Fight the good fight

Fight the Good Fight

11 But you, man of God, run from these things, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.

12 Fight the good fight for the faith;

take hold of eternal life

that you were called to

and have made a good confession about in the presence of many witnesses.

13 In the presence of God, who gives life to all, and of Christ Jesus, who gave a good confession before Pontius Pilate, I charge you

14 to keep the command without fault or failure until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.

15 God will bring this about in His own time. He is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords,

16 the only One who has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light; no one has seen or can see Him, to Him be honor and eternal might. •Amen.

Fight the Good Fight

11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.

12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

13 In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you

14 to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,

15 which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords,

16 who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.

The Holy Bible: Holman Christian Standard Version. (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2009), 1 Ti 6:11–16.

The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), 1 Ti 6:11–16.

Introduction : Last week we talked about teaching false doctrine, serving others who are and are not believers; and we touched a little bit on greed. We are to look out for teachers and preachers who are teaching and preaching anything other than the gospel of Christ.

If Danny Simpson had known more about guns, he might not have needed to rob the bank. But in 1990, in Ottawa, Canada, this 24-year-old went to jail, and his gun went to a museum. He was arrested for robbing a bank of $6,000 and then sent to jail for six years. He had used a .45 caliber Colt semi-automatic, which turned out to be an antique made by the Ross Rifle Company, Quebec City, in 1918.

The pistol is worth up to $100,000—much more than Danny Simpson had stolen. If he had just known what he carried in his hand, he wouldn't have robbed the bank.

In other words, Danny already had what he needed.

1 Tim. 6:2-3

3 If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, 4 he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, 5 and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Ti 6:3–5.

1 Timothy 6:11

11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.

NIV

Point 1: Run and pursue.

Paul calls Timothy “man of God”

It first appears in designation of Moses, the great prophet of God Deuteronomy 33:1

It was used of the prophet Shemaiah who was sent from God to prophesy against Rehoboam in 1 Kings 12:22.

It was used again for the prophet who spoke the Word of God to Jeroboam regarding his being replaced and then judged, 1 Kings 13.

Elijah is called the man of God in 1 Kings 17:18 and following,

and Elisha in 2 Kings 4 and following is called the man of God many times.

David in Nehemiah 12 verses 24 and 36 is also called the man of God.

The prophet who confronted Amaziah is called the man of God in 2 Chronicles 25:7

and a prophet by the name of Igdaliah in Jeremiah 35:4 is also called the man of God.

And then Paul tells him to “run from these Things.”

Flee/run from what?

False teaching

Greed

The word used here to flee; some translations use run. I think we get the picture we are not to just stand still and be fed upon.

Sin is like cancer. It is dark and it destroys. False teachings are lies. False teaching is sin.

N.T. Wright uses the following illustration to "describe how we should avoid [sin] and embrace the way of Jesus":

Think of an animal you'd really be afraid of, whether it's an angry rhinoceros or a large spider. If you came round a corner and found yourself facing it, what would you want to do? Run away, of course. Well, [as a follower of Jesus] that's how you should feel about a [lifestyle of greed, lust, jealousy, injustice, or another sinful pattern].

And then if Timothy is to run from something he is to also pursue something.

Pursue or King James says follow after righteousness.

If you pursue something then you do what you keep your eye on it in order not to lose it.

Pursue has a connotation to be relentless right.

An athlete pursuing a win doesn’t just train sometimes, they train all the time. A fighter has to train if they want any chance in the ring; or they are going to get the snot beaten out of them.

Paul leads into this next point with this analogy. We are to fight the good fight.

12 Fight the good fight for the faith;

take hold of eternal life

that you were called to

and have made a good confession about in the presence of many witnesses.

13 In the presence of God, who gives life to all, and of Christ Jesus, who gave a good confession before Pontius Pilate,

Point II: Fight the good fight for the faith.

What are we fighting the good fight for?

For the faith that we had made a confession about in the witness of many believers.

I don’t know all your stories but I do know some. If you were baptized; you put your stamp on your confession in front of others that you are a follower in the faith of Jesus Christ.

Colossians 1:15–20 (NIV) — 15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

In the middle of the eighteenth century, Christians became increasingly concerned about the slave trade. They amassed information on the inhumane treatment of the slaves and believed that eventually they could generate sufficient public support to overcome the slave trade interests in Parliament. But they needed political leadership.

William Wilberforce was elected to Parliament in 1780. He was converted in 1785, in part as a result of the ministry of John Newton, once a slave trader and then a clergyman in the Church of England. Newton and others urged Wilberforce to investigate the slave trade and to consider whether he could fight for its abolition in Parliament. Wilberforce concluded, "So enormous, so dreadful, so irremediable did its wickedness appear that my own mind was completely made up for the abolition. A trade founded in iniquity and carried on as this was must be abolished."

His effort took 20 years. He was vigorously opposed by the slave traders, who had powerful allies in Parliament. There was also resistance because this was a moral battle: "Things have come to a pretty pass when religion is allowed to invade public life," complained Lord Melbourne. But with the help of Christians throughout England, Wilberforce eventually succeeded, and in 1807 Parliament voted to abolish the slave trade.

We need more Wilberforces—Christians willing to engage in effective, sustained activity to challenge government to perform its responsibilities.

Source: Daniel W. Van Ness, "Saving a Sinking Society," Discipleship Journal (Mar/Apr 1988)

13B. I charge you

14 to keep the command without fault or failure until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.

15 God will bring this about in His own time. He is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords,

16 the only One who has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light; no one has seen or can see Him, to Him be honor and eternal might. •Amen

Point III: The charge to keep the command.

Paul used this term in the fifth chapter. CHARGE

1 Timothy 5:21

21 I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions without partiality, and to do nothing out of favoritism.

NIV

This term was also used in Acts 5:21 but Luke uses it in a different way.

“We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,”

The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Ac 5:28.

What is Paul charging Timothy to do?

“to keep the command without fault or failure until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.

What is the command?

1 Ti 6:2b–5

Teach and encourage these things. 3 If anyone teaches other doctrine and does not agree with the sound teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ and with the teaching that promotes godliness, 4 he is conceited, understanding nothing, but has a sick interest in disputes and arguments over words. From these come envy, quarreling, slander, evil suspicions, 5 and constant disagreement among people whose minds are depraved and deprived of the truth, who imagine that godliness is a way to material gain. HCB

Conclusion:

N.T Wright followed up his illustration from earlier with this.

Think how you'd feel if you saw the person you loved best in the entire world, who you hadn't seen for years, walking down the street. What would you do? Why, chase after [him or her], of course. That's how you should behave when you think of Jesus and the new life that he is offering you and the whole world.

I want to tell you that you can trey and do life on your own or you can do life with Jesus. I've tried it both ways and I am here to tell you life is a whole lot sweeter doing it with a friend like Jesus.

Jesus said in Mathew 28:20b

Matthew 28:20

“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." NIV

THAT IS A PROMISE!!!!!

Please; don’t make the mistake of leaving here today without claiming that promise.

John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me NIV