Fighting the Good Fight of the Faith

1 Timothy 6 and the Call to Pastoral Faithfulness

Today's message will be brought to us by our associate pastor, Jason Austin, and in advance to his coming, we're going to read 1 Timothy chapter 6, verses 1 through 16. Paul wrote this epistle to Timothy, equipping and preparing Timothy to pastor the church at Ephesus, and so there's a great deal of instruction on how to build up the local church, and there are certain warnings and exhortations about spiritual dangers that Timothy would have to address, and then Paul exhorts Timothy quite directly here on how he should serve the gospel in this place.

And so here's 1 Timothy chapter 6, verses 1 through 16. Let all who are under a yoke as bondservants regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled.

Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brothers, rather they must serve all the better, since those who benefit by their good service are believers and beloved.

Teach and urge these things. If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing.

He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.

But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world and we cannot take anything out of the world, but if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction, for the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.

It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. And now we'll begin reading the section that Brother Jason will be addressing. 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 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.

Let's pray. Our Father, we pray that you would help us to be faithful to you, faithful to the service of your son, that we can further the kingdom of Christ even in these difficult days, Lord, when we're so much shut down because of this virus.

We thank you, our God, for the means that we have to proclaim your word to the degree that we can, and we thank you, our God, that this message is going to go forth in many places even throughout the world.

We pray, Father, for Brother Jason, that you would help him now as he represents you, bringing forth your word to us. May you fill him with the blessed Holy Spirit, our God, and we pray that the truth of your word would be impressed upon our souls by the Holy Spirit.

May you instruct us, our God. May you inspire us. May you exhort us. We pray as a result of hearing your word proclaimed this morning, that we might be better Christians, our God, better servants of Jesus Christ, for we ask these things, Father, in Jesus' name, amen.

Pastor Jason, thank you.

The Enemy's Subtle Assault on Believers

The great enemy of our souls takes very special delight in our spiritual shortcomings. He takes very special delight in our failures. The adversary knows all too well that to seduce and entrap one soul in sin will often result in a ripple effect that will disrupt and harm the lives of everyone around them.

To those who belong to the body of Christ, Charles Spurgeon remarked, take heed, for the enemy hath a special eye upon you. You shall have his most subtle insinuations and incessant solicitations and violent assaults.

As wise and learned as you are, take heed to yourselves, lest he outwit you. The devil is a greater scholar than you and a nimbler disputant. He can transform himself into an angel of light to deceive.

He will get within you and trip up your heels before you are even aware. He will play the juggler with you undiscerned and cheat you of your faith or innocency. And you shall not know that you have lost it, nay, he will make you believe it is multiplied or increased when it is lost.

You will see neither hook nor line, much less the subtle angler himself, while he is offering you his bait. And his baits shall be so fitted to your temper and disposition that he will be sure to find advantages within you and make our own principles and inclinations to betray you.

And whenever he ruineth you, he will make you the instrument for your own ruin. Christians must take heed to these warnings. We must be aware of the adversary's strategy. We must be aware of his ploys, his snares, his subtleties, which are meant for our downfall, which are meant for our destruction.

Beloved, you must never forget, not even for a moment, the ongoing reality of the spiritual dangers that we face every day. Please join with me to the book of 1 Timothy. Our text this morning is 1 Timothy 6, verses 11 through 16.

And in this passage, Paul begins his final charge to Timothy, and he gives Timothy four imperatives or four commands that will help him achieve victory over the strategy and schemes of the adversary. Let's look at the text together, 1 Timothy chapter 6, verses 11 through 16.

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. In order to achieve victory over the strategy and the schemes of the adversary, we must.

Flee.

Verse 11a. We must pursue. Verse 11b. We must fight. Verse 12. And we must keep. Verse 14. We must flee. We must pursue. We must fight. And we must keep. Let's take a closer look at each one of these commands.

Fleeing from Sin, False Doctrine, and the Love of Money

In order to achieve victory over the strategy and the schemes of the adversary, command number one, we must flee. First Timothy 6, 11. But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. The first command mentioned, the man of God must flee.

The man of God must know when he is to flee. In other words, Christians must know what dangers to avoid. Just as a good soldier would not carelessly walk into an enemy minefield or walk into an enemy's line of fire.

The man of God must know when to make a tactical withdrawal. He must know when he is to flee. All throughout the scriptures, Paul repeatedly reminds us that with certain things, we are.

To flee.

Flee from sexual immorality. Flee from idolatry. Flee from youthful lusts. Flee is the translation of the Greek word fugo, from which our English word fugitive is derived. The term means to seek safety by flight.

It means to shun or avoid something abhorrent. It means to escape safely, to escape out of the path of danger. And the present tense of this verb indicates that it is a continuous action, which means we are to continually keep on fleeing.

In other words, as a man of God, as a Christian, you are to be continually fleeing. You are to be continually seeking safety by flight. You are to continually be on the run. In this world, you are to live as a fugitive.

In this life, you are to constantly run away from certain things for your own good. Again, remember your adversary, a relentless attacking enemy who will stop at nothing to snare and entrap you. Your enemy is strong.

Paul referred to him as the prince of this world. The prince of the power of the air. He opposed the Lord Jesus Christ in his ministry. He opposed the disciples in their ministry. He has opposed the church throughout history, and he will oppose you.

He is opposing you. Your enemy is restless. He prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. He never sleeps. He never rests. He remains undistracted. He is always going back and forth, wandering the earth, walking up and down on it.

You may be careless about your walk with God. You may be careless about your soul, but he is not. Your enemy is cunning. J .C. Ryle remarked, for a thousands of years, he has been reading one book, and that book is the heart of man.

He ought to know it well, and he does know it, all its weakness, all its deceitfulness, all its folly. And he has a storehouse full of temptations, such as are most likely to do the heart of man the most harm.

Never will you go to the place where he will not find you. Go into the city.

He will be there.

Go into the wilderness. He will be there also. Sit among drunkards. He will be there to help you. Listen to preaching. He will be there to distract you. Beloved, the adversary is working hard for your destruction.

The adversary is working hard to deceive you, to discredit you, to make your testimony meaningless and without influence. He is working hard to destroy your marriage. He is working hard to destroy your children, your family, your church.

You are the prize for which he is contending, in order that your life will advance his kingdom and bring great reproach to the name of the Lord our God. And while there is no need to fear our adversary, because greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world, you must never underestimate him.

As Christians, we are in a war. As Christians, we are fugitives. Our lives are lived on the run, constantly fleeing. Fleeing from immorality. Fleeing from idolatry. Fleeing from youthful lusts. Fleeing from all the things that contaminate and corrupt our hearts.

And fleeing from the things that weaken our resolve to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your minds. And to love your neighbor as yourself. In 1st Timothy 6 .1, Timothy is specifically commanding Timothy to flee these things.

Well what are the things that Paul is referring? Paul here is speaking of the things that he had just been warning Timothy about in the previous passage. Timothy was to flee from different doctrine, doctrine that did not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and with the doctrine conforming to godliness.

Timothy was to flee from false teachers who perpetuated these false doctrines. Men of depravity, deprived of the truth, advocates of doctrinal error. Timothy was to flee from the pursuit of money. Timothy was to flee from the love of money and all the bitter fruits that accompany it.

Greed, envy, greed, discontent, foolish desire, dissension. Beloved, the adversary uses all of these things to trip us up, to keep us down, to restrict us from following the Lord Jesus Christ with our whole hearts.

Which is why we must flee from all of these things. We must turn away from all of these things. We must run away from all of these things. And we must never look back. In order to achieve victory over the strategy and schemes of the adversary, we must flee.

Pursuing Righteousness, Godliness, Faith, Love, Steadfastness, and Gentleness

And command number two, we must pursue. We must flee and we must pursue. First Timothy 611, but as for you, oh man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.

There is much, much more to avoiding sin than simply retreat. There is much, much more to avoiding sin than simply fleeing. If you run away from one sin and do nothing else, then you will run right into the arms of another sin.

In his commentary on the book of First Timothy, Philip Graham Ryken remarked that the human heart is like a popular ride at an amusement park. And sins are lined up at the entrance to the ride, waiting for a chance to get on and enjoy the ride.

The adversary is more than happy for a sin to get off the ride every now and again, provided another sin can climb on board and take its place. In other words, the man who successfully fights off sexual temptation may yet become prideful and arrogant, substituting one sin for another.

The woman who successfully controls her tongue may yet become resentful or bitter, also substituting one sin for another. Godliness, true godliness, is much more than merely exchanging one sin for another sin.

True godliness is much more than exchanging a really bad sin for one that is more socially acceptable. True godliness means you will exchange your sin, not with other sins, but with righteousness. True godliness exchanges vice with virtue.

You put off that which is displeasing to God, and you put on that which is pleasing to God. And you do this by being renewed in the spirit of your minds. In fact, this is the formula for how to grow and change.

Authentic spiritual growth comes from putting off, putting on, and being renewed in the spirit of your mind. Turn with me for a moment to the book of Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 4, Ephesians chapter 4, verses 22 through 24.

To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life, and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

The formula for spiritual growth is laid out in these verses. As you study the word of God, as you obey the word of God, as you present your body as a living and holy sacrifice to God, the transforming power of the Holy Spirit will renew your mind and enable you to lay off the old self and your sinful practices as you put on the new self with holy and righteous practices.

Let me give you some specific examples. Take a look at Ephesians 4, 25 through 32. Verse 25, therefore having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.

What are we to put off in this verse? Falsehood. What are we to put on in this verse?

Truth.

Verses 26 and 27. Be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger and give no opportunity to the devil. What's the put off? Sinful anger. What's the put on? Reconciliation before the sun goes down.

Verse 28, let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. What's the put off?

Theft.

What's the put on?

Hard work and sharing.

Verse 29, let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up as it fits the occasion that it may give grace to those who hear. What's the put off? Corrupting talk.

What's the put on? Edifying words. Words that build up. Words that encourage. Words that comfort. In Ephesians 4, 31, the put off is bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander, and all malice. In verse 32, the put on is kindness, being tenderhearted and forgiving as God in Christ forgave you.

So how do you grow and change? By putting off, by putting on, and being renewed in the spirit of your minds. Beloved, as you read the scriptures, you should be asking yourself, is there a command here that I need to keep?

Is there an example that I need to be following? Does my life line up with what is being said? Is there any area of my life that does not conform to what I just read? What do I need to put off? What do I need to put on?

And what biblical passage will drive my thoughts and my actions? If you have a tendency to have impure thoughts towards your neighbor or your co-worker, put off the impure thoughts by putting on pure thoughts.

Pray for their salvation. Pray for their walk with God. Pray for their marriage. Pray for their family. Pray for their purity. Pray that God would bless them. Put off, put on. If you have a tendency to be selfish in your relationships, put off selfish attitudes by putting on selfless attitudes.

Consider others more important than yourself. Strive to serve others. Go out of your way to meet their needs. Put off, put on. The end goal of studying the scriptures is obedience. It is applying the text to your life.

It is application. Making the text come alive in your life and walking in obedience to its truth. And this principle, put off and put on, is one of the easiest ways to practically apply the scriptures to your life.

As sinners, each one of us have problem areas in our lives. And we need to be diligently working on these problem areas. If you don't know any problem areas in your life, ask your spouse, ask your children, ask a close friend.

You know, we all have our blind spots. Areas in which we think we're doing okay, but in actuality, not so much. And many times we need other godly and mature believers to help us see and identify these areas of our lives.

In 2012, Laura and I left Massachusetts and we moved to Barrie, Ontario, which is north of Canada. And we moved there to help plant a church. But the only way that Canada would accept a non-Canadian to pastor a church would be if a Canadian denomination supported and invited me into the country.

So I became a church planner with the CNBC, the Canadian National Baptist Convention, which is essentially the Southern Baptist Convention in Canada. But before I was accepted, I had to jump through quite a few hoops.

And one of these hoops was a personality assessment that sought to identify any problem areas in my life that might surface in my ministry. And according to their assessment, I had 23 blind spots. Now, 23 blind spots is a lot of blind spots.

It was over two pages long. And I'm not sure I agreed with every one of them, but what I was more surprised at was my wife's assessment. According to the CNBC, Laura had zero blind spots. She only had hidden strengths.

It was obvious there was a Canadian bias to the test. Well, self-examination is a very important discipline because oftentimes we are blinded to our faults. So time must be spent in prayerful self-examination.

And we must take the findings of our self-examination and then line them up with what the scriptures state. Self-examination can be painful, and you probably will find some blind spots. Maybe not two pages worth, but you'll find enough.

And once you find them, start to diligently work on them. To grow in your walk with God, you must work out your salvation with fear and trembling. You must put off, you must put on, you must be renewed in the spirit of your minds.

You must spend time in self-examination. And you must flee sin, and we must pursue righteousness. In verse 11, Paul commands Timothy to flee these things, and he tells him to pursue six virtues. We must pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness.

Righteousness here refers to doing what is right on the outside. It looks toward, it looks towards our outward behavior. It's not referring to the imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, which comes from our sanctification, justification, but the practical righteousness that is a result of our sanctification, our moment-by-moment submission to obedience to the Word of God, a life that is marked by obedience to the commandments of the Lord.

Godliness refers to doing what is right on the inside, and it has more to do with our attitudes and our motives. Godliness refers to our reverence for God, which flows out of our worshiping heart. Now, notice the relationship that exists between righteousness and godliness.

One proceeds from the other. Righteous deeds proceed from righteous motives. Righteous actions proceed from righteous attitudes. And righteous behavior proceeds from a righteous heart. The next two virtues that Paul calls Timothy to pursue are the internal virtues of faith and love.

Faith refers to our confident trust in the Lord God for everything. The man of God will trustfully resign himself in all of his affairs into the capable hands of the Lord God, being absolutely satisfied with his providence.

Love refers to our affections for the Lord God, and it refers to our affections towards man. The man of God must diligently pursue the great and foremost commandment. Matthew 22, 37. 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 first commandment. And the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The last two virtues we are called to pursue are the virtues of steadfastness and gentleness.

Steadfastness is often translated as perseverance or even patience. The term literally means to remain under. It refers to someone who is not swayed from his loyalty to faith and piety, by even the greatest of trials, by even the greatest of suffering.

Steadfastness is the ability to stand fast. It's the ability to stand firm, to dig in, and to be unmovable. It's not a passive or fatalistic resignation, but rather a triumphant, unwavering loyalty to the Lord God, even in the midst of great difficulty.

A Christian who pursues steadfastness will be able to stick with it, whatever the task, whatever the cost, for however long it lasts. Gentleness refers to possessing a mild, kind, and humble disposition, which consequently comes in very handy in ministry.

In one of Aesop's fables, the fable of the north wind and the sun, the north wind and the sun hold a contest to see which was the stronger. A traveler comes along wrapped in a warm cloak, and they agree that the one who succeeds in making the traveler take off his cloak first should be considered stronger than the other.

So the north wind blows and blows as hard as he can, but the more he blows, the more closely the traveler holds on to his cloak. And finally, the north wind gives up. The sun then shines out warmly his rays upon the traveler, and immediately he takes off his cloak and he rests in the warmth of the sun.

So the north wind concedes defeat and confesses that the sun is indeed stronger. Gentleness is often more effective than being harsh. The truth, when presented in a harsh and unloving tone, will often make men cling to their sins and cling to their self-righteousness even more tightly.

The truth, when presented in a harsh and unloving tone, will often have the exact opposite of that which is desired. But presenting the truth in gentleness, presenting the truth in love, is far more effective and far more fruitful.

Jonathan Edwards remarked, It is the duty of God's people to be steadfast and vigorous in their opposition to the designs and ways of such as are endeavoring to overthrow the kingdom of Christ and the interest of religion.

If, therefore, we see any of the followers of Christ in the midst of the most violent, unreasonable, and wicked opposition of God's and his own enemy, maintaining under all this temptation the humility and quietness and gentleness of a lamb, and the harmlessness and love and sweetness of a dove, we may well judge that here is a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

Beloved, we must diligently pursue righteousness. We must diligently pursue godliness. We must diligently pursue faith and love. We must diligently pursue steadfastness and gentleness. In order to achieve victory over the strategy and schemes of the adversary, we must flee.

We must pursue. And commandment number three, we must fight. We must flee. We must pursue. We must fight. First Timothy 6, 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.

It's important to remember that to be called as a Christian is to be called into a fierce and raging battle. True Christianity is a battle. It's a battle against the flesh. It's a battle against the world.

It's a battle against the rulers, the authorities, the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. And this is not a battle in which you can stay neutral.

This is not a battle in which you can stay still. You cannot claim peace with the world and peace with the Lord God. James 4, 4, you adulterous people, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God?

Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Beloved, you have no choice in the matter. You must fight. Fight is the translation of the Greek word agonizomai, agonizomai, from which our English word agonize is derived.

And it was used both in military and athletic contexts to describe the concentration and the discipline, the conviction and the effort that is needed to win. The present tense of this verb indicates that it is also a continuous action.

Just as we are to keep on fleeing, just as we are to keep on pursuing, we are also to keep on fighting, fighting for the faith. What does it mean to fight for the faith? The term faith is referring here to the scriptures, to all of the scriptures, to the entire body of Christian truth.

As Jude 3 states, Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.

For the man of God, all of his concentration, all of his discipline, all of his conviction, all of his effort should be focused on upholding and defending the faith. You must defend the truth of God. You must fight for the veracity of the scriptures, the truthfulness of the scriptures.

You must fight for the authority, the inerrancy, the infallibility, and the sufficiency of the scriptures. You must fight for the holiness of God. Yes, God is love. Yes, God is merciful. Yes, God is gracious.

But the Lord God cannot and will not overlook sin. The Lord God will take vengeance upon his adversaries. The Lord God will judge the world in justice and righteousness. The Lord God indeed is a consuming fire.

You must fight for the depravity of man. All men without exception are born into a state of sin and misery. There is none righteous. There is none who seek God. There is none who does good. There is no exception.

From conception, all men are born guilty and all men are born rightfully deserving of hell. You must fight for the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, that he is both God and man. You must fight for the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the substitutionary atonement, that the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross to save sinners.

You must fight for the bodily resurrection, maintaining that Jesus Christ is the risen Lord. From Genesis 1 -1 to Revelation 22 -21, you must contend and fight for the truth of God. Beloved, do you contend for the truth of God?

Do you take offense when the name of the Lord God is blasphemed? Do you take offense when the word of the Lord God is belittled? Do you fight for the truth? Do you fight the good fight of faith? In our pluralistic and accepting society, it can be very easy to forget that we are in a fight.

It can be very easy to forget that there is a spiritual battle that is raging around us. I think one of the most effective strategies of the adversary is distraction. He blinds our eyes to the battle.

He blinds our eyes to the fight by distracting us with the pleasures and comforts of this world. Paul reminds us of this, the truth of this battle. Ephesians 6 verse 10,. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand firm. Beloved, are you fully prepared for the battle? Today, are you fully prepared to stand firm against the schemes of the devil?

Today, are you prepared to battle the rulers, the authorities, the cosmic powers over this present darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places? The truth of the matter is, many in the church and many churches are not.

Let me ask you a couple of questions. Do you spend more time picking out and arranging your daily clothes? Or do you spend more time preparing for the spiritual battle that lies in the days ahead? When was the last time you thought about your armor?

When was the last time you thought the significance of each piece of armor? Do you daily gird your loins with truth? Do you daily put on the breastplate of righteousness? Do you daily shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace?

Do you daily arm yourselves with the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the spirit in all prayer? Do you even understand the significance of each piece of armor? In order to take full advantage of the strength of God's might, you must put on the armor of God.

You must put on the provision that God has provided. And you must, 1 Timothy 6, 12, fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you are called, and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

Paul here is making reference to a confession that Timothy made, probably at the time of his baptism when he publicly professed his faith. And Paul is reminding him, what is at stake? Eternity. Paul is telling Timothy to take hold of eternal life, appropriate it, grasp it, grab it, hold it, never let it go.

As a soldier in the king's army, as a soldier fighting the good fight, live and minister in light of eternity. Don't minister for what you can get out of this world, but rather set your mind on the eternal things above.

Paul himself tried to live his life in this same way. Philippians 3, 12, he writes, not that I have already obtained this, or I'm already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.

Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own, but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind, and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Paul recognized that eternal life is for now, as well as for later. Eternal life is a present possession, and it is our future hope. And as Paul pressed on toward the goal, so should you press on towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Keeping the Commandment Until Christ Appears

In order to achieve victory over the strategy and schemes of the adversary, we must flee. We must pursue. We must fight. And command number four, we must keep. Well, what exactly are we to keep? We are to keep the commandment.

First Timothy 6, 13 through 15. 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. The commandment to which Paul is referring is the word of God. There is no limiting feature that narrows this definition, so we should understand the term commandment in its most broad sense.

We are to keep the whole law of God. We are to keep the whole law of Christ. We are to keep the entire rule of faith. We are to keep the commandment. Now, notice in 13, the strongly worded preamble to keeping this commandment.

Paul charges Timothy in the presence of God, in the presence of Christ Jesus, to keep the commandment without stain and without reproach. And Paul's charge here to Timothy is applicable to the church.

In the presence of God, in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are charged with being faithful to the truth. We are charged with being defenders of the truth. We are to maintain a life and testimony that is without spot, that is without rebuke, that is blameless and above reproach.

And we must follow these commands until the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time. On this passage, Matthew Henry remarked, he charges him as he will answer it at the great day to that God whose eyes are upon us all, who sees what we are and what we do, God who gives life to all things, who has life in himself and is the fountain of life.

This should quicken us to the service of God, that we serve a God who gives life to all things. He charges him before Christ Jesus, to whom in a peculiar manner, he stood related as a minister of his gospel, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession.