Sermon Tone Analysis

How to be Spiritually fit for the Christian

Introduction:

To be spiritually fit Christians means to be in shape.

Our passage will show us what it will take to get spiritually in shape, to be spiritually fit Christians.

If we are going to be spiritually fit Christians then we must first eat the right food.

I. Eat the right food! (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.

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Verse six is making a movement with what was just said to what is about to be said in the following verses.

Verse six is what we call a transition verse.

The main thrust or the main thought of verse six is found in the phrase “you will be good servant of Jesus Christ.” that is the motivation of the verse.

Everything else in verse six supports that main thrust.

a.

A Motivation

The motivation for all Christians and churches should be the motivation to be good ministers of Jesus Christ.

Our greatest desire and motivation as Christians and as a church should be the desire and motivation to be good servants of Jesus Christ.

We are all ministers and servants of Jesus Christ.

What we must do is ask ourselves whether we are good servants of Jesus Christ.

Everything that follows verse six in chapter four seems to support this motivation.

Everything that follows seems to show us just how we can be good ministers of Jesus Christ, just how we can be spiritually fit Christians.. What are the marks of spiritually fit and good minister of Jesus Christ?

One such mark is that we eat the right food.

b.

A Mark

If the main thought of the verse is that we be good ministers of Jesus Christ, then the other two thoughts support that main idea.

The first mark we dealt with to some degree last week because it ties in with the previous verses.

“In pointing out these things” Obviously this deals with the previous five verse, which dealt with the apostasy from the truth of the gospel and God’s world.

Good servants of Jesus Christ will always make know the truth of the gospel and the truth of God’s word, with both their mouth and the way they live their lives.

The second mark that supports the main thought of verse six is found in the phrase, “constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following.

..” You could say that a good minister of Jesus not only speaks the truth, but also feeds on the truth.

The Greek word we translate “nourished” is only used one time in the New Testament.

When used outside of the Bible it spoke of training or nourishing of a child.

The participle is a passive tense, which may suggest that the nourishing is something that happens to the good servant of Jesus Christ.

The mark of a good servant of Jesus Christ, the mark of one who is spiritually fit for the christian is that they feed on the words of faith and good doctrine and the words of faith and good doctrine nourish them spiritually.

What are the words of faith and good doctrine?

The words of faith and good doctrine are the truth of the gospel and the truth of God’s word.

If you are going to be a good servant of the Lord Jesus Christ you have to nourish your spiritual body with the word of God.

If you are going to be spiritually fit for the christian you have to eat the right food and the right food is God’s word.

Feeding on God’s word should be a daily discipline for you.

Just as you eat to nourish your physical body, you must eat to nourish your spiritual body.

You must eat the right food!

Illustration:

There was a couple who was seeking answers to the question of life, so they decided to buy a Bible a begin reading it to see what it said about life.

They decided to read a little each night before they went to bed.

One night the as the husband was reading he stopped and said to his wife, “If this book is true then we are wrong.”

Another night as he was reading the Bible he stopped and sad to his wife, “If this book is true, then we are lost.”

They continued to read the Bible every night.

One night as he was reading the husband stopped once again and said, “If this book is true then we can be saved.”

Within a week the Lord sent a man their way who shared the gospel of Jesus Christ and they accepted Jesus as their Savior and Lord.

As the couple was reading through the Word of God, God himself was revealing himself to the couple.

It was God revealing himself through his word to this couple that brought them from knowing about God to knowing God in a personal way.

It is God’s word that brings salvation, it is also God’s word that helps us grow in sanctification.

Being spiritually fit Christians begins with the proper diet.

We must eat the right food and the food is the Word of God.

The innerant and infallible trues that God has revealed in his Holy Word must nourish us.

Spiritual fitness begins with eating the right food.

The next thing we notice is that spiritual fitness comes about by doing the right activity.

II.

Do the right activity!

(7-8)

1 Tim.

4:7-8(NASB-U)

But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women.

On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; [8] 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. Command

The right activity begins with a command.

The command is both negative and positive.

The negative is “But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women” Paul is making a contrast between the “words of faith and good doctrine” and “But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women” Timothy must be nourished by the truth of God’s word, but he must reject any food that is godless.

Timothy is to reject the teachings of the false teachers.

The “profane” can also be translated “godless” or “worldly.”

The teachings that are godless and of this world must be rejected.

The positive command is “discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness” Instead of being consumed with false teachings of the heretics, Timothy must exercise himself in godliness.

How do we understand this command?

b.

Comprehension

Let us first begin to comprehend what Paul is saying by understanding the word “godliness.”

The word Paul uses for “godliness” is used fifteen times in the New Testament.

Eight of those times the word is used by Paul in this first letter that he wrote to Timothy.

When Paul uses word “godliness” he has in mind Christian behavior and ethics.

We should not see godliness as a specific virtue, but rather a general virtue that covers the whole of our Christian life.

The word used for “godliness” is best seen as a comprehensive term that deals with both the interior and exterior life of a Christian.

The term “godliness,” in my opinion, is almost synonymous with the term “holiness.”

Holiness is to be pursued in every area of our life.

In the same manner godliness is to be exercised in every area of our life.

We are to conform ourselves to the precepts of God’s Word.

Feeding on the Word of God is fundamental if we want to do the right activity.

How will we know what God expects of us if we don’t read his word?

The word “discipline” can mean to “make oneself obey.”

Godliness is not something that happens overnight, but instead it is something that we train ourselves toward.

We have to exercise towards godliness.

We have to make ourselves obey towards godliness.

Obey what?

Obey the word of God.

We must condition ourselves towards godliness.

People who run marathons don’t just wake up one day and run marathons.

They condition themselves to run marathons.

The same is true for the Christians.

If we are going to be spiritually fit then we must eat the right food and do the right activity.

The activity that we must do is exercise ourselves in godliness.

Paul goes on in verse eight to give support for our need to exercise ourselves in godliness.

c.

Cause

“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.