FIGHTING FOR THE FAITH; HOLDING ON TO LIFE
(I Tim. 6:12)
Overview of I Tim. 4:1-6:12
4:1-2 How False Teaching Enters the Church
4:3-5 Common Grace
4:6 Word of God in Life of the Believer
4:7a Godliness – Divine / Human Role
4:7b Train Yourself to be Godly
4:7c Spiritual Disciplines (The Word of God)
4:7d Spiritual Disciplines (Devotions, Worship)
4.7e Spiritual Disciplines (Church Attendance, Journaling, Practicing Presence of God)
4:8-9 Why Godliness Has Great Value
4:10 Putting Our Hope in the Living God
4:12 Setting an Example for Believers
4:13 What a Christian Worship Service Looked Like in the First Century
4:14 Neglecting the Spiritual Gift God has Given Us
4:15-16 Getting Home Before Dark
5:1-2 So, How Should We Describe the Church?
5:3-16 God’s Tilt Towards the Disenfranchised
5:3-16 Sorting Out those Worthy of Relief – A Biblical Approach to Social Welfare
5:3-16 The Biblical Rationale for Providing for Relatives
5:5-16 The Tale of Two Widows – A Biblical Approach to Pleasure
5:9-10 The Good Works of a New Testament Woman
5:11-14 The Younger Widows – Breaking Celibacy Vows
5:11-14 The Younger Widows – Gossiping False Teaching
5:15 Satan’s Effort to Keep Jesus from Fulfilling His Mission
5:17-18 Honoring the Work of Elders
5:19-20 How NT Church Discipline Illustrates Cultural Formation
5:21 Partiality – A Christian Problem?
5:22-24 Selecting Church Leadership
5:23 The Christian’s Use and Abuse of Alcoholic Beverages
6:1 Honoring God’s Name
6:1-2 A What In Christianity Undermined Slavery?
6:1-2 B The Evangelical Awakening and Abolition of Slavery
6:1-2 C Masters and Slaves / Employers and Employees
6:3-5 Why Do Some Christians Become False Teachers?
6:6-8 Christian Contentment
6:9-10 For the Love of Money
6:11 Holiness – Living on the Run
6:12 Fighting for the Faith; Holding on to Life
11But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 12Fight 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. 13In 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 14to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16who 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.
INTRODUCTION:
1. The remainder of this letter has Paul issuing five charges:
a. To False Teachers (3-5)
b. To the Christian Poor (6-10)
c. To the ‘man of God’(11-16)
d. To the Christian Rich (17-19)
e. To Timothy (20-21)
2. Charge to the “Man of God” (11-12)
a. The Threefold Appeal
1) The Ethical Appeal – Flee/Pursue (11)
2) The Doctrinal Appeal – Fight (12a)
3) The Experiential Appeal – Take Hold (12b)
b. The Grounds of the Appeal (13-16)
I. THE DOCTRINAL APPEAL – FIGHT FOR THE FAITH
12Fight the good fight of the faith (I Tim. 6:12a).
“Ethically, we are to flee evil and pursue goodness. Doctrinally, we are to avoid error and contend for the truth” (Stott, 156).
QUESTION: How does Paul define “the body of doctrine” we are to fight for?
Who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth (I Tim. 2:4).
If I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth (I Tim. 3:15).
They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth (I Tim. 4:3).
If you point these things out to the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed (I Tim. 4:6).
All who are under the yoke of slavery should consider their masters worthy of full respect, so that God’s name and our teaching may not be slandered (I Tim. 6:1).
He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it (Titus 1:9).
You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine (Titus 2:1).
Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge (I Tim. 6:20).
Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us (II Tim. 1:14).
“For truth is precious, even sacred. Being truth from God, we cannot neglect it without affronting him. It is also essential for the health and growth of the church. So whenever truth is imperiled by false teachers, to defend it is a painful necessity” (Stott, 146).
We are not to have a passive, live and let live, attitude about the truth – “the sound doctrine.” We need to strive to the point of agony to defend it. God’s truth is something worth dying for.
Timothy is told in I Tim. 6:20 to “guard” what had been entrusted to him (the good deposit (II Tim. 1:14). Then in our text he is told to fight for “the faith” (I Tim. 6:12).
So, for Timothy it was flight and fight.
“The Greek word for “fight” agonizou, has military overtones; it was also used to refer to athletic contests. It suggests agonizing and contesting. (Life Application, 131).
We don’t like this concept. We much prefer peace.
QUESTION: How do we tend to describe someone who is picky and obstinate about doctrine?
Trouble maker, a pain, opinionated, dogmatic, hardheaded, obstinate.
QUESTION: The Bible is loaded with doctrine and not everyone will agree on everything nor should they. So how do we determine what doctrine to fight for and what to leave alone?
Separate between “major / cardinal” doctrines and “minor” theological points of view. But then, what is “major” and what is “minor”?
Christians throughout history have fought for and died for the truth. In England during the Marian persecution hundreds of England’s best people died because they denied some of the basic tenets of the Catholic church, which included salvation by works etc.
ILLUSTRATION: On Ryle’s list were the well known Protestant preachers, Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley. These men stood for truth together; were imprisoned together; were martyred together bound to the same stake. While bound to the chain with Ridley, Latimer cried out, “Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man; we shall this day, by God’s grace, light such a candle in England as I trust shall never be put out.”
GUIDELINE: Fight for the principle doctrines; generous on secondary matters.
John Stott concludes: “Even the ‘gentleness’ we are to pursue (the last word of verse (11) is not incompatible with fight the good fight of the faith (12).
II. THE EXPERIENTIAL APPEAL – TAKE HOLD OF LIFE
Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses (I Tim. 6:12b).
ETERNAL LIFE
Eternal Life begins at the moment of conversion:
I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life (I John 5:24).
We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death (I John 3:14).
When we think of “eternal life” we put the emphasis on “eternal” whereas the emphasis should be on “life.”
“The emphasis is not on its duration … but on its quality. Eternal life means the life of the age to come, the new age which Jesus inaugurated. He defined its life in terms of knowing him and knowing the Father” (Stott, pg. 157).
Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and [know] Jesus Christ, whom you have sent (John 17:3).
Eternal life is just not the avoidance of hell, the hope of an on-going existence in heaven after we leave this body. It is a new and eternally lasting and growing relationship with God.
Just think – the God of eternity looked down on us, on me and said, “I love you. Among the millions on the earth I have chosen you to know me personally, intimately and live in my presence now and in my home in heaven for forever. I want this new life of yours to be one of pure, ecstatic joy in my presence.”
The thief (secularism, humanism, materialism) cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly (John 10:10).
“Eternal” life is just describing the duration of the new, abundant life God has given us in Christ.
TO WHICH YOU WERE CALLED
To which also thou, hast been called … There is nothing that ought to animate us with greater courage than to learn that we have been “called” by God; …. “God calls thee to eternal life; beware of being drawn aside to anything else, or of falling short in any way, before thou hast attained it.” (John Calvin Commentaries)
I have long withstood His grace,
Long provoked Him to His face,
Would not hearken to His calls,
Grieved Him by a thousand falls.
God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful (I Cor. 1:9).
For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant (Heb. 9:15).
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light (I Peter 2:9).
The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life (Rev. 22:17).
ILLUSTRATION: Why would God call me? A young high school graduate, changing irrigation pipes at 2:00 AM, all alone in a large field of broccoli. A warm night, a full moon, shiny aluminum pipes, moving up and down the rows while the moon shone off the leaves and suddenly a deep sense of awe at the beauty of the night, the sky, the field and I knelt in the mud and prayed …. I don’t know what I prayed but I acknowledged God as creator. Why would God speak to me like that? Why me? This was God softly wooing, calling me to Himself.
ILLUSTRATION: One day in 1740, a 25- year-old George Whitefield, the greatest evangelist/preacher of his day, preached in Middletown, Connecticut. And a farmer named Nathan Cole, heard him and recorded his experience in a diary. He’s a farmer. Let me read it to you.
“In the morning about 8 or 9 of the clock there came a messenger and said Mr. Whitefield preached at Hartford and Wethersfield yesterday and is so to preach at Middletown this morning at ten of the clock. I was in my field at work. I dropped my tool that I had in my hand and ran home to my wife, telling her to make ready quickly to go and hear Mr. Whitefield preach at Middletown, then ran to my pasture for my horse with all my might, fearing that I should be too late. Having my horse, I with my wife soon mounted the horse and went forward as fast as I thought the horse could bear; and when my horse got much out of breath, I would get down and put my wife in the saddle and bid her ride…and so I would run until I was much out of breath and then mount my horse again, and so I did several times to favor my horse….for we have twelve miles to ride double in little more than an hour….And when we came within about half a mile or a mile of the road that comes from Hartford…to Middletown, on high land I saw before me a cloud of fog arising. I first thought it came from the great river, but as I came neared the road I heard a noise of horses’ feet coming down the road, and this cloud was a cloud of dust made by the horses’ feet. It arose some rods into the air over the tops of hills and trees; and when I came within about 20 rods of the road, I could see men and horses clipping along in the cloud like shadows, and as I drew nearer it seemed like a steady stream of horses and their riders, scarcely a horse more than his length behind another, all of a lather and foam with sweat, their breath rolling out of their nostrils every jump. Every horse seemed to go with all his might to carry his rider to hear news from heaven for the saving of souls.
We went down in the Stream; I heard no man speak a word all the way three miles but every one pressing forward in great haste and when we got to the old meeting house there was a great multitude; it was said to be 3 or 4000 of people assembled together, we got off from our horses and shook off the dust, and the ministers were then coming to the meeting house. I turned and looked towards the great river and saw the ferry boats running swift forward and forward bringing over loads of people; the oars rowed nimble and quick, every thing men horses and boats seemed to be struggling for life; the land and banks over the river looked black with people and horses all along the 12 miles. I saw no man at work in his field, but all seemed to be gone.
When I saw Mr. Whitefield come upon the scaffold [platform], he looked almost angelical; a young, slim, slender youth, before thousands of people with a bold undaunted countenance….He looked as if he was clothed with authority from the Great God, and a sweet solemn solemnity sat upon his brow, and my hearing him preach gave me a heart wound. By God’s blessing, my old foundation was broken up, and I saw that my righteousness would not save me.”
INTRODUCTION # 2
Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses (I Tim. 6:12b).
ETERNAL LIFE
We will take another look at eternal “life” later on.
TO WHICH YOU WERE CALLED
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light (I Peter 2:9).
Generally the “calling” is one by one but during times of revival it is as if were calling a whole community, e.g. the experience in Middleton, CT in 1740.
WHEN YOU MADE YOUR CONFESSION
Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses (I Tim. 6:12b).
It seems like Timothy’s “calling,” “conversion,” and “confession (testimony)” were all simultaneous.
Gordon Fee feels that this “confession” or testimony was made at the time of his baptism (Pg. 150).
Is the reference to a “confession” an allusion to Timothy’s testimony in I Tim. 1:18, “… in keeping with the prophecies once made about you …” and “…which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you” (I Tim. 4:14). … or was the confession specifically about salvation?
Every convert was expected to make a solemn public affirmation of faith, “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it with your mouth that you confess and are saved” (Rom. 10:9-10).
The combination of the calling (inward and private) and the confession (outward and public) more naturally refers to Timothy’s conversion and baptism (Stott, 157).
QUESTION: What do we expect in a confession/testimony today? Is confessing that ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believing in His resurrection adequate as a testimony of conversion?
Francis Schaeffer: Words lose their meaning through overuse and misuse and therefore fail to impact us, one example being love which he translated as “community.” AW Tozer talked about the fact that the phrase “born-again” was worn out and didn’t mean much anymore. Dallas Willard in his book “The Divine Conquest” says the same thing and tries to use some new terms to explain Christian concepts e.g. “God-bathed world.”
ILLUSTRATION: Billy’s story about a Colonel he knew is Adak, Alaska that was not a believer. Several years later they talked and the Colonel told how he became a Christian …. He started attending a men’s Bible Study. One day, after several months the pastor had all the men stand up and they were to say to each other, “Jesus is Lord.” They went around the circle and all said that. The Colonel said he could say that with ease. Then the pastor said that they were to say to each other “Jesus is my Lord.” The Colonel knew that up to that moment Jesus was not his Lord and he could not make that statement. He decided at that moment that Jesus would be his Lord. When it came time for him to make the statement he said, “Jesus is my Lord” and counts his conversion from that moment.
On the whole people can easily say “Jesus is Lord” or “Jesus is my Lord” today with no impact on their lives. They can say that they are “born-again” and “believe in Jesus” etc. and it means nothing. They can say these things without having a real conversion experience.
SO WHAT???? What would does your confession look like? What would you say when asked to testify of your conversion?
TAKE HOLD OF ETERNAL LIFE
Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses (I Tim. 6:12b).
A SECOND LOOK AT ETERNAL “LIFE”
THE “ABUNDANT LIFE” OF THE BELIEVER
I am come that they might have life, and that they might have [it] more abundantly (KJV).
“I am come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).
To the full = abundantly, more abundantly, overflowing in them, in greater measure!
“…my purpose is to give them life in all its fullness” (NLT).
“ … I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance, to the full, till it overflows” (Amplified).
“I am come so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of” (The Message).
I have told you this so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! and become perfect (John 15:11 – LB, WEY)
Blue Letter Bible Definition explanation of the wide range of meaning: 1) exceeding some number or measure or rank or need – over and above, more than is necessary, superadded; 2) exceeding abundantly, supremely; 3) something further, more, much more than all, more plainly – superior, extraordinary, surpassing, uncommon; 4) pre-eminence, superiority, advantage, more eminent, more remarkable, more excellent
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us (Eph. 3:20, KJV).
In 17 Paul calls it “…the life that is truly life” (I Tim. 6:17).
QUESTION: So what does the “abundant life,” “life better than we have ever dreamed of” look like?
If you are:
(1) Liberated from slavery to sin and sin’s bondage and have experienced Biblical redemption;
(2) Shielded from the wrath of God;
(3) Regenerated by the Holy Spirit and thus have been born again, becoming a new creation in Christ Jesus;
(4) Finding daily encouragement and guidance in God’s Word;
(5) Practicing your prerogatives as a priest of God, approaching Him in prayer continually;
(6) Enjoying being a child, son or daughter, of God every minute of every day;
(7) Living in union with Christ, consenting to being a branch, resting in Him and experiencing His life flowing into you continually;
(8) Rejoicing that you are living in a God-bathed world, both eyes opened wide to His pervasive presence;
THEN YOU ARE LIVING “THE ABUNDANT LIFE” JESUS IS REFERRING TO.
TAKE HOLD OF ETERNAL LIFE
Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses (I Tim. 6:12b).
QUESTION: Why “take hold?” What does that mean?
Timothy was a mature Christian. He had made his “good confession” many years before. Why should he be challenged to “take hold” of eternal life?
Why should he be challenged to “take hold” of something he already possessed?
The word “take hold” is a very strong word. It was the word used of Jesus when he grasped Peter and kept him from sinking and the word used when the soldiers ‘seized’ Simon the Cyrene to carry the cross for Jesus.
Timothy was challenged to “take hold” of this new life because it is easy to possess something without really embracing and enjoying it.
Do we revel in this new, abundant life we possess? Do we wake saying, “For me, this is the first day of the rest of my eternity with God.”
We need to take hold of, seize, grasp, embrace the wonderful privilege of this new life, the privilege of spending now and eternity in a growing, intimate, loving relationship with God.
CONCLUSION:
“Here is Paul’s threefold charge to Timothy – ethical (to flee from evil and pursue goodness), doctrinal – (to turn from error and fight for truth), and experiential (to lay hold of the life he has already received). It is good in our relativistic age to have truth, goodness and life set before us as absolute goals. They also constitute a healthy balance. Some fight for truth but neglect holiness. Others pursue holiness but have no comparable concern for truth. Yet others disregard both doctrine and ethics in their search for religious experience. The man and woman of God combines all three” (Stott, Pg. 157-158).
SO WHAT?????
1. The “truth, teaching, sound doctrine, good deposit” that God has given us is eternal, of great value and is worth fighting for.
2. We must stand firm and guard with great care the major doctrines of the faith and be generous on secondary doctrines.
3. Our hearts should be filled with awe to think that He chose us and enabled us, opened the ears of our heart, to hear His call when He called us to salvation.
4. What would does your confession look like? What would you say when asked to testify of your conversion?
5. We need to grasp and embrace the new life we have now that will carry on through eternity and continue on from here on out a life of explosive joy.