The Church at War

Congregational Reading

Let’s Pray

Father in Heaven,

Be with us here today. We seek you. We ask that you would make us vigilant against the battles that we face today.

Give us a spirit that remains true to what you have called us to.

Lord empty me of any selfish ambition. I am but a weak vessel. Help me speak your truth today and nothing else.

What we know not, teach us. What we have not, give us. And what we are not, make us.

It’s in Jesus name we pray… Amen.

I’ll say bless the Lord if you say “Oh my soul,”

Bless the Lord

“Oh, my soul.”

Oh, Bless His holy name.

Good morning. My name is Eric Warren and I have the pleasure of serving on staff as your student pastor.

A special thank you to my friend __________ for reading that portion of 1 Timothy 6.

We will actually pour over all of chapter 6 so I invite you to open there and track along because we certainly have a lot of ground to cover.

But you heard _________ read a bit ago and you heard this encouragement from Paul to his little brother in the faith, Timothy, as he charged him to Fight the good fight of faith, which can sound a little extreme.

That might play well with some. Some may really gravitate to that thought. To fight… to rise up… But many may shrink back because the thought of such conflict makes you just a bit uncomfortable.

But friends what I hope that we see as we unfold God’s Word and we look at the world around us is that there is absolutely something deeper at hand.

We believe what we say in here week in and week out that a life with Jesus does not merely mean moral improvement, or advancement, but trusting in Christ as your savior truly is crossing over from eternal death in your sin, into eternal life with the one true King, and you are enlisted, friend, into the King’s army.

Someone who paints this beautifully is CS Lewis in His Chronicles of Narnia series. If you’re unfamiliar, in the first book The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, the entire Peavensie family stumbles into this mythical land where it’s always winter and never Christmas.

It’s bleak, cold, and sad.

Quickly, Edmund, the problem child, comes across the White Witch. If you know the story, the witch lures in Edmund with cocoa and Turkish delight, which I’m told is actually quite nasty.

But all four children unknowingly stumble into a war that beforehand they were totally oblivious to.

And so too it is with us, beloved. That when we take up our cross and follow Jesus, friends you are a part of this war that rages on.

Not against flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities.

And the enemy, just like the white witch, is cunning, and conniving, and he lures you in with empty promises of comfort and fulfillment…

But you Christian, are called to stand at the ready, knowing that there is a great battle at hand.

…

At the end of the movie, The Usual Suspects, if I can go ahead and cram in another cultural reference, Verbal Kent, one of the main characters utters this haunting line,

“The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world that he doesn’t exist.”

I don’t mean to assign too much importance to a movie line but how true is it, friends, that we have looked away from Paul’s word of caution in the midst of this battle, we have been lulled away from vigilance and into a false comfort?

Shortly put, beloved as _________ read Paul’s words a bit ago...

Fighting the Good Fight Means Fleeing Sin (vv. 3-10)

Paul opens there in verse 3 saying that

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

Paul, writing to Timothy, this young pastor, is saying… be on the lookout, there are those in your midst who don’t desire truth.

They don’t want sound doctrine.

They don’t want to submit to Christ’s teaching or His example.

They don’t want to be made godly… but instead, they are conceited, and self-seeking, and divisive, it says that these people have an unhealthy interest in disputes and arguments. They produce envy, quarreling, slander, evil suspicions, and constant disagreements. Their minds are depraved and deprived of the truth… and before you know it, it sounds like the Thanksgiving dinner table for many of you.

Joking aside, Paul hits on a word that he hammers over and over throughout the course of the pastoral epistles (1, 2 Timothy, and Titus)... godliness.

It appears 15 times over the course of the New Testament and of those 15, Paul uses it 13 times in the pastoral epistles…

So you and I should take away something very clear… as Paul instructs these pastors, and the leaders of their respective churches… if you aspire to journey well in this walk with Christ, if you hope to fight well in this fight of faith, you better be vigilant about pursuing the character of God.

This should be the church’s ambition. This should be our focus. Not a model of success that we see in the corporate world. Not flashiness or show.

But you Christian… are you walking the godly path? Do you cherish sound teaching and good doctrine? Or are you one of these cancerous cells in the body of Christ that Paul is talking about?

One who relishes in gossip. One who sows division.

How do we pursue this godliness? How do we fight the good fight in this battle at hand?

Paul says here avoid false teaching…

If you don’t have the right type of teaching you can’t be godly. Otherwise, you’re just drawing from a poisoned well.

In Ephesus, there were false teachers. False teachers teaching a false gospel…

A gospel of obey and then you’re accepted. When in reality the gospel is the exact opposite.

You’re accepted… now obey.

You get this inexplicable, incalculable, unimaginable love right out of the gate.

And as one who is radically loved… now, go and live like Jesus.

That is the beauty of justification… when God pricks your heart of stone and by a miracle, it becomes a heart of flesh… From that millisecond… God looks at you and says, welcome and not a moment later.

Praise God?

I’ve heard a pastor say… “You get the hug from the beginning.”

You get the love from the beginning.

All of us need to hear that this morning. But maybe you made your way in here by some grace of God and you’ve never heard that Jesus desires you. Not because of what you can do for him but because you belong to him.

Have you been told something different, beloved?

Have you been seduced or burdened with something other than the free gift of grace made possible by Christ crucified?

Has someone told you that salvation comes by Jesus and… or salvation comes from Jesus but…

Beloved when we talk about sound doctrine and good teaching, when we talk about how one is made right with God… as soon as you hear ANY word follow after Jesus, I hope you high tail it in the opposite direction. I mean, stop your ears and run.

…

Last week, I sat in our Discover the Glade class and I sat across the table from a couple that’s been feeling us out as a church, so to speak… in the dating phase if you will.

Which is great, it’s exciting, and what I heard back from this couple I thought was so refreshing.

They mentioned that for the past length of time they wanted to listen and get a feel for what we teach.

Do we stand on the Word of God?

Do we teach the gospel?

And in whether or not they knew it in a moment my heart sings! Right?

If you are here and you are looking for a church home? I would encourage you, before any other question or issue, you need to ask… what. do. they. teach?

We don’t cling to creativity or nuance, but friends we cling to a historic faith. A historic faith that has and will always stand the test of time.

We cling not to political or cultural ideology… Not to the ebbs and flows of society… But we cling to the substitutionary atonement that says Jesus stands in my place.

…

There is definitely a high responsibility on the teacher, every week.

And as soberly as I can say, hold us to a high account.

Anyone who walks these steps, holds this book and says, “Thus says the Lord,” there is no challenge more grave than that.

So you, Glade Church, expect much of your teachers… crave sound doctrine and truth.

Refine your pallets for what is good.

Like someone who knows fine wine… don’t settle for the boxed stuff. (Pause)

(Maybe that illustration would get an amen from the Presbyterians)

And in this way, friends, in this way, church, you will help root out false teachers or those who teach for selfish gain.

…

False teachers are not a thing of the past. You read these characteristics, envy, quarreling, slander, and so on and you ask who in their right mind would have such ill intent amongst God’s people?

They’re out there… they’re in our state, our area, our city…

They’re certainly all over your student’s Instagram and TikTok, and frequently, friends, your child will even repost them.

So please, don’t drink down anything and everything and assume that it is good for the soul merely because it is coming from someone standing on a platform.

Be wise as serpents and gentle as doves.

…

Paul tips us off in verses 4-5 and sets our barometer for how to snuff out such evils.

He speaks to these major character issues of a false teacher, he speaks to their motivations, right? That many of these try and leverage godliness for material gain.

Again, we’re not just talking about a first-century problem, but there are those in today’s day and age who grift off of desperate people invoking God’s name.

That if you give then surely God will bless you. Right?

Add a zero the Lord will multiply.

Call this number… our operators are standing by ready to bless you…

I say that a bit tongue and cheek, that surely we’re better than that.

Surely we know better, but again we’re talking about a heresy, this prosperity gospel that reared it’s head in the days of Paul and we see it alive and well on our TVs and social media today.

How is this still a thing? Why do people fall for this hot garbage?

Because it feeds the flesh…

It tickles the ears and tells you what you want to hear versus telling you what you need to hear.

So fight the good fight, Christian. Cling to truth.

Cherish the gospel and accept nothing less.

…

George Whitfield was a famous evangelist in the 18th century in both the UK and in the American Colonies. He would travel from town to town and would attract crowds of thousands.

His teachings frequently flew in the face of the Catholic Church, and most stringently against works-based righteousness.

He was described as a preaching phenom, unapologetic, on fire…

He once preached to a crowd of coal miners and unbeknownst to him there was a man there with rocks in his pocket, waiting for his chance to cave in Whitefield’s head…

But when he confronted Whitefield after the sermon he said, “I came here to crush your head, but God through your preaching has crushed my heart.”

The gospel is the power of God unto salvation.

It changes lives, it changed yours, didn’t it?

The gospel is not a means to material gain, as Paul says here in verse 5. It is not something that you can leverage in order to serve your selfish ambitions.

Jesus is not a means to an end!

He is the end!

Do you believe this?

Not many of us would come out and say outright that we believe so that we can get something from God, but I want to issue a word of caution to us all. Don’t be in the habit of bargaining with God.

How many of us have prayed…

“God, if you do this for me… I promise I’ll be better. God if you get me out of this, I promise I’ll be different.”

First of all, no you won’t, you’ll maybe change for a little bit, just until the next time you want to treat Jesus like Santa.

Secondly, let verse 6 and on soak over you this morning…

Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out. If we have food and clothing, we will be content with these.

Beloved, your exit from this world will look just like kthe entry… from dust you came… to dust you will return.

Are you content?

…

Don’t live this life like an American Pharoah, beloved.

Pyramids filled with treasures and trinkets alongside the final resting places of these once-upon-a-time kings.

No longer alive. No longer ruling.

And despite best efforts, bodies still rotting away… treasures at their side, but doing nothing but collecting dust.

You can’t take it with you when you’re gone, friends–

There are executives and businessmen who spend billions of dollars trying to get you to buy into their messaging that for 3 easy installments of $33.33 your life will be changed with this thing and here I am, friend, standing in front of you with God’s Word pleading you… Do. Not. Buy. It.

More stuff will not make you happy.

If you don’t believe me, take it from Paul. Take it from Job – The Lord give, the Lord takes away… but blessed be the name of the Lord.

Or John Stott who says, “Possessions are only the traveling luggage of time; they are not the stuff of eternity. It would be sensible therefore to travel light.”

A few years ago I went on a camping trip with Robert Post and Jeremy Robertson. Now, I’m not super well-versed in all things camping… I’m from Brentwood.

But I was astonished, the day before making a supply run at Walmart with these two and I think, I could use this, this, and this… Robert walks out with 2 freeze-dried meals and calls it a day.

Because it makes sense… to travel light.

And so too it is with us all in this life.

What I am not saying is that you are holier if you live some impoverished lifestyle, but instead its a matter of putting everything you have into its proper place, namely that you would love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Paul says in Philippians…

I know how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me.

That verse, as often repeated as it is, was never meant to be a personal war cry of look at all that I can do.

But instead says, whether in much, or in little, join Paul in saying, “Christ is enough.”

…

Christians are called to a wartime effort. And the love of possessions… stuff… things… and the love of money which Paul says here is the root of all kinds of evil, makes it to where you are fighting the battle, handcuffed.

Augustine would say, “The love of worldly possessions entangles the soul and keeps it from flying to God.”

Right? The love of worldly possessions anchors you down and keeps you from being with the one to whom you are called and keeps you from doing what he bids you to do.

By all means, be a good steward of what’s been entrusted to you. It was the parable of the talents where the worker who sat idly by was rebuked.

But friends, the cliché is absolutely true… the things that you own tend to end up owning you.

We live in a world that says, gather all you can!

Get while the gettin’s good!

Not unlike the rich fool, who said. ‘I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones and store all my grain and my goods there. Then I’ll say to myself, “You have many goods stored up for many years. Take it easy; eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.” ’

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is demanded of you. And the things you have prepared—whose will they be?’

I’d hate to be the kind of person that is called a fool by God.

Storing up treasures, delving headlong into sin… is forgetting that we’re in wartime.

John Piper would say:

“Life is war. But most people do not believe this in their heart. Most people show by their priorities and their casual approach to spiritual things that they believe we are in peacetime, not wartime.

In wartime, the newspapers carry headlines about how the troops are doing. In wartime, families talk about the sons and daughters on the front lines, and write to them, and pray for them with heart-wrenching concern for their safety.

In wartime, we are on the alert. We are armed. We are vigilant.

In wartime, we spend money differently - there is austerity, not for its own sake, but because there are more strategic ways to spend money than on new tires at home. The war effort touches everybody.

We wage war, church. Not against flesh and blood but against powers and principalities… and no one is immune.

No one is removed from this battle.

…

But this war is not all defense. Right?

Just like any sports team, you can’t just be one-dimensional.

When we fight this good fight, it’s not just fleeing from sin and guarding against opposition… but we fight this good fight by striving forward… by pursuing virtue.

We fight the good fight by pursuing virtue. (vv. 11-21)

Right? It’s not all about defense.

The Christian life is not:

“Can’t do this… Can’t do this… Can’t do this…”

And then we get together next week and talk about all the things we didn’t do.

Paul says that when we fight the good fight we are, verse 12, reaching forward and taking hold of eternal life…

Christianity is not about removing desires, it's about revealing, instilling, and awakening newer, better desires.

It means that you are awakened to not only to the war at hand like the Peavansie family, but also means that you are awakened to treasures that you otherwise were not aware of.

The world says to maximize your your stuff for the next 70, 80, 100 years brings you into so much more!!!

God says come with me and I will make your life count for 100 trillion years… And beloved, those two pictures look wildly different.

Are you living life in the wartime effort? Are you making it count?

…

In the early 1900s, there was a group of missionaries who, when they were about to set out on a mission journey, they would pack not a suitcase but a coffin.

They would pack a few belongings, as much as would fit in their pine box, and a one-way ticket.

One such missionary was "Peter Milne," who wilfully sought out a tribe of headhunters in the New Hebrides islands, off the coast of Australia.

Every previous missionary that attempted to share Jesus with this group was killed and this man had no reason to believe that that wouldn’t be true for himself, as well.

But still not deterred, off he went with his coffin.

He spent more than fifty years in the islands, witnessing to the tribesmen about Jesus. And by God’s will died of natural causes amongst the people that he served.

The tribe buried him in a grave noted with this tombstone:

"When he came, there was no light. When he left, there was no darkness."

That’s wartime effort…

Is everyone called to this? Is everyone called to pick up and move to the other end of the world, maybe not… but far more of you are than you give credit for.

But everyone is called to the wartime effort.

So don’t stifle the Spirit’s leading in your life. Don’t downplay that feeling in your gut, that fire in your belly right now.

I guarantee you the voices in your head or the discouragement that you get from the onlooking world is not from the Lord.

There are 3.4 billion people on this earth who draw breath and who are unreached with the gospel.

So Paul’s charge is still relevant today…

How, then, can they call on him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about him? And how can they hear without a preacher? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.

Everyone has a role to play in this fight. The wartime effort affects everyone.

This is not a spectator sport.

…

Do you know who this is? (Rosie Pic)

This is Rosie the Riveter. She’s not a real lady but is supposed to represent the masses of women during World War II who left the home to work in factories to produce munitions and war supplies.

They weren’t on the front lines. They weren’t in the planes or on the ships.

But women like this were reaching forward with our nation, together, doing their part.

This is an all-hands-on-deck war effort. No one sits on the sideline in Christ’s church.

Paul, after speaking against the evils of the love of money, now speaks to how to put it in its proper place and how it is that we can pursue virtue with money…

Verse 17, Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be arrogant or to set their hope on the uncertainty of wealth, but on God, who richly provides us with all things to enjoy.

Instruct them to do what is good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and willing to share, storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of what is truly life.

Money is a great tool but a lousy master. So friends, don’t let it work you and instead use it to work for the master.

This isn’t me, a leader in the church, trying to get inside your pocket.

But this is me, one who cares for your soul warning you against the evils of materialism.

Whether young or old, you are called to make a difference.

Whether living in much or in want, you are called to make a difference.

And friends, we celebrate today those who are stepping up, and with their own lives they are saying, “I’m going to make a difference in the kingdom of God.”

Again, Paul says… Take hold of eternal life to which you were called and about which you have made a good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 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 to keep this command without fault or failure until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul is referencing Timothy’s baptism.

Remember the confession you made in the presence of others.

For Timothy, it was a wartime declaration… “I serve the true King. Not Caesar.”

And so too is the proclamation today.

In a minute, (Emmalin/Evelyn) will walk down the stairs into the pool and make the same declaration for herself, that they don’t serve any other master than King Jesus.

And friends I hope that you’ll join with me and in celebration we will blow the roof off this joint… because this is what sweet victory looks like in the midst of battle.

Though the war rages on, we celebrate today because Satan has lost his grip on another and Jesus rejoices with us!

This is the gospel bearing out! What would motivate a person to make a bold proclamation? What would motivate a person to dedicate their life to such a cause?

Because. It’s. Worth it.

How amazing that we get to celebrate today. Here with Emmalin in this service and Evelin in the next. And as we worship through baptism, each and every time you see someone in the pool, beloved you are called to remember…

Remember your baptism!

Remember this confession that you made in the presence of many witnesses.

That Jesus is King, not Caesar.

That Jesus is in control, not the world.

That in his life, death, and resurrection, beloved you are called to follow Him.

We celebrate today a monumental moment in these young ladies' lives… but their baptism, and every baptism, is meant to be an open display of the life-changing effects of a life with Jesus.

So, friends, let’s celebrate.

But if you have yet to take hold of this eternal life for yourself; this eternal life, offered to you, through Jesus and Jesus alone. I hope this baptism is a witness to you.

I hope that right now the Lord would do a work on your heart and this baptism would achieve it’s intended purpose of stirring in you a desire to play for the winning team.

You are called, friend.

Times may often feel uncertain.

We may feel the sting of discouragement and struggle…

But we operate knowing that the victory is won and Jesus is Lord.

And if I can once more bring it back to CS Lewis, He wrote in The Last Battle, “Courage child, we are all between the paws of the true Aslan.”

[Prayer]

Baptism

Dismiss the kiddos

Invitation

Invite the care team forward

Benediction

Mt 33:44 - “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

A life with Jesus is worth going all in on. Come and live your life for the purpose for which you were made. Glade Church, you are sent.