Today I'm Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Can you think of someone that used to be a really strong, vibrant follower of Jesus? but today isn't walking with him at all. What happened and why? That's today.
Stay with me. Paul warned Timothy plainly: In the last times, some will fall away from the faith. not gradually and obviously, but quietly. through what they pay attention to. Today on Living on the Edge, Chip Ingram opens 1 Timothy 4 and gets specific about what causes spiritual drift and what it takes to go the other direction.
I'm Dave Druy, and we're continuing our series, You Can Make Disciples: Personal Coaching from the Apostle Paul. If you have your Bible, please open it now to 1 Timothy chapter 4.
Now here's Chip with a message he's calling, Step Out. Were you guys ready to dig in, get a little more coaching from the Apostle Paul? We're going to look at chapter 4. And each time, you know, we want to get a little tip. You can fill this in at the very top.
Tip number four. From the Apostle Paul is this adversity will either make you Or break you. The only question in all of that is how are you going to respond? And uh some of you have had lives that have not been scarred very much. Fasten your seatbelt.
I don't mean that badly, and it's not some fearful life of waiting for the other's shoe to drop. in this world according to the greatest authority. You will have tribulation. But He said, I've overcome the world. But adversity comes into people's lives, and it literally, I mean, there's just, it creates two very clear paths: victims.
survivors and thrivers. Adversity comes, and some people blame God, they blame other people. They blame themselves.
Sometimes it causes you to persevere and do things and overcome things and builds character in your life. Causes you to see things you never saw, causes you to take steps you would have never taken, forces you to relocate or think differently about everything. And you'll go back to multiple windows in your life where that adversity was the worst thing in the world on the front end. And you look in the rearview mirror and you think, wow. Where would I be if that had not happened to me?
Right? The Apostle Paul now is going to do some coaching. Uh with young Timothy. And what he wants to do is he wants to help Timothy build resilience.
So with that, let's look at Chapter 4. He opens it up. You'll notice in your notes with a description of false teachers and where the evil comes from. But the Spirit explicitly says that in the latter times. Here's this phrase again.
He's talking about church people.
Some will fall away from: have you put a box around this enough times yet? The faith. Why? paying attention to Deceitful spirits. and the teachings of demons.
And by the way, before you get like, oh, paranormal and that's got to be really bizarre stuff, or it was like where I lived in Santa Cruz, and we had, I mean, audio and visual manifestations of demonic activity, and we had witches and warlocks. It was the most bizarre place in the world. I would suggest to you Much of the the teachings of the enemy are as simple as Follow your heart. You deserve to be happy. If you do good, everything good will come your way.
The number one Means of spiritual warfare is not bizarre stuff. It's three little Letters L-I-E. It's lies. Lie. I'm not in love anymore.
I must have married the wrong person. No, you just stopped doing the things that built intimacy, and so you've drifted apart, and you're going to have to go back to the things that you did in the beginning. And you need to own your part, and you need to ask for forgiveness, and you need to extend forgiveness. But instead, we believe the lie, we take some steps, we make some decisions. And he says, They come by the means of hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron.
By the way, these slies are coming through people inside the church, right?
So what it says, the teach are you chip, are you telling me that deceitful spirits And the teaching of demons. by the hypocrisy of liars. who are seared in their conscience with a branding iron, Who are actually teaching things like they forbid marriage, they advocate abstaining from some foods what God has created, and trying to take people away from a knowledge of the truth. Yes. It was happening then, it's happening now.
And then he gives a little corrective: For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected. It's received with gratitude, for it's sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer. And basically, he goes back to: remember, he started with the false teachers. He said, This is what you need to do. Chapter two was how we need to address it.
Chapter three, we need a long-haul strategy. We need to develop really godly men with character who are going to lead the church in the future. And then it's like, now, Timmy, I don't know if you ever called him Timmy, but uh. You need to understand that The source of these lies aren't just these, quote, bad people. They're energized by the enemy.
And the enemy is energizing false teaching inside the church, and it has the appearance of godliness. They're super disciplined. You know, they don't eat these foods, they don't worship on these, they don't, they don't, they don't, they don't. And here's all these things they do, and it some works religiosity to somehow. put burdens on people.
instead of experience God's grace and forgiveness. And so he's just telling them: everything that God gives us is good, and if you receive it with thanksgiving. In the word in prayer, it sanctifies it. And then in verse 6. through 10, he's going to give him a prescription to be a good teacher.
He says, in pointing out these things to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of. The faith. and of good doctrine which you have been following.
Now did you notice something? Because this is going to be really key. The people who were genuine followers at one point, to some degree, started paying attention to deceitful spirits. and the teachings of demons, and he is going to do well by pointing out these things, and he's constantly nourished on the words of faith and good doctrine. Do you understand?
I mean, just write this in your notes. You are the product of your thought life. As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. How you think, how you view yourself, your emotions, your perspective, your worldview is a product of your thought life. And that's why Colossians 3 will say, set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth.
That's why Paul in Romans 8 will say, the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace. See, it's so, so important. Later in Romans chapter 12, when he talks about how real life change, he doesn't say go to church, do a lot of good things, and try really hard to be nice, and try hard to be dissent, and try to be godly. He says, stop allowing this world system and its lies to squeeze you into its mold. By contrast, allow your mind to be renewed, that your life and lifestyle would actually prove, experience, taste what God's will is: that it's good, acceptable, and perfect.
And that's why, are you ready for this? This sounds crazy. The most important decision you'll make every single day, multiple times a day, is what you allow in your mind. What you watch. What you listen to.
How long you linger in this conversation? And by the way, it's not just media, it's not just culture, it's your friends. Proverbs 13, 20 says, He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of a fool. will suffer harm. I remember uh A mom was kind of giving it to her.
fourteen, fifteen year old boy that was kind of Letting her know that she kind of knows kind of what life is all about and was hanging with some people that she. Being a little older, said, You know, I see where this is going. And I'll never forget overhearing her. She said, Son, show me your friends. and I'll show you your future.
And I got news. That's true of 14-year-olds and 24-year-olds and 44-year-olds and 64-year-olds and 74-year-olds. and 79 year olds. I wanted to make sure everyone got included.
So he says, you'll be a good servant if you point these things out. But notice again. The content, but stay away from worthless stories that are typical of old women. Rather Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness. For bodily training is This translation says just slightly beneficial.
The idea, it's beneficial for this life. It's physical training, working out, eating healthy. That's it's super helpful for now. But it's limited. But godliness is beneficial for all things since it holds promise for the present life.
and also for the life to come. And then he gives us one of those statements. It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. What? that godliness Discipline.
Going into spiritual training. Benefits this life and the next. And then look at the little purpose clause. And then he says, For it is for this, becoming a godly man, we labor and strive. And that word labor, we get our word a gym or gymnastic, athletic training.
It's pushing. It's the third set, and your arms are shaking, and someone has to spot you. But you know, it's the third set, or for some of you, the fourth set or the fifth set. That's where you're, that's where things are tearing down, and there's where things are going to build up. He says, for this, we labor and strive because we have set our hope on the living God.
Who is the Savior of all mankind and especially of believers? Stay with us. More from Chip Ingram in just a moment. This is Living on the Edge. Did you know Chip's teaching is also available on YouTube?
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Now back to today's message. And then he gives them this personal challenge. He says prescribe And teach these things And listen, this is Paul really coaching individually. Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather, Where should he be godly? In your speech, in your conduct, in your love, in your faith, in your purity.
Show yourself an example of those who believe. In other words, You know what? You need to step out. You need to set an example. You need to be godly in what you say.
You need to be godly in your relationships, godly in your thinking. A better word, maybe, is Christ-like. Prescribe and teach these things, he says. Then he goes on in verse 13: Until I come, give attention to the public reading of God's Word and to exhortation. and teaching.
In other words, again, it goes back to, do you understand the threads all through this chapter are, where's your mind going? The people who drift away start paying attention to other things. They start drifting. Oh, have you heard about this? Have you watched this?
But you nourished yourself. Pay attention to the reading of God's word. And then it goes on: the exhortation, that means putting it into practice. An exhortation takes more than one person. That's like, hey, come on together, let's go.
And then he says, Teaching. That's explaining what's true. and applying it to real life. Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you which was granted you through the prophecy with the laying on of hands by the council of elders. Take Pains.
With these things Be absorbed in them. Why? So that your progress will be evident to all. What progress? You're becoming more like Jesus.
You're more loving, you're more patient, you have more joy, you're more forgiving, you're a better dad, you're a better husband. Hey, Timothy, this is what you need in order to survive the world that you're living in. Pay close attention finally, he says. to yourself and to the teachings, literally the doctrines, what's true. Persevere in these things.
Some of you that lift weights would love this word, persevere. It's everywhere. James 1, remember, it says, consider it all joy when you encounter various trials, knowing the testing of your faith produces perseverance, and allow or let perseverance to have its outworking in your life that you might be. Teleas, or mature, ripe, perfect, and complete, lacking in nothing. That's this word.
He says persevere. It's hupo. Menno, compound word. Hupo means to be under. Meno, under pressure or stress.
Some of you actually pay to be under pressure and stress. And and you you usually have a partner? You put it on here. Hoopo Mano. Hoopo, mano, hoopo, mano.
And then it's... Come on, come on, come on, right? And you understand how it works. I'm sure most of you do. is when you get to that third set.
Is what you're doing is you're tearing the fibers of the muscle just ever so slightly. And the reason you don't want to lift hard two days in a row the same muscles is you don't want to tear too much. But what you do is you tear them a little bit. Then if you're smart, you get some protein in you. And then in about 24 to 48 hours, as it heals back, guess what?
That's why your muscles get bigger. Your muscles get bigger because of resistance. Your soul expands with godliness when you go through adversity. God uses suffering. He says For Christ has given us an example, 1 Peter 2, that we should follow.
That since he suffered, we should also suffer, following in his steps. And he says, if you suffer for doing wrong, what good is that? But when you suffer for doing what is right, this finds favor with God. How we respond, literally, there's little banquets and things going on in heaven, and people high-fiving one another. Did you see what that brother went through, what that sister went through?
Did you see how they persevered? They wouldn't give up, they wouldn't give up, they wouldn't give up. And what happens is, just like your body gets stronger. Yeah. Your faith.
Gets stronger. That's how you build resilience. That's how you bounce back. And we all want to be that person, but we don't want the process, right? I mean, I was giving a guy a hard time who had a kind of a tight shirt on.
Some of us could tell he lists weights. Yeah. And so, as we were standing next to each other, I let him know that this is really a very, very loose shirt, and I wear these loose shirts because I'm completely ripped underneath. And that would be a lie. But I I'll tell you what, you know If you've ever gone through that cycle and you get with a buddy and You know, it's three times a week, and they always, I don't know why, they always want to lift at 6 a.m.
or some stupid hour, right? And you know, the first three days you do it, and you think this is the dumbest idea in the world, and they shame you into it. And you do it another week, and everything still really hurts, and about the third week. You look down and you go. I think a little something's happening there, right?
You do it about six weeks. Do it about three months. Pretty soon you start looking like a different person. And what you're doing physically is willfully taking your body through resistance and breaking it down so that it can grow back stronger. Could you imagine what would happen?
If you would rethink adversity rather than, oh God, why me? or this is so terrible, or life's not really fair. And you saw it more as The hand of a kind and loving God in the midst of a very fallen world, of which he allows people the freedom to make decisions, including you and me, some of which really hurt other people. And some, it's just a fallen world. That if you would receive that as, this is a test of my faith.
Hoopo. Menno. And I'm gonna get up each day, and like Timothy, I'm going to take pains. I'm gonna absorb myself, I'm gonna renew my mind, I'm gonna memorize the scripture, I'm gonna get with some guys that really want to do life. And I will tell you what, in the midst of that adversity, We will meet you two years or five years or seven years from now, and you will have people say, I don't even know you.
You used to have a temper. I mean, you used to be so negative about everything. Used to just rag on your wife all the time when we were out hanging out. You should always be, you know, talking about this and that, and man, what happened to you? And they're not probably going to say something, oh, you're so Christ-like.
But they'll see it. This passage Coaching nuggets to me that are the big takeaways. Here's the truth. Here's the truth, and drink this in. It's in bold.
Some will fall away from the faith. I don't want to sound negative. I want to be realistic.
Some of you in this room. We'll fall away from the faith. You'll pay attention to other things. You'll buy cheap substitutes. You'll start.
With just A little flirting here or there. A little logging on here or there. A little bit more debt than normal. In two years from now or five years from now. You'll remember what it was like to be at a time like this, and you'll probably poo-poo it.
Because what happens when you fall away from the faith? You always have to then. rewrite your past history. I've done this for a living, people, for 40 years. I sat in so many rooms, well, what I realized was I never really was in love with her.
Well, I can see where your pouring addiction and stepping out on her and having a couple of fares would probably sort of mar your perspective of the past. You'd be surprised how many college freshmen go away to school and everyone else is smoking dope and pretty soon I'm not sure if I believe in God anymore. Big intellectual issue. You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. In a message titled, Step Out.
It comes from our current series called You Can Make Disciples: Personal Coaching from the Apostle Paul. To revisit any part of today's lesson, just go to livingonthege.org. Plus, every message in this series is on the Living on the Edge podcast. Subscribe and take it with you. Full-length sermons from Chip are also available on the Chip Ingram Sermon Podcast wherever you listen.
Chip said, You are the product of your thought life. What you dwell on shapes who you become. And if you've been sensing drift and want a way forward, Chip's book, Yes, You Really Can Change, addresses exactly that, how real lasting transformation actually works. This series is about discipleship and we grow best in community.
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Well, Chip, you gave some practical, powerful guidance in your message today. What are some final thoughts for us to take home? Thanks, Dave. As we close today's program, I want you to pause with me. We heard some very, very strong warnings, and I think we're seeing some of the fruit of those warnings.
The Apostle Paul says, no one is immune from falling away. And he ties that with false teaching. And we're living in a day where there's a lot of false teaching. And the false teaching isn't just this direct, you know, God doesn't exist and you're crazy to believe in Jesus. It's this journey of deconstruction.
And there's a whole generation of people that I'm spending a lot of time with right now that don't have clear understanding and they're deeply, deeply confused. And here's what I want to say to you. I want to say it to parents. I want to say it to grandparents. And I want to say it directly to you that are younger in the faith.
You need to determine what you believe and why. You cannot listen to everyone. There are so many voices out there. At the end of the day, There is truth. There is a word from God and we've been given to it in His Word.
And so I want to encourage you, stand strong and clear on the truth of God's Word. Your friends and what you allow in your mind is going to determine where you land 5, 10, 20 years from now. Ask yourself, what kind of conversations am I having with my friends? What kind of faith do they have and are they walking closely with the Lord? What kind of stuff am I putting in my mind that's either raising questions, developing doubts, or are they pulling me away from God or closer to Jesus?
I just want to encourage you. You so matter to the Lord Jesus. He loves you so much. Let me encourage you, be steadfast, get into the scriptures, and get around some fellow believers that are walking closely to Christ. None of us are immune from falling away.
Let's not be those people. I'm Dave Druy, inviting you back for Chip Ingram's next message, which picks up right where today ended. More from 1 Timothy 4 and a question you won't want to miss next time on Living on the Edge. Wow. Oh.
Today's program is produced and sponsored by Living on the Edge. Uh
