1 Timothy 6:11-21 - Faithfully Fighting
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction:
Modern-day Christianity in America seems to be clueless and ignorant about the spiritual battle that exists all around them. The comforts of modernity have caused many in the church to fall asleep at the helm. This slothful spirituality is certainly not because the Bible hasn’t clearly described the battle raging all around. Listen to a couple of these warnings:
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
Listen to the war-like nature of that verse. Cosmic powers and spiritual forces - rulers and authorities.
Then listen to the intentional nature of Satan’s attacks on believers:
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
Like a lion seeking someone to devour - Satan is described as a fierce lion hunting and stalking prey.
Yet so many believers live their day-to-day lives like nothing is going on around them. They aren’t starting the day off putting on their armor ready for battle.
Right before the warning of spiritual battle in Ephesians 6:12 that we just mentioned a moment ago, we see the two preceeding verses:
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
We must suit up with the armor of God and be ready to fight the good fight as we will see in today’s Scripture. We must be prepared for battle. This only comes through the power and strength of the Lord in our lives as we read His Word, pray, and walk with Him daily.
I pray that today’s sermon reminds us of our need to wake from the spiritual slothfulness that so plagues our modern church. And I pray that we see that this charge from Paul to persevere is not something we do on our own. It is through the power of God that we persevere.
Prayer
Today we are going to see four ways that we must persevere as followers of Christ. The first is…
I. Followers of Christ Must Persevere by… Faithfully Fighting (11-12)
I. Followers of Christ Must Persevere by… Faithfully Fighting (11-12)
But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.
Paul, writing to Timothy, calls him a man of God. This is such a wonderful statement for Timothy. He is a man of God. This sounds much like the way God referred to the prophets of the Old Testament. They were men of God called out to lead the people and speak the Words of God. Timothy is now a New Testament man of God. He was not an Apostle or writer of the New Testament bringing new revelation. But he was a man of God called to preach the Word and lead the church.
My, how we need more men of God preaching the Word and leading the churches of God today. Much of this letter to Timothy has been a heartfelt letter from Paul on how to faithfully lead Christ’s church. This is a high and lofty calling and a charge that we must not take lightly. Christ’s church is important and we must take managing His church seriously.
This section of Scripture is full of charges - verbs - action words. As we go through this Scripture, we will keep count of these words. I have numbered them and built the theme of this sermon around these words that remind us of the importance of being doers of the Word of God (James 1:22). Timothy needed to be a person of action, and we must be people of action.
The first charge is:
1. The Follower of Christ Must Flee Evil Things
Flee these things. What are these things? Well, if you have been studying this wonderful letter with us thus far you would have seen that he needed to flee the love of money, discontentment, false teaching, pride, among other things.
The word flee used here is in the present tense meaning that Timothy needs to constantly flee from evil things. He encourages Timothy to flee evil desires again in his second letter (2 Timothy 2:22).
Like pastor Adam preached a couple of weeks ago in Psalm 1, we should not walk with, stand around, or sit in the presence of sinners, scoffers, and those who are godless and wicked. We must flee evil. But it is not enough just to flee evil. One must pursue the right thing.
1 Timothy 6:11 (ESV)
But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.
Timothy is told to pursue these qualities instead of evil ones. We have mentioned and discussed many of these in the past. Righteousness speaks of being right before God and man and speaks moreso of outward behavior while godliness is more of a state of the heart and speaks moreso of one’s attitude and motive.
Three of the final four of these are paralleled in the fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23. Faith and love are almost always paired together in the Pastoral Epistles (which include 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus).
Steadfastness is a theme of this entire section and speaks of perseverance under pressure. Although it is not directly listed as a fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5, it is most certainly a fruit of the Spirit kin to faithfulness. While gentleness is a balancing counterpart encouraging those who persevere to remain humble, kind, and meek as they fight the good fight.
This second charge that has been introduced is:
2. The Follower of Christ Must Pursue Godly Things
It is not enough to just flee bad things. We must actively pursue the things of God.
Pursuing these things of God helps us to fight the good fight that we see in our next verse…
Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
As we discussed in the introduction of today’s message, the Christian life is a fight. We have a fight against evil. We have an enemy who seeks to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10).
The word fight here in Greek is agōn (ah-gone) which is where we get the English word agony - meaning a brutal and painful struggle.
Paul wants to make sure Timothy is ready and willing to suffer for the Gospel. This is a struggle that will continue until Timothy’s dying breath. He needs to persevere and continue on fighting.
This analogy given here is likely an athletic analogy. Paul loved giving athletic analogies when discussing the perseverance needed for believers. He wanted to remind Timothy that this fight is a hard fight. There will be times when you are winded and worn out. There will be times when you want to quit and give up. So Paul gives Timothy his third charge which applies to all believers as well…
3. The Follower of Christ Must Fight the Good Fight
Getting back to our verse…
1 Timothy 6:12 (ESV)
Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
Now we come to our fourth charge.
4. The Follower of Christ Must Take Hold of Eternal Life
This is similar to Paul’s discussion of striving toward God in Philippians 3:12. This is the beginning of a charge to persevere in the faith. True believers will persevere. They do not fall away. We know that those who are truly saved are in Christ and are a new creation. We know that God does not lose any that are truly His. However, those who are truly His do persevere. This tension in Scripture regarding the security of a believer’s salvation and the need to persevere is intentional by God.
We are not called to a comfortable life of ease and pleasure. We are called to fight the good fight. If you are not fighting, you are losing. And if you are not fighting, be sure that you have taken hold of eternal life.
During this charge to persevere, Paul reminds Timothy of the his call and confession of salvation in verse 12.
1 Timothy 6:12 (ESV)
Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
This call came from God through the Gospel. Timothy was saved and was set apart by God alone. He was drawn by God and then made a confession of faith in the presence of many witnesses.
Note that this was in the presence of many witnesses. The Christian life is a public life. We are to confess Christ as Lord in the presence of many witnesses. This speaks to the importance of baptism. It is a time of public pronouncement of one’s faith. It is a time where we show that we are not ashamed of the Gospel.
We have a baptism coming up next month. For anyone else who has not been baptized yet, we would love to help you follow Christ in this first act of obedience after coming to Christ in saving faith.
So far we have seen that believers must faithfully fight by fleeing from evil, pursuing godly things, continuing to fight, and taking hold of eternal life. Paul is not done with his verbs yet… Our next point is…
Scripture References: Ephesians 6:12, 1 Peter 5:8, Ephesians 6:10-11, James 1:22, 2 Timothy 2:22, Psalm 1, Galatians 5:22-23, John 10:10, Philippians 3:12
II. Followers of Christ Must Persevere by… Fervently Following (13-16)
II. Followers of Christ Must Persevere by… Fervently Following (13-16)
I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,
This next charge has two verbs!
5. Followers of Christ Are Charged to Keep the Commandment
Paul reminded Timothy of the many witnesses that saw his confession of faith. But now Paul gives two more witnesses - God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son.
God the Father is exalted as the creator, sustainer, and life-giver of every living thing.
Jesus Christ is exalted as the true perseverer. Christ made the good confession in front of Pontius Pilate. What is this good confession?
Listen to Jesus answer Pontius Pilate in Mark 15:2:
And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.”
Jesus could have backed down here. Yet He persevered and made the good confession.
Getting back to verse 14…
to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,
What is this commandment? It seems clear that this commandment is an all-encompassing charge to maintain personal integrity, Gospel integrity, and church leadership integrity. This is a charge to maintain personal holiness, Gospel purity, and church purity. All three of these need maintained as we await the glorious return of Christ!
After this charge to maintain holiness, Paul gives a wonderful doxology about Jesus Christ:
which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.
Pastor Bryan Chapell states the following in response to this doxology:
“The message to Timothy is clear: “Though your calling is immense, the God who calls you is far greater - and he will enable you to do it.”
Bryan Chapell
Christ is sovereign - meaning that He is over everything. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords which again speaks to His sovereignty over everything. He is immortal. All of this is clearly seen in Colossians 1:16-17:
For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
I love this truth of Christ holding everything together. When I preached through Colossians, I taught about gravity and how Christ holds us on the earth. He holds the sun in its place and the moon in its place and the earth in its place. He holds the universe with His power.
Paul ends with discussing Christ’s honor and eternal dominion which again speaks to His sovereign control.
Yet right before the end he states that God dwells in unapproachable light and that no one has seen or can see Him. Note that Paul speaks of God and Christ in tandem here. Although they are distinct persons forming the Trinity along with the Holy Spirit, they are both fully God.
God is Spirit and is Holy. Man cannot approach God Almighty in His fallen state. Listen to Exodus 33:20:
But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.”
God dwells in unapproachable light.
However, because of the work of Christ, we know that we will blessed to reign forever with God in heaven! We will be made perfect and be able to dwell in this unapproachable and glorious light!
May we fervently follow our Savior!
Moving forward, we see that…
Scripture References: Mark 15:2, Colossians 1:16-17, Exodus 33:20
III. Followers of Christ Must Persevere by… Generously Giving (17-19)
III. Followers of Christ Must Persevere by… Generously Giving (17-19)
As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.
As for the rich. Who are the rich? This speaks of just about all of us in America today. According to an article on Zippia.com (https://www.zippia.com/advice/average-income-worldwide/), the median per adult person income worldwide is just below $3,000 per year. This means that you are in the top 50% richest people in the world as a family with two adults if your family income is a greater than $6,000 per year. Countries such as as Burundi, Afghanistan, and Somalia have average yearly incomes below 430/year.
The New Testament is clear that having wealth is not sinful. The love of money and riches most certainly is. However, having wealth is not a matter of sin or not but is a matter of great responsibility.
Obviously, ‘in this present age’ refers to being rich on earth. Those who have much wealth on earth are at risk of being haughty - or prideful. They may see themselves as more blessed financially because of something intrinsically better about them. They may be tempted to see themselves as more godly or holy or favored by God because of their financial blessing. False teachings teach these lies throughout the false prosperity gospel movement.
There is most certainly not a direct positive correlation with godliness and material possessions or wealth. And in many cases the correlation may tend to show the opposite of this at times! This is because those who are affluent have a temptation to rely on their wealth for security. This is idolatry as Paul mentioned last week in verses 9-10. Seeking money and wealth as security above God is foolishness.
Paul urges Timothy to tell those who are rich to instead, set their hope on God who is our Provider.
Moving forward we see a further charge to those who are rich - again practically all of us by today’s worldly standards!
They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share,
As we mentioned last week, those who are blessed with riches are blessed in order to be generous. They should be willing to share. Generosity is a mark of a believer. We can give because He first gave to us. Generosity frees us from the love of money.
We should respond to God’s blessings with gratitude leading to generosity and not with greed.
When we are generous with God’s money and handle God’s money His way, we see the blessings of this in verse 19:
thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.
Those who are generous with God’s money are storing up treasures for themselves in eternity (Luke 6:38, 2 Corinthians 9:6-7, Matthew 10:42). What an amazing promise is that! And these treasures are upon a solid foundation!
Christ is our foundation and if we want to build on Him, we must build His way. He is a generous Savior, and thus we should be generous as well. When we are generous, we build upon His foundation and our effort and treasure will be eternal. Unlike all of the foundations on earth that will crack and be destroyed eventually, our treasures stored up in heaven will not be destroyed.
I made my joke about Joel Osteen last week - about living your best life now. However, Paul teaches here that you may take hold of what is truly life when you store up treasures in heaven. In other words, generosity is where true life is found. Author and Pastor Randy Alcorn wrote a wonderful book on generosity and entitled it, Giving is the Good Life.
If you want to live your best life now and later, you will not put your hope or trust in riches but instead in God alone. If you want to live your best life now and later then you will be generous and ready to share. Joy and happiness are not found in desiring and seeking out riches which leads one to destruction. Instead, joy is found by the one who is satisfied in Christ alone and follows in His ways.
In summary, we come to our 6th charge in this section…
6. Followers of Christ Are Charged to Be Humble and Generous as They Trust in God Alone
May we as believers be generous givers as we follow our Good Shepherd - namely Jesus Christ - who gave up His life for us.
And finally, we see that…
Scripture References: Luke 6:39, 2 Corinthians 9:6-7, Matthew 10:42
IV. Followers of Christ Must Persevere by… Graciously Guarding (20-21)
IV. Followers of Christ Must Persevere by… Graciously Guarding (20-21)
1 Timothy 6:20a (ESV)
O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you…
As a final charge to Timothy, Paul tells him to guard the deposit entrusted to you. What is this deposit? It is the Gospel and the Word of God. Timothy was blessed with the Old Testament but also was being blessed with parts of the New Testament - the Apostolic teachings. He needed to guard this good deposit as mentioned in 2 Timothy 1:14 as well. This parallel verse in 2 Timothy tells us how he will be able to guard this good deposit:
By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.
Only by the Holy Spirit was Timothy able to remain faithful to the Gospel and the Word of God. And the same is true for us. Which brings us to our seventh charge from Paul in this section…
7. Followers of Christ Must Guard the Good Deposit of the Gospel and the Scriptures.
And we must do this in the power of the Holy Spirit.
If we don’t we are told what can happen here.
O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” for by professing it some have swerved from the faith. Grace be with you.
If the Gospel and Scriptures are not guarded, people fall into irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge.”
In other words, if the good deposit is not guarded it is stolen. The people perish in their sin and fall into grievous false teachings. They start to follow false “knowledge” and believe false gospels.
This brings us to our final charge of this Scripture - #8:
8. Followers of Christ Must Avoid False Teaching
We see this happening throughout the church today. What is being taught as truth today is often not the truth of Scripture. It is falsely called knowledge. There are many pastors today who pretend to preach the Word of God. They say from the pulpit that they preach the Word and only the Word. Yet when you weigh their words next to the Word - there is a vast chasm in what they say and what God says. Just because a pastor says that he preaches the Word does not mean that he does! Be discerning, Church!
As believers, we must avoid false teaching by knowing and understanding the Word of God personally. Put on that armor of God. Pick up your sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17). And fight against the false knowledge that is eating way at the modern church.
We must especially protect our young people from swerving away from the truth. Many are following these new age false teachers. These false teachers have charisma and speak very convincingly with their deconstruction ideologies. They twist the Scriptures and deny the truth in them. They spew out lies in convincing our young people that good is evil and evil is good. Their contradictions are masked with relative truth.
We must equip our young people with a solid foundation of the truth of God’s Word. This is one of the many reasons we love to have kids in our services. We believe that they are ready for the meat of God’s Word from a young age. They understand far more than most adults give them credit for! We want them to be prepared to guard the good deposit as they continue growing in the faith.
After this incredible final charge to Timothy - and as we have seen, to us as well - Paul ends with a beautiful farewell statement:
1 Timothy 6:21b (ESV)
Grace be with you.
As we have mentioned before, grace is unmerited favor. Grace is getting what you do not deserve. Grace is the basis for salvation. Listen to Paul in Ephesians 2:8-9:
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Friends, my prayer for everyone here and everyone who will listen to this sermon in the future is this - that you understand grace. If you understand grace then you can faithfully fight the good fight - knowing that the One who is in you is greater than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4).
Grace has been given to us through Jesus Christ - who took on human flesh some 2,000 years ago and lived the sinless life that we could not live. He was crucified, died, and was buried. But three days later He rose from the grave thereby defeating death and the grave! He took on the wrath of God that we deserved and died the death that we deserved. Yet, He offers the grace of salvation - the grace of forgiveness - the grace of righteousness. He gives us what we do not deserve. He offers us salvation by grace.
As we see in Ephesians 2 here - it is not by your own doing - it is a gift of God. It is a free gift.
If you have not accepted this free gift, may today be the day that you do! May you repent - or turn away from your sins - and place your faith and trust in Christ alone for salvation. He is the only way to God (Acts 4:12, John 14:6).
May grace be with you my friends. And for you who are saved - live in the freedom of that grace - that unmerited favor - knowing that this wonderful favor lasts for eternity.
Scripture References: 2 Timothy 1:14, Ephesians 6:17, Ephesians 2:8-9, Acts 4:12, John 14:6, Ephesians 6:10
Conclusion
As we come to a close, we have been charged with many charges by Paul today. Paul has called us to much action - to faithfully fight, fervently follow, generously give, and graciously guard. But all of this is done through the grace of God and through the power of God who works in us and through us.
I want us to end with a verse that we started off with today that brings the theme of this passage all together - Ephesians 6:10:
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
May we be strong in the Lord!