1 Timothy 4
ABSChapter 4. The True Minister of Jesus ChristA good minister of Christ Jesus. (1 Timothy 4:6)The epistles to Timothy give us the divine ideal of the “good minister of Christ Jesus.”
The Foundation
The Foundation1. The foundation of the minister is the Word of God. We read, From infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be [perfect] thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:15-17) The Bible which Timothy possessed was a much smaller one than ours, but nonetheless it was essential that he should thoroughly know it, faithfully preach it and wisely practice it in all his work. Only through the Scriptures can the man of God be perfect, thoroughly equipped for all good works. Other learning is valuable in so far as it trains the mind better to understand and rightly divide the Word of truth. To the apostle’s conception, these Scriptures were “given by inspiration of God”; literally, “God-breathed,” and they had an authority and value which put them in an absolutely distinctive class from all human literature. We are living in an age when as never before it needs to be emphasized that the one business of the Christian ministry is to know, to believe, to preach, to teach and to live the Word of the living God.
The Power
The Power2. The power of the ministry is the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we find the apostle exhorting the young minister at Ephesus, “Fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline” (2 Timothy 2:6-7). Timothy has received the Holy Spirit, but the fire is burning low and needs to be rekindled. And the rekindling is to be along distinctive and definite lines; not a one-sided emotional excitement, but a happy blending of love and power and practical wisdom, constituting a well-poised and sober mind, a sanctified judgment, supernatural wisdom, and yet a divine enthusiasm and the mighty and effectual power of the Holy Spirit. There is no hint given here, notwithstanding Timothy’s deficiency and possible declension, that he should seek a new baptism of the Holy Spirit; but that he should stir up the Spirit that was already within him, and by heart-searching, earnest prayer, and living faith, should open all his being to be filled and fired with the mighty power of God. There is such a thing as receiving the Holy Spirit at a definite moment, and there is such a thing as being filled in the present tense by a continuous experience in which we are to be workers together with God, and thus increase the one pound which the Master gives to all His servants until it is five pounds. Surely, as never before in these days of perplexity and strain, we may well go back to the wholesome, practical ideals of the great apostle for every true minister and servant of Jesus Christ.
The Culture
The Culture3. The culture of a true minister is not forgotten. In 1 Timothy 4:13-16 we have this suggestive exhortation: Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you. Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. Here we find the true minister a diligent student, giving attention to reading, meditating upon these things, and giving himself wholly to them that his progress may be apparent to all. God does not place indolence in any department of life. The gifts of the Spirit do not depreciate our diligence in making the most of the natural talents that God has bestowed upon us. The fact that God may in His sovereign pleasure bestow by a miracle some foreign language upon some of His servants, does not excuse the ordinary missionary from the diligent study of the language in which he is to minister the gospel to the heathen. The fact that the Holy Spirit has promised to give us utterance in preaching the Word does not in the least degree preclude the same Holy Spirit giving us light and quickening while we are quietly preparing our message in the study.
Sound Doctrine
Sound Doctrine4. The doctrine of a good minister should be sound. He should be “brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed” (1 Timothy 4:6). To the same purpose the apostle appeals to Timothy in the second epistle, “What you have heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 1:13). Error is falsehood, and falsehood is the stock in trade of the devil who is the father of lies. It is, therefore, most important that the minister of Christ should be established in the truth and not easily led away by “every wind of doctrine” (Ephesians 4:14) and every new theory of the age.
The Preaching
The Preaching5. The preaching of the good minister is the Word. Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. (2 Timothy 4:2-4) I have often recalled the pungent reproof once administered to me by a good Scotch elder in my early ministry. The well-known Harry Morehouse had just completed a series of evangelistic meetings in my church, and the people had been deeply stirred by his simple, scriptural messages. Some of the brethren were discussing the secret of his power when this quiet Scotchman ventured the remark, “You brethren are always preaching about the gospel, but Harry Morehouse preaches the gospel.” There is a great difference in preaching about the Word and preaching the very Word itself, and letting God’s own sharp sword cut its way into the consciences and hearts of men.
What Others Are Preaching
What Others Are Preaching6. The good minister lets a lot of things alone which others are constantly preaching about. The apostle intimates in the passage already quoted that the time will come when people with itching ears for new and strange things will turn them away from the simple gospel unto fables, and “gather around them a great number of teachers” (2 Timothy 4:3) who will minister to their false appetite and taste. What great numbers of them there are today! One has but to read the tides of the majority of Sunday sermons announced in our Saturday papers to feel that the deluge is already on. The true minister will let these things safely alone. Listen, “Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly” (1 Timothy 4:7). “Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter” (1 Timothy 6:20), for “those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene” (2 Timothy 2:16-17). “Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel” (2 Timothy 2:23-24). If the apostle had been writing today, he would throw in a few more kindred topics, including Washington’s and Lincoln’s birthdays, the latest criminal trial, the presidential election and the newest novel or play.
Careful Preparation
Careful Preparation7. Careful preparation of his messages will characterize the good minister. “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). In His parable of the wise householder, the Lord Himself taught that the faithful minister will study to give to each of the guests at his Master’s table “their food allowance at the proper time” (Luke 12:42), and will bring “out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old” (Matthew 13:52). If the successful literary man thinks it worth his while to give his best thoughts, phrases and ideas to his generation, why should the student of God’s holy Word not think it worth his while to bring out from this inexhaustible mine of spiritual treasures, the silver, the gold and the precious gems which God has given us in His holy Word, and which are found not at random, but by prayerful and assiduous study and meditation.
An Evangelist and Teacher
An Evangelist and Teacher8. The good minister will be an evangelist as well as a teacher. The apostle especially emphasizes this in his message to Timothy, “Do the work of an evangelist” (2 Timothy 4:5). We should never get beyond the love of souls and the holy art of seeking and finding them.
A Personal Worker and Pastor
A Personal Worker and Pastor9. The good minister is a personal worker and pastor. “Be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction” (2 Timothy 4:2). This is personal dealing with men. It is often a great deal harder to speak to a man face to face, than to pour a broadside from the pulpit. We must go to our brethren one by one, not only in season, but often out of season, and bring them the Master’s message in love and tenderness; and the more it costs us to do it, the more often it will be blessed to them. I remember a stormy night when I was impelled by the voice of God to call upon an old man of high social position at a late hour when it seemed inappropriate, to speak to him about his soul. The old man broke down and said, “If it was worth your while to come out this awful night to speak to me about my soul, it is worth my while to turn to God.”
Worldly Entanglements
Worldly Entanglements10. The good minister will keep out of worldly entanglements. “No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer” (2 Timothy 2:4). He will not get mixed up with political parties, with social clubs and with fashionable society, but will stand apart from doubtful influence, so that he may speak his Master’s message impartially and fearlessly.
His Deportment
His Deportment11. The good minister will be careful of his deportment. Timothy was a young man and needed to be the more guarded in his social relations and his personal example. Therefore, the apostle exhorts him, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12). Our life should speak for God louder than our words; and if we fail in this, our words are as “a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal” (1 Corinthians 13:1).
His Selection of Workers
His Selection of Workers12. The good minister is careful in his selection of workers. “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others” (2 Timothy 2:2). “Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands,” the apostle says in another passage. “And do not share in the sins of others” (1 Timothy 5:22). We need to be very careful in committing the Master’s work to untried instruments. In speaking of candidates for the eldership, the apostle warns him against accepting “a recent convert” (1 Timothy 3:6); that is, one newly come to the faith, “or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil” (1 Timothy 3:6).
A Thoroughly Disciplined Soldier
A Thoroughly Disciplined Soldier13. A good minister must necessarily be a strong character—a brave, self-denying and thoroughly disciplined soldier of Jesus Christ. “Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 2:3). If we want luxury, ease, popularity, a comfortable life, let us seek it in some other calling. God save us from men who seek the ministry as a lucrative profession and a calling offering the prize of distinction and success to human ambition. But if there is a man whose heart aspires to follow the Master without the camp, bearing His reproach, to stand alone for God amid misunderstanding, and perhaps neglect and poverty, all hail to such a candidate for the honors and sacrifices of this holy war.
His Accountability to God
His Accountability to God14. The true minister of Jesus Christ will love and labor under the solemn sense of his accountability to God. How thrilling are the parting messages of Paul to Timothy, “I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions without partiality, and to do nothing out of favoritism” (1 Timothy 5:21). “In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame” (1 Timothy 6:13-14).