Want to know the truth? Read your Bible

There are things we are good at because we’ve done them consistently over an extended period, having trained for them. Whether it’s our fitness, careers, or relationships, if we don’t work on it over time, we won’t progress from where we are to where we want to be.

There’s a training aspect to almost everything in life we want to excel at, including following the Way of Jesus. It’s not something that happens overnight.

We understand the principle of training, which is that it requires investment. We invest ourselves, our time, and our energy into all sorts of things, and none of those investments are wrong, they simply reveal that we already believe training matters. The question isn’t whether we are training, the question is, “What are we training for?”

There are things we train for, and there are things that train us.

We are constantly being trained by something. Screens train our attention, apps train our impulses, and purchases train our desires. We think we’re consuming content, but the content is really consuming us.

The reality is that formation is happening in our lives constantly, whether we are aware of it or not. The question isn’t, “Am I being trained?” The question is, “Who or what is training me?”

Training matters because without it, we drift. We don’t drift because we choose rebellion, we drift because we are born with leaky hearts. Spiritual formation is not a one-and-done event. It’s a lifelong training reality. The problem is that we don’t drift toward spiritual health.

If we are not actively being formed by Christ, we are being formed by something else.

If we don’t come back to being trained by the Way of Jesus and the Word of God, something else will fill that space and begin to form who you are. Paul speaks to this human tendency, not shaming the drift, but also acknowledging it, focusing on a rhythm of returning.

Training and Deception
1 Timothy 4
1 The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.

Paul isn’t trying to create a sense of fear, he’s trying to explain the world we live in so we don’t misinterpret what we see. Paul is not introducing a new idea because Jesus said the same thing in Matthew 24:10-13. This reveals a fundamental aspect of God’s sovereignty.

God is not reacting. God is ruling.

God is not watching history unfold with surprise, God knows the landscape of the world with perfect clarity. Whenever Scripture describes the condition of humanity in the last days, it isn’t intended to spark panic, rather, it serves as a reminder that God is fully aware and engaged. God Himself is speaking and preparing His people.

Deceiving spirit and things taught by demons mean that behind the teaching is a spiritual deception. This is strong language because these teachings are rooted in spiritual deception. The intention is to distort the truth of the Gospel.

A deceiving spirit and things taught by demons are anything that has most of the Gospel with just a little bit of a lie added in.

• “God wants you to be happy.”
  Truth: God does give joy. Lie: God is solely focused on your comfort.
• “Truth is personal; it’s my truth.”
  Truth: Jesus said I am the truth. Lie: I have the final word and authority on what is true.

These ideas are not outrageous. They blend in. This is why training matters – because every day, something is trying to disciple us.

1 Timothy 4
3 They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. 4 For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.

Here, Paul exposes one of the specific deceptions spreading in the church, asceticism. This is a teaching that holiness comes from rejecting good things that God made, such as marriage and certain foods. Paul is saying that God created these things to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth, and others say that good things from God are bad and should be avoided.

Confusing? Sure, but do you want to know what’s from God and what’s not?

Read your Bible.

How easy do you think it will be to fall for deceiving spirits and things taught by demons when we aren’t training ourselves, our kids, our churches to pray and read the word of God? Paul says to know the truth, you need to train in truth.

Training and Godliness
1 Timothy 4
6 If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished on the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed. 7 Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. 8 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. 9 This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance.

Godliness is an inner devotion that permeates our outer practices. We’re focusing on becoming a church and a people that is practice-based. It’s to help develop an inner devotion to God that works its way outward.

The outside can be performed, but the inside must be transformed.

You can fake a lot of things today, but you can’t fake a transformation that never took place. The same holds true in our spiritual lives. It’s incredibly easy to come to church, lift your hands, sing the lyrics, nod your head, smile at the right people, and say the right phrases, but when the storm comes and your faith is tested, the spiritual well you need to drink from is dry.

1 Timothy 4
11 Command and teach these things. 12 Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. 13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. 14 Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you.

15 Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. 16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

Godliness can’t be faked, it must be trained. It doesn’t matter how old you are if you’re training in Godliness. You might’ve heard this passage as a kid, but one day you turn around and realize that you’re the adult in the room.

There comes a moment where our examples become memories, and we become examples.

The Gospel is something that begins within and works its way outward. When we take the truth of this book and the way of Jesus, and devote ourselves to Godliness, it has the power to transform both us and those around us. Age doesn’t matter.

This is why Paul is telling us to watch our lives and doctrine closely. Pay attention to this because it’s for you, but bigger than you. It’s the greater “why.”

Pastor Joey reminds us that the “why” that someone else could come to faith in Jesus should make this powerful enough to do it.