Would you turn back to 1 Timothy
chapter 6? Tom and Ann are moving to Fort Worth, Texas, I guess
tomorrow, and they have been such a blessing to this congregation.
I remember them. They're still part of us. We
love them and hope they move back. That's what their intentions
are, and we hope they do. I've entitled this message, Flee
and follow. Flee and follow. Now Paul says to Timothy in verse
11, but thou, O man of God, Not everybody is a man or a woman
of God, but every believer is a man or woman of God. As we considered last week, to
be a man of God means you're of God. He's your origin. He's where you're from. That's
an awesome thing to think about, isn't it? The Lord said regarding
his people, they are not of the world, even as I am not of the
world. Now that's so mysterious, I can't
get my mind on that, but I love it. I'm of God. He that's of God heareth God's
words, you therefore hear them not because you're not of God.
To be a man of God means you've been born of God. It means God
speaks to you and you hear his voice. And it means you speak
to God and he hears your voice. To be a man of God means God
is for you. And there's something you know,
you have a knowledge and understanding that the men of the world do
not possess. You know the great mystery of godliness. But thou, O man of God, flee
these things. Now, what do you flee from? You
flee from what you're afraid of. And you know that if you
get into a hand-to-hand combat with whatever this is, you'll
be beat. You know you can't stand before
it, so you run. You're afraid. You know you'll
be defeated. The man of God is still a man
with all the weakness that that includes. And there are things he must
flee from. Now, if you run into a wasp's nest, what do you do? You flee. You run because you
know, if you stay there, you'll be stung and there's nothing
you can do about it. So you run away. Now in the context, look in verse
nine of our text, but they that will be rich, That's
their desire, that's their purpose, that's their agenda. They that
will be rich. Now remember, there's nothing
wrong with riches, but there's something wrong with the love
of money. They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare
and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which dram in destruction
and perdition. For the love of money is the
root of all evil, which while some coveted after, they've erred. They've been seduced from the
faith and they've pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But
thou, O man of God, flee these things. Flee the love of money,
which is the root of all evil. There are three other things
in the scripture we're especially instructed to flee from. Paul
said flee from idolatry. false ideas of God. Oh, what a great wickedness is
idolatry. Paul says to flee from it. And
he also said, flee fornication, flee sexual sin, flee it. Now that's God's word. Is he
talking about spiritual or physical both? But whatever he means,
flee fornication. And then he said to Timothy in
2 Timothy 2, flee youthful lusts. And in the context, he's speaking
of Timothy being a vessel meet for the master's use. And he's
referring to youthful lusts in the ministry, ambition or, or
forcing yourself or getting mad at people and so on. He said
to be meek and so on. Now he says, thou old man of
God, flee these things. And there's some things, may
God give us grace to flee from them, run scared. Because we
know that if we try to take these things on, we'll be whipped.
Therefore, we flee. But he also gives him something
to pursue. But thou, man of God, flee these
things and follow or pursue is what the word means. It's not
the same word the Lord means when he says, follow me. It means
pursue. Make this your aim. Make this
your agenda. Make this your goal. Make this
what you strive after and reach out for. Pursue. these things. Now, when you're
pursuing something, you feel like you either do not have it
or you don't have it to the fullness that you want it. That's why
you're pursuing it. You either don't have it at all
or you don't feel like you have it in its fullness in the way
you want it. Therefore, you pursue it. For
instance, Peter said, seek peace and pursue it. Pursue it. Go after it. Turn with me to
Philippians chapter 3. I think this will give us some
idea as to what this word means. Philippians chapter 3. Verse 12. It's not as though I had already
attained. And this is Paul speaking. Either
we're already perfect. I'm not those things, but I follow
after, I pursue. I pursue. If that I may apprehend
that for which also I'm apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I
can't not myself to have apprehended. But this one thing I do, forgetting
those things which are behind, And reaching forth unto those
things which are before, I press, that's the word, that's the word,
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of
God in Christ Jesus. Now, Paul gives us six things
to pursue. Like I said, in the context,
he's saying flee covetousness and the love of money, which
is the root of all evil. And follow after six things. And if I pursue one of these
things, I will be pursuing them all. This is very important.
This is a verse that we have intended to just read over and don't even
think about what it means. But this is such an important
verse. If we have one of these things, if we pursue one of these
things, we pursue them all. They can't separate it. And to
have one is to have them all. And if any are absent, they're
all absent. Now, pursue these things. And
the first thing he mentions in verse 11 is righteousness. pursue righteousness. The Lord said in Matthew chapter
6 verse 33, seek ye first the kingdom of God and what's next? What's it say? His righteousness. It doesn't say seek ye first
the kingdom of God and try to be a righteous person, although
you ought to be, but that's not what it says. That's not what
he means. He says seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. I'm called upon to pursue His
righteousness. Now, why is this emphasis made
of His righteousness? That's easy to answer. Because
His righteousness is the only righteousness there is. David said in Psalm 71, 16, I've
made mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only. Now, not everybody believes this.
If I do not believe in the total depravity and inability of all
men by nature, I don't believe his righteousness is the only
righteousness there is. But if I believe that man is
as the Bible declares him to be, there's none righteous, no,
not one. There's none that understands.
There's none that seeketh after God. They're all gone out of
the way. They have together become unprofitable. There is none that doeth good. No, not one. Now, if I believe
that, I'm forced to conclude that there's only one righteousness,
and that's the righteousness of God. Turn with me to Romans
10. Romans 10. Verse one, Paul says, brethren,
my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they
might be saved. And what I conclude from that
is they weren't. He says, for I bear them record that they
have a zeal of God. They're very religious, but not
according to knowledge. for they being ignorant of God's
righteousness." Now that's a big, big word. God's righteousness. His righteous character, His
righteousness in damnation. Oh, how His justice and righteousness
is magnified. His righteousness in salvation,
His righteousness in the forgiveness of sins, His righteousness in
that righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ being given to every
believer. They being ignorant of God's
righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness,
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness. to everyone
that believeth." Now, if I believe that I don't
have any personal righteousness, if I really believe that, I will
pursue His righteousness. Paul put it this way in Philippians
3 verses 8 and 9. Oh, that I may win Christ and
be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is of
the law. I don't have anything to do with that. But that which
is through the faith of Jesus Christ, the obedience of Jesus
Christ, the faithfulness of Jesus Christ, the righteousness which
is of God. by faith. That's the righteousness
I want. The righteousness which is of
God. Their righteousness, the Lord said, is of me. Paul said in Romans 4, 5, to
him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly. His faith is counted for righteousness.
Even as David describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom
God imputeth righteousness. without their work, saying, blessed
are they whose iniquities are forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. Now this is what the Bible calls
justification. Pursuit. Isn't this worthy of
our pursuit? You know, that even sounds silly
for me to say something like this. Of course it is. But next he says, follow, pursue
after godliness. Where there is righteousness,
there always is godliness. You can't separate the two. Kind
of like wherever there's faith, there's repentance. You can't
separate the two. Where there is righteousness,
there is godliness. Now, what is godliness? It's
made of two words, which means literally, well devout. Well devout. Paul, uses the word as a title
of the gospel. I love 1 Timothy 3, 16, great
is the mystery of godliness. Isn't that a wonderful name of
the gospel? The great mystery of godliness.
I love the way the gospel is a mystery. It seems more mysterious
and more mysterious to me too. I mean, it's mysterious. It's
glorious. It's not something you can wrap
your head around. It's so glorious that you can't understand it,
you can only believe it. It's a mystery that we believe, that
we receive, that we embrace. The great mystery of godliness. The Greek dictionary calls it
the gospel scheme. When I looked up the word, what
it means, it's called godliness, the gospel scheme. And it's called
a godward attitude. Now what godliness is, is devotion. to God. Now let me show you godliness. Turn with me to Luke chapter
8. Here's godliness. I'm in Luke chapter 9, verse
23. Now here's godliness. And he said to them all, if any
man will come after me, let him deny himself, take up
his cross daily. It's not a one-time act. And
listen, your cross that you take up is not, oh, this is my burden
in life. This is the burden I bear. That's
your confession of Christ and the persecution that comes as
a result of it. Let him take up his cross daily
and follow me. For whosoever will save his life
shall lose it. But whosoever will lose his life,
what are those next three words? for my sake. What will you do for Christ's
sake? Isn't that the only issue? What
will you do for Christ's sake? For whosoever shall lose his
life for my sake, the same shall save it. Pursue godliness. You know, I think I want to I
think of what the Lord's done for me. He chose me before time
began. He became my surety. He became
responsible for all my salvation. He said to his father, whatever,
whatever you require of him, you look to me for it. I'll pay. He came and he kept God's holy
law for me. He didn't have to do that. He's
over the law. He gave the law. He didn't have to subject himself
to it, but he kept God's holy law for me. And he died for me. He took my sins and my sorrows. He made them his very own. He
bore the burden to Calvary and suffered and died alone. And
he was raised for me. He was delivered from my offenses.
He was raised for my justification. And right now, he's seated at
the right hand of the Father as my representative and intercessor. And he's coming for me. Do you
know heaven would not be heaven to the Lord Jesus Christ if I'm
not there? That's true of every single believer. Now, godliness,
well devout. Isaac Watts said, were the whole
realm of nature mine, that were present far too small. Love,
so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all. And the next thing in our text
that he says to pursue is faith. Now, remember, all these go together.
You pursue righteousness, you'll pursue godliness. If you have
righteousness and godliness, you will pursue faith. Thou, O man of God, follow after
righteousness, godliness, and faith. Now, what is faith? I
want to be real simple here. I hope this will be helpful. What is faith? And that's a very
important question. What is faith? Believing what
God said. It's that simple. It's believing
what God has said. God appears to Abraham. He says,
Abraham, you see the stars? Can you count them? No, I can't.
So shall thy seed be. Now, Abraham was an old man. Sarah had gone through menopause.
Abraham believed God with absolutely no evidence that what he said
would take place. He could look at himself, he
could look at Sarah, and he could say there's no way, but he believed
God. He was fully persuaded that what
God had promised, he was able also to perform. As a matter
of fact, turn with me to Romans 4. Look what the scripture says
about this event. Verse 17, as it's written, I
have made thee a father of many nations. Now, you know, when
God said that to him, he hadn't had any kids yet, but yet he
speaks of it in past tense. I have made thee a father of
many nations. You know, when God said, you're
going to have a mighty seed, he had a mighty seed even when
he didn't have any kids because God said it. Abraham believed God. before him whom he believed,
even God, who quickens the dead, and calls those things which
be not as though they were. who against hope believed in
hope that he might become the father of many nations according
to that which was spoken, so shall thy seed be. And being
not weak in faith, he considered not his own body, now dead, when
he was about a hundred years old, neither yet the deadness
of Sarah's womb had already gone through menopause. He staggered
not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith,
giving glory to God, being fully persuaded, that what he had promised
he was able also to perform. Now let me ask you a real simple
question. Is God able to save you without your help? You believe that? Is God able
to save you without your help? I believe in God. Faith is the salvation grace. By grace are you saved. through
faith, through believing what God has said. Now faith is not
just believing God can end God or believing God can do anything.
It's believing God has done what He said He's done. It's believing
He will do what He said He will do. It's not just believing,
well, God can do anything. He can create 5,000 universes, or He can pick
up this building and throw it 100 miles. Yeah, sure He could. But that's not faith. Faith is
believing God's Word. Abraham believed God, and it
was counted to him for righteousness. Faith is the substance of things
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Now, what is the evidence
that I have righteousness? What is the evidence that I have
the very righteousness of God? Faith. Faith is the evidence
of things not seen. Oh, pursue faith. Now, why are we exhorted to pursue
faith? Well, I think I can answer that
real easily because our faith is so small and weak. That's
why. And so little, you know, how
many times did the Lord say, Oh, ye of little faith. And we're made
to cry out continually. I believe. Help thou mine unbelief. Is there ever a time when that's
not your prayer? I do believe. Lord, I believe. Yeah, I do.
I believe. I believe the gospel. I believe
his word. And while I'm saying that, I
still am painfully aware. Help thou mine unbelief. You
know, the new man always believes. The old man never believes. So you have that constant struggle. And so pursue faith. I want to be like Abraham. You
know, I want to believe God. I want to trust my Redeemer.
I want to walk by faith and not by sight. Don't you want to be
like Abraham? He staggered not the promise
of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory
to God. Pursue faith. Now, the next thing he says in
our text, and once again, remember, if we pursue one, we pursue them
all. He says, follow after charity. Follow after love. Wherever there's faith, there
will be love. Love to God, love to the brethren,
and love to those who aren't brethren. You want them to be
brethren. You want them to be saved. You
want them to come to a knowledge of the living God. You want them
to know what it is to bow to the Redeemer and trust His righteousness. That's because you love them.
There's a love to God as He is. There's a love to the brethren.
You love anybody who loves Christ. I mean, if somebody loves Jesus
Christ, you're all for them. And you love men. You want them
to know the Redeemer. Now, once again, we pursue love
because we are very aware that our love should be much greater,
aren't we? We're very aware of that. Now
we love, but we want to love more, don't we? Turn to 1 Corinthians
13, that beautiful chapter on love. Paul says in verse 1, though
I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, though I am the
most eloquent speaker alive, whether a man or an angel, and
have not charity, I am become as a sounding brass or a tinkling
cymbal. And though I have the gift of
prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge,
and though I have all faith so that I can remove mountains,
miracle-working faith, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods
to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned as
a martyr for the cause of God and truth, and have not charity,
It profited me nothing. Then he gives this beautiful
description of charity. Charity suffers long. It's long-tempered. And it's forbearing. And it's
kind. It's gracious. Charity envies
not. You know you can't possibly envy
somebody you love. You're glad they have what they
have. You rejoice in it. You see, they're part of you.
You love them. If your children are honored, are you envious
of them? No, you're glad. As a matter
of fact, you're honored just as much as they are when they're
honored. Charity envieth not. Charity vaunteth not itself. It doesn't push itself. It's
not a braggart. It doesn't have to sell itself.
It's not puffed up. with pride. Verse 5, it doesn't
behave itself unseemly. It's not rude. It seeketh not
her own. It's not self-seeking. It's not
easily provoked. It's not touchy. It's not you
got to walk on eggshells around it. It's not unapproachable.
It thinketh no evil. It keeps no records of wrongs. What a beautiful thing. It keeps
no records of wrongs. It rejoices not in iniquity,
but rejoices in the truth. It bears or covers with silence
all things. It believes all things. It trusts. It hopes all things. It endures
all things. It never quits. Charity never
fails. It's never brought to inactivity. Isn't that beautiful? Isn't that
something you want to pursue? But this, this is the fruit of
the spirit. The fruit of the spirit is what?
Love. Beloved, let us love one another
for love is of God. He that's loveth is born of God. Look what chapter 14 verse one
says. Follow, pursue, there's a word,
the same word. Pursue after charity. Make it your aim, make it your
target, make it your ambition. And then he says, fifth in our
text, follow in 1 Timothy 6, 11, follow after patience. Follow after patience. I can just look at everybody's
eyes right now that everyone is thinking, man, I flunk out
there pretty good. Well, we flunk on all of them, don't we? uh,
to very, but that's why we're pursuing. That's why we're following.
But he says, follow after patience. Now the word patience is made
of two words, which means to abide under, to abide under. Patience is the fruit of faith.
It's the opposite of worry, stress, and anxiety. All things work
together. for good to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to his purpose. Be patient. God is working all things together
for your good and for his glory. Now we read several times in
the scripture of the patience of Christ. Don't you like to
think about that? The patience of Jesus Christ.
Does Christ ever worry? He never has need to, does he?
Why would he worry when he's in control? Why would he worry
when his will is being done exactly as he would have it done? When I'm watching a ball game
without knowing the outcome, I am filled with angst, if it's
my team. Claire, when you were watching
Michigan play the other night, you were feeling so good in the
first half. And then in the second half, when things started going
south, you were filled with angst, I bet. I bet you could just feel
it. When I am watching a ball game
where my, when I don't know the outcome, I am filled with angst. Somebody says that's shallow.
I know, I know, but that's the way I am. Never claimed to be
anything but that. But you know, when I watch a
game that I've recorded, And the outcome has already been
done, and I already know who won. And it's actually history. It's historical. It's already
done. It's history. And I'm watching
that recording. I'm not worried a bit. I'm not
filled with anxiety. I'm patient. If I know Kentucky's
going to win, and they're down by 10, I'm patient, because I
know the outcome. I know who's going to win. Beloved,
the end is already history. It's already history. By one
offering, Hebrews 10, 14, by one offering, he hath perfected
forever. Doesn't say he will, it says
he hath. By the which will we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
It's history. Now, if you already know the
outcome, if you already know the end, if you already know
who won, he did and I did too. We're more than conquerors through
him that loved us. I'm patient. I wish I believed
that more than all the time. I wish I could put that in a
bottle, don't you? And last, he says, follow after meekness. And like I said, all these go
together. Follow after the righteousness of God. Follow after godliness. Follow after faith. Follow after
love. Follow after patience. Don't
you want to be patient to honor the Lord? Just be patient. Follow
after meekness. Meekness is so closely associated
with humility that it's difficult to distinguish the two. The,
what I like to think about meekness more than anything else is where
the Lord said, and this is the son of God. This is the creator
of the universe. This is the one who controls
all the things when he described his own heart. So in one time
he describes his own heart and how does he describe it? He says,
I am meek and lowly in heart. Doesn't that make it beautiful?
Paul said, I beseech you by the meekness and the gentleness of
Christ. The Lord's meek, the Lord's gentle. Peter spoke of a quiet and a
meek spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. Now we see the Lord's meekness,
but what about our meekness? The Lord's meekness is different
from our meekness. The Lord's meekness is because
of the beauty of His character. And meekness is a fruit of the
Spirit. It's the next and last fruit of the Spirit mentioned.
Meekness is the fruit of the Spirit. Meekness is an attitude
toward God that a believer has that makes him believe that anything
God sends his way is right and it's good whether he understands
it or not. I think the best Example of that
is David, when Shemai is cursing him, and Abishai says, you want
me to go take his head off? He said, no, the Lord said to
him, curse David. The Lord told him to do that.
You know, if somebody curses you, you know why they curse
you? It's because the Lord told them to. And it was for your
good and his glory. Now that's meekness. Anything
he sends my way, it's good because he did it. Turn to Colossians
chapter 3. Verse 12. Put on, therefore, as the elect
of God, holy and beloved, vows of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness. Meekness. That's the way God's
elect dress, put it on. Long-suffering, forbearing one
another and forgiving one another. If any man have a quarrel against
any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. Now why do we
pursue meekness? Once again we pursue this because
there's far too much of the opposite within us. And we pursue meekness. Now he says pursue righteousness,
pursue godliness, pursue faith, pursue love, pursue patience,
pursue meekness. And in so doing, we're fighting
the good fight of faith. May the Lord enable us to do
this. Let's pray together.