Survey of the Letters of Paul:  1 Timothy 4:11
                                                                                                                                                                           
 These things command and teach.

1 Timothy 4:11-16
11 These things command and teach.
12 Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
13 Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.
14 Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.
15 Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.
16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.

THE ONLY WAY TO SILENCE CRITICISM
1 Timothy 4:11–16

A paraphrase of the section of verse:
Make it your business to hand on and to teach these commandments. Do not give anyone a chance to despise you because you are young; but in your words and in your conduct, in love, in loyalty and in purity, show yourself an example of what believing people should be.  Until I come, devote your attention to the public reading of the Scriptures, to exhortation and to teaching. Do not neglect the special gift which was given to you, when the voices of the prophets picked you out for the charge which has been given to you, when the body of the elders laid their hands upon you. Think about these things; find your whole life in them, that your progress may be evident to all. Take heed to yourself and to your teaching; stick to them; for if you do, you will save yourself and those who hear you.

ONE of the difficulties Timothy had to overcome concerned his age. We are not to think of him as a mere youth. After all, it was fifteen years since he had first become Paul’s helper. The word used for youth (neote¯s) can in Greek describe anyone of military age, that is up to the age of forty. But the Church generally liked its office-bearers to be people of maturity. The Apostolic Canons laid it down that a man was not to become a bishop until he was over fifty, for by then ‘he will be past youthful disorders’. Timothy was young in comparison with Paul, and there would be many who would watch him with a critical eye. When the British politician the elder William Pitt was making a speech in the House of Commons at the age of thirty-three, he said: ‘The atrocious crime of being a young man . . . I will neither attempt to palliate (păl'ē-āt'--to make seem less serious) or deny.’ The Church has always regarded youth with a certain suspicion, and under that suspicion Timothy inevitably fell.

The advice given to Timothy is the hardest of all to follow, and yet it was the only possible advice. It was that he must silence criticism by conduct. Plato was once falsely accused of dishonorable conduct. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘we must live in such a way that all men will see that the charge is false.’ Verbal defenses may not silence criticism; conduct will. What then were to be the characteristics of Timothy’s conduct?

(1) First, there was to be love. Agape, the Greek word for the greatest of the Christian virtues, is largely untranslatable. Its real meaning is unconquerable benevolence. If we have agape, no matter what other people do to us or say about us, we will seek nothing but their good. We will never be bitter, never resentful, never vengeful; we will never allow ourselves to hate; we will never refuse to forgive. Clearly, this is the kind of love which requires the whole of our nature and strength of character to achieve. Ordinarily, love is something which we cannot help. Love of our nearest and dearest is an instinctive thing. The love between the sexes is an experience which comes naturally. Ordinarily, love comes from the heart; but clearly this Christian love comes from the will. It is that conquest of self whereby we develop an unconquerable caring for other people. So, the first authenticating (ô-thĕn'tĭ-kāt') mark of Christian leaders is that they care for others, no matter what others do to them. That is something which any Christian leader quick to take offence and prone to bear grudges should constantly bear in mind.

(2) Second, there was to be loyalty. Loyalty is an unconquerable faithfulness to Christ, no matter what it may cost. It is not difficult to be a good soldier when things are going well. But the really valuable soldier is the one who can fight well with a weary body and an empty stomach, when the situation seems hopeless and the campaign seems pointless and beyond understanding. The second authenticating mark of Christian leaders is a loyalty to Christ which defies circumstances.

(3) Third, there was to be purity. Purity is unconquerable allegiance to the standards of Christ. When Pliny was reporting back to Trajan about the Christians in Bithynia, where he was governor, he wrote: ‘They are accustomed to bind themselves by an oath to commit neither theft, nor robbery, nor adultery; never to break their word; never to deny a pledge that has been made when summoned to answer for it.’--end quote. The Christian pledge is to a life of purity. Christians ought to have a standard of honour and honesty, of self-control and chastity, of discipline and consideration, far above the standards of the world. The simple fact is that the world will never have any use for Christianity unless it can prove that it produces the best men and women. The third authenticating mark of Christian leaders is a life lived according to the standards of Jesus Christ. ~Barclay Commentary

Now to the commentaries...

These things command and teach - As important doctrines, and as embracing the sum of the Christian system. It follows from this, that a minister of the gospel is solemnly bound to teach that there is a sense in which God is the Saviour of all people. He is just as much bound to teach this, as he is that only those will be saved who believe. It is a glorious truth - and it is a thing for which a man should unceasingly give thanks to God that he may go and proclaim that He has provided salvation for all, and is willing that all should come and live. ~Barnes Notes

These things command and teach - Let it be the sum and substance of thy preaching, that true religion is profitable for both worlds; that vice destroys both body and soul; that Christ tasted death for every man; and that he saves to the uttermost all them that believe in his name. ~Adam Clarke

These things command and teach. - What are to be commanded, command, and what are to be taught, teach; command to refuse and reject all profane and fabulous [barely credible] doctrines, and exhort to the exercise of true godliness, and teach the profitableness of that, and declare the promises made unto it, and assert the truth and acceptableness of them; command, order, and encourage believers to labour and suffer reproach for the sake of Christ, and his Gospel, in hope of enjoying the said promises, and teach them to trust in the God of their lives, and the Saviour of all men; and whereas to this authoritative way of teaching, Timothy's youth might be objected by himself, and others. ~John Gill

These things command and teach. -
He concludes the chapter with an exhortation to Timothy,
To command and teach these things that he had now been teaching him. “Command them to exercise themselves unto godliness, teach them the profit of it, and that if they serve God they serve one who will be sure to bear them out.” ~Matthew Henry

These things command and teach - These truths, to the exclusion of those useless and even injurious teachings (1Timothy 4:1-8), while weighing well thyself, charge also upon others. ~Jamieson, Fausset, Brown

From the People's New Testament:

These things - Especially what has been embraced in 1Timothy 4:8-10.

1 Timothy 4:8-10
8 For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.
9 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation.
10 For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.

From the Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge and other cross reference works:

1 Timothy 6:1-2
1 Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed.
2 And they that have believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are brethren; but rather do them service, because they are faithful and beloved, partakers of the benefit. These things teach and exhort.

Notice the commentary on, "Count their own masters worthy of all honour."

Count their own masters worthy of all honour - Treat them with all proper respect. They were to manifest the right spirit themselves, whatever their masters did; they were not to do anything that would dishonor religion. The injunction here would seem to have particular reference to those whose masters were not Christians. In the following verse, the apostle gives particular instructions to those who had pious masters. The meaning here is, that the slave ought to show the Christian spirit toward his master who was not a Christian; he ought to conduct himself so that religion would not be dishonored; he ought not to give his master occasion to say that the only effect of the Christian religion on the mind of a servant was to make him restless, discontented, dissatisfied, and disobedient. In the humble and trying situation in which he confessedly was - under the yoke of bondage - he ought to evince patience, kindness, and respect for his master, and as long as the relation continued he was to be obedient. ~Barnes Notes

2 Timothy 4:1-2
1 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

Titus 2:15
These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.

Titus 3:8
This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.

1 Timothy 5:7 ...after a list of admonitions
And these things give in charge, that they may be blameless. ~Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge and other cross reference works

I want to finish up this study with a discussion on the phrase in this verse 11 "these things command." The word, "command" is Greek word 3853 and means to transmit a message, that is, to enjoin. The word, "enjoin" means, "To direct or impose with authority and emphasis." We are being commanded by God directly and through the ministry to:

1] Hold on to truth, true doctrine and the Word of God [all one and the same].
2] Reject and avoid all false doctrine and false teachers.

You see that the word, "enjoin" means, "impose with authority." This phrase means, according to my dictionary, "to establish or apply as compulsory." To "compel" means among other things to exert a strong, irresistible force on; sway." In the Work of God this means a couple of things:

1] the church will do all it can to keep false doctrine from the congregation.
2] the ministry will speak with power and by the authority of the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, such that, the congregation will feel compelled to comply. This feeling, of course, originates in the heart and mind of the firstfruit by God through the power of the Holy Spirit. God is moving the congregation to comply to His will and to purpose or sanctification of all things God has set in place. The ministry is one of the tools God uses to move and encourage the firstfruit to comply to these spiritual commands and admonitions.

This fact should ignite the Godly principles of fervency and diligence.  Paul is telling Timothy to teach these things to the congregation.  It follows that they must study and embrace that teaching.

Notice the commentary on one of the cross-referenced scriptures above.

Titus 2:15
These things speak and exhort -Sound doctrine, the doctrine of grace, the doctrines of salvation and redemption by Christ, of peace, pardon, and cleansing by his blood; these speak out clearly, plainly, publicly, boldly, and faithfully: and the things which become sound doctrine; the duties of religion suitable to every age and sex, a denying of ungodliness and worldly lusts, a sober, righteous, and godly life and conversation, exhort unto; and encourage the saints to be zealous of good works, and comfort them with the expectation of the blessed hope, and glorious appearance of Christ.

Note:  Interesting point to be doing all things in the hope and assured expectation of Christ appearing in the sky.  This is a foundational stone in our 10,000-year perspective on this life.  If we are to visualize ourselves already 10,000 years into the Kingdom, this is only possible if Christ has returned to Earth to set up that Kingdom.

And rebuke with all authority - such as imbibe errors and heresies, or indulge to vice and wickedness, with the authority both of Christ and his church, in the name of the one [Christ], and by the order and vote of the other [the church; ministry], that the reproof may come with the greater weight; and in a grave and solemn manner, suitable to the dignity of the ministerial office and character, and with that sharpness and severity the offence requires.

Let no man despise thee - as negligent in the discharge of his office, or as doing it in a pusillanimous (pyū'sə-lăn'ə-məs--cowardly) manner, or as behaving in his life and conversation unworthy of the character he bore, and so is a direction to himself; or else it may be considered as designed for the churches in Crete, and the professors of religion, and to be an instruction to them to value Titus, and treat him with respect, and not with contempt; which shows that this epistle was not written for Titus only, or for his own use, but for the service of others. The Ethiopic version reads, "let no man deceive thee". ~John Gill

One last thought on the verse of this lesson: "These things command and teach" and that is the fact that by virtue of your putting on Christ and being in possession of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, you are to compel yourself to obey and study the admonitions Paul is giving to Timothy.                                                                                                                                                                                          

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