Message of the Week
Updated: Sep 2
The Little White Community Church
Scripture: 1st Timothy 4:1-10
September 6th, 2026
Message: “Trustworthy Teachings!”
By Pastor George Gnade
Introduction:
1. Three times in this letter, Paul emphasizes important truths to be remembered. He calls them “faithful sayings.” In our day, we would call them Biblical teachings.
2. In contrast, in 1st Timothy 4:1, it says: “The Spirit clearly says that in the later days some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.”
a. “Such teachings come through hypocritical liars… (who) forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving” (1st Timothy 1:2).
b. These false teachings came from a group called the Gnostics. Vs. 7 continues: “Have nothing to do with (their) godless myths… rather train yourself to be godly.”
3. As I said last week, godliness is a gift from God through the Lord Jesus as well as a new way of living to please the Lord Jesus “that has value in the present life as well as the life to come”(Vs. 8).
A. But how can we know the difference between these Biblical trustworthy teachings and the false teaching that come through Satan?
1. In 1st John 4:1, the Apostle John wrote: “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”
2. In 1st John 4:2-3, John continues: “This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist which you heard was coming and even now is already in this world.”
a. In plain words, there is a spiritual battle going on in which evil spirits are trying to flood the world with false ideas. As it says in 1st John 4; 5, “They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them.”
b. In contrast, 1st John 4:6 says: “We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of Truth and the spirit of falsehood.” In this verse, “we” stands for Jesus’ apostles and prophets.
3. In our day, that means we must learn the Word of God that we call the Bible. Every time the world teaches us ideas that are contrary to the Bible, we must be careful that we are not fooled by them. In this letter to Timothy, Paul uses “trustworthy sayings” to help us understand what is Biblical truth and what is false doctrine.
B. Let us consider these trustworthy sayings one at a time.
1. In 1st Timothy 1:15, Paul wrote: “This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners of whom I am chief.”
a. This trustworthy saying teaches us that we can’t save ourselves. Jesus “came into this world” to do for us what we can’t do for ourselves. As we continue to study our Bibles, it soon becomes clear that Jesus died on the cross where He paid the penalty for our sins. That is why our salvation depends on Him and us putting our faith in Him.
b. In the Gospel of John, written by the Apostle John, we learn in John 17:5, that Jesus had a pre-existence before coming and being born as a human.
c. In this verse, Jesus is praying to His Father in heaven. He says: “Now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the presence that I had with you before the world began.”
2. So while we can’t deny Jesus’ humanity (1st John 4), nor can we deny that: “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God” (John 1:1). Jesus is the “Word that became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14).
a. Nowhere does the Bible teach that people like us all have a pre-existence. But Jesus had a pre-existence because He was also the eternal Son of God.
b. So the Apostles teach us that Jesus was both divine and human. That is where the doctrine of the trinity comes from. So believing the Truth of the Word of God does not mean we can comprehend it all. God’s Word must be accepted by faith.
c. As it says in Isaiah 55:9, “As the heavens are higher than earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
C. The second trustworthy saying is found in 1st Timothy 3:1. It says: “If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task.” But “he must be above reproach…”
1. In the early church, elders were older and mature Christian leaders. Overseers were elders who served as pastors. Others served as teachers, others as deacons.
2. Just as Jesus chose disciples, who were trained by Him, so they could take His place, so in 1st Timothy 2:2, Paul writes: ““And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.”
3. While the first trustworthy saying zeroed in on correct doctrine, the second zeroed in on qualified teachers to make sure these truths of the gospel were passed on correctly. Paul calls this work a “noble task.”
D. The third faithful saying is found in 1st Timothy 4:10. It says: “We have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.”
1. Did you ever escape a serious accident and say: “God saved me. If He had not helped me, I would have died.” Even non- Christians will often say something similar. This is called common grace in contrast to saving grace.
2. We could say God’s common grace is often used by Him to draw us into a relationship with Him centered on the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus common grace that is available “to all men” is often used by God to encourage them “to believe” and receive God’s saving grace.
3. Other scholars also remind us that the O.T. was aimed more specifically toward the Jews through whom the Christ would be born. But the gospel message is offered to all kinds of people who come to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, regardless of who you are – Jew or Gentile, male or female, slave or free (Galatians 3:22-28).
In Conclusion:
1. So these three faithful saying are used of Paul to emphasize three primary truths that we must never forget.
a. First remember “Jesus came into this world to save sinner”, even the worst of sinners. Since we have all sinned, that means there is hope for all of us.
b. Secondly, we must protect the Truth of God’s Word by choosing faithful leaders to teach us and evangelize others. God’s Word and God’s leaders and sometimes even individuals like you are used of God to protect us from false teaching and worldly living.
c. Thirdly, God Himself is always reaching out to all kinds of people both through His common grace as well as through saving grace in order to encourage us to believe in the Lord Jesus.
2. Thus He guarantees us that we are on the victory side.
Glory be to God
Beautiful, ❤️