In the course of the next four Sundays of January 2020, I intend to remind us all concerning a number of important spiritual disciplines for
the Christian life.
Reminders are important. The apostle Peter wrote to the
church,
“Therefore I intend always to
remind you of these qualities, though
you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it right,
as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder…” [2 Pet.1:12,13].
The disciplines we
intend to remind ourselves of anew in the course of these next four weeks are,
1.
Disciplining ourselves for the purpose of godliness
2.
The discipline of hearing God’s Word regularly
3.
The discipline of Prayer
4.
The discipline of Worship.
Many
people, when thinking about discipline - any form of discipline - begin to look
for excuses as to why they cannot do it.
- Some associate discipline with legalism - “I don’t want to be legalistic”
- Others say, “I am already too busy. I don’t have the time and energy to do this”
- Still others say, “I don’t have the interest or inclination to do this”.
Think
for instance about learning to play the guitar. You have seen a friend playing
well, and you wished you could play like that. To play that guitar however requires effort, time, and the will to do it. The more effort,
time and will you put into practise, the better the guitar playing skills
will become. Nobody, not even a gifted
person, becomes instantly successful at such a discipline.
It needs constant
practise.
The will or the motivation to do
something is particularly important. Many people put in time and effort, but
get no real joy out of this discipline. Many children learn the guitar or piano
because it is their mother’s will, and not their own. Personal resolve or will makes the difference
in any discipline.
Now
let us apply this idea to our text. Paul addresses this matter of spiritual discipline when he says to his younger fellow worker
Timothy, at this time pastor of the church at Ephesus, “Timothy, exercise, exert discipline (gumnaze)- train yourself for godliness, for while bodily training is of some
value, godliness is of value in every
way, as it holds promise for the
present life and also for the life to come. The saying is trustworthy and
deserving of full acceptance. For this
end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the Living God, who is
the Saviour of all people, especially those who believe …” [1 Tim. 4:7-10]
Paul,
in this mentoring letter to Timothy has been guiding Timothy in a number of important
matters. So far he has dealt with the
matter of dealing with false teachers in the church (1:3-20); about public prayer and propriety in public worship (2:1-15); about spiritual qualifications
for elders and deacons (3:1-13); about
how to behave in church (3:15);
about the reality of apostasy from the
faith (4:1-5), and now concerning the importance of spiritual discipline, both
in terms of the church and in his own life (4:3-16).
The
purpose of writing this letter is found in 1
Tim. 3:14: “… I am writing these
things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in
the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and
buttress of the truth.”
The
things that Paul is writing about are things that Timothy must put before the
brothers and sisters of the church (1
Tim 4:6).
The
matter we want to pick up here is the matter of spiritual discipline - of
training ourselves for godliness. We
know that we ought to put in effort,
time and will, only to find that there is not enough motivation behind our efforts. Many Christian people really want to
grow spiritually, but find themselves running out of steam, like the New Year’s
resolutions that they have made, which are forgotten by February.
What do we need to
persevere?
What
do we need to keep in mind?
What will strengthen our will, our resolve, to be
spiritually disciplined?
The
answer is given in our text. “For to
this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the
living God, who is the Saviour of all people, especially of those who believe…”
(4:10).
In Chapter 6:11-12 Paul
amplifies this: “But as for you, O man of God, flee these things (urgency). “Pursue (imperative) righteousness, godliness, faith, love,
steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the
eternal life to which you were called…”. He has just spoken
about the poison of false teaching emphases (6:3-5) and the problem of discontentment and the evil of the love
of money (6:6-10).
Obstacles
The main reason why we
give up and do not pursue the discipline of godliness, is that we do not keep
the end in view. We run aimlessly. We do not anticipate the finishing line. Paul
frequently uses the metaphors of an athlete
who keeps the end, the finishing line in view. [1]
How much more must the Christian keep the
end in view … physical training is of some value in this life, but training in godliness holds
value beyond this life in the life to come.
Many people exercise their bodies to be fit and feel good
in their bodies and minds. That is where it ends. Training for godliness goes much further … it
goes ahead beyond death! Now this should provide us with
great motivation to study the
need for being godly. Think of the spiritual disciplines as ‘spiritual exercises’. Just as physical
disciplines promote fitness and strength, so spiritual disciplines produce
spiritual stamina and therefore godliness.
Jesus makes
a statement that we ought to take
to heart in this regard, when He says, “Do
not lay up for yourself treasures on
earth, where moth and rust destroy and
where thieves break in and steal, but lay
up for yourselves treasures in heaven…” (Matt, 6:19-21). Keep
the end in view. Labour to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul,
mind and strength. It has far more profit. That should motivate you.
Understand your
own weaknesses.
Paul reminds Timothy (who was prone to introspection and discouragement- 2 Tim.
1:7) to keep his focus on the end for which we toil and strive. The focus must be on
our ultimate hope- God, and the eternal life to which we are
called. We need to constantly think
about the real end of life- not our pensionable age, but our meeting of God and the reality of eternal life.
We need to think about our life after death.
We
need to think about what we shall become.
Romans 8:29 teaches us that God
has predestined us be conformed to the image of Christ, and He has designed for
us to make effort to make sure that we reflect the godliness of Jesus. Effort or working out our faith is not contrary
to the doctrines of grace which teach us that all our salvation is earned by
Jesus. But it is also true that the
fruit of our repentance and faith in Jesus lies in the fact that we work out our
salvation with fear and trembling as God works in and through us (Phil. 2:12,13)
No
one becomes a successful athlete without hard discipline.
No one becomes a
godly Christian without hard effort and discipline, and this discipline
always with the help of God.
THE SPIRITUAL
DISCIPLINES ARE NOT AN OPTION BUT A NECESSITY
Holiness and godliness is not an option for Christians. It is a calling. Peter writes, "As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your
former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your
conduct,since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
The
Lord Jesus modelled these disciplines for us. He disciplined Himself for the
purpose of godliness. And if we are going to be Christ-like, we must live as
Jesus lived (1 Jn. 2:6)
Sadly,
many professing Christians are spiritually undisciplined and therefore
they show little fruit and power in their lives. Sadly, many Christians
excel in their work /sport but not in their spiritual lives. They work hard at
being successful in their work/sport disciplines but remain ‘spiritual dwarfs’. Their
work discipline is not applied to working on their spirituality. They do not see the value of training for godliness, because
they have not got the end goal in mind.
Some
Christians are faithful to the church of God, and sometimes become quite
enthusiastic for the things of God; they love the Word of God – but then they
trivialize their effectiveness for the Kingdom of God through lack of
discipline.
"The
gold of godliness isn’t found on the surface of Christianity. It has to be dug
from the depth with the tools of the disciplines“.
FINAL
REFLECTION AND CONCLUSIONS
- We are called to bear fruit (John 15). There is danger in neglecting the spiritual disciplines i.e. we bear little fruit. Just as with natural gifts, spiritual gifts need to be developed by discipline in order to bear spiritual fruit
- There is freedom in embracing the Spiritual disciplines. They may seem to be restrictive and binding, but they actually are the means to spiritual freedom. Freedom is not the opposite of discipline, but it is the final reward of discipline. Through the spiritual discipline of reading and meditating and memorizing of the Word of God we may find ourselves free to quote Scripture; through fasting we may experience greater understanding of issues that perplex or disturb us; we may find ourselves freed from bondages as a result. In the discipline of worship and attending services we may be freed from spiritual bondages.
- Godliness does not come overnight or during a weekend seminar. It grows with persistent application. We must learn to persevere before the mature fruit of godliness ripens. Notice the sequence of development in 2 Peter 1:6f: “add… to self control, perseverance and to perseverance, godliness”. It is a process. It takes effort, time and will.
[1] The
metaphor of running a race "with perseverance" appears in Hebrews
12:1, and related metaphors appear in Philippians 2:16, Galatians 2:2,
Galatians 5:7. In 2 Timothy 4:7, Paul writes "I have fought the good
fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." In 1 Corinthians
9:24–26, written to the city that hosted the Isthmian Games, the metaphor is
extended from running to other games, such as boxing, to make the point that
winning a prize requires discipline, self-control, and coordinated activity. In
2 Timothy 2:5 the same point is made.
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