Sullivan church of Christ – Sullivan, MO
Date: April 20, 2008
“THE SPIRIT SPEAKETH EXPRESSLY”
Ben Justice
The first nine verses of I Timothy 4 contain explicit and detailed warnings of apostasy.
Paul prefaced his warnings by saying in verse 1, “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly.” The
focus of this study will not be upon the apostasy that Paul warned about, but only upon
this phrase — “the Spirit speaketh expressly.” It is a tremendously important phrase that
deserves our very careful investigation. Note the following observations:
1.) Paul attributed his message of apostasy as coming from “the Spirit.” The Spirit spoke
this. The Greek word translated “Spirit” is pneuma. This word has many different
connotations and meanings in the NT and is employed at least 384 times in the NT. Most
of the time, the word refers to the Holy Spirit. However, there are several instances in
which man’s spirit is under consideration. Context must always determine how the word
is used, whether it refers to the Holy Spirit or man’s spirit. In I Tim. 4:1, the context
demands that the Holy Spirit is under consideration.
2.) Exactly how did the Spirit speak? During the first century, inspired men of God
received revelation from God. The Holy Spirit had revealed truth to the apostle Paul. That
revelation was written by Paul. It is important to keep in mind that revelation from the
Holy Spirit was given by God through the agency of the Holy Spirit; it was a God-originated
message. Before Jesus left this earthly order, he told his apostles in John 16:13, “Howbeit
when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of
himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to
come.” The emphasis in I Tim. 4:1 is revelation rather than inspiration. Revelation is the
act of the Holy Spirit making known to Bible writers truths they had not previously known.
Inspiration, on the other hand, is the act of the Holy Spirit guiding the Bible writers to
write down the revelation. Thus, the revelation was completely and totally error free. In
fact, this was verbal (word-for-word) inspiration (cf. I Cor. 2:12-13). Peter penned,
“Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. (21) For the
prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved
by the Holy Ghost” (2 Pet. 1:20-21). We see both revelation and inspiration emphasized.
“Holy men of God spake.” They spake God’s revelation, which is referred to as “prophecy.”
They did so “as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” This is inspiration. Paul penned to
the Ephesians, “How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in
few words,” (Eph. 3:3). Again, we see both revelation and inspiration. God’s revelation
was made known to Paul. He wrote that revelation by inspiration. “All scripture is inspired
of God” (2 Tim. 3:16). “All scripture” is God’s revelation. Bible writers penned God’s
revelation by means of inspiration.
I am rather amazed at the comments of some Bible expositors with regard to how Paul
received this revelation from the Spirit. It has been suggested that the Spirit spoke to
other prophets about this and these prophets in turn relayed it to Paul or that the other
apostles revealed these things to Paul or that he recalled OT teaching concerning the
theme of apostasy. I submit for your consideration that anything less that direct
communication from the Spirit to Paul is wrong. W.E. Vine very excellently declared,
That the apostle did not rely upon human testimony is clear from the first and second chapters of Galatians.
That he received communications direct from the Lord is evident from I Corinthians 11:23; 1 Thessalonians 4:
15 and other passages. We may gather, therefore, that what he was about to say he had received by direct
divine communication (W.E. Vine, “The Collected Writings of W.E. Vine — I Timothy,” Vol. 3, Pg. 175).
3.) Paul plainly said in I Tim. 4:1, the Spirit “speaketh.” It is clear that the Spirit spoke by
means of “words.” These words Paul penned down for Timothy (and us today) to read.
Although the Spirit worked directly upon Paul, he does so indirectly today through the
word. The Spirit speaks today — not directly, but indirectly.
To the seven churches, Jesus said to them all, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit saith unto the churches; . . .” (Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22). How would they hear
what the Spirit said? Obviously, through the words that had been penned by the apostle
John. They would hear what the Spirit said — not directly but indirectly. Today, we can
still hear what the Spirit says — not directly but indirectly. One brother penned these
words concerning the work of the Spirit today:
He does not influence people by hunches, by intimations, by feelings or by subjective impressions totally
lacking in objective validity. . . The Holy Spirit, as a divine person, operates intelligently in influencing human
persons (Robert R. Taylor, Jr., “Studies in First and Second Timothy, Titus, and Philemon,” Pg. 54).
Indeed, the Spirit of God does influence people intelligently through the Word. As
Paul plainly said, “The sword of the Spirit is the word of God” (Eph. 5:17).
4.) Paul stated in I Tim. 4:1 that the Spirit speaketh “expressly.” This word is translated
from the Greek word rhetos. I Tim. 4:1 is the only place in the NT in which this word
occurs. It functions as an adverb. Thus, it tells us how the Spirit speaks. He does so
“expressly.” But, what is the significance of this word? In its most basic sense, the word
means “something stated or said.” But, this is obviously not what Paul intended when he
used this word. We know that the Spirit stated something. Paul said, “The Spirit
speaketh.” Thayer says that the meaning is “in express words” (# 4490, Pg. 563). Strong
is more helpful by saying, “distinctly.” I believe the New American Standard Bible captures
the significance by translating the word as “explicitly.” The Holy Spirit was not using
symbols or figurative language. The revelation was given in a plain and explicit manner.
Contrast this with Rev. 1:1, wherein John stated that the revelation given to him of Jesus
Christ was “signified,” which means to be given in signs and symbols.
5.) What was it of which the Spirit spoke plainly? Paul tells us, “that in the latter times
some shall depart from the faith.” He goes on to describe in detail what all would be
involved in this departure from the faith. If there is anything we should never be unclear
about it is apostasy. Today, we need to speak clearly and plainly concerning departures
and compromises from the faith. Souls depend on it!