In one of the poems that he wrote intended to
be set to music, he asked some probing questions
addressed to those who are living at ease in
Zion. We are tempted to be such people, to live
at ease in the Zion of affluent and materialistic
America. But Isaac Watts posed these questions
to us. Am I a soldier of the cross, a follower
of the Lamb? And shall I fear to own His cause
or blush to speak His name? Must I be carried
to the skies on flowery beds of ease, while others
fought to win the prize? and sailed through bloody
seas. Are there no foes for me to face? Must
I not stem the flood? Is this vile world a friend
to grace? To help me unto God? This world, by
that I mean this present order of things controlled
by satanic principles, this world is no friend
to grace. We too easily forget that and become
companions of the world. We tend to neglect what
James clearly states, Friendship with the world
is hatred toward God. Anyone who chooses to be
a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
Those are serious words. You and I live in a
world order that allures us with its prosperity
and mesmerizes us with its luxuries and amusements.
God wants something more of us than that. As
persons committed to Jesus Christ, as men and
women of God, it is expected by the Lord that
we will not make it our aim to be friends with
the world. That we will not make it our goal
in life to share in the world's values That we
will not seek the affluence and luxuries that
the world seeks God expects that we will live
differently than that That we will see this life
as an opportunity to serve him and not ourselves
But what does it mean? to serve God in a world
like ours. How do we serve God well in this world?
In this world with this environment where we
frankly don't feel much need for God. Because
we have so many things. In this world where we
have difficulty finding obvious reasons as to
why we should leave our pursuits, our fishing
to follow Jesus Christ. Serving well, serving
God well in a materialistic, moneyed society
means taking up several positions, several postures
if you please. And those are explained to us
in our text today, 1 Timothy chapter 6, beginning
in verse 11. But flee from these things, you
man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness,
faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. Fight
the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal
life to which you were called and you made the
good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
I charge you in the presence of God who gives
life to all things and of Christ Jesus who testified
the good confession before Pontius Pilate that
you keep the commandment without stain or reproach
until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,
which He will bring about at the proper time.
He who is the blessed and only sovereign, the
King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses
immortality and dwells in unapproachable light,
whom no man has seen or can see, to Him be honor
and eternal dominion. Amen. Notice with me the
three postures, the three positions that we must
take if we are to serve God well in a world like
ours. First, God's servants must flee ungodly
motives. There is a time to run. Sometimes running
is cowardly, but there is a time to run. Joseph
gave us one example, didn't he? And frankly,
so did David when he wisely fled from Saul's
presence. Here in this text we see that it is
wise to run, that is to flee, from sinful ungodly
motives like those that control the false teachers
that Paul has been warning about. To live with
the motive like they had of personal gain for
one's own enjoyment is ungodly. Now I want to
make it clear that it's not a bad thing to be
rich. God blesses some with wealth. Nor is it
sinful to work hard or to make money in an honorable
way. But what we have to be on guard against
is allowing money to become our motivator We
have to be on guard against money love Greed
is a major motivator in our world It drives people
to do things they would never think of doing
otherwise It causes them to sacrifice their marriages
It causes them to neglect their families It causes
them to be unconcerned about their own health,
of body or of soul, to sacrifice their character,
and to wander from their faith. Greed is a popular
motivator, and there is none more destructive.
We live in the Mecca of materialism, the United
States of America. Our nation is considered the
promised land by nearly everyone in the world.
On our recent trip to the Middle East, I talked
to several individuals of several ethnic backgrounds
who said to me that their goal in life was to
come to America and to make money. How does it
make you feel as an American? to hear those kinds
of words and for people to think that that's
what our nation is about. But what else are they
to think when all they know of America is what
they see produced in Hollywood? We live in the
Mecca of materialism. And we fall danger into
the danger of the false religion of money love.
Those who live like the some people that Paul
mentions in verse 10 of this chapter Those who
love money who love money rather than God Those
who fall into those categories Place themselves
into great danger For they seeking to set their
course toward becoming rich wander from the faith
and pierced themselves through with many griefs.
What a tragic, tragic way to live. Listen to
the words of this song. It is a song. I have
a son, a little son, a boy completely fine. When
I see him, it seems to me that all the world
is mine. But seldom, seldom do I see my child
awake and bright. I only see him when he sleeps.
I'm only home at night. It's early when I leave
for work. When I return, it's late. Unknown to
me is my own flesh. Unknown is my child's face.
When I come home so wearily, in the darkness
after day. My pale wife exclaims to me, you should
have seen our child at play. I stand beside his
little bed. I look and try to hear. In his dream
he moves his lips. Why isn't daddy here? That
song was written eighteen A hundred years later,
it's only gotten worse. We as people who name
the name of Jesus Christ must flee wrong incentives,
those motives that are ungodly, that cause us
to sacrifice those things in life that are truly
valuable. Those motives that cause us to waste
life from an eternal perspective. We learned
last week that godliness governs how we appraise
things. May our God -centeredness cause us to
appraise things rightly and never to put them
in the place of number one priority in our lives.
Why? Not only because it's sinful, because it
leads to a life of multiplied sorrows. We must
allow the Holy Spirit to sift through our motives
regularly, lest any of us become deceived by
the hardness of our own hearts. Why is it that
we are so vulnerable to the love of money? I
believe at its root it's because we have conformed
ourselves to the secular worldview. The secular
worldview promotes the value that the only reality
there is is here and now. There's nothing after
this. And that is not in our doctrinal statement,
ladies and gentlemen, but it is in our life's
statement that we believe that. That is why we
begin with this urgent word from the apostle.
That we must flee these things. We need to run
from them. We need to run from them. To serve
God well in a world like ours secondly means
taking the posture of following after other things.
For God's servant must follow godly traits. Notice
he says, pursue. And then he lists six qualities
of life. To pursue means to track down these
things. It is a word that would fit well with
those of you who love to hunt. For it's the word
of the hunter who is tracking his query. It means
to chase after these things. So while on the
one hand he says if we're going to serve God
well in this world we have to flee ungodly motives,
we must also follow after godly characteristics,
godly traits in our lives. There are six of them
listed here. Righteousness is the first. We are
to follow after, we are to pursue and hunt down
righteousness. Righteousness refers to integrity.
It means adding to our lives the character quality
of doing what is right before God, whatever the
price. Being a man, being a woman of personal
integrity. We are to hunt down godliness. We're
to bag it. Godliness means to live with God at
the control center of our lives. Or as one other
writer put it, it means to practice the presence
of God. It means to see God as part of my everyday
routine. To realize that what I am doing, I am
doing in His sight. That keeps God in the very
center, the control center. We're to pursue godliness,
and with it, we're to pursue faith. Faith means
to trust God. It means to allow Him to prove
Himself in our life circumstances. I mean, if
you've got a credit card, why you need to wait
for God to prove Himself? We can provide so much
for ourselves in this materialistic world, how
difficult it is to pursue faith. When we do,
it means that we're going to stop worrying. When
we bag faith, it means that we're going to stop
getting angry at God because we don't get our
way. It means we're going to stop complaining.
And we're going to learn to rest in the arms
of omnipotence. Pursue faith. And with it, love.
Love is that which seeks the welfare of others,
even those undeserving. Love seeks no payback.
Love gives no thought of personal gain. It's
just the opposite of money love, which is all
about gaining for oneself. Love means I give
of myself to others. I am to follow after love
and to pursue perseverance. Perseverance means
holding steadfast under pressure and adversity.
When I see this word I think of a man like John
Bunyan who merely because he was a preacher of
the gospel of Jesus Christ and he would not compromise
his message was taken away from his family and
put him to jail in Bedford England for 12 years.
12 years of his life. And he endured. And oh,
what purpose God had in that, for in those years
he wrote his classic Pilgrim's Progress. He pursued
and found perseverance. Perseverance means when
life is tough, we have the courage to continue
on in the right direction. And then gentleness.
Gentleness almost seems out of place in a macho
world like ours, but gentleness we are to seek.
It means to treat others with courtesy and reasonableness.
It is the opposite of a contentious spirit. Someone
has defined it as power under control. In our
world, if you have power, use it to get your
way. In God's order, we have power that is under
control. And it expresses itself in gentleness,
a sweet reasonableness in our lives. Now looking
at those six qualities, can you imagine being
married to a person like that? Neither can your
spouse. But this is the sort of life that God
says we're to follow after. We're to be disciplined
about it. We're to work hard at it. This is the
kind of a life that pleases God. And you know
why? Because it's the kind of a life that Jesus
lived. Our problem is like a new hunting dog
I read about. The owner was eager that he might
test his dog and so one day he took him out hunting
and before he knew it his dog was Tracking down
big game. He had picked up the trail of a bear
And so the hunter followed closely behind Excited
and then the dog stopped and sniffed the ground
again and headed off in a different direction
Whereas he followed that track of the bear a
deer crossed the path and so he followed the
deer. And then a few moments later he halted
again and this time he was captivated by the
scent of a rabbit that had crossed the path of
the deer. And so on and on it went until finally
the breathless hunter caught up with his dog
only to find him barking triumphantly down the
hole of a field mouse. Isn't that the way it
is in our pursuing after godliness? We go after
it hard and then this comes across the path and
then that and then another. And before we know
it, what we're pursuing is small game. It's mice
when God says go after the big stuff. And so,
if we're going to serve God in this world, it
means that we have to follow. godly traits. We
have to pursue them, hunt them down, and bag
them for ourselves. May God give us a deep heart
desire for that. The third posture that we are
to assume if we would serve God well in this
world is that of fighting. There is a time to
flee. There is a time to follow. And there is
a time to fight. What does it mean to fight?
Well the word here is rich with connotation.
It is an athletic metaphor. It means to get into
the ring and to do your very best against your
opponent. It's a military metaphor that means
to fight against your enemy. From it we get our
English word agonize. What he says here is agonize
the good agony. It means to carry on a contest,
or to strive, or to struggle, to do your very
best to win the cause. And what is our cause?
It is the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is doing
everything that we can to see that the truth
of Jesus is proclaimed to our generation. That's
our cause. That's our mission. That's the good
fight. And so he says that we are to agonize
in that. We are to go after it. We are to strive
diligently to see that we win the prize. The
Apostle Paul uses the same concept in 1 Corinthians
chapter 9, if you want to look back there for
a moment. He talks how he is willing to accommodate
his own life for the sake of hearers who don't
know Christ. He says to the Jews, I'm willing
to live like a Jew. To a Gentile, I'm willing
to live like a Gentile. Verse 22, he says, to
the weak, I have become as weak that I might
win the week. I've become all things to all men,
that I by all means may save some. And I do all
things for the sake of the gospel, that I may
become a fellow partaker of it. Do you not know
that those who run in a race all run, but only
one receives the prize run in such a way that
you may win? Do you see the same kind of idea
here? He is saying, I am willing to do whatever
it... takes in order that the gospel of Jesus
Christ may be preached. Now, he's not talking
about doing sinful things. He's not talking about
compromising righteousness, but he is talking
about whatever is secondary, whatever is non
-essential, he's willing to give up in order
that he might be able to communicate the gospel
to people where they're at. And he says therefore
I run and he goes on to say I beat myself black
and blue He didn't mean that literally but he
meant he was disciplining himself So that he
might win the prize do you care if you win the
prize? Paul says fight the good fight fight the
good fight and the point of it all is the advance
of the faith against It's enemies. That is, the
spiritual powers that seek to blind people to
the Gospel. The fleshly weaknesses, the worldly
hostility that is against the Gospel. You see,
we're in a real war. Some of you are too young
to remember the Vietnam War. That's hard for
me to believe. But some of you read about it
in the history books. It was such a part of our
lives for a number of years. And yet, it was
only the demonstrations in America that seemed
to bring the war home. It's easy when war is
over there. to almost imagine that it's a game,
that it's not real, because you're not in it.
It almost seems imaginary, but that didn't make
Vietnam any less real. There was war. There was
war. And sometimes, we almost play at this thing
of advancing the Gospel. You know, it's sort
of, well, yeah, sure, that's what we're supposed
to do. That's, you know, sure. We believe in
missions. We believe in evangelism. Sure, people
ought to give out Jesus videos, but that's for
somebody else. I don't have time for these things.
That's not my concern. The apostle says if we're
going to serve God in this will, we had better
well take note that we're at war. And the cause
that we have is the advance of the gospel and
the whole world system is opposed to that. And
the devil is opposed to that. And our own fleshly
weaknesses are opposed to that. It's a fight.
But he says fight the good fight. Do it. Get
involved in the fray in order that the war may
be won. How do we do it? Well, he tells us to
take hold or to get a good handle on eternal
life. That doesn't mean that we get a hold of
it to have it. It means that we have it. Now
we're to get a hold of it. We're to use our position
in Jesus Christ. We are to take the authority
that He has delegated to us in hand. We're to
understand who we are in Jesus Christ, what our
position is in prayer, the power that He has
given us in the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.
We're to take hold of eternal life. And in the
power and the privilege of eternal life, we're
to advance the gospel. And so a servant of God
will serve well when he assumes this posture
of fighting the good fight for the advance of
the faith. Now the apostle sums it up to Timothy
and to us by saying, I charge you, keep the commandment.
Now what does he mean by the commandment? Well
the best answer seems to be all that what he's
just talked about. He sort of lumps it all together
and he says, Timothy, keep it. Keep this commandment
without stain, without reproach. That is, Timothy
keep it so that your record of life in the world
will be unblemished. So that your reputation
will be untarnished when you get to heaven. Keep
the commandment. Flee, follow, fight. Timothy,
be serious about it. Now what is it that's going
to keep Timothy motivated to do it? What's going
to keep us motivated to do what he tells us to
do? Well, he goes on to tell him that it's the
appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. That which
will keep us motivated is what the future holds
and what the future holds is the coming of Jesus
Christ Boy, it's hard to remember that living
in an affluent America Where the Millennium has
already come If we value things Where we have
so much where we don't want Jesus to come and
interrupt our comfortable lives. It's hard to
remember that the future holds the coming of
Jesus Christ. Paul says to Timothy, it does.
And don't forget it. This Jesus Christ, he says,
is the one who testified before Pilate. What
an encouraging example Jesus was in testifying
before Pilate. Let me ask you something, did
he show righteousness and personal integrity?
Oh yes, he did. When Jesus testified before Pilate,
was his father in control of his will? Absolutely.
The night before he had prayed, not my will but
yours be done. When He testified before Pilate,
was He relying upon God's promises, His Father's
Word? Yes. When He stood before Pilate, did He
manifest love? Absolutely. That's what it was
all about. He loved us and gave Himself for us.
When He stood before Pilate, was He steadfast
under pressure? Did He persevere? Yes. and such
intense pressure as we will never know. When
Jesus stood before Pilate, was He gentle? Did
He evidence power that was under control? Completely.
You see, all that we are to follow after is what
Jesus showed in His trial before Pilate. It's
Jesus who is coming again. He's the one who now
reigns on a throne of omnipotence. He possesses
life. He is immortal. What that means is that
he is not subject to death. That is intrinsic
to him. It is not intrinsic to us. In fact we
are very mortal. Only when Christ comes again
will we receive our immortal bodies. These bodies
are subject to death. He is not. He is the source
of life. He possesses immortality. He dwells
in light, representing his holiness here. He
is invisible to the human eye in his essential
spiritual nature. He does manifest Himself to
us in Jesus Christ, but His essential nature
cannot be seen by human eyes. This is Jesus Christ.
He's the one who will yet appear, says Paul.
His manifestation is coming, the time when He
will disclose Himself to us. And that will be
at the right time, at the proper time, the appropriate
time. And it's coming. It could happen at any
moment. That's why you and I will serve God well
when we remember that truth. Because if Jesus
is coming at any moment, we want to be found
faithful when he comes. One day there was a traveler
in Switzerland who had discovered a beautiful,
secluded estate. located on the shores of a tranquil,
beautiful lake. He knocked at the garden gate
and there he was met by the aged caretaker who
asked him to come in. The guardian seemed very
glad to see someone, anyone. And so the tourist
asked, how long have you been here? The man replied,
well, a very, very long time. And how often has
the owner of this estate returned? Just four
times, said the man. When was he here last? the
tourist asked. The man replied many years ago.
I'm almost always alone. It's very seldom that
even a stranger like you visits me. And yet said
the tourist, you have this garden in such perfect
order and everything is flourishing as if you
were expecting your master tomorrow. Oh, no,
sir, said the caretaker. I have fixed his gardens
as if he were coming today. You see, it is that
spirit. It is the essence of that when it captures
our hearts that Jesus is coming. perhaps today,
that we will have what it takes in a world like
we live in, with all of its allurements, all
of its false religion, all of its money love.
When that captures us, we'll have what it takes
to flee ungodly motives, to follow after godly
traits like Jesus showed before Pilate. To fight
the good fight and to see that the gospel of
Christ is advanced at every cost in every place
Let's pray When Jesus comes our service will
then be finished When Jesus comes our service
will be examined When Jesus comes our service
will be rewarded Oh, men and women of God, listen.
Flee. There's a time to run. Follow. There are
things to pursue and fight. There is a time to
fight. the good fight of faith, and it's now.
Father, write this message, I pray, deep within
our hearts. And may every one of us who knows
Jesus Christ personally, who names His name,
who calls Himself a Christian, may we live like
it. May we live like it, even in the world. like
ours. Let's sing together. Let us stand together
please. And now Lord Jesus, you the one who is
immortal, the one who is holy into whose presence
no man in his flesh may come, you the manifestation
of the invisible God, in your name we commit
ourselves. to be your people. In your name we
pray for the fullness of the Holy Spirit in our
lives so that whatever our circumstances, however
we have come in this morning feeling about life,
may we go out from here understanding who we
are, what our job is, what you want of us, and
determined in our heart to be men and women of
God, your faithful servants. Amen.