Introduction. Read 1Tim4.

Chapter four can be divided into three parts: The antidote to error, a prescription for spiritual fitness and dedication to its end.

(1) The antidote to error.

(a) Error's origins. v1to6.

It took no time at all before error infected the young church. Jesus anticipated this in his Parable of the Weeds. "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away." Mt13v24. It is not advisable to sleep when the enemy is about! Satan was active from the beginning of the church and he will remain so until Christ's return.

However, errors cannot all be laid at Satan's door. He is aided and abetted by numerous willing accomplices. Paul could hardly have used stronger language in condemning them. He calls heretics hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. v2.

The purveyors of errors were:

• Liars because they peddled untruths about God and Jesus.

• Hypocritical because they knew that what they purported to be true was nothing of the sort.

• Shameless because their consciences had been damaged beyond repair.

We can see how such a condemnation was true of the Pharisees of Jesus' day. Jesus accused them of devouring widow's houses. See Lk20v47. We can imagine a greedy Pharisee telling a rich widow that she will gain favour with God if she makes over her property to his party - which was a lie. He was a hypocrite because he hoped to enrich himself. Such was the Pharisees love of money that his conscience no longer troubled him when he took advantage of pious but gullible widows.

Today some proponents of the prosperity gospel adopt the very same approach as the Pharisees of Jesus' time. They tell members of their congregation that if they give generously to their church God will reward them materially. This is a lie told so that the preacher can enrich himself. He is a hypocrite because the minister knows that what he says is untrue but the success of his many appeals for money has blunted his conscience.

Not all error abroad in the church today is down to hypocritical liars. Some is down to tradition, ignorance, muddleheadedness and vanity.

(b) Error's persistence.

Paul mentions three errors all of which infected the infant church almost from its beginning:

• The prohibition of marriage.

• Abstinence from certain foodstuffs.

• Godless myths and old wive's tales.

Old wives tales are remarkably persistent. Parents still come out with: Too much TV is bad for your eyes; eating carrots improves your eyesight. Sometimes a myth and an old wives tale are linked and survive for centuries. For example in Anglo Saxon times, the Bishop of Winchester, Saint Swithin, was buried at his request outside. A hundred years later on July 15th his body was moved to an indoor shrine. The saint's re-interment was accompanied by a heavy shower. It rained for the next 40 days - hence the saying: St Swithin's Day, if it does rain. Full 40 days it will remain.

Error, once established, is like a virulent cancer, very hard to eradicate. For example:

• Roman Catholic clergy are prohibited from marriage - not something Paul would have approved of.

• Some evangelical Christians reckon you cannot love the Lord and imbibe alcohol, drink coffee or smoke tobacco. I have often heard: If God had intended us to smoke he would have fitted us with chimneys. Even someone I admire, Warren Wiersbe, seems to think it is wrong to drink wine notwithstanding the fact that Jesus changed water into wine at the Wedding Feast in Cana. Jesus did not tell his disciples to: "Drink fruit juice in remembrance of me!"

• I am afraid that there are lots of myths and old wives tales that have grown up around the saints of the Roman Catholic Church. Evangelical Christians in the Charismatic tradition are inclined to invent or exaggerate present day miracles of healing. Some, too, are like the prophets of Ezekiel's day who said, "This is what the Sovereign LORD says" - when the LORD had not spoken! See Ez22v28. People who are for ever saying, "God told me ..... " are rarely speaking the truth. Not every trivial evil can be laid at Satan's door and not every small good is attributable to the special providence of God.

(c) Error's damage.

Paul considered some will abandon the faith because of the errors prevalent in the Ephesus church. Error is like my arthritis, an affliction that grows worse as the years pass. Paul's list of errors is limited and it does not mention many others that have damaged the church through the centuries. However, the ones he does mention remain a problem to this day.

• Some Roman Catholic priests struggle with celibacy. They cannot satisfy the sex drive in the only legitimate way available to Christians - by marriage. This may result in frustration - sin - and, perhaps, loss of faith. I know what I am writing about! I have been celibate all my life - not by choice - but by circumstance. It has led me to sin.

• Christians who attend a charismatic church will doubtless hear much about miracles of healing. When they get sick it is inevitable that they will expect to get healed. When healing does not occur - through a so-called lack of faith - they may be disillusioned and lose what faith they had.

• I very much dislike the Father Christmas myths. Children are taught to believe in him! Jesus comes a very poor second. Then, of course, the child discovers that Father Christmas does not exist which calls into question the truth of the nativity stories themselves.

(d) Error's antidote.

Timothy is encouraged to deal with error by good teaching as a good minister of Christ Jesus.

There are many errors, misconceptions and old wives tales about the weather. For example, 'A wind from the south has rain in its mouth.' Now, I was fortunate to be well taught Meteorology by Professor Chandler at University College London. Consequently, I could explain why it rains, snows, hails and the like to my A level Geography students thereby consigning error to their unenlightened past.

Timothy had two great advantages: He was brought up in the truths of the Christian Faith by Lois and Eunice - his grandmother and mother respectively AND, he had a wonderful teacher in Paul.

Every good Christian teacher should derive the truth from:

(a) Scripture - the Word of God. Paul countered the error that marriage was wrong and certain foods taboo with reference to the Creation Story in Genesis - For everything God created is good. v4. How could the sex drive be evil if God told Adam and Eve: "Be fruitful and inrease in number; fill the earth and subdue it." Gen1v28.

(b) The teaching and example of Jesus. Jesus told his disciples that nothing a man eats corrupts him. See Mt15v10. This is an amazing passage - quite shocking to the Jews at the time and unheeded - even by disciples like Peter. It should scotch the nonsense that some foods are 'unclean' and thus prohibited.

(c) Humble prayer for enlightenment over any issue that puzzles us.

(2) A prescription for spiritual health. v7to12.

There are three things an athlete or sportsman must do to be proficient:

(a) Watch his diet and refrain from self-indulgence. Over eating, drinking alcohol to excess and smoking should be avoided.

(b) Exercise to get and remain physically fit. This involves lots of repetitive, boring and demanding exercises like skipping if you are a boxer.

(c) Practice. Every great sportsman has to practice their skills. Donald Bradman, the greatest cricketer of all time, developed his eye for the ball by hitting a golf ball with a cricket stump against a wall over and over again. When the wonderful Indian cricketer, Tendulkar, was a youth he would spend almost all day in the nets practicing.

Even Paul admits that physical training is of some value.' But, he is mainly concerned with encouraging Timothy to train himself to be godly.

So let us look at:

(a) The objective.

Paul gives us a good idea what godliness involves in v12: Set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.

So a godly person will set a good example in:

• Their conversation. They will speak the truth in love. See Eph4v15. The Christian's conversation should not be crude, coarse or vulgar and nor should it be malign, malicious or mischievous. I was out bird watching with my friend Tommy this morning. I succumbed to the temptation of feeding him a titbit of gossip about a mutual acquaintance which I KNEW would stir him up and provoke a tirade of criticism. I make slow progress towards godliness.

• Their life or conduct. They will be hard working, honest, polite, appreciative, caring and kind. Dorothy told me this week that our deaconess, Pat, looks through her diary and then arranges to take her to appointments with the chiropodist, hairdresser, doctor, dentist and the like. That's caring!

• Love. We set an example in love when we extend grace to others - showing understanding, practicing forgiveness and treating others as they need and not as they deserve. It is not easy to emulate the Good Samaritan. See story about a nearly perfect day.

• Faith. We show faith in the difficult periods of life by retaining confidence in God. I well remember visiting dear old Henry Underwood and discussing his ailments - Parkinson's disease and osteoporosis - with his wife. After a short time Henry would say, "Let's change the subject - I've a lot to thank God for." His faith allowed him to rise above the misery of two especially nasty complaints.

• Purity. The pure in heart of the Beatitudes are those who act from pure motives. Some speakers will only take a preaching engagement if there is a crowd to address. They do not consider it worthwhile to preach to a handful. Pastor Ken Busby was not like that. When he retired from full time ministry he would go anywhere to speak - he went as willingly to the few as to the many.

In order to become an elite sportsman a person must abstain, exercise and practice. A similar regime is needed if we are to become godly. It is not easy. Paul writes: For this we labour and strive. v9.

Warren Wiersbe lists some of the means by which we become spiritually fit and godly: Prayer, meditation, self-examination, fellowship, service, sacrifice, submission to the will of others and, finally, witness.

None of these comes easily or is effortless. We have only to consider prayer to appreciate how demanding these exercises are. Prayer needs to be regular, repeated, targeted and heartfelt.

Every evening I do 20 minutes of physical exercise - stretching and straining - to keep my back from seizing up. This is followed by Bible study and prayer. It is not the easiest hour of my day - and not really an hour I look forward to very much!

(c) The end.

The end of physical training is not just to become physically fit. The athlete and the sportsman compete to win.

Paul laboured and strived because of his hope in the living God who is Saviour of all men,and especially those who believe. Paul believed that God would reward those who fought the good fight, finished the race and kept the faith. He wrote: Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day - and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. 2Tim4v7and8.

(3) Dedication to its end. vs13to16.

We have looked at Paul's prescription for physical and spiritual fitness and aptitude. Now the effectiveness of a prescription will depend a lot on an individual's dedication to its end. A challenger for the Boxing Heavyweight Championship of the World will never succeed if he considers boxing is unimportant. He must deem the end to which he trains and exercises supremely worthwhile. He must give himself wholly to boxing brilliantly as the end to which he trained.

It is the same for the Christian preparing for the godly life. Paul is aware of this and advises Timothy to:

(a) Be devoted.

Paul tells Timothy to be devoted to public reading of Scripture, preaching and to teaching.

When I was a young man I was undoubtedly devoted to cricket. I loved to play and did so with the keenest enjoyment. This is the attitude to preaching Paul encouraged in Timothy. I have to say that most of the preachers I know love to preach. They are like batsmen who much prefer batting themselves to watching others bat. Many preachers definitely enjoy preaching more than listening to others preach! The ideal is to be enthusiastic about both!

(b) Make the most of his talents. Do not neglect your gift which was given to you ... . v14.

It is sad to see someone squandering natural gifts for lack of application. Equally it is very sad when someone God has gifted for service refuses to use that gift whether it be speaking, praying, singing, playing a musical instrument, counselling, administering and so on.

It is not good to hide our light under a bucket. If we do the light will go out. If God has equipped us for ministry we should apply ourselves to service. Timothy had to be reminded to fan into the flame the gift of God that is in you. 2Tim1v6.

Today there are many Christians in Britain who are so preoccupied with secular work or family life that they make very little contribution to the life of the church.

(c) Avoid complacency. Watch your life and doctrine closely."

A professional sportsman, like a cricketer, will check his technique to see that he is not falling into bad habits. Several England cricketers in the Ashes Series of 2015 were found out by the Australian bowlers because they had got into bad habits.

Christians need to check their:

• Attendance of God's house to ascertain that it is not becoming a chore.

• Appetite for God's word to see that it is not becoming jaded.

• Attitude to God's people to ensure that it is not becoming loveless.

Every believer needs to remenber the words of Paul to the Corinthians: Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. Complacency has been the ruin of many a sportsman and it bodes ill for Christ's servant.

The Christian who shows devotion, makes the most of their gifts and avoids complacency will make progress as a disciple of Jesus. Paul wanted everyone to see the progress that Timothy was making.

It is very sad for the teacher when a pupil of whom he has high hopes loses motivation with the result that performance declines. Many, many Christians make little progress because they lack dedication and fail to heed Paul's advice. I knew a couple who ran a village shop. They were believers but for years they marked time as Christians. It was only after they retired that the couple began to serve their church. God did not give them many years of retirement.

It is important to progress in the Faith. According to Paul it is an effective way to save ourselves or, as the apostle put it elsewhere, of making our calling and election sure. Paul also considered that if we grow stronger and more effective as Christians we are more likely to be used by God to save others. Perhaps what the church in Britain needs more than anything else are super, spiritually fit and dedicated, Christians!

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