But refuse profane and old wives’ fables. Exercise yourself toward godliness.
Parallel Translations
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But refuse profane and old wives’ fables. Exercise yourself toward godliness.
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But cast awaye vngostly and olde wyves fables. Exercyse thy silfe vnto godlines.
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But cast away prophane, and olde wiues fables, and exercise thy selfe vnto godlinesse.
Cross-references (15)
Passages linked to 1 Timothy 4:7 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 2 Timothy 2:16 But shun empty chatter, for it will go further in ungodliness,
- Titus 2:12 instructing us to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we would live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age;
- 1 Timothy 1:4 and not to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which cause disputes, rather than God’s stewardship, which is in faith—
- 2 Peter 1:5-8 Yes, and for this very cause adding on your part all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence; and in moral excellence, knowledge; and in knowledge, self-control; and in self-control perseverance; and in perseverance godliness; and in godliness brotherly affection; and in brotherly affection, love. For if these things are yours and abound, they make you to not be idle or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Titus 3:9 but shun foolish questionings, genealogies, strife, and disputes about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.
- Hebrews 5:14 But solid food is for those who are full grown, who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good and evil.
- 1 Timothy 6:11 But you, man of God, flee these things, and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.
- 2 Timothy 2:23 But refuse foolish and ignorant questionings, knowing that they generate strife.
- Acts 24:16 In this I also practice always having a conscience void of offense toward God and men.
- 1 Timothy 6:20 Timothy, guard that which is committed to you, turning away from the empty chatter and oppositions of what is falsely called knowledge,
- 2 Timothy 4:4 and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn away to fables.
- 1 Timothy 3:16 Without controversy, the mystery of godliness is great: God was revealed in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, and received up in glory.
- 2 Timothy 3:12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.
- Titus 1:14 not paying attention to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn away from the truth.
- 1 Timothy 2:10 but with good works, which is appropriate for women professing godliness.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 7 Exercise thyself to godliness After having instructed him…
7 Exercise thyself to godliness After having instructed him as to doctrine, what it ought to be, he now also admonishes him what kind of example he ought to give to others. He says, that he ought to be employed in “godliness;” for, when he says, Exercise thyself, he means that this is his proper occupation, his labor, his chief care. As if he had said, “There is no reason why you should weary yourself to no purpose about other matters; you will do that which is of the highest importance, if you devote yourself, with all your zeal, and with all your ability, to godliness alone.” By the word godliness, he means the spiritual worship of God which consists in purity of conscience; which is still more evident from what follows, when it is contrasted with bodily exercise.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain In the true serving of God.
In the true serving of God.
He setteth again true doctrine not only against that false and apostatical doctrine, but also against all vain and curious subtleties.
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It is not only requisite that the minister of the word be sound in doctrine, but also that his life be godly and religious.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 7 But refuse profane and old wives’ fables, and…
7 But refuse profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.
Ver. 7. But refuse] Gr. παραιτου, make a fair excuse. Shift them off, set them by, say thou art not at leisure to attend to them, hast no time to lose upon them. Poteras has horas non perdidisse, said Pliny to his nephew, You might have found you somewhat else to do.
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Exercise thyself] Lay aside thine upper garments, as runners and wrestlers use to do, and bestir thee lustily, γυμναζε, Te nudum exerce. See Heb 12:1.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain But refuse profane and old wives’ fables; all impertinent…
But refuse profane and old wives’ fables; all impertinent discourses, which tend nothing to promote either faith or holiness, which he disdainfully calls old wives’ fables, tales of a tub, as we say, discourses having no bottom in the word of God, are not fit for pulpits.
And exercise thyself rather unto godliness; let thy constant study be things that may promote godliness, impart those things unto people, and live up to them in thy conversation.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain But refuse profane and old wives' fables,.... Either Jewish…
But refuse profane and old wives' fables,.... Either Jewish ones, the traditions of the elders; or those of the Gnostics, concerning God, angels, and the creation of the world; or those doctrines of demons, and which forbad marriage, and commanded abstinence from meats before mentioned; which are called profane, because impious and ungodly, and old wives' fables, because foolish and impertinent; and which were to be rejected with abhorrence and contempt, in comparison of the words of faith and good doctrine.
And exercise thyself rather unto godliness; either to the doctrines which are according to godliness, and tend to godly edification, which the above fables did not, study these, meditate on them, digest them, and deliver them to others; or to a godly life and conversation, exercise thyself, to have a conscience void of offence to God and men; or to internal religion, inward godliness, the exercise of the graces of faith, hope, love, fear, reverence, humility, &c. or rather to the spiritual worship of God, according to his will, not in a formal, cold, and customary way, but with the heart, in truth and sincerity, in faith, and with fervency and purity.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Like those who were to contend in the Grecian…
Like those who were to contend in the Grecian games, exercise thyself unto godliness - Train thyself up in holiness of heart and life, with the utmost labour, vigour, and diligence.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 7. But refuse profane and old wives' fables]…
Verse 7. But refuse profane and old wives' fables] This seems to refer particularly to the Jews, whose Talmudical writings are stuffed with the most ridiculous and profane fables that ever disgraced the human intellect. It may with equal propriety be applied to the legends of the Romish Church. Let any man read the Aurea Legenda, and he will find of profane and old wives' fables what may stand, with considerable propriety, column for column with the Talmud. See Joseline's Life of St. Patrick for miracles, without rhyme or reason, abundantly more numerous and more stupendous than all the necessary ones wrought by Jesus Christ and his apostles. This is enough to persuade a man that the Spirit of God had these very corruptions and this corrupt Church particularly in view.
Exercise thyself rather unto godliness.] To understand this expression it is necessary to know that the apostle alludes here to the gymnastic exercises among the Greeks, which were intended as a preparation for, their contests at the public games. They did this in order to obtain a corruptible or fading crown, i. e, a chaplet of leaves, which was the reward of those who conquered in those games; Timothy was to exercise himself unto godliness, that he might be prepared for the kingdom of heaven, and there receive a crown that fadeth not away. See the notes on 1Co 9:24, &c.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain But refuse - That is, refuse to pay attention…
But refuse - That is, refuse to pay attention to them, or reject them. Do not consider them of sufficient importance to occupy your time.
Profane - The word here used does not mean that the fables here referred to were blasphemous or impious in their character, but that they had not the character of true religion; 2Ti 2:16.And old wives’ - Old women’s stories; or such as old women held to be important. The word is used here, as it is often with us, in the sense of silly.
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Fables - Fictions, or stories that were not founded on fact. The pagan religion abounded with fictions of this kind, and the Jewish teachers were also remarkable for the number of such fables which they had introduced into their system. It is probable that the apostle referred here particularly to the Jewish fables, and the counsel which he gives to Timothy is, to have nothing to do with them.
And exercise thyself rather unto godliness - Rather than attempt to understand those fables. Do not occupy your time and attention with them, but rather cultivate piety, and seek to become more holy.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Old wives’ fables.[2] Some understand the groundless traditions of…
Old wives’ fables.[2] Some understand the groundless traditions of the Jews; others the ridiculous fictions of Simon Magus and his followers. In the Greek they are called profane fables. (Witham)
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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]
Greek: Bebelous.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain refuse--reject, avoid, have nothing to do with (Ti2 2:23;…
refuse--reject, avoid, have nothing to do with (Ti2 2:23; Tit 3:10).
old wives' fables--anile myths (Ti1 1:4, Ti1 1:9; Tit 1:14). They are "profane," because leading away from "godliness" or "piety" (Ti1 1:4-7; Ti1 6:20; Ti2 2:16; Tit 1:1-2).
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exercise thyself--literally, "exercise thyself" as one undergoing training in a gymnasium. Let thy self-discipline be not in ascetical exercises as the false teachers (Ti1 4:3, Ti1 4:8; compare Ti2 2:22-23; Heb 5:14; Heb 12:11), but with a view to godliness or "piety" (Ti1 6:11-12).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 7. Paul now gathers into this personal charge the…
7. Paul now gathers into this personal charge the errors also repudiated in 1Ti_1:3-4.
Old wives’ fables—On which we again quote Dr. Clarke.
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Exercise—That is, gymnastize thyself, as a practicing athlete. Train thyself by holy exercises to holiness. Instead of poring over the chaotic pages of Jewish Rabbinism and Gnosticism, cultivate thy powers in Christian piety and holy activity.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 7. refuse profane and old wives’ fables] This clause…
7. refuse profane and old wives’ fables] This clause Westcott and Hort connect by a comma with the preceding rather than the following sentence. Surely to connect so closely the future ‘thou shalt be’ and the imperative ‘refuse’ is an unnecessary awkwardness; R.V. taking the same general view of the connexion gives the colon before and the full stop after the clause. It is of less consequence as the subject is continuous either way. If the article with ‘fables’ points back to the ‘doctrines of devils’ and the ‘lies’ of 1Ti_4:1-2, yet the ‘godliness’ and the ‘hope in the living God who is the Saviour of all men’ point back also to the ‘truth’ and the ‘mystery’ of 1Ti_3:15-16.
refuse] Another of the characteristic words of these Epistles; used as here 2Ti_2:23, and of refusing persons, 1Ti_5:11; Tit_3:10. In all the other passages of N. T. it has the earlier sense of deprecor, ‘beg off,’ ‘decline;’ Luk_14:18, ‘with one consent began to beg off;’ Act_25:11, ‘If I have committed anything worthy of death I do not beg off from death;’ Heb_12:19 ‘they that heard begged off from any word more being spoken.’
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profane] As opposed to the godliness of 1Ti_3:16, and characteristic of the phraseology of these Epistles; cf. note on 1Ti_1:9. As ‘godliness’ is seen to be more and more bound up with a reverent grasp of true doctrine, so the self-willed fancies of heretical teaching are ‘profane’ as ignoring or denying the present working of the living God.
old wives’ fables] For the justification of this epithet see Introd. p. 49; cf. also Appendix, B. The article, the order of the words, and the present tense, have their proper force by rendering the whole sentence, But those profane and old wives’ fables refuse steadily.
and exercise thyself rather] R.V. omits ‘rather’ of A.V., connecting with what follows. The conjunction itself admits of being taken either as a stronger contrast with preceding, ‘and … rather,’ or as a weaker, taking up a somewhat new point following, ‘and moreover.’ The ‘exercising’ is taken by most commentators to contain an implied rebuke of the corporeal austerities for religion’s sake taught by one school of the earliest Gnostics. But the word has a definitely recognised metaphorical meaning by this time. Cf. the use in 2Pe_2:14, ‘a heart trained in covetousness’; Heb_5:14, ‘by reason of use have their senses trained to discern’; Heb_12:11, ‘them that have been trained by chastening.’ And St Paul’s use of strong nervous words of command to brace up his younger comrade should make us lay more stress on this word of vigorous metaphor, and less perhaps on godliness; ‘do more than acquiesce in correct doctrine and godly dispositions; pursue a vigorous course of training; practise well and widely how to teach both Christian truth and Christian life.’ So Theod. Mops. Lat. interprets ‘exercitationem’ as ‘diligentiam doctrinae,’ … ‘ut alios cum omni diligentia ista instruat.’ See Appendix, K.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (7) But refuse profane and old wives’ fables.—Here Timothy—who…
(7) But refuse profane and old wives’ fables.—Here Timothy—who has been previously (see 1Ti_4:1-6) warned against a false asceticism, against putting an unnatural interpretation on the words of Christ, against sympathising with a teaching which would unfit men and women for practical every-day life—is now urged to guard himself against the temptation to give himself up to the favourite and apparently enticing study of the sayings of the famous Jewish Rabbis, in which every book, almost every word—in many cases the letters of the Hebrew Scriptures—were subjected to a keen but profitless investigation. In such study the spirit of the holy writers was too often lost, and only a dry and barren formalism—commands respecting the tithing of mint, and anise, and cummin—remained, while the weightier matters of the law—judgment, justice, and truth—were carefully sifted out. Round the grand old Jewish history all kind of mythical legends grew up, till for a Jewish student of the Rabbinical schools the separation of the true from the false became in many cases impossible—through all this elaborate and careful but almost profitless study. The minister of Christ was to avoid these strange and unusual interpretations, this vast fantastic collection of legends, partly true and partly false. He was to regard them as merely profane and old wives’ fables, as being perfectly useless and even harmful in their bearing on practical every-day life.
And exercise thyself rather unto godliness.—Instead of these weary profitless efforts—the painful, useless asceticism on the one hand, and the endless and barren Rabbinic studies of the Law on the other—Timothy, as a good minister of Jesus Christ, was to bestow all his pains and labour to promote an active, healthy, practical piety among the congregation of believers, as we have seen in 1Ti_4:6, in the words, “ever training thyself.” To lead such a life required ceaseless pains and efforts, for true godliness is ever a progressive state. Surely exercising himself unto godliness would be a task hard enough to satisfy the most ardent, the most enthusiastic soul! The “godliness,” or “piety,” here alluded to, as the end toward which Timothy was to direct all his efforts, was that practical piety which influences for good, which leavens with a holy leaven all classes of society, all life, of the slave as well as of the patrician.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Unto godliness for rather unto godliness, A.V The R.V,…
Unto godliness for rather unto godliness, A.V The R.V, by putting a full stop after "fables," disturbs the natural flow of the thought. The two imperatives paraitou and gumnaze connect and contrast the thoughts in the two clauses of the verse, as the A.V indicates by the insertion of "rather." Profane (bebhlouv; 1Ti_1:9, note) Old wives (grawdeiv); only here in the New Testament; not used in LXX; rare in classical Greek. Exercise thyself unto godliness (gumnaze seuton). The verb gumnazein occurs in the New Testament only in this place, twice in the Epistle to the Hebrews (v. 14; 12:11), and once in 2 Peter (it. 14). In the LXX it occurs only once, (RAPC 2Ma 10:15) but is common in classical Greek. The metaphor is drawn from training for gymnastic exercises. As regards the whole passage, it seems that there were current among the Jews at this time many "fables" (2Ti_4:4; Tit_1:14; 2Pe_1:16) childish legends and doctrines, some of them directed especially to enforcing certain rules about eating and drinking, and other "bodily exercises," which St. Paul utterly discountenances, and contrasts with that "good doctrine" which he directs Timothy continually to teach. This would account, naturally, for the introduction of the phrase, gumnaze seauton.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain And exercise thyself rather unto godliness.
1Ti_4:7
And exercise thyself rather unto godliness.
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The believer exercising himself unto godliness
I. The nature of the duty which the text recommends.
1. This duty includes a strict and impartial inquiry into our own hearts, as to what may be therein likely to prevent our advancement in godliness.
2. This duty requires an habitual attention to the duties of the closet.
3. This duty involves the exercise of much holy watchfulness and care in the ordinary pursuits of business, so that they may not be permitted to take away the heart.
4. This duty will call for occasional communion with our Christian friends.
5. This duty requires an earnest solicitude for the right improvement of our respective trials.
6. This duty demands of us a careful avoidance of such companions, conversation, and pursuits, as we have found in time past to be injurious to the advancement of personal piety.
II. The motives which should induce us to the performance of this duty.
1. We shall do well to remember that no great advancement will be made in godliness without this exercise.
2. Let us seriously consider that our progress in true godliness will make ample amends for whatever difficulties we may have to encounter in its attainment.
3. There is much reason to believe that this exercise unto godliness will never be sincerely made in vain.
4. It is of importance to consider that unless we exercise ourselves unto godliness, so far from making further advances in the Divine life, we shall go backward, not forward.
5. It is worthy of our serious regard, that so far as we feel an unwillingness to exercise ourselves unto godliness, we give affecting proof of the want of a principle of godliness in our hearts. (Essex Congregational Remembrancer.)
The law of spiritual growth
The man who is content to pass along with an aimless existence; or, only seeking daily supplies for daily needs, never looking hopefully into the future, and never seeking to excel; does injustice to his higher nature, and grovels on a plane but little elevated above the demands of animal existence. No aim can so call out all the powers of the human mind, and soul, as the aim after God-likeness. For what is godliness? Is it not God-likeness? a seeking to be like God? Yet the question at once arises, How can man be like God? God is infinite, man is finite. Yet with all this disparity, the Bible exhorts us to set the Lord always before us, and to grow up into His likeness. What may be termed the physical attributes of God, those which pertain to Him as Maker of all things, Ruler over suns and systems, the Upholder of the universe; these man can neither comprehend nor copy, they are beyond his reach. It is Gods moral qualities that we are to copy and emulate. All of Gods moral attributes are comprised in His holiness. For holiness is moral perfection. As applied to God, it means that wholeness and completeness of the Divine nature, from which nothing can be taken, to which nothing can be added. It includes, therefore, truth, love, mercy, goodness, and the like; because the absence of either would mar the wholeness and completeness of the Divine character. The presence of every virtue is needed to make complete the full circle of holiness, and they are all found in perfect fulness in God. The man, then, who sets before himself the aim to be God-like, places above him the grandest aim that a created mind can reach after. Godliness, then, as spoken of in the text, is only another name for holiness in action, i.e., practical piety. But you may say this holiness or godliness is not attainable. It is not to the full extent of the original which you are told to copy, because there are two elements in Gods holiness which can never exist in man so long as he tabernacles in the flesh--the complete absence of sin, and the presence in full perfection of every virtue. The result of this godliness will show itself in a variety of ways. It will give a man the victory over himself. The cultivation of this holiness will enable a man to overcome the world. This godliness, so grand in itself, and in its results, can be secured only by exercising ourselves to attain it. It does not come of itself, nor by retired meditation, nor by earnest prayer, nor by diligent reading of Gods Word. All these things are aids and adjuncts, but none of them, nor all combined, will give us godliness. It is the result of moral principles put into active exercise; and demands the full bent, and strenuous exertion of the mind. There is much meaning in the original word which the apostle here uses, and which is translated exercise. The literal rendering is--Be gymnasts in godliness. The idea, then, of the apostle is, that in order to attain unto godliness, we must be moral gymnasts, willing to use as severe discipline; to undergo as painful privations; to bear as torturing an exercise of flesh and blood; as the gymnast did, who trained himself to win the wreath of ivy at the Isthmian festival, or the garland of wild olives which crowned the conqueror at Olympia. And why should we not: The aims are infinitely higher, and the rewards are infinitely greater. The arena in which we are to perform this exercise is in the Church of God. Thus true religion is a very personal and practical thing. Personal; because it is thyself that is to do the exercise; it is an individual act, and no amount of exercise done by those around you in the same family, the same Church, can avail to your benefit. It is thyself that must be the moral gymnast in this spiritual conflict. And it is practical; because the things in which we are to exercise ourselves unto godliness are all around our daily life. And to this repressive work, which demands constant exercise, there is to be added an aggressive work; a watching of opportunities for good, a going out into the field of active Christian exertion. Moral powers, like the muscles of the body, are developed by exercise. The unused arm shrivels up; the unused hand loses its cunning; the unused brain loses its force. Our moral character is a thing of growth, and of slow growth; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. Character is principle put into practice and developed under trial. (Bishop Stevens.)
Exercise unto godliness
Religion is not a dead, inoperative thing; but vital, active, energetic, self-diffusive. There is an exercise unto health. This is necessary for students and persons of sedentary occupations, and the neglect of it has ruined many a fine constitution. But what is the health of the body to that of the soul? What is the discipline of the muscular system to that of the moral affections? There is an exercise unto gain. This is one of mans chief pursuits; and what efforts have we all witnessed, what strenuous and unresting toil, what sleepless vigilance and incessant study, to lay up treasures here below! But what are earthly goods to heavenly? There is an exercise unto pleasure. There is an exercise unto knowledge. This is nobler, but not the noblest. Wisdom is better than knowledge, and the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. There is an exercise unto glory. This was the all-controlling and all-absorbing pursuit of the great military nations of antiquity, and some of them made all virtue to consist in this single aim. There is an exercise unto patriotism. This is a worthy competition, by all admired and praised. How many of you who hear me have begun this exercise? Be not ashamed of it, nor weary in well-doing. It is a holy service, and fraught with perfect freedom. How many of you have hitherto neglected this exercise? Enter upon it at once. It must be done, or all is lost. (J. Cross, D. D.)
A heart exercised unto godliness necessary to make a good minister
I. I am to show what this heart exercise unto godliness is.
1. It pre-supposeth a man to be truly godly. That professor or minister that is not godly can never exercise himself to godliness. It is impossible to act without a principle of acting, and exercise doth naturally require a power of it. He can never exercise himself to running, that wants feet to run with; or to wrestling, who wants arms; nor the ungodly exercise themselves to godliness; on the contrary, an heart they have exercised with covetous practices.
2. Making religion our business. In this the apostle gave himself a pattern to us. Herein, says he, do I exercise myself to have always a conscience void of offence, toward God and toward men. Godliness should be our great work, how to advance it in ourselves and others. Now we will make religion our business, if we take it not only by fits and starts, but make it our daily work, as men exercise themselves in their callings.
3. It imports a vigorous following of it, as wrestlers and runners ply their work vigorously. To be a little more particular, I will touch at four things.
(1) We should exercise ourselves to the knowledge of these things pertaining to godliness, that we may be full of eyes, and by reason of use, have our senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
(2) We should be exercised in combating the lusts of our hearts, beginning the war against the devil at home. Like Paul, we should keep our bodies under, and bring them into subjection; lest that by any means, when we have preached to others, we ourselves should be castaways.
(3) We should be exercised to the performing of our duties, and that in a spiritual manner.
(4) We should be exercised in the life of faith, without which, in vain will we attempt the other parts of the exercise of godliness.
II. To show the necessity of the exercise of the heart unto godliness, to make a good minister.
1. It is necessary to make a man faithful in his work, and to cause him to take God for his party, with whom he hath to do.
2. It is necessary to give a man a sense of the weight of the work, and the worth of souls, without which he cannot be a good minister (2Co_5:9-10). It is a weighty work.
3. It is very necessary to fit a man to suffer for truth.
4. It is most necessary to fit us for the performance of the several duties of our calling, whether in preaching, administering the sacraments, visiting families, or the sick. (T. Boston, D. D.)
A heart exercised unto godliness necessary to make a good Christian
The apostle gives us here a short, but substantial description of the Christian life. It is an exercise, it is not a name. Again, Christianity is not an easy exercise, but such as wrestlers or runners used, exerting all their might and skill to gain the victory. The true Christian life is heart exercise to godliness. For illustrating this I shall--
I. Show some weighty truths imported in this.
1. Habitual godliness is absolutely necessary to salvation.
2. No person goes to heaven sleeping. The Christian life is an exercise.
3. They must have true courage that shall come to heaven. They have to wrestle also with the world. No man can go through it to heaven, but he will find it a place filled with snares, and that will require courage to face the difficulties in it.
4. People must either give up the name of Christians, or else abandon their old exercise to sin and ungodliness.
II. Show some things in which the exercise to godliness consists.
1. In carrying on a constant trade with heaven, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Again, the exercised soul is employed in exporting his weakness, poverty, and wants, and importing strength and fulness from God. They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.
2. In a spiritual performance of duties.
(1) In getting the soul fixed in that point, what is sin and what is duty in particular cases, before we put hand to it.
(2) In doing the duty because it is the will of God, which must be not only the rule but also the reason of your duties, otherwise they are but bodily exercise.
(3) In doing our duty to the glory of God.
(4) In doing our duties in the strength of Christ. (T. Boston, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain Chapter 13
Chapter 13
THE COMPARATIVE VALUE OF BODILY EXERCISE AND OF GODLINESS. - 1Ti_4:7-8.
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IT is almost impossible to decide what St. Paul here means by "bodily exercise." Not that either the phrase or the passage in which it occurs is either difficult or obscure. But the phrase may mean either of two things, both of which make excellent sense in themselves, and both of which fit the context.
At the beginning of this chapter the Apostle warns Timothy against apostates who shall "give heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats." St. Paul has in his mind those moral teachers who made bodily mortifications the road, not to self-discipline, but to self-effacement; and who taught that such things were necessary, not because our bodies are prone to evil, but because they exist at all. To have a body, they held, was a degradation: and such a possession was a curse, a burden, and a shame. Instead of believing, as every Christian must, that a human body is a very sacred thing, to be jealously guarded from all that may harm or pollute it, these philosophers held that it was worse than worthless, fit for nothing but to be trampled upon and abused. That it may be sanctified here and be glorified hereafter, that it may be the temple of Gods Holy Spirit now and be admitted to share the blessedness of Christs ascended humanity in the world to come, - they could not and would not believe. It must be made to feel its own vileness. It must be checked, and thwarted, and tormented into subjection, until the blessed time should come when death should release the unhappy soul that was linked to it from its loathsome and intolerable companion.
It cannot, of course, for a moment be supposed that St. Paul would admit that "bodily exercise" of this suicidal kind was "profitable" even "for a little." On the contrary, as we have seen already, he condemns the whole system in the very strongest terms. It is a blasphemy against Gods goodness and a libel on human nature. But some persons have thought that the Apostle may be alluding to practices which, externally at any rate, had much resemblance to the practices which he so emphatically condemns. He may have in his mind those fasts, and vigils, and other forms of bodily mortification, which within prudent limits and when sanctified by humility and prayer, are a useful, if not a necessary discipline for most of us. And it has been thought that Timothy himself may have been going to unwise lengths in such ascetic practices: for in this very letter we find his affectionate master charging him, "Be no longer a drinker of water, but use a little wine for thy stomachs sake and thine often infirmities."
This, then, is one possible meaning of the Apostles words in the passage before us. Discipline of the body by means of a severe rule of life is profitable for something: but it is not everything. It is not even the chief thing, or anything approaching to the chief thing. The chief thing is godliness. To the value of bodily exercise of this kind there are limits, and rather narrow limits: it "is profitable for a little." To the value of godliness there are no limits: it is "profitable for all things." Mortifications of the body may preserve us from sins of the flesh: but they are no certain protection even against these. They are no protection at all-sometimes they are the very reverse of protection-against sins of self-complacency and spiritual pride. Asceticism may exist without godliness; and godliness may exist without asceticism. Bodily mortifications may be useful; but they may also be harmful to both soul and body. Godliness must always be useful to both; can never be harmful to either.
But it is quite possible to understand the expression "bodily-exercise," in the sense in which the phrase is most commonly used in ordinary conversation among ourselves. In the text which we are considering it may mean that exercise of the body which we are accustomed to take, some of us of necessity, because the work by which we earn our daily bread involves a great deal of physical exertion; some of us for healths sake, because our work involves a great deal of sitting still; some of us for pleasure, because bodily exercise of various kinds is delightful to us. This interpretation of the Apostles statement, like the other interpretation, makes good sense of itself, and fits the context. And whereas that was in harmony with the opening words of the chapter, this fits the immediate context.
St. Paul has just said "Exercise thyself unto godliness." In using the expression "Exercise thyself" (γυμναζε σεαυτον) he was of course borrowing, as he so constantly does borrow, from the language which was used respecting gymnastic contests in the public games. The Christian is an athlete, who must train himself and exercise himself for a lifelong contest. He has to wrestle and fight with the powers of evil, that he may win a crown of glory that fadeth not away. How natural, then, that the Apostle, having just spoken of spiritual exercise for the attainment of godliness, should go on to glance at bodily exercise, in order to point out the superiority of the one over the other. The figurative would easily suggest the literal sense; and it is therefore quite lawful to take the words "bodily exercise" in their most literal sense. Perhaps we may go further and say, that this is just one of those cases in which, because the literal meaning makes excellent sense, the literal meaning is to be preferred. Let us then take St. Pauls words quite literally and see what meaning they will yield.
"Bodily exercise is profitable for a little." It is by no means a useless thing. In its proper place it has a real value. Taken in moderation it tends to preserve health and increase strength. It may sometimes be the means of gaining for ourselves and for the circle to which we belong praise and distinction. It makes us more capable of aiding ourselves and others in times of physical danger. It may even be the means of enabling us to save life. By taking us out of ourselves and turning our thoughts into new channels, it is an instrument of mental refreshment, and enables us to return to the main business of our lives with increased intellectual vigor. And beyond all this, if kept within bounds, it has a real moral value. It sometimes keeps us out of mischief by giving us innocent instead of harmful recreation. And bodily training and practice, if loyally carried out, involve moral gains of another kind. Dangerous appetites have to be kept in check, personal wishes have to be sacrificed, good temper has to be cultivated, if success is to be secured for ourselves or the side to which we belong. All this is "profitable" in a very real degree. But the limits to all these good results are evident; and they are somewhat narrow. They are confined to this life, and for the most part to the lower side of it; and they are by no means certain. Only indirectly does bodily exercise yield help to the intellectual and spiritual parts of our nature; and as regards both of them it may easily do more harm than good. Like excessive meat and drink, it may brutalize instead of invigorating. Have we not all of us seen men whose extravagant devotion to bodily exercise has extinguished almost all intellectual interests, and apparently all spiritual interests also?
But there are no such drawbacks to the exercise of godliness. "Godliness is profitable for all things, having promise" not only "of the life which now is, but of that which is to come." Its value is not confined to the things of this world, although it enriches and glorifies them all. And, unlike bodily exercise, its good results are certain. There is no possibility of excess. We may be unwise in our pursuit of godliness, as in our pursuit of bodily strength and activity; but we cannot have too much exercise in godliness, as we easily can in athletics. Indeed, we cannot with any safety lay aside the one, as we not only can, but must, frequently lay aside the other. And we need to bear this simple truth in mind. Most of us are willing to admit that godliness is an excellent thing for attaining to a peaceful death; but we show little evidence that we are convinced of its being necessary for spending a happy life. We look upon it as a very suitable thing for the weak, the poor, the sickly, the sorrowful, and perhaps also for sentimental persons who have plenty of leisure time at their disposal. We fail to see that there is much need for it, or indeed much room for it, in the lives of busy, capable, energetic, and practical men of the world. In other words, we are not at all convinced of the truth of the Apostles words, that "Godliness is profitable for all things," and we do not act as if they had very much interest for us. They express a truth which is only too likely to be crowded out of sight and out of mind in this bustling age. Let us be as practical as our dispositions lead us and our surroundings require us to be; but let us not forget that godliness is really the most practical of all things. It lays hold on a mans whole nature. It purifies his body, it illumines and sanctifies his intellect; it braces his will. It penetrates into every department of life, whether business or amusement, social intercourse or private meditation. Ask the physicians, ask employers of labor, ask teachers in schools and universities, ask statesmen and philosophers, what their experience teaches them respecting the average merits of the virtuous and the vicious. They will tell you that the godly person has the healthiest body, is the most faithful servant, the most painstaking student, the best citizen, the happiest man. A man who is formed, reformed, and informed by religion will do far more effectual work in the world than the same man without religion. He works with less friction, because his care is cast upon his heavenly Father; and with more confidence, because his trust is placed on One much more sure than himself. Moreover, in the long run he is trusted and respected. Even those who not only abjure religion in themselves, but ridicule it in others, cannot get rid of their own experience. They find that the godly man can be depended upon, where the merely clever man cannot; and they act in accordance with this experience. Nor does the profitableness of godliness end with the possession of blessings so inestimable as these. It holds out rich promises respecting future happiness, and it gives an earnest and guarantee for it. It gives a man the blessing of a good conscience, which is one of our chief foretastes of the blessedness which awaits us in the world to come.
Let us once for all get rid of the common, but false notion that there is anything unpractical, anything weak or unmanly, in the life of holiness to which Christ has called us, and of which He has given us an example: and by the lives which we lead let us prove to others that this vulgar notion is a false one. Nothing has done more harm to the cause of Christianity than the misconceptions which the world has formed as to what Christianity is and what it involves. And these misconceptions are largely caused by the unworthy lives which professing Christians lead. And this unworthiness is of two kinds. There is first the utter worldliness, and often the downright wickedness, of many who are not only baptized Christians, but who habitually keep up some of the external marks of an ordinary Christian life, such as going to church, having family prayers, attending religious meetings, and the like. And perhaps the worst form of this is that in which religion is made a trade, and an appearance of godliness is assumed in order to make money out of a reputation for sanctity. Secondly, there is the seriously mistaken way in which many earnest persons set to work in order to attain to true godliness. By their own course of life they lead people to suppose that a religious life, the life of an earnest Christian, is a dismal thing and an unpractical thing. They wear a depressed and joyless look; they not only abstain from, but leave it to be supposed that they condemn, many things which give zest and brightness to life, and which the Gospel does not condemn. In their eagerness to show their conviction as to the transcendent importance of spiritual matters, they exhibit a carelessness and slovenliness in reference to the affairs of this life, which is exceedingly trying to all those who have to work with them. Thus they stand forward before the world as conspicuous evidence that godliness is not "profitable for all things." The world is only too ready to take note of evidence which points to a conclusion so in harmony with its own predilections. It is, and has been from the beginning, prejudiced against religion; and its adherents are quick to seize upon, and make the most of, anything which appears to justify these prejudices. "In a world such as this," they say, "so full of care and suffering, we cannot afford to part with anything which gives brightness and refreshment to life. A religion which tells us to abjure all these things, and live perpetually as if we were at the point of death or face to face with the Day of Judgment, may be all very well for monks and nuns, but is no religion for the mass of mankind. Moreover, this is a busy age. Most of us have much to do; and, if we are to live at all, what we have to do must be done quickly and thoroughly. That means that we must give our minds to it; and a religion which tells us that we must not give our minds to our business, but to other things which it says are of far greater importance, is no religion for people who have to make their way in the world and keep themselves and their children from penury. We flatly refuse to accept a gospel which is so manifestly out of harmony with the conditions of average human life."
This charge against Christianity is a very old one: we find it taken up and answered in some of the earliest defenses of the gospel which have come down to us. The unhappy thing is, not that such charges should be made, but that the lives of Christian men and women should prove that there is at least a prima facie case for bringing such accusations. The early Christians had to confront the charge that they were joyless, useless members of society and unpatriotic citizens. They maintained that, on the contrary, they were the happiest and most contented of men, devoted to the well-being of others, and ready to die for their country. They kept aloof from. many things in which the heathen indulged, not because they were pleasures, but because they were sinful. And there were certain services which they could not, without grievous sin, render to the State. In all lawful matters no men were more ready than they were to be loyal and law-abiding citizens. In this, as in any other matter of moral conduct, they were quite willing to be compared with their accusers or any other class of men. On which side were to be found those who were bright and peaceful in their lives, who cherished their kindred, who took care of the stranger, who succored their enemies, who shrank not from death?
A practical appeal of this kind is found to be in the long run far more telling than exposition and argument. It may be impossible to get men to listen to, or take interest in, statements as to the principles and requirements of the Christian religion. You may fail to convince them that its precepts and demands are neither superstitious nor unreasonable. But you can always show them what a life of godliness really is; that it is full of joyousness, and that its joys are neither fitful nor uncertain; that it is no foe to what is bright and beautiful, and is neither morose in itself nor apt to frown at lightheartedness in others; that it does not interfere with the most strenuous attention to business and the most capable dispatch of it. Men refuse to listen to or to be moved by words; but they cannot help noticing and being influenced by facts which are all round them in their daily lives. So far as man can judge, the number of vicious, mean, and unworthy lives is far in excess of those which are pure and lofty. Each one of us can do something towards throwing the balance the other way. We can prove to all the world that godliness is not an unreality, and does not make those who strive after it unreal; that it is hostile neither to joyousness nor to capable activity; that, on the contrary, it enhances the brightness of all that is really beautiful in life, while it raises to a higher power all natural gifts and abilities; that the Apostle was saying no more than the simple truth when he declared that it is "profitable for all things."
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 7. Refuse profane and old wives' fables. The foolish…
7. Refuse profane and old wives' fables. The foolish myths and legends of the heathen, and also the marvelous additions which Jewish rabbis had made to the Old Testament. Reject all these. Exercise thyself rather unto godliness. Train thyself to a godly life, as a gymnast trains himself to bodily exercise.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain 7. “Common and foolish fables reject.” “Profane,” in E.V.,…
ARGUMENT 11
GODLINESS IS EVERYTHING
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7. “Common and foolish fables reject.” “Profane,” in E.V., here is utterly misleading, as there is no such an idea in the Greek. This phrase is so frequently used by Paul to these young preachers as to become proverbial. What does it mean? The word, translated profane in E.V., means common, rustic, uncouth, uncultured. “Old wives” (E.V.) is graodeis, from graus — an old woman. Among heathen the women are not educated. Hence, they are very ignorant and superstitious. When old and in the imbecilities of second childhood, they become very silly and foolish. These ignorant, silly people, in all countries, believe all of the foolish stories they hear, and become dupes of superstition. So, what are these “common and foolish fables?” They are all of the silly notions, sayings, and superstitions of an ignorant people; i.e., they are everything in religion except the truth of God revealed in the Bible and experienced in the heart. So they take in all humanisms of every kind; everything on the line of uninspired authority— your creeds, whether written or oral, everything that is not authenticated in the Word of God. “Exercise yourself unto godliness.” Go for holiness within and without with all your might.
8. “For bodily exercise is profitable unto little.” You receive some benefit from physical labor, and it is all right in its place. “But godliness is profitable unto all things, having the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.” Labor with your hands, and God will reward you with a living in this life. Go for godliness; i.e., for holiness with all your might, looking a million of miles above everything that glitters and jingles, and God will give you a living and all you need in this life, and a crown of glory unfading in a world of everlasting bliss. Hence, let godliness be everything, and God will attend to everything in this world and that which is to come. Poor Brother B—, living in an Ethiopian tenement, wanted sanctification in my meeting, but thought he could not keep it, because he had to drive Dr. S—‘s mules for his daily bread, which were so contrary he thought no one could keep sanctified and drive them. I told him sanctification was the very thing needed to drive the mules. So he went for it, entering Beulah-land with tremendous shouts of victory; drives the mules all day, and comes to the night happier than a lark, and says: “O Brother Godbey, I do believe the mules have got it too. This is the happiest day of my life. I have been shouting on the wagon all day.” I saw him no more for six years. I found him proprietor of a rich farm, living in a mansion, going to meeting day and night, and entertaining the Lord’s people. How did it come to pass? The Lord took his sanctified wife to heaven, leaving him with three little children, and not worth a dollar. His bright face and jubilant look won a rich old maid, who gladly took his hand in wedlock, and was delighted with his beautiful little children. When I saw them last, she too was sanctified, and O how grateful to God for her good husband and sweet children! While I lived for this life, failure and bankruptcy hounded my track. When I gave it up altogether, and lived only for God, he wonderfully supplied all of my temporal needs, and has been astonishing me ever since, not only by the magnitude of his grace for my soul, but the munificence of his providence for my body. The man who lives for heaven, gets this world and heaven too. The man who lives for this world, as a rule misses both, and gets hell on earth and in eternity.
10. “—We have hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, really of those that believe.” God is, in fact, the Savior of all men; but only believers receive him as their Savior, while all others defeat him in his saving capacity. The blackest ghost of hell torment is the horrific remembrance: “I had an Omnipotent Savior, who came all the way from heaven to suffer and die to save me; yet I broke his heart by contemptuously rejecting his salvation. So I die as the fool dieth.” This dismal ghost will never down, but haunt you through all the flight of eternal ages.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain 1 Timothy
1 Timothy
SPIRITUAL ATHLETICS
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1Ti 4:7.
Timothy seems to have been not a very strong character: sensitive, easily discouraged, and perhaps with a constitutional tendency to indolence. At all events, it is very touching to notice how the old Apostle--a prisoner, soon to be a martyr--forgot all about his own anxieties and burdens, and, through both of his letters to his young helper, gives himself to the task of bracing him up. Thus he says to him, in my text, amongst other trumpet-tongued exhortations, ‘Exercise thyself unto godliness.’
If I were preaching to ministers, I should have a good deal to say about the necessity of this precept for them, and to remind them that it was first spoken, not to a private member of the Church, as an injunction for the Christian life in general, but as having a special bearing on the temptations and necessities of those who stand in official positions in the Church. For there is nothing that is more likely to sap a man’s devotion, and to eat out the earnestness and sincerity of a Christian life, than that he should be--as I, for instance, and every man in my position has to be--constantly occupied with presenting God’s Word to other people. We are apt to look upon it as, in some sense, our stock-in-trade, and to forget to apply it to ourselves. So it was with a very special bearing on the particular occupation and temptation of his correspondent that Paul said ‘Exercise thyself unto godliness’ before you begin to talk to other people.
But that would not be appropriate to my present audience. And I take this injunction as one of universal application.
I. Notice, then, here expressed the ever-present and universal aim of the Christian life.
Paul does not say ‘be godly’; but ‘exercise thyself unto’--with a view towards--’godliness.’ In other words, to him godliness is the great aim which every Christian man should set before him as the one supreme purpose of his life.
Now I am not going to spend any time on mere verbal criticism, but I must point to the somewhat unusual word which the Apostle here employs for ‘godliness.’ It is all but exclusively confined to these last letters of the Apostle. It was evidently a word that had unfolded the depth and fulness and comprehensiveness of its meaning to him in the last stage of his religious experience. For it is only once employed in the Acts of the Apostles, and some two or three times in the doubtful second Epistle of St. Peter. And all the other instances of its use lie in these three letters--the one to Titus and two to Timothy; and eight of them are in this first one. The old Apostle keeps perpetually recurring to this one idea of ‘godliness.’ What does he mean by it? The etymological meaning of the word is ‘well-directed reverence,’ but it is to be noticed that the context specifically points to one form of well-directed reverence, viz. as shown in conduct. ‘Active godliness’ is the meaning of the word; religion embodied in deeds, emotions, and sentiments, and creeds, put into fact.
This noble and pregnant word teaches us, first of all, that all true religion finds its ultimate sphere and best manifestation in the conduct of daily life. That sounds like a platitude. I wish it were. If we believed that, and worked it out, we should be very different people from what the most of us are; and our chapels would be very different places, and the professing Church would have a new breath of life over it. Religion must have its foundation laid deep in the truths revealed by God for our acceptance. And does God tell us anything simply that we may believe it, and there an end? What is the purpose of all the principles and facts which make up the body of the Christian revelation? To enlighten us? Yes! To enlighten us only? A hundred times no! The destination of a principle, of a truth, is to pass out from the understanding into the whole nature of man.
And if, as I said, the foundation of religion is laid in truths, principles, facts, the second story of the building is certain emotions, sentiments, feelings, desires, and affections, and ‘experiences’--as people call them--which follow from the acceptance of these truths and principles. And is that all? A thousand times no! What do we get the emotions for? What does God give you a Revelation of Himself for, that kindles your love if you believe it? That you may love? Yes! Only that you may love? Certainly not. And so the top story is conduct, based upon the beliefs, and inspired by the emotions.
In former centuries, the period between the Reformation and our fathers’ time, the tendency of the Protestant Church was very largely to let the conception of religion as a body of truths overshadow everything else. And nowadays, amongst a great many people, the temptation is to take the second story for the main one, and to think that if a man loves, and has the glow at his heart of the conscious reception of God’s love, and has longings and yearnings, and Christian hopes and desires, and passes into the sweetnesses of communion with God, in his solitary moments, and plunges deep into the truths of God’s Word, that is godliness. But the true exhortation to us is--Do not stop with putting in the foundations of a correct creed, nor at the second stage of an emotional religion. Both are needful. Number one and number two are infinitely precious, but both exist for number three. And true religion has its sphere in conduct. ‘Exercise thyself unto godliness.’ That does not mean only --for it does include that--cultivate devout emotions, or realise the facts and the principles of the Gospel, but it means, take these along with you into your daily life, and work them out there. Bring all the facts and truths of your creed, and all the sweet and select, the secret and sacred, emotions which you have felt, to bear upon your daily life. The soil in which the tree grows, and the roots of the tree, its stem and its blossoms, are all means to the end--fruit. What is the use of the clearest conceptions, and of the most tender, delicate, holy emotions, if they do not drive the wheels of action? God does not give us the Gospel to make us wise, nor even to make us blessed, but He gives it to us to make us good men and women, working His work in our daily tasks. All true religion has its sphere in conduct.
But then there is another side to that. All true conduct must have its root in religion, and I, for my part--though of course it is extremely ‘narrow’ and ‘antiquated’ to profess it--I, for my part, do not believe that in the long-run, and in general, you will get noble living apart from the emotions and sentiments which the truths of Christianity, accepted and fed upon, are sure to produce. And so this day, with its very general depreciation of the importance of accurate conceptions of revealed truth, and its exaltation of conduct, is on the verge of a very serious error. Godliness, well-directed reverence, is the parent of all noble living, and the one infallible way to produce a noble life is faith in Christ, and love which flows from the faith.
If all that is so, if godliness is, not singing psalms, not praying, not saying ‘How sweet it is to feel the love of God,’ still less saying ‘I accept the principles of Christianity as they are laid down in the Bible’; but carrying out beliefs and emotions in deeds, then the true aim which we should have continually before us as Christians is plain enough. We may not reach it completely, but we can approximate indefinitely towards it. Aim is more important than achievement. Direction is more vital in determining the character of a life than progress actually made. Note the form of the exhortation, ‘exercise thyself towards godliness,’ which involves the same thought as is expressed in Paul’s other utterance of irrepressible aspiration and effort, ‘Not as if I had already attained, either were already perfect, but I follow after,’ or as he had just said, ‘press towards the mark,’ in continual approximation to the ideal. A complete penetration of all our actions by the principles and emotions of the Gospel is what is set before us here.
And that is the only aim that corresponds to what and where I am and to what I need. I fall back upon the grandly simple old words, very dear to some of us, perhaps, by boyish associations, ‘Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and {so} to enjoy Him for ever.’ ‘Unto Godliness’ is to be the aim of every true life, and it is the only aim which corresponds to our circumstances and our relations, our powers and possibilities.
II. Notice the discipline which such an aim demands.
‘Exercise thyself.’ Now, I have no doubt that the bulk of my hearers know that the word here rendered ‘exercise’ is drawn from the athlete’s training-ground, and is, in fact, akin to the word which is transported into English under the form ‘gymnasium.’ The Apostle’s notion is that, just as the athlete, racer, or boxer goes through a course of training, so there is a training as severe, necessary for the godliness which Paul regards as the one true aim of life.
You Christian people ought to train your spirits at least as carefully as the athlete does his muscles. There are plenty of people, calling themselves Christians, who never give one-hundredth part as much systematic and diligent pains to fulfil the ideal of their Christian life as men will take to learn to ride a bicycle or to pull the stroke oar in a college boat. The self-denial and persistence and concentration which are freely spent upon excellence in athletic pursuits might well put to shame the way in which Christians go about the task of ‘doing’ their religion.
I suppose there never was a time, in England’s history at any rate, whatever it may have been in Greece, when modern instances might give more point to an old saw than to-day does for this text, when athletic sports of all kinds are taking up so much of the time and the energy of our young men. I do not want to throw cold water on that, but I do say it is a miserable thing to think that so many professing Christians will give a great deal more pains to learn to play lawn tennis than ever they did to learn to be good, Christian people.
‘Exercise thyself unto godliness.’ Make a business of living your Christianity. Be in earnest about it. A tragically large number of professing Christians never were in earnest about mending themselves. And that is why they are so far, far behind. ‘Exercise thyself.’ You say, How?
‘Well, I say, first of all, concentration. ‘This one thing I do.’ That does not mean narrowing, because this ‘one thing’ can be done by means of all the legitimate things that we have to do in the world. Next Friday, when you go on ‘Change, you can be exercising yourself to godliness there. Whatever may be the form of our daily occupation, it is the gymnasium where God has put us to exercise our muscles in, and so to gain ‘the wrestling thews that throw the world.’ ‘Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.’ The concentration for which I plead does not shut us out from any place but the devil’s wrestling-ground. All that is legitimate, all that is innocent, may be made a means for manifesting and for increasing our godliness. Only you have to take God with you into your life, and to try, more and more consciously, to make Him the motive-power of all that you do. Then the old saying which is profoundly true as it was originally meant, and has of late years been so misused as to become profoundly false, will be true again, ‘ Laborare est orare .’ Yes! it is; if worship underlies the work, but not else.
Again I say, exercise yourselves by abstinence. How many things did the athlete at Corinth do without in his training? How many things do prizefighters and rowing men do without when in training to-day? How rigidly, for a while at any rate, they abstain--whether they recompense themselves afterwards or not has nothing to do with my present purpose. And is it not a shame that some sensual man shall, for the sake of winning a medal or a cup, be able gladly to abandon the delights of sense--eating, drinking, and the like--and content himself with a hermit’s Spartan fare, and that Christian people so seldom, and so reluctantly, and so partially turn away from the poisoned cups and the indigestible dainties which the world provides for them? I think that any Christian man who complains of the things which he is shut out from doing if he is to cultivate the godliness which should be his life need only go to any place where horse-jockeys congregate to get a lesson that he may well lay to heart. ‘Exercise thyself,’ for it is unto godliness.
And then what I said in a former part of this sermon about the various stages of religion may suggest another view of the method of discipline proper to the Christian life. The strenuous exercise of all our powers is called for. But if it is true that the godliness of my text is the last outcome of the emotions which spring from the reception of certain truths, then if we work backwards, as it were, we shall get the best way of producing the godliness. That is to say, the main effort for all men who are in earnest in regard to their own growth in Christlikeness is to keep themselves in touch with the truths of the Gospel, and in the exercise of the sentiments and emotions which flow from these. Or, to put it into other words, the ‘gymnastic’ is to be, mainly, the man’s clinging, with all his might of mind and heart, to Christ, and the truths that are wrapped up in Him; and the cultivation of the habit of continual faith and love turned to that Lord. If I see to number one--the creed, and to number two--the emotions, they will see to number three--the conduct. Keep the truths of the Gospel well in your minds, and keep yourselves well in the attitude of contact with Jesus Christ, and power for life will come into you. But if the fountain is choked, the bed of the stream will be dry. They tell us that away up in Abyssinia there form across the bed of one of the branches of the Nile great fields of weed. And as long as they continue unbroken the lower river is shrunken. But when the stream at the back of them bursts its way through them, then come the inundations down in Egypt, and bring fertility. And there are hundreds of professing Christians whose fields lie barren and baked in the sunshine, because they have stopped with weeds, far away up amongst the hills, the stream that would water them. Clear out the weeds, and the water will do the rest.
And ‘exercise thyself unto godliness’ by keeping the crown and the prize often and clear in view. ‘Paul the aged’ in this very letter says: ‘I have finished my course, henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of glory.’ He had said, in the midst of the strife: ‘Not as though I had already attained--I press toward the mark for the prize.’ And the prize which gleamed before him through all the dust of the arena now shone still more brightly when his hand had all but clasped it. If we desire to ‘run with perseverance the race that is set before us’ we must keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, and see in Him, not only the Rewarder, but the Reward, of the ‘exercise unto godliness.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.