October 25, 2024
God's Design For The Church
Guarding The Gospel and Persevering in Faith
I would like to start our message for today by going back to preceding verse in 1 Timothy 6:11:
But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.
In the old testament, the prophets are often called “man of God,” servants of God just like Elijah, Elisha, Joseph, David or Moses.
These are the people of God in their time who were called by God, They know God personally, so they trust Him, obey Him and have God as the center of their life.
You man of God of today, let us search our hearts. Is God the center of our life. Is God fills our minds at all times so that we obey His precepts. Are we living the life in obedience to Him.
If we think that we are what it is to be called the man of God, then it means we are the true ministers of God, His ambassadors because our life revolves around God and is all about God.
“If we think that we are what it is to be called the man of God, then it means we are the true ministers of God.”
We may notice in this verse that there are 2 action words, flee and pursue.
So first and foremost, a Godly person keeps on fleeing.
“flee” is in a present tense. It means that we do it daily, every minute and every second of our life.
1 Timothy 6:3 If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching.
Flee
We should flee from whom and what!
- False teachers
- False doctrines
- False teachings
It means flee from ungodliness purposely, intentionally and in all situation.
Where else, do we need to flee from?
1 Timothy 6:9-10 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Man of God we need to flee from these things as well:
- Flee from the love of money.
- Flee from many foolish and harmful desires
The apostles Paul is saying, flee from these things because you may wander from your faith and pierce yourself with grief.
We can contrast two heavyweights of faith in the old testament who have shown the difference between one who flee and one who stays in the face of temptation or sin.
David who was called a man after God’s own heart has failed in this. He did not flee.
That is why he wandered away from God and pierced himself with a lot of grief.
Remember the cause of his fall. When while he was walking at the veranda or patio of his castle, he saw a beautiful woman named Betsheba who was very beautiful. Instead of fleeing, he focus his gaze upon this woman. He inquired about her, even learning that she’s the wife of one of his army officer Uriah. Again, having been told that this woman is already married, he could have flee the second time, but instead he coveted her. And we know the consequence of his action.
He almost lost his crown, his son died, he was pursued by all his enemies and he even pretended to be a crazy man. He pierced himself with many grief.He lost the joy of salvation.
The other old testament heavy weight is Joseph.
Joseph was a fine young man, good looking, well mannered, trustworthy, whose work is always blessed because God is with him.
He was the overall administrator of his master. And while his master was busy with his business, the wife being lonely had her eyes on Joseph. She tried to lure Joseph, but instead Joseph flee, he ran away.
We will never know when the devil will attack. He is always watching, waiting for a chance, especially when we are most vulnerable, weak, alone, or lonely. But the Lord said in the face of our ungodly desires, we should ran and flee.
1 John 2:16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.
While we flee from these things, the Lord said, “ man of God” pursue righteousness, and Godliness.
Pursue
1 Timothy 6:11 “But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.”
Righteousness and Godliness
I heard from a preacher that there are 3 kinds of righteousness.
- The righteousness of God, which is perfect.
- Positional righteousness, or the righteousness that Christ has imparted to us
- Practical righteousness, or our life living in obedience to God.
Only God is righteous, He is perfect.
We were declared righteous, by the cleansing blood of Christ so that while we were declared righteous we should pursue it by living a life in obedience to Him.
When we say pursue, it means constantly, everyday, every minute, in every circumstances. It requires, determination, energy, effort and persistence.
And how do we pursue righteousness, by following Christ! Christ is our righteousness, first and foremost, we should pursue Him!
WORD (CHRIST)
Romans 10:17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.
Do we want an unshakable faith, then pursue Christ through His Word, the Bible.
Love
Ephesians 5:1-2 Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Walk in the way of love. Jesus being our example, He who loved us and gave himself for us.
Endurance and Gentleness
1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
We were told to stand firm, endure, let nothing move us,commit ourselves in the work of Christ. No matter how hard, for our labor is not in vain.
Gentleness is meekness and not weakness. It means power under control. We have the power in Christ, and that power in Christ enables us to have a Spirit-controlled life.
And as we Flee and Pursue these things, the apostle Paul urges Timothy and us to guard what has been entrusted to us
1 Timothy 6:20-21 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 departed from the faith.
We have been entrusted with the word of God.
It taught us to flee from ungodliness, unrighteousness, foolishness, lustful desires, false teachers, false doctrine, and false teachings.
We were taught to pursue Christ through His Word, righteousness godliness, love, endurance, and gentleness.
By so doing, we will not fall into sin, and not pierced ourselves with grief, wander from our faith, and lose the joy of salvation.
We should live our Christian life to the fullest. Rejoicing in the midst of everything, knowing fully well that we are just sojourning in this life. Holding to the word of God and guarding it with unwavering faith! Holding onto His Word when he says, “I have come that you may have life, and have it to the fullest.”
So as we workout our salvation, we fight the good fight of faith!
And when finally, the curtain is about to close on us, we may say, Lord I have guarded what has been entrusted to me, I have not departed from the faith!
2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.