All right, well open your Bibles please to 1 Timothy chapter four. And this morning I'll be reading verses six through 10. 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 a 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. 

in preparing this message on instruction to Timothy, it made me think of two ladies that are mentioned in the Gospels. And the first is a woman from Luke chapter seven. Some say it's Mary Magdalene. She's often portrayed as Mary Magdalene. Probably not. Mary Magdalene's introduced right afterwards as if for the first time in Luke. So we'll just call her the sinful woman of Luke chapter seven. That is, she's a woman with a reputation for being a sinner. And she went to a dinner at the home of Simon the Pharisee, knowing that the Lord Jesus would be there. And she brought an alabaster jar of perfume. And as he ate, she poured out her perfume on his feet, mingled with her tears. She dried it with her hair as she kissed his feet. 

Awkward as it was, and it was as awkward as it sounds, all of that, imperfect as it was, the Lord Jesus condescended. to accept her worship as valuable, as meaningful to him, as pleasing to him. He was pleased by what she did. And so it was a very odd thing. The Bible portrays God as a lavish host to us, his people. Like the psalmist says, you prepare a table, I think we're just saying this, you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You have anointed my head with oil, my cup overflows. God is the host of all these things. But in this unique situation about this lady, of Luke chapter seven, the role is reversed. He condescended to allow her to be a lavish host to God because the Lord Jesus is God himself. And that's how the Lord explained to Simon what she was doing to him. He said to Simon, I'll read what he said, he said, Do you see this woman? I entered your house. You gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she anointed my feet with perfume." So he said, Simon, you've been a bad host. She's been a good host to me. You've been a stingy host. She's been a lavish host to me. 

The second lady is Mary, Lazarus's sister. And this is a different time and a different place. In fact, I wonder if she heard about the woman of Luke chapter seven. I think she did because she did something similar. And so in her own house, she brought an expensive jar of perfume, and she anointed the Lord's head. And the Lord was pleased with that as well. So you might say. But I wish I had opportunity to minister to the Lord Jesus like that, to have provided in some way for him, like when he was on earth, like these two ladies, or like the wise men who found the child and bowed before him and presented their gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh. But you might say, well, I'm 2,000 years too late to do anything like that. I'm not existing at the same time that Christ came to the earth. 

Well, don't wish that you existed 2,000 years ago and you're not 2,000 years too late because this is what the entire Christian life is. from start to finish. If you're a Christian, God has enabled you to give to God, and God has condescended to allow you to be a giver to him. He accepts what you offer, no matter how awkward or imperfect or small the offering is, and it's valuable, it's meaningful, it is pleasing to him. 

There's a word that describes the giving of these two ladies, and it's not, I don't think it's used in either account, brief account that's given of what they did, but it's used of other Christian giving in the New Testament in an important way. It's the word simplicity. 

simplicity, and sometimes the translators translate it as generosity, and that's a word we're more used to when we talk about the way someone gives. But I think the word generosity, it's more familiar, but it obscures what actually the word means, simplicity. And so this describes their giving and the Christian giving that honors the Lord in that it's not a complicated calculation. It's not giving for some other purpose. It's not giving saying, well, if I give this to God, maybe this other thing will happen. If I give to God, maybe he'll give this to me. 

No, in this kind of giving, giving with simplicity, The giving is the point. The giving is the point. And you forget all else. That's how all of our giving is to be done to God. That's how our giving is to be done to each other, as well, with simplicity, just for the point of giving. You're not giving to somebody hoping you're going to get an advantage, you're going to get an angle on something, or something else is going to happen, because that's the way that we're to love one another, as well. And that's what makes, what we give to God, Christian, is when it's done with simplicity. 

Where does that kind of giving come from? Where you'd give just to give, just with simplicity, just with the motive of giving to God, like these two ladies obviously had as they poured out their perfume with a full heart to the Lord, they're just delighted in giving to Him. Where does that kind of giving come from? to give your life to God in that way, in holiness to him. 

Well, that kind of giving with simplicity, it's actually a total stranger to the human heart. Maybe that's why the word simplicity isn't, it doesn't go, it doesn't, it's not a familiar one that goes with giving. It's a total stranger to the human heart. It has to come from the gospel itself. or not at all. 

And so the Holy Spirit plants a spirit of simple giving in your heart when he plants the gospel itself in your heart and opens your heart to the gospel. So there's a connection there. And that's why the Lord Jesus said about the first lady to Simon, she loves much. You can see that because she was forgiven much. She loves, she gives in the same way that she's been given to in the gospel. 

Or he said about the second lady, I'll read it, Matthew 26 verse 13. Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her. So when the gospel goes out, what this woman did for me is also gonna go out because it's the same. It shares in the same spirit. It's done with a spirit of simplicity. You can't give with simplicity to God or to anyone else If you believe in a transactional gospel, a gospel where you give in order to get, a legalistic gospel, it only comes from the pure gospel of grace alone, in Christ alone, through faith alone. 

In the true gospel of Christ, the true gospel of grace, The giving is the point. The giving is the point and the giving is simple. The giving itself that Christ does to us in the gospel glorifies God because it puts God's character on display. It puts his character on display just in the giving itself and it begets giving of the same kind to God and to others as well. 

In this passage, Paul tells Timothy, consider the gift that you're giving to God of your life, of your life. Consider the gift that you're giving to God. And this morning, the Holy Spirit is telling you the same thing. Consider the gift of your life that you're pouring out. to the Lord, and I want you to consider it this morning under three aspects. 

First, is it nourished by the gospel? That's verses six and seven of our passage. Second, is it disciplined for godliness? That's in verse eight and nine. And third, is it given hoping in the living God? That's verse 10. So I hope you consider under those three questions, those three aspects, the gift that you're giving to God. 

And the first question is, is the gift that you're giving to God nourished and fed by the gospel? And let's look at the instructions that Paul gave to Timothy in verses six and seven. 

In pointing these things out 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." He talks, he tells Timothy here how he's going to be. a good servant or a good minister of Christ Jesus. 

How is Timothy to be a good minister of Christ Jesus at this church in Ephesus? How are you to be a good minister of Christ Jesus? Because you're called to be this as well. Well, Timothy was to be a good minister of Christ Jesus, certainly by teaching accurate doctrine to others. That was front and center in Timothy's task, the reason why Paul sent him to this church is teaching to others, teaching correct doctrine. And he mentions it here. He mentions it here. 

In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a minister of Christ Jesus. But interestingly, he mentions it, but it's not the emphasis of this passage that we're looking at today, or the next passage, which really continues these things. The emphasis for how Timothy is to be a good minister of Christ Jesus in this situation is his life. The example of his life that was lived among them. And Paul says that that life is to be nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which he has been following him, has been following. 

So Timothy's life was to be nourished by the gospel, and that was to make his life stand out among these people among those in Ephesus who had abandoned that foundation of the gospel, and they started to found what they were giving to God on something that was much more natural to the human heart. The gospel had lost its place there. And so Paul tells Timothy, that he is to be a good minister of the servant of Christ Jesus, nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following. And that word, nourished, the way it's given, you can see this in the original language. He's talking about Timothy. Timothy is to teach, but this nourishment, it's not stated to be for those that are listening to his teaching. It's stated to be for him. He's to be the one who's getting nourishment from the words of the doctrine that he is teaching.

So he says, Timothy, you're to be nourished, fed, given nutrition and health, spiritual health, by the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following. He calls what Timothy is teaching the words of the faith, the words of the faith. Faith is the first response called for by the gospel, and so that's a good description. The words of the faith is a good description of the entire Christian teaching. It's called by its most prominent and leading feature, the words of the faith.

So when you have the words of the gospel, the words of the God who gives to you freely, and when you're nourished by those words, then what you give to God is given to him in the same spirit, and he wants to make sure that that's what Timothy is doing here at this church. So he says, I want you to teach, I want you to be a good servant of Christ Jesus, and I want you to be nourished. in your soul by what you're teaching. Especially the words of the faith and the sound doctrine which you have been following but have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women.

And so he mentions here fables or myths, and then he gives two descriptions of these fables. The first is a word that means that they are devoid of significance. They're pointless, these fables. And the second word, it does have the word old women in it, but what the word really means is something that's fit only for the gullible. We've had a proliferation in our time of kind of wild ideas without evidence, so-called conspiracy theories. It's become a problem of our time. And perhaps the problem is this, that a lot of them have turned out to be true. So you can't just dismiss all of them. They're certainly not all true, and time will tell on those.

But there were fables, wild ideas associated with the false teaching. of those who had abandoned the gospel in Ephesus. And we're not really told all the details of that, but it can get very convoluted when you abandon the gospel for your justification before God. And it did so, a great example of it, and where we know a little more details is the Pharisees. the Pharisees and there was accretion upon accretion of all these different traditions and ways of justifying themselves and it got kind of convoluted. It got kind of bizarre. It got to where it was maybe something similar to this, fables and things that only gullible people would believe.

And so he tells Timothy, as you're nourished by the gospel, as that's what powers your life and your example among this church in Ephesus. Be nourished by the gospel and have nothing to do with worldly fables. Fit only for old women. I don't think this was a warning for Timothy against believing these fables. I don't think that was really a temptation or an appeal to Timothy. He calls sound doctrine what Timothy has been following right before. And so Timothy has not been following myths and fables. I think what Paul has in mind is he didn't want Timothy occupying a lot of his time refuting these false myths and fables. So he says, have nothing to do with them. It's probably similar to what he tells Timothy in the next letter, where Timothy's in the same place, 2 Timothy chapter two, verse 23. Refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels. If you get into refuting every detail, you're gonna be in a quagmire, is what he says to Timothy. 

So here's the church in Ephesus. where Timothy is stationed. It's a most strategic church. When the gospel first went to Ephesus, from Ephesus it went out to all Asia and made huge inroads and so it was a huge strategic church in Paul's missionary journeys. But now they had forgotten the gospel. the gospel had fallen from its pedestal and so they embraced all kinds of legalistic tendencies and all the bad fruit that comes from that. 

And so Timothy's assignment was to parachute in and put out this spiritual forest fire of false teaching and legalism before it spread to other churches. And what Paul's saying here in these passages that I've been in this part of this passage that I've been going through is the surest way for Timothy to restore the gospel to the pedestal that it should be on in this church in Ephesus, where the gospel is given in all its purity and it touches everything else. It touches all their obedience, it touches the way in which they give to God. It's at the foundation of everything. 

The surest way for Timothy to do this is in his teaching, yes, he mentions that here. And in refuting error, he has to do that as he has opportunity. I don't think he's gonna run down every detail of refuting error, every fable. but to refute it, but the surest way he's to do it is to live a life that matches the character of the gospel. To live a life that is nourished by the gospel, that partakes of the same character, the same spirit, the same life. which is the very life of God. 

And so it starts out talking about him being nourished on the words of the faith himself. And then it's gonna go on to urge him to live this holy example. That's where we're going in this passage and the one that follows as well. Don't underestimate the power of one act if it's ever so small. of giving, of obedience to the Lord in that same spirit of giving to God that the gospel is given to you with simplicity, of giving that is nourished by the gospel. 

Paul didn't underestimate the power of one life. Timothy's when he's here, and others were to follow in his example as well. But he tells Timothy, You're to teach the gospel, you're to teach accurately, you're to refute error, but be nourished on the gospel yourself so that your example becomes the surest refutation of all the false teaching that's happening at this church. 

Said about the second lady that we mentioned in the gospel, the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume, the offering that she gave. that was given in the same spirit as the gospel itself. And then it says, not only fills the house, it's gonna be a testimony for all time. It's gonna resonate for all time as well. That's what Paul wanted for the church in Ephesus, starting with one person, starting with Timothy. 

And so the instructions here, They're read in the hearing of the church, but the instructions actually are all for Timothy here. It's for him because Paul wanted his life to show, his life as an offering to God, to stand out like a sore thumb among these legalists in Ephesians, these Christians that were having all these tendencies of legalism. And so he wanted Timothy's, example of a gospel-oriented life, a life nourished on the teaching that he's been given to shine in this church and for others to follow in his example. So don't underestimate the power of one life. lived in this way, lived according to the same spirit as the gospel. It starts with you, it starts in your heart, and only as nourished by the gospel. That's the only way you're gonna learn to give your life to the Lord as an offering in this way. It's the only way it can be learned. And Timothy was the man to do it. Timothy was the man to do it at this church. 

First Corinthians chapter four, verse 17. describes Timothy in this way, it's good to remember Timothy. According to the way that Paul speaks of him, in all of his letters sometimes Timothy is described as timid because Paul encourages him like he's discouraged. It's normal to be discouraged, but Timothy was a reliable man and one in whom Christ had his heart, and the gospel had his heart, and it showed, and that's what Paul expected of him. 

First Corinthians 4.17, for this reason I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, just as I teach everywhere and in every church. 

Or Philippians, chapter two, says this about Timothy. I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, so that I also may be encouraged when I learn of your condition. For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned about your welfare. For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus. But you know of his proven worth that he served with me in the furtherance of the gospel like a child serving his father. Therefore I hope to send him immediately as soon as I see how things go with me. 

Timothy was the man to start this in the church in Ephesus to remind them of this. And you too, this is written for you. This is recorded in scripture for you. The gospel has taken root in your heart and that makes you a candidate for giving to the Lord in this way and be an example to others as well. But you need to be reminded, you need to be encouraged just as Timothy did to be a good minister of the Lord Jesus constantly nourished on the words of the faith and sound doctrine which you have been following. 

So consider your gift. Consider your gift. Is it nourished on the gospel? the gift of your life that you're offering to God. Is it given in the same spirit as the gospel? That is not a calculation, not given in order to get, but given in the same spirit that Christ gives to you. He gives freely, he gives lavishly, he gives you to put his giving on display and simply for the purpose of giving. So is your gift to the Lord, the gift of your life, nourished on the gospel? 

Second, is it disciplined for Godliness. Is it disciplined for godliness? And I'll pick up in verse 7. 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. 

A life given to the Lord that matches the gospel is not automatic. It's not automatic. You don't just get saved and then effortlessly give back to God a gift that matches the way in which he's given to you. God condescends, we've said that, to allow you to be a giver to him in a way that's pleasing to him, and maybe we could say it this way. He condescends to allow your gift to be the fruit of effort, of your effort as well, your effort to give a gift that's given at cost to yourself and at the cost of effort to yourself is what makes it pleasing to the Lord as well.

And so as he tells Timothy, when you think about your life and how it's to be an example to others, in fact, it's meant to restore the gospel to its proper place at this church just by what people see of your life. It's going to take discipline. It's going to take work. It's going to take effort.

And so he uses this word. It's a it's a word that's used for athletics. In fact, it has the word gymnasium in this word. Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness. Train yourself like an athlete who trains day in and day out and works hard at it, who submits himself to a regiment of training. And that's going to be part of this gift that Timothy offers to God. that Paul is urging him to do, nourished by the gospel and also disciplined in this way.

So think of yourself, think of the gift that you're offering to God. It's to be nourished by the gospel and it's to be disciplined as well. And so you're to discipline yourself in the tasks that make your life to be a holy offering to God, like growing in some area of sin in your life, or reading God's word. studying it, meditating it, making that a big part of your life, making it a bigger part of your life this year than it was last year.

James just recently challenged us with that at the beginning of the new year. I've been taking up James's challenge, and I wanna go through scripture. Again, I'd like to finish the Bible in a year, but most of all, I want not just me to go through the Bible, but the Bible to go through me. And so I'm disciplining myself more so to that this year. to reach out to another person in ministry, to love someone who is hard to love, to forgive someone. who's hard to forgive, to pray, to be in prayer to the Lord.

In this passage, he just says to Timothy, discipline yourself for godliness. The next passage, it's really kind of a part two. It really flows out of this passage. He gets more specific in verse 12 where he tells, these are the kinds of things he's to discipline himself towards. Let no one look down on your youthfulness, some in verse 12 of this chapter, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe. That's the kinds of things that Timothy was to discipline himself to do.

So the rest of this passage and what it says here about bodily discipline, he says, 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.

And so that trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance that's comparing bodily discipline and its profit to discipline and godliness and its profit is actually an encouragement to Timothy to discipline himself for godliness. And the thought of it is this, don't be afraid to aspire. to godliness in all of these ways and then work for these things like an athlete working for these things. Expecting discouragements, expecting setbacks, expecting times when you feel like quitting. That's what an athlete encounters in his training. Encountering times when you feel like all this effort is a waste and it's not doing any good. He encourages him to persist, to keep on disciplining according to this faithful saying. The faithful saying that he gives him, it's kind of a formula that he gives elsewhere in these epistles as well. It's a trustworthy statement. deserving full acceptance. You can count on this statement, you can trust in this statement, and it's worthy of all acceptance, full acceptance. It's worthy for you to accept this in every way and incorporate it into your innermost being, to accept it in every part of yourself. 

And I read this, It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance with what came before it, about exercise, profiting a little, and discipline and godliness, profiting much. I think that's what it refers to. There's some who read it with the end of verse 10, which also sounds like a faithful saying, worthy of all acceptance, and a weighty one, that we have fixed our hope on the living God who is the savior of all men, especially of believers. And if you want to make that the faithful saying worthy of all acceptance, I won't argue with you too much. There's some commentators who do. Most of the commentators, though, think it has to do with this statement that comes before in verse 8 about bodily discipline and then discipline in godliness as well. And they consider that to be more of a proverb-like statement. And I tend to agree, don't know for sure, but I tend to agree with that. 

And so I think of this as a statement that Paul quotes here that maybe was already circulating among Christians about bodily discipline profiting a little, but godliness profiting much, profiting for all things. And if that's the case, and I think it is, he wants you to really sit with this. He wants you to think about it, and to believe it, and to incorporate it into everything that you do. 

So bodily discipline is of a little profit. That's the beginning of this trustworthy statement. And I think you've experienced this. If you've exercised, really if you've worked hard in a physical way, even if you're a totally non-athletic person, you'll still have appreciation for this. So for physical labor, or for exercise that you do, if you keep at it, you find yourself stronger, faster, more skilled at what you're doing, or if this is your goal, healthier, and you feel better, and you have more energy, and that's an encouragement to keep you going, and if you have a competitive drive, that even helps you even more to press on through hardship, because you know that bodily discipline profits, it profits you, it profits you, he says, a little. 

sometimes said about exercise, you get out of it what you put into it. And that's certainly true. An athlete would remember that to keep him going. But if you think that about physical exercise, this is what Paul's saying, you should think that even more so about spiritual exercise, about disciplining yourself to give to God, to give a holy life to God. You're gonna get out of it, not just what you put into it, you're gonna get out of it even more than you put into it. And why is that the case? If physical exercise is rewarding a little, exercising godliness in giving your life as an offering of holiness to God is gonna profit much. Why? Well, he puts it in this way. and also for the life to come. Physical exercise holds a promise to the one who persists at it, who disciplines at it for this present life, for just physical life and being alive. But godliness and exercising godliness, discipline in godliness holds promise to the person who disciplines himself in that way for the present life and also for the life to come.

talks about two different kinds of life that this prophets you in, the present life and the life to come. He's not just talking about existence at two different times, existing now and then existing later in the life to come. He's talking about two different kinds of life. One is just being physically alive. That's how exercise prophets you in that kind of life. The other is a spiritual sharing in the very life of God.

And For a Christian, those overlap. We're already experiencing the life that is to come. We're already experiencing not just what it is to be alive, but the life to come as well, the life of sharing in the very life of God. And so for the Christian, those things overlap. And that's the way it's spoken of in scripture. Hebrews chapter six, verse four, describes us as those who have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit and have tasted the good word of the Lord and the powers of the age to come. We're already experiencing, we don't have to wait for it, we're already experiencing the powers of the age to come, we're already experiencing what it is to participate in the life of God himself.

Or 1 Corinthians 10 verse 11 which says, what happened to Old Testament saints was written for our instruction upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

to be alive, not just physically, which also God gives, but to be alive spiritually with the very life of God is to be alive in such a way that's so abundant. that it has to overflow to others in giving, and that's what it means for God to be alive in that way, and that's what this exercise in godliness is going to give us. It shows promise. You discipline yourself in this kind of life, sharing in the very life of God, the spiritual life of God, and the discipline in godliness holds promise to increase that kind of life to us as well.

The Lord Jesus said, I came that they may have life, And have it more abundantly. Have life, his sheep, in themselves and then abundantly overflowing to others.

Or these two kinds of life is what is described 1 Corinthians 15. The first Adam was a living soul. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. The first Adam was alive physically for himself. The last Adam, Christ became alive in such a way that gives life to others and shares life with others in giving to others as well.

So if you exercise physically, I hope you do. That's good, I do, I try to. It's worth doing, it profits only you. If you exercise spiritually to give to God, discipline your life, to give a holy gift to the Lord with your life, with your obedience, It profits not only you, but it profits others. It makes you alive in such a way that gives life to others and increases and advances the kingdom of Christ in this world as well.

So think about that when you think of disciplining yourself for godliness in no matter how small a way, the gift that you're offering to God, reading God's word. meditating on his word more, getting up a half hour earlier to spend more time alone with the Lord, praying to the Lord, praising him, just loving him in your own heart, worshiping in a way that's like these two ladies pouring out their offerings to the Lord Jesus Christ. Not only is no effort wasted, No effort wasted, but others are gonna be the benefit of those things as well. Even something offered just in the privacy of your heart. Others are gonna be the benefit of it as well because it holds promise, not just for this life, not just for yourself, but for the very life of God, spiritual life, the eternal life, which is to come, which is life abundant that pours out to others in giving.

So consider your gift. Is it nourished by the gospel? Is it disciplined for godliness? The discipline has a place in this kind of offering to God, importantly, and that's what Paul encourages. And finally this, in the time we have remaining, is it given hoping in the living God? And that's verse 10.

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. This final statement in verse 10, it's really kind of a way to... nail down and support and drive home what he's already said in the faithful saying, which is that your discipline counts. Your discipline counts with God and is going to be rewarded with more of the very life of God. And so this really covers much of the same territory. It's kind of a way of just driving it home.

It is for this we labor and strive. That's the discipline. for godliness, that's the work, that's the effort. Like an athlete, we labor, Paul uses that word for real toil, and the striving is another athletic word for agonizing as well, and so there's effort involved in this. We labor and strive knowing that none of that is in vain, and here's why. It's because, again, because of the way life abides in God, the way life consists in God. Because we have fixed our hope on the living God, the way life is in him and the way in which he shares that life with others. The living God who is the savior of all men, especially of believers.

And so you're to hope in the life of God. In other words, as you strive, as you work hard at the Christian life, you do it in hope that he's not setting you up for failure, that you're gonna succeed at what you're doing because he is the God of life and because of the way that he shares that life with others. So we fixed our hope on the living God, the God of life. Life exists in him who is the savior of all men, especially of believers.

Now that's a difficult saying at the end. He's the savior of all men. especially of believers. So I wanna sit with that just for a moment here at the end of my message and ask what that means. First, I wanna tell you what it doesn't mean. Then I'll give you three possible ways to take it. It's a difficult statement, so I'll give you three possible ways to take it, and the one that I lean to, which will be the third one, of course. And then I wanna ask, what's the point? of this that Paul's making by describing God as living and the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.

So first, what it doesn't mean, it's not universalism. It doesn't mean that all people are saved. And Headed for Heaven scripture teaches that not all are saved, that there are some who are saved and some are not. So when it says that he's the living God who is the savior of all men, it doesn't mean that all are heaven bound. It doesn't mean universalism.

So what does it mean? Well, maybe one of these three things, and the first you might describe as the potential and actual view, who's the Savior of all men, potentially the Savior, and actually, especially the Savior of believers. And you might put it like this. There's only one Savior for man. There's only one Savior for humankind. He became a man. He became just like every human being. He didn't become like an angel. He became like a human being, and the gospel itself is preached to all, and so in that sense, he's a savior to all men, potentially, you might say, but he's actually a savior only to those who believe, so that's one way of understanding what he says here.

A second you might refer to as the common grace, saving grace view, who's the savior of all men, especially of believers, and the thought here is that when unbelievers do good, which they do, temporal good, or when they receive temporal blessing, that it's somehow due to the Savior's work, the fact that God doesn't smite them with the wrath they deserve right away, but gives them time and even gives them gifts, temporal gifts as well. It's due to his saving work in some way. but eternal salvation is for those who believe. So in that way, he would be the savior of all men, everybody, but especially of believers. Savior of all men in a common grace sort of way, but of believers in a saving way. Luther and Calvin both believe along that. That's how they interpret this passages along those lines.

A third way of understanding it final way of understanding it here, is that the word especially can sometimes just provide another definition or identification or description of the same group. And so in those cases, it could be translated that is or namely. So the idea here would be that it refers to the same group of people, not a subset of the first group, but the same group described in two ways. All men, that is all kinds of men who are actually saved, namely believers. So another way of describing all kinds of men who are saved, describing them again as believers. And I think that makes sense. I kind of lean towards that view because he mentions all men, in chapter two, and he used it in the same way, as all kinds of men, that the Lord desires all kinds of men to be saved. So I would lean towards that way of understanding this difficult statement that God is the savior of all men, and especially of believers.

What's the point? What's the point of describing God in that way? It's the living God that we set our hope on and remind them that he's the savior of all men and especially even believers.

Well, as we've pointed out a number of times, the Ephesians had adopted a bunch of legalistic tendencies that reflected on their view of God. When you pervert the gospel, it perverts your view of God as well, the two go together. So they had a legalistic way of viewing salvation and a legalistic way of viewing the way in which God shares his life, that he's quite stingy about it. that he's reluctant about it, that he only gives his life to those who meet the right qualifications. And they turned out to be just those who are just like us, you know, the Ephesians, speaking in that way.

And so they became quite insular. In fact, part of Timothy's mission was to get them to look outward, to look at God's work of salvation, his free work of salvation. And so part of what Paul, wants the Ephesians to be reminded of as well as that God is not like that in the way in which he shares his life. He's eager to share his life. He's lavish, you could say. He's generous in sharing his life and you're to remember that as you hope in him.

This is what we remember about God as we toil in living the Christian life. We remember this about God, that he's the living God who shares his life as Savior with all kinds of people, not just people who meet a certain qualifications. In fact, he shares it with those who simply believe. And so this is what Paul says is we labor and we toil, we're hoping in a God who shares his life in that way, as a savior of all men, and especially of those who believes and whose character is on display in the way in which he is a savior in that way.

So this morning, consider your gift, consider your gift. the gift that you are giving to God with your life, with the example of your life. The Bible says it is more blessed to give than to receive. None is more blessed than God. And so he's the giver of all good things. That's what we learn in the gospel. He's the source of all blessing. But he's the giver in such a way that he even shares some of that giving with us and allows us to give to him. And so he says, present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

So consider Your gift to God, the gift of your life, the gift of giving your holiness, your efforts towards holiness to God, your whole life, consider the next 24 hours of your gift to God, or the next hour of your gift to God. Is it nourished by the gospel? It's the only way to make your giving like his or like these two ladies that we mentioned who poured out their offering to the Lord with a full heart, with a simple heart, with a gift that was given freely and lavishly with no other reason than just for the joy of giving itself. The only way to make your giving like that, and not like Simon's, or not like the kind of giving to God that the Ephesians had gotten themselves into, nourished by myths and fables and all kinds of legalism. The only way for you to make your giving like that is if it's nourished by the gospel.

Second is your gift disciplined for godliness. It involves effort to give to God in that way, and the effort is completely fitting for it. In fact, it's a trustworthy statement, worthy of all acceptance that when you discipline yourself for godliness, that none of it is wasted. None of your effort is wasted, but all of that effort holds promise for the present life and for the life to come.

And then finally, is your gift given hoping in the living God, the God of life, who will never disappoint because he shares his life with all kinds of people who simply believe, who simply believe. He's willing to share his life as the Savior in that way.

May the Lord bless these truths from his word. to your heart by the Spirit and cause you to grow as a gospel-driven, disciplined, and hopeful giver that is pleasing to the Lord. Let's pray.

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for what you've given to us. You've given us free forgiveness of sins. You've given us a new heart. You've given us your Holy Spirit to cause us to love you. And you've done this simply by, you've given this to us simply by us believing that you give us these things. And Father, you've enabled us then to give to you. And so we pray that we might give freely, we might give simply, we might give in a way that matches the gospel, that we might give in a way that costs, in a way that's like an athlete, disciplining ourselves for the sake of godliness, and that we might be encouraged to continue disciplining ourselves in this way because we're hoping in you. Hoping in your character and knowing that all of these efforts will be rewarded richly in you. We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.