I Timothy 3:13

First Timothy 3:13

The Bible says in First Timothy 3:13, “For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.” Notice that the Bible does not give honor to those who are deacons, but it does give honor to those “who have used the office of a deacon well.” It is not your position; it is your behavior that counts. Human beings tend to give honor because of the title or the position that someone has, but there is not honor or praise from the Bible simply for having the title or the position of a deacon. One must be a deacon, and one must “use the office of a deacon well.”

One of the good results of using the office of a deacon well is that such a person will gain great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus. One of the reasons that God has us upon this earth is to be witnesses to those who do not yet know Jesus as Savior. You will be able to be a witness more frequently and more effectively if you have boldness in the faith. Some people have all of the qualities listed here for deacons, but perhaps they are shy or reserved. If they took upon themselves the responsibility of a deacon and used it well, they would find that they would nurture additional qualities and abilities. That is a general principle that is true in all of life. Stay where you are, and you will stay where you are. Take on a new responsibility and you will grow with that responsibility.

Paul wrote to Timothy in First Timothy 3:14-15, “These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly: But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” The book of First Timothy more than anything else is Paul’s instructions to Timothy, giving Timothy advice and instruction on some very important things for Timothy to be aware of. Paul could not do everything. He could not be everywhere. Instead of trying to do more, a wise person will try and commit responsibility unto others. That is what Jesus did. Jesus told the disciples that they would accomplish more than He had accomplished in certain ways.

It is good that Paul gave these instructions to Timothy. No one can do any better than they are planning on doing. And no one can plan on doing the right thing unless they have instructions on just exactly what are the right actions to take. More specifically Paul was telling Timothy how to behave in a congregation of believers.

Paul told Timothy how to behave “in the house of God.” What is the house of God in the New Testament? Do you know what Paul meant by the house of God? Some people think that the house of God is the church building. If we look at the next phrase in First Timothy 3:15, then we know exactly what Paul was taking about. Here the Bible says that the house of God is “the church of the living God.” The word church means those who are called out: in other words the true believers. There are many church buildings, but there is only one church. That is what this verse says “the house.” There is only one. God does not inhabit a building. He inhabits his people. No matter what church building someone goes to, God is in him if he is connected to God through faith in Christ.

Paul said that the church is “the pillar and the ground of the truth.” Where is the truth in this world? Where has God placed the truth? It is in the church: in His believers. When we say that the truth is in His believers, what truth are we talking about? Many things are true. Which true things are we referring to? This is made clear in the next verse, First Timothy 3:16 that says, “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”

In First Timothy 3:9 the mystery of the faith was mentioned. Now it is the mystery of godliness. Godliness has to do with being in tune with God and doing what God wants. The first thing that God wants is for us to know and to believe that which is true. Listen to the essential truth about God that God has revealed to His believers: “God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”

At Christmas time we celebrate the birth of a baby. What happened when that baby was born is described in the first phrase of this verse: “God was manifest in the flesh.” When we look at any baby we can see many wonderful things. We can see the sweetness and innocence. We can see the great potential and possibilities if the child becomes all that it can be. We can see the love of God along with a mother that brought that child into the world. But if we had been in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago we would have seen one additional thing that can be seen in no other baby. We would have seen “God manifest in the flesh.” That is the true meaning of Christmas.

Jesus was God manifest in the flesh. Jesus was also “justified in the spirit.” In other words he was justified in connection with the Spirit. Of course, there is a great mystery surrounding this truth that God (in the form of Jesus) came into the world and lived as a man. When Jesus came into the world, He left His throne in glory. He humbled Himself. Somehow He set aside His divine prerogatives and lived as a man on this earth.

In spite of the fact that Jesus retained His divine nature, somehow Jesus lived just like any other human would live. He got hungry when He did not eat. He got tired. He felt pain. He was tempted. Of course, unlike the rest of the human race Jesus was tempted without sin. How did Jesus do this? How did He avoid sinning? How did He win the victory over sin and temptation when all other human beings have failed so miserably? The answer is found in this statement that says that He was “justified in the Spirit.” At His baptism the Spirit was seen descending as a dove upon Jesus. This was to demonstrate the important connection between Jesus and the Spirit. The Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness. The Spirit was not given by measure unto Jesus.

Jesus lived as a man filled and led by the Spirit. This is another example of how greatly all of us have failed. We have the Spirit, if we believe. The same Spirit that led Jesus will lead us. The same Spirit that strengthened and enabled Jesus will do the same for us. The power is there. The possibility is there. The question is: are we doing what needs to be done to be led and empowered by God’s Spirit? We have no excuse. Jesus did it. It is God’s will for every believer also. That is why we are told to “quench not the Spirit of God,” and to “grieve not the Spirit.” We quench the Spirit when we do not obey His leading, and when we go our own way instead of His way. We grieve the Spirit when we sin. After all, He is the “Holy” Spirit. Wise is the Christian who is sensitive to the leading of the Spirit, and who understands that based on the mystery of godliness, one is not justified by the law: one is justified by the Spirit.

After Jesus was resurrected He was seen by angels. He was also seen by men. Now it is the will of God that the message about Jesus be preached to the world, everyone in the world. The word that is translated “preach” in this verse means a public presentation. The will of God is that the truth about Jesus be spread to all the world by means of the public preaching and presentation of the gospel.

The result that God is hoping for and looking for is that all people would believe. That is why after this Bible verse says that Jesus was “preached unto the Gentiles,” it then says that he was “believed on in the world.” The will of God is that the result of preaching is that there will be more belief. Why preach? – So that faith will come alive in the hearts of those who before had no faith, and so that those who do have faith will be strengthened in it. “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” Evidently by the negative words that are spoken by some, there are those who call themselves preachers think that the purpose of preaching is to criticize and tear down. They should remember that the word gospel means good news, and they should understand the significance of this verse that says, “Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”

First Timothy 4:1-2 says, “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron.” The way to live for God in this world is to be led by the Spirit, the Great Spirit, the Holy Spirit. Always have one ear tuned to the Spirit. If you do, you will hear the Spirit give some very important information about one of the characteristics of the age in which we live. We just heard that the truth about God manifest in the flesh was preached unto the Gentiles. Now we are being warned that something else is taught. There are other kinds of teachers. There are false teachers. Be careful whom you listen to. Are you listening to someone who has been sent by God or are you listening to someone who is described in the first part of First Timothy chapter four?

When will all of these false teachers be around? It says “in the latter times.” The latter times, refers to the last age before the return of Christ. Actually we live in the last age right now. This is the age of grace: what we might also call the age of the church or the age of the new testament (new covenant). This last age or latter time started with the first coming of Christ and it will end with His second coming. An “age” in the Bible is a time period in which God has manifested certain distinct parameters to man. Adam and Eve and their direct descendents lived in a distinct age in which they were given the command to be fruitful and to multiply in the earth. At the same time they were given rules to live by that were not yet codified, as they would be in the age of the law.

Noah and his descendants lived in a very distinct age in which they were given the chance to rebuild the earth after the judgment of God against sin had come upon it. God made a covenant with Noah that the earth would never again be destroyed by water and God sealed the covenant with a rainbow. God made another covenant or promise to Abraham and a new age began in which the truth about God would come to the rest of the earth through one family that would eventually become one nation, and so we call him father Abraham. We remember the covenant that God made with Abraham that through his seed would all the nations of the earth be blessed.

Another age was again brought upon the earth at the time of Moses. The great and holy law of God was given to man. The law contained many promises to those who would keep it, but many curses to those who would break it in any point. Therein was the undoing of the nation of Israel and the undoing of man. Unless you keep it in every point, the law can only condemn you. When Jesus came, a new and different age came with Him. John 1V17, “The law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” Jesus kept the law: the first one to ever do it. And then Jesus paid the penalty for the breakers of the law: you and me. Jesus died so that we could live. Jesus suffered so that we could be blessed. This age that we now live in is the last age. It was new when Jesus started it, but it is not new now. It is two thousand years old.

One of the characteristics of this latter times in which we live is the false teachers. The strange thing about these false teachers is where they come from. The Bible says that they “depart from the faith.” This is the Greek word that we call the apostasy. These people at one time appear to be in the faith. But something happens and they fall away. They stop teaching the things that are of sound doctrine. They stop preaching to the gentiles the mystery of godliness which centers around the fact that God was manifest in the flesh and justified in the Spirit. Be careful who you listen to. It is not their reputation or their position that counts, but the content of their message. They might have fallen away from the faith and are now false teachers.

We know that the gospel comes from God. Those who preach the gospel have gotten it from God. According to the Bible, those who have fallen away from the faith and are now teach something else have given “heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.” Some examples of what people teach who have been seduced by evil spirits and whose doctrine comes from the devils are those who teach against the virgin birth, the deity of Christ, salvation by grace, or the inerrancy of the Bible.

How can someone who at one time claimed to be a Christian teach against the basic truths of the Bible? We are told that they are “Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron.” These false teachers are liars. They know that they are lying, but they do it anyway. Just because someone is associated with a church, and just because they have a pleasant voice does not mean that their message is from God. Their message just might be from the devils. These false teachers can do such things and lie seemingly without a conscience because their conscience has been “seared with a hot iron.” Anyone who does not keep their conscience pure and clean is in danger of having their conscience dulled and hardened. That is probably how these people fell away from the faith. They did not put into practice Paul’s admonition in First Timothy 1:9, “Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck.”

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