Sermon Notes

• I want to draw your attention this morning to 1 Timothy 6.
• It is the closing section of the letter.
• Here the Apostle Paul is giving final instructions his son in the faith.
• It’s a summary of what Paul sees as most important to Timothy.
• Paul desires that he take care of the Church in Ephesus by dealing with all the false teaching and the inappropriate leadership.
• More important than that is that Timothy continues to grow as a believer.
• I think most godly parents would give these instructions to their believing children.
• His exhortations are Paul’s way of ensuring that Timothy’s growth continues.
• What good would it be to have Timothy work so hard in caring for the matters in the church only to neglect his own soul?

1 Timothy 6:11-16

¹¹But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. ¹² Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. ¹³ I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, ¹⁴ to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵ which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, ¹⁶ who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

1 - To fight the good fight of faith we must flee certain things.

We have to go back to some earlier verses to examine what Paul was talking about when he said “flee these things.”

1 Timothy 6:2-11

²Teach and urge these things. ³ If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, ⁴ he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, ⁵ and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. ⁶ But godliness with contentment is great gain, ⁷ for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. ⁸ But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. ⁹ But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.¹¹ But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 

Paul referred again to a theme he mentioned in the first chapter – that Timothy must be on guard against those who would misuse the Word of God.

• Some deny God’s Word.
• Some ignore God’s Word.
• Some explain away God’s Word.
• Some twist God’s Word using it as a toy to be played with in debate and disputes.
• Some would only be curious about God’s Word. (without submission)

Paul is saying - Fight the good fight of faith, flee these things, and everyone who teaches a different doctrine.

• The person who is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing.
• They will cause constant friction.
• Basically, they are more concerned about their own gain.

Paul goes on to say in 1 Timothy 6:6, “Now godliness with contentment is great gain: It is true that godliness is great gain; but only when accompanied by contentment.”

• The Greek word used here for contentment is autapkeia.
• By using this word there is a meaning of complete self-sufficiency.
• It means a frame of mind which is completely independent of all outward things.
• One commentator said it very well. “Contentment never comes from the possession of external things.”

I think Paul is also letting Timothy know that

• There will be those who envyhim and his office (without admitting to it). Fight the Good Fight, Timothy!
• There will be those who would create strifeamong the believers. Fight the Good Fight!
• There will be those who would promote criticism and insult against Timothy as well as other leaders in the church. Fight the Good Fight!
• There will be those always suspecting Timothy and other leaders in the church of evil motives and plots. Fight the Good Fight!

2 - To fight the good fight of faith we must pursue certain things.

 Remember the first words that Paul used in verse 11, “But as for you O man of God.”

1. Is it your desire this morning to live a life worthy to be called a man or woman of God?
2. Think about these questions: How do people consider us? What titles would be used to describe our character? Are we thought of as men and women of God? How would people describe you as a result of their business dealings with you? How would they describe you as a result of their interaction with you on the job or in your neighborhood?
3. Are we living our lives in such a way that distinguishes us as men and women of God, or does glaring sin and unattractive behavior come to mind when others think about us? It’s not that we must be perfect in the eyes of others, but that we are known for making things right when we fail. We ought to be known for our upright dealings with others.
4. We also need to understand that a follower of Christ has the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit that helps them deal with the temptation to sin. Listen to Philippians 2:13 in the NLT, “For God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey him and the power to do what pleases him.”Warren Wiersbe says, “The more you exercise your will in saying a decisive no to temptation, the more God will take control of your life.”

So, what are the things we are to pursue?

• We are to pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness.
• The word pursue that Paul uses refers to an active pursuit. In other words, "keep on pursuing" or make it your lifelong ambition to achieve the following qualities. Follow and keep following these qualities.
• Timothy was to make these things his pursuit. These are things which are often not valued in our present age but are very valuable to God.
• This challenge to leave some things and follow hard after some other things isn’t just directed to Timothy, but to every Christ follower.

First, we fight the good fight of faith by pursuing righteousness.

• The Greek word for righteousness (dikaiosuna) in a broad sense refers to the "state of him who is as he ought to be, the condition acceptable to God.”
• It also refers to integrity, virtue, purity of life, rightness, correctness of thinking, feeling, and acting.
• Listen to the following from the "The Word in Life Study Bible" The word “righteous” goes back to a base, meaning “move in a straight line.” Thus, “righteous” means “in the straight (or right) way.” Are we pursuing righteousness in our lives? Do we strive to make our lives measure up to God's standards?

If we are to fight the good fight of faith, we must also pursue godliness.

• Godliness refers to reverence, respect, and piety towards God. If we revere God and respect Him, we will desire to lead godly lives.
• Godliness is essential in our lives to be a good testimony to the unsaved. The pursuit of godliness in our lives is a great tool in bringing others to Christ.
• If we lead godly lives, people will notice and wonder just what it is that makes us so different. One commentator writes, “The critics of Christianity are many. And the point of our greatest vulnerability and the point of their greatest accusation is what we do. It is the scandalous conduct of Christians that fuels the fires of critics. It is the purity and godliness and virtue and righteousness of Christians that silences the critics. And so again I say, the single greatest tool of evangelism we possess is doing right, living right.”

As we fight the good fight of faith, the next quality to pursue is faith.

Perhaps a better translation of the word faith here is actually fidelity or faithfulness.

• When we trusted Christ as our Savior, we made a decision to follow Him and live lives faithful to Him.
• It should be our desire to follow through on our commitment for the rest of our lives and to never stray from following Christ. That is what is involved in the pursuit of faith that Paul mentions here.
• H. Spurgeon said "I would recommend you either believe God up to the hilt, or else not to believe at all. Believe this book of God, every letter of it, or else reject it. There is no logical standing place between the two. Be satisfied with nothing less than a faith that swims in the deeps of divine revelation; a faith that paddles about the edge of the water is poor faith at best. It is little better than a dry-land faith, and is not good for much."

Next, the man of God is encouraged to fight the good fight of faith by pursuing love.

• John 13:35 says, “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." Let’s understand that the love that we must have for one another is not based on our feelings but on our will.
• You know there are people you don’t feel like loving, but you must determine to love others, even the unlovely. Are you practicing love for others? Practicing love is like practicing any other worthwhile discipline. The more you practice love for others the more naturally it will flow from your life.

The fifth thing to pursue as one fights the good fight of faith is endurance.

• Endurance here is characteristic of a man who is not swerved from his deliberate purpose and his devotion to faith and godliness by even the greatest trials and sufferings.
• Our Christian walk will need to be one of endurance.
• Our journey with Christ will not be one without difficulty.
• The idea conveyed here is hanging in there when things are tough. It is a refusal to give up even when life may be difficult.

The final characteristic Paul encourages the man of God to pursue is gentleness.

• An attitude of gentleness gives us balance in our Christian life.
• Gentleness will help us speak the truth in love when it’s difficult to confront others whether it be sharing the Gospel or confronting a fellow believer with their sin.
• An attitude of gentleness will also help us return a soft answer in response to harsh words.

1. It would be good for us to periodically examine ourselves in these six key areas, (righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness).
2. Is it our desire to follow after each one of these qualities in our lives?

3 - To fight the good fight of faith we must embrace certain things.

“Fight the good fight of faith” means going God’s way – against the flow of this world.

• It won’t be easy.
• God calls us to be fighters, to fight the good fight of faith– a fight where some may lose a battle here and there, but they will carry on the fight with great determination until the war is over – when we lay hold of eternal life.
• • We fight the good fight of faith when we embrace the future. vs. 12b
  • We fight the good fight of faith when we embrace God’s power. vs. 13a
  • We fight the good fight of faith when we embrace Christ’s mission. vs. 13b
  • We fight the good fight of faith when we embrace Christ’s coming. vs. 14
  • We fight the good fight of faith when we embrace God’s sovereignty. vs. 15
  • We fight the good fight of faith when we embrace God’s greatness. vs. 16

Final Question

Wouldn’t you like to know what would happen if you spent the next year giving God your absolute all by fighting the good fight of faith?