1 Timothy 4:12-16 Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. 13 Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. 14 Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. 15 Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. 16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.
“Let no man Despise thy Youth”
His youth was an area of suspicion for the people that he pastored. How could such a young man lead? If he was to win their trust, it would have to be by living a life that was exemplary to his congregation, proving that his weaknesses and inexperience were not going to be an issue. Our particular weakness may or may not be our age and inexperience, but this statement is true of any weakness or disadvantage we may have. Don’t let that issue become a source of despise in the eyes of your congregation; rather, prove by an exemplary life that you are worthy to be followed. Leadership isn’t just about being the leader, but being worthy of that position. If you are not exemplary, people will despise your leadership and eventually will have to find a different man to follow. If we will put our footsteps in front of the one in front of us, the real leader of the church, the great shepherd, the head, Jesus Christ, then we can boldly proclaim as did Paul, "Follow me as I follow Christ."
The Holy Ghost didn't think it sufficient just to tell us to be examples but mentioned several specific areas of the minister's life in which a congregant ought to be able to mimic us. What if the congregation spoke as you speak? What if the congregation had the type of attitude that you have? What if their manner of life was like yours? What if they were as charitable as you are? What if they were as faithful or faithless as you are? How holy would their life be if they followed your example? We ought to ponder these questions and perhaps next time we are tempted to examine all the faults in the congregation, we would cast our eyes inward and find in many areas they have simply stepped in our footsteps laid down before them. In both Timothy and Titus, Paul is instructing us on how to set in order the things that are wanting, and in both cases when the church needs order, he calls first of all the pastors to have order in their life. That is always step one. Therefore the first question to examine is Am I in order? Then and only then can we expect the church to find order.
These are the specific areas Mentioned and a brief explanation.
Word
His tongue is the first thing mention, a preacher who can’t keep his mouth shut will breed gossip, backbiting and a little flame of aggrevaition will kindleth a great fire bitterness and hatred.
Conversation.
Manner of life, not extravegent, nor turbulent, but a life where the peace of God rules and brings order, even in the midst of Chaos.
Charity.
Love in action, not just alot of talking about the love of God but expressing it. “
spirit.
Our genenral demeanor, not always discouraged, or always irritated, niether always pleasant. Angered by what angers God, compassionate when the Lord would express compassion, our emotions and presentation to the outside world brought under the control of the Holy Spirit.
Faith
Beliving and obeying God. If Charity is love in action , then faith is belief in action. Not only are we to believe the promises of God, but to act upon them.
Purity
A holy lifestyle, upstanding, clean life. “Blameless” no smut could be brought out to tarnish the man or ministry of God, living such a life that if one wanted to tarnish your name they would have to lie.
Then we have a second list that we are instructed to “Give Attendance to.” By these words are meant to watch carefully, as a guard watches his prisoners. It insinuates active watch, not casual. Not like you would watch a ball game, looking as often as you are interested and nothing lost if you walk away for a bit, but rather a watch that you can’t walk away from. If you let down your guard, your prisoners will escape and you’ll lose your post. What are these specific things we must watch? Reading, exhortation, and Doctrine. Each one is in the wheelhouse of our ministry in the pulpit. Reading is the gathering of wood for the fire, reading the scriptures first of all, but even Paul asked for the books to be brought to him and so can books be a tremendous blessing to the pastor as long as they are in line with the scriptures. Reading is for the comfort, charging, and help of the pastor, and when he is comforted, he can comfort; when he has been charged, he can charge. Exhortation then is for his congregation; we are often stagnant in our studies because, like a pool of water, we need flow. Fresh supply of truth, encouragement, rebuke, and light from the Lord come down from heaven, but if we hoard it up to ourselves, we become stagnant, but the more often you pour out the help you receive, the more often you are refreshed. Refreshed because tomorrow there will be fresh supplies seeing that you have emptied your heart to the people. Secondly, you will be refreshed knowing that you were used as a vessel to deliver such heavenly help. Paul said that he joyed and rejoiced if he was offered upon the sacrifice of their faith, and there is no greater joy than bringing joy to those we have been called to. Lastly, he mentions doctrine which is for both the preacher and the congregation. Doctrine is the systematic construction of the information we have gathered from our reading and study of the Scripture. Line upon line, rightly dividing the word of Truth, being sure that our teaching is not false, taking what we have read, and skillfully laying out what God teaches about any given subject, or what any particular passage of scripture is saying and instructing.
“Neglect not the Gift that is in thee”
God has gifted every one of His God-called men with the divine ability to preach effectively. This gift requires attention and maintenance. Imagine a pastor receiving a car to help him with the ministry. He would have to learn to drive the car, acquire his driving permit, learn the laws of the road, and know how to maintain the car, and if he neglected to do these things, the car would not benefit him nor the people God called him to. When God gives us the gift of preaching; it must be maintained. We must “Study to show ourselves approved, we must give attendance to reading, exhortation, and doctrine. We have to make ourselves familiar with our gift and calling if it will ever benefit us and the ones we are called to.
"Meditate upon these things: give thyself wholly unto them.”
It is not enough for the ministry to consume our outward life, but it must also consume our thoughts. "Meditate." In our times of ease, our mind should drift to these things, contemplate them, weigh them, ponder over them, and therein many times a solution has been found, or peace has been given. Let the Lord have your thought life. Commit thy works unto him and thy thoughts shall be established.
Now, if we do these things, lead an exemplary life, give attendance to reading, exhortation, and doctrine, maintain and not neglect the gift God has given us, meditate on it, and give ourselves wholly to them, then our profit to the ministry and the body of Christ will be evident. No longer will there be any room for suspicion because the benefit of your life will be manifestly seen by all.
Lastly, there is a caution: “Take heed.” The other similar phrases used are not as forceful as this one. Giving attendance means watching. “Neglect not” means don’t forget about it, but “Take heed” means to lay hold upon it. The two things that require arrest in the life of the pastor are “Thyself” and “The Doctrine.” A watchful eye will not suffice, but force must be used to capture our wills, our lives, and our testimony, and we must guard ourselves at all costs. The reason is, that these two things will, without fail, destroy the church if they are left to themselves. If the pastor's life goes unchecked, then ere long the church will be led into apostasy. If the doctrine goes south, then soon, like the church at Pergamum, the sword of his mouth will come and fight against us.
Here is the promise annexed to all these instructions, “For in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and those that hear thee.” This little statement means that these instructions are the fail-safe method for success in the Pastoral ministry. Salvation is after all our aim, salvation from sin, both for the sinner outside of Christ and the Saint in Christ. Sin will take a lost man to hell and will make a saved man's life hell on earth, sin will destroy the soul of the lost and will destroy the fellowship of the saved, “If we walk in the light we have fellowship one with another.” Likewise, a loose preacher who hasn't arrested his will and delivered to the alter of sacrifice will destroy more lives than he saves, so we must watch ourselves, nay arrest ourselves, and “Bring our body under submission,” present it a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, then we must with the same diligence lay hold on what we teach God’s people. No amount of care could be too much to make sure that our sermons aren’t just fluffy, feel-good messages or hot-headed rants about personal preferences but are, first of all, true, secondly, on time, and thirdly, rightly divided. It is no wonder he said “Give thyself wholly unto these things, we have such a task before us that we cannot afford to give our strength to any other thing. The work of the pastor is all-consuming, but there is not a better or more noble work that could be done, saving ourselves and those who hear us.
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