1 Timothy Series - Part 14

“Fleeing These While Pursuing Those”

1 Timothy 6:11-16 (Message #14 in 1 Timothy Series)

INTRODUCTION:

            I hate running! I really do! So if anybody ever tells you that Mike Wilson is signed up for a race of any kind, unless it involves motorcycles, you have my personal permission to call them a “gosh darned gold plated liar.” In fact, if you ever see me running, you had better start running too, and I mean immediately and fast, because you can bet your life that there is something big and ugly and hairy and mean on my heels. In that kind of scenario, I am pretty fast on my feet for an old guy! You see, I do not have to out-run the critter that is chasing me. I only have to outrun YOU, if you get my drift!

TRANSITION:

            No sir, I do not like running, but I think that the Apostle Paul was kind of “into” all kinds of athletics, something of a sports fan. In his writings he often uses word-pictures derived from athletic competition. In his day, both the Greeks and the Romans had great respect for all kinds of sports, especially foot races, track-and-field events, and personal combat matches. So, in his writings we hear Paul talking about Christians “running the race”, and “fighting the good fight”, and “competing according to the rules”, and “winning the victor’s crown.” 

            In our text for today, Paul tells Timothy that in this life there are some things that he needs to run away from—to flee from. On the other hand, there are things he needs to chase after—to pursue. In both cases he is to run with vigour, passion, and purpose. Paul is not talking about a nice leisurely trot along Waterfront Park. He is talking about a full-on foot race as if your life depended on it; the way crooks run away from the cops, and the way the cops pursue the bad guys.

I still like to watch that old show, “COPS.” Some of you can probably even sing the theme song, “Bad boy, bad boy, what ya gonna do, what ya gonna do when they come for you? Bad boy, bad boy.” You know the one I am talking about. It is especially fun for Ramel and I, because they often show episodes filmed in Portland with officers from the Portland Police Bureau, many of whom we know personally, which makes the program more fun to watch. They will often show a police chase where the bad guy takes off and the cop follows him. Finally the bad guy pulls over, jumps out of the car and takes off running. He is fleeing for all he is worth. The cop quickly pulls over and chases off after the suspect, running full-tilt, which is not easy with all the gear they have to carry. You have two men, both running their hardest—one is fleeing, one is pursuing—but they both are giving it everything they have. 

            Now let’s look at our text for this morning. Turn to 1 Timothy 6:11.

MAIN BODY:

Verse 11: But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness. 

• So here in this verse we have Paul mentioning some things from which Timothy should flee/run away from, and also, a list of things he should pursue/run after with the purpose of capturing them.
• “But flee from these things” This is a very strong command. Paul chooses the Greek word pheugo, which means to flee from, or away from. The word came into Latin as fugio, and into English in words like “fugitive.” That is why I used the example a while ago of a bank robber running away from the cops. He is a fugitive so he flees with all his might. “OK,” you say, “but flee from what things, Paul?” This is where we have to link this text with last Sunday’s text. Last week we studied 6:1-10 where Paul lists several things that Timothy should avoid.
• The desire for freedom from rules and restrictions (vs. 1-2)
• The desire for power and notoriety (vs. 3-8)
• The desire for riches and material possessions (vs. 9-10)
• “…and pursue righteousness, godliness, faithfulness, love, perseverance, and gentleness.” The tense of this verb the apostle chooses means to pursue and keep on pursuing. In other words, we should employ the same vigour and intensity in pursuing things pertaining to the faith and to godliness, as we do fleeing away from things that lead us away from the faith. And Paul does not leave us guessing—he spells out exactly what we, along with Timothy, should be pursuing with all of our energy. Notice that the things on this list are character traits and the fruits of the Spirit-controlled life (cf. Galatians 5:22-23). “…righteousness, godliness, faithfulness, love, perseverance [endurance], and gentleness.”  

Verse 12: Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.    

• “Fight the good fight of faith” I like this because we have a son who is a professional fighter, a mixed martial-arts pro. He can knock your head off your shoulders before you know what hit you. That boy really knows how to fight! Of course, I taught him everything he knows J. Paul is not talking here about sparring or shadow boxing, but about really fighting to win. He is talking about mortal combat.
• “…take hold of the eternal life to which you were called,” In the Scriptures “eternal life” is presented as a gift (cf. John 3:16; Ephesians 2:8-10). It is also viewed as a present experience (John 10:10). Additionally it is spoken of as a reward (Mark 10:29-30; Luke 18:29-30). By “take hold” Paul is not talking about Timothy’s salvation—that was all taken care of when he put his faith in Christ. Rather, he is encouraging Timothy to lay claim on God’s promises of victory and fruitfulness in this life and of rewards in the next. Many Christians mistakenly believe that “eternal life” begins with physical death. They see death as the door into the eternal kingdom and the presence of God. However, the Bible says that our eternal life begins the moment we come to know Jesus Christ. It is something the Christian already has—right now! 
• Listen to the prayer of Jesus in John 17:1-3, Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to Heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, ² even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life.  ³ This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” Another wonderful text is 1 John 5:11-13. “And the testimony is this: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.  ¹² He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.  ¹³ These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.” 
• “…eternal life, to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”  Paul is reminding Timothy of that day many years before when he trusted in Christ, and perhaps of the day when God unmistakably called him into the ministry and he said, “Yes” to God. Furthermore, I think that Paul is reminding Timothy of his testimony of conversion at his baptism, as well as his confession and testimony of God’s call on that day when he was ordained by the church to the ministry of preaching the Word of God.

Verses 13-14: I charge you in the presence of God [i.e. the Father], who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus [the Son], who testified the good confession [literally, “gave witness”] before Pontius Pilate, ¹⁴ that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

• “I charge you…” This is a powerful statement and it shows just how serious a business this was to Paul. He calls on God the Father and God the Son to be his two witnesses. To “charge” means, “to command.”  Looking at the wider context, Paul here is exhorting Timothy to avoid getting caught up in empty religious argumentation (cf. 6:3-5), and the greed of materialism (6:6-10) because these are two things that the devil loves to use to side-track ministers of the Gospel. Instead, Timothy is charged to remain faithful to Christ until the Lord’s return.  This is important because no one can focus both on the shortness of the hour before the return of Christ, and at the same time, on the desire to make money and get rich. Jesus said, “No man can serve God and money.” The fact that Jesus might return at any moment should motivate us to live godly lives and grasp material things very lightly, because we cannot take it with us. (2 Peter 3:10-16; 1 John 2:28)
• “…in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate…” God the Father is the Author of Life and the Architect of Salvation. Jesus is the promised Messiah who came to be our Redeemer and Sin-Bearer. Paul is referring to Jesus’ courage and steadfastness even as He stood before His accusers, knowing that He was headed for the cross.
• “…that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing [lit. epiphany] of our Lord Jesus Christ,” This is the heart of the charge. I do not believe that Paul is thinking of only one single commandment, but rather, all these things that he has just mentioned in the preceding verses of this chapter. Let’s look back at them:
• Verses 1-2, Timothy is to teach the principles of how Christian slaves are to live and work in that culture so as not to not bring reproach on the Gospel.
• Verses 3-5, He is to rebuke and exhort the false teachers who are teaching wrong doctrine and sowing disunity in the body.
• Verses 5-6, He is to teach and model true godliness, not the counterfeit piety of the false teachers.
• Verses 6-8, He must teach and model genuine Christian contentment.
• Verses 9-10, Timothy is charged to avoid the pitfalls that come from covetousness and the desire for riches and possessions.
• Verse 11, He is commanded to flee from all forms of unrighteousness, and pursue/chase after everything that is good, and righteous, and godly.
• Verse 12, Paul exhorts Timothy to fight for the faith; contend for the truth, and lay hold of the eternal things that God offers, rather than grasp for the things of this life that do not last.
• And Paul says that Timothy is to do all this without stain/spot [without sin] or reproach [guilt opening the door to justifiable criticism].

Verse 15: …which He will bring about at the proper time—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings, and Lord of lords, 

• Now this is a little bit tricky to unpack. “…which He will bring about…” Who exactly? Is Paul referring to Jesus or to the Father? After all, they are both mentioned in verse 13 at the beginning of this long run-on sentence (vs. 13-16), and Jesus is spoken of again at the end of 14. One of the tools we use in interpreting language in cases like this where we have questionable pronouns is to look for what is called “the nearest antecedent”, which means the nearest clear personal noun. The rule of thumb is that if there are 2 nouns [God, and Jesus] and 1 pronoun [He] then the pronoun refers to the nearest antecedent. In this case it would be the clear mention of Jesus at the end of verse 14. The problem is that Jesus stated in Acts 1:6-7 that only the Father knows the time of the Second Coming. But this verse sounds like Jesus does know the time. But there is no conflict here. When the Father says, “GO!” the Son will obey because He always does the will of the Father.
• “…the blessed and only Sovereign” An interesting word! It means Potentate (cf. KJV), an absolute Ruler. Jesus has that much authority! “King of kings, and Lord of lords” This is an oriental title that means, “The KING of all those who rule as kings, and the LORD of all those who rule as lords.” We see the same title used to describe Jesus in Revelation 17:14 and 19:16.

Verse 16: …who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honour and eternal dominion! Amen. 

• Paul is still talking about Jesus, the Son. Many scholars believe that verses 15-16 were part of an ancient hymn of praise that was commonly used in the Apostolic Church of the 1^st Century. We do not know for certain.

CONCLUSION:

            Look back at verse 11. Notice that Paul addresses Timothy as “…you man of God.” And what virtue best identifies a person as a “man/woman of God”? Godliness. Now notice how many times the word “godliness” shows up in this letter. Paul uses this word only in his Pastoral Epistles, but in none of his other writings. It is one of the key words in this letter. Paul uses it eight (8) times in 1 Timothy. Let’s review those.

• In 2:2 Paul says that Christians should…“lead tranquil and quiet lives in all godliness and dignity.”
• In 4:7-8 he says that we should…“Have nothing to do with worldly fables but discipline ourselves for the purpose of godliness; because  godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”
• In 6:6 Paul tells us that…“Godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment.” He is referring, of course, to spiritual gain, not monetary gain.
• Then in 6:11 Paul commands Timothy to…“pursue godliness” with the purpose of having it rule in his life.

“Godliness” simply means to be God-like. As men and women of God, we should make our lifelong goal to be like Jesus; to such a degree that someone could honestly address us as, “you man of God” or “you woman of God” without going into a fit of coughing and choking.

One more thing… What do you really cherish? In this text Paul makes it clear that besides godliness Christians should cherish the return of Christ and the life to come. We are live out our days and carry out our service in the joyful light of His Second Coming, His Second Epiphany. And these two things, godliness and expectantly awaiting His return, are closely related because if we are truly walking in godliness, then we will not dread His appearing, but rather will long for it, will welcome it, will rejoice to see it happen. Moreover, if we are truly walking in godliness, we will work for Him all the more, knowing that we will get to hear His words of praise and commendation, “Well done, My good and faithful servant. Welcome home! Enter into the joy of your Master.”