1 Timothy 6:11 (2)
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But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.
But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.
But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will bring about at the proper time—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.
Last week, we dealt with the first part of this verse.
We began with the identity of Timothy.
we see here, Paul identifies Timothy as a man of God.
This wasn’t Timothy’s doing.
This new identity that he possesses is a result of Timothy being united to Christ in salvation.
In other words, He is a “man of God” because he has been united to God in Christ.
It is the Gospel of Jesus of Christ
We began last week by establishing that.
Secondly, we pointed out that Timothy’s identity determines his activity.
What does it look like practically that timothy is a man of God.
Last week, we dealt with the first command.
Flee these things. We covered what these things were.
Pride, Worldly ambition, Lies, False Teaching, Materialism and Love of Money.
And what we saw was if Timothy is to be successful in living as a Godly man, he will do so by running from the things that stifle Christian growth and maturity.
Last week, I read a quote from Alistair Begg, and I will read it again, because it captures the heart of Paul towards Timothy in these verses.
Alistair Begg writes:
“Spiritual Maturity can be determined in part by gauging what it is we are running from and what it is we are running to. What we have our hearts set on and what we have our hearts set against.”
So again, Last week we dealt with the things that we must have our hearts set against.
There are things as believers that we must flee.
We must RUN from them and never look back, and keep running. This verb is in the present tense which implies continual fleeing.
There is not a point in life that you can stop running from sin. no matter how old you may be, the enemy is the same, and his desires are the same.
So Young believers you must run from sin.
Mature believers, you must run from sin.
The goal in f=running away from sin is to run from the things that keep us from finishing well.
The goal is to finish the race well, and that won’t happen by accident. No one wins by accident.
Tom Elliff says this:
“No one falls out of bed one morning and finds that they have finished well.”
He also says:
“No one actually FALLS into big sins. They slip down into big sin through thousands of tiny decisions.”
Beloved, the things we think are miniscule and tiny will prove to be very large things if we neglect them over time.
I would just add hereL
I don’t think Paul is giving Timothy any new information here.
Timothy knows what sin is. Timothy knows those things that are pleasing to God. He knows the things that God hates.
Paul is giving Timothy a reminder.
Run from sin. And Pursue God and those things that are pleasing to him.
Indeed there are two parts to running well.
Running from sin.
Running to God.
Romans 7:
For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
Paul gives 6 things that we are to run toward in our Christian lives.
First he says Pursue Righteousness.
When I think of my own life, what keeps me from doing that?
Is it my sin? my unrighteousness?
The constant battle between the flesh and the spirit in my life. If I’m honest I feel like Paul when he says in
For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.
I feel that tension, but nevertheless we are called to keep running after righteousness.
My sin often hinders my pursuit of God.
I run after the things I should be running from.
This really makes no sense, They have hurt me time and time again, and yet I run back to them.
Mouse in the house (Trapped twice)
We are just like that mouse. We been hurt before. We know what sin brings, and we return to it to again have the rug ripped out from under us.
Paul says to Timothy here, “Pursue righteousness.”
Next and very similiar
Pursue godliness- godlikeness- holiness
What is it that keeps me from pursuing those things?
Is it my worldliness? Is it my infatuation with the pleasures of this world.
Have I not been let down enough by the pleasures of the world?
Have i not found them time and time again to leave me wanting and dry?
I fear, at times, I am the opposite of Moses.
By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward.
That is why Paul urges Timothy to pursue righteousness.
Hebrews 11:
At times, I run after the passing pleasure rather than my eternal good.
Paul says pursue godliness.
Godlikeness.
In other words, holiness.
As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
As believers we are to pursue being more like our God.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;
Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
A man of God runs from worldliness and pursues godliness.
3. Pursue Faith.
What keeps me from pursuing God?
Is it my lack of faith?
Is it my failure to trust God?
Has it not become evident to me yet that I cannot possibly trust in myself or anything else in this world yet?
Do we really trust God?
I’ll be honest: I find my self anxious and filled with worry about this and that, because I trust in myself and desire to be in control.
Thats why my first response in my sin is worry and not prayer.
I fail to trust God and understand the truth of God’s Word that he truly is the sovereign orchestrater of all things in my life for my good.
Sure as a pastor, I can quote
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
But at times, I act as if I believe i could have given myself something better.
I sing the song “This is my Father’s World” wherein I proclaim:
This is my Father's world:
O let me ne'er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong,
God is the Ruler yet.
This is my Father's world:
Why should my heart be sad?
The Lord is King: let the heavens ring!
God reigns; let earth be glad!
That is why Paul urges Timothy to pursue righteousness.
I sing those hymns of trust, while in my mind and in my daily living, I find my self wandering to the temporary for help rather than the eternal God who holds all things together.
Pause.
And in pursuit of those things, I fail to pursue God through prayer with Thanksgiving because of my lack of faith.
Paul tell Timothy Trust God. He echoes Solomon:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.
So you will find favor and good repute In the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding.
Why is it that we fail to have faith so often?
and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus.
We are saved by grace through faith in the perfect work of Christ in his perfect life, his atoning death, and his resurrection.
even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus.
If we can trust him to save our eternal soul, surely we can trust him with everything else.
But My righteous one shall live by faith; And if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.
Hebrews 10:
We are to live lives of enduring trust and faith in God.
For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. For yet in a very little while, He who is coming will come, and will not delay. But My righteous one shall live by faith; And if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.
The man of God must Pursue faith.
4. Pursue love.
What hinders my pursuit of God?
A lack of love for God?
Make no mistake, A man pursues what he loves.
“It’s certain that the thing a man’s heart is most taken with and set upon is his God.” Jeremiah Burroughs
What is it that I love? What is it that you love?
That only takes a few minutes to figure out if we are honest with ourselves.
We simply need to ask:
“Rules for Self Discovery:
1. What we want most;
2. What we think about most;
3. How we use our money;richard baxter quotes
What occupies my extra time?
What do I think about and talk about?
4. What we do with our leisure time;
5. The company we enjoy;
6. Who and what we admire;
7. What we laugh at.”
― A. W. Tozer
On what do I spend my money?
With what do I fill my eyes, my mind, my heart?
If you have a hard time thinking of these things for yourself, ask your self: What do my friends love? Because We have a tendency to congregate with people who love the same things that we do.
If I am honest this morning, Whenever I consider what draws the affections of my heart, its clear that the worldly and sinful things I love often keep me from pursuing God and from keeping what according to Jesus are the two foremost commandments.
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ “This is the great and foremost commandment. “The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ “This is the great and foremost commandment. “The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
The man of God pursues love of God and love of neighbor.
How do we increase our love of God? I don’t think its very complicated. I think love of God is increased through the regular and constant means of grace that God has given us.
We:
Study His Word.
We Pray.
We regularly meet together and hear the preached Word of God.
We evangelize the lost.
We fellowship with others who are loving God well.
The pain of this world encourages our love of God.
W
I believe that suffering and experiencing the temporary nature of worldly pleasure helps us love God more.
In other words, we love God more because we find Him to be better than everything else we love.
Let me encourage you believer:
Pursue the love of God and let who He is and what He has done for us in salvation drive out the inferior things that seek to pull your heart away from Him.
Is it a lack of endurance, perseverance, and steadfastness?
Pursue love.
5. Pursue perseverance.
Why do we tend to give up so easy?
Is it a lack of endurance, perseverance, steadfastness, Is it laziness?
It’s February 2nd. How many of y’all have given up on your resolutions?
We do that do we not?
We start off with the desire for something good, but we tend to let up....because its....hard. Its difficult. It takes work. It takes pain.
Is my pursuit of God as insincere as my New Years Resolutions?
Do I have the tendency to let up in my pursuit of God? … because its hard. Difficult. Because it takes work and its painful to pursue God?
Do I think that I already do enough?
Do I have the tendency to let the spiritual disciplines in my life fall off. The spiritual disciplines of daily Bible intake, prayer, regular meeting together with God’s people, etc.
Do we have the tendency to say “I’m done” when it comes to serving God? When it gets painful? When no one notices any more.
Do I h
To say, as if we are the authority over our lives, “I have been faithful long enough. I’ve done that for years. I’ll let someone else do that now.”
I want to speak to our senior citizens for just a moment here specifically.
The Christians life is one of perserverance
My fear is that in our country, the culture of retirement is not just in relation to our occupations. It has found its way in the church where we think, at a certain age, we have the ability to retire and coast to the finish line in the Christian life as well.
Beloved.
That is not biblical. Its a lack of perseverance at best.
Its laziness at worse. How dare we be lazy in the pursuit of God.
Two weeks ago, you had before you a picture of what finishing well and perseverance looks like when Pastor Gordon Graham stood in this pulpit at 85 years old battling shingles and he stood and preached the Word of God.
What excuses are we making for our lack of perseverance in the pursuit of God?
Whatever they are, they are no excuse to stop running.
You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin;
Hebrews 12
Persevere.
Whatever you are going through. KEEP RUNNING. Through pain, through suffering, despite your age, health, your wealth. Pursue perseverance. Perseverance implies difficulty not ease.
“You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.
Persevere.
Lastly, Pursue gentleness.
The word here meaning humility. Gentleness.
God I need help with this.
because I fail to see myself in light of who God is
I am a man of pride at times.
To be transparent here:
I find myself at times angry and frustrated with others. I find it hard to forgive at times.
I have the tendency to strike harshly when someone else wrong me or sins.
To break out the rod when someone is in the wrong.
To say with a hard heart, “If the shoes fits wear it.”
“The truth hurts.”
The truth may hurt, but the deliverer of truth shouldn’t.
And when I am not gentle and I come at others with an attitude of pride, I am not pursuing gentleness or God.
Paul says here Pursue Gentleness.
If the truth of God’s Word and the Gospel hurts someone, thats to be expected. I don’t ever anticipate coming to God’s Word and leaving without a cut somewhere in my heart.
But if I hurt someone by my words by being not gentle, thats a completely different issue.
Now, let me be clear here. Gentleness does not mean passiveness and acceptance of sin or falsehood.
No one would ever make the argument that the apostle Paul was against confrontation or that he was just passive when it comes to sin.
I would even say here that Gentleness here implies confrontation.
In other words, Gentleness is not saying that we don’t confront error or false teaching or sin and do so with boldness and clarity. It is saying with must confront sin and falsehood with charity.
For the kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power. What do you desire? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?
What do you desire? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?
Do we really think Paul is saying that after this letter?
In other words, Gentleness is not the result of passivity. Gentleness is the result humility.
Gentleness is dealing with the attitude with which we carry ourselves and the truth.
Paul models this well.
Read 1 Corinthians. Paul loves that church. He loves them enough to call out their sin, and he does so with gentleness, and he ends the letter with love.
In Galatians Paul commands believers:
Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted.
Gentleness acknowledges our own imperfection as we biblically approach and confront others.
Pursue Gentleness. It matter not only what you say but how you say it.
These are the things we pursue.
Verse 11 is packed full of good truth. I know I have spent two weeks on 18 words. But I believe it is important to understand what is expected from the man of God.
This passage answers the question: What is biblical maturity?
What does it mean to be a man or woman of God? It tells us
It means running from sin, ungodliness, and worldliness, and running to these godly things.
I want to mention one last thing that really is the key to all of this. Its tied to our identity in Jesus.
The wonderful part about all of this is that as believers, we are not left alone to do this.
God has given us His Holy Spirit as the empowering agent of sanctification in our life. The HS is present in every believer here and he is at work.
It is by the Spirit, that we kill sin and run sin.
for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
It is also by the Spirit that we pursue God. In fact, some of the very things mentioned here are listed in the fruits of the Spirit.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
We pursue these things as the presence of the Spirit bear these fruits in our life.
We can’t expect these things without the Spirit.
We must pursue, and the Spirit empowers this pursuit. He is the breath in our lungs and the wind at our backs as we run from sin and pursue righteousness.
Believer:
What are you pursuing? What do you need to confess and repent over today? None of us have arrived. All of us have stumbled and fallen in the pursuit. Are you stumbling forward or are you falling back?
Flee and Purs
We are called as believers to continuously flee and pursue the things of God.
Unbeliever: None of this may make sense to you. You may not have a desire for any of that.
That makes sense seeing that Paul is talking to a man who is a believer and is identified as a man of God. These are things the man of God pursues in light of his relationship with and in Christ.
In other words, You, as an unbeliever, cannot possibly be successful is pursuing the things of God apart from a relationship with God.
To try and pursue these things apart from Christ is powerless. There’s no way to do it.
You must first be united to Christ. You must be in him before you can be like him.
These things this morning are not the cause of salvation. Rather they are caused by salvation. They are the work of God in the believer’s life.
So Here’s my plea to the unbeliever this morning.
Repent and Believe the Gospel, and submit yourself fully to His Lordship.
Call upon the name of the Lord for salvation and be saved.
That is why Paul urges Timothy to pursue righteousness.
Righteousness is the opposite of sin.