Jump Start # 2899

1 Timothy 4:1 “Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.”

Our verse for today gives us much to think about. It’s stuffed like a suitcase going on a vacation. It does us good to “unpack” several of these expressions and to expand upon them. For instance:

• Ensuring salvation: that’s the end result of all that is said in this verse. That’s the motive and the purpose. Why pay close attention? Why bother? The reason is to ensure salvation. Guarantee it. We understand “insurance.” You are supposed to have insurance on your car if you drive. You best have insurance on your house and even your life. That is being financially responsible. That is doing the right thing. The same goes for our salvation. Ensure it, but making sure you are staying close to the Lord. Stay so close that He is always in sight. Stay so close that you don’t miss a step.

Some folks believe that once you are saved you can never lose it. Always saved. Nothing can touch it. Never can lose it. Doesn’t matter what you do, you have it and will always have it. In theory that sounds wonderful. But practically, it doesn’t make sense. Biblically, it’s nonsense. The majority of the N.T. is written to Christians to teach them how to continue on the walk with the Lord. If it doesn’t matter, then why those passages in our Bibles? Example after example is found in the Bible of people like Demas who chased after the world instead of Christ. The Corinthians were warned about falling (1 Cor 10). The Galatians were told that they had fallen (5:4). Multiple churches in Revelation were told to repent or be punished.

Your salvation can be lost. It can be lost when you are not paying attention to what you are doing. That leads to the first action words in this verse.

• Pay close attention: we have a word and a concept of the opposite of this. It’s called being distracted. A distracted driver is likely to drift into another lane and have an accident. This is such a problem that in my state, if the police catch you on your phone while driving, you will automatically receive several points against your license. Get enough of those and you won’t be driving for a long time.

Pay attention. More than that, pay CLOSE attention. Pay close attention to yourself. Look what you doing. Listen to what you are saying. Where is it you are going? God’s people are gathering to worship, where are you? Not paying attention leads to accidents, little ones getting hurt, and being caught off guard by the devil. A little anger let loose can sure do a lot of damage. A little flirting with someone you are not married to can put you in a real mess. Pay close attention. What is that you are reading? What is that you are watching? What is that you are letting into your heart? Are you paying attention? Are you paying close attention?

I’ve mentioned before that I hate snakes. I hate them with a passion. I wish God had never created them. If animals went to Heaven and Hell, I know where snakes would end up. It’s not the good place! I know I have snakes in the woods near my house. So when I’m back there, I’m watching, looking, and being very careful. Now, when you are in the world of Satan’s snakes, temptation, deception, error, unprincipled morals, keep your eyes open. Be watching. Be careful, very, very careful.

He then adds, to the preacher Timothy, pay close attention to your teaching. Make sure it’s what God says. Don’t preach assumptions, opinions or doubts. Don’t be guessing. Do your homework. Pay attention, pay close attention. Don’t say things just to get people to like you. Don’t say things just to be controversial. Don’t say things to get a following. Pay close attention to what you are saying. It best be by the book or else you best sit for a while and figure out what you are really doing.

When you have paid close attention, it will bring positive results. It will bring about salvation for yourself and for others. And, that’s what we are after. We want the salvation of all. But that comes about when one has paid close attention.

Paul is showing Timothy that if you wreck, it will affect others. If you do not pay attention to what you are doing, not only are you hurting yourself, but others will be hurt. But when you pay close attention to yourself, others will follow. There is a direct connection between the salvation of Timothy and those that heard Timothy.

Sometimes we put things off because we don’t want to be bothered. We do that with our health. Someone in the family pleads for us to see the doctor, but we tell them, “there’s nothing to it. I’m ok.” We are not paying close attention. The same happens spiritually. We can get very close to the line of right and wrong and some can walk that line, telling others, that its not a sin, but the slightest push and they are over on the other side of things. Why get that close? In recent times, there has been way too many Youtube celebs that have died because they were taking a picture of themselves on dangerous cliffs. They fell. They died. Yet, more have died spiritually, because they have stood on the edge of wrong, wanting to get as close as they could and they fell.

Paul’s simple words are: Play close attention to yourself.

Roger

Jump Start # 2640

1 Timothy 4:1 “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons.”

I wonder how these words fell upon the young preacher Timothy? Instead of things getting better, he is warned that things will get worse. Some will walk away from the faith. It will not be lustful sins that pulls them away but rather the allurement of deceit, false doctrine and myths. The course that these will follow will not end well. Unless they come back to the Lord, they would die in error and their souls would be lost.

There are some lessons to be learned here:

First, some are just not satisfied with the grace, blessings and hope that is found in the Lord. What more could people want? What could be better than the Lord as a Savior and Heaven as a home. Adopted into the family of God. Entrusted with the kingdom of God. It seems that nothing ought to top this. But for some, back then, and even today, this isn’t enough. They want to dapple into the unknown. They want to play God. They want to chase the superstitious. They want to mingle the world with faith. The Gospel way is too simplistic for some. God’s pattern is too boring for some. They would rather chase the lights and the thrills of error than to stay with truth.

Second, it’s easy for shepherds and preachers to beat themselves up when someone chases after error. The thought is, “I should have preached harder on this.” Or, “I should have seen this coming.” Truth is, the hearts of these people were not stable. Rather than paying attention to God’s word, they were paying attention to wrong things. Rather than fellowshipping those who love truth, they were being influenced by those who believe in the crooked and wrong. There comes a point when each person must take ownership of his faith. The church can do so much. The sermons, classes can do so much. But if we continue to chase wild ideas on Facebook, listen to podcasts that are saturated with error, hang out with those who do not respect the authority of God, it won’t be long until we leave the people of God for those who chase error. Fingers can be pointed to the church, the preaching, the leadership, but what one did on his own is the biggest factor here. If we feed our hearts and minds with things that are not true, then that steady diet will fill our veins and destroy our hearts spiritually.

Third, lurking around the people of God has always been error. Some never recognize it. Some are so naïve that they wouldn’t believe a family member or a friend, or a favorite website is totally off center and is dangerous. They listen. They engage in conversation. They never seek independent proof of these false claims. Passages taken out of context, vague historical references and a picture is drawn that leads away from the faith that the apostles preached and taught. Satan is always trying to trip us up. He is always trying to discourage you. He is always putting before your eyes the accounts of disgruntled Christians who happily walk away from the Lord and down the path of error. Happy, free, and having a time of their lives, these folks have deceived themselves into believing that they are more spiritual, more right and more Heaven bound than anyone else. They love to trash talk God’s people and God’s way. Their arrogance makes them above the law. And, their voice pulls others away to follow them. Deceived, fooled, blinded, they do not realize where they are going or what the outcome will be.

Fourth, there is hope in what can be done. Following our verse today, Paul leaves Timothy with two prescriptions that will help the situation. First, “point these things out to the brethren.” Let them know about the deceitful doctrines and the deceivers who spread this stuff. Timothy wasn’t to sit back and watch these things take place. There was an action plan. It always involves teaching God’s word. That is always the solution. Get the book open and see what God says. Truth destroys error, every time. Second, “have nothing to do with worldly fables.” Stay clear of this stuff. Don’t dive in and become an expert in these things. You don’t have to know how crooked something is. Just lay a straight stick beside it and you’ll see that it is crooked. Spend your time with God’s word. Stay clear of these things and stay clear of those who are not interested in God’s way.

Finally, there will always be some who do not want to do what is right. Presented with all the facts in love and gentleness, some will still turn it down and walk away. The pleasure of sin, the comfortableness of where one is, and the commitment necessary to walk with God is enough for some to turn down the hope and promises of God. Some would rather take their chances, even though they really have no chance, than to do what God says. Some of the seed that the sower scattered didn’t produce. Birds, weeds, rocks, shallow depth, is all it takes for some to not become what they could. Deception is powerful. So deceived are some that they are convinced that their choices and their lives are better than that of Christians. That deception has gone so deep into their hearts that they are convinced that they are right. Deceived and not even realizing it, is one of the worst things that can happen.

The words of this verse are so true today. All it takes is for a pandemic, some liberal theology, agitated voices and some will fall away from the Lord. I think so much of this comes down to that one statement in our passage, “paying attention.” What are you paying attention to? Are you giving a platform for error? Are you giving myths, speculations and doubt room in your heart? Are you looking at these things? Or, as we ought to be, are you focusing upon the word of God? Paying attention to God or paying attention to error? That’s what this really comes down to. And, error can look right and still be wrong.

So, what are you paying attention to? What are you allowing to enter into your heart?

Roger