1 Timothy 4:9-10 forms the third of Paul’s five ‘faithful sayings’ that are found in the Pastoral Epistles. These ‘faithful sayings’ were truths that Timothy, and other young pastors like him, could trust and depend on. This particular faithful saying deals with hope. On the one hand, by it, Paul gave Timothy hope, reminding him that the believer’s hope in this world is to be fixed on God and Him alone. Paul also spoke of hope for the world by reminding Timothy that the saving power of Jesus and the fruit that the gospel brings is not limited to Timothy’s area but includes the whole world. And then Paul also gave all believers hope by reminding Timothy that the Lord Jesus is especially the Saviour of ‘all who believe’. We love Him because He first loved us and God’s people, His Church, know Him because of what the Apostles taught and because of our experience of His grace.

Because the Apostle Paul cared about and loved the Word of God, the truth, in 1 Timothy 4:6-8 he gave Timothy the responsibility of proving himself to be a ‘good servant of Jesus’. This was not something to unique to Timothy, but is for all believers. As a good servant of Jesus, Timothy was to be very careful; to watch out for and guard his flock from the error of the false teachers, yet he was also to nourish himself and his flock on the ‘solid’ food of God’s Word. And rather than spend his days at the gym doing physical training, Timothy was to apply himself to spiritual training, exrecising discipline over his body, applying himself to growing in godliness and building up the flock by his own example. All of God’s people are called to grow in this way. It takes time and effort, but the eternal rewards are better than any gain from physical exercise alone.

Because the Apostle Paul cared about and loved the Church, he warned Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:1-5, that days would be coming when people would turn away from the faith and that this would take place in the ‘last days’. One notable fall from faith has been Billy Graham’s former co-evangelist, Charles Templeton, who now denies that Jesus is the Christ. There are many factors that contribute to this, but the one that Paul speaks of in the text is the way in which people give time and attention to listening to false teaching. Not all who speak for God do so with accuracy or honesty. And just as Timothy was to guard his people against this, so also God’s people today need to be careful with what they hear and stay within the ‘safe paths’ of God’s Word. To wander off those paths is to court with spiritual danger.

Because the Apostle Paul cared about and loved the Church, he went to great lengths in 1 Timothy 3:14-16 to ensure that Timothy also continued in that same vein. After instructing Timothy in what to look for as in those he sought to appoint as elders and deacons, Paul then wrote of the way he expected Timothy and the other believers at Ephesus to conduct themselves as the Church, the household of God. As the household of God, the Church represents God on earth and therefore its conduct must always be ‘above reproach ‘. As well as that, if the Church is the ‘pillar and foundation of the truth’ then the truth of God’s Word cannot be let go at any stage. And because Jesusis the Head of the Church, the Church must always proclaim Him, crucfied, risen and ascended again to the whole world. The challenge for God’s people in this world is to be the Church’ not just ‘go to Church’.

Because Timothy needed to strengthen the Church at Ephesus, Paul gave him explicit instructions in 1 Timothy 3:1-13 about the role and qualifications of those who would be chosen to serve as elders and deacons of the church family. These roles are not just for any man who puts up his hand for the job, but are for those whom Timothy might discern as being spiritually mature men who live lives that are above reproach, have shown they can manage their family well and can teach the truth of the Word of God. Such men could be trusted with the tasks of leadership in the Church and such men would require extra prayer because being in the service of the King and closer to Him, they would be targets of the enemy.