Now turn again in your Bibles
to 1 Timothy chapter 6. I'm speaking on this subject,
lay hold on eternal life. I preached from this subject
before, and I will, I hope, be permitted to preach from it again.
Lay hold on eternal life. And I want to begin my message
at verse 11. Verse 11. Now, note carefully
these statements. Paul said, But thou, O man of
God. To whom is he speaking? He's
speaking to a young man whom he loved a great deal, Timothy. He's speaking to a young man,
not only for whom he had a deep love, but he had a deep concern.
because this young man was a preacher. Paul had great confidence in
him, great confidence in Timothy. He wrote two epistles to him.
He called him his son in the faith. But Paul knew that the
work of preaching the gospel was such an awesome task and
such a responsible undertaking that he could not be too prayerful
for this young man Nor could he be too earnest in exhorting
him to continue steadfastly in that gospel. And that's the reason
he addresses these statements to it. O man of God, listen to
me, he said. Listen to me. I exhort you, I
caution you to continue steadfastly in the business at hand. Aim
for the center of the target. Mind the business at hand. Turn
back just one page to 1 Timothy 4 and listen to what he says
to him here. And he had great love for Timothy.
He had a great deep concern for him. And he earnestly exhorted
him and warned him. Now listen to this. 1 Timothy chapter 4 verse 12. Let no man despise thy youth.
You're a young man, but now don't Like the Lord said to Jeremiah,
say not that I am but a child, I have called thee from your
mother's womb. I sanctified you and set you
apart. He tells Timothy, don't you? Let anybody despise your
youth. Gray hair doesn't necessarily
indicate wisdom. Ought to, but it doesn't. The
wisdom is Christ. And a young man with Christ I'd
rather listen to than an old man with an with a goal that's
not Christ. He said, well, anybody despise
your youth, but be thou an example of the believers in word, in
conversation, in love, in spirit, attitude, in faith, in purity. Until I come, you give attendance
to reading, read, read the Word, to exhortation, exhorting others,
and to doctrine, to your foundation, And don't neglect the gift that's
in thee. God's given you some gifts. Don't
neglect it, which was given thee by prophecy. We prophesied of
it with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. Now
meditate upon these things and give thyself wholly to them,
that thy profiting may appear in all things. Take heed to yourself."
This is a man he loves. But he loves him, and he shows
that love in caring for him. Take heed to yourself and take
heed to your doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing
this you'll save yourself and them that hear you. Now let's look back at the text.
Thou hast received now comfortably and clearly to whom he's speaking,
a man of God, a redeemed person, Timothy. Now first thing he says
to him is, flee these things. What things? Flee these things.
Turn back to verse 1, chapter 6, verse 1. From the preceding
verses, it's clear to me, it's clear to me, that three classes
of people existed in the religious community in that day as in this
day. This will astound you to see
how applicable this scripture is to this present day. You remember
when I read verse 1 and 2, Paul is saying, now let servants,
here we had a situation existing that slavery existed. There were
servants, there were slaves, there were people in bondage,
there were people in servitude, there were people who worked
for others, there were people under the dominion, control of
others. There were some social injustices
existing in that day. Some serious, severe social injustices. There was corruption in government,
there was corruption in the community, there was corruption in society,
there was corruption in labor, there was corruption among men.
It existed. And Paul is saying to Timothy
in verse 1, he's saying this is so and this must be said. Let servants who are under the
yoke count their masters worthy of honor. That the name of God
and his doctrine be not blasphemy. Christians, believers, or in
situations of even injustice socially and so forth, be submissive. And they that have believing
masters, let them not despise them because they're brethren,
but do service to them because they're faithful, beloved, partakers
of the benefit. These things teach and exhort,
teach justice and truth and compassion and kindness and all these things. Back in this day as now, there
were preachers who were taken up with social reform and politics. It's so easy to get into that.
It's so easy as a preacher to be concerned about your community
and be concerned about your school board. I know preachers that
run for the school board, you know. I know preachers that run
for aldermen and council. I know preachers who run for
other offices. I know preachers who take active
interest in politics. cleaning up the community. Somebody
said, well, why didn't you go down in Foresight, Georgia, and
march with that crowd? Don't you believe they had a
good cause? Yeah, they had a good cause. But using the pulpit to rectify
unquestionable wrongs that exist in government, society, and among
men, Paul said, you stay away from them. That's what he said. You stay away from them. Paul
objected to injustice. I object to injustice on any
plane, in any situation. Paul objected to injustice, slavery,
evil, as much as anyone. But Paul knew this, and I know
this. I realize this. That the only way men are going
to treat men right and deal right with their brethren
The only way is to come to an understanding and belief of the
gospel. That's the way evil is overcome.
That's the way hearts are made right by the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's just so. You do not, true
morality and true compassion and fairness and justice can
never be legislated. Not truly, now. Oh, you can whip
people into line, but they'll be in line outside, but not inside. True morality, compassion, and
fairness will not be legislated, but I tell you this, by the preaching
of the gospel, it will be experienced in the heart. And that's the
reason that he tells Timothy right here, he's saying, this
is not your business. Now you speak to it just as he
did. You speak to abortion, but you don't start a campaign and
a march to do away with it. You're not going to do away with
it. You'll do away with it among people who know God and who love
God and who know Christ. The same thing, injustice and
unfair treatment of races. You're not going to do away with
it. It's always been here. It always will be here. Blacks
mistreating whites, whites mistreating blacks, blacks mistreating blacks
and whites mistreating whites. You're not going to change it
by forming a march. And I tell you this, if God ever
saves a man, and gives him a new heart, he'll love white and black,
rich and poor, old and young, learned and ignorant. That's
right. He'll love them, and he'll treat them right. And until then,
you're not going to change it. And that's what he's saying to
flee these things. Don't get your ministry involved, taken
up, speak against, tell servants, masters, parents, husbands, Now,
no use me starting a marriage council outfit in here. Here's the place to council people
in marriage if a man knows God he'll treat his wife right. He'll
love her. He'll treat her tenderly and
kindly. If a wife ever comes to know
Christ, she'll be a good wife, wherever her duties are. That's
right. And you're not going to sit in
here at a desk and people come or start a counseling service
or set up rules and regulations. You're not going to change the
heart except by grace. Now just face it, it's so. It's
just so. It's just so. And children, I
tell you when they're going to love their parents is when they
love God Almighty. That's when they're going to
love them. I tell you when they're going to be submissive. and loving
children and cooperative children when they fall in love with Christ,
not until. I like what that little boy said
one night, just telling the truth. His mother said, sit down! He
just stood there. She said, sit down! Well, he
sat down. And he whispered, I'm sitting
down on the outside, I'm standing up on the inside. Well, I want
him to sit down on the inside. And I want that to happen to
me and you and everybody here. And that's what Paul said to
Timothy. You flee these things. Don't you get into marches. Don't
you get into politics. Don't you get into government.
Don't you get on the school board. Don't you fight these things
out there on the street. Preach Christ. Preach Christ. Preach Christ. Lay hold on eternal
life. Straighten out the United States
government and go to hell. That's right. That's right. All right, here's the second
group of people that were present in those days. Verse 3. Any man teach otherwise and consent
not to hold some words, even the words of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And not the words of John Newton, Charles Spurgeon, or John Jonathan
Edwards, or John Owen. The words of Christ. Christ. And to the dachshund, which is
according to Godliness, he's a proud man, knowing nothing
but doting about questions and strife of words and envy and
strife and railings and perverse disputings among men. Turn over
here and look at verse 19, verse Timothy 6. Look at verse 20. Timothy, keep that which is committed
in thy trust, and avoid these profane vain babblings and oppositions
of silence. falsely, so-called. Now, there were people here who
were taken up, not only with these causes, causes, not only
were there people taken up with social reform and politics and
straightening out the government and labor and management and
society and all these other things, but there were some preachers,
a lot of preachers and elders and teachers who were taken up
with intellectualism. Strife of words, questions, debates. They're just so concerned about
the why and the wherefore and the paraphernalia and all this
sort of thing of theology. You know, I found this out. I
found this out. I listened to them real carefully.
See if you catch what I'm trying to say here. I found out there
are people who propagate and encourage and drive and with
zeal, this thing of love, love, love. They're in love with love.
Let's love our neighbor. Let's love each other. Let's
have a society of love. They're in love with love, but
not with Christ. You see what I'm saying? They're
in love with a principle, with a thing. with a cause, love. My friends, Christ is love. And
there's no genuine sincere heart love apart from Christ. I know
preachers who are in love with books. They just love books. The older the better, the smellier
the better, the dustier the better, the cobwebs all over them, you
know. Something old, old, old. They're in love with books. They're
in love with knowledge. ever learned it. To the making
of books there's no end, it's a weariness of the flesh. They're
in love with eloquence, how things are said rather than what's being
said. I know it sounds more spiritual
for me to say, thou hast become acquainted in thy knowledge of
heart with the glorious doctrine of God's immutable sovereignty
as it was in bygone days. You see, we just love that sort
of stuff. We're taken up with it. Here's
what's troubling me. Like those people in love with
love, and they've made the means the end. And these people in
love with books and knowledge and eloquence, they've made the
means the end. Not it at all. It's Christ. I
don't care how big a library you've got. Here's the library
you need more than any other. I don't care how many times you've
read John Playful or John Newton or John Owen or John Knox. You
sure and I sure need to know Jesus Christ. We sure need to
know Him. In simplicity. If I can't understand
what you're saying, just don't say it. That's right. If I can't... If these children can't understand... Terry, if you can't understand
what I'm saying, notice me saying it, isn't it? Because if you can't understand
Jim Eccles, you can't understand it either. Isn't that right?
But she can, you can. And what's more, I can. I think
a lot of preachers don't know what they're saying. I think
they're just saying something. I really don't. Then there are
those who are in love with studying. Oh, how they study. They studied,
studied, studied. Somebody told me he studied for
12 hours a day. I said, that's too much. That's
too much. That's a weariness. One fellow
told Spurgeon, he said, I read the Bible through 20 times on
my knees, and I didn't see a lecture. Spurgeon said, get up in a chair
where you'd be comfortable. A man can't read on his knees?
How do you think about that? I don't blame him to start with,
but he couldn't possibly get anything on his knees. But we put stock in that stuff. That's a weakness of the mind,
not only spiritually, but physically, mentally. Some people are just
steady to attain information, to attain degrees, recognition,
a place of prominence, to be called by a title. You know what,
Paul said, Oh, that I may know Him. And then there are those who
carry on the form. They hold services. Always holding
services. Just holding services. Carry
on the form, carry on the tradition, carry on the entertainment, go
through the motions. The service is useless unless it's vitally,
vitally related to Christ. That's right now, that's just
so. And that, Paul said, you flee
those things. You flee those things. Man of
God, I'm warning you, flee these things. He says down here, verse
5, withdraw thyself from them. If you run into these intellectuals
and bookworms and folks that have some objective besides to
know Christ or to teach Christ or to glorify Christ, just leave
them alone. Withdraw yourself from them. And then there were those who
gave too much emphasis to worldly possession. Look at verse 6. Here's godliness. Godliness with
contentment. Gain is not godliness. Gain is
not godliness. But godliness with contentment
is gain. We didn't bring anything into
this world. We're not going to take anything
out of this world. So having food and rain, but how many here
don't have enough food and rain? Everybody has food and rain.
Marty, I got a call this week. You'd appreciate it. We get calls
all the time for help, for food. We help people, buy gas. They
got all the different stores you wouldn't believe. I wish
I'd have kept them down in a book. But all the different reasons,
you know, folks come by to get help. Well, one fella called
me today and he said, not today, the other day, and he said, this
brother of mine, I said yesterday, he said, so-and-so told me that
you might help me. I said, what can I help you with?
He said, we need some diapers. I said, you mean, that's what
you called me about? He said, yeah, I want you to buy me some
diapers. I said, I'm sure you use disposable ones too. He said,
yeah, we do. But we have enough to eat and
enough to wear. We got diapers too. Therewith
to be, what do you say, content. Content. But they that will be
rich fall into temptation. You know what Spurgeon said one
time? He said, your hand is not big enough to hold two things. Both of which are demanding of
your full attention. your hand not big enough to hold
two things, both of which demand your full affection, God and
this world. Can't do it. This is a dangerous
snare of Satan. That's where you don't want to
fall into. You see, if we start, if we start, and now anxious
cares what we're talking about here. Now, we're not talking
about the general concern You're in business, you've got to give
your best to it. Your best as you can. Because God blesses
you. But don't make that your God.
You know that. Don't make that the goal of your
life, to get and gain and make in a covetous spirit, just trying
to accumulate for the sake of accumulating. For the sake of
saying, I've got more than you have, or I've got more than so-and-so.
I'm this, that, and the other. The love, look at verse 10, the
love of money, that's a snare, that's the evil thing. If you
can, God can bless you and give it to you, you can usefully use
it in a blessed way to help others to preach the gospel of Christ
finally. But oh, when we make this the
golden end. And Paul tells Timothy to flee
these things. Now let's turn back to the text.
Now look here, verse 11. He says, Thou, O man of God,
Timothy, flee these things I've talked about. Flee these things. And follow, follow something.
Follow what? Righteousness. Not mine, not
your own, but His. Follow godliness. Walk with God. Walk in the Spirit. Walk in godliness. Walk in truth. Walk in honesty.
Walk in good works. Follow godliness. Follow faith.
O God, I believe. Help thou mine unbelief. Lord,
increase our faith. Help me to believe. Help me to
believe in the valley and believe on the mountain. Help me to believe
in the hospital and believe on the street. Help me to believe
when things are going my way and things are going your way.
Help me to believe. Follow love. Look at it. Follow love. Pursue it. Seek
after it. Love for him. Love for his Word. Love for his people. Genuine
love. When another heart aches, your
heart aches. When another is weary and in trouble, you're
in trouble. Like that woman came to our Lord.
She said, Lord, have mercy on me. What's wrong with you? My
daughter's sick. Have mercy on me. My daughter's sick. Her daughter
being sick made her sick. Her daughter hurting made her
hurt. Her daughter in trouble gave her trouble. That love for
one another. Patience. Learn to wait on God. Rejoice in His good providence.
Patient under the hand of God. Be patient. Be patient. We're always in such a hurry,
aren't we? I read something one time that
talked about stopping along the way to smell the roses. Stopping
along the way to see a drop of dew on a clover leaf. Stopping
along the way to admire God's sunset. stopping along the way
to watch a child at play. Just wait. God's not there. I think we miss, I do, I miss
so many blessings, so many opportunities, so many enjoyable times because
I'm always going somewhere. I've always got something to
do. I've got a deadline to make. Patience. God got along without
me for centuries, millenniums. He'll get along without me Tomorrow
too. Yeah. My mouth. Alright, follow meekness, humility,
genuine humility. Who am I? And then look at here
at verse 12. Fight the good fight of faith.
It's a fight. Now whoever said that the way
would be easy, told a lie. Who among us thinks for a moment
that the struggle is over? The Bible calls the life of Christ
in the believer a race, a conflict, a warfare. Isn't that what it
calls it? A warfare. A warfare all the time. A warfare. It's a fight. He tells us to
fight the fight of faith. And I'll tell you why. We've
got some enemies. Our first enemy is Satan. We wrestle not against
flesh and blood. He's the accuser of the brethren.
He's a subtle old devil too. He's a crafty, subtle old enemy. seeking whom he may devour. Our
enemy is our own flesh. My flesh is not an ally to spirituality. It's an enemy. My appetite is
an enemy. Oh, wretched man that I am, Paul
says. Our enemy is the false teacher.
He'll deceive the elect if it's possible. The Antichrist is the
false teacher. Our enemy is the world. In this
world you'll have tribulation, but let's look at here. Fight
the good fight of faith and come, he said, and come to the all-important
issue, lay hold on eternal life. Come on now, lay hold on eternal
life. Take it. Take it. And I wrote this down
as I looked at that statement, lay hold on eternal life. Let
others go in for this and that. Let others correct all the injustices
of the world. Let others take care of the odds
and ends. the minor affairs, the form, and the foolishness.
Let others argue over these particular points. Let others debate the
religious issues. Let others dispute and quarrel.
You, O man of God, lay hold on eternal life. Lay hold on eternal
life. This is the center of the target.
When a bozeman shoots an arrow, he doesn't aim for the fringe.
He aims for the center of the target. And Tom, when you preach
tonight, and Ronnie Winston, and John, and others, Jim, and
others who teach and preach Christ, you better aim for the center
of the target. That's eternal life. That's what that is. No
use aiming for the edge. Don't waste your hours. Here's
the business of the preacher, himself and his people, to lay
hold on eternal life. Here's the ultimate goal. It's
not to be somebody in this world, it's to be with somebody in glory. Here's the true riches, eternal
life. Here's the true knowledge, eternal
life. Here's the great mystery of godliness,
eternal life. And God hath given us eternal
life, and this life's in His Son. He that hath the Son of
God hath eternal life. My friends, I would say this
to you as I said it to myself and wrote it here in my notes.
What does it matter? What does it matter? If I have
gone down in history as one who spoke out against all the injustices
of the world, if I and my friends have not laid hold on eternal
life. What does it matter if I attain all the degrees, the
theological degrees, all the doctrinal information, and all
the influence and recognition as a great religious leader,
if I and my friends have not laid hold on eternal life? What
does it matter if I live in ease and comfort, leave my children
and grandchildren and inheritance to fight over? if I and the people
to whom I preach have not laid hold on eternal life? What does
it matter if I've preached for thirty-five years, and you've
heard for thirty-five years, and you've faithfully supported
the programs of religion and the missionary effort? What does
it matter, all that we have said and done, if that's all we've
got to claim when we stand before God, and we don't lay hold on
eternal life? That's the reason. This is my
heart. This is my soul. This is my life. The life of Christ. Now I'll
give you this briefly and I'll quit. What is eternal life? Well, to sum it up in four or
five statements, I'd say number one, it's the gift of God. No
man can create it, earn it, or give it to anybody else. It's
God-given. Secondly, it's the very life of God. It's not only
the gift of God, it's the life of God in the soul. It's the
life of God. It's divine life. And thirdly,
strangely, but it's a present possession. The life I'll enjoy
in glory, I have now. If I don't have it now, I won't
enjoy it in glory. It's a present possession. They
have eternal life. And fourthly, it's a life that
will never die. That's what Job said, though
worms destroy this body, I'm going to see Him. Life is found
alone in Christ. Only in Him is it given to thee.
Given without your merit or works, it's the gift of God. It's praise. How do I lay hold on eternal
life? Let me give you this. How do I lay hold? Paul says
twice in this chapter, lay hold on eternal life. Well, I believe
the first way is to believe it to be true. Believe it to be
true. Believe eternal life to be true.
The very beginning of a hope of eternal life is when the Lord
leads us to believe that there is an eternal life. That's the start. I believe there
is. If a man dies, shall he live again? I believe that. I believe
it. That's what he said to Martha.
He said, Martha, I'm the resurrection and the life. Do you believe
this? A man that believed in me, though he were dead, yet
shall he live. Do you believe this? Yes, sir. Yes, I do. Secondly,
it's to believe what the Word of God says about me. this book.
Faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of God. You're not
going to get anywhere toward eternal life putting a question
mark on this book. This is the word of God. Believe
the word of God. Faith cometh by hearing, hearing
by the word of God. There's no saving faith apart from the word.
Thirdly, believing it to be true. Believing the word of God. Receive
Christ. Receive Him. Lay hold upon Him. Take Him to be yours. Take Him
to be your surety. Take Him to be your righteousness.
Take Him to be your substitute. Take Him to be your sin offering.
Take Him to be your mediator. Christ took your sins, take His
part. Christ took your death, take
His life. Christ took your hell, take His heaven. Take it! Take
it. You took her to be your wife.
She was willing. Well, Christ is willing, you
know. Take it. You see what I'm saying? Take
Him. Set your affections on Him, your
love upon Him. Make Him your object. Take Him!
To as many as receive Him, to them gave either right to become
the sons of God. Take Him! I'm not worthy. Take
Him. You're not worthy either. You took it. Who in here thinks
he's worthy of anything? Of any guilt, of any love, of
anybody's confidence, of anybody's trust, of anybody's life? Huh?
Worthy? I'm taking it on the basis of
my worthiness. I'm taking it on the basis of
His promise. He said it. I'm going to take
it. He said, He that believeth on
the Son hath life. I believe Him. If you don't have
the strongest faith in the world, preach it. It's all right. It
doesn't say how strong. It just says believe Him. Just believe Him. I believe Him. Take it. And then I'll show you
who's going to take it. Look at here, this text, and
then I'll quit. Verse 12, Fight the good fight
of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art called.
He called us to life. He called by word and by spirit.
And you not only were called, but you professed a good profession
before many witnesses. You weren't ashamed of Christ,
you confessed it. That's right. Just like our Lord
confessed you before Pilate, he witnessed a good confession.
before the enemies of Israel, I said, Jesus Christ is my Lord.
Not this Baptist church, not my profession, not my vocation,
not my baptism, Christ. I witness a good confession.
I confess Him. He said, you confess me, I'll
confess you before my Father. And then the last one, verse
14, and you keep this word without spot, unrebukable, under the
period of the Lord Jesus Christ. Continue in the faith. That's
who's going to lay hold on eternity. They're called They confess Him,
and they continue. We got an awesome responsibility,
haven't we? Lay hold on eternal life. Our Father, our Father, through Christ and in Christ
and because of Christ, we believe. Help our unbelief. Christ is
all and in all. Christ is our righteousness,
our hope, our lives. He's our foundation, our great
high priest, our surety, our confidence. We rest in Him. Oh, enable us to learn Christ,
win Christ, know Christ, be found in Him. We pray in His name. Amen.