Fight the good fight! – 1 Timothy 6:11-21

Fight the good fight! – 1 Timothy 6:11-21
By Pastor Lee Hemen
March 4, 2018

When the father asked his little boy what he should do when another child tried to bully him, he was surprised when the little tike replied, “Hit him hard, hit him fast, and run like crazy!” As children of the King we are to respond differently to the whims of life than the world would. While we are encouraged to “fight the good fight” it is a matter of faith and not fists. Believers are to be different than the world.

Society today frowns on anyone taking a stand for righteousness. Paul wrote that a “time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. (2 Timothy 4:3-4 NIV)” Paul knew that people could be so perverted that “Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. (Romans 1:32 NIV)” Yet as believers we are to be different. We are commanded to fight the good fight. Let’s see what Paul wrote Timothy…

READ: 1 Timothy 6:11-21

When others turned away from us there was one who willingly grabbed a hold of us and did not let go. However, unless we are reminded to do so as Paul did with Timothy, we can for get that…

I. We are to grab a hold of the Lord and not let go! (Vv. 11-12)

But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

  1. The number one song in America right now is one by Drake called “God’s Plan” and it has nothing to do with that at all. In fact, sadly, you may not want to know exactly what the lyrics do portray. Rather than discussing with Timothy his sexuality, masculinity, or promiscuity Paul addresses the fact that a man of God should desire to remain pure before the Lord and so he writes that Timothy should as a “man of God, flee from all of this” worldly desire that focuses on selfishness and the love of money. Instead, the man of God should “pursue”, run after, desire, and jump at “righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness”!  Later Paul would tell Timothy to “Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. (2 Timothy 2:22 NIV)” It is the pursuit of holiness with the character outcome of faithful, godly, patient, gentleness which is hard often to find in men in our day and age. In Paul and Timothy’s time it was a dog-eat-dog kind of world. Today it is more of a live like a dog kind of world where such things as holiness and kindness have gone by the wayside. Paul equates this kind of pursuit as a boxing competition where one does his best to “fight the good fight of faith”. Like a Pitbull that doesn’t let go once its jaws snap shut around its prey the believer is to “take hold of the eternal life to which [they are] called”! Timothy was called to serve the risen Lord just as each of us is when come to Christ. In fact, Paul reminds Timothy that he had made his “good confession in the presence of many witnesses”. This is one of the many reasons why we ask you to come forward publically at the end of worship to make a decision. You are showing others your willingness to have them witness your decision to follow the Lord. We are to grab a hold of the Lord and not let go! 

  EXAMPLE: The dog was mangy and ornery. A flea-bitten cur if ever there was one. No one would go near him. No one wanted to. He trotted around town as the bully of the streets demanding his due that is until one day he willingly followed a little red-headed girl home. She showed up at her backdoor with the mongrel scratched, a little ragged and bloody, and mussed up. When confronted by her mother on how in the world she got the dog to calm down and follow her home so willingly, the little girl responded, “I just grabbed a hold of him and didn’t let go!” We are to grab a hold of the Lord and not let go!

I am so glad that when God got a hold of me he did not let go either. However there are those that forget and think that this is all there is to the whole matter. So much so they forget there is a command that we are to “follow” Jesus and Paul reminds us that…

II. We are to follow through on our confession of faith! (Vv. 13-16)

In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in his own time--God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.

  1. Others are not the only witnesses to our decision to follow Jesus. Paul reminds Timothy that when he decided to follow the Lord it was not only fully “In the sight of God, who gives life to everything” but it was also in front of “Christ Jesus” who he made his own public declaration! It was this same Jesus, Paul reminds Timothy, that also “while testifying before Pontius Pilate made a good confession” openly! Paul wasn’t telling Timothy that he could do whatever he wanted to whenever he wanted to because as a man of God called by Christ Timothy was bound by a greater obligation. As believers all are when we commit ourselves to Jesus! Therefore Paul makes it a serious and conscious decision and writes, “I charge you to keep this command” to live a holy and righteous life “without spot of blame”. And Paul meant that it wasn’t something Timothy could do lightly. Too often we allow folks to think that a commitment to the Lord is a moment by moment thing, and it is not. It is a lifelong serious battle. Salvation is a constant ongoing spiritual skirmish in that we are permanently saved, we are being saved as we walk in him, and we will be saved when we see him face-to-face! Until such time we are, like Timothy, to make good on our confession of faith! Timothy was commanded by Paul to stay true “until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in his own time”! When would that be? Paul does not give Timothy any time frame or date, but rather he is to keep on keeping on in his walk with the Lord until he returns at the time of God’s choosing! “God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see.” We are to follow through on our confession of faith!

  EXAMPLE: “Keep your eyes on the finish line!” the track coach would remind his team over and over. They were encouraged to “never look back” because if they did they would be in danger of losing the race. Paul wrote, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:10-14 NIV)” Paul wanted Timothy to know that we are to follow through on our confession of faith!

Follow through is important in pitching a baseball, making a free throw with a basketball, or in a spiritual walk with the Lord. If we focus on the things of this world too much we will end up impoverished. Instead, Paul reminds us that…

III. We are to acquire eternal wealth! (Vv. 17-21)

Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and in so doing have wandered from the faith. Grace be with you.

  1. Paul was fearful that Timothy could lose sight of what truly mattered in life. He wasn’t far afield either where his concern was focused because so many over the centuries have wandered from their faith when caught up in the lust of acquiring wealth. He tells Timothy “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God”. Sadly, far too many folks who profess faith in Christ have lost their focus when they begin to think that wealth, worldly power, or fame is far more important than their eternal walk with God. There is nothing we own or acquire in life that will matter when we are face-to-face with Jesus! It is the Lord “who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment” in life! We have need for nothing else. Paul continued by telling Timothy to “Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.” It is through this kind of living that others will see one’s faith. It is how we are to display Jesus to the world! In fact instead of trying to acquire worldly riches, it is “In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.” The life we live now lays brick by brick the eternal life we will live with the Lord and that can either be a comforting or disconcerting thing! So Paul ends his letter to his young friend by reminding him to “guard what has been entrusted to [his] care.” He was to make the concerted effort to “Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and in so doing have wandered from the faith.” Not every bit of “godly” wisdom from the world is truly of God and can, like a faulty compass, lead one astray! Paul finishes by tacitly reminding Timothy of God’s love for him by stating, “Grace be with you.” We are to acquire eternal wealth!

  EXAMPLE: As a kid I always hated those Twilight Zone TV shows that depicted someone wishing for wealth or something else and then getting more than what they bargained for. My Dad used to tell us kids, “Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.” Sadly we have all seen the personal destruction of those who have gained fame and fortune only to see it disappear or be utterly destroyed by both. I have learned that the things of this world are just so much shadow. Nothing we gain now will matter when we are gone. What matters is what we eternally invest our lives in. Jesus correctly taught, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21 NIV)” Paul reminds us that we are to acquire eternal wealth!

Conclusion:

We are to grab a hold of the Lord and not let go! We are to follow through on our confession of faith! We are to acquire eternal wealth!
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This article is copyrighted © 2018 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.

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