Fight the Good Fight

UPCOMING SERIES.

(Renovation Logo)

Good morning! My name is David Sorn, and I’m the Lead Pastor here at Renovation Church.

Before we get into our Bible Teaching for the morning, I want to let you know about an incredibly important series we are going to be doing starting 3 weeks from today.

Every 2 years or so, I take it upon myself to dive deeply into a difficult topic and teach you what the Bible has to say on it, and starting on November 30th, we are going to begin a landmark 3-weeks series called:

(Those We Do Not See)

#1: What does the Bible say about abortion?

#2: We’ll talk about infertility, and also reproductive technology, and how far should Christians go with it)…which is rarely…if ever talked about churches.

#3: A message on adoption.

It’s going to be incredibly challenging…it’s a very sensitive subject.

And so in light of that, much like our Gender & Sexuality series, I’ve spent a good portion of this past year reading A TON of books, studying, interviewing people who live in that world every day, and preparing…

…so that I could bring you balanced, Biblical messages with grace & truth.

So mark that on your calendars…that all starts on November 30th.

THE PASSAGE

Okay, go ahead and grab a Bible

1 Timothy 6:11-16; 20-21

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Believe it or not, this is our 12th and final week in 1 Timothy!

It’s been one of the more challenging books I’ve ever taught through…especially the first half…but it’s been great to study God’s blueprint for his church together.

And I pray it’s been helpful to you.

All right, last week we put all of the passages about money together, so we have some verses we jumped over, and we’re going to get back to them today.

Let’s start at verse 11

(1 Timothy 6:11-16; 20-21) – NIV

11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you 14 to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.

20 Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, 21 which some have professed and in so doing have departed from the faith.

Grace be with you all.

(Fight the Good Fight)

Okay, in many ways, verses 11-16 are a response to all of the false teachers and their false ideas we talked about in verses 3 through 10 over the previous two weeks.

2 weeks ago we talked about how many Christians were developing an “unhealthy interest” in the controversies of their day and that was leading to envy, strife, and division in the church

And last week we talked about how many others were being led astray by their love of money above all other things.

And so now, Paul is countering that to Timothy

He’s saying, “Okay, that’s what everybody else is doing out there, but here’s what YOU all need to do as followers of Christ”

And his main point is that famous line in the text: Fight the Good Fight.

That’s your role in this life, Christian.

Fight the good fight.

And what is that that fight?

It’s a fight where we serve under our captain, Jesus.

And our cause is the salvation of souls and living to glorify God

And we fight, a lot of days, just to stay in the fight.

And we fight because our REAL enemy, the devil, is trying to take us out of it

And we fight for a crown of righteousness that will never fade.

But how do we fight the good fight?

Paul’s going to give us 4 ways today, let’s start with the first one:

FLEE SINFUL DESIRES

HOW TO FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT

#1: Flee sinful desires

Look at verse 11 again.

But you, man of God, flee from all this

From all of what?

From all the controversies, the strife, the love of money, from the flesh, from sin (from all the things Paul has written about)

Yes, it’s taken us 12 weeks to teach this book, but really, it’s a short letter.

So Paul’s talking about fleeing sin here.

Part of FIGHTING the GOOD fight…and living to please and serve God is fleeing from sin.

And maybe fleeing doesn’t sound like fighting to you, but sometimes you flee the battle to win the war.

Is this FLEE word matters. Paul says FLEE.

Not linger.

Not “sit on the fence and look at sin.”

FLEE.

It’s kind of like if you’re in a building, and you smell smoke, and then the fire alarm goes off….what do you do?

Do you linger ?

Do you say, “I need to look at this further and see if there really is fire? Maybe I should just go look at it…and see how hot it is”

Do you get a cup of water from the drinking fountain and throw water at an entire room already on fire?

Or, do you flee?

You flee!

We are to be like Joseph in the book of Genesis, who when Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce him into bed, and grabbed his cloak…

The Bible says that he fled so fast that he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.

And we flee because the Bible very clearly teaches that the gravitational pull of life is toward sin.

So if right now you’re sitting in neutral in your faith…

Realize (that because of the gravitation pull of sin) you’re on a hill. And if you’re in neutral, you’re going to slide backwards.

The old-timers used to literally call this backsliding.

And maybe it’ll start slowly at first, but it will speed up.

When you realize that what the Bible says is true…and that we are at war with our flesh, and with our spiritual enemy the devil…you realize the value in fleeing as fighting.

And so let me ask you: What do you need to flee?

Maybe it’s a group of friends that are leading you away from God

Maybe it’s a show you need to stop watching.

Maybe it’s a vice

Honestly, for some of you, maybe it’s alcohol.

Drinking alcohol is not necessarily a sin (Jesus drank wine)

But it’s very clearly a sin to get drunk (Ephesians 5)

But I’m mentioning alcohol here because alcohol has become so normative in our culture, even in our Christian culture, that I think we’ve forgotten that alcohol is indeed something that many people do need to FLEE from

It’s kind of, in a way, like last week’s topic of money.

Some people can handle it, and others can’t.

And so if you’ve gotten to the point where you gotta have two, or three, or four…every day…

… I want to issue a challenge to you in light of this verse about fleeing.

I want to challenge you to not have a drink the next 21 days.

There are 21 days left in November, and I want some of you to take me up on this challenge to not drink until December and see what happens.

We did this challenge a few years ago, and I still have people talk to me about it almost monthly.

They grab me and tell me:

When I did that challenge, and I stopped drinking (3, 4, 5 drinks a day), for me, it changed everything.

I got sharper at work.

I slept better

My marriage improved, our intimacy improved.

I became a better parent, more focused with my kids

I lost weight

And on and on.

And so if this is something for you…that if you’re honest with yourself, has maybe been harder for you to handle…and it is dragging you down.

Take this 21-day challenge. Flee it for 21 days and see what happens.

What could it hurt?

#2: PURSUE

Okay, Paul gives us another way to fight the good fight, so let’s look at that.

1 Timothy 6:11

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1 Timothy 6:11 – NIV

11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.

This is our second way to fight the good fight.

HOW TO FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT

#1: Flee sinful desires

#2: Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness

Look at those two points next to each other for a moment because their juxtaposition is an important principle about the Christian faith in our passage today.

You have to do balance both of these things, but a lot of Christians get stuck doing just one.

And we see this in different Christian movements throughout history.

Sometimes Christians get overly focused on just doing point #1.

And everything is about fleeing sin.

And they have large and long lists of different sins, and how one should not get within 100 miles of those sins.

But then those same groups tend to not have much focus at all on pursuing love for our fellow humans, or loving our enemies, or gentleness and or any from point #2.

And then of course, other Christian groups tend to overemphasize point #2

Which, if we’re out of balance in modern-day Christianity, we’re leaning more towards #2 than #1

And we get really focused on our faith and love and being kind.

But we don’t talk much about fleeing the dangers of sin.

But if we’re going to truly live out the wholistic teaching of Jesus and God’s Word, we have to do both.

So as you’re taking notes, I’d even pick one of these 6 positive things this week and focus on it.

Just as last week we were focusing on finding more contentment, this week, pick a quality and ask, “What it would look like for me to just pursue GENTLENESS this week as I interact with my coworkers or parent my toddler?”

Or what would it look like to pursue love…and forgiveness this week with my in-laws?

#3: TAKE HOLD OF ETERNAL LIFE

Okay, our third point is found in verse 12, so put your eyes back on 12

1 Timothy 6:12

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1 Timothy 6:12 – NIV

12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

This is a fascinating phrase

HOW TO FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT

#1: Flee sinful desires

#2: Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness

#3: Take hold of eternal life

What does this mean?

Because Timothy is obviously already a Christian, and because of his confession of faith (when he accepted Christ)…he has eternal life.

He’s experiencing new life in Jesus, he’s going to spend eternity in heaven.

So what does Paul mean when he tells Timothy to “take hold of eternal life”

The idea behind the Greek word for “take hold” is to acquire, to catch, and lay hold of something…

To grab it and hold it in tight.

It’s like this: What’s the best Christmas gift you ever got as a kid?

And what did you do when you opened it?

You probably ripped off the wrapping paper and when you saw it, I bet many of you “Took hold of it, clutched it tight and didn’t let go

That’s the image here. Imagine this is eternal life.

And what God wants you to do is to take hold of eternal life and carry it around with you.

Especially in the hard times…like when…

…the doctor gives you the answer you didn’t want.

TAKE HOLD OF ETERNAL LIFE

Or you just failed a class, and you’re convinced your parents are going to kill you

TAKE HOLD OF ETERNAL LIFE

It might be coming soon!

Or you’re burdened by the choices your adult children or grandchildren are making

TAKE HOLD OF ETERNAL LIFE

This is your greatest possession.

That you can say, “God you are with me, and here with me, right now. I have you!”

“And God, this life is not forever, in fact, it’s just a blink, and every breath I take is just another breath closer to forever with you…where there is no more pain, or rebellion, or failure”

Listen to me: faith isn’t just believing in the doctrines of Christianity

Real faith is actively grabbing for those truths as you fight the good fight!

This has got to be real for you if it’s going to make an impact

KEEP THIS COMMAND UNTIL JESUS RETURNS

All right, let’s keep reading

1 Timothy 6:13-14

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1 Timothy 6:13-14 – NIV

13 In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you 14 to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Here’s our fourth point:

HOW TO FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT

#1: Flee sinful desires

#2: Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness

#3: Take hold of eternal life

#4: Keep this command until Jesus returns

So Paul says “Keep this Command”

And most scholars think that’s just a general way of saying, “Keep all the commands of this letter”

Or just, Timothy, keep walking in obedience to Christ.

Well, until when? What does he say?

Until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ

Until Jesus comes back.

Fight the good fight, and don’t give up, until the end.

You’re going to be tempted along the way.

Each of us differently.

Some will be really tempted to doubt and let their doubts carry them away from Christ

Others will be tempted away by money, laziness, friends, a relationship, or even their own kid’s sports schedule.

Some of us in here will make some pretty massive mistakes, and the devil will tell you that you can’t return…that you’ve disqualified yourself from God’s love somehow.

The fight is difficult…and it’s long.

But you must fight.

And if you’re going to win this fight you must have a vision of the end.

You must picture Jesus coming back on the clouds.

And if it’s not while we’re alive, then picture your own end.

Have a vision of your last days in the hospital.

Picture your family members and friends gathered around your hospital bed.

And picture yourself quoting what Paul says in his second letter to Timothy

(2 Timothy 4:7) – NIV

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

That doesn’t mean you’re going to fight it perfectly.

You’re not.

Don’t you give up because you messed up.

Then the devil will win.

No war is won without lost battles along the way.

But the key is…that you’ve “kept the faith”

They key is that you just keep fighting.

The true Christian never abandons the fight until they receive the crown of righteousness from the Lord.

The Bible even uses this sort of language about the true Christian

Matthew 24:13 – NIV

but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

Hebrews 3:14 – NIV

We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.

And there are plenty of other Bible verses like this.

And they’re not saying that you have to somehow earn your way to heaven.

No, your faith in Jesus does that.

But they are saying, “That if your faith is true, if it’s real, you will endure”

So fight to endure.

HOW TO FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT

#1: Flee sinful desires

#2: Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness

#3: Take hold of eternal life

#4: Keep this command until Jesus returns

Whether you’re 15 or 85.

Fight to endure

It takes work. Every day. Until the very end.

But know that there is a great finish line coming your way.

Last year when I ran my first ever marathon…I thought about the finish line a lot.

And not just when I ran the actual race…but mostly when I trained.

When I was out on a 14-mile or 18-mile training run, and it was taking FOREVER…and I just wanted to quit.

I thought about the finish line, and what it would look like, and feel like

And when I was running the marathon, all of a sudden at mile 25, with a mile to go, I hit the wall.

And I felt like I was going to pass out.

And I just told myself, “If I have to crawl, I WILL Finish”

And I did (without crawling 😊)

But this is how we fight the good fight

Keep fleeing sin…don’t let it trap you in

But don’t just flee, pursue God along the way too

And TAKE HOLD of eternal life.

Grab that finish line in your mind…and grab it tight.

And just keep walking.

He is with you.

And your reward for faithfulness is great.

Put it in your mind…even now.

Let me give you a picture to take with you in your mind.

A number of years ago, a photojournalist snapped a photo of Chicago Cub’s infielder David Bote rounding third base after he hit a grand slam to win the game

(Show Grand Slam Photo)

It’s a great photo…

But it’s also a great image of your future when you keep fighting the good fight.

For this is like an image of you walking into heaven…with Christ and all of those who have gone before you welcoming you home.

Keep walking.

And fight the good fight

Let’s pray.