Keep the Faith

Introduction: ‌As we continue with our worship of the Lord this morning, I want to invite you to turn with me to 1 Timothy 6:11-16 as we dive into the Word of the Lord together.

We are nearing the end of our series on 1 Timothy, and there are a lot of things that we have looked at in this short book. And I believe there are a lot of things that we need to take heart in the days ahead as we seek to reorient our hearts around seeking to be a healthy Gospel-centered church.

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Remember, that is the Aim here… that is the goal. Our desire is not to study this book so that we can walk away with a better understanding… although that is vitally important. But if it stops at head knowledge, then I fear we have fallen short of God’s desire for us as a Church and as His people. God does not want us to gather here JUST to learn a bunch of cool things about His word. That would be pointless.

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James 2 tells us....22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing (Jas 1:22–25).

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That is what we are after. We want to hear the Word and then we want to act upon the word… for it is when we act on the word.... we will be blessed in our doing.

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With that being said, Hear the Word of the Lord this morning for the good of your soul with ears and hearts ready to receive it… and be asking yourself… how might I live this out in my own life?

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Hear the Word of the Lord.

‌11 But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 12 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. 13 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, 14 to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 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 (1 Ti 6:11–16).

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As we think about these words this morning, let’s run to the Lord in prayer seeking His face, asking Him to change our hearts.

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Let’s pray together.

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Throughout this series, we have been asking a very basic question: What Is A Healthy Church?

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That is, if a church is going to be healthy according to what the Bible says over and above what culture says, what does that actually look like in practice? That is what we wanted to get to the bottom of. And here is what we said so far in our study. I want us to see our text this morning in light of its context. I don’t want us to just move on. These are things that we have to keep at the forefront of our minds.

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Here is what we have said:

‌A Healthy Church Must Understand the Gospel Rightly.

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A Healthy Church Has Members Who Are Committed to Prayer

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A Healthy Church Has Members Who Respect and Honor Their Roles in the Local Church.

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A Healthy Church Has Godly Leaders.

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The Gospel Is the Foundation of the Church.

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A Healthy Church Is a Church That Avoids Legalism.

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A Healthy Church Is a Church That Cares for Its Members.

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And as we move to close out this letter, here is what I think chapter 6 adds to our study....and this is what I am seeing as the Main Point

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Main Point: A Health Church Is a Church That Produces Good & Lasting Fruit.

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Now, some of you may read that sentence and wonder what in the world am I talking about. Like, you had no idea that the church was in the fruit making business. But that is not what we are talking about here. When we talk about bearing fruit.... we are talking about character and conduct. In order for a church to be healthy it must produce good fruit. If it is producing bad fruit... then it is unhealthy. Do you see where we are going with this? This should cause us to examine our hearts and lives to see what kind of fruit we are bearing.

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But it is not just the church as a whole that we are talking about here in 1 Timothy 6, we are talking about church leaders, as Paul helps Timothy deal with the false teachers that are in their midst… but on the other hand, this is being read to everyone in the church context and applies to everyone. So, no one is excluded here from these words.

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For us, then, what we want to do is to see the kind of qualities develop in our lives and the lives of those in the congregation that the Bible speaks about being good. We want to become a healthy church with healthy members… because if we are real honest, we cannot have one without the other.

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Body:

‌Last week, when we looked at verses 2-10, we talked about some bad qualities. We said the type of character that was being produced was.... What? Anyone remember what we said?

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Bad Fruit

‌Conceded, loves controversy, loves to argue about words, envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicion, friction, depraved in mind, deprived of the truth, greedy, and did not hold to the historic teaching of the faith.

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What we see today in our text is to be the response to that kind of character. If a Christian, leader or not, is not supposed to have those types of qualaites in their life… then what should a Christian be seeking after?

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That is where our text picks up this morning. Look back at verse 11 with me…

‌11 But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. (1 Ti 6:11).

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With yet another strong contrast in this last section of his letter, Paul gives Timothy some direction for what he is supposed to do as the Pastor/ leader of the local church. It has been made clear that there are false teachers in their midst, and Paul has pointed them out to Timothy, not by name but by their message and conduct. In the previous verses, Paul told Timothy to teach and urge these things.... the things that he was about to say. And the first warning came in verses 3-5 as Paul described the false teachers. They were people who had departed from the orthodox teaching of the church. They did not hold to sound doctrine or the teaching of Christ. They were preaching a man-man Gospel of legalism. But it wasn’t just their message that was messed up. Their character was also flawed. They were producing bad fruit. The were walking according to the flesh.. and they were only preaching for material gain. They saw this whole Gospel church stuff as a means to get wealthy.....

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And Now Paul looks at Timothy and tell him how he is to act in response to their actions. Notice that Timothy is called “O man of God” … this reveals something about his character. Timothy must have had a reputation for being a godly man in the church. That is something that we should all strive for in this life. We should want to be men and women of God. Isn’t that a reputation that would be good to have?

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So, we need to ask the question: How is that done? Paul tells him… he says flee these things. What things? The things that were just talked about in verses 2-10. Timothy is not to be like the rest of the world. He is to be different. Rather, instead of living like them, he is told to pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. I didn’t go here last week, but this section in 1 Timothy reminds me so much of Galatians 5.

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16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another Ga 5:16–26.

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The evil and sinful practices that we see in the false teachers are a product of them walking and living according to the flesh. They are only bearing that kind of fruit because that is what they are sowing. Timothy is told, in essence, to walk in the Spirit.

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Over and over again in the Scriptures, we are told to put to death the deeds of the body… and then to put on righteousness and the things that accord to godliness.

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What if you made that your aim in this life?

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What if your aim was to flee the things of this world and to pursue righteousness that is found through Christ?

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What would your life look like? How might your life be different than what it is right now?

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Not only is Timothy told to pursue righteousness… he is also told to fight the good fight of the faith. Look down at verse 12 with me.

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12 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 (1 Ti 6:12).

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Let’s take this in parts:

‌Fight the good fight of the faith- I take this to mean that Timothy is to keep walking with the Lord until he is taken home to be with the Lord. This is similar to what Paul says in 2 Timothy as he is nearing the end of his own life. He says, “ I have fought the fight. I have finished the race.....” He did not turn away from the faith no matter what was going on around him. It is a call to perseverance.

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This feeds into the next section of take hold of eternal life- Again, Paul is reminding Timothy that this life is not all that there is. There is more to come.. and those who believe in Jesus have reward beyond measure… and its not in material gain of this world.

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Before we move on. We need to ask the question: What is eternal life? What we have to see is that this is more than just going to Heaven when you die. There is more to eternal life than just that promise.

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Jesus said in John 17:1-3...When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent (John 17:1-3).

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Did you catch that in John? What is eternal life according to Jesus? To KNOW The Father & The Son. That is to have a personal relationship with them. That is what we are talking about here.

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Paul continues....to which you were called- The speaks of the Holy Spirit's role in Timothy's conversion. Timothy did not wake up one day and just decided to follow Jesus. There was a work that was taking place inside of his heart by the Holy Spirit that was calling him to Faith. That is what God does. Jesus had said that “no one can come to the Father unless he is drawn...” that is the calling of God. This is the role of the Holy Spirit. Jesus had said that the Spirit was coming into the world to convict the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment.

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But it isn’t just an inward work… as the Spirit was working in Timothy’s life… there did come a day when Timothy gave his life to Christ for Paul writes....and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses-

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Again, Timothy is being reminded of the events that surrounded his life when have gave his heart to the Lord. Salvation is based upon confession. What must a person confess? A person must confess their sins and their need of a Savior. They must confess Jesus as Lord and believe that He rose again from the grave. And that through Him and Him alone can a person be forgiven and made right with God. Timothy made this confession… but not only did he make this confession, he did this in the presence of many other people.

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Can the same thing be said about you this morning? Have you made this confession in your life? Have you accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of your life? Have you been given the gift of eternal life? Have you made this confession know to others? This is more than likely a reference to baptism. Have you publicly declared your faith to the world by being baptized? If not, I encourage you to do so. If you are not sure how, I encourage you, to talk to me or Phil and we would love nothing more than to talk about what that looks like and what the means for you.

‌How awesome would it be to see this baptismal tank worn out because of the number of people giving their lives to the Lord? That would be awesome. Let’s make that a matter of prayer. Let’s ask the Lord to do a mighty work here.

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But, again, notice, this is not just a one and done deal. Not only does Paul charge Timothy to pursue righteousness and the things that accord with it, but in verses 13-14 he gives Timothy another charge. Look at the text with me.

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13 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, 14 to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Ti 6:12–14).

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This charge does not come because Paul thinks that it is a good idea. Paul charges Timothy before God… who is the one who gives life to all things. Think about that for a moment. God is the author of life for ALL things. We exist because God wanted us to. Life has as its source God… and since God is its source, we should honor Him with our lives because it belongs to Him.

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So before God (the giver of life) and before Christ Jesus, who also made a confession, but his was before Pontius Pilate about belonging to God, Paul charges Timothy to keep the “Commandment unstained and free from reproach.”

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Before talking about the commandment here, because that is super important for us to think about. I want us to think about Jesus’ confession before Pilate. What in the world is Paul talking about here? We know that is not the same as Timothy's confession of needing a Savior… because Jesus was that Savior. Jesus did not confess sin because He had no sin. So, what was Jesus' confession before Pilate?

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Hold your place in 1 Timothy and turn to the Gospel of John with me. Turn to John 18:33-38.

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33 So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” 35 Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” 36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” 37 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.” 38 Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”( Jn 18:33–38)

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What was Jesus' confession? Jesus freely confessed that He was the Savior of the world. He was the Messiah that was promised to come. And Jesus made this confession knowing that it was going to cost Him His life.

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So, Paul is saying to Timothy… LOOK, I charge you in light of the God who gave you earthly life… and before the one who gave you eternal life to keep the “commandment unstained and free from reproach....” Well, what is the commandment that Timothy is to keep? There is some debate of exactly what Paul means here. Is he talking about the command to flee unrighteousness and pursue Christ Likeness? Is there something specific that Paul wants Timothy to do? I think, taken in context, and I think it fits in well with the New Testament teaching, that the command here is talking about his personal confession of Christ being Lord. We are told in 1 John, this is God’s commandment that we are to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That is what I think is at play here for belief in Jesus is not a one day ordeal and your done…this is a lifelong commitment.

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Timothy is to walk with the Lord, give no reason for people to despise the faith, that is what it means when it the text says, “unstained and free from reproach”… and then it says.... “Until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.” That is how long Timothy is to keep fighting the good fight. This is how long he is to flee from unrighteousness and chase after Christ… He is to do this until Jesus comes back.

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Well, when is that going to happen? Look at verse 15-16 with me.

‌15 which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 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 (1 Ti 6:15–16)

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In these verses, Paul gives us a description of God the Father. We are told that “He’ will display the coming of Christ at the proper time. God has a fixed time for when He is going to allow the Son to come back to earth. God is going to bring this about. We do not know the day or the hour, but God the Father does. Our job is to look for and wait… even pray for the return of Jesus.. but only God knows when this will happen. Our job in the mean time is to live a life that is pleasing to Him while we wait.

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Notice what else is said about God in these verses. He is described as the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords. What words? What a description. These are timely words for us to hear in 2024 right after an election. The Scriptures are clear on this fact… there is one ultimate ruler over the whole world… and it is not anyone in power or who sits on an earth throne or high position.. God is the ONLY Sovereign. He alone has the right to rule and reign over His creation. He is the King of ALL kings.. and Lord of all lords. Everyone else may think and act like they are the ones calling the shots, but this text reminds us that God is the ONLY one who is in control.

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And not only does God rule… He alone has immortality… He is never going to die and be removed from the throne either. How awesome is that?! Other kings come and go… but not our King. He remains forever and ever.

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God is said to dwell in unapproachable light. No one has ever seen Him nor can see Him… that is not in his perfected holiness form. However, there is coming a day when we get to see Him face to face for our lowly bodies will be transformed. We will day have glorified bodies where we get to walk with the Lord on the daily. Can you picture that? Our minds cannot even begin to think about how awesome that is going to be. That is what we are looking forward to.

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To this God... Paul gives praise as he offers up these words… “To Him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.”

‌Conclusion:

What a mighty God we serve! How awesome and glorious is He? Who can compare to Him? There is none like Him.

This text should just move us to worship. This text should move us to stand in awe of Him. And this text should call us to examine our lives in light of these truths.

So, as we think about this text this morning, I want to leave you with these questions, and I like to end with questions because they cause us to do some self-examination. We should never move away from our time with the Lord without having some sense for what He is calling us to do because of His word.

Based on The Word....

Are there things in your life that you need to flee from?

How can you pursue to walk in the Spirit this week to produce good fruit?

How can you fight the good fight of the faith?

Who can help you preserve in your faith walk?

Have you given your life to Christ as Savior?

Have you made this profession public?

Main Point: A Healthy Church Is a Church That Produces Good & Lasting Fruit.

Does that describe you? This is the goal of the Christian life. We are called to keep chasing God until the very end. I encourage you to keep fighting the good fight. Keep going. We are here for one another, to help each other grow in love and good works... Encouraging one another all the more as we see Jesus’ return draw closer.

If you don’t have a church home, I want to invite you to join us here as we seek to pursue Christ together. Life is a journey, and it is one that we don’t have to go alone.  Let’s continue to seek Christ together.

Let’s pray together.