The Right Focus
(I Timothy 4:1-13)
1. Not all problems are difficult to solve.. Morris went to a psychiatrist. "Doc," he said, "I've got real trouble. Every time I get into bed, I get his weird feeling that there's somebody under it. I look under the bed, to check it out, but then I think there's somebody on top of it. I go back and forth, all night long, on top, under, on top, under... You gotta help me, Doc, I'm going crazy!"
"Just put yourself in my hands for few years," said the psychiatrist. "Come to me three times a week, and I'll cure your fears." "How much do you charge?" "A hundred dollars per visit." "I'll think about it," said Morris. Six months later the doctor met Morris on the street. "Why didn't you ever come to see me again?" asked the psychiatrist. "For a hundred bucks a visit? My teenage son cured me for free." "Is that so! How did he do that?"
"He told me to cut the legs off the bed!" [source: http://www.haruth.com]
2. Most problems are more complex and not as easily solved. They are sneaky and insidious and creep in as bits and pieces, gradually embedding themselves.
3. This is also how error creeps into a Christian’s mind — and into churches. They begin with ideas — either old or new — that, at first, seem innocent.
Main Idea: Old and new ideas constantly circulate and are repackaged; they can distract us from the truth; we must be on-guard or they will slither into our hearts and minds.
I. The Wrong Focus: An ERA of Apostasy (1-5)
Apostasy is defined as, “the abandonment or renunciation of a religious belief”
A British physician writes, “Today, I attended an elderly patient's funeral. He died of a heart attack after his daughter, as his care-giver, stopped all of his meds in favor of a half-cup of garlic a day. Apparently she'd "read an article" about the healing power of garlic, which trumped my 6-year degree.”
A. Prophesied to happen between the Messiah’s COMINGS (1a)
Could refer to previous Scripture, Jesus’ teaching, etc., but probably a prophetic revelation given to Paul…. “clearly” distinctly made known
“…what is predicted in the future is conceived of as already operative in the present…” (Donald Guthrie)
B. Inspired by DEMONS and people with SEARED consciences (2)
Like a red hot iron has cauterized their conscience
Titus 1:15, “To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled.”
One goal of Christian life: not allow our conscience to become calloused
C. One example: error can take an ASCETIC turn
1. Challenges from FADS and trends (forbidding marriage)
2. Challenges from TRADITIONS and antiquity (Kosher laws)
People do a lot of ridiculous things in the name of tradition. One gal writes, “Today, I had to yet again tell my mother-in-law that I wasn't going to name my unborn baby "Ermintrude" after her late mother. My husband told me to stop being difficult, and that he agrees that it would be nice.
D. We must STAND AGAINST each individual error
1. Forbidding MARRIAGE
2. Demanding DIETARY restrictions
a. By the Word of God
God pronounced his creation “good”
God gave mankind all animals to eat
b. By prayer
It is set apart by thanksgiving
The nature of “blessings”
Genesis 2:9, “Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”
Genesis 9:3, “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.”
Mark 7:18b-19, “’Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?”’(Thus he declared all foods clean.)”
Deuteronomy 8:10, “And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.”
II. The Right Focus: Avoiding NONSENSE, Embracing True GODLINESS (6-13)
A. ATTENTION toward indoctrinating others in the truth (6)
B. DISMISSING nonsense as nonsense (7a)
1. Proverbs 26:4-5 may seem contradictory, but they are not; the situation tells us which approach is best:
Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself.
Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.
2. Which fads do we address?
1. Do Christian people need to be told they shouldn’t see 50 Shades of Gray?
2. The DaVinci Code and Gnostic Gospels…
3. Some things best to ignore: Loretta Patzold took mom to emergency room, girl with ornaments dangling from forehead… fishing accident…
C. While not despising the PHYSICAL, prioritize the SPIRITUAL (7b-8)
1. Do you need Biblical permission to breath? Neither to exercise, no brainer
2. Jesus spoke about the Pharisees concern for external appearance, not within
3. Paul’s point is not to promote exercise…he doesn’t need to…
We get our word “gymnastic” and “gymnasium” from this Greek word gumnazo
Note: I will give you the fill ins for what follows below, but we will also expand on the verses below next week. This is called “pastoral cheating.” I want to summarize the right focus, but will develop some of this focus in more detail next week.
D. Major on the MAJORS (9-13)
1. Our goal: to PLEASE God, and this means TOIL (10)
2. Our belief: Our Savior is God and He provided salvation for ALL (10)
3. Only believers BENEFIT from this offer (10)
4. Personal GODLINESS matters (11-12)
5. Major on BIBLE: read it aloud, challenge with it, teach with it (13)
CONCLUSION
1. The world of spirituality and religion attracts all kinds of opinions and all sorts of people, sane and insane, reasonable and ridiculous, truth seeking and truth denying.
2. We have to stay on Target, and that Target is the intended meaning of God’s Word.
3. Never put down the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.
