Look at verse 11. We read, “But thou, O MAN OF GOD...”
To be referred to as a “man of God,” or a “woman of God,” is one of the greatest titles that could be given to any Christian.
(1) The term MAN OF GOD is often given to MINISTERS of the gospel.
(2) Also, the clergyman is called THE MAN OF CLOTH. This term MAN OF THE CLOTH started in the 17th century when clergymen began to wear robes.
But just because a minister may wear clergyman garb the title MAN OF GOD does not mean he is a MAN OF GOD.
The greatest title that can be given to any Christian is that they are a MAN OR WOMAN OF GOD.
Illus: David was known to be a man of God because the Bible tells he was a man after God’s own heart.
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN HE WAS A MAN AFTER GOD’S OWN HEART?
The phrase "a man after after God’s own heart" is used to describe someone who has similar values, interests, or beliefs as God.
David is described as a man after God's own heart BECAUSE he loved and valued the same things God valued.
It is great honor to be known as a MAN OR WOMAN OF GOD.
There are all kinds of titles for people such as Doctor, Lawyer, Plumber or Carpenter etc. that describes the life of people
Many titles that many wear indicate a high level of prestige, but the highest honor that could be bestowed on a man or woman is to be referred to as a MAN OR WOMAN OF GOD!
• Moses was referred to as a MAN OF GOD, in Deut. 33:1.
• Samuel is referred to as a MAN OF GOD in I Samuel 9:6.
• David is referred to as a MAN OF GOD in II Chron. 8:14.
• Elijah is referred to as a MAN OF GOD in I Kings 17:24.
• Elisha is referred to as a MAN OF GOD in II Kings 4:9.
This is a title every Christian should strive to earn, and it is a fact that titles are not given but titles must be earned.
Illus: For example, when a soldier goes into the army, he is not asked, “What title would you like to have while you serve your country?”
Those young recruits are not asked, “Would you like to be a:
• Sergeant.
• Colonel.
• Lieutenant.
• General.
That is not the way it works! Those titles have to be earned.
To be called A MAN, or WOMAN OF GOD, is something each Christian also has to earn.
Paul spoke of a MAN OF GOD in verse 11, and then he proceeded to show us what a person must do to earn that title.
1 Timothy 6:11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
When the translators of the King James Bible translated this from the Greek text, they gave us an alliterative outline of what it takes to be a “MAN OF GOD.”
I will preach about one of these topics in this sermon and the other two will follow in the weeks to come.
As we look at these things we discover they refer to THREE THINGS in this alliterated outline. They are…
• VICES, (1 of 3)
• VIRTUES, (2 of 3)
• VICTORIES. (3 of 3)
Today I will be preaching on VICES we must flee from in order to be a MAN OR WOMAN OR WOMAN OF GOD.
Notice in this passage of scripture the first thing…
I. THE MAN OF GOD IS TO FLEE.
The word translated “flee” is from the Greek word “pheugo” from which we get our English word, “fugitive.”
Illus: There use to be a program on television call the FUGITIVE.
The actor David Janssen played as a doctor who was wrongly convicted for the murder of his wife. He escapes custody and in each episode, he was FLEEING as a FUGITIVE to find the real killer of his wife!!!
A fugitive is always on the run!!!
Christians, did you know the devil is hot on your trail EVERYDAY?
Look at I Peter 5:8, where he said, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”
That verse simply means that Satan is on the prowl every day and is looking for victims like you to pounce upon!
• Now, I do not know about you, but if I ever see a lion, I am going to FLEE as fast as I can.
• Why? Because I know a lion can kill you. I am not going to play around with a LION…I KNOW BETTER!!!
Even more so, we, as Christians, need to be reminded that SATAN is no one to play with LIKEWISE!
To be a MAN OR WOMAN OF GOD we have to FLEE from Satan because he is out to do us harm EVERYDAY!!!
But the Word of God does not just tell us we are to FLEE FROM SIN, BUT IT GOES MUCH FURTHER THAN THAT. God’s Word tells us in I Thess. 5:22, “Abstain from all appearance of evil.”
Sin is such a dangerous thing, not only are we to:
1) AVOID ALL EVIL,
2) We are to ABSTAIN FROM EVEN THE APPEARANCE OF EVIL.
That is, if anything EVEN APPEARS TO BE EVIL, WE ARE TO FLEE!
For example:
Illus: In our age we do not hear much preaching like we use to hear from the pulpits in America that are in our homes today. We have two things that we need to recognize spiritually that are very dangerous.
I am talking about…
(1) The TELEVISION that some refer to as the “Hella vision”.
(2) The computer
(I could also include these telephones that many are addicted to but I do not have time to deal with this evil in this sermon)
Only God knows the harm that these two things have done to individuals and to the homes of the American people.
Now I am not advocating that we should not have these things in our home because they can be entertaining and inspirational depending on what you watch and listen too.
But I am telling you that these two things in our home can be more dangerous than to have two ten-foot rattle snakes in our home to our families and to us spiritually.
For example, you cannot have these things in our home and allow the filth of Hollywood fill your mind and hearts with the garbage that come from them daily and be a MAN OR WOMAN OF GOD.
(I AM WAITING TO HEAR SOME AMENS!!!)
Now if you cannot control what you watch on these things the Word of God DOES tells us you should not have these things in your home.
Maybe someone is saying PREACHER GIVE ME SOME SCRIPTURE FOR SOME NOT TO HAVE THESE THINGS IN OUR HOME? (I thought you never would ask)
Look what the Word of God teaches in In the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 18:8-9 “If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell”.
Jesus repeats this caution in Matthew 18:8–9, except there He adds the need to dispense with a foot as well as a hand and an eye.
There is some controversy about this passage of scripture.
That is, did Jesus actually mean we should pluck out our eyes or cut off our hand or a foot if we are prone to sin?
• I personally believe that the Lord is not advocating we are to butcher our bodies as a punishment for our sin. (I could be wrong!)
• Rather, I believe Jesus means that if we cannot control the things we watch on these televisions or these computers we should do away with them.
Illus: A young girl was on a tour to visit a coal mine. She wore a white dress.
The tour guide told her, “Young lady, there is not a thing to keep you from going into that coal mine with that white dress, but there are a lot of things in that coal mine to keep you from coming out with a white dress.”
• No one can stop you from watching these low lives on your television and computers every day, but you need to understand this: If you watch this garbage, you will become corrupted by it and you will lose the joy of the Lord.
• If all you have to do with your time is sit around and fill your time, mind and heart, with all this Hollywood garbage, you would be better off getting a job to occupy your time.
If you watch this garbage from Hollywood, it will destroy your children, marriage and your Christian testimony.
Again, only God knows the damage that has been done through this stuff that is pumped out each week from the ungodliness on these television and computers we have in our home.
Illus: We have parents who allow their children to watch and listen to this garbage and when their children GO ASTRAY, they wonder why their child is:
• Smoking
• Drinking
• Cussing
• Involved in premarital sex
They do not know why THEIR CHILD IS DOING THESE THINGS…LET ME EDUCATE?
IT IS BECAUSE PARENTS HAVE ALLOWED HOLLYWOOD TO RAISE THEIR CHILREN INSTEAD OF BEING THE MAN AND WOMAN OF GOD AND RAISED THEM ACCORDING TO GOD’S WORD.
All over this nation we have parents that will lay in bed on Sunday morning and will not bring their children to church to learn about the Lord Jesus and they wonder why…
• Their teen age daughter has gotten pregnant
• Their son walks around all the time with his britches about to fall off
• Children are cussing and lying
They do these things because this Hollywood trash has taught them how to do these things daily. And parents want even give one hour a week for their children to be taught the Word of God.
To be a MAN OR WOMAN OF GOD we must FLEE from what this sinful world has to offer!
God’s Word tells us we have to be careful what we SEE and LISTEN TOO!!!
• For example, the Bible tells us IT IS A SIN WHEN A MAN LOOKS AT A WOMAN AND LUSTS AFTER HER BODY.
ALSO, THIS VERSE MEANS…
• IT IS A SIN WHEN A WOMAN LOOKS AT A MAN AND LUST AFTER HIS BODY.
Sinful women are as guilty as men of this evil as they watch their “Slop operas” on television watching all this garbage from Hollywood.
I understand they even have now a “Playgirl for the women” to lust after men.
Let me illustrate in case I have not gotten my point across from what the word of God teaches.
Illus: Years ago, Dr. Odell Belger went to the gym for exercise frequently.
While he was working out, he met this young man that was built like “Mr. America”. He had muscles bulging out of his body I did not even know the human body had.
This muscular body builder and Dr. Belger became very good friends. Dr. Belger spent weeks witnessing to him and inviting him to attend church.
He finally came and he worked at a factory where some of Dr. Belger’s parishioners worked.
After church Dr. Belger was shaking his hand and telling him how glad he came to worship with them.
While he was doing this a woman that worked at the same factory walked up to him and greeted him and said, “Every time I look at your BODY I sin!”
This lost man never came back to church! This lustful woman WAS EVERYTHING BUT A WOMAN OF GOD!
Listen God Word is telling the MAN AND THE WOMAN IT IS A SIN TO LOOK AT THE OPPOSITE SEX AND TO LUST AFTER THEM. This applies to men and women.
You will never be known as a MAN OR WOMAN OF GOD LUSTING FOR THE OPPOSITE SEX if it be:
• On the streets
• In some pornographic magazine
• Television or your computer
Many are making jokes and saying, “It is all right to look, just do not touch!”
Illus: Dr. Odell Belger was visiting a home where the lady was sick. During his visit her husband came up in the conversation while he was there.
This woman said one of the dumbest things any woman could ever say. She said, “My husband comes home from work and goes straight to his computer in our bedroom and spend hours watching pornographic stuff on the computer, but I do not care if all he does is look!
But what this woman evidently did not know he bragged to the men he worked with he did much more than looked at pornography.
Illus: Listen you can go to the Lizard’s Thicket restaurant trying to lose weight and hang out there and before long you are soon going to be PARTAKING what they dish Out!
Listen, you may be a deacon, Sunday school teacher and even a preacher if you look the opposite sex in a lustful manner…
• On the streets
• On these televisions
• On these computer
• In these magazines
It will not be long before you will be doing more than looking.
As a minister of God and as your friend who love you, I am only telling you what the Word of God tells us.
We are to keep our eyes on the Lord Jesus not on Hollywood!
Because, if we take them off of the Lord, we will be like Peter.
Illus: Remember, when Jesus was walking on water and Peter began to walk on water, he took his eyes off the Lord and when he took his eyes off of the Lord, he began to sink!
Illus: Las Vegas is known as the SIN CITY, and they have a slogan WHAT IS DONE IN LAS VEGAS STAYS IN LAS VEGAS.
But they are wrong!!!
What is done in Las Vegas is straight from the pits of hell and when you leave Las Vegas every sinner takes those sins in their minds and heart home with them. And they will remain with them until the days they die!!!
When we allow Hollywood to pump this garbage into our minds and our hearts they will stay there as long as we live.
God will forgive you of your sins, but our minds are like these computers.
Illus: That is we are told with our computers that once that garbage is piped into our computers it will stay in the history files of that computer for the life of that computer.
Illus: I cannot tell you the Christians who have said, “Preacher, I know I have been saved by the grace of God, but the sins I allowed in my life before I came to know Christ, I cannot get rid of those filthy images!!!”
Illus: Dr. Odell Belger tells of a young lady who was married with two children. She got gloriously saved and around a year after she was saved, she told her pastor she was going to have to move to another town.
He could tell by the expression on her face she was troubled!
The pastor asked her, he said, “You are going to have to move, is there something I can help you with?
She said let me explain, I am embarrassed to tell you but before I got saved as a teenager I lived a very sinful life.
• And now when I drive around town with my husband and two children in the back seat, I see young men I did these things with, and I have all these horrible flash backs, and I re-live these horrible sins.
• And when I drive around town in certain parts of this town and drive by motels and places, I did these things I have all these horrible flash backs.
This is why I want to leave this town!
She left town but did you know when she left town, she kept these horrible sins in her mind with her that took place years ago.
Some of you know what I am talking about!!!
This is why the Word of God tells us we are to FLEE from sin the same way we would FLEE from a lion.
Listen, God’s saves us from our sins, but the scars of sin will stay with us till the day we die.
Illus: I have a scar on my chin that I got from a bicycle accident as a child and almost everytime I shave I am reminded of that accident.
THIS IS WHY YOU YOUNG PEOPLE IF YOU WANT TO BE MEN AND WOMEN OF GOD YOU NEED TO FLEE FROM SIN and you will not have to live with this garbage Satan wants you to live with all your life.
Those sins do not stay in Las Vegas they will stay with you to the day you die.
If we are going to be MEN AND WOMAN OF GOD, we have to FLEE FROM SIN!
Look at some of the VICES that Paul warns us to flee from.
A. We must flee from conceit.
What is conceit?
This is a terrible sin that we must flee if want to be a MAN OR WOMAN OF GOD!
Let me give you another definition of conceit.
Illus: A young boy was talking to his grandfather over the phone and his grandfather said, Grandson do you know the definition of “Conceit?
The grandfather said conceit is….” A flea floating on his back down a river, sporting a hard-hat on his head, yelling “OPEN THE DRAWBRIDGE I AM COMING THROUGH!"
A lot of folks think a lot of themselves!!!
Illus: A lot of folks will talk to you all day as long if you are willing to talk about them. But if you take the attention off of them, they have to LEAVE.
THEY ARE FULL OF THEMSELVES!!!
Listen, you cannot promote yourself and the Lord at the same time. God did not place us here on earth to PROMOTE OURSELVES…BUT TO PROMOTE HIM!!!
Illus: One of the reasons God so greatly used Dr. Billy Grahams he was a humble man of God. They placed a statue of him in the Capital Building and when they did his son Franklin said, “DAD WOULD NOT LIKE THIS WITH ALL THIS ATTENTION PUT ON HIM!!!”
He was a man of God and this is why God so greatly used Him.
He knew and lived what Galatians 6:14 tells us, But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.
Paul warns us to be a MAN OR WOMAN OF GOD we must FLEE PRIDE!!!
Look at verse 4. We read, “He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings.”
Notice, the Bible speaks of the ungodly man, saying, “He is proud...”
In verse 4, the word translated “PROUD,” literally means, “A person who is wrapped up in smoke.” In other words, HIS PRIDE is short lived!
That is, he is inflated with his own importance.
(1) But, the Word of God says, “He is proud, KNOWING NOTHING...”
Look at the words, “...knowing nothing” That is, not only is he proud, he is also DUMB.
That is, HE THINKS HE IS SOMETHING WHEN HE IS NOTHING!!! In other words, he is too dumb to know it!!!
Illus: Someone said, “If some people could buy themselves for what they ARE WORTH and sale themselves for what they think they are worth they could be rich!!!”
God’s Word tells us the CONCEITED…HE IS PROUD, KNOWING NOTHING
But look at something else Paul tells us about the CONCEITED….
(2) Look at the word “Doting”.
This means that he is a sick person not knowing God put them here to promote HIM NOT THEMSELVES!!!
Illus: Have you ever listen to a man or woman that was FULL OF THEMSELVES.
What did you think about them?
You did not tell them, but you thought THIS IS ONE SICK DUDE!!!
If we are going to be MEN AND WOMEN OF GOD, we must FLEE PRIDE!
No one will ever look at a PROUD MAN and say, “There goes a MAN OF GOD!”
But also…
B. We must flee impurity.
What is impurity?
Let me read you this from GOT QUESTIONS in my research on impurity
“Under the rituals of the Old Testament Law, the Israelites were often confronted with the ideas of ritual or ceremonial purity and impurity.
Many things could make an Israelite ritually unclean or impure:
• Menstruation,
• Childbirth,
• Touching a corpse,
• Certain types of skin diseases.
• Eating an unclean food would make one impure
• The disease called Leprosy
• Personal contact with someone unclean would make a person unclean himself.
When someone had a ceremonial impurity and was declared unclean, he or she was separated from the community and not allowed to worship at the temple during the period of the impurity or uncleanness (Numbers 5:1–4).
God’s Law provided a path to restore purity, however. The process of purification depended on the degree of impurity and ranged from…
• Physical washing
• To offering an animal sacrifice to atone for the uncleanness.
The Law’s insistence on purity and its quarantine of impurity laid stress on the fact that God expected holiness in His people. He had chosen Israel to be in special relationship with Him. God is holy, and He demands holiness of the people who follow Him.
“A little leaven leavens the whole lump” (Galatians 5:9, ESV)
In the Bible, ceremonial impurity can illustrate moral impurity. One vivid example of this is leprosy—one of the skin diseases that rendered a person ceremonially impure or unclean.
Because there was no cure for leprosy, a person who contracted leprosy was often permanently unclean. Lepers were outcasts for life. They were not….
• Permitted to associate with others due to the contagiousness of their disease.
• They could not live with their families or worship at the temple or work at jobs.
• Their impurity was so severe that, if they were in a public area, they were required to identify themselves by shouting, “Unclean! Unclean!” so that others could clear out and avoid any contact with them (Leviticus 13:45).
• Lepers had to resort to begging, relying on the mercy of others to share with them food and other daily necessities.
The impurity of leprosy is like sin in that it isolates us from our communities, separates us from God, and eventually leads to death.
And this is why Jesus’ approach to the outcast lepers in His day was so startling. He didn’t turn away from them, He didn’t clear out of the way, and He didn’t draw back in horror or disdain; He reached out His hand and touched them.
And instead of their leprosy making Jesus unclean, His holiness overcame their impurity and made them clean (Matthew 8:1–4; and Luke 17:11–16).
If we are going to MEN AND WOMEN OF GOD, we must FLEE FROM ALL IMPURITITES (SINS).
Look at I Timothy 6:5. We read, “Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: FROM SUCH WITHDRAW THYSELF.”
Let is look at several things in this verse…
(1) At the time of this writing, when SINFUL men would go around tearing churches down with negative talk and actions, THEY WERE KNOWN BY CHURCH MEMBERS AS TROUBLEMAKERS. They were NOT PEACE MAKERS, they were TROUBLEMAKERS!
Illus: There are still people in churches that cannot point to one person in their church and say they brought that person to the Lord because, “I am a man, or woman, of God.” Not one!
Yet the devil uses them to drive people away from the church.
Even though they have not contributed anything, money or energy, to the growth of the church, they are constantly spending their time and energy tearing it down. And there is not much you can do for them.
Look what Paul said about them in verse 5. We read, “Perverse disputing's of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: FROM SUCH WITHDRAW THYSELF.”
In this context, “perverse” implies they are RELIGIOUS PERVERTS.
Illus: Usually we use “pervert” in referring to homosexuals. I know they like to be referred to as “gay,” but the more accurate description is their way of thinking is “perverted.” That is, they are not normal. The way they think has been corrupted.
However, in this verse, Paul was saying that those troublemakers had PERVERSE DISPUTINGS. They were always complaining about something.
Their minds were twisted.
Paul said they had CORRUPT MINDS.
(2) Notice, something else he says about these PERVERTED PEOPLE.
Illus: He said they were “...destitute of the truth...” That is, you could almost rest assured, if their lips were moving, they were lying.
(3) Then notice something else about them, THEY SUPPOSED THAT RELIGION WAS GREAT GAIN - “...supposing that gain is godliness...”
Just like folks today, they went through their little religious rituals every Sunday, they knew all about religion, but they did NOT KNOW GOD!
Paul then ordered, “...from such withdraw thyself.”
He said the same thing in Romans 16:17. We read, “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; AND AVOID THEM.”
Illus: That does not say we may never say, “Hi,” or “By,” to them, but it does say we are to make all effort not to associate with such until they repent of their sins and get right with God.
II Thess. 3:6, “Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye WITHDRAW yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.”
Notice, Paul used the word “command.” He does not say if you think it is a good idea to WITHDRAW FROM THEM, he commanded them to WITHDRAW themselves from any who walked “disorderly.”
Why are Christians to WITHDRAW and AVOID such people?
Look at II John 10-11. We read, “If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, RECEIVE HIM NOT INTO YOUR HOUSE, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.”
God does not want us to be a “partaker of” the “disorderly” man’s “evil deeds.”
We are judged by the company we keep, and if we are going to keep company with those who oppose God’s Word, then we should not be shocked when people see us the same way they see them.
If we want to be judged as being MEN AND WOMEN OF GOD, we have to FLEE IMPURITY!
Listen, the world should be able to take a look at us and say, “There goes a man of God!” They will never know that IF WE ASSOCIATE WITH UNGODLY PEOPLE who are causing problems in God’s churches.
If we want the title of being MEN AND WOMEN OF GOD, WE HAVE TO FLEE IMPURITY!
C. We have to flee a discontented spirit.
Look at I Timothy 6:6-8. We read, “But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.”
Paul not only preach CONTENTMENT, look at Philippians 4:11-13 Not that I speak in respect of want for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things, I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengthened me.
Notice, Paul said I have LEARNED to be content. If we want to be a MAN OR WOMAN OF GOD, we also must learn in contentment in all situations.
I do not believe we need a definition of DISCONTENED PEOPLE…DO WE?
Illus: My wife and I enjoy visiting a Christian man (Richard Deasy) in a nursing home. He would love to be in his home and enjoying the things he onced enjoyed but every time we visit him twice a month he is always smiling and making the best of his situation. In other words, he is a CONTENTED MAN MAKING THE BEST OF HIS SITUATION!!!
The devil will see to it that you will never be content if you let him. God has been good to all of us, BUT SOME WHO CALL THEMSELVES CHRISTIANS ARE ALWAYS DISCONTENTED.
Illus: Listen, God has blessed some with:
• A three-bedroom home. Soon they complain that they do not have four bedrooms.
• A nice car, but soon they complain that their neighbor has one that is a later model, and they like it better.
That is, no matter how God blesses some, they are still going to BE DICCONTENTED and display discontentment in their life.
God says that “...godliness with contentment is great gain.” Then he tells us something else we all need to consider:
• We brought nothing into this world.
• We will take nothing out of this world.
So, if we have food and clothes we should BE CONTENT.
We all came into the world naked, everything we have is a gift from God so why should we be DISCONTENTED!!!
The people who always gripe and complain will never be worthy of the title, “A MAN OR WOMAN OF GOD.”
Illus: Two women were talking.
• One said, “Do you wake up grumpy?”
• The other answered, “No, I let the alarm clock wake him up.”
WE MUST FLEE A DISCONTENTED SPIRIT.
Also...
D. We have to flee foolish and hurtful lusts.
Look at verse 9, we read, “But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.”
Notice, Paul was referring to those who LUST FOR WEALTH.
Look at those words again in verse 9, “...FOOLISH AND HURTFUL LUSTS...”
This refers here to any uncontrolled desires, passions, and ambitions.”
Illus: Ambition is like a fire. We need it in our lives, but it can only serve us well when we have it under control.
People possessed by uncontrolled ambition never find what they are looking for.
Illus: The 19th century Bible scholar, G. S. Bowes, pointed out the ultimate futility of ambition that isn’t accompanied by dedication to God. Citing four powerful world rulers of the past, he wrote:
• “Alexander, The Great, was not satisfied, even when he had completely subdued the nations. He wept because there were no more worlds to conquer, and he died at an early age in a state of debauchery.
• Hannibal, who filled three bushels with the gold rings taken from the knights he had slaughtered, committed suicide by swallowing poison. Few noted his passing, and he left this earth completely unmourned.
• Julius Caesar, ‘staining his garments in the blood of one million of his foes,’ conquered 800 cities, only to be stabbed by his best friends at the scene of his greatest triumph.
• Napoleon, the feared conqueror, after being the scourge of Europe, spent his last years in banishment.”
The false teachers and preachers had AN UNCONTROLLABLE passion for WEALTH.
Paul referred to their ambition as being FOOLISH and HURTFUL LUST!
Look at verse 10. We read, “For the love of money is the root of all evil...”
Illus: As you know, nothing is wrong with HAVING MONEY, but there is something wrong when money has us!!!
That is, some have an inordinate love for money - that is wrong!
We need to FLEE such FOOLISH and HURTFUL LUSTS.
Conclusion:
A MAN, or WOMAN, OF GOD can be identified by what they FLEE FROM.
In out text today Paul gives us an alliterated outline what it will take to be a MAN OR WOMAN OF GOD? Today he has showed us to be a MAN OR WOMAN OF GOD THERE ARE THINGS WE MUST FLEE.
In the next sermon he will show us there are some things if we wish to be A MAN OR WOMAN OF GOD WE MUST FOLLOW.
I. THE MAN OF GOD IS TO FLEE. (1of 3)
II. THE MAN OF GOD IS TO FOLLOW. (1 of 2)
III. THE MAN OF GOD IS TO FIGHT. (3 OF 3)
IV. The Title of my sermon is…MAKE ME A BLESSING!!!
V. To be a blessing you have to be a MAN OR WOMAN OF GOD.
YouTube
MAKE ME A BLESSING -with lyrics video
Ed Timbulan
3.5K views
Nov 8, 2022
