Intended on beginning. The book
of Hebrews. Tonight, but I just couldn't
get away from this passage of Scripture. It kept rolling over
in my mind and I thought I should preach from this passage of Scripture.
I've entitled this message instructions. For the man of God. Beginning in verse 11. First
Timothy Chapter 6, but now. O man of God, flee these things, and follow or pursue after righteousness,
godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight
the faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also
called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses."
Now Paul is writing to Timothy and he says, Thou, O man of God. Now who is a man of God? Is it just Timothy? Is it just
preachers or people who hold special positions and we call
them men of God? No, this is every believer. Every believer, man and woman,
is a man or woman of God. I just read that passage of Scripture
from 1 John chapter 4 where he said, ye are of God, little children. Every believer is of God. Now to be of God speaks of origin. It speaks of possession. And
it speaks of relationship. Every believer is of God. I come
from God. That's where I'm from. I come
from Him. He is my origin, the origin of
my salvation. I praise totally to Him. It's not anything that I've done. It's His work in me. That's the
origin of my salvation. Don't you find that to be true?
Every man and woman of God finds this to be true. The origin of
their salvation is the Lord God Himself. Salvation is of the
Lord. That's so beautiful, and it's
so simple, and it's so true. My origin is of the Lord. I love that passage of scripture
where the Lord said, He that's of God, heareth God's words. You therefore hear them not because
you're not of God. You see, not everybody's of God,
but every believer is of God. It speaks of origin. It speaks
of possession. I'm His. I'm His. I belong to Him. I am my Beloved's. And He's mine, too. But it speaks
of possession. And it speaks of relationship.
He's my Father. I'm His Son. And that's most
real. He truly is my Heavenly Father. Isn't it a blessing A high and
heavenly calling to be men and women of God, as opposed to men
and women of this world. I'm so thankful. I know the Lord's
made a difference there. The reason I'm a man of God,
the reason you're a man or a woman of God, is because God has done
something for you. You know that, don't you? Turn
with me to Psalm 17 for just a moment. David says. In verse 13, arise,
O Lord, Psalm 17, verse 13, arise, O Lord. Disappointing. Cast him down. Deliver my soul
from the wicked, which is thy sword, from men which are thy
hand, O Lord, from men of the world. Which have their portion. In this life. And whose belly
thou fillest with thy head treasures. They're full of children. They
leave the rest of their substance to their babes. They have a maid.
They're prosperous in this world. But as for me, I will behold
thy face in righteousness. I'll be satisfied when I awake
in thy likeness. Now, the men of the world have
their portion in this life. Go for the gusto, if that's all
you got. Because that's all you got. Oh, to be delivered from
being a man of this world and to be a man or woman of God. Now, in this passage of Scripture,
the man of God is given some very specific instructions. He
is told to flee from some things. Now, you flee from that which
you're afraid of. You retreat, you run scared. You feel like you can't win in
a hand-to-hand battle, so you flee. You run away. If you believe
you could defeat it in a fight, you would stay in your ground.
But you fear you would lose the battle, so you flee. That's what
you do when you flee, when you think you can't win. You know
you'll get beat. And we're told to follow some
things in this passage of Scripture, not only to flee from some things,
but to follow some things. The Word is pursued. It's what
we press for. It's what we make our aim and
our ambition. We press. Paul said, I press. That's the way the word is used.
I press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of
God in Christ Jesus. And then we're called upon to
fight. He said, fight the good fight of faith. Not be passive,
but not to Just stay back, but to fight.
There's a conflict. We're called upon to fight, and
we're called upon to fight this battle. Flee, follow, and fight. But thou, O man of God, flee
these things. Run from them, because if you
engage in a hand-to-hand battle with them, you'll lose. So the
only thing to do is run scared. Flee these things. Now, there's
a number of things were called upon to flee in the Holy Scripture. Run from it. 1 Corinthians 1
or 1 Corinthians chapter 6, 18 says flee fornication. Flee from it. Sexual sin. And
he's talking about, well, spiritual fornication. Well, yeah, that's
right. But the main reference is physical. He's saying run
from that. Run from it. Because if you try
to do battle with it, you lose. Run from fornication, run from
sexual sin. And then we read in 1 Corinthians
10, verse 14, to flee from idolatry. These are things that we can't
do battle with them. If you allow idolatry, it'll
beat you. It will. You can't coexist with
idolatry. The only thing to do is flee
from it, run from it, all false ideas of God. Now, in the context,
he's speaking of evil doctrine and covetousness. He says, flee
from it. You know, this thing of fleeing,
it's a good thing to do. You know, the Lord teaches us
to pray. When we pray, Lord, lead us not into temptation. You see, we realize that if we're
even faced with the temptation, we'll lose. Have you ever licked
temptation? Now, come on, have you ever,
I'm going to stand before that temptation and I'm going to stand
strong. Have you ever done it? No. I don't believe it. I don't
believe it. The only thing to do is run from
it. Don't stand up and try to battle it. Run from it. Flee.
And in the context, he's talking about covetousness and evil doctrine. Look in 1 Timothy chapter 6. Beginning in verse 3. If any
man teach otherwise and consent not to wholesome words, even
the words of our Lord Jesus Christ into the doctrine which is according
to godliness. He's proud, knowing nothing,
but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh
envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, perverse disputings
of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing
that gain is godliness. Now from such withdraw thyself.
Stay away from them. Stay away from them. Any kind
of false doctrine, stay away from it. It'll hurt you. It'll
hurt you to poison. Stay away from it. He says in
verse six, but godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this
world and it's certain we can carry nothing out and having
food and rain. Let us be there with content. You know, isn't it wonderful
to be thankful that you've got clothes and you've got something to eat
and you're just satisfied? Isn't that a wonderful place
to be? Having food and raiment. Now, I think the first application
of that, Christ is my food. Christ is my raiment. And you
know, I'm plumb satisfied with that. I don't need anything else. I'm grateful for the clothes
of God. I'm grateful for all the blessings
of God. I love what that one woman said
to John Bunyan. She sat down to eat with him.
And she said they had bread and water. That's all they had to
eat. Bread and water. And she said, Christ in all this
too. Isn't that wonderful? Having
food and rain that be satisfied. But They that will be rich. That's their desire. I want more
of this world. It's not just talking about rich
and money. It's desiring this world. They that will be rich. That's their goal. That's their
objective. They fall into temptation and
a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown
men in destruction and perdition for the love of money is the
root. of all evil." Write her down. That's what the Word of God says.
"...which while some coveted after, they have erred from the
faith, and they pierce themselves through with many sorrows. But
thou, O man of God, flee these things." Flee these things of
covetousness. Now, what's the cure for covetousness? Being content with Christ. It
really is that simple. You know, when I am just satisfied
to simply be found in Christ, I don't, I don't desire a thing.
I'm just, I'm just plumb happy to be found in Him. And when
I really believe that, anything you throw out for me, it's vanity,
it's nothing. You don't covet something if
you've already got everything. Now in Christ, I have all things. Christ is all. Does the scripture
say that? Christ is all. I have all God requires. I have
all that God is. I have all that I need. I have
all things. There's nothing to covet. You
know, the Lord said, beware and take heed of covetousness. For
a man's life doesn't consist in the abundance of things he
possesses. That stuff doesn't even count. Isn't it? Isn't it
wonderful? To simply be satisfied with the
Lord Jesus Christ. Godliness with contentment is
great gain. It is, isn't it? It's great gain. Now, thou, O man of God, flee
these things, these things of covetousness, these things of
false doctrine. And what do you say next in our
text? First Timothy chapter six. But
thou, O man of God, flee these things, and follow. Now, if all
our life consisted in fleeing, if all we were doing was running
from stuff, it would be kind of a miserable life, wouldn't it? I mean, always
on the run, trying to avoid this and trying to avoid that. I don't
want a life where all I'm doing is fleeing things. He says, thou,
O man of God, flee these things, yes, but he says, follow. Follow. Make this your pursuit. Make
this your passion. Follow these things. Now, there are some things that
we're called upon to pursue that would flee away from us if we
don't pursue them. We're to make this our aim, our
purpose, our ambition. And you know, anything you want,
you pursue, don't you? Anything you really want, anything
you really desire, you pursue it. And this is even true in
worldly things. You know, if anybody wants to
be a great musician, they practice, practice, practice. And if they're
unwilling to practice, it's not really that much of a desire,
is it? If someone wants to be a great athlete, oh, we love
sports. But if you want to be a great
athlete, you're going to give yourself to practice, practice,
practice. It'll become a passion with you.
It'll become an obsession with you. That's what happens when
you pursue something. It becomes an obsession. Now,
he's saying pursue. Pursue, follow, that's what the
word means, follow, pursue after these things. Now, there's several
things in the scripture we're told to pursue. Paul said, I
press, I pursue toward the mark of the prize of the high calling
of God in Christ Jesus. Listen to this one. Romans chapter
12, verse 13 says, be given or pursue hospitality. Pursue hospitality. Romans chapter 14, verse 19 says,
follow after the things which make for peace. Pursue that which
makes for peace, not fighting and conflict, but peace. 1 Corinthians
14, 1 says follow after charity, pursue love, pursue love to God. We're going to talk about that
more in a moment. 1 Thessalonians 5, 15 says ever follow or pursue
that which is good. Hebrews 12, 14 says follow peace
with all men and holiness without which No man shall see the Lord. Pursue. Make this your pursuit. Now, look at the things that
he actually mentions in our text. He mentioned six things that
the man of God is to pursue. Now, he says in verse 11, thou,
O man of God, flee these things and follow or pursue after righteousness. Pursue righteousness. Now, what's this all about? How
do you go about pursuing righteousness? I know the answer to that question.
Now, there's only one righteousness. Do you believe that? The righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And our Lord said, Seek ye first
the kingdom of God and what? His righteousness. Now, here's
my pursuit. I want to be found in the Lord
Jesus Christ. I want to have only his righteousness. I don't want to dare stand before
God on my own in any way. This is my pursuit. This is my
passion. I want to be found in Christ.
I don't want to be found any other way. Paul said, Oh, that
I may win Christ and be found in Him. Not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is of the faithfulness
of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. Now,
I want I love that hymn we sing, On Christ the solid rock I stand,
And I love this verse, When he shall come with trumpet sound,
O may I then in him be found, Dressed in his righteousness
alone, Faultless to stand before God's throne, Pursue after righteousness,
I don't Do you want to be found in your works in any way? You
know, the scripture says in Hebrews chapter 4, labor to enter into
his rest. Labor to rest. That almost doesn't
make sense, does it? But it's so. Labor to rest. Rest in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Pursue after righteousness. And oh, I hope I don't have to
convince anybody here. There's only one righteousness.
You don't have any righteousness of your own. You know why there's
no point in you pursuing personal righteousness? Because there's
no such thing. There is no such thing. It's a non-entity. Pursue
to be found in him. He says, follow, pursue after
righteousness. Next, he says, pursue after godliness. Godliness. Pursue after godliness. Now, this word godliness is literally
well devout. It's made of two words that means
well devout. It's devotion to God. It's devotion
to Christ. Devotion. Devotion. Pursue after
godliness. Pursue after devotion. Now what
is devotion? What is meant by devout or devotion? Well, let's
say you have a sick child. And that child is very sick.
And there are two women looking over that child and doing whatever
they can to help that child. And they're going back and forth
doing everything they can to serve that child. At five o'clock,
one of the women leaves. Why? Her time is up. She's put in her time. She's
put in her eight hours. It's time to go home. But there's
another woman who stayed right by that child's side. And this
woman would die in that child's place if she could. This woman
loves that child. This woman is totally devoted
to that child. Who is it? It's her mom. Devotion. I've said this many times before,
but it bears saying again. The Gospel of Christ. If true, it's all important. If false,
it's of no importance. The one thing it cannot be is
moderately important. Pursue devotion. Don't you want to be somebody
who's devoted to the Lord Jesus Christ? Absolutely devoted. Pursue godliness. And then he says, thirdly, pursue
faith. Pursue faith. I think that's
kind of an interesting concept. Pursue faith. Well, how do you
go about pursuing faith? Well, by believing. By believing. Well, what is faith? I love this
definition of faith that the Bible gives. Obviously, it's
the best definition because it's the definition the Bible gives.
Faith, Hebrews 11.1, faith is the substance of things hoped
for. Now, I'm hoping for something. I'm hoping that when I stand
before God, I'm going to be accepted. I'm hoping that God loves me
right now. I'm hoping that I'm complete in the Lord Jesus Christ.
I'm hoping that when I stand before God on Judgment Day, everything's
going to be fine with me. I'm hoping that. And I'm hoping
that everything between now and then is going to work together
for my good and His glory. Well, what's the substance of
all that? Well, Christ Jesus. That's what faith believes. It's
the evidence of things not seen. Now, you can't see by looking
at me that I'm perfect in Christ Jesus. I can't see by looking
within my heart that I'm perfect in Christ Jesus. What's the evidence
that you are then? Faith. I believe God. I believe His gospel. And you
know what I want to do? I want to be somebody, and this
is something I pray about every day, Lord give me the grace to
walk by faith and not by sight. Now it scares me when I pray
that prayer because I think, well, what's he going to knock
out from under me? But whatever needs to be knocked out. Scared when I say this, but I
want whatever needs to be knocked out. I want the Lord to knock
it out and I I don't know man, you know I Watch that one. I don't want to get knocked down,
but I want to trust Christ only Whatever that means I want to
walk by faith and not by sight I want to live off the faith
of the Son of God. I want to walk through this world
by faith Pursue faith. Don't you want to be men and
women of faith? I want to be somebody who believes God. Believes
God. Look at this. Isn't the Lord
Jesus Christ worthy of your complete trust? Why is it we worry? Why is it we become stressed?
It's because at that time we're not really believing Him. Pursue
faith. Faith in the Son of God. Let's
go and read it. He says in verse 11, But thou,
O man of God, flee these things and pursue after righteousness,
godliness, faith. Love. Love. Pursue. Pursue love. I like what Paul said in 1 Corinthians
14. Make love your aim. And you want
to have something to be ambitious about? Be ambitious about love. Love to God. Love to His people. Being a servant to them. Love
to your wife. Love to your husband. Love to
your children. Love to people that are hard
to love. Love. Make that your aim. Make that
your goal. You know, by this our Lord said, shall all men
know you're my disciples, if you have love one to another. Make love your aim. And then he says, fifthly, in
this verse of scripture, Follow after patience. Pursue patience. Surely, we all need more of this.
What is patience? It's the fruit of faith. When you're patient, that means
you're not worried. You're not stressed. I was so
stressed this afternoon. I was stressing about something
and I got to read my notes, and I thought, how are you going
to preach on patience when you don't know much about it? Well, I don't
know, but I know this. When the Lord gives me grace
to see, here's when you're patient. You're patient when you realize
you have absolutely no control. And you really believe that He
has all control. That when you have no control,
and He has all control, And you already know what the outcome
is. Kind of like watching a tape ball game where you already know
the outcome. I don't really get anything out of watching them
like that. But I tell you what, I'm patient. If I know UK's going to win,
I'm watching the tape. If I'm watching the replay, well,
I already know the outcome. I'm not going to get stressed
about it. You're patient when you know you have no control,
he has all control, and the outcome is already determined in all
things. My salvation, and you know everything
that's going to happen, It's going to happen. Is that fatalism? No. No. You know, here's fatalism. Well, nothing I can do about
it. If it's going to happen, nothing I can do about it. I just got to bear it and get
through it. That's fatalism. Faith is believing
that whatever he does is best, is right. It's glorious. Whatever he does, even if it's
painful, Give thanks in all things for this. Even this thing you're
having a hard time giving thanks for. It's the will of God in
Christ Jesus concerning you. And when you really believe that
everything that happens to you is the will of God in Christ
Jesus concerning you, it's kind of easy to be patient in it.
May God give us grace to do that. Patience. It's the fruit of faith. And you think of these scriptures.
Our Lord said, In your patience, possess ye your souls. He said
in Hebrews 12, Let us run with patience, the race that is set
before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of
our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the
cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand
of God. So pursue patience, old man of
God. And then he says, pursue meekness. That's an attitude toward God.
Meekness. And it accepts his providence
as best. Whatever he does with me is best. And it's because he does it.
Everything that comes my way, it's good. It's good because
it came from him. Even if it's painful, I trust
him. He's too wise to err. He's too
kind to be cruel. And whatever he sends my way
is best, and by his grace I bow. That's what meekness is. It's
accompanied with humility. What is humility? It's a just
estimate of yourself. It's a just estimate of yourself. I'm nothing, and I don't want
to say, I want to say this really believing it, I'm nothing but
a sinner saved by grace. That's it. That's my highest
calling. A sinner saved by grace. And
I'm not saying that proudly as far as the sinner part, but I
sure am thankful for the grace part. I'm a sinner saved by grace. And you know, when you realize
that that's what you are, it takes all the pressure off. I
mean, if you're already down in the bottom, you're not going
to fall. But you're up on the top believing that too. Isn't
that amazing? You're both down on the bottom
and you're up on the top believing that. That's meekness. You know,
the Lord said, Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit
the earth. This is a characteristic of all
God's children. They're meek. Pursue after. Now, the reason we pursue after it
is because we see such pride in our own wretched hearts and
we see such self-exalting in our own wretched hearts and we
want to get rid of it and we want to pursue after meekness.
Now, these are wonderful things to pursue, aren't they? Pursue,
follow after. Righteousness, godliness, faith,
love, patience, meekness. Now, look what he says in verse
12. He says, fight the good fight of faith. Now, here's the one good fight.
Faith. Any other kind of fight is not
a good fight. I mean, you've had fights with your family members
and what good does it do? It just makes you miserable.
It makes them miserable. Fights in the home, men and women
fighting, kids fighting. Getting in altercations with
people in the workplace, on the job, where there's just conflict
and fights, it makes you miserable. It makes your stomach hurt to
have to deal with conflict and fights, even when nothing is
worse than when believers get in arguments or fights with one
another. I mean, it's so wretched. It's so contrary to the grace
of God. Fights. I mean, is there a good
fight? There's one good fight. He said,
fight the good fight of faith. You know, Paul said over in 2
Timothy chapter 4, he said, I fought a good fight. Well, how'd you
do that, Paul? He says, I finished my course.
I've kept the faith. Now, here's a good fight. Now,
when you fight, there's somebody you're battling, or there's something
you're battling. He says, fight the good fight of faith. What
are we battling in fighting this good fight of faith? Because
this is a good fight. It's a healthy fight. Well, first of all, I'm battling myself. I'm battling my flesh. Paul said
in Galatians chapter 5, verse 17, that the flesh lusts against
the Spirit, and the Spirit lusts against the flesh. And these
two are contrary one to the other, so that you can't do the things
you would. And don't you find you can't do what you want to
do? I would never sin again. And the Lord knows whether I'm
being sincere when I say that. I'm being as sincere as I would
never sin again. Now, how do I do in that battle? You know, I got a letter from
somebody just last night, and it was where they'd heard a message
where I said a believer is somebody that cannot not sin. They cannot not sin. And they
wrote and said, what do you mean by that? I thought, well, I don't
know how to explain that one. I mean, that's just me. I mean, Paul said, I find that
when I would do good, evil is present with me. He said, I delight
in the law of God after the inward man, but I see another law warring
in my members, bringing me into captivity to the law of sin,
which is in my members, that the will is present with me.
But out of performance, Sometimes I mess up. No, that's not what
he said, is it? He said, how to perform that which is good,
I find not. The flesh. And do I just give
it? No, I don't give into the flesh.
I'm called upon every day to crucify and mortify and put to
death the flesh. That's a battle. That's a battle.
And it's not a battle that you feel like you win because you
stick it one day and it wakes up stronger the next. And it's
something every believer is called upon to fight. The flesh, the
world, this world that hates our God. That doesn't mean I'm
an enemy of people. I want them to be saved and come
to a knowledge of Christ. But this world would drag me
down with them, wouldn't it? This world. Being around. I'm
so thankful. Now, here's one thing I'm mighty
thankful for. I'm thankful I'm a pastor, that I don't have to
be around worldly people the way you all do. I mean, I've
got it made in that sense. I'm thankful I don't have to
be exposed to it because when I'm around people like that,
I get so depressed. I get so distraught. But, well,
I'm bringing you down. Be a good, be a good example
to them. Be a good, but I understand it's
just this world, the devil, who walks about as a roaring lion
seeking whom he may devour. Now we've got an enemy, don't
we? We've got ourselves, we've got
the world, we've got the devil. What an enemy that is that we're
called upon to fight. Fight the good fight of faith. Well, what is a good fight? Well,
turn over to 2 Timothy chapter 2 and let me show you what a
good fight is. He says in verse 3, Thou therefore
endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, and no man but
worth. Entangles himself with the affairs
of this life. That he may please him who has
chosen to be a soldier, and if a man also strive for masteries,
yet is he not crowned except he strive lawfully. Now this
fight is to be battled according to the word of God. That's what
he means. This fight that we're called
on to fight, this battle, it's to be according to the Word of
God, following the rules of the Word of God. And the right weapons
are to be used in this fight. Let's look at a couple of scriptures
on this. Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 10. Verse 3. For though we walk in the flesh,
2 Corinthians 10, verse 3, for though we walk in the flesh,
we don't war after the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare
are not carnal, they're not fleshly, but they're mighty through God
to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations, and
every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge
of God and brings into captivity every thought to the obedience
of Christ. Now, before I go on talking about
this fight, remember this, any thoughts you have, that is somehow
contrary to the obedience of Jesus Christ being your righteousness
before God, get rid of it. Or to bring every thought into
captivity to the obedience of Christ. And you know, that takes
all the pressure off right there. You see, this battle is already
won because Christ, His obedience is my righteousness before God.
And any thought that is contrary to that, is a wrong thought. Stab it. Beat it down. It's wrong. Turn to Ephesians 6. You're familiar with this passage
of Scripture where Paul says in verse 10, Finally, my brethren,
be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God
that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil,
for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore, take
unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand
in the evil day, and having done all to stand, stand therefore,
having your loins girt about with truth. Now here is the first
piece of armor. The truth. The truth. The truth of the gospel. The
truth of God. The truth of his word. This is
what my underwear is. This is what holds me together.
The truth. And what do you say next? And
having on the breastplate of righteousness. Now, this is this
is not human righteousness. This is Christ's righteousness.
What a breastplate that is. And have your feet shod with
the preparation of the foundation of the gospel of peace. We walk
in the gospel. My walk in this world is looking
to the Lord Jesus Christ. As you perceive Christ Jesus,
the Lord, so walk in him. Had to receive him. as an empty-handed
sinner. Walk in Him just like that. Your
feet shod in the preparation of the foundation of the gospel
of peace. You know, that's what gives me
peace. Christ. He is my peace before God. Above
all, he says in verse 16, taking the shield of faith, wherewith
ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Looking to Christ. It's not quenching them, but
looking to Christ. That's what quenching is. Looking
to Christ. and take the helmet of salvation
and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, praying
always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto
with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. And pray for
me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth
boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am
an ambassador in bonds, that therein I may speak boldly, as
I ought to speak." Oh, the weapons that the Lord has given us! Put
on! May God give us grace to do that,
to put on the whole armor of God. Now, the good fight is seen mainly
in this. Turn back to our text in 1 Timothy
chapter 6. He says, fight the good fight
of faith. And what does he say next? Lay
hold. Grab on to. Lay hold. Hold tightly in grace eternal
life. What's eternal life? Jesus Christ the Lord is eternal
life. He's my life before God. And
I'm going to hold on to His feet. And I'm not going to let go.
By the grace of God, I'm not going to let go. Lay hold upon
eternal life. And look at this encouragement
he gives us. And he's telling us about all these things we
need to do. We need to flee. We need to follow. We need to
fight. Laying hold on eternal life.
And look what he says next. He says, fight the good fight
of faith, lay hold of eternal life, whereunto thou art also
called. You know what that means? God called you to do this, and
He's going to give you the grace to do whatever He's called you
to do. You don't really need to worry.
He's going to give you the grace to do everything He's called
you to do. You say, I'm weak. I know you
are, but He's strong. I can't do it, but He can. He
can. And He'll give you the grace
to do everything He requires of you. Do you believe that?
He surely will. He surely will. He says, lay
hold upon eternal life where into thou art also called, and
hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. Now, he
says to Timothy, you've professed a good profession. Now that word
professed is confessed. You've confessed a good confession
before many witnesses. Well, what is a confession? Well,
when I confess something, I plead guilty. I'm guilty. I'm guilty of believing it. I'm
guilty of believing the gospel. I plead guilty. No matter what
it costs, I plead guilty. When you confess, you speak freely. This is the gospel I believe. This is the Christ I believe.
And he says, Confessed a good confession before many witnesses.
Now, how does somebody go about confessing Christ? Well, the
first way you confess Christ is by believer's baptism. You
know that. That's my public confession of Christ. I confess before the
world that my salvation is found in his life, death, burial and
resurrection. I confess him by identification
with his people. Birds of a feather flock together,
don't they? I want to throw my lot in with the people of God.
I want to be identified with them. I want my lot to be cast
with them. I want to be with them. Good
times, bad times, I want to be identified with them. I confess Christ by my life. You can tell whether Christ is
all of me by the way I live. You know who knows whether I
really love the Lord Jesus Christ? The people that live with me.
They're the ones who know. I can put it on the front for
anybody, but the people who see me daily, they're the ones who
know. And I confess Christ by my mouth. Let the redeemed of the Lord
say so. That's a good confession. Flee these things. Pursue these
things. and fight the good fight of faith. Let's pray together.