Bible Commentaries
1 Timothy 4

Verses 1-16

1 The signs of the last days are all present with us now. The teaching of deceiving spirits and demons has become one of the great and popular cults of the day. Their deception seems chiefly to take the form of pretended communication with the dead, whom they personate. Their teaching, so far, has been fragmentary and contradictory, but an effort is being made to collect and publish their vague presentations. The following is a condensed epitome of their creed:

1. The Fatherhood of God.

2. The Brotherhood of Man.

3. Continuous Conscious Existence.

4. The Communion of Spirits.

5. Personal Responsibility.

6. Compensation and Retribution in the Hereafter.

7. Endless Progression.

That most of these are held for truth in Christendom proves this passage to be true. We should thoroughly purge ourselves of these doctrines of demons.

3 The prohibition of marriage, for a limited class, has long defied this scripture, but now the sentiment against it is growing in many quarters which hitherto have not opposed it. Abstinence from certain foods, especially meat or flesh food, has become a recognized feature of some creeds.

7 Physical gymnastics has largely replaced spiritual exercise in many religious institutions.

9 There are three "faithful sayings" in this epistle ( 1Ti_1:15 , 1Ti_3:1 , 1Ti_4:9 ). These should be especially heeded and enforced. There is a logical relation between this one and the first. If Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and has saved the foremost, it follows that, since all men are sinners, He is the Saviour of all mankind. At present this takes effect only in those who believe: the rest are not saved until the consummation. Worthy of all welcome as this faithful saying is, it led Paul into reproach. Nevertheless, he charged Timothy: These things be charging and teaching.

15 How expressive is the phrase, "In these be"! Such meditation makes these things a part of our very being and so molds our motives that our progress will appear in all our actions.

1 Much love and consideration should characterize the acts of one who, like Timothy, has temporary oversight of an ecclesia. This applies especially to his dealings with the older men, some of whom, when he is absent, supervise its affairs. Widows presented a special problem, and they were the wards of the ecclesia under some circumstances. Young widows, or those having a claim on relatives, were not to become dependent on the ecclesia. The younger ones are charged to marry; those having children are expected to be supported by them.

3-16 It is supposed that a list of church widows was kept, which probably included all widows of sixty years and over, whether self-supporting or not. Those who were entered on this list undertook certain duties and promised to give themselves to the work. The younger widows were not to be put on this, list lest they should tire of their promise, and break faith (13). They might grow restive, and so fall into judgment. As the whole passage refers to widows, this is supplied in verse fourteen, after "younger".

5 The widows seem to have been a special charge even in the pentecostal era ( Act_6:1 ).

17 The highest place in an ecclesia seems to be accorded to an elder who makes it his task to teach. Indeed, the passages quoted seem to suggest that such a one should receive support. In the East grain was threshed by driving cows over it to separate the grain from the stalk. It was a law ( Deu_25:4 ) that such animals should not be muzzled, but allowed to eat as much as they needed. The apostle claims this privilege for all who minister the word ( 1Co_9:9 ). The Lord has prescribed that those who proclaim the evangel should live of the evangel ( 1Co_9:14 ). The Lord Himself said to the seventy He sent forth, "The worker is worthy of his wages."

( Luk_10:7 ).