If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained. 1 Timothy 4:6
How many Bibles do you own? Most Christians I know have more than one. And whenever we need to know the answer to any issue, there is a Bible near at hand to look it up. And most of us have discovered some of the many excellent on-line tools for looking up anything related to the Scriptures. The Word of God is so available to us that we have no excuse for not using it to resolve our issues and answer our questions. So we might be excused for wondering why Timothy had to keep reminding the Christians at Ephesus about the things that he and Paul had taught them. Neither Timothy nor the others in that Assembly had the New Testament Scriptures at that time. They had the Old Testament and, by this time, some of the Gospel books. But that wonderful resource that you and I treasure so much of the epistles was unknown to them. They needed Timothy’s constant reminder of the words of faith and of good doctrine referred to in our text.
Timothy was a good minister, as he worked to shepherd the flock of God in Ephesus. He applied himself to teaching the Christians. You and I find ourselves in the company of good ministers today, as we see the members of the Assembly oversight and the different full-time workers among us. These brethren take on the responsibility of feeding the flock of God, of making sure that the saints are taught those things that are most surely believed among us (Luke 1:1). In one way, these brethren have a much easier task than Timothy had. Unlike him, they have the Word of God in its completed form. And they have tools such as commentaries, dictionaries, and concordances that the first century believers could not even dream of. So we have to give faithful men such as Timothy credit for doing so well in the difficult circumstances in which he worked. But given the mess that so many around us are making of Biblical teaching, we must surely appreciate the work that our faithful brethren of today are doing for us.
Timothy had been well taught by Paul, and he had learned much in his own spiritual exercise. He was much like those who seek to teach the Lord’s people today. Conferences, ministry meetings, Assembly Bible readings, and the fellowship among godly and well-learned brethren serve well those who would serve as teachers and shepherds among us. There is much to learn in the Word of God, and we have good men today applying themselves to learning it. But we can never have too many who have the knowledge, experience, and ability to feed us with the words of faith and of good doctrine.
We need men like Timothy among us today, serving as good ministers of Jesus Christ. And we need to appreciate their faithfulness. Their words of faith and of good doctrine are what we need to hear. – Jim MacIntosh