August 14, 2022
Morning Service

Paul in his letter to Timothy (and us) got up close and personal looking into how we view money, wealth, and the lifestyle that goes with it.  He revealed to us that the “love of money is the root of all kinds of evil” and has even caused many to “stray from their faith.”  We were challenged to take a close look into our own view of money and this world’s goods and honestly determine what it is that we seek to make us happy, content or complete.  Jesus said “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  Our identity, happiness, and contentment come, not from our financial successes, but from being made complete in Jesus.  Gracie today joined us into the family of God by believing and confessing Jesus as Lord and Savior of her life.  That is her eternal moment that begins a relationship with Jesus that becomes a life-long journey that ends with seeing Him face to face.  This journey has many high and low points along the way, but it is one that is worth completing.  Two weeks ago, Paul told us that in “everything we do, do it heartily unto the Lord.”  We discussed how we apply that to our everyday life and look at it that we are missionaries in a field uniquely chosen for us.  We can do even the small and mundane tasks as acts of worship to our Lord.  Today in our scripture, Paul tells us to apply this focus of doing things heartily to our journey with Jesus.  We skipped over this part last week, but I would like to close out this study with this challenge Paul gives Timothy and then apply it to each one of us.

1Ti 6:11-12 But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.  (12)  Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

            Notice Paul here uses words of action that we need to apply to our journey.  Flee these things; the NLT translates this “run from all these evil things.”  He had just spoken of the sins of pride (v4), discontentment (v6), foolish lust (v9), and the love of money (v10) and now he commands us to not dabble in those temptation areas, but to run from them.  Run just as Joseph ran from Potiphar’s’ wife as she tried to seduce him.  He did not entertain the thought even for a second, but ran away immediately.  We too have to be able to recognize these temptations and run or flee them without dabbling in it just to see what it is like.  In our journey with Jesus we must learn to flee evil. 

            He now gives us a list of things that we are to pursue.  Pursue means to follow with the intent to catch what you are after.  These things do not come naturally to us but take effort on our part to attain them.  We must learn to allow the Holy Spirit to guide us and empower us to do this.  Righteousness can be an intimidating word, but it really just means doing our best to do the right thing.  Choosing to yield our will to His.  Godliness is to attempt to imitate the actions of the One we are following; be like Jesus and walking in His footprints.  Faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things unseen; our deep unwavering belief that God is there and cares for us.  Our faith is the foundation that keeps us standing firm.  Love is the key in all that we do; it must be our motivation to do things heartily for the Lord and those around us.  We are called to love as Jesus loved us.  Patience (oh no) means to be able to tolerate or accept trouble and suffering without getting upset or angry.  Patience only come from trials so it is not something that comes easily, but by keeping the right perspective it is possible.  Our eyes are to be set on the goal of reaching heaven and enduring whatever it takes to complete our journey.  Gentleness is a virtue of love.  We are not overbearing or judgmental of those around us but understand that we are all “sinners saved by grace.” We treat others as we would like to be treated.  All of these are attributes in our lives that Paul encourages us to pursue-follow with the intent of achieving them and we can with the aid of the Holy Spirit (Phil. 4:13).  In verse 12 he calls this fleeing evil and pursuing holiness as “fighting the good fight of faith.”  Our journey is a battle, not to attain salvation, but a path we choose because of our salvation.  Notice how Paul explains as we go on.

 

1Ti 6:13-14 I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, (14) that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ's appearing,

            With Jesus as our role model, who stood before Pilate blameless, we are to pursue “keeping this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord’s appearing.”  In our life-long journey with Jesus we are to pursue perfection.  Don’t just do enough to get by, but do it right, whole heartedly, by targeting your goal as nothing less than a bull’s eye.  If you settle for less, then you are not pursing Jesus with the passion you need.  If you are shooting a bow and arrow and your goal is to just hit the target anywhere, then a bull’s eye is not likely.  But if you focus in on that center red circle and remain unsatisfied until you hit it every time, then you are pursuing perfection.  Don’t be naïve and be discouraged when you often shoot and miss the target all together, that is not the point here.  We will fail and fail often, but we must set our goal at hitting perfection.  Pursue living out the attributes Paul listed for us here in this letter; righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and gentleness.  Our goal needs to display these daily, knowing full well we will not achieve it but must continue to try.  By narrowing our focus, we make our goal much more achievable.  Failure is part of the journey and the key is that we use it as motivation to do better and not just simply give up and settle for less.  It is part of the growing process in our maturing in Christ.  Many who begin their journey with Jesus become satisfied with the fact that they are saved and that is enough.  They are missing the true depth of what it means to follow Jesus.  Why should we pursue this and engage ourselves in this spiritual battle?  Paul in verse 14 mentions Jesus’ appearing and continues that thought into the next verse.

 

1Ti 6:15-16 which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, (16) who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.

            Never lose focus of who the One we are following (pursuing) is!  He alone is the “King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power!”  He is the Creator of all that we see and rules over the world we live in; but yet He loves you, know you and desires a close intimate relationship with you.  He proved this by becoming our Savior; the One who took our sins upon Himself and died a death we deserved to die, paying the price for our sins and giving to us eternal life.  He did for us what we could not do for ourselves and offered it to us as a free gift to only be accepted.  Gracie did that this morning by confessing with her mouth and believing in her heart.  She also then obeyed the command to enter into the waters of baptism and begin her journey today.  That obedience does not earn her salvation, but it is because of her salvation that she obeys as it is for us.  True faith produces obedience.  We pursue perfection to please the only One who can make us perfect.  Along your journey, keep your eyes fixed on Jesus and your mind focused on not only all that He has done for you, but who He is!  When you see that picture clearly, then you will pursue perfection with a new passion and desire.  Jesus becomes the bright light in the room and everything else becomes only shadows in His presence.  Give Him your heart, and He will become your treasure.  Paul close this letter with a final charge to us that emphasizes that point.

 

1Ti 6:20-21O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge— (21) by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith. Grace be with you. Amen.

            “Guard what we committed to your trust” and avoid these things that can detour you from the path you have chosen.  Again this is an action word that requires effort and diligence on our part.  Guard the knowledge you have from being corrupted by the world.  Guard your heart from being defiled by the evil of this world.  Set guard rails up in areas that tempt you to detour from the path.  Watch and be on guard seeing trouble ahead and making choices that will avoid it.   In James’ letter he sums this entire message up for very well:

 

Jas 4:7-8 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.  (8)  Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

            Again we see words that call for our action; submit, resist and draw near. Run from evil and pursue perfection! 

 

Heavenly Father we thank You for calling us to follow You.  Help us along this journey to stay focused on You running from evil and pursuing perfection.  Allow the Holy Spirit to guide us through our successes and failures to draw closer to You.