Fight The Good Fight Of The Faith Series

Scripture

In the last chapter of his First Letter to Timothy, Paul issued four charges to Timothy: first, about the false teachers (6:3-10), second, to Christian leaders (6:11-16), third, to rich Christians (6:17-19), and finally, to Timothy himself (6:20-21).

Let us read our text for today in 1 Timothy 6:11-16:

11 But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 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. 13 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, 14 to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 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. (1 Timothy 6:11-16)

Introduction

Our Book of Church Order has a form of service for when a man is ordained as an officer in the Presbyterian Church in America. A Presbytery ordains a man to the office of Teaching Elder and a Session ordains a man to the office of Ruling Elder or Deacon. A sermon is preached that is suitable to the occasion, vows are taken by various parties, and charges are delivered to the officer and to the body that is calling the man to serve as an officer. One of the charges is given to the ordinand. The charge reminds the ordinand of the conduct that is proper to him and his office. Ordination is the setting apart of a man by God to serve God and his people.

It seems to me that Paul was thinking of Timothy’s ordination service when he started writing the words to which we come in our text today. Perhaps Paul was restating the charge that he had given to Timothy on the day of Timothy’s ordination. Paul set down several characteristics that mark a Christian leader and now as he brought his letter to a close, Paul reminded Timothy of what he had said to him on that occasion.

It is helpful to keep in mind the context of this section of Paul’s letter. Paul had just warned Timothy about the problem with false teachers. As we come to today’s text, Paul is urging Timothy to live differently than the false teachers.

While it is true that Paul’s writing is directly aimed at Timothy, and therefore also at Christian leaders, the characteristics Paul lists should mark every Christian. And so, in that sense, these characteristics apply to every one of us.

Lesson

1 Timothy 6:11-16 shows us five characteristics that mark a Christian leader.

Let’s use the following outline:

1. A Christian Leader Knows What He Flees From (6:11a)

2. A Christian Leader Knows What He Follows After (6:11b)

3. A Christian Leader Knows What He Fights For (6:12a)

4. A Christian Leader Knows What He Fastens Onto (6:12b)

5. A Christian Leader Knows What He Is Faithful To (6:13-16)

I. A Christian Leader Knows What He Flees From (6:11a)

First, a Christian leader knows what he flees from.

Paul began verse 11 with these words to Timothy, “But as for you, O man of God.” I am sure that when Timothy read these words, he stopped abruptly. He did a double-take. Did he read that correctly? Who was Paul referring to as a “man of God”? Surely not Timothy? But, as he read and re-read those words it became blindingly clear that Paul was calling Timothy a “man of God.” So, why would this cause Timothy to stop reading abruptly?

First, although Timothy did not know it at the time, he is the only person in the New Testament that is ever called a “man of God.” In his Second Letter to Timothy, Paul did refer to every pastor as a “man of God.” But at the time of Paul’s writing of this letter, no one was called a “man of God.”

And second, the reason this title caught Timothy’s attention is because it was used in the Old Testament. It was originally used of Moses (Deuteronomy 33:1; Joshua 14:6), the great leader of God’s ancient people. Then it was used of the great prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 9:6). So, Timothy would have shrunk from being on the same level as such exalted company.

However, eventually the title “man of God” came to be used as technical term to refer to a man who spoke officially for God. It was used about 70 times in the Old Testament and it was often used to refer to the prophets who spoke for God.