Living Faithfully in a Fallen World

It’s not hard to see how much more secular America has become over the last decade. We look at what is happening with the violence of rioting and looting in some of the larger cities these last few months. Regardless of what your politics or personal views may be around all the issues surrounding this unrest. This growing unrest is not because people are becoming more like Jesus. We need the Kingdom of God to spread like never before. We need the gospel to change the hearts of people like never before. I believe more than ever now that is our hope.

The answer isn’t political or even social, it’s spiritual. I don’t think that it is surprising that we see America the sickest at a time that the church seems to be weakest. Sociologist have for years been noting the decline of the church in America. Especially as the culture grows increasing secular. But my hope is that the decline that we see in the churches is a pruning of the church. It is a burning away of the chaff so that we know who the true church really is. Now, more than, the world needs the church because we have the life saving gospel of Christ.

Sociologist call our world post-Christian. A world where the society no longer knows or respects the gospel. That’s a similar world that Timothy was in as he was trying to lead this church which set in a pre-Christian society that didn’t recognize or respect the gospel either. As Paul writes to Timothy, he tells Timothy as a leader that he needs to step up. And that the leaders of the church need to step up.

Notice in v.11, Paul addressed Timothy.

1 Timothy 6:11 ESV

11 But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.

George Barna wrote over a decade ago.

I have reached several conclusions regarding the future of the Christian Church in America. The central conclusion in that the American church is dying due to a lack of strong leadership. In this time of unprecedented opportunity and plentiful resources, the church is actually losing influence. The primary reason is the lack of leadership. Nothing is more important than leadership.-George Barna

That’s why Paul starts by reminding Timothy who he is.

1 Timothy 6:11 ESV

11 But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.

In the Old Testament, “man of God”, was a title reserved for the leaders of Israel-Moses, Samuel, David, and the like. But here’s something that you need to see. It’s not used just to refer to leaders. In the NT, it is used to refer to any mature Christian that growing.

2 Timothy 3:16–17 ESV

16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

That means that living on mission starts with the leaders, but it can’t stay just in the leaders. For us the change the world, the gospel has the truly change the whole church. Maybe the reason that we haven’t made more of an impact on the world is because the gospel hasn’t had all the impact it needs to have on the church yet.

What is it that should characterize each of our lives?

I. Concern Yourself with God’s Priorities

A. Personal Devotion (v.11)

In. v.11, Paul starts by telling Timothy to flee the world and purse the character of Christ.

1 Timothy 6:11 ESV

11 But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.

Noticed the two verbs in this verse (flee, pursue). They are very purposeful words.

Flee is not simply a slow meandering away. But an intentional and immediate move away from something usually dangerous. If you child runs in the road and there is an 18 wheeler approaching, you don’t whisper in a soft voice. Child of mine, “I would like for you to make your way back toward me in your timing.” Now, you yell at them to “get away from that road now.”

Paul in a since is yelling at Timothy to flee intentionally and immediately. We have to ask, from what? What is so dangerous. Paul says, “Flee these things.” He’s just told us what “these things” are in the previous text and throughout the book. From people who live with worldly priorities. Living for the the love of money (v.9-10). People who fight constantly, who are depraved, slander and lie to further their own agenda (v.4).

He not only tells him to flee something. He also tells him to pursue something.

We are not to simply live a life going away from something. But we are to live passionately pursuing something, moving toward something, striving for something? What is that something?

1 Timothy 6:11 ESV

11 But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.

Here’s the irony of that. We are to pursue something that we can’t in our own power produce. Does this list sound familiar to anyone? It sounds a lot like another list that Paul gives in Galatians 5:22-23.

Galatians 5:22–23 ESV

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.

The fruit of the Spirit is what is produced when the Holy Spirit is working freely and unhindered in your life. To get righteous, godliness, faith, loves, steadfastness, and gentleness, we have to pursue Christ with everything we have. Knowing him, loving him, loving his word, seeking to obey him. When that happens then we find that the characteristics of Christ begin to bud and satisfy our lives. Then we begin to look radically different from the world. Then we can change the world because the power that changed us lives in us to change others.

Our personal devotion to Christ is of first importance to God.

B. Doctrinal Fidelity (v. 12a)

1 Timothy 6:12 ESV

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.

The command to “fight the good fight of faith” implies that the faith coming under attack. These false teachers in the church are dismissing and teaching in direct opposition of the true gospel. The problems in the church were being cause by bad theology.

Quite frankly, the problems that we are seeing in America today are a direct result of bad theology. What we are really seeing in America today is an attempted takeover of Cultural Marxism. You can do your own research on that, but I assure you that it is incompatbile with Christian theology.

Here’s one aspect that you can clearly see. Biblical minded believers believe that mankind is inheritly sinful. Yes, we were made in the image of God and can do remarkable things. But, are still depraved in mind and spirit. Left to our own devised apart from God’s grace we would devolve into horrible sinfulness. Therefore, God gives the common grace to society like a governement to administer justice and police to check our sinful desires and protect society from the harm brought by sin in the world.

But you hear the most liberal of the nation crying out to defund the police and replace them with social workers. Why would they say that? It’s a theological difference. They don’t believe that mankind is inherently sinful. They believe that mankind is inherently good and just gets off path from time to time. And social workers would help people see the right way again.

What lies underneath our problems in a theological dissagreement. Biblical Christianity is under attack even as it is at the heart of Judeo-Christian law that undergirds our government.

So, we have to fight the good fight of faith. We have to speak the truth of our faith into a dying world. And we have to do it with Persevering Resolve. That’s our next characteristic.

C. Persevering Resolve (v.12b)

1 Timothy 6:12 ESV

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.

The personal resolve to live out the Christian life under attack comes from an understanding that the eternal life that we have in Christ starts now. Some people are under the notion that we have to wait until we die to experience eternal life. No, it starts as soon as we repent of sin and believe upon Christ by faith.

Think about it like this. Eternal life is not simply a length of life, it is a quality of life. In Christ, we begin to live an eternal kind of life. The kind of life that we were created for; we are called to live now. In this world. It is available to everyone who makes the good confession in Christ.

John 10:10 ESV

10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

We can persevere because we live real life today in Christ.

II. Trust in God’s Care for Us (v.13-14)

It is a temptation for us to say, “I can’t really be concerned with God’s priorities because I’ve got my own priorities.” Someone has got to look out for me. Here’s what is so cool about this text. Paul says that if you live for God, then God looks out for you. God concerns himself with your concerns. And, God can take care of you better than you can. So, Paul gives Timothy two things.

A. Needed Encouragement (v.13)

1 Timothy 6:13 ESV

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,

Paul says, “Yeah, you have a big task ahead of you, but look who is in your presence. God is. Jesus is.” Remember who they are?

The God who walks with you and is constantly in your presence, is the God who gave life to all things. Nothing even exist without him. He gives live to all the plants and animals and people. Even the people that are attacking you and the faith the most only breathe because he gives them breath.

We are hear to make the good confession in front of them.

That’s exactly what the Jesus who is with you daily did when he was in the body on earth. He gave the good confession before Pontius Pilate, the man who ultimately gave the order to crucify him.

This is a reference to John 8:33-38. The Jewish leaders had arrested Jesus and brought him before Pilate. Listen to this exchange between Pilate and Jesus.

John 18:33–38 ESV

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?” After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him.

Jesus never wavered from the call of the Father over his life. God does not ask us to do anything that Jesus himself didn’t do. In the face of suffering he proclaimed his authority. In the face of suffering, we continue to do the same. We do it knowing that we are onteh side of truth. Pilate asked, “What is truth?” People of our day talk about “my truth, your truth, his truth, her truth.” They don’t know what truth is either. But, we know Jesus is truth and he is with us.

Hebrews 13:5 ESV

5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

B. Renewed Charge (v.14)

With that encouragement we can “ keep the commandment” (v.14) to make the good confession, fight the fight of faith over truth, and live a life of devotion to God.

1 Timothy 6:14 ESV

14 to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,

We need to have our commandment renewed, so with a new since of purpose we can live for Christ, until we see Christ or Christ comes for us.

III. Constantly focus on God (v.15-16)

“If you look at the world, you'll be distressed. If you look within, you'll be depressed. If you look at God you'll be at rest.” -Corrie Ten Boom

Paul finishes this text reminding him again who God is.

It’s more than we can breakdown in detail this morning. I’ll save it for another time. So let me just read it to you to remind us all whose presence is with us everyday in this corrupt world.

1 Timothy 6:15–16 ESV

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.

We want Jesus to come back. One day, he will. And it will be at the perfect time. Let’s leave this place trusting his timing and trusting his dominion as we spend our days serving him faithfully in this fallen world.