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"Vision
For A Godly Life" • 6.12.16 • Calvary
Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service
Intro.
- Timothy has listened to Paul indict the men
within the church that were straying from the doctrine that saved them and the
life that brought glory to the Lord.
- The Christian life empowered by the Holy
Spirit still requires dedication and focus. When others who claim to have a
love for Christ stray, one begins to wonder.
- At the very least, one has to consider what
they are missing out on. Maybe Timothy was beginning to struggle with this
quandary. His friend and mentor Paul won't have any of it!
- How does one deal with a spiritually wayward
spirit? Let us look on and learn. We will see:
I. Paul Exhortation (v.11,12)
II. Timothy's Example (v.13,14a)
III. Christ's Exaltation (v.14b-16)
Text
I. Paul Exhortation (v.11,12)
• I Timothy
6:11 : "But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue
righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness." : "But you, O man of God!" What a statement to make and
what a compliment to receive!
- There are those who are living for prestige,
spiritually or materially. That isn't to be the case with a man or woman of
God. "They will act these ways, but you will be the exception."
- Paul was calling Timothy "a man of
God." Could there be higher praise? What has Paul been talking about? He's
been talking about men of greed. Timothy is to be a man of God!
- Timothy is a man who belongs to God, whose
character is forged by God and whose life choices reflect a deep and abiding
reverence for God!
- Before we move on, would you characterize
yourself as a man or woman of God? Better still, does the world around you make
that pronouncement?
- If there is anything worthy of our ambition,
it would be that we would be known as men and women of God!
- I thank the Lord that there are many in our
church who are people of God and I pray for more still! How does one become a
man of God? In Timothy's case, he was already one.
- In order to continue, he must maintain and
continue in certain attitudes. If we are to be people of God, we would be wise
to measure our profession against these characteristics.
- First, Timothy was to "flee these
things." According to the lexical definition, we are to run swiftly, to
seek safety by flight.
- When desires contrary to a godly life pop up
into our hearts and minds, we're not to stand and seek a fight. You and I are
not strong enough to contend!
- That's why God empowers and commands us to
run in the opposite direction! One cannot help but think of Joseph the slave
who was daily tempted by his master's wife.
- When his refusals would no longer work, he
took to his legs and ran for his spiritual life!
- Specifically, he was and we are to flee
desires that are born from a covetous heart.
- He's to flee the temptation to abandon
scripture for his own personal gain and to flee the idol of materialism. We are
to flee from these attitudes as well.
- Paul doesn't leave much to chance, as he
employs the present imperitive to strengthen this. "You are commanded to
run and to continue running from these things!"
- If you believe that you can stop running, you
can rest assured that these desires will catch you! Run away and run toward godly
desires.
- Generally speaking, you do not eliminate
cravings. You replace them with other, more healthy cravings! That is what Paul
is calling Timothy to observe spiritually.
- He is to flee from the foolishness of false
teaching and covetousness by pursuing righteousness, godliness, etc.
- "Pursuing" is the operative word
and tense. It is a consistent, present activity. Timothy should always be in a
state of fleeing from and pursuing toward.
- Yes, it begins with a single decision, but
then it requires reinforcing decisions daily!
- Timothy is to follow after in such a way as
to obtain a measure of the virtues seen here. He's to be the embodiment of
righteousness. That refers to how he lives before people.
- He consistently acts according to the
scripture. The world sees in him an example of how Christ would act if he were
visibly present. He is also to pursue godliness.
- This word speaks of disciplines that God
sees. Godliness is the verb for a life that is marked by the disciplines of a
Christian.
- Studying, praying, and partnering with God's
people are all marks of a godly life.
- He's to pursue faith. He's to seek to
comprehend what his faith means as it relates to the congregation and his own
soul.
- He's to pursue God's love for people, seeking
always to respond to them as God responds to them. He's to bear up under the
people that God assigns to him.
- He's to do all of this with gentleness or
meekness. That word speaks of controlled or tamed power which is released only
when absolutely necessary.
- Before we move on, I want to interject that
these things are essential aspects of Christian life. There is no doubt in my
mind that they should be seen in your life.
- Because Paul commands Timothy, it is rightly
believed that he and therefore, we, can and must, seek after these characteristics.
- We need to ask ourselves daily if we are
seeking to be right before men? Are we more godly today than we were yesterday?
Are we practicing Christ's love and patience with gentleness?
- We seek them because we love Him and because
He loves us, we will see these added more and more to our lives as we yield to
the power of His Spirit.
• I Timothy
6:12 : "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to
which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the
presence of many witnesses." : Timothy
is to run and to fight! He is to practice agonizing in the contest for the
faith. He's to be vigilant in standing for and upholding the cause of the
faith.
- The Christian life is a fight. Moreover, it's
a good or proper fight of those of the faith in Christ!
- This is something that must be done
aggressively and continually, as the enemy will not simply be beaten once and
for all. Understand you are in a fight that doesn't end!
- Timothy is to always be at the business of standing
his ground! What a word for us today! Society has never been pro-Jesus. The
moral and spiritual decline carries a heavy weight against us!
- You and I, like Timothy need to be reminded
that we are to engage in the battle upon whatever stage the Lord has given us!
- The agonizing uphill battle presents Timothy
and every combatant the same prize: eternal life! "Timothy, you must keep
fighting to lay ahold onto eternal life!"
- Are you seeing the value replacement? There
were members within the body at Ephesus that had abandoned the faith for the
present value of materialism.
- Timothy's was to run in the opposite
direction but with the same zeal. Run after eternal life in the same way, with
the same zeal, that men run after temporal riches!
- This man of God needed to take possession, to
seize onto eternal life. Paul firmly commands him to do so. This was what
Timothy was invited by God to do.
- This last statement is strange. Timothy had
agreed to the good confession in front of many witnesses. He had believed and
now lived this out before a crowd of witnesses.
- What is the good confession? Verse 13 begins to bring light to this.
II. Timothy's Example (v.13,14a)
• I Timothy
6:13-14a : "I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and
before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep this commandment
without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, which He will manifest in His own
time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of
lords, who alone
has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can
see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen." : "I urge you" reflects an agency outside of the
Apostle Paul himself. Paul is transmitting this matter to him from the Lord!
- Paul says this with God as his witness. It's
the God who gives life to all things. Literally, he makes alive or quickens.
Consider that for a moment. Why would Paul say that here?
- Paul says this to remind Timothy that the
eternal life that he has comes from the God that he lives in front of!
- It's another way to say that God owns the
Christian's life and we have the joy of honoring that on a daily basis! God has
given you life. Now, live the life that He has given you!
- Paul includes Christ Jesus, the One who
testified to the "good confession" before Pontius Pilate. We now have
the specificity we desire. Turn in your Bibles to John 18.
- On the morning of His crucifixion, Jesus
stood before the Roman procurator Pontius Pilate who sought to defer his
decision, but had to rule when Herod couldn't find just cause. Verse 33.
•
John 18:33-37 : "Then Pilate entered the Praetorium
again, called Jesus, and said to Him, 'Are You the King of the Jews?' Jesus answered him, 'Are you speaking for yourself about this, or
did others tell you this concerning Me?' Pilate answered, 'Am I a Jew? Your
own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me. What have You done?'
Jesus
answered, 'My
kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants
would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom
is not from here.' Pilate therefore said to Him, 'Are You a king then?' Jesus
answered, 'You say
rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have
come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is
of the truth hears My voice.'"
-
What then, is the substance of the 'good confession?" Christ's Kingdom and
life are not established in human governmental power, but in the will of God
and in the cause of His truth!
-
Consequently, when Timothy testified to the veracity of the "good
confession," it would seem that he was emphasizing the preeminent priority
on living for that Kingdom of God's!
-
Does this not fly in the face of the false teachers, who sought their own
prominence by straying from the once delivered truth?
-
Does this not contradict the lifestyle choice of the person who allows their
pursuit of wealth to dominate their life's goals and purposes!?
-
Timothy has agreed to the same confession that Jesus did and in Christ's case,
He gave His very life for it! Paul is not explaining the good confession to
Timothy. He knew it!
-
But Paul is saying to Timothy that even if his confession led him to have to
give his life before Nero, as Christ gave up His life before Pilate, it would
be worth it for the sake of the Kingdom of God!
-
Like His Lord, Timothy is to keep this commandment without spot. He's to follow
after the Kingdom of God without being dirtied by the world around him.
-
He's not to take a momentary dip here or there. He is to remain unspotted and
blameless.
-
We've mentioned before that this word reflects an untouchable characteristic
morally. Nobody could lay a true and serious charge against Timothy that could
actually stick.
-
The same was true of Jesus, who died on the basis of illegal and false
testimony! Regardless of what comes, Timothy is to remain virtuous and
blameless until the Lord's appearing.
-
Christ's appearing, the brightness of His return, from which we get our word
"epiphany," was imminent. Jesus, His example was soon to come.
III. Christ's Exaltation (v.14b-16)
•
I Timothy 6:14b-16 : "which He
will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King
of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light,
whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen." : Notice that Paul expects Jesus to return and that it will
happen at the time of His decision. He will show Himself visibly.
-
Did you notice how Paul describes Him at His second coming? He is the blessed
and only Potentate! Jesus will not return as the sacrificial lamb of God.
-
He will not come in humble circumstances that could be ignored and
misinterpreted by the religious elite.
-
There will be no doubt at His second appearance that He is the blessed and only
ruler over all of humanity! "Blessed" is the same word that is found
in the Beatitudes in Matthew 5.
-
Gone will be the "Man of Sorrows" acquainted with suffering and
grief. When Jesus returns, He is marked with everlasting happiness and joy!
-
Then we come to the word "Potentate" which gives us the English word
"dynasty."
-
In essence, Jesus Christ is the crown Prince who was always going to rule over
the Father's House, in this case the totality of creation!
-
In this case however, the dynasty culminates in Him. He is the Only Begotten.
He is the Final Prince, who by virtue of His ever enduring life, can never be
replaced!
-
He will be the King over all Kings and the Lord over all Lords! There will be
none above Him and in Him will be the culmination of all rulership!
-
Every great and noble King will simply be a foreshadow of His greatness and
nobilty. Every wonderful work will pale in comparison to the great work that He
has and will do for His people!
-
He will be the final King and Lord standing when He returns to take the place
that has been given to Him by God the Father.
-
He comes being the sole possessor of immortality. This word is better
translated "deathlessness." He is without death. Death cannot touch
Him or His ever again!
-
He has immortality in and of Himself so that death is powerless, but neither
are there powers that can affect Him. He dwells in inaccessible light!
-
He will be arrayed in a way that no man can say he has ever seen and no man
will have the power to see without His transforming work in the life of the
believer!
-
He is the One that we will honor and ascribe everlasting power to! Timothy,
don't forget that this is your destiny!
Conclusion
- As we close,
if you are ever tempted to turn away, hear again Paul's exhortation: Flee and
fight! Pursue godly things and remember that eternal life is better than what
passes for life!
- Remember
Timothy's example. Jesus stood before a Roman ruler and testified that He was
willing to lay down His life in order to serve the interests of the Kingdom of
God. May we do the same!
- Finally,
consider Christ's exaltation. When He is revealed, finally and fully in all His
glory, will you not then see that your sacrifice now was worth it? I know you
and I will!
- Let us keep
our eyes in the there and then, as we serve Him in the here and now!
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