<p>4:16- see on Dt. 4:1,9; Acts 20:28.</p><p><i>Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching</i>- To see ourselves from outside of ourselves is difficult, but the Bible often asks us to do it. This kind of self knowledge is a large part of our growth in Christ.</p><p><i>Persist in this</i>- The sense of keeping on keeping on, of abiding and enduring, are common in Paul's words to Timothy see on :15 <i>Be diligent</i>. It would appear that Timothy easily gave up and was too quickly swamped by the immediate, just like ourselves.</p><p><i>For by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers</i>-&nbsp; This continues the theme discussed in :6 <i>Nourished. </i>Efforts to save others result in our salvation. It could be argued that the Lord's perfection and His own salvation out of death was a function of His devotion to our salvation. We see here the huge importance attached to teaching; it is connected with the salvation of the hearers. The salvation of some is dependent to some degree upon third parties. Illiterate people will simply not hear God's word unless it is read to them; and many who are literate come to that word so burdened with limitations and issues that unless somebody explains it to them, they like the Ethiopian eunuch will simply never understand.</p>