E18 - The Pastoral Epistles: Biblical Ministers & Biblical Ministry - The Path of a True Man of God

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Amen. I pray this morning that you are

thankful for the leadership that the Lord has provided in our

lives, both through His word, through His Holy Spirit that

lives in us, that continually point us to Christ our Lord and

our Savior. You have your Bibles if you

would. Turn to 1st.

Timothy, as we continue our journey and looking at this

pastoral epistle covering for us biblical ministers and biblical

ministry. I can't think of a more.

Needed message for our culture than what we're going to see

today. A message that I pray would

cause men of God to rise up in this church, in the homes that

are represented here in the community that we live in.

I pray that the Spirit would prompt us, nudge us, convict us,

urge us, and being obedient to the things that we're going to

see today in this text. So today what?

Paul is going to do, he's going to continue teaching Timothy on

the heels of warning Timothy and in essence, warning the entire.

Church at Ephesus about the dangers of false teachers.

He's going to now give Timothy a lesson on the path of a true man

of God. What path should a man of God

truly walk? What path?

Should he follow, He begins to this section, as we'll see in a

moment, with a statement or a term Man of God, he says, But

you, oh man of God. He he juxtaposes the ungodliness

of false teachers with Timothy, who is a man of God.

And he says, But you, oh man of God.

Paul borrowing a term from the Old Testament, barring a term

that was used to describe the prophets of old as men of God,

people who live for God, true children of God, representatives

of God. This term man of God would have

spoken about a person's relationship to God.

A person would be a man of God, who of course has a relationship

to him. He belonged to God.

And he was loved by God, and he in return, because of the love

that he received, loved God as well.

This also speaks of his life unto God, his obedient testimony

characters as it's displayed in his life.

This. Term man of God, again, that

Paul borrows from the Old Testament.

It would have spoken volumes into the authority in which this

man would stand. He literally stood in the

authority of God and in the authority of God's power and

God's powerful word. It also would have pointed to

his message message. That these prophets would have

boldly proclaimed. They would have proclaimed the

Word of God, the Word of truth. It would have been bold in this

proclamation. And it's clear from all of

scripture when the term man of God is used, it's used for a

man. Who walked a different path, a

different path from the world, a different path that he once

walked. He walked the path, pointed

others to God, pointed others to the truth.

And Paul takes this term, a man of God, and he applies it.

To his young protege. Can you imagine when Timothy saw

that? Because the godliest person that

Timothy has probably ever known in his life is the apostle Paul.

And there's something about it when a person who mentors us

also encourages us with these kinds of terms.

Timothy, understanding Paul is probably one of the most godly

men that he's ever known. And then Paul to now turn the

tables and to write to Timothy and to refer.

To him as a man of God, I know that it thrilled his heart that

the man of God, the apostle Paul, who had set him such an

example, because he was following the example of Christ,

he now refers to him with such a term.

When they understood the weight of this term, it wasn't

something that was just being thrown around this this term

accompanied men such as Elijah and Elijah and Isaiah and Moses.

Many of the prophets of Old Paul now uses it to refer to this

young pastor here at Ephesus. But not only does he refer to

him as a man of God. What we're going to look at this

morning is the fact that he then.

Follows it up with several imperatives.

He's then going to command him. Because you are a man of God, I

want to teach you how to live up to being that which God has

called you in. Christ Jesus to be.

Well, this has application not just to those of us who are

pastors here today. It has an application not to

those of us who are men. It has applications to all who

are in Christ because it is his grace that has allowed us to be

called children of God, men of God, women of God.

And we have been made that through the sacrifice of Jesus

Christ. And we are not yet perfect, or

at least I'm not, and I hope you don't think you are.

We are being conformed into that which God has already called us

to the image of Christ. Paul using that same idea here.

When he refers to Timothy as man of God, then he's going to

clearly define the path that Timothy.

And all who aspire to be men of God, a women of God, a children

of God, need to travel in this. Life let's read it together.

First Timothy chapter 6 verse 11 and I will go ahead and tell you

1 Timothy 6:11

this. There's much to be covered here,

so put your listening ears on, he says.

But you, man of God. Flee from all of this.

All of what? All of the thievery, All the

conniving, all of the greed, all the covetousness.

Of the false teachers that we talked about last week and we

see in the Scripture above this, he says flee from all of this

and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love,

endurance and gentleness. Fight 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, in 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 to keep this command without

spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus

Christ. To which God will bring about in

his own time. God is the blessed and only

ruler, the King of kings and Lord of Lords, who alone is

immortal, and who lives an unapproachable life, whom no one

has seen or can see. To him the honor and might

forever. Amen.

Let's pray together, Father, in the name of Jesus, we come to

you now and we ask as we open your word that you would unfold

the truth that you desire for us to see in this, this day, and

that that truth would do what you desire for it to do in

transforming us. What if it be to grow the

believer who has already surrendered to Christ as Lord

and Savior? Lord use it to do that.

What we ask? Also, that you would use it to

draw the center out of the darkness of sin into the light

of Jesus Christ. That you would use it to bring

conviction and regeneration upon the life of the unbeliever

today. That they would be regenerated

to new life and faith, and that they would truly believe and

trust in Jesus Christ because of the words of Scripture today.

Lord, may we give you all glory for it.

May your will be done through it.

And we pray these things in the mighty name of Jesus.

And all God's people said Amen. I told you there's a lot there,

and as you've seen as you were reading this passage, I know

what you think you have said under my preaching long enough

to to ask yourself this question.

As I was. Reading that enormous section of

Scripture, how long is this going to take?

Well, it's going to take from the beginning to the end.

But I can say this, when you get to the end, you won't be sorry

that we took the time that we took.

We learned much about the true man of God, and I'm going to

refer to him as the man of God because that is what Paul

referred to Timothy as. You can, if you are a female

here today, insert the term woman of God for you, but we're

going to see that He puts Him on a path.

He says, I don't want you to be like those false teachers that I

just instructed you about, because the true man of God's

path will be this. He begins with this.

It will be a fleeing path. Verse 11, he says, But you, man

of God, flee from all this again.

Flee from the teachings of the charlatans, flee from the

conniver and the lies of the false teachers.

Flee from false doctrine in any way, shape or form.

Flee from these things. Flee.

Just as Christian was warned to flee from the City of

Destruction and Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress to flee.

Just as the Corinthian believers were warned to flee from sexual

immorality and idolatry, Flee to flee.

As Joseph fled from Potiphar's wife when she desired to have

sexual relations with him, Paul is instructing Timothy that part

of being a man of God is to constantly be fleeing.

This term flee here in the Greek is a term fugo, and that term

fugo means to flee as a fugitive.

It is Speaking of the flight of that person who is running from

those who are trying to detain or to arrested them.

He's saying, Timothy, I want you to flee as a criminal flees from

justice with all your might, with all your strength, run in

the opposite direction to flee. To flee from what?

We're Speaking of fleeing from wickedness.

And I want you to all to understand that we as men of God

and women of God are called to constantly flee from wickedness.

One of you may say, that's why I don't see any wickedness around

me. It might not be around you.

It might be in you. Because when he begins to tell

him to flee from wickedness, he's not leaving out the part

that we all know to be true. He could be Speaking of his own

inward sinful desires. And don't we have those?

How many of you here today you know that you have been washed

by the blood of Jesus Christ, that you have been granted

eternal life, that you have the hope of heaven because your

faith has been placed in Christ and Christ alone?

To save you, how many of you would say, I know that and

therefore I will experience eternal life in the presence of

God forever because of what Christ has done for me?

How many of you can confidently say that?

Did you know this? No matter how confidently you

can say that. Inwardly, in your flesh, you're

still not yet fully redeemed. There is in all of us abiding

and inward sinful desires, and the man of God is to be fleeing

from wickedness that that begins at home, that begins inside of

us, to ask God to show us any remaining corruption that may be

inside of us. Why not?

So that I can play with it, or I can coddle it so that I may flee

from it. So I may run as that fugitive

runs from law enforcement in the opposite direction of where all

the blinky red and blue lights are coming from.

Flee from wickedness. Just as Paul said in First

1 Corinthians 6:18

Corinthians chapter 6 verse 18, flee from sexual immorality,

First Corinthians 10/14 flee from idolatry in any way, shape

or form. Second Timothy 222 Paul also

says flee A youthful passions or laws.

This is a theme that Paul preaches throughout his whole

earthly ministry, that we are to flee from wickedness.

Even inward wickedness. And if you're not fleeing from

sin, you're flirting with. Sin.

Now I want to say that a little louder so that you get that, so

that you process that if you were not fleeing from sin, you

were flirting with sin. You know what I'm talking about,

That inward desire that you've not yet mortified, that you've

not yet crucified, that that is your little pet temptation, that

you you, you might on occasion dally with, entertain, ponder

upon. If you're not fleeing, you're

flirting. And flirting is very dangerous,

isn't it? Especially when we're commanded

in Scripture to flee. He's telling Timothy don't.

Flirt with your inward desires. Flee from them as.

Born again, as all of you who were here a moment ago testified

to you still have great need for continual fleeing in your life.

Flee from wickedness. But not only is he Speaking of

fleeing from wickedness inwardly, any remaining and

abiding human corruption that may.

Still exist in your life. He's also talking about fleeing

from worldliness. Not just the influence of sin

within, but the influence of sin from without.

Now, if we were to be honest, how many of you would say I feel

the pressure of the world constantly.

It's pushing me, it's pulling me, it's straining me, even at

times wooing and drawing me attempting.

To cause me to lose sight of Christ and to focus on the

things of the world. And he's telling young Timothy,

we have to flee as a man of God. We have to flee from wickedness,

but we also have to flee from worldliness.

That's what fleeing means, Fleeing from the things that are

ungodly, wickedness and worldliness.

Fleeing from the sinful influences not only of our

corrupt flesh, but fleeing from the influences of this corrupt

world. James and James Chapter 4 says

James 4 · chapter mention

it like this. He said.

You adulterous people. Don't you know that?

Friendship with the world. That means enmity against God.

Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of God.

Of the world, excuse me, becomes an enemy of God.

Anyone who chooses to become a friend of the world becomes an

enemy of God. Now what he doesn't say is this.

You become a lesser friend or not so good friend, or maybe a

distant relative. No, he uses the term enemy.

He says you have put yourself in a position that is kicking

against God. But to the man of God, he says,

flee from this type of worldliness, flee from the

things of this world, the influences, the darkness that

is. Without as well as the darkness

that is within verse John chapter 2.

John 2 · chapter mention

John says it like this and verse 15 do not love the world or

anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the

love of the Father is not in them.

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, the world and its desires

pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.

John telling those who would be reading his writing, telling us

today, 2000 years later, the importance of fleeing from the

world, fleeing from any love that you might have from the the

for the world. Dying to this, fleeing from

worldliness all together. And please know this, the man of

God doesn't flee from these things, Wickedness and

worldliness, the game Christ, He flees from these things because

he has Christ. And I want you to understand the

difference. I want you to understand the

truth. You couldn't flee from the

things of the world world and the things of your own

wickedness were it not for Christ.

So he's telling Timothy, referring to him as a man of God

first, who has been made a man of God by the grace of God, that

the responsibility of a man of God who has graciously been made

a man of God by a sovereign act of God.

He is saying now you have the responsibility to flee, to flee

from wickedness and to flee from worldliness.

So let us, people of God, stop entertaining wickedness and

worldly corruption, and instead let us run from it as a

fugitive, running from those who desire to restrain them, because

your own wickedness and your own worldliness desires to restrain

you. May we flee, just as the Word of

God says. So a true man of God will take

the path that is fleeing, fleeing from wickedness, fleeing

from worldliness. Secondly.

As we follow this text out, the true man of God's path will be

not only a path of fleeing, but it will then be a path of

following. He says in verse 11, the second

part he says flee from all of this, all ungodliness and

worldliness. And then he says and.

Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and

gentleness. It's very similar to what we

read in our scripture reading a moment ago.

Second Peter chapter 1, verses 3 through 8.

2 Peter 1:3–8

As we read that together, Timothy is being.

Taught here, he's being taught to make effort to follow after

godly things. I'm so thankful that you were

all here this morning. And did you know that you made

the effort to be here to follow after godly things?

At least I hope that's why you were here, that you are truly

fleeing as a man of God, as a woman of God from wickedness and

worldliness, and you are pursuing godliness.

This is exactly what he's telling Timothy, the man of God

that he is to do because he is a man of God, to flee, but then

to. Follow to pursue some things,

and I'll move rather quickly through these things, but

they're so apparent and so consistent with scripture.

He says righteousness. What is righteousness?

Well, many of you you love the idea of positional.

Righteousness. The fact that righteousness has

been imputed to you by Christ. You had to do nothing to gain

that righteousness. Your standing will always be

righteous, and we're thankful for that, right?

And shouldn't we be? And so we all want to embrace

that doctrine, but we give a not a lot of thought to practical

righteousness. The fact that what we have been

made righteous is to now be lived out in our lives.

Practically. This is what he's talking about

here. He's talking about right living

and right living before God and others to actually do the right

thing unto the Lord and do the right thing unto other people.

Proverbs 2121 says this. Whoever pursues righteousness

and love finds life, prosperity, and honor first.

John 37 says, Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray.

The one who does what is right is righteous just as he is

righteous. There are many who you would

claim to have imputed righteousness.

But the problem is there is no practical righteousness coming

out of your life. So you have positional

righteousness, you say, in Christ?

But make no mistake about it, those who have been made

righteous will practice righteousness.

That is that practical righteousness coming out of our

lives in a manner that others will see Christ and His work in

and through us. It is not an accident that every

week I tell the believers and this assembly to go out and be

light. Let your light shine before men,

that they would see or get deeds and glorify your Father who is

in heaven. Why is that important?

Because the righteous. Will live righteously.

They will do that which God has commanded them to do, He says

pursue it. Pursue righteousness in every

area of your life. The things that you say, the

places that you go, the activities that you participate

in righteousness should be. Something that you make effort

toward next, he says. Godliness.

And godliness is a term, again, that we just throw around in the

American church. We really give no true thought

to it, but godliness here means something a little deeper than

you would just believe or know on the surface.

This is talking about awareness of and reverence, obedient,

reverent obedience to God. It is being aware of who He is

and because of who He is, you willfully live a life of

obedience to Him out of reverence, out of true worship.

Isn't that what true worship is? It's sad that the American

church thinks worship is an hour time slot that you give God on

the first day of the week and that's it.

That's not what the psalmist described in Psalm 24.

When he describes the true worshipper.

He says this and verse one, the earth is the Lord's and.

Everything in it, what's happening there, this person is

aware of God, who he is, the world and all who live in it,

for he founded it on the seas and established it on the

waters. He has a reverent recognition

and an awareness of just who God is.

And when we have that, it will bring us to our knees.

He says, as we continue that Psalm.

Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord?

Who may stand in his holy place? Who can approach such majesty?

Verse 4 The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does

not trust in an idol or swear by what is false, they will receive

blessing from the Lord and vindication from God their

Savior. Such is the generation of those

who seek him, who seek your face, God of Jacob.

That is what godliness is. It is a man.

It is a woman who is aware and who understands just who God is

and simply. Because of who God is and who

you are not, you reverently lay down your life in obedience to

Him. You get to serve him, you get to

love him, you get to fellowship with him.

Oh, worship takes a whole new. Turn there if we understand it

properly, doesn't it? Godliness, meaning that you are

aware of God, you're reverent toward God, you were driven by

God, and it's all about him and nothing about you.

That's what worship. That's what godliness is.

He goes on and he says and faith, this faith that he's

talking about here is not saving faith.

We know that saving faith is a gift from God.

He's talking more than just. The salvific faith that you

receive at regeneration. He's talking about ongoing and

continual trust in God and His Word.

He's talking about the faith that the Old Testament says the

just will live by faith. He didn't say that just will

experience faith one time when they're saved, and then they'll

walk by sight the rest of their lives upon this earth.

No, he says you can distinguish the just those who have truly

been justified by God, those who are truly righteous, you can

distinguish them by their continual, ongoing trust in God

and His word. This is what he's telling

Timothy to do. Follow after faith an ongoing

and continual trust in God. Hebrews 11/6.

The author of Hebrews says this, and without faith it is

impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him

must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who

earnestly seek him. That is an ongoing trust in God,

trust in the fact that He is the giver of.

All good things that He is the creator and the sustainer of

life that He is sovereign over all that you can trust Him and

you can trust every single promise that you find in his

word that. Applies to you.

He's telling Timothy follow after these things, man of God,

righteousness, godliness, faith. He then says love.

So many times when we get to love in scripture, I've heard

people for the sake of trying to sound ultra wise, complicate

love. This love that he's talking

about here is no nothing new to the New Testament.

It is the same love that Jesus loved his disciples with.

This is brotherly love. This is agape love, and he is

saying this about this love. This is what we are to pursue.

None of us are perfect in how we love one another, but we are to

pursue this, to follow after it. What is the greatest example of

love? Jesus said this.

He said that I lay down my life for my friends.

What does brotherly love is laying down your life for

others. You want to love like Jesus?

Love. Sacrifice yourself for the

well-being of others. Do not only what the New

Testament commands over and over and over to consider others

above yourself. Do what Jesus teaches us in the

Gospels. To do What did he say to his

disciples? You said I lay down my life for

my friends, I lay down my life for my sheep.

It was known that he had this kind of brotherly love.

What did Jesus say about that love?

It will be what distinguishes you from everyone else.

They will know you because of your love for one another.

They will see that brotherly love coming out of you.

Paul's telling Timothy here. Pursue that.

Pursue that kind of love, the kind of love that we see in

John's first epistle, where it says in 314 we know that we have

passed from death to life because we love each other.

Anyone who does not love remains in.

Death when you see brotherly love in your life, you know that

you are loving the people that are sitting around you right

now, that you are worshipping the Lord with that you were

studying the scriptures with. When you're willing to lay down

your life for them, when you're really willing to sacrifice

yourself for their well-being physically and or spiritually,

you were then and only then pursuing the kind of love that

Paul is telling Timothy to pursue true Christ like

brother-in-law, he moves from love to endurance.

Endurance. And he's not just talking about

physical. Endurance.

He's talking about a spiritual steadfastness, an enduring

consistency in one's walk. He's telling Timothy to pursue

steadfast consistency in your spiritual walk.

Oh, how important this is for the American church culture to

hear this. Don't just be a bunch of hot

air. Don't say that you're going to

do one thing and then spend your life doing the opposite.

Of that he's saying, be consistent, steadfast, enduring

in your walk with the Lord. First Corinthians 1558 Paul

says, 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. What is Paul telling the

Corinthians there? He's telling Pour it all out for

the Lord. Give all that you have.

Steadfast, enduring, consistent, he's saying.

Keep on, keeping on. No matter what you face, no

matter how many times you get punched in the chin, get back up

and keep. Moving forward, consistent

steadfast, steadfastness. Word that the hip and cool

Christian culture has left out of the equation.

Yet it is what the psalmist prayed for after he fell into

sin. He said, Lord, create a

steadfast spirit within me. What is a steadfast spirit?

That spirit is not affected by the things around them.

It's not affected by the struggles of this life.

It's not affected by the trials of this life.

It's not affected by the hurts of this life.

That steadfast spirit endures, consistently walking with the

Lord even through the fire. He then moves to this

gentleness. Isn't that kind of interesting?

Righteousness It seems pretty strong Godliness, very strong.

Faith, Love, endurance. And then he says gentleness.

What is he talking about here? He's talking about what Jesus

exemplified in his earthly ministry.

He's talking about meekness. Now I don't want you to confuse

meekness with weakness. What meekness is meekness is

humble strength. We would be fools to deny the

strength of the Lord Jesus. He is King of kings, Lord of

Lords, Sovereign and Almighty Lord of all, and he has always

possessed that strength. He has never laid down that

strength. It has always been at his

disposal, but he humbly demonstrated by his own will.

Meekness, gentleness to others, the fruit of the Spirit that we

see displayed in Galatians chapter 522 and 23 where Paul

reminds us how important gentleness and self-control are

in the life of the believer. Because you can be pursuing

righteousness and godliness and faith and love and endurance.

But if you do this from a haughty or arrogant

self-sustaining viewpoint, based on only your own strength and

your own will, not humbly trusting and strength from God,

you forget the last part here. Gentleness.

It's no accident that Jesus said blessed are the meek, they will

inherit the earth. The true man of God strives and

pursues after meekness. That doesn't mean that he can't

fight. That doesn't mean that he can't

overpower you. That means that he chooses not

to, and he chooses to go the way of the Lord and to lay down his

life for others, to do this with gentleness and meekness.

Ephesians 4. Paul begins that chapter with

this. He says, as a prisoner for the

Lord. Then I urge you to live a life

worthy of the calling you have received.

Be completely humble and gentle. Be patient, bearing with one

another in love. Oh, you see how they all work

together, patiently, gently loving one another?

Is that not how Christ loves the Church?

Is that not how Christ displayed His love through the Gospels?

Is that not how we should display our love as godly men

and godly women? So the true man of God here will

be fleeing, and the true man of God will then be following.

He will flee from wickedness, He'll flee from worldliness, and

he'll follow righteousness, godliness, faith, love,

endurance, and gentleness. As we continue on the past of a

true man of God, let us move to the third thing.

This morning. The true man of God's path will

be fighting, Fighting. He said, well, you just told us

to be meek and to be gentle. How can we also fight?

Let's ask Paul. Let's see what is he meaning by

this? He says in verse 12, the first

part, fight the good or the excellent or noble fight of the

faith. He's not talking about fighting

a fleshly battle. He's not talking about fighting

an earthly enemy. He's talking about the spiritual

fight that we as believers are all in, whether we want to

acknowledge it or not. Now I want to remind you as he's

reminding Timothy here. Christianity is not a call to

idleness or relaxation while we're on our way to paradise.

And I know what you're thinking. Well, it seems like it is.

Unfortunately, yes, it does for many.

But Paul is actually instructing otherwise here, instead of

idleness and relaxation while we're awaiting heaven.

He calls Timothy to warfare, a strange concept for a weak and

impotent church in this country who no longer has any fight in

them, who has joined in the liberals of somehow wedding out

any warrior instinct that may be left in any young boy.

But it's time we see the truth of the Word of God.

He's calling the men of God here to fight and to fight the good

fight. What?

Does he mean by this? He's talking about fighting

against the flesh. He's talking about fighting

against the devil. He's talking about fighting

against the world. Do we not have a fight to fight?

Of course we do, and if you ignore this fight, you're going

to be consumed by your enemy. Whichever enemy is more

prevalent in your life, be it the flesh, the devil, or the

world, and what the man of God is going to be doing, he's going

to be constantly agonizing. He's going to be constantly

contending for the faith that he has been entrusted to contend

for. He's going to fight in his life,

he's going to fight in the life of the church, he's going to

fight against the world. Because the true man of God is

going to fight. He's going to find himself

refusing to be passive. That's what he means.

By telling us to take a path of fighting, Refuse to be passive.

Oh, and it has inward and outward connotations, just as

wickedness does and worldliness does.

He's Speaking of fighting against and mortifying the

flesh, being intentional in this, just as Paul was

intentional in this, he said. I beat my flesh off.

I actually fight against my own self.

He's talking about that fight within, fighting against your

flesh, fighting against your sinful desires, fighting against

your humanity. But also, he's talking about

fighting toward being intentional in your discipline.

Again, Paul was a disciplined man and he's speaking to another

man of God. And you know what?

He wants him to be disciplined in the fight.

If you go into a fight untrained, you are certain to

lose. Amen.

Because you are only. As good as your worst day of

training in anything that you do.

And he's calling the man of God to be disciplined in this fight.

It begins inwardly, but then it is expressed outwardly.

How do we fight this fight? We fight against those inward

things that we all fight against.

And some of you are losing this fight because you have forgotten

that it is a spiritual battle. You're not fighting it with

spiritual means. This is a battle and a fight of

faith. You must fight it inwardly, but

also you must fight it outwardly.

What does that look like? Fighting the unbelief?

And how do we fight the unbelief of this world?

We share the truth with this lost world through the gospel.

Oh, don't. Dare say that you're fighting

the fight of the faith. If you're not sharing the faith

with the lost, you're not fighting the faith.

You're not fighting the good and noble excellent fight you're on.

Vacation, hoping that you make it to heaven Isn't.

Isn't that the sad state that we found the American church to be

in asleep instead of ready for battle?

We ought to be sharing the gospel, the truth of God's Word,

like an army overcoming the enemy of unbelief that comes

against us constantly. Instead, we cower in the corner

of our tents, balled up in the fetal position, asking that

Jesus. Would just take us home.

That's weak. That's not the fight that he's

calling Timothy too. He's saying fight's a good fight

with everything that you are and everything that you have, this

excellent and noble fight that you've been.

Entrusted to fight so fight inwardly in your life and

outwardly you just share the gospel with the hurting and the.

Lost. And as you stand against the

evil in our day, where are the Christian soldiers that we sang

about a generation ago? No, in fact, we would have to

sing it today. Onward, Christian sissies

running from our enemies with our tail tucked between our legs

because we've forgotten that we're in a fight, he says fight,

Fight the good fight. Fight of the faith.

Refusing to be passive. I wish that some men and some

women of God would refuse to be passive.

You know why? I'll tell you why?

Because there's a real enemy and he's coming for you.

He's coming for your marriages. He's coming for your homes.

He's coming for your children. He's coming from every single

direction. And you just want to get to

heaven safely so that you don't have to.

Endure any kind of suffering, Paul said.

May it not be so. Maybe March out into battle,

refusing to be passive. May we do this relying on God

for the strengths to fight well, That's the second part of this.

He doesn't expect Timothy to do this in his own power.

That's why he lets him know this is the the good fight of faith.

He wants him to rely on God for the strengths to fight.

He says be refusing to be passive but then rely on God for

the strength that you need in this battle.

Humbly depending upon God as a psalmist does in Psalm 18 verse

Psalms 18:32

32, He says it is God who arms me with strength and keeps my

ways secure. He makes my feet like the feet

of a deer. He causes me to stand on the

heights. He trains my hands for battle.

My arms can bend a bow of bronze.

You make your say you, You make your saving help My shield, and

your right hand sustains me. Your help has made me great.

All the psalmist understood where his strength from the

battle comes from. Psalm 20, verse 7.

Psalms 20:7

Here's what the psalmist says here.

Some trust in Chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the

name of the Lord our God, and they are brought to their knees

and fall, but we rise up and stand firm.

What is He acknowledging here? We humble ourselves.

We depend upon God in our enemies who once stood over us.

While we they're bowing to God, they now fall before us because

we humbled ourselves and we depended.

Upon God all the same, man of God, be a fighting man, refusing

to be passive and relying on God for the strength that you need

to fight. He's encouraging to be humbly

dependent upon God, but also to be biblically equipped for

battle. Ephesians chapter 6 and I don't

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

have time to take you all the way through Ephesians chapter 6

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

today, though I would love to in this context.

And we know that verse 17 refers to the Scriptures as the sword

of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

This is our offensive weapon in this battle.

This is the weapon that God has provided us to fight the good

fight of faith with and. Many of you don't know how to

use it. Many of you, it's only something

that you look at on a Sunday morning and how sad that is

because you're called to fight and you've been given 1 weapon

and you go out into battle every day whether you know it or not

and you are not armed, only a. Fool would go out into battle

unarmed. There's no police officer, no

soldier in the world who would report to duty without their

weapon. The Word of God is the weapon

that we've been given. To fight this fight and forsake

the Word of God in our lives is to walk out into the battlefield

every single day unarmed for the fight.

Most of you won't even leave your house on a Sunday morning

and come to church without some kind of firearm tucked within

your garments. Just this last week, we had a

meeting. One of the attendees in the

meeting said this about his church.

He said what our church on any given Sunday, there may be like

5 or 6 firearms in the building. To which Chance looked at him

and said that's cute and. Many of you today, because you

have the right, and I don't take away that right, I think you

have a right to defend yourself physically and it is a

God-given. Rite.

But I also think you are more concerned with that because if

you strap on that Glock or that Smith and Wesson or that Sig,

just don't drop it every single day.

You don't equip yourself with the Word of God to go out into

the spiritual battle that we are in.

You are a soldier who stepped out on the front lines

completely unarmed. You, ma'am, you Sir, are

foolish. We must rely on God's strength,

the strength that He provides us for the battle, the equipment

that He provides us for the battle.

That's why Paul spends so much time in Ephesians telling us

there in chapter 6 verse. 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord,

Trust in his strength and in his mighty power.

Put on the full armor of God that which God has provided for

you to go into battle with, so that.

You can take your stand against the schemes of the devil, but

the American Church has forgotten the reality of the

devil. You stand unarmed may not be so

for you, man of God, woman of God, under the sound of my voice

this morning, may you arm yourself to fight humbly,

dependent upon God's strength, biblically equipped by God's

Word. Arm for battle.

Because the church in America, for the most part, is asleep on

the front lines, unarmed and unaware of the enemy that lies

before them. Wake up.

Fight the good fight. The true man of God's path will

be a fighting path. It will be a following path.

It will be a fleeing path. Fourthly, the true man of God's

path will be a faithful path. Pay attention to this.

He says this in verse 12. Take hold of the eternal life to

which you were called when you made your good confession in the

presence of many witnesses. He's saying, Timothy, you have

been called effectually by God into eternal life and because of

that, not to earn it because of that.

Be faithful, he says, in 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 to keep this command without spot or blame.

What command? The command to be different from

those false teachers that he just told us about in the

previous verses? The command to be a man of God,

a man of God who is, as we have seen it, fleeing and following

and fighting. He's now calling for him to be

faithful, to faithfully continue and to.

Take hold of that which he has been called to take hold.

This context is to grasp the reality of what has already

happened. It doesn't mean, of course, to

try to earn salvation by taking hold of salvation.

Salvation is given. Eternal life is given.

But instead, it means to faithfully walk in that which

you have been given. You know what you're saying?

Live faithfully like you truly have eternal life.

Because there are many people who claim to have eternal life

who are not faithful to the Lord at all, and that is impossible.

Again, I've seen funeral after funeral after funeral of

unfaithful people who at the end of their life people will say

this, they're in a better place now.

No, they're not. Stop fooling yourself.

Because the people of faith will be faithful.

He's. Telling him, and he's making

clear to all of us, the held will take hold.

Those who are held by God will in turn grasp the hand, and that

grasps them. The held we'll take hold of

Philippians 3 verse 12. Watch what Paul says about it

Philippians 3:12

here. He says, not that I have already

obtained all this, or I have already arrived at my goal, but

I press on to take hold of that which Christ took hold of me.

He says, brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet self

yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do forgetting

what is behind is stringing toward what is ahead.

I press on to the goal to win the prize for which God has

called me. There's that effectual call

again. Heavenward in Christ Jesus, he's

saying just exactly what he is saying to Timothy here.

He's saying take hold of the eternal life that has taken hold

of you, that life that which you were called when you made your

good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

You're saying be faithful to your confession of faith.

It's that simple. Don't just say you're a follower

of Christ and deny it by how you live.

Timothy was a man of faith being addressed by a man of faith.

He had faith in His Almighty Creator, the Sustainer of life.

This is what Paul is reminding him of in the sight of God who

gives life to everything and of Christ Jesus.

And we know Christ his Son, who gave himself as an atoning

sacrifice. He's saying be faithful in your

confession to believe in the one true God and to believe in the

Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior you have

professed. This talking about his

confession. That good confession that he

made in the presence of many witnesses.

When would he have done this historically?

Well, just next week we will see it right here at Key Life

Fellowship where we fill up the baptismal tanks and those who

have followed Christ will give a public confession that they are

followers of Christ. They are identifying with his

death, his burial, and His resurrection through immersion

baptism. Paul is saying you remember that

when you did that in front of the church, in front of all

those witnesses, when you professed Christ.

He's saying live up to it, live up to your public profession.

Romans 10/9 is very clear says if you declare with your mouth

Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him

from the dead, you will be. Saved, he's saying.

Timothy, if that's true, if your confession is true, you have

truly confessed the Lord Jesus with your mouth and believed in

your heart that God raised him from the dead and you are truly

saved. He says be.

Faithful to that confession. It is the same confession that

Jesus made in the presence of Pilate.

I know you read that Pilate Pontius.

Pilate part and you thought why does this belong here?

But in John chapter 18 we get some clarity there.

John 18 · chapter mention

Jesus is there in a conversation with Pontius Pilate shortly

before his death, Pilate summoned Jesus.

He asked him, are you the King of the Jews?

Jesus asked him in verse 34 of John 18.

Is that your own idea or did others talk to you about me?

And did you get that information from something going on in you

or did you, did you just? Hear that Pilate then comes back

in verse 35 and he says am IA Jew and your own people and

chief priests handed you over to me.

What is it you have done right? Because he could find no fault

in Jesus and he couldn't really clearly answer the question.

Jesus wants to know, do you know I'm the king?

You know I'm king of kings and Lord of Lords.

Are you just hearing that down the wire?

Jesus in verse 36 does something that a lots of people say that

he doesn't ever do. He's going to claim to be God

here. Watch how he does it.

Jesus said my Kingdom is not of this world.

If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by

the Jewish leaders. But now my Kingdom is from

another place. You are a king.

Then said Pilot, and Jesus answered, You say that I am a

king. In fact, the reason I was born

and came into the world is to testify to the truth.

Everyone on the side of the truth listens to me.

What was Jesus saying? I am a king and I am the true

king, and I am the King of kings.

And those who listen to me are my children.

They are my sons and they are my daughter.

And because you're not listening to me, that's a good indicator

that you don't know who I am. But those who know who I am, it.

Will be more than just a confession of who I am.

Jesus making the same confession that at some point in time

Timothy made. What is that?

Jesus Christ, King of kings and Lord of Lords.

Paul's holding him to that. You know, it's sad we're afraid

to do that in the modern church, isn't it?

The whole people to their confession.

Do you know that's why we have baptism?

Did you know that we have baptism publican?

We have baptism at church. It is an ordinance of the

church, and the reason is because we can go to a brother

who's struggling and who's wandered off in the center, go

to a sister and say, hey, you made a public profession of

faith in Jesus Christ. Was that real?

Well, yes, it was real. Then stop living the way that

you're living. You're dragging Christ's name

through the mug mud. And I will help you and I will

pray for you in any way that I can so that you are restored for

the whole purpose is. Paul's holding him to it.

Be faithful to your confession of faith, but also be faithful

in your continuance in Christ, he says.

I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame.

To be faithful in continuing in Christ.

Don't let it just be this one time thing where you made some

decision at church and got baptized.

He's saying, Timothy, walk this path of faithfulness faithfully.

Live up to and live out that confession.

All that you say Christ has done for you live like that is true.

It's a sad thing is this hell is going to be full of people who

made professions that they never meant.

You know how I know that? Jesus says it in Matthew Chapter

Matthew 7:21

7 verse 21. He says Not everyone who says to

me, Lord, Lord will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the

one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

Does that someone say is Jesus promoting work salvation, that

we have to do the will of the Father and in doing the will of

the Father then salvation will be credited to us, no?

He's not saying that that would be inconsistent with all of the

teaching of the New Testament. What he?

Is saying is this. That there will be many people

who just make hollow professions and who are not faithful to that

which they have confessed publicly through their baptism.

He's saying to us so that we can understand it.

They are not true believers. Perhaps that describes one of

you in the room today. Let it be known that God has

brought you to this point so that He can do something about

this false assurance that you've had for so long.

There will be a continuance in Christ.

He's saying keep holding on to the faith that holds you.

Hebrews 10/23. Let us hold unswervingly to the

hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful to only

profess Christ and then to walk away from Christ and live any

way that you want to live is just a hollow profession.

It is not true salvation. So the true man of God will be

on a path. That path will be a faithful

path. So he will be fleeing, he will

be following, he'll be fighting, and he will be faithful.

And try as I may, knowing that I was about to fit a lot into a

small block of time, there's one more.

And I want you to pay attention to this one.

And I promise you, when I'm done with this one, I'll let you go.

But I pray that Christ will never let you go.

The true man of God's faith will be fixated.

What do I mean by that? What does Paul mean by this?

Watch what he says in the second part of verse 14.

He tells him to be faithful for how long.

Faithful when it's easy. Faithful when it's convenient.

Faithful on Sundays. At church, How long?

Watch, he says, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus

Christ, which God will bring about in his own time.

He's saying don't worry about the time when it's supposed to.

Happen, it'll happen, but be fixated and faithful until the

appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He's saying you long for Christ's return as you are

fleeing, as you are following, as you are fighting, as you are

walking in faithfulness. Fix your eyes on Jesus, the

Author and the Perfector of your faith.

Fix your eyes on the return of. Christ is the man of God.

He should be longing for the return of Christ, shouldn't he?

Paul makes no beans about this when he says that there's a

crown of righteousness that is kept for him, but not just for

him only, but for all those who long for Christ appearing.

Man of God should be fixated and longing.

For the return of Christ. Now I know it's not popular in

the modern church these days. Is it?

Because if we start thinking about the return of Christ, what

so many do in this worldly church that we have nowadays,

what so many do, they start thinking about all of their

worldly treasures being left behind.

All of those things shrink in comparison to the glory of

Christ. And Paul wants us to be so

fixated upon Christ that nothing else matters.

He says long for his appearing. Look for him.

Keep fighting, keep being faithful as Christ has promised

to return. And he is good for that promise,

no matter what the skeptics may want to say, right?

That's what they say about the Christian.

Oh, they've been waiting for 2000 years.

I am thankful that he delayed for 2000 years because in that,

in that 2000 years, he gave me a window of opportunity to be

saved. Thank you, Lord, that you called

me out before the foundations of the earth, that I had an

appointment with you to meet with you face to face, and I

would dwell with you forever because of that.

Thank you and thank you that you were patient and you were

long-suffering with humanity. Are you longing for?

Christ's return. Oh, you bear the title Man of

God, woman of God, man of God, and a woman of God.

They're longing for the return of Christ.

Why? Because with the return of

Christ, the full fruition of salvation will come with him.

It's not. All completed, yet those are

sacrifices finished. Glorification is not yet done.

And we should long for that, shouldn't we?

As we see in first Peter chapter one verse 13.

Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your

hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is

revealed at His coming. Oh, we should be longing for

that grace upon grace upon grace.

All the grace that we have received in this lifetime.

Oh, how that's going to quickly shrink in comparison when we are

graced with the presence of Christ.

Are you longing like that? Hebrews 928 So Christ was

sacrificed once to take away the sins of many, and he will appear

a second time not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those

who are waiting for Him. Some of you are content with

just having a better life in this world because you're a

Christian, and it is so much bigger than that.

He is bringing to us at His return an eternal salvation that

we can't really comprehend at this time.

Romans 1311. Paul says this and do this,

understanding the present time. The hour has already come for

you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation

is nearer now than when we first believed.

Are you longing? Are you looking for the return

of Christ? Is it just so old fashioned that

we don't even want to hear? About it anymore, Philippians,

Paul says this chapter 3 verse 20, but our citizenship is in

heaven and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord

Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables him to bring

everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies

so that they will be like his glorious body.

Are you longing for that day? Are you looking for that day?

You desire that more than anything that this world has to

offer you. Titus Paul says this in chapter

2 verse 11. For the grace of God has

appeared that offers salvation to all people, and it teaches us

to say no to ungodliness. And worldly passions and to live

self controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.

This is exactly what he's telling Timothy here now, he's

telling Titus, he says while we wait for the blessed hope, the

appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus

Christ appearing. Of His glory, the man of God,

the woman of God, will long for the return of Christ.

Not just so they can see the suffering of this world in so

they can see Christ, the Lover of their soul, the one who

offered himself in their place, He who knew no sin, but took the

wrath of God upon his back. That belonged to me so that I

can be made the righteousness of God.

Why would I not want to see the King who loves me like that?

He's telling Timothy to be fixated, longing for the return

of Christ, but also to be living for the glory of God.

Now, what Paul teaches him here is not by words but by example.

And I want you to follow this passage out, he says in 14 until

the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring

about in his own time. You see that big long dash

there? Paul leaves his thoughts for a

moment to Timothy. Why he talked about the

appearing of Christ. And when he fought for one

second about the return of Christ, what happens next?

He says God the blessed and only ruler, the King of kings and

Lord of Lords, who alone is immortal, and who lives in an

unapproachable life, who no one has seen or can see, to him be

honored and might forever Amen. He burst into a doxology mid

sentence mid thought to Timothy. What an example he leaves for

him. Timothy long for Christ.

While you're living for the glory of God, Paul stops

everything that he's doing and he's moved to worship the Lord

by his example. He's teaching us, and he was

teaching Timothy that when you ponder on the return of Christ,

you ponder on the grace of God, you ponder on the attributes of

God and who he is. You'll be moved to worship,

you'll be moved to glorify Him, worshipping him due to his

sovereign position, O Colossians 116, Paul says.

For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on

earth, visible and invisible by the Thrones or powers or rulers

or authorities. All things have been created

through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in

Him all things are held together.

Did Paul do there? All of his thoughts about the

glory of Christ moved him to worship, moved him to constant

worship in his life, in his ministry.

Not only did it move him to worship, he was also moved by

that worship. And isn't that what should

happen? We should be moved by our

worship, not only to worship, even the simple thought of being

able to approach the throne of grace in our time of need.

Paul reminding us of the glory of the Lord here that we get to

participate in. He says no one has seen him, he

can't be approached and him be honored and might forever.

Amen. Though we have never looked upon

the full glory of God, because at best His glory was shielded

by the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ while He was here

on this earth. One day, one day, we will see

His full glory forever, and we ought to be fixated on this at

that moment. I can promise you this, all the

little trivial things of this world will shrink in comparison

to the glory that will be revealed, just as the Word of

God declares. Let that drive you to worship,

that drive you to an obedient life of worship.

Because that's what worship really is, isn't it?

It's not the songs we sing. Worship is the sacrifice of our

life, the laying down ourselves for the glory of God, being

fixated upon Christ. So the man of God will be

fixated. He'll be focused, longing for

Christ, living for God's glory. Again, Paul teaches us by his

example here as long for the return of Christ and live for

the glory of God. So what do we do with this?

A believer, I pray that you would desire to be a man of God,

or for some of you, a woman of God versus all to be people of

God, to walk the path that has been laid out for us in

Scripture, to live up to these things that Paul passed on to

Timothy. You desire that in your life.

You desire to be a man of God, a woman of God.

We've seen what it takes to the unbeliever.

You can't be a man of God. You can't be a woman of God.

You're not a child of God, you're dead in your sin, you

were dead in your transgressions according to the word of God.

And unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of

God. My prayer for you today is this,

that a merciful God by His grace would regenerate you from death

unto life today, giving you the faith to believe and to trust in

Jesus Christ. That faith would be exercised by

you crying out calling on the name of Jesus, because for

whosoever shall call on the name of Jesus shall be saved.

You say well. Kirk, how do you reconcile the

whosoever's of that verse with God's sovereign grace?

Whoever God graciously and sovereignly allows by

regenerating them to life because they are spiritually

dead. Whoever He allows to call upon

the name of the Lord, they are the whosoever.

And the whosoever will call upon the name of the Lord.

I pray today that God would open your eyes and make known to you

that you are a whosoever, that he sent his only begotten Son to

this earth to die on your behalf, that he may forgive you

and wash you and cleanse you today.

That you, a whosoever, would call upon Jesus today through

the power of God, by the gift of the of faith that God has given

you today you would trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior

and be saved. Let's pray together.

Father, in the name of Jesus, we thank you for your word.

We thank you for giving us the time to look at all of this, to

ponder these things. God, I pray as your word has

gone forth, that it would accomplish not Kirk Hall's will,

but it would accomplish the will of God.

Lord, I pray that you would through it draw centers unto

repentance and eternal life today and faith in Jesus Christ.

God, I pray through it that you would convict the heart of the

believer here who perhaps they're not striving to be a man

of God or a woman of God. God, I pray that the convicting

power of the Spirit would bring them to their knees and

confession and repentance today. That we would all leave here

changed and transformed by the power of your word and the power

of your Spirit working through your work.

And we pray and we ask all these things in the mighty name of

Jesus. Amen.

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