1 Timothy 4:6-16
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
“Train yourself for godliness”
The health and well-being industry is a multi-billion dollar industry.
Billions of dollars every year are spent on health products, exercising regimes, diets, vitamins, pills, and lots of other things which are done or taken to improve the health of a person.
Billions of dollars are spent every year on professional athletes who are looking at ways to improve their performance by that 1 or 2 percent.
Many great strides have been made in recent years in professional sports, so that a professional athletes career can now be much longer than that of an athlete 20, 30,40 or 50 years ago. Professional soccer players are playing well into their mid-thirties, whereas 20 years ago, a professional soccer player was done at the age of 30.
Gone are the days when the football player would have a pie, a smoke and a pint of beer at half time.
It seems that people will try anything, pay anything, do anything, to improve their health, to improve their live expectancy, to improve their physical and mental health.
Which is good, but sometimes you have to wonder, do people take it too far?
Listen to this one extreme case:
In America (of course America), Texas, there is a 45 year old man called Bryan Johnson.
He is a billionaire and he spends 2 million dollars a year on making his body look younger, and what does he do?
He infuses himself with the blood of his 17 year old son.
He takes blood from his 17 year old son, and puts it into his own body.
In his efforts to stop the aging process and look after his body, he spends 2 million dollars a year on his body, by infusing himself with his 17 year old son’s blood.
Wow…….
Now, God wants us to look after our bodies, since they are temples of His Holy Spirit.
The apostle Paul tells us, that bodily training is of some value, and no-one would argue with that……..but…..but…….bodily training, looking after your physical body is good, but it is not the absolute most important thing in your life, that you need to be looking after.
Look at what Paul says to pastor Timothy in verse 7 and 8.
Rather train yourself for godliness. For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.
Paul clearly tells us that bodily training is of some value.
Exercise is good for you, working out is good- but it’s not the be all and end all- and why?
Because a human doesn’t just consist of a physical body, but we know as humans we are made in the image of God, which means we are spiritual beings too.
Now, if like our Texan millionaire who doesn’t believe in God, and believes that this life is all there is, this body is all he has, then you can understand why he would spend 2 million a year in trying to make this physical body last as long as it can, because for him, once it is gone, once he dies, that is it- it’s all over. There is nothing left, no soul, no spirit- just nothing.
However, if you like me, have a hope in the living God, the God who sent his Son Jesus to save us from eternal death, who promises us a new body in the next life, then hopefully you will be able to put our physical health into a clearer perspective.
Yes physical health and training is of some value, but training for godliness is of far greater value, because training for godliness is not only of immense value in this life but also for the life to come.
Friends, training for godliness, doesn’t mean we are just waiting for our glorious life in heaven with our creator, but it means we can enjoy life with Jesus right now, in this life.
Training for godliness – has value right now.
Jesus tells us in John 5:24 that we have already passed from death to life when we first heard and believed the call of Jesus to “repent and believe”
Listen to this from John 5:24
24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
Notice, Jesus said, we have already passed from death to life, not we will, but already have when we first believed.
And so training for godliness is both valuable for this life and the next, but what exactly does training for godliness look like?
Well, we have to remind ourselves of what Paul described as the mystery of godliness to us.
Look at 1 Timothy 3:16 with me
Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness:
He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels,proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.
Paul told us that the mystery of godliness is Jesus.
That means we train for godliness by hanging on to Jesus-that is it- so that be his grace we become more like him.
Training for godliness is clinging to the cross of Jesus.
Training for godliness is not trying to flex your spiritual muscles by following the 10 commandments perfectly, it is not flexing your spiritual muscles by attending church, or taking the lord’s supper, but training for godliness, means living your life in the light what Jesus did for you at the cross.
Training in godliness, means deliberately trusting in the mystery of godliness- Jesus. Trusting that he has paid for all your sins, trusting that he has forgiven you, so you can forgive others, trusting that he has given you his righteousness, his right standing with his father.
Training in godliness, means to simply keep trusting in Jesus, trust in what he had done for you, what he continues to do for you, and what he will do on that final day of judgement when he stands in your place.
Training in godliness, means to constantly remind yourself that in yourself you can do nothing, but in and through Christ, you can do all things.
In verse 7, Paul tells Timothy to have nothing to do with irreverent and silly myths, but just to keep training in godliness, by trusting in the mystery of godliness- Jesus.
Whether it is the first century or 21st Century, we can easily waste our time on silly myths. The Jews often wasted their time on genealogies, trying to figure out if they were directly related to Abraham or not, or which tribe they were related to or not.
Jesus came along and told us in Galatians 3:29, and told us “If we are Christ’s then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise”
And so we don’t need to waste our time figuring out our family history, in the hope that we are God’s children- children of the promise- NO, we just have to trust in the mystery of godliness- Jesus. Clinging to Jesus means you are children of the promise, children of God, you don’t need to look elsewhere and waste your time.
There are so many things, which can draw us away from the mystery of godliness- Jesus, and so we have to train ourselves to keep our minds on Jesus. Train ourselves to reject silly myths and endless rabbit holes and the best way, we can avoid these rabbit holes, is to spend more time looking at the real deal- Jesus.
One of the best money forger’s in the world, was the best money forger in the world, because he knew exactly what the real money looked like. He studied the real money, he knew what it looked like, he knew how it felt, he knew how much it weighed, he knew how it smelt.
He knew every mark on the real thing, and so he was able to make and spot a fake easily.
And so we need to train in godliness, by continuing to know more of the real deal- Jesus.
And just like physical training, this training in godliness can be hard work, it can be repetitive, it can mean making sacrifices, it can seem very mundane at times, but we must remember, even though our training in godliness may seem mundane at times and just like physical training, we don’t always see quick results, we must remember that training in godliness has value now and eternally- it is worth it- eternally worth it!
For Pastor Timothy and for all shepherds of God’s church that training in godliness includes the public reading of the scriptures, encouraging people from the scriptures and teaching the scriptures. And why, because all the scriptures are about the mystery of godliness- Jesus.
As pastors, teachers we must constantly be aligning ourselves with God’s word.
And so when the latest fad comes out, such as 7 steps to live a better life, or the Daniel diet, or the 10 ways to be happy model…..shepherds must be deliberate in not following these latest man-made fads, these silly myths, but to just keep teaching and preaching the scriptures, because the bible always points to the mystery of godliness- Jesus.
Now, I don’t want you to leave here today and think,
OK- Jesus is the mystery of Godliness- true,
I just have to trust in him for my godliness- true
……….and therefore I will just live how I like……….
No, No, No……
If you take these truths but then don’t strive to live for Jesus, you really don’t know the mystery of godliness- Jesus in the first place.
Training in godliness means that we embrace what Jesus has already done for us, and so we live our lives in a godly response to that.
Paul told Timothy that God had given him the gift of teaching, but then he told him to practice that gift that God had given him. Not to waste the gift, but to use it.
Use it or lose it!
Look at verses 14 and 15 with me:
Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress.
Just like you wouldn’t sit in a warm bath to build your muscles, but you would go to the gym and lift weights. We don’t just not use the gifts that God has given us, but we use them, so that God grows them.
We work at the gifts God has given us.
If you don’t know what gift god had given you, just do something, serve someone, pray for someone, because as you start exercising, the spiritual muscle, by the grace of God: grows.
It is particularly important for shepherds to work at the gifts God had given them, so they can be an example to the flock. Shepherds lead by example. And so they need to show their flock what it looks like to train in godliness, to live a life of repentance and belief. Show the flock what humility looks like, show the flock what standing on the truth looks like. It is important for the flock to see how God is working in their life.
This is one of the reasons why I am convinced a shepherd should know the flock and the flock should know their shepherd, so they can see God working in their lives. This idea that you can shepherd via a computer screen and never meet your flock is just nonsense.
This is also why I want to encourage everyone to be part of a bible study. It is a time where we can see up close how God is working in people’s lives. It is a time where we can encourage each other personally to stick with Jesus- the mystery of godliness.
And so we can train for godliness by coming to church on a Sunday, going to bible study in the week, but also by spending time in prayer and reading his word at home on our own.
But however you train for godliness, let me encourage you to show your progress to others, so that not only will you be encouraged, but others will be encouraged too.
Remember, physical training is of some value, but training for godliness has eternal value.
Let us pray.
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