Sunday Sermon: Fight the Good Fight (1 Timothy 6:11-14)

The Call to Godliness in 1 Timothy 6:11-16

You are listening to the teaching ministry of Gabriel Hughes Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. On this podcast we feature 20 minutes of Bible study through a New Testament book. On Thursday is a study in the Old Testament and then we answer questions from the listeners on Friday.

Each Sunday we are pleased to share our sermon series.

Here's Pastor Gabe. I was reading earlier this week from a 17th century Puritan named Arthur Hildersham and he said the following. True religion, where it is received, will command the heart and the whole man.

Let a man profess what he will. If his heart and life is not reformed, he is a hypocrite. And whatever worship he does to God is but a false worship. Today we will hear again in this passage the call to pursue godliness.

That our life and our doctrine would be consistent with one another. As Paul charges Timothy to fight the good fight of the faith. Let us stand together as we read hearing the word of the King in 1 Timothy 6 verses 11 to 16.

I'm reading from the English Standard Version. Hear the word of the Lord. But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 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 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. 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.

You may be seated as we pray Lord as we come to this text, excuse me Heavenly Father as we come to this text today. As we get closer to our conclusion Of this letter that Paul had written to his servant Timothy Preaching in the church in Ephesus I pray as these charges have been given to a man that Paul calls man of God.

That we likewise would desire to be men and women of God. We are men and women in God's possession. We are vessels belonging to you. And so God as you would use us For your purposes For the advancement of your kingdom For the proclamation of your word.

May we be evangelically minded. We are in pursuit of righteousness. And we are in pursuit of others. So that they would hear the word of the gospel of Christ And come to salvation and believe. May we continue in this word Growing in these things that have been mentioned here.

Godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness. Until the day of Christ appears. It is in the name of Jesus that we pray. And all God's people said, amen. I heard a story recently of D .L. Moody.

The famous American evangelist. The Moody Church in Chicago. And also Moody University named after him Moody Bible College. Moody had gone over to London. And he was preaching in the United Kingdom. And there were some ministers there.

Some priests most likely who were Anglican Who had been listening to Moody. And they became rather jealous of him. They saw that this man who was a Yankee Who was an uneducated man. He had nothing better than a sixth grade education.

Was preaching such powerful sermons. And people were listening to him And coming to hear him in droves. And he would do these evangelical invitations Of people to come to Christ. And there were people who were repenting of their sin And putting their faith and trust in Jesus.

And these Anglican ministers watching Moody do this. Were going, how does he do it? This uneducated man. How does he preach these powerful sermons? And attract people in such a powerful way. And so they went to the suite where Moody was staying.

It was a place where he was put up by his benefactors. So that he would have a place to stay while he was there in London. And these ministers came and they knocked on the door. And they said, Mr. Moody We want to talk to you about how you preach such powerful sermons.

And how so many people listen to you. And he said, well, sir, come on in. Let's have a conversation. He said, let me take you over here to the window. I want you to look out this window. And I want you to tell me what it is that you see.

And the flat where Moody was staying overlooked a park. And these ministers stood there at a couple of different windows. One on one side, one on the other. And one of the ministers said, well, when I look out, I see There's children playing out there in the park.

And then another minister said, well, I see a couple walking hand in hand. And another minister said, well, I see someone sitting on a bench feeding the birds. And when they turned around and looked, Moody was standing there in tears.

And they said, well, Mr. Moody, what is it that you see? And Moody said, I see people who are going to hell. If they do not have the gospel of Jesus Christ. And without giving further word, Moody in effect said to these ministers.

That's my passion. That's my heart.

And here the apostle Paul, as he has been giving these instructions To his servant Timothy. We've read some pretty deep doctrines As we've gone through 1 Timothy. Some basic and simple instructions that any one of us can understand and want to follow.

But at the same time, there's been some deep truths that have been spoken about here. And we see that here. Basic instructions, deep doctrine. And yet at the heart of all of this is this instruction That Paul gives to Timothy to fight the good fight of the faith.

Over the course of this letter, we have heard Paul's heart for people and his desire for Timothy to have that same heart. Have a heart for the people in your church. And have a heart even for people that are outside the church.

Do the work of an evangelist, an instruction that Paul has given. And so as we read these things here That Paul is going to give with regard to instructions to Timothy. Closing instructions that we might consider them As we're getting closer to the end of 1 Timothy.

Yet we hear from the apostle Paul. A man who has a heart for people. A desire for God and a desire for others to know God. So that this fighting the good fight of the faith Is for the sake of Timothy.

It's for the sake of himself But even for the sake of the people that have been entrusted to his care. As we look at this passage today We see this broken up into three parts. The first two parts are exhortation.

We have a first exhortation and a second exhortation. You'll notice that this first exhortation is marked. It's punctuated by these action words. Flee these things. Pursue righteousness. Fight the good fight of the faith.

Take hold of the eternal life. The second exhortation is more broad. Where Paul says 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.

And here it is the exhortation in verse 14. Keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach. Until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. So you have in that first exhortation things that Timothy must do.

And even setting himself as an example to the rest of the body In terms of the pursuit of godliness. But in that second exhortation has to do with the doctrine. Keep the doctrine close. Don't let it go.

It is the doctrine itself that is driving you To flee from sin and pursue righteousness. And to fight the good fight of the faith. Lastly, we have in verses 15 to 16 an exaltation. So you have a first exhortation, a second exhortation.

And then an exaltation of Christ. In verses 15 to 16 with some incredible and lofty language Even higher than anything that Paul is used in this letter up to this point He is the blessed and only sovereign.

He is the king of kings and lord of lords. He alone has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light. No one has ever seen him nor can see him. And to him be honor and eternal dominion.

Amen.

So in these things as we hear these exhortations And even this great exaltation of mighty doctrine This charge is being given to Timothy to fight the good fight of the faith. And as we hear this instruction given from the apostle Paul to his servant Timothy May we also hear and understand how we are to fight the good fight.

How we are to pursue these same things. Righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness. And find application in these things in the life of every Christian. So let's come back to the first part here.

Flee Sin and Pursue the Marks of the Man of God

This first exhortation where Paul begins this statement. With this statement As for you, oh man of god. Now this phrase man of god. This title appears over 70 times in the bible. It occurs only one time.

Applied to only one person in the new testament. And that's Timothy. He is the only person in the new testament who is called man of god. The word appears 70 times. Or the title appears 70 times in the old testament.

And it's applied to men like Moses. He's the first one in the bible who is called man of god. Samuel, even David is called man of god. The angel of the lord in judges 13 is referred to as the man of god.

More often than not it is a title that is given to a prophet. Elijah and Elisha were both called men of god. When somebody came to speak to Elisha He said I've come to talk to the man of god. There are even prophets in the old testament that are not given names.

We don't know what their names are. And they're called man of god. In first kings 13 there is such an account. I'm in first kings chapter 13 here. And it was Jeroboam who was standing by the altar to make offerings.

And the man of god came to Jeroboam and said O altar, altar. Thus says the lord Behold a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name. And he shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places Who make offerings on you.

And human bones shall be burned on you. So these priests who had been sacrificing humans to god. These priests would end up being sacrificed on those altars As they would be put to death for the abominable practices That had been done in judah at that particular time.

Now this was a prophecy concerning a king named Josiah. That wouldn't come about for several generations. But that was exactly what would be fulfilled. This king would come exactly by that name, Josiah.

And here is this unnamed prophet Who's known only by man of god Who is making this declaration at the altar. Well Jeroboam was incensed by this. And he stretched out his hand and he said Seize that man.

And when he did his hand withered up And shrank right there in his very presence As he had it extended in front of him. Well this terrified Jeroboam. And he spoke to the man of god and said Plead to Yahweh on my behalf That my hand would be restored.

The man of god did so. And his hand was indeed restored to him. Well more goes on in this account of this man of god. He was told by god After Jeroboam's arm was restored He said come into my house and eat and drink.

And the man of god said no God has told me in coming here to deliver this message That I'm not to eat and drink anything. And I'm even supposed to go back By the way, by a different way than I came. And so indeed the man of god was returning back To the place where he came from But going by a different way.

Well there was a prophet who was told about this. There's this man of god came Spoke this word to Jeroboam And his hand shrank. And then the man of god restored it. The prophet heard about this and said Which way did he go?

And so the prophet went the way that the man of god had gone. And he came to the man of god and said Come to my house and eat and drink. And the man of god said no. Yahweh told me that I am not to eat and drink anything.

And I am even to return back to the place where I came from By a different way. Well this prophet said an angel has come to me And has said to me that you are to come to my house And you are to eat and drink.

And the man of god said oh okay. Then I'll go with you to your house and eat and drink. And as he was sitting in the prophet's house Eating and drinking. The prophet said to him you have disobeyed Yahweh.

For he told you not to eat and drink. And now you won't be able to return to the place that you came from. The man of god was back on his way. And as he was on the road a lion came and devoured him And drug him to the side of the road and left him there With his donkey on one side and the lion on the other.

And as people passed by that place They saw the donkey, the dead man of god, and the lion right there Realizing that this man had disobeyed god. And this was the penalty or the punishment for his disobedience.

So there is quite a an honor in being called man of god. But there's a little bit of terror in that as well. For god places a higher responsibility A higher expectation on the person who would be his man Who is in his possession to do the work that god has assigned for him to do.

And surely these things were on timothy's mind. When paul called him man of god It was bittersweet to a certain sense. There was a sense in which timothy is going what an honor. Paul the apostle is calling me by the title That moses and samuel and david were called.

But i also remember that there was a man of god who did not do As Yahweh had instructed him to do. And he was devoured on the way. And so timothy recognizing I must keep my way pure. I must do as god has instructed And not diverting to the left or to the right.

And so here paul calls timothy that man of god. You oh man of god. Flee these things. Flee what things. Well in direct context it's going to be the things that we just read about. Remember the nature of the false teachers that we had heard about last week in verses Three through five.

A person who goes away from the sound words of our lord jesus christ. And the teaching that accords with godliness Is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. And because he is not drawn to the good doctrine of christ He divides the church.

We're not pulled together in unity. But rather we are pulled apart from one another. For this man has an unhealthy craving for controversy And quarrels about words which produce envy dissension slander evil suspicion And constant friction.

Just about every word that paul could use to indicate division happening. If we're not in the sound words of our lord christ We will not be together. And so instead paul says you've got these false teachers here Who are in pursuit of godliness.

They're in pursuit of something that looks like godliness. But they are pursuing it for their own selfish gain. They imagine that godliness is a means of gain. They do what they do to profit from it. Maybe they do what they do to make a living out of it.

You know there could be some pastors out there Who will never get rich and famous. They don't have these huge mega churches. And they're not living in big mansions. But nonetheless they like you know preaching is easy for me.

I can do that so that's going to be my occupation. That's going to be my way of life. So they do the role of a pastor or a preacher. Just so they can make a living. In which case their heart is not really in preaching the gospel.

Their heart is in just providing for my needs and my family The idea and the mindset is still on the money.

And not on the mission.

And so this is a person who imagines that godliness is a means of gain. But paul says in chapter 6 verse 6. Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world and we cannot take anything out of it.

But if we have food and clothing with these things we will be content. But then paul goes on to warn about those who desire to be rich. And they fall into temptation and into many snares. And he says in verse 10.

The love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. And it is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith. And have pierced themselves with many pangs. And it's exactly this that paul says.

Flee that. Don't have anything to do with that. Don't let your mind go astray from the mission. Remember what you are in this for. What you were called to. Why did you wander around with me for so long.

And in so many dangers that we were in. The things that you witnessed. The persecutions that paul went through. Why did you go through all of that. Was it for the money. It was for the message. It was for the declaration of the gospel of jesus christ.

To the lost.

That those who hear it would come to faith and salvation in jesus christ. So flee these things that are not of god. And instead paul says pursue. Pursue righteousness godliness faith love steadfastness and gentleness.

So he says flee these things. We have several places in scripture where we are told to flee something. 1 corinthians chapter 6 where it says flee sexual immorality. Later on in 2nd timothy 2 22 paul tells timothy.

Flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness. So there are several places we're told to flee something. But it's never just flee. We're supposed to turn in the direction of righteousness. This goes back to the very first declaration of the gospel that was made by christ.

In the gospels in matthew 4 17 The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel. Mark 1 15 the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of god is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel. So jesus doesn't just say repent.

He also says believe. You're turning from one thing and you're turning to another right. Just like you take a coin and you turn it around. You might be turning heads around the other way but you're turning tails toward you.

And so in this way, I guess a better way to put it. You're turning tail towards sin and you're turning your head toward god. That would that'd be the the better way to use the illustration. We're turning away from something to something else.

We're repenting of sin and believing in christ and his gospel. And so likewise here paul gives that same application. Flee the way of the false teachers. And pursue the marks of the man of god. Righteousness godliness faith love steadfastness and gentleness.

Let's go through through these things again. Just like we did when we read of these things back in chapter 4. First of all, you have righteousness. This is synonymous with justice. So it is understanding what is deemed right by the lord and pursuing that.

As you have heard it said in matthew 6 33. Seek first the kingdom of god and his righteousness. And all the things that you need will be added to you as well. Now in seeking the righteousness of christ.

This does not mean that we don't have righteousness. Once we become christians, so now we have to go looking for it. No, the moment you come to faith in jesus, you are made righteous. And there's no more righteousness you need than what god has already given to you in his son.

When you come to faith in christ jesus no longer sees you as an as an enemy. But he receives you as a friend. God does not see you as the object of his wrath and his judgment. But he sees you as the object of his love and affection.

Having been adopted into his family through the blood of jesus christ. You are made righteous clothed in his righteousness in the presence of god. You have all the righteousness you will ever need. You don't need any more.

As christ is completely righteous. So that is the way that god sees you when you've been clothed in his righteousness. So then what does it mean to pursue righteousness? This isn't righteousness in that same sense that we've been clothed in the righteousness of christ.

But rather it is going after those things that god has said is right. When i've gone through this with my kids and i've asked them what does righteousness mean? Give me a definition of righteousness and i'll ask them.

What's the first word right there at the beginning of righteousness? It's the word right. So it's doing what is right same with justice. What's a definition of justice. What's the word right at the beginning of justice.

Just it's doing what is just but even. More specifically it's doing that which god has said is righteous. What god has said is just. So we need to continually be after that every day even asking ourselves What can I do today that is good in the sight of god and we go after those things and pursue them.

The next one on the list is godliness. This is one we've talked about over and over. Over the course of this letter, especially in the second half. For it was said to timothy back in chapter four have nothing to do with irreverent silly myths.

Rather train yourself for godliness. What is godliness? It is piety. It is holiness. It is devotion to god. It is the desire to be like god or to grow in christlikeness. This is what it means to be godly you might take in contrast to godliness.

There's worldliness. Do you want to be like the world or do you want to be like god? And so the desire to be more holy as he is holy as the instruction is given in first peter chapter one. So we pursue growing in godliness.

Next one on the list on the list is faith. And as I had said previously when we saw that in chapter four. This doesn't mean that you don't have faith. If you are a follower of jesus christ you have faith.

So what does it mean then to pursue faith? But we rather grow in faithfulness. We grow in our confidence In the word that god has given to us. For when we first come to faith in jesus christ, surely we believe this word.

But how immature is your trust in that word as you continue to grow in the word you become more Confident of the word you are more and more sure these things are right and true. God has said my sins are forgiven and I believe it.

God has said there is laid up for me an eternal reward with christ forever in glory, and I believe it. And your desire and your pursuit of things in this life becomes less and less about the stuff of this world and more and more about the things of christ.

As paul gave the instruction in colossians chapter three. If you are a follower of christ seek the things that are above where christ is Seated at the right hand of god the more we seek those things the more we grow in our faith.

One commentary says the following about this about this word and where it sits in this verse. Faith is always the gift from god and never something that can be produced by people in short Pistis, which is the greek word translated faith here.

Meaning faith for the believer. Is god's divine persuasion. It is therefore distinct from human belief.

Yet.

Involving it. The lord continuously births faith in the yielded believer so they can know what he prefers the persuasion of his will.

Unquote.

As first john 5 4 says for everyone who has been born of god overcomes the world and this is the victory. That he has overcome the world our faith. The next word number four we see on this list is love and this is the greek word agape.

Which means benevolence and the interesting thing when I was looking each one of these words up in a greek dictionary. Every single one of them up through these words righteousness godliness faith love every one of them had as part of their definition What god desires.

So righteousness is what god calls right. Godliness is what? Is is christlikeness being like god. Faith is what god has said is meaningful and true and good. Love is God's affections for certain things.

So likewise our affections must be oriented into those things that god loves. If we have a heart that desires godliness Then we are going to love the things that god loves and we are going to hate the things that god hates namely our sin.

A lot of us are walking around trying to find the sins of others. But we're not as diligent to put the death the sins in ourselves my friends the sins and other people. Won't kill you the sin in yourself will.

So we should be more about putting to death the sinfulness and unrighteousness that is within us. And and bringing to life understanding those things that have been brought to life in us by faith in christ that pursuit of Righteousness and godliness in his name.

We love what god loves and so likewise in being said To timothy to pursue love it is also being said to him god loves men. You must love men. God so loved the world. He gave his son. You must love the world that you would preach about his son.

So that whoever believes in him would not perish But have everlasting life. The next on the list number five. Is steadfastness steadfastness? Is endurance or patiently waiting for enabled by god To remain in christ even amidst the challenges of life.

I loved the selection. By our musicians today when josh led us in how firm a foundation. Let me remind you again of that fourth verse when through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie My grace all sufficient will be thy supply.

The flame.

Shall shall not hurt thee I only design thy dross to consume.

And thy gold.

To refine. We will go through fiery trials, but god has has put us in these situations to refine us. To make us more like him to get rid of the dross and the sin. May those things be burned up and what is left is those things that are righteous and good and pure.

This is steadfastness. That when difficult times come it doesn't call us to shrink. It doesn't cause us to shrink back or fall away instead. We press on. Because we understand as said in Psalm 23, this was the psalm that I closed with last week, but in psalm 23 Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for you are with me your rod and your staff.

They comfort me. Which for a shepherd a rod and a staff were instruments to guide and also correct. And these are the things that god is doing for us even when we go through difficult trials. That we would be drawn nearer to him.

And this steadfastness that we have is not under our own power to endure. But it is the power of god working through us Jude 1 24 to 25 to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and present you blameless before the presence of his glory with Great joy.

He keeps you from stumbling And presents you before him as perfected lastly number six gentleness. And this word this word is synonymous with meekness. Or divinely balanced virtue. It's in matthew 5 5 where jesus says blessed are the meek.

For they shall inherit the earth. When I preached through the sermon on the mount and looked up that word exactly what do we understand meekness to mean. Because more often than not the word is going to Make meekness synonymous with weakness.

Just because they rhyme so meek is weak. That can't be the definition of weak. Jesus is not calling us to be weak. So what is the definition of Meekness. And here's the definition that I found in the helps word studies.

Meekness is god's strength under his control. What a great definition. So meekness is not being weak because we have god's strength. But we also don't use that power with undue harshness but in meekness.

We have received the strength of god. And have placed it under his control. And this is that call to Gentleness, even gentleness. It's not a call to be weak. It's in fact a call to be strong. But to do so under the control of god.

So as timothy is called to this man of god Flee these sins pursue these things. May they be desires in us as well. Now the person who has been called to be a preacher and a teacher has a greater responsibility to these things.

But they are still a a christ-mindedness that we all should desire pursuing righteousness godliness faith.

Love.

Steadfastness.

And gentleness. Paul goes on to say in light of this in verse 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 just like I said about righteousness. We must desire what god says is right and it means like you would wake up today and think what can I be in pursuit? Of that would be pleasing unto god.

It's the very same. It's the very same nature of this exhortation that paul gives in verse 12. Fight the good fight of the faith. That's a daily thing. That we continually be fighting the good fight. Whenever we hear this expression spiritual warfare.

Our understanding of spiritual warfare might be. Like this present darkness written by frank peretti for those of you who are old enough to remember that book. How popular it was back in the 90s? It's like there's angels and demons that are fighting with one another they have their spiritual swords.

Even like right here as we are gathered in church. And we're hearing the word of god spoken and we're singing songs and we're praying together. Like there's demons and angels fighting all around us because our minds start to wonder.

Ah, the demon's getting a hold of us. So here's the angel comes along. No beats him back. And that's what we think is happening in spiritual warfare. My friend the desire to wake up today and worship god.

Is spiritual warfare? You are fighting back the powers of darkness. And pursuing the light of christ. The desire today to love your spouse, even though your spouse might be difficult today to love. That's spiritual warfare.

I saw some wives elbowing their husbands when I said that. It's usually the husband I was not the easiest to love this week. I had a pretty grumpy week. So. But still the desire to love your spouse. A husband to love his wife as christ loved the church.

A wife to submit to her husband as the church is to submit to christ. That's spiritual warfare. The desire to discipline your children in the training and the instruction of the lord. And being consistent in that is spiritual warfare.

The desire to seize the temptation when it occurs in your mind. So it doesn't reign over you or turn into sin. That you would possess to make you feel good for a little while. That's spiritual warfare.

To not give in to the temptation to fight back the sin to put to death what is earthly in you. These are all things that we do to fight the good fight to remember god's promises today. And not fall into despair.