This past Sunday we looked at several of the Apostle Paul’s “faithful sayings” that he gave to Timothy and Titus. Timothy was chosen of God to build the Church in Ephesus, whereas Titus was building the Church in Crete. Paul introduced these faithful sayings with πιστός λόγος {pistos logos}, or literally, “Faithful is the Word”. Our Jesus is faithful. God’s Word is faithful. Tonight we turn to,

1 Timothy 4:9 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation.

When We Are Saved By The Word Of God,
We Must Feed Our Souls On The Word Of God

Word Study:We read “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation”, pistos logos, which means “Faithful is the Word”. This pistos logos focuses on the word of the world, and the Word of God.

God’s Word is faithful, but man’s word is not.

In our world today there is the unprecedented spread of evil, spread liberally by technology. Now, I’m not against technology. I love technology. I program my own computers with the Linux Operating System, because – to me – Bill Gates and Microsoft are greedy for money. I use the internet to study and research Scripture. There are amazing resources available freely to those willing to use them, resources that used to cost hundreds of dollars to access. Praise God for the internet. Praise God for technology. But Beloved, you need to know that Satan himself uses the same devises to evil.

Satan and the fallen world has always used God’s
good gifts for evil, and always will!

“Faithful is the Word”. What does God tell us? Read with me:

1 Timothy 4:1-2 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;

Word Study: It is the Holy Spirit Who “speaks expressly”, ῥητῶς rhētōs, pronounced hray-toce’}, meaning “directly, to the point”. This is NOT PAUL’S OPINION, but GOD’S OPINION. That’s why the Apostle uses this phrase.

The Holy Spirit of God characterizes the teachings of the fallen world – teachings that have crept into many local Churches – as “seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils”.

Word Study: The “seducing spirits” is the Greek plános pneuma, literally a “wandering spirit, a vagabond spirit, deceiving spirit”. The devil and his demons are con men. They wander about looking for people whom they can convince to disrupt the kingdom of God. There is the “Spirit of God” (Exodus 31:3; 35:31) and “the spirit of this age” (Ephesians 2:1-3; Revelation 12:9). There is the Doctrine of God’s Word (“Faithful is the Word”) and the “doctrines of devils”. A recent article in the Devotional “Our Daily Bread” noted:

“Jesus intends for us to live in the world (John 17:15), so worldly influence is nearly impossible to escape. But He’s given us His Word to so permeate our thinking that we don’t have to become conformed to the world’s values (Romans 12:1-2). Instead, God helps us walk in His light (Ephesians 5:8), in the Spirit (Galatians 5:25), in love (Ephesians 5:2), in truth (3 John 4), and in Christ (Colossians 2:6). As we walk in God’s power and spend time in His Word, He gives us the strength to live according to kingdom values and not the spirit of the age.”

The “spirit of this world” stands against what God says is normal, and normalizes the evil. The spirit of this world through the publication USA Today listed as “Women of the Year”

recently listed a number of “inspirational women” gymnast Simone Biles, Kizzmekia Corbett, one of the women who helped develop the COVID-19 vaccine, and Linda Zhang, chief engineer behind the all-electric Ford F-150 Lightning. They also listed Rachel Levine, the first transgender assistant secretary for health for the Department of Health and Human Services as one of the “Women of the Year”. A man who has medically transitioned to a woman is a “Woman of the Year”.

This is confusion, and God is NOT
the Author of Confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33)

The spirit of this world has – from the Garden of Eden unto now – tried to twist God’s design. This spirit attacks Biblical Marriage,

1 Timothy 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.

Our standard as God’s people is to ALWAYS ask ourselves, “Does God’s Word support and affirm what I believe is true?”. If God’s Word doesn’t support what the world calls “true”, then we are to default to God’s Word – ALWAYS. The Word that saved us is the Word that nourishes our souls, and guides us in the “paths of righteousness for his name’s sake” (Psalm 23:3).

No one is above the temptation of the spirit of this world. The spirit of this world – driven by Satan – came to a hungry Jesus in the wilderness, saying:

Matthew 4:3 … If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

How did Jesus respond to the Tempter? Jesus invoked the Scripture, the Bible, the Word of God! Quoting Deuteronomy 8:3, Jesus told the devil:

Matthew 4:4 … Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Many “professing” Christians today spend much time on the Internet, on Social Media, and in front of a television or phone screen, but little time in God’s Scripture.

The spirit of this age invades pulpits.

Andy Stanley, the son of Charles Stanley, himself a pastor (North Point Community Church, Alpharetta, Georgia) posted to his social media,

“The Christian faith doesn’t rise and fall on the accuracy of 66 ancient documents (a reference to the Bible). It rises and falls on the identity of a single individual: Jesus of Nazareth”.

Beloved, we only know the identity of Christ through the infallible Scriptures. We only know that there WAS a Jesus of Nazareth because the Holy Scripture IS reliable, God driven, and true. Our Lord Jesus proved His claim of being Christ/ Messiah on what the Scriptures said. Listen to His words:

John 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me.

If the Scriptures are not accurate, then Christ has no claim in Jesus. Yet, Jesus affirmed the Scripture. Sitting with His disciples one day, we read:

Luke 24:27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, {Jesus} expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself.

The Scriptures – this Bible – teach us the way to salvation.
The Scriptures teach us how God wants us to think.
“Faithful is the Word”.

Jesus said, “everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled” (Luke 24:44). Jesus chose Judas Iscariot to be one of His Apostles, knowing that Judas would betray Him, because the Scriptures must be fulfilled. Hear Jesus:

John 13:18 … I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me.

Jesus praying, told the Father in …

John 17:12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

Jesus picked Judas because the Scripture demanded it.

Luke 22:21-22 … behold, the hand of him that betrayeth me is with me on the table. 22 And truly the Son of man goeth, as it was determined: but woe unto that man by whom he is betrayed!

You can see the prophesies of Scripture of Judas’ betrayal of Jesus also in Matthew 27:9-10 and Acts 1:16, 20. If the Scripture is not reliable, if it is not “God breathed” as the Apostle declared in 2 Timothy 3:16, then Jesus has no ancient witness that He is the one and only Messiah. If you cut the umbilical cord of the Scripture and declare it untrustworthy, then even our salvation is suspect.

The Word of God is TRUE.

When Jesus walked the earth He chastised the liberal of His day, the Sadducees, telling them:

“You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God” (Matthew 22:29).

The only way you can know the POWER of God is through the WORD of God rightly divided. It is these sacred writings we call “the Bible” that are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 3:15). It is the Bible that makes a Christian mature, able to deal with the horrors that this life can throw at you.

If you are saved, then “Faithful is the Word”. Resist the spirit of this world. The Apostle says:

1 Timothy 4:7 … refuse profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness. 8 For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.

You who are saved by faith in Christ Jesus (for “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”) are to love and live by the same Scriptures that our Jesus loves and lives by. “Godliness is profitable unto all things”.

What is “Godliness”, but to imitate God as
He has presented His truth in this Bible?

We are not to – as the world says – “Be True To Yourself”, nor are we to “Just Do You”. What does the Scripture command? We are to …

Romans 12:1-2 … present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

I commend you all for your faithfulness is attending and participating in Worship Services, for being a part of Sunday School and Discipleship Training. When the disciples of Christ sit down and feed their souls on the Word of God (Faithful is the Word), we grow spiritually. But we must ALSO daily seek to feed from God’s Word. As believers in Christ we are called to HEAR the Word, then DO what you have been told. It is through this faithful Scripture that we have …

2 Peter 1:3 … all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue

Godliness is DOING God’s Word!

We are to walk with God on a daily basis, seeking to be pleasing to Him in our lives. Godliness is not just a warm fuzzy good feeling. It is like Enoch, who walked with God, pleasing Him (Hebrews 11:5). Let us walk with God, pleasing Him. The Scripture that saves us is the Scripture we live our lives by. Choose to serve the Lord Jesus.

Jesus told us …

Matthew 7:24-27 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25 and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. 26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27 and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

God Equips His People Through The Church

Let’s look at one more “true saying”. This one is somewhat obscured, because the King James translators didn’t translated pistos logos the same as they did in the other passages we’ve studied. We read:

1 Timothy 3:1 .. This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.

Word Study : The first five words of this text – “This is a true saying” – is still the Greek πιστός λόγος {pistos logos}, or “Faithful is the Word”. In this particular “faithful” statement, Jesus speaks of His Church.

The spirit of this world rebels against
authority in any form.

During the 2019-2021 riots we saw people looting and burning property that was not their own. We saw mobs of people take over city blocks in major metropolitan areas, declaring them “Police Free Zones”. We heard while people march speak of defunding the police, and then wonder why crime sky rocketed.

Many liberal Americans have rejected lawful authority in every area of life. Citizens have felt that they could – with impunity – tear down and destroy statues and monuments that were purchased with our corporal tax dollars. The rot has drifted so far into the bone that mayors of cities have ordered the police to stand down and watch while anarchy rules.

The devil rejoices at this! The demons have a party every time ordained authority is mocked. The devil despises order. It was he who slithered into the Garden of Eden, and asked our first parents Adam and Eve:

Genesis 3:1 … Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

When Adam did not speak up, and chase the serpent out of Eden with a stick, he went on to say:

Genesis 3:4-5 … Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

The devil wants us to overthrow any authority, for the Scripture says, “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God” (Romans 13:1). The Prophet Daniel said:

Daniel 2:20-22 … Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: 21 And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: 22 He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.

When Jesus established His Church – the local gathering of believers, saved by faith in Him – He established oversight on the Church. The Apostle told Timothy:

1 Timothy 3:1 If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.

Word Study: What is “the office of a bishop”? This is the Greek ἐπισκοπή episkopḗ, {pronounced ep-is-kop-ay’}, which means “the office of Overseer”.

The Overseer is not the “Boss of the Church”.
The Overseer is a servant leader.
The Overseer is a steward of the House of Christ.

The Overseer lovingly guides the body of believers toward unity and Christlikeness. The Overseer is a MAN under authority, a MAN who is following the Lord. The text says, “If a man desire the office of a bishop”. The desire is placed in the heart by God the Holy Spirit.

The Apostle’s charge to the Overseers is thus:

Acts 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy {Spirit} hath made you overseers {episkopos}, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

It is the Holy Spirit that makes the Overseer, and the Overseer lovingly and carefully must follow the directions of the Master. The Overseer is to “feed the church of God”, not the swill of this world, but the Good Word of God. The Overseer is under authority, just as the Christians in his care are under authority.

God establishes lines of authority where
ever He has created.

In the Biblical Marriage, “the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church” (Ephesians 5:23). The Apostle directs,

Ephesians 5:24 as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

As the leader in the family, the Husband is to (Ephesians 5:25) “love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it. You need to be willing to die for your wife! You lead in the marriage, but not as a Roman Emperor, but in love.

The Parents rule the children. The fifth Commandment of the Decalogue is:

Exodus 20:12 Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

Jesus Christ repeated this commandment in Luke 18:20, “Honor thy father and thy mother”, as did Paul in Ephesians 6:2. Our God is a God of order, not of disorder.

Jesus Christ is the Head of His Church (Colossians 1:18), and through God’s Holy Spirit Overseers watch over the Body, teaching and loving its members. Staying true to the Word of God no matter what society may foolishly support. Regardless as the position you have been called:

Overseer
Husband
Parent

you are to be guided by the Word of God, and by humility to the Head, which is Jesus Christ. When the Apostles fought amongst themselves to see who would be the greatest, Jesus told them:

Matthew 20:25-28 … Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. 26 But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; 27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: 28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

The leader – be it Overseer (pastor), Husband or Parent – is to lay their life down for that which they have been given stewardship of. And the stewardship are to follow the Godly leader as they follow the Lord. It is my eternal joy to be the Overseer at Riverview Baptist. Jesus Christ is our Leader, and we are His Body, following His Word daily as He has commanded. Pray for me that I will stay true to this grand calling. For Christ sake, and for the growth of His Church. Amen and Amen.