Sunday, April 25th, 2021

Steadfastness part 3: 1 Timothy 4:12-16

  • (1Ti 4:12 ESV) Let no one despise you for your ______________, but set the believers an example in ______________, in conduct, in ______________, in faith, in ______________.
    • We are to set an example in both the ______________ and ______________ sides of our lives.
      • Outer
        • Speech and conduct
      • Inner
        • Love, faith, and purity
    • As the ______________ called of God we are called to be ______________
      • Matthew 15:17:20, John 1:1, John 1:14, Matthew 12:35-37, Ephesians 4:25, Proverbs 7:1-3, Deu 6:4-9, James 3:13-15, Galatians 1:13-14, Ephesians 4:20-25, John 15:13
  • (1Ti 4:13 ESV) Until I come, ______________ yourself to the public reading of ______________, to exhortation, to ______________.
    • Reading of the Scriptures
      • This is absolutely paramount to our faith
        • 2 Peter 1:19-21, 2 Timothy 3:14-17
      • Make this a priority for your life
        • For your family
        • To read the Scriptures
    • Exhortation
      • Encouragement to stay the course
        • Hebrews 10:24-29
      • We must be a people devoted to pushing one another to be better
    • Teaching
      • The soul should have a longing for the things of God
        • We have tasted the goodness of God’s Word
        • And then neglected it for a while
        • We should ______________ for the Scriptures
        • We should feel that ______________
  • (1Ti 4:14 ESV) Do not ______________ the gift you have, which was given you by ______________ when the council of elders laid their hands on you.
    • Calvin: God does not want us to bury our talents but to use them to bear fruit.
      • 1 Corinthians 12:27-31
  • (1Ti 4:15 ESV) ______________ these things, ______________ yourself in them, so that all may see your ______________.
    • If you think of a team
      • A baseball team or football team
      • They hold regular practices
      • To hone their ______________
      • To build up their strength
      • Also to ______________ what they will do in the real game against an opponent.
      • The more they practice
        • The more they know what the other teammates will do
        • The better they can work together to accomplish a victory on the field
      • Phil 3:12-15
    • Sanctification
      • The process of being transformed into the image of Christ.
      • Romans 7:14-25
        • Do you feel that struggle?
          • A desire to live for God and the anchor dragging you down in the flesh?
  • (1Ti 4:16 ESV) Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.
    • Phil 1:6, Ephesians 4:11-14
    • What are you doing with the responsibility God has placed in your life?
    • May we be a people who 
      • Seek the Word
      • Love the ways of the Lord
      • Encourage one another in love and good works