1 Timothy 4:6

1 Timothy 4;6 says, If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.  Paul told Timothy that if he called on people to remember these things, or to believe in God’s word in other words, that he would be a good minister to Jesus Christ and would be nourished by the Holy Spirit.  If a preacher today is going to be a faithful preacher, he must proclaim God’s word by the leadership and power of the Holy Spirit.

Verse seven adds, But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.  Paul warned Timothy not to believe in old wives’ fables, but to exercise his faith in God.  A preacher, deacon, or any Christian cannot put their faith in anything but the word of God if they are to live successful spiritual lives.

Verse eight continues, For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. Paul said that physical exercise to build up the body was spiritually of little importance, but people spend more time exercising physically than they do spiritually.  They may go to the gym and spend several hours exercising many days a week but not have time to gather with God’s people in the church to grow spiritually.  

Verse nine states, This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. Paul said this was a faithful saying, or I believe one that came from God, and it was therefore worthy of all acceptance.  We need to understand that the Bible is God’s Holy Word and therefore is worthy of all acceptance.  

Verse ten adds, For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe. Paul said that they both labored and suffered because of their faith in God and his word.  We as Christians should be willing to do the same today and not think that being a follower of Christ is going to bring us material blessings.

Verse eleven continues, These things command and teach.  Paul told Timothy that he was to command and teach these things to others.  It is the responsibility of all Christians to teach the word of God and to follow Him faithfully, but it is especially true for preachers and those who teach others in the church to do so.  We cannot just preach and teach what we believe by our own knowledge but must preach and teach what God’s word says.   

1 Timoty 4:1

1 Timothy 4:1 says, Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;  Paul said in the latter times, many who profess to be Christians would fall away from the faith.  I don’t believe this means some people who are saved by accepting Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord will turn away from Him and suddenly be lost once more, but that not all people who profess Him as Lord ever truly accepted His gift of salvation. 

Verse two adds, Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;  God said that these people were speaking hypocrisy, and that their conscience was seared with iron or no longer caused them to feel anything about the truth of God.  Many people today have become immune to God’s word, and nothing that they do seems to bother them spiritually as long as they are materially enriched.  They have no concern for the suffering of others.  

Verse three continues, Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.  God said that people were forbidden or to eat certain meat, which He had created to be received with thanksgiving.  I believe this applies to both marrying and eating certain foods.  There are some religious groups who deny their leaders the right to marry, and some people, even those who profess to be Christians, who say that we should not eat certain foods, especially meat, but this was never God’s plan.  At times, the people of Israel were forbidden to eat certain meat, but this was a sign of their obedience to God and not because there was something wrong with certain meat.   

Verse four states, For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:  God spelled it out clearly here.  All meat is good, because God created it and now says it is okay to eat it.  He also said that whatever we are eating, we should eat it with thanksgiving to Him for providing it.  

Verse five adds, For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.  When we ask God to bless our food and give Him thanks for it, He will sanctify it.  If God sanctifies what we eat, it will always be good for us.  

1 Timothy 3:14

1Timothy 3:14 says, These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly:  Paul said that he was writing to the people, but that he hoped to come to them in person soon.  Paul didn’t always get what he wanted, but he always continued to witness to people and proclaim God’s word to them, no matter what His physical situation might be.  We need to be doing the same today, and we have many more methods to reach out to others from the comfort of our home. 

Verse fifteen adds, But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.  Paul said he was writing to them so that if he was not able to come to them for a long time that they would know how to behave in the house of God.  This was not just Paul’s opinion of what people should do, but it was God’s word that had been given to him that he was sharing with the people then and even with us today.  As Christians, we have God’s holy word, the Bible, to teach us under the leadership of the Holy Spirit until Jesus Christ returns to call us home to glory.

Verse sixteen continues, And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.  Paul said that God’s way for people to be saved was a mystery to the people of the world.  This way, the only way to salvation, is to put one's faith in the resurrected Lord, Jesus Christ, and Paul stated that His resurrection had been witnessed by the angels and was now being preached to the Gentiles.  We as Christians must know the truth about Jesus Christ dying to provide forgiveness for our sins and being resurrected to bring us a new life spiritually if we put our faith in Him.  

1 Timothy 3:8

1 Timothy 3:8 says, Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre;   Paul then gave God’s requirements for deacons, those who were to assist the bishops, or pastors, in carrying out the everyday tasks of the church.  They were very similar to the requirements of the bishops, and in neither case did it mean that they were somehow to believe themselves to be better than any other Christian.  They would simply be doing what God had called them to do, just as every follower of Christ should. 

Verse nine adds, Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.  The deacons were to be true believers in Christ and hold His truth to be more important than everything else.  They were to believe in the mystery of salvation, which could come only from putting their faith in the crucified and resurrected Lord.  Without doing this, none of the other requirements would matter, even if they met them all, which they would be unable to do. 

Verse ten continues, And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless.  Paul said that the person who would be a deacon should first be proven to be faithful in their relationship with Jesus Christ and also should be a good witness to the world by the way that they live their lives.  If a person is to be a deacon today, I believe that they should feel called to do so by God and that their life should reflect Jesus Christ to the world.  

Verse eleven states, Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things.  God even stated some requirements for the wife of a deacon.  Since in the eyes of God they had become one person, in their actions they should make sure they each reflected God to the world.  Wives were to be truthful, sober, and faithful to God in all things.  Though they would at times fall short on this last requirement, they were still to strive to be.  This still applies today, I believe.

Verse twelve adds, Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.  This requirement is basically the same as stated for bishops or preachers.  The life of the deacon was to be orderly and reflect well on God.  I believe that we can take this even further and say that the lives of all Christians should be this way.  

Verse thirteen continues, For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.  God said that those who faithfully lived up to the requirements of being a deacon would purchase for themselves a good degree, or reputation in the world I believe, since we cannot buy salvation or even heavenly rewards by our own ability, but can only do so by accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord and living under the power and leadership of the Holy Spirit.