Teaching Ministry

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Psalm 116:5-9
• Hymn — Great Is Thy Faithfulness
• Prayer of Adoration
• Confession of Sin — Psalm 51:1-4
• Assurance of Pardon — Psalm 51:17
• Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 13:8-23
• Pastoral Prayer
• Hymn — He Will Hold Me Fast
• Sermon
• Benediction

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Sermon Title: The Teaching Ministry

Scripture: 1 Timothy 4:11-16

I. A Minister Teaches from the Bible

A. Paul commands Timothy to devote himself to the public reading of Scripture (1 Timothy 4:13)

1. Public Scripture reading was firmly established in Jewish synagogue worship — the law and the prophets were read aloud
2. Jesus models this in Luke 4, reading from Isaiah in the synagogue
3. Paul and Barnabas encounter the same practice in the synagogue at Antioch (Acts 13:15)
4. This practice is rooted in the Old Testament — Deuteronomy 31:11-12 commands the public reading of the law to the assembled people

B. The proper order: public reading of Scripture comes first; exhortation and teaching flow out of it

1. Teaching and preaching are to illuminate and be submissive to the Scripture just read
2. Illustrations exist to highlight the Word, not the reverse
3. Calvin: "The Scripture is the fountain of all wisdom from which pastors must draw all that they place before their flock"

C. The goal of preaching is not entertainment but transformation

1. A sermon should prompt the question "What did you learn from God's Word?" not "What did you think of the speaker?"
2. Sound preaching causes hearers to say, "What a great God we serve and what a wonderful Word he has given us"

II. A Minister Teaches with Authority

A. Paul charges Timothy to "command and teach these things" — the word command carries the force of a military general (1 Timothy 4:11)

B. Timothy's authority was established through two works of the Spirit (1 Timothy 4:14)

1. The extraordinary work — divine prophecy set Timothy apart for ministry (an apostolic-era practice)
2. The ordinary work — the council of elders recognized his gift and ordained him by the laying on of hands
3. Both works are the Spirit's doing; the Spirit is just as active through ordinary means as through extraordinary ones

C. The ordination of the original seven deacons illustrates the ordinary work of the Spirit (Acts 6:3-6)

1. The church was to discern men of good repute and full of the Spirit
2. No miraculous event — the church's faithful discernment is itself the Spirit's appointment

D. A minister proclaims not himself but God and His Word; therefore the congregation is to receive faithful teaching as the very Word of God

1. Romans 10:13-15 — faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ; those ordained and sent to preach are the means by which God saves
2. Hebrews 13:7 — consider your leaders, those who spoke to you the Word of God
3. George Gillespie (Westminster divine): "We are to receive the word from the mouths of ministers as the very word of God"

E. Paul can say Timothy "saves" his hearers (1 Timothy 4:16) because Timothy is the steward of the means of grace God uses to save sinners — not that Timothy is the savior, but that he brings the gospel through which God saves

III. A Minister Teaches with His Life

A. Paul addresses the challenge of Timothy's youth directly (1 Timothy 4:12)

1. In the first-century Greco-Roman world, old age was honored and youth was looked down upon — Timothy faced significant cultural pressure
2. Paul's answer: do not let anyone despise your youth, but overcome it by living a holy life

B. Timothy is to set an example for the believers in five areas (1 Timothy 4:12)

1. Speech
2. Conduct
3. Love
4. Faith
5. Purity

C. This holy life is to be lived publicly before the congregation (1 Timothy 4:15)

1. The congregation is to witness the minister growing in godliness week by week
2. A pastor's moral failure causes lasting damage — those burned by a minister's hypocrisy are among the hardest to reach with the gospel

D. Sound doctrine and sound living together accomplish salvation — both for the minister and for the congregation (1 Timothy 4:16)

1. Salvation is not tied merely to saying the right things but to appropriating right doctrine into one's life
2. 1 Corinthians 6:9 — the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God; the kingdom belongs to those who live out what they profess
3. It is not the hearers of the law who please God but the doers

E. The minister's example is intended to overflow into the congregation

1. As Timothy models speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity, that godliness is meant to drip down onto the people
2. The congregation is called not only to be hearers but doers of the gospel of liberty that comes through Jesus Christ