The Charge
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
Nearing the end of letter
This is Paul’s great charge to Timothy
What does a man of God look like?
Our passage will show us!
While the text is obviously about a man, and a church leader at that, there is still broad principles of faithfulness that applies to both the man and woman of God. A godly man and a godly woman are going to look different, but most of today’s passage will apply to both.
Lets lookt at 6 chracteristics of the Man of God in this Charge.
The man of God Flees
The man of God Flees
Timothy is called a “Man of God,” this puts Timothy in the company of such as Prophet Samuel, King David, Elijah & Elisha. While this title brings this honorable men to mind, it is not a special title reserved for a few. In fact each Christian should aspire to belong to God, and identify with him in such a close way that others would say “there is a man of God” or “there is a woman of God”.
Paul highlights to Timothy that he is unlike the false teachers in their opposition to truth, and instead he is the real deal and he needs to maintain his authentic faith by fleeing evil.
1 Timothy 6:11 (ESV)
But as for you, O man of God, flee these things.
Flee what? Previous section; Flee desires to be wealthy, quarrels, envy.
The man of God runs away from evil.
This reminds me of the description of the righteous one in Psalm 1:
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
We must not hang-out in the places where evil is afoot. Now this may be a literal space - there may be people at your school or workplace that are perpetually talking about sinful things, and you should not associate with that.
But this can also be in your online and entertainment life. Are you dwelling in online spaces and continually being instructed by shows and movies to be greedy, self-absorbed, argumentative? Perhaps even more, to be haters of authority, adulterers, liars.
You may even come across these temptations at church, after all that's where things were happening to Timothy. There were greedy false teachers stirring up envy and slander. So even if you find this at church, flee!
Distance yourself from the sin and evil that does not fit with being a man of God.
The Man of God Pursues
The Man of God Pursues
But the men of God is not merely defensive, in running away from evil, he is to pursue righteousness! To chase it!
But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.
Pursue - chase, run after these things. There is no room for passivity. Get up and go!
The man of God replaces the vices of the false teachers with the virtues of true Christian faith:
Righteousness - moral upstanding and alignment with God
Godliness (Eusebeia) - Fearing God, loyalty to God, piety and devotion towards God.
Faith - true faith in the truth of Christ
Love - the action and attitude shown to us most clearly by God, that we must reflect toward God and others.
Steadfastness - endurance, immovable, not tossed about like a leaf on the wind.
gentleness - lit. humble suffering. Gentleness is not being soft, it is being appropriately soft like when a mother dog lets her pups crawl all over her. You could say that David was a model: He fought lions and bears, and tended lambs. He slaughtered his enemies and played delicate music on the lyre. The man of God pursues gentleness in it’s proper place, so that an infant is safe in his father’s arms, but his enemies are not.
So flee wickedness, pursue righteousness!
The Man of God Fights
The Man of God Fights
There is another facet of the Man of God that now takes our attentions. We have the picture of someone running away from evil and chasing good, but now the imagery turns adversarial:
1 Timothy 6:12 (ESV)
Fight the good fight of the faith.
The man of God fights!
There is a fight! There is a contest to be fought! “The greater part wish to serve Christ at ease, and as if it were pastime, whereas Christ calls all his servants to warfare.”
(John Calvin on 1 Tim 6:12).
It is a “good” fight - Some of us have it in our mind that if we are fighting, then it’s automatically bad. There are in fact good fights to be had, and they must be had, and in this case it is the fight of your life.
The good fight of the faith.
Defend the faith - not all alike will be called to do this, but at the very least you should be able to give a defense of your hope in Christ.
Fight the sin, flesh and Satan who would pull you away from this faith and plunge you into outer darkness.
Fight the Independence of our age which would divide us where we should be united in the Faith given by Christ.
We must wage this fight, not be idle. There is no time for faffing around.
How many of us float about in our faith, week to week. We listen to christian music, we come to church every other week. I’ve prayed my sinners prayer. I’m all good.
You’re good prey to the devils schemes! You’re out there with no armor on wandering around on a battlefield and pretending everything is OK while the arrows are raining down and the enemy forces are charging!
While you’ve been passive and lazy on your faith, it’s only by the grace of God that you have not yet become a victim. Wake up! Put on your armor! Get to the fight! There is no neutral ground!
Where are the men of God who will stand?
Where is the Gideon who will destroy the pagan altars of this age?
Where is the Samuel who will hack God’s enemies to pieces before the Lord?
Where is the David who will wage holy war?
Where is the Elijah who will go toe to toe with the pagan priests of our day?
Where are you Levites who will defend holiness at the edge of a sword?
Take up this sword, not the sword of the flesh, take up the Sword of the Spirit! And go fight!
If we had men of God who were serious about wielding this sword then they would be here each week to be trained in it’s use and to receive their marching orders. We would have men training their children how to use it each night, knowing that it is only a short time before they will be in the frey beside us.
Where are the women of God who will stand?
Where is the Jaar who will take up her tent peg?
Where is the Shiprah and Puah who will defy the tyrants?
Where is the Sarah who will lay hold of the promises?
Till Christ appears there is a battle to be won, and Christ calls us forth to conquer!
Some say this verse is the fight of like a boxer in a ring, a fighting match. And it may be applied to that situation, but we must also remember earlier, in chapter 1 Paul said:
"wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience” 1 Ti 1:18–19.
The Man of God Takes Hold of Life
The Man of God Takes Hold of Life
So the Man of God Flees evil, Pursues Righteousness and fights the good Fight.
The man of God also must take hold of Eternal Life.
Once more, there is no passivity here. It must be grasped! It must be grabbed. Paul charges Timothy:
1 Timothy 6:12 (ESV)
... 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.
It is very true that Eternal life is part of the Salvation that we receive through Jesus Christ. It is a free gift. It cannot be taken or earned. We truly are passive recipients in this sense.
Now however, as recipients, the scriptures teach us that there is an active response, there is an active pursuit that goes with it. We receive salvation by grace through faith, and, we must strive to enter the narrow gate that leads to eternal life.
In our life of loyalty to God, in our pursuit of Him, it is as though we must lay hold eternal life ourselves. We must strive and seek it. We must hold onto Jesus no matter what.
Timothy has been called by Christ to eternal life, and at his baptism he confessed Christ as Lord, now Paul charges him to fight for what he has received. He must hold onto it for dear life!
Many of you, I have seen enter the waters of baptism, many of you have received the call of Christ, but the road is long and there are many temptations along the way. I urge you to strive! Pursue! Take hold of your eternal life and do not let go come hell or high water!
The Man of God Keeps the Commandment
The Man of God Keeps the Commandment
The man of God must also keep the commandment given.
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 is a solemn charge. While all of this is a charge, now Paul presses it by calling God to witness.
The charge is made in the Presence of God & Jesus (But not as if God & Jesus are separate)
Jesus made the good confession. He did not waver, and he did not shirk. We don’t know particularly what aspect of his time before Pilate this refers, but it likely includes this confession:
Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”
Jesus is the King of Truth, unlike the false teachers in Timothy’s day.
Just as Jesus made the truthful confession, Timothy is now charged to stand by his confession of Christ as king and obey the commandment.
This is the Charge - Keep the Commandment
What commandment? Options
The earlier command - flee evil, pursue righteousness, fight the good fight, grasp eternal life.
The whole letter - a summary of all that he is commanded
The Overall command - Love God, Love neighbor.
How must it be kept?
Unstained
Free from reproach
Until when?
The Epiphany of Jesus - the appearing of Christ in the flesh once more - the end of the age.
The Man of God Worships
The Man of God Worships
Paul the breaks into a doxology. He glorifies God with his words.
Al though there is no command here, it is the natural response of every man of God. Men of God are known for being worshipers!
How does the doxology go?
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.
Christ will be displayed at the proper time. At a date of his choosing.
These words can equally be applied to Jesus or God as a whole!
God is the only soverign over all - and all athourity os now given to Christ
King of Kings and Lord of Lords
The only source of imortality - all others drive their life from him.
Dwells in light - can’t be seen.
To him be honour and dominion!
The man of God will
So What?
So What?
Here’s the charge to the Man of God:
The man of God Flees
The Man of God Pursues
The Man of God Fights
The Man of God Takes Hold
The Man of God Keeps the Commandment
The Man of God Worships