Watch Out!

WATCH OUT!

I Timothy 4.16

S: Spiritual Growth

C: Living deliberately

Pr: WE NEED TO LIVE CAREFULLY.

?: What? What do we need to be careful about?

KW: Subjects

TS: We will find in our study of Scripture, beginning with I Timothy 4.16, two subjects to which we must give specific care.

Type: Propositional; topical

The ____ subject is…

I. OUR ACTIONS

II. OUR BELIEF

PA: How is the change to be observed?

• Be a person of the Word.

• Possess a Christian worldview

• Live deliberately for the Lord.

Version: ESV

RMBC 05 August 07 AM

INTRODUCTION:

ILL Watchfulness (S)

Dean Niferatos was riding the Number 22 Chicago Transit Authority bus in Chicago. The bus brimmed with dozing office workers, restless punkers, and affluent shoppers. At the Clark and Webster stop, two men and a woman climbed in. The driver, a seasoned veteran, immediately bellowed, “Everybody watch your valuables. There are pickpockets on board.”

Women clutched their purses tightly. Men put their hands on their wallets. All eyes fixed on the trio, who, looking insulted and harassed, didn’t break stride as they promptly exited through the middle doors.

That small story illustrates to us that…

1. It is important to be observant to what is going on around us.

There are dangers lurking.

We are to watch out for those with evil intent.

All too often, we turn on the local news or to the Buffalo News, and we are exposed to robberies, rapes and murder.

We hear about product recalls and other safety concerns.

This week, we were reminded once again about the structural integrity of bridges and how easily they can collapse as they weaken in time.

We are still reminded from time to time, in the wake of 9/11, to report matters that seem out of the ordinary.

There are dangers lurking.

In the same way…

2. We should not be naïve about spiritual issues that are around and about us.

There are spiritual dangers as well.

And we need to understand that the evil one, as Peter testifies in his letter, is seeking to devour anyone who is ignorant of his ways.

He wants to drag us down, entice us toward sin, and make us unprofitable in the kingdom.

We need to remember that the Christian life is not all roses.

There are thorns.

To think that once we become a Christian that everything will be fine and dandy and that we won’t have any problems is immature.

After all, Jesus told us to count the cost when it came to our faith.

TRANSITION:

We are considering one verse as the basis of our study this morning – I Timothy 4.16 – the final verse in the passage Pastor Will read just a few moments ago.

In this letter that we call I Timothy…

1. Context: Paul is instructing Timothy about his service for Jesus.

Paul, Timothy’s mentor, wants him to know that there are certain qualities that are required of him as a pastor and minister of the gospel.

Paul cares about what kind of minister Timothy has become and is continuing to become.

What directed me to this passage of late was a discussion I was having with area Baptist pastors.

What I am finding that is happening among ourselves is that there is an increasing care and concern about what kind of people we are in Christ, not only as pastors, but as believers in the Lord Jesus.

We find ourselves so busy going through the motions of ministry, that somehow we lose sight of what put us in ministry in the first place – a relationship with and a love for the Lord Jesus.

Now you may be thinking, okay Pastor Paul, these verses are fine for you as a pastor, but it is not for us.

We are not pastors.

Let me agree with you that the context is about ministry, but I believe the principles are more widely applied, especially when we consider that we all are considered ministers.

We all have ministry responsibility.

So I believe that there is something here for all of us today.

Paul begins to end this section of the letter this way in verse 16 (NIV)…

Watch your life and doctrine closely.

The word here for “watch” carries the meaning of keeping a critical or strict eye on the subject.

It is more than just watching, but a watching that is done with great care and exactitude.

This being so, I think the encouragement to us is that…

2. WE NEED TO LIVE CAREFULLY.

But what do we need to be careful about?

Well…

3. We will find in our study of Scripture, beginning with I Timothy 4.16, two subjects to which we must give specific care.

The ESV says it this way…