“Men of the Master”
1Timothy 6:11-14
1 Timothy 6:11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
First:
I. He is a converted man – “…man of God…”
A. His possession
What does it mean when we say that someone is a man of something or another? For instance, when we say someone is “man of the world” we are saying that he has experienced the things of this world. The same would be true of a “man of God.” He has had an experience with God and it shows!
Acts 4:13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.
11 Biblical Tests of Genuine Salvation - Links
By John MacArthur
1. Do you enjoy Fellowship with God and Christ?
2. Are you Sensitive to Sin in your Life?
3. Do you Obey the Scriptures?
4. Do you Reject this Evil World?
5. Do you Love Christ and eagerly await His Return?
6. Do you see a Decreasing Pattern of Sin in your Life?
7. Do you Love other Christians?
8. Do you Receive Answers to your Prayers?
9. Do you Experience the Ministry of the Holy Spirit?
10.Can you Discern between Spiritual Truth and Error?
11.Have you Suffered on Account of your Faith in Christ?
ILL - Donald Gee tells the story of when he was young and tried to plant tomatoes. That particular summer was not very good for growing plants. His tomatoes never developed on the plants, not even little green tomatoes. He was thrilled when he came outside one day to find big red ripe tomatoes on his vines. When he got closer he realized they were tied on by his mother. Sometimes, we also try to fake the fruit of the Spirit. We try to tie it onto an unchanged life.
B. His profession
Notice that Paul says that Timothy has “…professed a good profession before many witnesses.” The man who has had an experience with God will not hesitate to let others know about what God has done for him but equally important is what the people whom you come in contact with say about you.
C. His practice
If we as men are “…new creatures…” in Christ Jesus then there will be evidence of that experience in our lives and lifestyle. The NT in particular if filled with verses that testify to this truth. John MacArthur writes:
ILL - “…if a person is genuinely saved, his life will change for the better (2 Corinthians 5:17). He is saved "for good works" (Ephesians 2:10), and there is no way he can fail to bring forth at least some of the fruit that characterizes the redeemed (cf. Matthew 7:17). His desires are transformed; he begins to hate sin and love righteousness. He will not be sinless, but the pattern of his life will be decreasing sin and increasing righteousness.”
ILL - Someone has written that there are four kinds of bones in the church.
The WISH BONES who spend their time wishing someone else would do the work;
The JAW BONES who do all the talking, but very little else;
The KNUCKLE BONES who knock everything that anyone else is trying to do;
The BACK BONES who shoulder the load and do the work;
Those who are genuinely saved will be the kind of person that God can use!
Second:
II. He is a consecrated man – “…flee these things…”
A. His peril
Notice also that the man of God will “…flee…” certain things. What has Paul mentioned that requires our attention? In verse 9-10 Paul warns Timothy about the perils of an inordinate attachment to wealth and riches. He does not say that wealth is inherently evil but he does say that to “…love…”riches opens us up to great danger and even destruction!
B. His purity
Purity is by and large a forgotten word in the language of the church. You won’t hear many sermons or Bible studies on this subject either. And yet, purity is so important that without it no man can see God! Jesus said:
Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
ILL - "Every time we allow our mind to harbor a grudge, nurse a grievance, entertain an impure fancy, wallow in self-pity, we are sowing to the flesh. Every time we linger in bad company whose insidious influence we know we cannot resist, every time we lie in bed when we ought to be up and praying, every time we read pornographic literature, every time we take a risk that strains our self-control, we are sowing, sowing, sowing to the flesh." – John Stott
Source: From Jason Jones' Sermon: Are You Mocking God?
C. His principles
To avoid the perils mentioned by Paul a man must be governed by principle. He must strive to “…keep the commandment without spot…” There will be no integrity in our dealings without convictions based on the principles and precepts of God’s Word!
ILL - "Principle particularly moral principle can never be a weathervane, spinning around this way and that with the shifting winds of expediency. Moral principle is a compass forever fixed and forever true."
A life that is not controlled by Biblically based convictions is subject to the power of temptation.
BEWARE OF DRIFTING
ILL - Leonardo da Vinci, when painting "The Last Supper," went looking for models to sit for the various disciples and for Jesus. He found a handsome and innocent looking man in a choir in one of the churches in Italy. He painted him as Jesus in the great painting. The man's name was Pietro Bandinelli. Years passed as da Vinci continued to work on the painting. He left the face of Judas Iscariot till the last. Leonardo went out into the streets of Rome and looked for the most forlorn person he could find. At last he saw the man whom he wanted for the disciple that betrayed Christ. His face was drawn and villainous. He hired the man and brought him in to sit for the face of Judas. When he had completed the work, he was about to dismiss the man when he asked, “By the way, sir, what is your name?” The poor gentleman said, “Don’t you know me? I am Pietro Bandinelli. I also sat as your model for the face of Jesus.” The poor man had drifted so far that his face had gone from that of Christ to that befitting the scandalous Judas Iscariot. Dear friend, beware of drifting from God…
Source: Author unknown. Taken from pastorlife.com.
III. He is a man of character – “…follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness…”
A. His pursuit
2 Timothy 2:22 Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
A man of the Master not only flees certain things, he also follows certain things. What are you following after? What are you pursuing in life? If I know what you are seeking then I know what you value most.
Psalms 10:4 The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.
Psalms 27:4 One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.
B. His progress
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
A literal translation of the first six words in verse 22 is “the fruit that the Spirit produces” for it is the Holy Spirit who produces these virtues in the character and personality of a Spirit led believer.
2 Peter 1:5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
C. His purpose
The goal of the man of the Master is to be prepared for “…the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,” mentioned in verse 14 of our text. Every Christian admonition in the NT is connected to some exhortation that is tied to the second coming. For instance in Hebrews 10:25 we read:
“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”
In conclusion: "What does it mean to be a man of God?"
Answer: “Man of God” is the description given to a man that follows God in every way, who obeys His commands with joy, who does not live for the things of this life but for the things of eternity, who willingly serves his God in giving freely of all his resources yet gladly suffers as a consequence of his faith. Perhaps Micah 6:8 sums up the man of God in one neat verse: “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
The man of God does not swindle or defraud his employer by turning up late for work or spending an hour on the internet during work hours; he doesn’t gossip or slander; he keeps his mind and heart pure by guarding his eyes and ears from the filth of the world; he is the spiritual leader of his family. He does everything opposite to what the world does or approves of; he goes "against the grain" of society because he knows these things displease God; he considers those who are "disadvantaged" or those rejected by society, those that are lonely or despairing; he is a listener to other people’s problems and does not judge.
Most of all, the man of God understands that when our Lord commanded him to "be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48), he is only able to accomplish that because God enables him to be “holy and blameless in his sight” (Ephesians 1:4) through His power and the indwelling of His Spirit. On our own, we are incapable of holiness and perfection, but through Christ who strengthens us, we can "do all things" (Philippians 4:13). The man of God knows that his new nature is that of the righteousness of Christ which was exchanged for our sinful nature at the cross (2 Corinthians 5:17; Philippians 3:9). The final result is that he walks humbly with his God, knowing that he must rely solely upon Him to be able to live to the full and persevere to the end.
Perhaps the Christian today is lacking in these qualities, but this is what simple religion is all about—the simple religion that is yet sufficient to please God: helping those in distress and keeping oneself from being polluted by the world (James 1:23). We can have an awareness of all biblical doctrines, we can know all the theological terms, we may be able to translate the Bible from the original Greek and so on, but the principle of Micah 6:8 is the principle that the man of God must follow: act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.
