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| 1 Timothy 4:5 |
For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
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Note:
before doing a study on any
single verse, read all the verses from the beginning
of the chapter to this point and maybe a verse or
two beyond. Do this so you have the verse in context
before you begin. click here |
Let us begin in the Barclays Commentary.
The answer to those who lived in this way was that,
by doing things like that, they were insulting God –
for he is the creator of the world, and repeatedly
his creation is said to be good. ‘God saw everything
that he had made, and indeed it was very good’
(Genesis 1:31). ‘Every moving thing that lives shall
be food for you’ (Genesis 9:3). ‘God created
humankind in his image . . . male and female he
created them. God blessed them, and God said to
them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth”
’ (Genesis 1:27–8).
But all God’s gifts have to be used in a certain
way.
(1) They have to be used in the memory that they are
gifts of God. There are things which come to us so
unfailingly that we begin to forget that they are
gifts and begin to take them as rights. We are to
remember that all that we have is a gift from God
and that there is not a living thing which could
have life without him.
(2) They have to be used in sharing. All selfish use
is forbidden. No one can monopolize God’s gifts;
everyone must share them.
(3) They are to be used with gratitude. Grace is
always to be said before a meal. The Jews always
said grace. They had a grace for different things.
When they ate fruit, they said: ‘Blessed art thou,
King of the Universe, who createst the fruit of the
tree.’ When they drank wine, they said: ‘Blessed art
thou, King of the Universe, who createst the fruit
of the vine.’ When they ate vegetables, they said:
‘Blessed art thou, King of the Universe, who
createst the fruit of the earth.’ When they ate
bread, they said: ‘Blessed art thou, King of the
Universe, who bringest forth bread from the ground.’
The very fact that we thank God for it makes a thing
sacred. Not even the demons can touch it when it has
been touched by the Spirit of God.
True Christians do not serve God by enslaving
themselves with rules and regulations and insulting
his creation; they serve him by gratefully accepting
his good gifts and remembering that this is a world
where God made all things well, and by never
forgetting to share God’s gifts with others.
~Barclay's Commentary
In our last lesson, we established the fact these
verses are not talking about clean and unclean meats
and surely not about doing away with the admonition
not to eat things unclean. We went through a
lot of commentary showing exactly what verse 4 is
saying to us. I want to begin this lesson by
repeating the conclusion I gave for verse 4:
Let me boil all this commentary on thankfulness down
and put it into my words. When it comes to
Thankfulness, I believe we are missing both the
broader perspective and the many opportunities for
not just being thankful but putting God in
everything. The scriptures we just
read say:
"give thanks always for all things."
"in everything by prayer and supplication."
"and do all to the glory of the Lord."
This means everything. Everything we do, think
and plan. Every action, every event and every
situation, whether they be good, bad or mundane.
If I can be so bold, we have but three types of
actions in our lives:
1] Actions based on good decisions and laws [physical
and spiritual].
2] Actions based on bad decisions and the breaking
of laws [physical and
spiritual].
3] All the mundane [commonplace]
life actions--eating, sleeping, daily chores,
personal hygiene and constant body eliminations [going
to the restroom].
God wants and demands that we have Him in the
forefront of all three types. When we follow a
law or command of God and reap success, we must give
both thanks and glory to God. When we reap the
consequences of sin or a bad decision we have to
acknowledge God and give Him glory for having those
consequences in place. They lead me back to
Him and the path He has me walking. We also
cannot take the commonplace actions for granted.
Thank God we have something to eat, thank God for
sweet sleep and thank God for accomplishment in
daily chores. Acknowledge and give thanks and
glory to God that this body can be physically
cleaned and that He has a bodily function in place
to eliminate body wastes [thank God for the
toilet]!!
I suppose it is easy to thank God and
give Him glory when we are full of happiness,
contentment and enjoying pleasure and success but we
must have this same thankfulness, acknowledgement
and glory to God in our trials, tribulations,
negative consequences and hardships. He has
purpose in setting all of these up in His plan for
us and in His laws and ways.
Verse 4 says in essence, "For every thing of God is
good and nothing of His is to be condemned or
rejected if we understand it, receive it and
acknowledge Him in all these things and give Him
both thanks and glory for them."
Do all to the glory of God. Give Him the glory
in equal measures for both the success and the
hardship; for both the blessing and the trial and
for both the dynamic and the mundane situations of
our lives.
---end quote from the
lesson on Verse 4---
Now to the commentaries for Verse 5...
For it is sanctified by the
word of God - By the command of God; probably
referring to Genesis 1:29 : And God said, I have
given you every herb - and every tree - to you it
shall be for meat; and to Genesis 9:3 : Every moving
thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the
green herb have I given you all things; i.e. I have
given you every animal that is proper for food, as I
have given you every herb and fruit proper for
nourishment. Therefore, all this was sanctified, set
apart, and appropriated to this use by this command.
And when man is about to use it, he is to sanctify
or set it apart to that use by prayer to God,
1. That it may answer the end to us for which it was
designed;
2. That we may use it with gratitude and moderation;
3. That all the strength derived from it may be
devoted to God, in filling up the duties of those
situations in which his providence has placed us.
Those who thank not God for their food, and pray not
for his blessing in the use of it, are unworthy even
of a morsel of bread, and of the breath they
breathe. ~Adam Clarke
Quoted verses:
...these two verses
representing God sanctifying things for a purpose
and design
Genesis 1:29
And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb
bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the
earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of
a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
Genesis 9:3
Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for
you; even as the green herb have I given you all
things.
Now the John Gill...
For it is sanctified -
Or set apart for use, and may be lawfully used at
all times:
by the word of God -
which declares that there is nothing in itself
common, or unclean, or unfit for use, and that
nothing that goes into a man defiles him; so that by
virtue of this word of God, every creature may be
made use of, that is fit for food: or else this
designs the word of God, which gives a blessing to
what is eaten; for it is not by bread or meat only,
but through the word of God commanding a blessing on
what is eaten, that man lives, Matthew 4:4 and
therefore this blessing upon our food should be
asked for: wherefore it follows,
Quoted verse:
Matthew 4:4
But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall
not live by bread alone, but by every word that
proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Note: When the
commentary states, "that there is nothing in itself
common, or unclean, or unfit for use, it is not
speaking to just the use of man but the use of
Earth, Space, the environment, cycles of life, the
elements and all processes in the Universe. We are
talking about things God has made or set in place or
any situation He involves Himself in. Clearly man
makes things that are common, unclean and unfit for
use. He also, sometimes, abuses things of God that
make them temporarily unclean or unfit for use. This
surely is one of the huge gulfs between God and man.
He is in the process of putting an end to this.
and prayer - this being
used before eating for a blessing on the food, and
after it, in a way of thanksgiving for it,
sanctifies every creature of God, or gives men a
free use of any, or all of them. So the Israelites,
when they had eaten, and were full, were to bless
the Lord, Deuteronomy 8:10. And thus our Lord Jesus
Christ, at meals, used to take the food, and bless
it or ask a blessing on it, Matthew 14:19. And so
did the Essenes among the Jews (h), and the
Christians in Tertullian's (i) time; and the
practice is highly necessary and commendable, nor
ought it to be disused.
(h) Porphyr. de Abstinentia, l. 4. sect. 12. (i)
Apolog. c. 39. ~ John Gill
Quoted verses:
Deuteronomy 8:10
When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt
bless the LORD thy God for the good land which he
hath given thee.
Matthew 14:19
And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the
grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes,
and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and
gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples
to the multitude.
Again the commentaries are focusing on food, but we
can easily see from the context that we are speaking
to everything on the earth and to every situation
God involves Himself in. God never wastes motion.
Mankind, on the other hand is notorious for wasting
motion, breaking physical and spiritual laws and
going against design [ours
and His] all the time. We have to see
these verses we are discussing in this chapter on
the God plain. Can you imagine the life of a
firstfruit where we are not only understanding that
God does not waste anything and has purpose and
design for everything, but that we constantly move
to be like Him in not wasting motion, purpose or
design in all things physical, mental, emotional and
spiritual. Remember the 5-part
sermon here on being a Godly steward.
Now to the Barnes Notes
For it is sanctified by the
word of God - By the authority or permission
of God. It would be profane or unholy if he had
forbidden it; it is made holy or proper for our use
by his permission, and no command of “man” can make
it unholy or improper.
And prayer - If it is
partaken of with prayer. By prayer we are enabled to
receive it with gratitude, and everything that we
eat or drink may thus be made a means of grace.
~Barnes Notes
Note: Isn't this
a fascinating concept. Here we are on this Earth
dealing in the physical realm and the spiritual
realm. In both, we have a multitude of things
sanctified by God to be used in a certain, specific
and balanced way. This demands that we see life
through Godly eyes for we now see that we have to
apply the sanctification in virtually everything we
do and think. With this concept in mind, do we now
understand what Jesus is saying in Matthew 5:28.
Matthew 5:28
But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a
woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with
her already in his heart.
Do we see what is going on here now? When a man
looks at a woman who is not his wife with lust, he
is doing more than going against the Law of God, he
is going against purpose and design. He is going
against something sanctified. Notice:
1] God did not make the thinking mind of man to
lust.
2] God did not make the body and mind of man to
commit adultery; in this case, have sex with this
woman.
3] If the woman is not his wife, that woman is
sanctified [designed]
among other things, not to be his. God may have a
number of missions and purposes for this woman, not
the least of which is to be the wife of someone
else and to produce children God already knows about
from the foundation of the world.
4] A man can be attracted to a woman or even admire
a woman but if lust enters, it becomes an evil
counter to the purpose of that woman. It is counter
to her body, mind, heart, position and family.
5] If the woman in question is married, the lustful
man is going against the purpose of that marriage.
6] If the man in question is married, he is going
against his own marriage and countering, in an evil
way; in a destructive way, the purpose of his wife,
her body, mind, heart, position and family.
7] I could say the same things regarding the
children [if any]
in both families.
8] If the man is a firstfruit, he is going against
the purpose and design of his Godly Calling, his
initial repentance, his baptism and his entire
Salvation Process.
9] If the woman is a firstfruit, he is going against
the purpose and design of her Godly Calling, her
initial repentance, her baptism and her entire
Salvation Process.
10] By going against the sanctification of God, in
the case of one or both being firstfruits, he is
bringing damage to the church, which is the bride of
Christ.
11] Just by having the lustful thoughts of actually
seeing himself having sexual intercourse with this
woman, he is going against the entire sexual act and
the spiritual metaphor it is for both humans
involved.
12] Since the human body is the Temple of God [1
Corinthians 3:16 and 6:19], he is bringing lust into
his temple as he is contemplating invading and
desecrating her temple and his.
Quoted verses:
1 Corinthians 3:16
Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that
the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1 Corinthians 6:19
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of
the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of
God, and ye are not your own?
Let us take a look again at these first five verses.
1 Timothy 4:1-5
See
lessons for verses 1-5 here
1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the
latter times some shall depart from the faith,
giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of
devils;
2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their
conscience seared with a hot iron;
3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain
from meats, which God hath created to be received
with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the
truth.
4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing to
be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:
5 For it is sanctified by the word of God and
prayer.
Verse 1: In the latter times some will depart
the faith...the Salvation Process. Why? Because they
give heed to false doctrines.
Verse 2: How can the false teachers do this
and/or how can firstfruits leave the faith? Answer:
their conscience is seared.
Verse 3: Among the false doctrines are all
kinds of ideas that take man against the plan,
purpose, design and sanctification of God.
Verse 4: God has specific purpose for all the
things He made and for all the situations and events
He is involved with on this Earth and in this
Universe.
Verse 5: These things are sanctified by the
Word of God--The Mind of God and we, keyed into His
mind are constantly focusing on those purposes and
designs. We look for every opportunity to
acknowledge God in these things, praise God in these
things, use everything according to purpose and
design and thank God in these things as we go about
obeying God in the Salvation Process.
This is the lesson of Verse 5. |
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