In this sermon, Pastor Dave Capoccia begins a mini-series on the disciplines of grace, that is, the positive spiritual activities that should characterize the lives of believers as believers pursue Christ. Pastor Dave starts with an overview of the topic of spiritual discipline from 1 Timothy 4:7-8. In these verses, Paul exhorts you to discipline yourself for godliness according to God’s word so that you may experience eternal life. This exhortation comes via two commands followed by two reasons to obey the commands:
1. Follow God’s Word, Not Man’s Myths (v. 7a)
2. Discipline Yourself for Godliness (v. 7b)
3. Other Pursuits Bring Limited Benefit (v. 8a)
4. Godliness Brings Unlimited Benefit (v. 8b)
Full Transcript:
Have you ever wanted to be physically fit? Lose weight, gain muscle, lower your cholesterol? I think as we get older, we want that more and more. If you haven’t felt that way yet, you will. There are substantial benefits to physical fitness. You become healthier in body and mind. It helps protect you from illness, injury, even feelings of hopelessness. You increase your strength and flexibility. You become more able to accomplish tasks for yourself or for other people. You also might make yourself look more attractive.
But how does one become physically fit? We would like the answer to be with no pain and no effort. I’ll just do nothing and magically become and stay fit. Or I’ll just drink this super smoothie and my body will take care of the rest. Or I’ll go on a five-minute walk once every two weeks, and surely that’ll do the trick. Of course, you know, none of these are true.
How do you actually become fit? Well, with discipline, with the painful training which you enforce on yourself or others enforce on you, like a personal trainer. To become fit, you must exercise, often and under increasing difficulty. You must also eat rightly, staying away from certain foods and from too much food in general. You must also practice self-denial. You must work out even when you don’t feel like it. You must say no to certain foods even when you really crave them. And you must give up various enjoyments and comforts for the sake of reaching your goal.
Now, we face a similar situation when it comes to getting spiritually fit. When it comes to growing in holiness, to knowing and becoming more like our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Like with physical fitness, we would like to think that godliness will just happen automatically with no or minimal effort. I’ll just sit back and let God do it all. After all, He’s sovereign. Or I’ll just pray once in a while for the fruits of the Spirit and surely God will just zap them into my heart. Or I’ll attend church, but I’ll make no real effort to serve, fellowship, or even pay attention to the preached word. And surely that will still be okay, right?
But this is not what the Bible teaches us about spiritual growth. According to God’s Word, how do we actually grow in holiness? Well, it’s just like physical fitness. It is by discipline, but by spiritual discipline. That is the hard spiritual training that you choose for yourself and that God also chooses for you. As we read earlier from Hebrews, God brings into our lives trials, difficulties that are part of our training. But we also choose training for ourselves. As with physical fitness, you must, if you want to progress spiritually, you must exercise. You must devote yourselves to the kinds of activities that strengthen your relationship with Christ. You must abstain from the activities that weaken your spirit and encourage you to follow the flesh. And above all, you must practice self-denial. By faith, pushing past flesh-driven feelings and the allurements of the world, the flesh, and Satan, for the reward that comes from and is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now I’ve sought to express what I’ve just shared with you a little more succinctly in the title for the message today. When it comes to godliness, the reality is no pain, no gain. Brethren, here’s the truth for you. When it comes to godliness, no pain, no gain. Now don’t misunderstand this painful effort that I’m talking about, this hard training. It is not some way for you to work for salvation or earn God’s favor. Nor is this the kind of striving that can be done by mere human willpower. Yet, understand that your will, even your strenuous effort, is involved. It is involved as God himself works in you to sanctify you. My brethren, if you want to experience greater joy and blessing in the Lord, if you want to see increasing victory over sin, if you want to become a more useful servant to the kingdom of Christ, then you must discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness. You must discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness. You must do this, and you can do this, by the empowering grace of Jesus.
Now what does this godliness through discipline look like? Okay, I’m hearing these concepts. What does it look like practically? Well, practically, it looks like devotion to what the theologians call the spiritual disciplines, or even the disciplines of grace. And what are these? These are just simple yet critical activities like Bible study, prayer, fellowship with the saints, and even evangelism. Over the next several messages, I’d like to explore those different activities, what they are, why they’re so essential, how we should do them, and we’ll use the scriptures to teach us about that. But before we get there, I want to just overview the how and why of spiritual discipline using the passage before us today, 1 Timothy 4:7-8. If you haven’t yet, please take your Bibles and turn to that passage, 1 Timothy 4:7-8. This is the classic text on spiritual discipline.
As you’re getting there, let me set the context of these verses briefly. In the letter of 1 Timothy, Paul writes to his young friend in ministry partner, Timothy, instructing him and encouraging him to deal with false teachers at the church of Ephesus and to restore the church into godly order. More specifically, in chapter 4 of 1 Timothy, Paul contrasts the unfaithful minister in the first five verses with the faithful minister in the rest of the verses of the chapter. And he exhorts Timothy to continue and to be the latter. Now, we’re focusing only on verses 7 to 8 today, but I’m going to read verses 6 to 16 just so you get the context. Let’s hear what the Spirit says in 1 Timothy 4:6-16:
In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following. But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.
Prescribe and teach these things. Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe. Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching. Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery. Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all. 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.
Now just reading through that whole section, one of the main ideas you might have noticed is the importance of both doctrine and conduct. Multiple times Paul exhorts Timothy to pay attention to what he teaches and how he lives. This of course applies most directly to a minister of God but also applies to all Christians, for notice, he is called to be an example to the church, to the flock. This applies to us too. It is not enough for a faithful minister or a faithful Christian to have only one of these and not the other. You cannot live a sound life without sound doctrine, nor can you content yourself with right belief and not right behavior.
In this passage, verses 6 to 16, Paul presents Timothy with several exhortations regarding what it means to be a faithful minister of Christ. But we’re only going to focus on what Paul says in verses 7 to 8. And here’s the main idea of those verses. In 1 Timothy 4:7-8, Paul exhorts you to discipline yourself for godliness according to God’s Word so that you may experience eternal life. Paul exhorts you and me that we will discipline ourselves for godliness according to God’s Word so that we may experience eternal life.
Now, the main idea of these verses is presented to us in a relatively straightforward manner. We see two commands from God’s Apostle and then two reasons to obey those commands. So those two commands and the two reasons, they will make up the four points of my sermon outline today. We’ll start with the first command as it appears in the beginning of verse 7. That command is, number one, follow God’s Word, not man’s myths. Number one, follow God’s Word, not man’s myths. If we ought to discipline ourselves for godliness and experience eternal life, it must be according to what God actually said, not man’s mere ideas or myths. Look at the beginning of verse 7:
But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women.
You may notice that verse 7 begins with a contrasting transition word – but. This command that Paul gives here has to do with the opposite of what Paul just said. Well, what did Paul just say? Let’s go back. Look at verse 6,
In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following.
In verse 6, Paul encourages Timothy to teach what Paul writes in this book as an outgrowth of what Paul already sees in Timothy’s life. Timothy, I can see your soul has been nourished by, or we could say trained up in, the right words. And those right words would be the true gospel, sound doctrine according to what God has actually said in the Bible. You have come to know and follow these right words in your life, Timothy, so now teach these same right words to others as I’ve instructed you. Coming now to the beginning of verse 7 again, we get the flip side of the same exhortation. Have nothing to do with, or reject worldly fables.
Now, the phrase worldly fables is interesting. It could be translated a few ways – godless tales, pointless legends, worthless myths. That first word, the adjective there, in the Greek has the idea of being public or common, which means it either is not valuable or it just belongs to the world, which is why you have the sense of both worthless and worldly. The second word is the Greek word muthos, from which we get the English word myth. A myth is a fanciful story, a fictional account of something that happened in the past to explain the present. Paul is telling Timothy here, you have done well to follow God’s reliable Word, continue in that both in your life and in your teaching. But this man-made stuff, these fancy stories and reports that are not based in reality, have nothing to do with those. They are worldly, they are worthless, they do not offer anything that’s really going to help you or others in true spiritual life.
Paul also gives another description of these myths. He says they are fit only for old women. Now, this phrase is not a dig against the elderly, against women or against elderly women. It would not have been understood that way by the original audience. They are not like so many Americans today, very quick to take offense. They were not politically so concerned about political correctness back then. This is just an idiom, this is just a phrase, it’s just an expression for something that is only fit to be believed by the silliest, most out of touch or gullible people. We actually still have the expression in English today in a different form, old wives tales. That’s just an old wives tale. So Paul is telling Timothy here, no matter how impressive a certain teaching sounds, no matter how holy the application of that teaching appears to be, if what it’s based on amounts to an old wives tale, then reject it. Have nothing to do with it. Give it no ear or consideration. It is only worldly. It is ultimately worthless. It will not lead to true godliness. Instead, Christian, follow God’s word, just as you’ve been doing, not man’s myths.
Paul surely had in mind the, in this most direct application, the myths and ridiculous Bible interpretations offered by false teachers in Ephesus. They were somehow spiritualizing even the genealogies of the Old Testament to have some sort of secret word from God. This teaching did not come from God, it came from their own minds. So Paul is saying, don’t have anything to do with that. There was nothing truly useful to glean from such teaching. What about today? There’s still plenty in our world right now that people offer as means to growth in godliness that is actually worthless and based on nothing better than an old wives tale. Many, for instance, would still teach that some kind of extreme asceticism will make you godly. Isolate yourself as a monk or hermit. Wear uncomfortable clothes. Beat yourself. Deny yourself pork or all meat. These suggestions, these commands, these ideas, they’re not based off of the Bible. These come from man’s own mind and his traditions. Or others will suggest, based on supposed new revelation from God and from misinterpretations of the Bible, that you can find great growth in godliness if you practice what they call listening prayer. God speaking audibly to you and granting you visions as you pray. Or you can grow in godliness if you speak in the uncontrolled babble that they call tongues. Or if you allow yourself to be slain in the spirit, forcibly pushed down to the ground by some minister of God, there’s the gateway to spirituality. Again, these do not actually come from God’s word, yet they are offered as sources of and evidence of godliness.
Or still others today will teach that you can grow in godliness if you apply the latest recommendations of psychology and psychiatry. You need to learn to love yourself. You need to improve your self-esteem if you’re going to be godly. You need to deal with that anger or lust problem by finding some regular vent. That will be healthy for you. Or cure your anxiety by sending electric shocks into your brain. Such is touted as true wisdom today. The findings of rigorous scientific study. And Christians have tried to integrate these as keys to spiritual growth.
Yet, what are these worldly ideas and techniques based on, really? Mere myths that contradict what the Bible says. We’re not going to find true spiritual value in any of man’s myths. Paul says well in another place, Colossians 2:23,
These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.
Our Lord calls us to grow in godliness. And we should want to do so. But true spiritual growth only happens when based on God’s Word, not man’s ideas, his myths. Therefore, follow God’s Word, not man’s myths. That’s the first command to Timothy and the first command to us.
The second command follows quickly after the first, and we see it in the second part of verse 7. It really flows out from it. The second command, number two, discipline yourself for godliness. Where does a strong foundation in and a commitment to the life found in God’s Word lead us? To discipline ourselves for godliness, which is exactly what we read in the second part of verse 7. Look there,
On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness.
You can notice that this second command also begins with a contrasting phrase. We just had a contrast, and now we immediately get another one. And there’s a point in this second contrast that you don’t want to miss. What’s that point? That the life that follows man’s myths does not lead to true discipline that points at godliness, whereas a life that follows God’s word does. Don’t follow man’s myths, Paul says, but discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness instead. That’s the way to godliness.
Now notice the word discipline here. I’ve used that word a lot already in this sermon, so let’s find out what the biblical term is, at least as used here. The term discipline is a form of the Greek verb gymnazo, which is, yes, where we get our words, gymnasium and gymnastics, same root. Gymnazo means to exercise, to train, or to undergo discipline. It’s an athletic term. So when you hear this command here to discipline yourself, you should be thinking of the training or the discipline of an athlete. Now, is the training of an athlete easy or difficult? It’s difficult. Why? Why would anyone voluntarily endure difficult training? Well, because of what it produces. For an athlete, it’s so they can improve in the competition, they can qualify for the games, they can ultimately win and receive the prize. Difficult training is worth it.
Now, in Paul’s day, the Greeks were still really into sports and athletics. I mean, today, we have the Olympics, right? Where did that come from? The Greeks in classical times. Now, for the ancient Olympics, before an athlete could qualify, even to compete, much less win, he had to voluntarily undergo 10 months of what they called responsible training. It had to be at least 10 months. And during that training, many athletes often trained under coaches. Just like today, the coaches were usually past victors in the games. And the most sought-after coaches, apparently, were the ones who were known to be the strictest, the most rigorous, the most painful to train under. Why? I mean, wouldn’t you want a trainer who would make it nice for you, go easy on you? No, because harder training usually means better training, more growth, and a more substantial chance to win.
Now, today, training for the Olympics is not very different. One primer I encountered about going to the Olympics notes that an athlete who really wants to compete and win in the Olympics must be training 24 hours a day. Not that they literally spend 24 hours in the gym, but that everything they do throughout their days must fit the goal of getting strong, getting skilled, getting prepared for the competition. So that includes, yes, working out. That includes practicing with the coach, but it also includes your eating, your relaxing, your resting, your sleeping. It all has to fit with that one goal.
So that helps us understand a little more of what Paul is commanding Timothy here and commanding us. We are exhorted, we are commanded to commit to hard training, to discipline, to the exercising of ourselves like athletes. We do have a coach of sorts who is committed to training us. That is the Lord, as we read from Hebrews 12. But even apart from the Lord’s special training and discipline, we are to discipline ourselves. We put together our own training regimen that will help us reach our goal, not based on our ideas, but according to the Word of God.
But what is this goal towards which we must train? What is the aim of our invested time, our training? Well, notice the last part of verse 7, last phrase, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness. The word for godliness is the Greek word eusebio. Godliness is a fine translation of the word. It could also be translated, and I’ll share this with you so you get a more full picture of it in your mind, devoutness, piety, or even awe-filled respect. Discipline yourself for the purpose of piety or awe-filled respect. Hmm, do those concepts remind you of any fundamental truth expressed in the Old Testament? Awe-filled respect? Maybe what’s called the fear of the Lord, the fear of Yahweh. And you know what’s interesting? This word eusebio is actually used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament in certain places for the word fear, even the fear of the Lord. It’s really the same idea, the same concept. And of course, when we talk about the fear of the Lord in the Bible, we’re not talking about mere terror at God’s power, His holiness, or His judgment, though there is an element of that. The fear of the Lord is what eusebio means. It is that right regard for God based on who He actually is. It is that awe-filled respect, that affectionate reverence, that capturing of the heart by God and His greatness that leads not only to our worship, but also our obedience.
It is with this aim that Paul exhorts us to discipline ourselves like athletes. Train yourselves hard in true devotion to God, in that godly regard, looking towards that godly regard that begins in the heart and flows out into how you live. You’re to train yourselves for that. Exercise, suffer pain, practice self-denial, so that you may grow in godliness.
Now, there is an encouragement implied in this command. I don’t know if you’re noticing it. The encouragement is if we will discipline ourselves this way, discipline ourselves according to God’s word, we will indeed grow in godliness. You want to grow in love for God and obedience to Him? Here’s a method that actually works. But there’s also an implied warning in this command, isn’t there? Without disciplining yourself, without applying true effort, time, perseverance, will you grow in godliness? Hardly, if at all.
Brethren, salvation is all of God. That is clear from the Bible. And sanctification is all of God. That is also clear from the Bible. No one may boast. Anything good we have received, it comes from God. Yet it is also true that when it comes to progressive sanctification, to your practical growth in godliness, you will not grow unless you actually discipline yourself.
So the question for you and for me to ask ourselves before we move on in our analysis of this text is, what are you doing to discipline yourself for godliness? This is the call. Are you doing it? And what are you doing as part of it? What does your training regimen look like? Do you have one? Have you ever taken a time to consider, this is the way I want to promote godliness, cultivate my relationship with the Lord? Or are you proceeding forward with no plan at all? Oh, you know, a little this, a little that, now and then if I feel like it. If I get more time, I’ll get around to spiritual growth, I guess. Do you have a bare minimum approach when it comes to spiritual training? Okay, coach, show me what’s the least I can do and still qualify for the games. Is that your approach to spiritual life? Either in your mind or just practically, that’s the way it manifests? Because if it is, you know what you’re going to experience? You know what the result will be? You’re going to suffer repeated and serious defeats. When you get in the boxing ring, you’re going to get knocked flat. Or when you charge into the race, you’re quickly going to find yourself vomiting on the sidelines. If you’re a Christian, you cannot afford a bare minimum approach to godliness. Your soul cannot afford it. Your marriage cannot afford it. Your family cannot afford it. And your church cannot afford it. You’re going to get out what you put in. Like an athlete who truly wants to win the games, instead of asking how little you can get away with, you should be asking how much you can take on without overexerting or injuring yourself. A great parallel passage, Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 9:25,
Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.
Do you see the picture? This is a picture of total commitment, all-out effort – train like you intend to win a fiercely competitive race. Because if you don’t train like that, you won’t win. Now, it’s possible for us all to win together, but only if we’re actually willing to do the discipline, to train. Is that what your life looks like right now? Or do you need to change?
Well, naturally, the question that arises when facing the prospect of difficult training is, is it worth it? If I’m really going to go all in on this spiritual discipline thing, if I’m really going to set aside sin and all that easily entangles, if I’m really going to focus 24/7 on godliness, I’m going to orient my whole life towards that end, I need to know what the prize is. What’s the payoff?
So now we look at the two reasons Paul gives for obeying those first two commands. The first reason appears in the first part of verse 8. Point number 3 in our sermon outline – other pursuits bring limited benefit. There are other goals that you may devote yourself to in life besides godliness and the discipline that promotes godliness. But these other pursuits, they can only bring you at best limited benefit. First part of verse 8,
For bodily discipline is only of little profit.
Now this statement is pretty readily understandable, isn’t it? If we want to compare bodily discipline, physical fitness, with spiritual discipline or spiritual fitness, well, we can see that bodily discipline is profitable but only a little bit. I mean, we did list some of the benefits of bodily discipline at the beginning of the message today. Better health, increased ability, improved appearance. But these can only go so far, can’t they? You cannot make yourself, even by extreme physical discipline, you cannot make yourself impervious to injury, disease, or death. There will still be tasks beyond your physical ability, and you cannot ultimately make yourself beautiful or handsome. And even if you could do some of these things, how long would the benefits last? You’re going to get older. These things will all fade as you age. Or a simple accident could take away all your work and even your life. Bodily discipline is profitable but only a little.
And we can broaden this principle to include any other aim or anything else that you might discipline yourself for in the world. Maybe you’re a disciplined gamer. You’ve poured many hours into virtual worlds. You are skilled at it. Or you’re a disciplined sports watcher. You’ve memorized all the players, all the stats, going back for years. Or you’re a disciplined worker at your job. Or you’re very disciplined about how you save and spend money. Or you’re very disciplined when it comes to what you choose to eat or not to eat. You’re like a dieting expert. Whatever it is, you no doubt experience some benefit, some pleasure, some satisfaction as a result of your pursuit. But how much? It’s fundamentally limited, isn’t it? Whatever gain you get out of your investor’s effort, even your pain, it’s fundamentally limited. Satisfaction soon fades. Your possessions that you gain as a result of your discipline, they soon lose their value. Your recognition from others soon turns to indifference. Of course, I’m not saying, and the Scriptures are not saying, that taking care of your body is bad, or that having a hobby or a certain area of established discipline is worthless, something to be avoided. No. But these, they do not function well as an ultimate aim, an ultimate pursuit. If you can only truly discipline yourself for one aim in life, anything besides spiritual discipline, without discipline oriented towards godliness, it brings only limited benefit. It is not worth your going all in for it.
But what about godliness? Look at the last part of verse 8. Second reason, final point of our outline,
But godliness is profitable for all things since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.
We have another contrast set up by Paul here. Bodily discipline, really any other pursuit in life, it’s only limited at best, but godliness is profitable for all, for everything. It brings you full and lasting benefit, true profit. How so? Because of the promise that is embedded in godliness, which, notice Paul says, is both for the present life and the life to come. Not just something you have to wait for and suffer through right now. No, you experience it now too. You want benefit? You want blessing, both now and forever? Then pursue godliness, Paul says, like an athlete, and you will see that promise realized.
What kind of benefit are we talking about here? I think there might be a temptation to read these verses with a prosperity gospel mindset. If I pursue godliness, then God will bless me with everything I want. I’ll be blessed materially. He’ll remove all trouble from my life. Now it is true, according to the Old Testament and Proverbs especially, that there often is a circumstantial aspect to the blessing you receive when you pursue godliness. Proverbs talk about that those who walk in the fear of God, they often do find increased wealth. They do find honor. They do find deliverance from trouble. But not always. And never are their lives trouble-free. Because after all, like we said, we do have a heavenly trainer, don’t we? And He is a good trainer, even a good Father, who is committed to using painful trials to bring about godliness in us. As one of the Psalms says, Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him from them all. You will experience trials. You will have difficulties in this life, but the Lord will help you through. So this cannot be. Prosperity gospel is not what Paul has in mind, or we could just go further on in 1 Timothy to see that. If you just skip over, look over at 1 Timothy 6, Paul clarifies another difference between the false teachers that arose up in Ephesus and true teachers. False teachers are inherently materialistic. Saying specifically at the end of verse 5, They suppose that godliness is a means of gain. Verse 6,
But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment.
Oh yes, your life will be blessed, surely you will be blessed if you walk in godliness, but not necessarily with material rewards, but with a contentment that is okay whatever their material rewards are not. The blessing, the benefit promised to one who diligently pursues godliness is not ultimately circumstantial, but it is in a treasure that transcends circumstances, goes beyond them. And what is that treasure? I think the best way to answer it is this way. It’s eternal life. It is the abundant, never-ending full life that belongs to those who know Jesus. And that life is epitomized in Jesus Himself. He says the essence of eternal life is actually knowing Him and God through Him.
And actually there is this idea reflected just in the context. If you look back at 1 Timothy 4:10, Paul says, for this we labor and strive. Those are hard words, right? Labor, strive. Because we have fixed our hope on the living God, the God of life, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers. We discipline ourselves. We go all out. We even agonize in our toil and struggle for godliness. And why? Because we are looking to the assured hope that we have in the only Savior and life giver. We know that if we will pursue the living God in this way, we will find and experience His life and His salvation, in an increasing way.
I think also of Jesus’ words in the Beatitudes. Matthew 5 records, Matthew 5:6,
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Just two verses later, Matthew 5:8,
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Let’s hear more from Paul. Paul in Philippians 3:13-14,
Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
True life and treasure is in God. And he says, if I keep pressing on towards him, I know I will experience it. Paul again, going back to that parallel passage in 1 Corinthians 9:25-27,
Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.
We could add many other scriptures, but the message of the Bible is clear. If you want to experience life, true life, abundant life, eternal life, it only comes by walking in the fear of Yahweh, even by voluntary discipline oriented toward godliness. Yes, training like an athlete to cultivate a relationship with Christ is worth it because you gain Christ, who gives eternal life and is eternal life in Himself.
But what if this is the way you choose not to live? What if, when you do your own calculation of what you will have to give up for what you will gain, and you say, I don’t think disciplining myself for the reward of Christ is worth it. I’m just going to phone it in. Do you know what will be the ultimate outcome if you take that attitude and maintain that attitude? I’m afraid I have to tell you. According to the scriptures, the result of that is you will not experience eternal life. You will not be saved, neither now nor in eternity. Because after all, you noticed in that last reference I just read to you, how Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9 that he disciplines himself so that he would not be disqualified. What does it mean to be disqualified? Certainly, yes, that could refer to a loss of ministry, but if you just read on in 1 Corinthians 10, you will hear about a group of people, a whole bunch of would-be followers of God who ended up disqualified. Namely, the first generation that came out of Egypt in the Exodus, who were always grumbling, always idolatrous, always doubting God and following after the flesh, and God utterly rejected them. And He killed them in the wilderness. They were disqualified.
Even here at the end of our chapter in 1 Timothy 4, notice verse 16, Paul says to Timothy that only by persevering faithfulness will Timothy ensure salvation both for himself and for those who hear him. You want to be saved, Timothy? You want those you minister to to be saved? Then stay faithful. Persevere. You say, what? Timothy is going to lose his salvation? No. Scriptures are clear that God doesn’t lose anyone whom he saves. But the Scriptures are also clear that anyone who is saved is someone who perseveres, even in godliness, even in the spiritual discipline aimed at godliness.
Brethren, you must listen. Your choice about whether you will take, whether you will pursue the discipline of godliness, it says a lot about what’s going on in your heart, what you really value, whether you really belong to Christ. Those who do know Christ are eager to follow Him and please Him. But those who don’t care that much, they are those that Jesus will disown on the last day with those terrible words, I never knew you. Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness. You didn’t care about godliness, which just showed you never knew Me. There’s no real category of carnal Christians, according to the Bible. You either are earnest to please Christ or you do not know Him at all. Yes, Christians can and do stumble in the race of faith. They can sit out for a time, but they don’t stay out. They don’t give up the race. They don’t throw in the towel. They don’t turn away from the training. They may need help to get back in the race, as we all do, but they love Christ too much to give up on Him and to give up on the pursuit of Him.
Now, each one of us are at various places in our race of Christian maturity. None of us are perfect or wholly mature yet. But what is our direction? What is our aim? What is our characteristic lifestyle? Is it the pursuit of Christ? Is it discipline and that affectionate fear of His holiness? If it is, then Paul says, such a one is saved and has life both now and forever. So you’ve got to ask yourselves, is that you? Is that you this morning? Do you feel that way in your heart? Is it evident in your life? Have you essentially gone to Jesus and said, Lord, I am disciplining myself for You because You are my treasure. Lord, I know You discipline me and it’s painful, but I welcome that because it means I get You. And Lord Jesus, I’m going to be diligent about this. I’m going to search. I’m going to plan. I’m going to think about how I can cultivate a deeper relationship with You because You are life. Is that what your heart testifies? If not, then today is the day to repent and realize what it really means to be a Christian. To be a Christian is a radical calling. I think we sometimes forget that. It’s like, as we heard today, becoming an athlete.
So we’ve heard this morning the call of our Lord through His apostle to spiritual discipline. When it comes to godliness, there truly is no gain without pain. But what a gain there is – life and salvation forever in Jesus, experienced now, later to be experienced in full. In light of such gain, what is the pain? It is, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:17, this momentary light affliction is laying up for us a weight of glory too wonderful to be comprehended. God exhorts you. God exhorts us today to discipline ourselves for godliness according to His word so that we may experience that eternal life.
So what practical changes can you make in your life right now to make this a reality? You can actually grow in godliness, pursue the Lord, know him even more, and manifest that in the way you live your life. You can make practical changes. And you know where they start? Well, that’s really what we’re going to talk about next time. One area in which this discipline, this purposeful pursuit of godliness, must manifest itself is in devotion to the Word of God. The learning, the studying, the meditating on, the memorizing of, all those things related to the Bible. We’ll talk about that next time.
Let’s close in prayer. Lord God, I thank You for this word. It is a reorienting Word. It’s very easy for us to get distracted. We live in a relatively comfortable place in the world, and we can forget about the radical call You’ve placed on our lives and also Your radical worth that makes that call so worthy to be answered. Lord Jesus, our life does not consist in these things we see around us, our jobs, our hobbies, our whatever it is. Life is in You. And God, if we really want to experience life, then we will discipline ourselves. God, this is not something we can do on our own. The only reason that we can pursue this is because You said, I will enable you to do it. I will empower you. I will encourage you by My word and by My promises. You tell us, God, we can have a grace-fueled discipline. So God, we ask for that. We ask for Your extended grace to us so that we can do exactly what You’ve called us to do. Jesus, make us godly. Make us more into Your image. Father, sanctify us. We know that will involve some pain, but the reward of it will be worth it. Lord, let that be the subtle conviction of our hearts and let us as a church not only pursue godliness individually but help one another pursue godliness even in the exercise of our gifts. In Jesus’ name, amen.