1 Timothy 6:11-21

Introduction

1 Timothy 6:11 “But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.”

“But…O man of God” - Paul views the pastors of a church as the man of God. The person responsible to deliver the message of God from scripture to the people of God. 2 Timothy 4:2 “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.”

“But thou” - Instead of building your ministry on the “love of money” or “gain is godliness.”

The pillars of perseverance

Flee

1 Timothy 6:11 “But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.”

“Flee” - “To shun, run away” or “disappear.” Do not debate or rationalize. means to take flight in order to seek safety or to escape something so that one is safe from danger.

1 Corinthians 6:18 “Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.”

1 Corinthians 10:14 “Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.”

2 Timothy 2:22 “Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”

Sex, idolatry, youthful lust and love of money have been causes that collapsed many ministries.

We are not tasked with fighting sin but running from sin.

“Flee” - present tense - Question: What do diets, exercise programs, marriage, and the Christian life have in common? Answer: It’s fairly easy and even fun to begin, but it’s not so easy to hang in over the long haul.

Follow

It is not good enough to run away, we need to run away with purpose. We need to know where we are running to. Paul says 1 Timothy 6:11 “But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.”

“Follow after” - To pursue: In other words, just becasue we are a Christian does not mean we can wake up in the morning being these things that Paul writes about.

Righteousness

Godliness

Faith

Love

Patience

Meekness

Pursuit things that are opposite of gain is godliness and the love of money. What makes this pursuit possible is the work of the Holy Spirit - Galatians 5:16 “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” Philippians 2:13 “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” "synergistic work"…

which refers to occasions that combine our effort with His enabling power. But this isn’t a pure synergism, as if we and the Spirit each contributed equal power to the task. Rather, we work as He enables us to work, so we use the expression qualified synergism. We’re 100 percent dependent on His power in order to participate in the work, as the psalmist illustrated: Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain (Psalm 127:1-Spurgeon's note).

Righteousness

Godliness

C. H. S.

Godliness is the power which brings a man to God, and binds him to Him.

Godliness is that which creates repentance towards God, and faith in Him.

Godliness is the result of a great change of heart in reference to God and his character.

Godliness looks towards God, and mourns its distance from Him; godliness hastens to draw nigh, and rests not till it is at home with God.

Godliness makes a man like God. Godliness leads a man to love God, and to serve God; it brings the fear of God before his eyes, and the love of God into his heart.

Godliness leads to consecration, to sanctification, to concentration.

John MacArthur - Godliness is a right attitude and response toward the true Creator God; a preoccupation from the heart with holy and sacred realities. It is respect for what is due to God, and is thus the highest of all virtues.

Faith

Love - 1 Corinthians 13:4–6“Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;”

Patience - endurance

Meekness - lowliness.

2 Corinthians 10:1 “Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you:”

Galatians 5:22–23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”

Ephesians 4:1–2 “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;”

Colossians 3:12 “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;”

Titus 3:2 “To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.”

John Bunyan - He that is down needs fear no fall, He that is low no pride; He that is humble ever shall Have God to be his guide.

In effect, Paul commands Timothy to pursue Christ emanate Christ in your life.

The very things that are not pursued today, Paul commands Timothy to pursue!

Illustration: For the ladies present today, congratulations on an amazing accomplishment. You should be proud of all that you have achieved to this point in your young lives. I want to speak directly to you briefly because I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you. How many of you are sitting here now about to cross this stage and are thinking about all the promotions and titles you are going to get in your career? Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world.

I can tell you that my beautiful wife, Isabelle, would be the first to say that her life truly started when she began living her vocation as a wife and as a mother. I'm on the stage today and able to be the man I am because I have a wife who leans into her vocation. I'm beyond blessed with the many talents God has given me, but it cannot be overstated that all of my success is made possible because a girl I met in band class back in middle school would convert to the faith, become my wife, and embrace one of the most important titles of all: homemaker.

Fight

1 Timothy 6:12–16 “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.”

Fight the good fight of faith

While we are fleeing from sin, we need to fight for faith.

Satan desires to erode our faith. Superman is almost unstoppable. I say “almost” because he does have one vulnerability. Kryptonite weakens him, and too much of it can destroy him. Even though I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, I have a Kryptonite. Tony Reinke is exactly right when he says, “unbelief is our Kryptonite”

I do not believe Paul’s intention is to say there are 2 ways to fight for faith - a good or bad way - rather, his point is the fight of faith is a good fight to engage in.

I have been told that we have to pick our battles - The one battle that is always a good battle to pick is the battle of faith.

Based upon the context of 1 Timothy 6:13 - the Battle of faith that Paul had in mind was eternal life.

Timothy fight the good fight of:

grace

salvation

forgiveness

Heavenly inheritance

divine life

Do not let people convince you that you can live your best life now or that everyday is a Friday.

With the backdrop of the prosperity Gospel, Paul says fight for the promises to come - Hebrews 11:9–10 “By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”

Lay hold onto eternal life

Lay hold - seize and not let go.

Do not forget what you have been saved from and saved to!

Eternal life

He was personally called to eternal life.

He professed this calling before many witnesses

The charge to fight and lay hold of came from the Throne Room of Heaven:

God - Creator

Jesus Christ - who confessed before Pilate.

Matthew 27:11 “And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest.”

John 19:11 “Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.”

Matthew 27:14 “And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly.”

Notice 2 aspects about this command to fight for faith in the battle against material wealth:

The importance of this command - 1 Timothy 6:14 “That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ:”

How long was he to fight this battle - Until Jesus Christ came

Incentive - 1 Timothy 6:15–16 “Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.”

To the Rich

1 Timothy 6:17–21 “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life. O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: Which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee. Amen.”

Prideful

Not to trust in their riches

That they use their wealth for good - Many think the main reason for giving unto the Lord is because the church needs money. That isn’t true. The most important reason to give is because you need to be a giver. It is God’s way of guarding you against greed and trust in uncertain riches. God will provide for His work even if you do not give; but what will happen to you?

Lay hold onto eternal life

Conclusion

1 Timothy 6:20–21 “O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: Which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee. Amen.”