Graduation Sunday 

Make Good Habits 

1 Timothy 4:7 

CBC, Bishop, 6/1/03

In a nutshell: Paul's advice to young Timothy at the end of his training and the beginning of his ministry is about making good habits-Turn your back on silly beliefs that leave out God, and train yourself to be godly.

I. Introduction

A. The Story of "Tim"

Like a lot of kids in our society today, Tim grew up in a single parent home. He was also the only son of a religiously and racially-mixed marriage: Mom was a middle eastern Jew, and dad was an Italian atheist. Tragically, just after Tim was born, his dad died, and his mom never re-married. Tim really didn't remember much about his dad, except that he loved his son very much.

Tim's grandmother moved into his home with Tim and his mom. Sometimes this could be a difficult thing, but in this case, it was a very good thing, because Tim's mom and his grandma got along very well.

During his younger years, both mom and grandma had a powerful influence on Tim-especially when it came to things about God. From the time little Timmy was just a baby, his mom and his grandma taught him everything they knew about God, from the Old Testament. They taught him the importance of obeying what God said to do, and praying to God on a regular basis.

One day, when Tim was a teenager, a traveling evangelist came to the neighboring town, near Tim's home. Tim's mom went to one of his meetings, and the message from the evangelist touched her life like she had never experienced before.

She understood the prophecies and the teachings of the Old Testament better than she ever understood them before. With the evangelist's help, she realized that the prophecies about the Messiah in the Old Testament were fulfilled by Jesus. He was the promised Messiah. He was the One that Jews for hundreds of years had been waiting for-He was the Savior. So, at that meeting, with the evangelist, Tim's mom asked Jesus to be the forgiver of her sins, and she wanted to start following Him as the leader of her life.

She couldn't wait to get home after the meeting to tell Grandma and Tim about what had taken place in her life-she had become a "completed Jew".

When she sat down with Timmy, and told him about her new faith in Jesus, he also eagerly asked Jesus to be his Savior. And Grandma did also. From that day on, Tim couldn't get enough of learning about Jesus. He went through grade school and graduated from 8th grade. He went on to high school, and graduated with his friends. In other words, he went through those significant stages of life, just like each one of you have gone through, or are going through.

When, it came time to go to college, Tim chose a very small but highly respected Christian College-just like you've done, Anna.

Tim made a decision early on that he wanted to become a pastor. And he chose his college, based on that goal. The school wasn't very big. And it only had one professor. But that gave Tim a tremendous opportunity for personal mentoring with his professor.

And let me tell you, Tim's professor was truly a mentor to his students. He spent huge amounts of time answering the questions that came up from his student's inquisitive minds. He lived with his students, in the dorm. He took them on field trips, and arranged travel opportunities for them throughout Europe and Asia.

Their learning was cutting edge. It wasn't unusual for them to spend weeks and sometimes months traveling all over the world with their teacher, learning about how to be pastors, learning from the Bible, and learning how to work with people. They also had the latest textbooks to study, because their teacher was writing them as they traveled. It was an exciting time of learning and preparation for the young people in this college. But as with all cases of higher learning, eventually it came time for graduation.

But the year that Tim was to graduate, a problem occurred in the school. Tim's professor and mentor was arrested and thrown into prison. He wouldn't be allowed to attend the graduation ceremonies. And what was even sadder, he would miss Tim's installation service, as pastor of his first church.

Tim's teacher had been charged with treason. That's a crime so serious that if you're convicted, there is no hope of parole or pardon. It means being put to death.

But there was a special bond between Tim and his professor. Tim was his favorite student. You wouldn't be out of line to say that Tim's teacher loved Tim very much. He loved Tim like Tim was his very own son. And Tim felt the same way about his professor. This teacher had been the father that Tim had missed during most of his growing up years. Plus, as Tim got older, the two had become best of friends, too. So, when it came time for graduation, Tim's professor wanted to do something special, so he wrote a graduation letter to him.

Tim's professor didn't know if he would ever see his favorite student again. So he wanted to give him the best graduation advice he could ever give. He wanted to help him develop good habits for life. B. Transition

Now, one of the really neat things about this story of Tim and his professor is that down through the years, this letter has been preserved. We still have it, and can read it today.

You see, the professor in this story is a guy by the name of Paul; And the young student's name was Timothy. And the advice that Paul wrote to young Timothy upon his graduation from college, and his installation as a pastor is found in our Bibles. It is called the book of First Timothy, that's found in the New Testament. And I thought that it would be appropriate to spend some time this morning, showing you some of the advice that God guided Paul to write, to help his young student, Timothy, develop some good habits.

C. Where Things are Headed

Now, to put your minds at ease, I'm not going to look at Paul's entire message this morning. That would take too long. But it would be a good idea for you to open those new Bibles that we just gave you, sometime in the next few days, and read that letter, while you think of the context of the story I just told you about Tim.

But for this morning, I want to focus on the one sentence that is the main sentence in this entire graduation message. That is found in 1 Timothy 4:7. It would be good for you to turn to that verse and underline it in your Bibles, this morning.

1 Timothy 4:7 7 Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives' tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.

Now, as you have with most good advice, there is a negative part to this advice, and a positive part to it. In other words, there is sometime that you're told NOT to do, and something you're told that you should do. Those are the two things I want to look at this morning…

II. The Negative Advice

So, let's look at the negative advice first. Paul writes…

"Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives tales"

Now right off the bat, I want you to realize something…this verse isn't saying anything bad about being "old" or about being an "older wife". These are simply phrases that were common in Paul and Timothy's day.

Literally this phrase is saying, "Have nothing to do with stories and philosophies that leave the one true God out of the picture, and have nothing to do with silly stories that give human explanations to something only God can do."

You see, back in Paul and Timothy's day, there was a belief that there was a god assigned to every major force in the universe-there was a god in charge of death; there was a god in charge of the sea; there was a god in charge of dry land; there was a god in charge of the emotion of love; and so on. On top of that, there were parent gods-a mother and father god-over all these other gods. And what these gods did all day long was play with human beings-like you used to play with dolls or action figures.

We call this Roman and Greek mythology. It was what the regular person on the street believed in, during Paul and Timothy's day. But beliefs like this went directly against what God taught in the Bible, by leaving out the one true God in their explanation of life. These were the godless myths and silly stories Paul was referring to.

But don't think godless myths and silly stories only happened during the time of Paul and Timothy. Let me tell you some that are floating around today…

A. Reincarnation

Illustration: Last year, I read an article in the Palm Springs newspaper about a college student at Stanford who confessed that all his life he was afraid of women, and he didn't know why. So he went to a woman who called herself a "researcher into past lives". She told him she had the ability to go back into the lives he had lived earlier and there she discovered (according to her) that this young man had been attacked by a woman in one of his past lives. That attack was now producing his fear of women.

Now, let me tell you, that's a silly story. That's a myth that leaves out God. Yet thousands of people, and even some people who claim to be Christians, buy into this kind of silly story. But the entire record of the Bible, from beginning to end, never teaches reincarnation. Instead, what it teaches is resurrection!

In the same body that you now live, you will also spend eternity-you don't get another one! The body you have is going to be glorified and made perfect, but you're not getting another one. You see, when you believe the Bible about resurrection, you can't believe in reincarnation. To believe in such a silly story, leaves God out of the picture.

B. Evolution

Illustration: Still other intelligent people insist that a theory…-now understand what a theory is…it is an unproved hunch-is true. What I'm talking about is evolution. -Evolutionists say that billions of years ago, a huge blast took place somewhere in the universe. -through the energy of that blast, a single cell of life came into being. -that cell evolved over millions and billions of years until it became a fish. -then the fish sprouted arms and legs and crawled out of the water and became an animal. -that animal crawled on four legs until one day it was able to walk upright. -then that animal started to develop thought processes, grouped itself into societies, eventually lost all its hair.

Now, that's pretty close to what many people believe regarding evolution. But evolution is only a theory, not a fact. It is a human explanation, that leaves God out of the equation. There is no proof that evolution is true. Because, if it were true, it would still be going on. We'd be seeing fish crawl out of the water on newly sprouted hands and legs, every day. If evolution were true, somewhere in the world, there would be hairy creatures becoming less hairy. But there are no such things! (Unless your consider Jesse! J ). But seriously, the theory of evolution leaves God out of the picture. And when the author of the universe is left out, we are left with nothing more than a silly story. And Paul's advice to Timothy is to avoid common, silly stories that leave God out of the picture.

And that's my advice to you as well. Be careful what you accept into your life. Look critically at the ideas you are asked to believe. If an idea leaves God out-then avoid it like you'd avoid brussel sprouts at dinner.

III. Positive Advice

So, that's the negative advice: "Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives' tales;" But there's some positive advice as well: "Train yourself to be godly".

Friends, this is advice for all of us, whether we're graduates or not. Don't let someone hold a position in your life that will pull you away from your relationship with God. Train yourself to be godly. Now, as I see it, there are at least two things involved in this…

A. Think Biblically

First of all, training yourself to be godly means to think Biblically. Now, thinking Biblically has two parts.

1. Value the Bible

The first is that you need to value the Bible.

Hebrews 4:12 12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

When you value the Bible, you are putting it in a place where it becomes the guide for how you live your life. And when you do that, you are allowing a power into your life that will give you the ability to make every choice you face in your life, the right choice. I have never known a person who has followed what the Bible says to do, who has been disappointed with the final outcome. That's valuing the Bible.

2. Honor God

The second part of thinking Biblically is that you honor the God of the Bible. Honoring God means two main things:

a. Obey

First, that you obey Him. Obeying God simply means that if God says to do something, you do it. If God says not to do something, then you don't do it. It's really that simple. Obeying God is an all the time thing…not just when you feel like it thing, or when it's convenient thing.

b. Respect

But not only are we talking about obedience, we're also talking about respect. God is not some kind of a cosmic genie that exists to do what you want Him to do. He's not there …to give you what you want …or to get you out of trouble when you don't know how to get out yourself.

God is God! That means He makes the rules. He acts in ways that are His, not yours. You don't pick and choose only some of His rules to follow and not others. He demands, expects and deserves your respect through what you do.

Let me tell you some things about the God of the Bible…

Illustration #1: When Abraham was told to take his only son Isaac, who was born to him when he was very old, and sacrifice this boy because God told him to do it, Abraham obeyed. When Isaac was told to lie down on a pile of rocks so he could be a sacrifice, he obeyed. Now, if you know that story, you know that God didn't let Abraham or Isaac go through with the sacrifice. He stopped it from happening, just in the knick of time. But what God was finding out was how willing to obey Abraham and Isaac were.

Anna, Alyssa, Sarah, Alison and Donald…God is going to test your faith in the years to come. He's not interested in hurting you or seeing you fail. He simply wants you to trust Him completely at all times.

Illustration #2: The God of the Bible is also the one who said to Jehoshaphat, "Just watch what happens when you trust me." And without Jehoshaphat or any Israelite lifting a finger, God wiped out six million of Israel's enemies in one day!

You see, when God demands obedience, He also provides love and protection for those who follow Him. And no one, or no thing can harm you when the God of the Bible is protecting you.

Illustration #3: The God of the Bible is also the one who from the time you were born, knew who you were. And we're told that while you were still in your mother's womb, the God of the Bible loved you. When Jesus went to the cross, He was thinking about you. He was taking your sins on His shoulders so you would never have to experience the consequences of those sins. That's the God of the Bible.

Illustration #4: The God of the Bible is also the one who was present when Annanias and his wife Sapphira conspired to lie to their pastor about the amount of the gift they were giving to their church. And their pastor, Peter, said, "You are not lying to regular flesh and blood, you've lied to God." And they were struck dead.

You see, you can't lie to the God of the Bible. You can't pull the wool over His eyes. Even the things you do in the most secret times of your life, God knows about them.

Graduates, and all of us…listen to me-thinking Biblically not only means valuing the Bible, but it means honoring the God of the Bible-and you do that by obeying Him and respecting Him.

B. Serve Humbly

But a second part of training yourself to be godly means that you are willing to serve humbly. Jesus said in…

Matthew 20:26-28 26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave- 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Illustration: Imagine a huge pasture spread out in front of you. As far as you can see, there is this huge herd of animals grazing in the pasture. As you look closer, you see that every animal in this pasture is one of two kinds of animals-either a sheep or a goat. All different sizes, and kinds…but still only two animals-some are sheep and some are goats.

But as you look closer, you see something you don't normally see in a pasture-each animal is branded with a name-one name says Anna, another Alyssa, another Sarah, another Alison, and another Donald. Every animal is uniquely named.

At one end of the pasture is a large hill. One day, the head shepherd climbs that hill so every goat and sheep in this huge flock can clearly see him. The shepherd stretches out his hands, and gives an order to all the ranchers down below, "Separate the sheep from the goats. Goats on the left side of the pasture Sheep on the right side.

Then the shepherd says to the sheep, "Come and live with me in heaven, everyone of you. God has been very pleased with your personal godliness. You guys showed that your faith in me was more than just words. It is obvious by your actions that you really wanted to follow my example." -when you saw someone who had less than you, you took it upon yourself to share with them what you had.

"-when you saw someone who needed to be comforted, you didn't think about yourself and the inconvenience that you might experience, you just helped them.

"-when you saw someone who was alone and needed a friend or an encouraging word, you didn't even think about whether or not that person was cool, you just wanted to help them feel welcome.

"-when someone was sick, you took them food.

"-you showed that your faith was more than just belief in your head-it was something that moved you to act as a servant, like I showed you when I lived here on earth.

But then the shepherd turns to the goats and He says…

Matthew 25:41-46 41 " 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' 44 "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' 45 "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' 46 "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

Now, folks, let me ask you a question…As you identify yourself in that pasture, are you wearing a sheep skin or a goat skin? Only the sheep were showing godliness. Training yourself to be godly means following Jesus' example of serving humbly.

IV. Conclusion

Anna, Alyssa, Sarah, Alison, and Donald…almost 400 years ago, an English teacher by the name of John Dryden, told his students… (front of worship folder) "We first make our habits, and then our habits make us." At this important time in your life, I would urge you to make good habits. And the best ones you could ever make will be based on Professor Paul's advice to his student and friend, Timothy…

1 Timothy 4:7 7 Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives' tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.

Amen