen some of the prominent TV evangelists fall into immorality and financial ruin as well as criminal acts.
We have Christians that have been brought up in the church that are turning to the cults and joining into the false doctrine.
We have believers reading the daily astrological listings in the newspaper.
We have believers reading devotionals from liberal denominations.
We have believers calling the Psychic hot lines.
We have television evangelists that are having visions of dead people that introduce them to Jesus and to the Holy Spirit.
We are seeing men trained in our better institutions turning from their Biblical training and going into or starting fringe area groups.
I think one of the worst examples of people going off into all sorts of things is within some of the fringe radical charismatic groups. We have the prosperity gospel that tells us that God wants all to be rich – the fact that only the church leadership is getting rich should tell us something.
My brother spoke of one in Seattle. They took up offerings in five-gallon buckets. The pastor and his wife both drive Mercedes Benz automobiles.
Most of the congregation was poor to middle class and giving like crazy so they can be rich.
There are the Holy Laughter and Holy barking folks that tell us we just aren’t with it unless we are barking or laughing in the Spirit.
We have leaders in all of the denominations turning to embezzlement, to sex crimes and even murder. We have men that have served in fundamental ministries that are going off into money making ministries.
I recently received an email from a graduate of one of the main fundamentalist schools that was seeking ten dollars a month for the privilege of advertising his page on mine. He was setting up a prayer site – ten bucks to allow him to pray for people – hummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Paul’s use of the phrase “in the latter times” is of interest. Is Paul here admitting that the age might go on after his death? (He was a firm believer in the imminent return of Christ.)
I think that this may have been one of his realizations. He was getting older and realizing he might not live long enough to see the Lord come. The disciples looked for Christ to return almost immediately.
We do not know the time of the end! I trust that you will never predict the end, nor subscribe to someone else’s predictions.
I hear almost yearly someone say from a pulpit that we see the end coming to pass in the middle east. Hog wash! Christ told us that it will come as a thief in the night. We won’t see the unfolding of prophecy in this life, but probably from our heavenly view.
The prophets call for peace and unwalled cities in Israel before the end is come. The land of Israel is far from this today!
“depart from the faith” This seems to be one that has just up and changed his doctrine and walked away from a proper belief in the Word. From the faith would indicate more than just a doctrinal shift, but more to the thought that the person has left the faith or more to the point, left the church.
I would be quick to state that there are two areas in our day in which leaving the church can occur.
a. The type of shift in thinking that Paul is mentioning – the walking away from the faith.
b. The person that gets so fed up with the hypocrisy and sin of the church and leaves in total disgust. These people often just stagnate because they have no real spiritual growth, feeding or fellowship.
This type of person is becoming very common in our own day. Many in my own area are in this situation. I might mention that many are not stagnating, but living relatively normal Christian lives.
Some suggest that the person that does not attend church regularly cannot be spiritual. They normally mention the passage Heb 10:25 “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as ye see the day approaching.”
The item of interest in my mind is that the church is to give to the believer opportunity to fellowship, pray, and serve. Many churches you can attend for years and never see the fellowship or service. If the church is not fulfilling its end of responsibilities then attendance is not relevant. The church is also to feed and nurture but few are succeeding.
“giving heed to seducing spirits” The idea seems to extend to giving assent to the seducing spirits.
The term seducing indicates leading astray or misleading if you will with spirits that entice. This term appears four other times in the New Testament and is always translated with the idea of deceiver. (Mat 27:63 – deceive; 2Co 6:8 – deceivers; 2Jn 1:7 – deceivers and deceiver
The term spirits is the term that is used of man’s spirit as well as the Holy Spirit. Indeed, this is the same term that is translated Spirit in the first of the verse. The term is used in relation to the mind in Rom 8:6 which states, “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”
It would seem that Paul is using the word to give warning to any misleading thought of the mind or in short again the thought of false doctrine.
Doctrines of Devils or deceptive thoughts and/or doctrines might be the thought of the phrase.
Again there are batches of them out there. They even sound good when presented. They even may sound scriptural – unless you look at the WHOLE OF SCRIPTURE.
This is not doctrines about demons, but doctrines fostered by them. What doctrines the demons might foster is wide open – most anything that will mislead and cause you to deviate from truth.
The interlinear translates this as “spirits misleading and teachings of demons,”
“doctrines” is the word “didaskalia” It is translated teaching once and learning once and all other occurrences are translated doctrine. It is the same term that is used of sound doctrine (2Ti 3:16).
“devils” is a term that is normally translated devils and it is indicating the demons. It is the term used when Christ was casting out demons in the Gospels.
It would seem that the teachings are the teachings of the god of this world rather than the God of creation. These are doctrines that the devil has propagated via his emissaries the demons.
Don’t ask me to give you an example, for any false doctrine is of the Devil ultimately. Any teaching that is contrary to the Word of God is false doctrine and doctrine of the devil.
Mat 7:15-16 a gives a description of the type of men we might be looking at.
“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheeps’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits….”
One question that often comes up relating to this text is this. Are these people Christians that fall into false doctrine or are they professors that never really grasped the truth?
LET’S LOOK AT SOME FACTS:
1. In verse one “depart from the faith” is a term that is used usually of Christians 1Ti 1:19; 1Ti 3:9.
2. It is mentioned that their conscience is seared. This usually is connected with a long time of wrong doing or thought.
3. They forbid, what those that believe and know the truth, are to be enjoying.
Professors or departing Christians? First of all salvation is not an issue in this text. As to them being Christians – I would think from the text they are believers that just take a right turn out and away from their faith.
II. PRACTICING FALSEHOOD
4:1 Now {1} the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the {a} faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
(1) He contrasts that true doctrine, with false opinions, which he foretells that certain ones who shall fall away from God and his religion, will bring in by the suggestion of Satan, and so that a great number will give ear to them.
(a) From the true doctrine of God.
E. The problem of apostasy in the church 4:1-5
In this pericope Paul reminded Timothy of the apostasy that Jesus Christ had foretold to equip him to identify and deal with it. [Note: See Barth Campbell, "Rhetorical Design in 1 Timothy 4," Bibliotheca Sacra 154:614 (April-June 1997):189-204.]
"1Ti 4:1-5 does not begin a new topic. Paul, who has given his instructions on the true understanding of law, grace, and salvation (1Ti 1:3 to 1Ti 2:7) and on church behavior and leadership (1Ti 2:8 to 1Ti 3:13) and has paused to put his instructions into proper perspective (1Ti 3:14-16), now concludes by pointing out that these types of problems should have been expected because the Holy Spirit had clearly prophesied their occurrence . . ." [Note: Mounce, p. 233.]
In contrast to the true revelation of God (1Ti 3:16), false teaching would arise as time passed. Whether Paul referred to a special revelation he had received by the Holy Spirit or simply to previously revealed revelation ("the Spirit explicitly says") we cannot determine for sure. Nevertheless God had revealed through Christ that as time passed some who held the truth would repudiate it (Mat 13:21; Mat 24:10-11; Mar 4:17; Mar 13:22; Luk 8:13; cf. Act 20:29; 2Th 2:1-12; 2Ti 3:1-13; 2Pe 3:1-18). This would come about as a result of their listening to persuasive arguments put forth by God’s spiritual enemies and, behind them, demons (1Ti 4:1). [Note: See Gregory H. Harris, "Satan’s Work as a Deceiver," Bibliotheca Sacra 156:622 (April-June 1999):190-202.]
". . . one of Paul’s concerns here is almost certainly to arrest any doubts about the permanence of God’s church." [Note: Towner, 1-2 Timothy . . ., p. 102. Cf. Matthew 16:18.]
Are these who fall away from the truth believers or unbelievers? The Greek verb Paul used to describe their activity (aphistemi, to withdraw from, lit. to stand away) and the noun he used to describe their action (apostasia, defection, apostasy) do not answer this question. Either could be in view. The context must determine whether the one departing is a believer or an unbeliever. In some passages the context argues for Christian apostates (called "backsliders" by some Christians; Luk 8:13; 1Ti 1:18-20; 1Ti 4:1; 1Ti 6:20-21; Heb 3:12; cf. 2Ti 2:12 b, 16-18; 1Ti 3:13; 1Ti 4:3-4). A Christian who follows the impulses of his or her sinful human nature rather than those of the Holy Spirit is a carnal believer (1Co 3:3).
"It comes as a shock to some people that Satan uses professed Christians in the church to accomplish his work. But Satan once used Peter to try to lead Jesus on a wrong path (Mat 16:21-23), and he used Ananias and Sapphira to try to deceive the church at Jerusalem (Acts 5). Paul warned that false teachers would arise from within the church (Act 20:30)." [Note: Wiersbe, 2:224. Cf. Dillow, p. 338-39.]
In other passages the context points to non-Christian apostates (Luk 13:27; cf. 2Th 2:11). In still other passages either or both may be in view; we do not have sufficient information in the context to say (2Th 2:3; cf. Tit 1:14). It seems quite clear that Christians can stop believing God (Mat 10:33; Mar 8:32; 2Ti 2:12; Rev 3:8). [Note: See TDNT, s.v. "aphistemi, apostasia, dichostasia," by Heinrich Schlier, 1 (1964):512-13.] This does not mean, however, that they will lose their salvation since salvation is God’s work, not ours (Joh 10:28; Rom 8:31-39; 2Ti 2:13). One of my professors at Dallas Seminary used to say, correctly, I think, "I believe in the perseverance of the Savior, but I do not believe in the perseverance of the saints." [Note: S. Lewis Johnson Jr.]
These apostates had developed cauterized consciences by refusing to respond to the truth that they knew. Now they called lies the truth, and that is hypocrisy (1Ti 4:2).
The teaching of the apostates Paul warned Timothy and the Ephesians to watch out for was asceticism (cf. Col 2:20-23). Asceticism is the idea that abstinence from physical things is essential for spiritual purity. Specifically these teachers forbade marriage and the eating of some foods. Probably Gnostic teaching that later achieved its most influential strength in the second century A.D. had influenced them. Gnosticism taught that matter was evil and people should try to live with as little attachment to physical things as possible. Judaism appears to have been another root influence on these teachers since it taught that some foods were fit (Heb. kosher) and others unclean (cf. Col 2:16-17). There may be physical reasons for not eating certain foods (e.g., allergies, too high fat content, etc.), but there are no spiritual reasons. Likewise there may be physical reasons why in individual cases marrying may not be wise or desirable (e.g., passing on genetic defects, the demands of a particular ministry, etc.). Nevertheless God has approved the institution of marriage.
Paul reminded his readers that God created marriage and food for us to enjoy (1Ti 4:3). Since the coming of Christ, the distinction between clean and unclean foods is one we can eliminate (Mar 7:19; Act 10:15; Rom 14:14; 1Co 10:23-33).
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
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Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
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Fuente: The Sermon Bible
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Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: F. B. Hole’s Old and New Testaments Commentary
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
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Fuente: Grant’s Numerical Bible Notes and Commentary
Fuente: James Gray’s Concise Bible Commentary
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
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Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)