The Good Life |10.13.24| The Good Life pt.1
This morning we are going to be in 1st Timothy chapter 4. So I want you to grab the See-Back Bible in front of you or if you you have it on your phone or brought your own Bible that’s right. We’re gonna be in the New Testament in a book called 1st Timothy. It’s right toward gonna be almost to the end of the Bible. I don’t know what page it is on in the See-Back Bible. If somebody has it, yell it out for me.
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161. Is that what I heard? 161. This is a letter written by a fellow named Paul who was an Apostle who saw witnessed the risen Jesus and he went around and started churches and preached and he’s writing a letter to a young pastor named Timothy who is pastoring in a city called Ephesus. And so this is from his letter from the fourth chapter of the first letter to Timothy beginning in verse 1. This is what we hear. “Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will renounce the faith by paying attention to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons. Through the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared with a hot iron. They forbid marriage and demand absence from food which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good and nothing is to be rejected provided it is received with thanksgiving. For it is sanctified by God’s Word and by prayer. If you put these instructions before the brothers and sisters you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound teaching that you have followed. Have nothing to do with profane myths and old wives tales. Train yourself in godliness for while physical training is of some value godliness is valuable in every way holding promise for the present life and the life to come. The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance for to the sin we toil and struggle because we have our hope set on the living God who is the Savior of all people especially of those who believe. This is the Word of the Lord thanks be to God.(…) Well we’re starting a new series this morning called the good life we’re gonna spend three weeks talking about what it means to live a good life and how we can live a good life and as most of you in here know my time here at New Life is coming to a close at the end of this month and oftentimes the last thing we say to a loved one or the last one we say to somebody is some of the most important things we want them to know when we’re at a loved one’s bedside before they die we want to make sure that they know that they are loved and that we’re there for them and so I wanted to take three weeks and share with you all some of the last words that really will get to share at least as your pastor that I’ll get to share with you and it comes from this it’s driven by this desire that I have for each of you that I love you and I want you to live a good life that’s what I want for you as your pastor that’s what I work for is that you can have a good life and so though over the next three weeks we’re going to see what it looks like to have a good full and abundant life and this comes from Jesus himself this is actually what Jesus wants for you as well in the gospel of John Jesus says this the thief he’s talking about Satan the enemy he says the thief comes only to steal kill and destroy I came that they that is the believers may have life and have it abundantly the whole reason that Jesus was born that Jesus did his ministry that Jesus did his work for us was so that we may have an abundant life that’s what God wants for you to have a good life a full life an abundant life and so we’re gonna spend some time talking about that because we are all looking for a good life every decision that we make is toward some sort of end we’re trying to get some sort of desired future every decision that we make whether good or bad reveals what kind of life we are wanting to live and sometimes we say one thing and we do something else sometimes we say we want one kind of life but really our actions are showing a different kind of life or we’re building toward a different kind of life and so we’re digging into this passage in 1st Timothy chapter 4 which this year has kind of been like my theme the theme verses I’ve been spent a lot of time meditating and thinking about this passage and it’s really amazing and I think that it reveals a lot of what a good life is for us so we’ll jump right in beginning in verses 1 & 3 this is how Paul starts this section of the letter to Timothy now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will renounce the faith by paying attention to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons he’s writing to Timothy who’s passing a church and he says hey the Spirit has told us that in these last times in these end times which started after Jesus was resurrected and will continue until he returns again from heaven we know that in these last times there are going to be lots of folks who trust in Jesus and then renounce them there’s gonna be lots of folks who lose or renounce their faith because they’re paying attention to deceitful spirits to things that are coming from outside of the church outside of the scriptures they’re following something different Paul continues through the hypocrisy of liars whose consciousness are seared with a hot iron he’s talking about these false teachers they the false teachers they forbid marriage and they demand abstinence from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth so in this church in Ephesus there were obviously some teachers some false teachers who were teaching things that were different from what the Apostles were instructing the believers something different than what was heard in the Gospels and heard from the Apostles there was some false teaching that was going on here and it’s centered around two things one was forbidding marriage demanding celibacy demanding that you live a single life and only a single life and demanding abstinence from foods that there are certain foods that you should not eat and that you cannot eat and so these false teachers were kind of dealing in these two different categories they had this false idea of holiness this false idea of what it meant to live a godly life if you want to be godly if you want to be holy if you want to want to excel in the faith then you can’t get married is what these false teachers would say they would say you need to be celibate you can’t ever have sexual intercourse you can’t have children you can’t you can’t cleave yourself to your spouse and also you can’t eat these certain types of foods certain types of foods either make you unclean or they don’t they don’t get you closer to God and they make you think that what’s right in front of you the normal things of life like marriage and food are evil that they’re not real that they’re not right in front of you later we also hear that there is what Paul calls old wives tales or silly myths there were there was some sort of belief or some sort of chasing down some sort of secret knowledge there are these old wives tales almost maybe we would say conspiracies out there that these people were believing in and even to this day we still see these two things operate there are people who kind of chase down silly myths silly conspiracies this desire to figure out some sort of secret knowledge that will unlock the way of life that we need the key to a good life that if only you had this secret knowledge that you know you you hear in the Bible that Jesus said this but also Jesus maybe said this too and that’s gonna help you really live a good life there are these silly things that come up conspiracy theories or political discourse or also even just more abstractly being concerned with having some sort of comfortable life that’s almost like a secret knowledge there just is maybe there’s just something that I need to figure out if I just figure out my finances or get that better job or live in that better neighborhood or if I if I just raise my kids exactly this way then it’ll unlock this comfortable way of life for me some secret knowledge that I can figure out to live a good life but there are also people who have this false holiness that we can’t do certain things or can’t eat certain things or that we shouldn’t do certain things that what’s right in front of us the normal everyday things of life like marriage and work and our neighbors and our families is somehow it’s not it’s subpar it’s not what real life is really about these things still show themselves today but false teachers in this time 2,000 years ago and today have something in common that false teachers will make your faith about you
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false teachers will make the good life the way of life that you ought to live godliness or holiness they make it about you and what you do and don’t do what you know and don’t know these false teachers were saying hey the way of life is actually about the best way to live or the way to have a godliness or holiness is that you need to do something or not to do something don’t get married don’t eat certain foods or the way to godliness or holiness or the good life is based on you knowing some sort of secret knowledge unlocking some sort of myth or unlocking some sort of conspiracy and then you can really figure out how to live false teachers always make your life about you they paint the good life as about you and they make faith about you what you do or don’t do what secret knowledge you have or don’t have and Paul here actually says that these false teachers forbid marriage and demand absence from food but these are things that God created and he created them to be received with Thanksgiving by those who believe and know him Paul continues in verse 4 for everything created by God is good everything created by God is good and nothing is to be rejected provided it is received with Thanksgiving for it is sanctified by God’s Word in prayer Paul writes that all of these things are good and in fact they’re not about us at all they’re actually about God God created them for us it is God that we are to be thankful to we ought to show gratitude to God because he is the one who gives us things like food in marriage and work and our neighbors this brings the focus of our life of the good life of our faith away from us from what we do what we don’t do what we know what we don’t know and it brings the focus to God the things that God has done the things that God has given because these things that these false teachers were teaching about not getting married not eating certain foods there are things that God has created and we are to look to God and say thank you and amen that actually the way to a good life is not about us at all but it’s actually about God the way to a good life the way to holiness to godliness the way to live rightly in this world is actually about Jesus it’s not about us at all but surely you might be thinking that we have to behave a certain way surely there is something that has to do with us well Paul actually addresses this in the chapter before chapter 4 and chapter 3 in verses 14 through 16 this is what this is what Paul writes I hope to come to you soon but I am writing these instructions so that if I am delayed you might you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God which is the Church of the living God the pillar and bulwark of truth great Paul’s gonna get down to brass tacks he’s writing this so that we know so that Timothy knows how we ought to behave all right Paul how should we behave without a doubt Paul says the mystery of our religion that’s also the same word as godliness is great this is what Paul says he that is Jesus was revealed in flesh vindicated in the spirit seen by angels proclaimed among Gentiles believed in throughout the world and taken up in glory Paul writes I’m writing these things so you know how to behave here’s how you’re to behave the mystery of godliness the mystery of our religion the mystery of the right way of life is great and it’s all about Jesus Jesus was the eternal Son of God and he was born of the Virgin Mary he took on flesh to become like us he was revealed in the flesh he was vindicated in the spirit meaning that he healed and he operated with authority over the physical world he was seen by angels which means that he exists both as a spiritual being being seen by angels and a physical being being seen by us that’s important in the Old Testament and as Jesus is revealed to be the Messiah he was proclaimed among the Gentiles and believed in throughout the world that means that Jesus was the Messiah who was prophesied to bring all nations to God during all nations into God’s family and Jesus was taken up into glory after he was crucified he was brought back to life and he did not die again he actually ascended into heaven and is currently alive still today this is the mystery of godliness this is the mystery of holiness this is the mystery of a good life Jesus Christ was revealed in the flesh has authority over all things he was seen by the angels he’s been preached throughout the whole world and believed in throughout the whole world and he lives to this day that’s the mystery of godliness that’s the mystery of a right way of behaving that’s the mystery of how we ought to live the good life even our behavior as Christians is not about us it’s about Jesus and when Jesus is at the center of our life then we are living a good life if we jump back to chapter 4 Paul continues and he says have nothing to do with profane myths and old wives tale we’ve talked about that’s those silly things that people believed in instead Paul says train yourself in godliness and that’s the same that’s the same word as religion before the mystery of religion the mystery of godliness this is the same word train yourself in godliness for while physical training is of some value godliness is valuable in every way holding promise both for the present life and for the life to come living the life as a Christian living a good life is all about Jesus and we get to be trained in the way of Jesus Paul says that we can actually train be trained in godliness be trained in holiness the same way that we are trained physically and physically it has some value but godliness is actually far superior and so we can look at physical training and we can kind of we can do some things about it I’ll tell you the most important thing about physical training is consistency day in and day out work if you are training for a marathon there is no way you can get off your couch without ever having run and say today I’m running a marathon you can’t do it you’re physically you cannot do it you have to train your body to be able to run a marathon but if you get off the couch do you say I want to run 500 feet today and then tomorrow I’m running half a mile and then the day after that I’m running a mile then the day after that I’m running to over time you’ll find yourself running a mile if you run every day or train every day and some some form as many of you know over the last 10 to 11 months I’ve lost almost 90 pounds and that’s come from consistency consistently eating the way that I should be eating you lose weight and over the last three months or so I have not been consistently eating well and guess what I haven’t lost weight because the consistency hasn’t been there but when you consistently train your body there are changes that are made to your body it’s the same thing with our life if we want a good life we are trained in the way of holiness trained in the way of godliness trained in the way of Jesus then we see change in our life and this is why here at New Life Lutheran Church we talk about being apprentices of Jesus that Jesus is the expert human he’s the master human he knows how to live a good life he knows how to live well and he trains us how to be human how to live well and how to live a good life and we talk about that in three ways by being with Jesus through spiritual habits things like Bible reading and prayer and weekly worship and giving and all of those good things that we become like him and how we think feel and act that over time we actually start to think the way that Jesus thought we begin to feel the way that Jesus felt toward others and we begin to act the way that Jesus acted and then three to do what Jesus did in every area of our lives to see our family and our work and our church and our community and our finances every area of our lives be transformed be changed because of Jesus and to act like him in every single one of those areas you see God wants you to live a full good abundant life that’s what he wants for you that’s the whole reason Jesus was born that’s the whole reason Jesus did his ministry that’s the whole reason that Jesus was crucified and resurrected was so that you may live a good full abundant life now and for eternity and this good full abundant life is a life that is full of Jesus not full of silly myths not full of secret knowledge not always trying to figure out the next best thing it’s rooted deeply in the truth that Jesus is Lord over your life and that his kingdom works in the world and in you through quiet small consistent and oftentimes unexpected ways Jesus in the gospels he would tell parables and when he would tell parables by the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God he was talking about himself and he says the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed it’s the smallest thing smallest seed in the garden but when it’s planted it turns into the largest tree in the garden it’s a small thing that’s how he says that he works that’s how the kingdom of God works he also describes himself and the kingdom of God as leaven that is put into into flour to make dough and as you work the dough the leaven gets through the whole batch and it can leaven the loaf it’s a small thing that works its way throughout everything in these kind of small quiet consistent and unexpected ways God wants you to have a good life I want you to have a good life I want you to have a full life I want you to enjoy the things that God gives because everything is good in godliness knowing Jesus living the life of Jesus having Jesus work in you and through you train you to become more human to become more and become a better human this has benefit Paul says in the present life and in life to come we actually get to benefit in this life when Jesus is at the center when we realize that our faith that our godliness is not at all about us but actually about Jesus there’s actually benefit that we get we get to have a better life because of that our marriage gets to be better the way that we enjoy food gets to be better if we’re single our singleness is better our bodies are better our job our friendships all of those things are good and they all benefit from Jesus all of those things benefit when we are trained by Jesus having Jesus at the center of our lives having Jesus as the focus of our lives by turning our eyes away from ourselves and turning toward Jesus it actually frees us it frees us from the slavery of of it frees us from being enslaved to those things that are good it frees us from being enslaved to our marriage or being enslaved to our kids or being enslaved to our singleness or being enslaved to our job or being enslaved to food it frees us and it helps us actually enjoy those things for what they are good gifts things that ought to be we ought to be grateful for things that that we ought to enjoy in this life and in the next life. That forever we get to live with Jesus in the new creation. That we will die and then we’ll be brought back to life. That he will remake our bodies and he will remake earth and remake heaven. And we get to live forever with Jesus. We get to live forever in his good world.
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And Paul ends this section with this. It is for this end that we toil and struggle.
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We work toward this end.(…) Enjoying and trusting in Jesus. And enjoying and trusting what he has given us.(…) And enjoying the good life that he has promised.
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This is end that we toil and struggle because we have hope set on the living God.(…) Who is the savior of all people. And especially of those who believe.
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So we, when we believe, we get the benefit of Jesus. We get the benefit in our life now and forever. Experiencing the gift of working with Jesus is something that we are offered now.(…) We get to work toward his desired end.(…) Which means that we can live a good life. Even if we are living in a trailer home or in a mansion.(…) We can live in a good life if we’re making minimum wage or if we’re making six figures a year. We can live a good life whether or not our family is like a Norman Rockwell painting or if our family is broken. And whatever situation we find ourselves in, we can live a good life because it’s not about us.
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It’s not about what we do. But it’s about what Jesus has done.(…) And we get to experience the work, the gift of working with him toward his desired end. Toward that good life now and forever.(…) And we get the freedom to see our work as part of his work. That it’s actually Jesus who is at work in my life. It’s Jesus who is at work in my spouse. It’s Jesus who is at work in my friend. It’s Jesus who is at work in my kids. It’s Jesus who is at work in my career. It’s actually Jesus the one doing the work. And when I set my hands to this work, I’m working with him.
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We are blessed to be free from the performance(…) in the narrow sense of having to perform at everything we do.
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Because we’ll be free to truly love our neighbors, to truly love those around us.
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Jesus wants you to have a good life.
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I want you to have a good life.
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And the good life ultimately is not about you.(…) It’s about Jesus.
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But when we make our life about Jesus, we’re the one who gets the benefit.
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That’s the good news of Jesus Christ.
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It’s a free gift for you. You cannot earn it. There’s nothing you can do or can’t do. There’s no secret knowledge you can unlock. It’s been given to you. Because Jesus is the savior of all people, especially for those of us who believe.
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Amen.(…) We’re gonna take a moment now, a couple minutes here.(…) We’re gonna reflect on a couple of questions as we hear the word together. We wanna take the time to ask two questions. You’ve heard this before, if you’ve been around New Life for a little while. The first question is this. What is God saying to me? So what is God saying to you? Is the spirit,(…) prick something in your heart? Is there some idea that you’ve kind of clung onto? What is he saying to you? And two, what is he inviting you to do about that? Is there some next step you can take? Somebody you can talk to, a sin you can confess, a commitment you can make, anything like that. What’s the next step that God is inviting you to do because of what he is telling you through this passage? So we’ll take a few minutes now and do that.