Good morning.
Good to see everyone.
It's good to be home.
Take your Bibles, if you will, and turn to 1 Timothy, almost said 2 Timothy.
1 Timothy chapter 6, as we come close to closing out this study this morning.
I didn't say we're closing it out this morning, but I said we're coming close to closing it out, just to be clear.
ah
We had a good trip, uh ran into some rain, but uh thankfully nothing more than that out in North Carolina.
And had a really enjoyable time and got to see some folks we hadn't seen in a while.
So appreciate everyone who filled in for me while I was out of town.
Let's begin with a word of prayer and then we'll get into our study.
Our gracious Father in heaven, we bow before your throne, grateful for the day you've granted to us, for the life that you have given us, for the grace and the mercy that you
shower upon us.
We're grateful for your word, which reveals to us your heart, your mind, your will for our lives.
And we pray that as we come to know you through your revelation, through your word, that we might strive to become more like you each and every day.
Lord, we're grateful for your Son who came and died on the cross for our sins that we might have the hope of eternal life, that we might have the salvation that is found in
Christ and nowhere else.
And Lord, we are grateful that we know both how to live and how to move and have our being in Christ.
We pray for the church.
We pray for it here in this one location in Collierville, but we also pray for it the world over that we might have boldness to speak, that we might have peace around
that we might preach the gospel without interference, that we might boldly proclaim your name.
We pray that you be with those who are struggling in lands where that is not the case.
Those who fear for their lives because of their willingness to proclaim the name of Christ.
And we pray that you give them safety, we pray that you give them refuge at a rock and a shelter in the times that are difficult.
All this we pray and ask in Jesus' name, amen.
1 Timothy chapter 6 Paul has written to Timothy concerning his life, how he is to behave in the church of God, how he is to act, what he is to teach, the teachers that he is to
encourage, and the teachers he is to stop.
And as he closes out this letter to Timothy, he says, verse 11, I think this is where we left off two weeks ago, but you, man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness,
godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.
When Paul writes to Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 2, he says in chapter 2 verse 1, you therefore my son be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus and the things that you
have heard from me among many witnesses commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.
And also, if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.
Now, in chapter two of Second Timothy, Paul tells Timothy, you are a soldier of Jesus Christ.
How is it that Timothy can be both a soldier
and one who pursues gentleness.
Aren't those ideas in opposition to one another?
Okay.
Doesn't a soldier, isn't a soldier someone who does harm to people?
Alright.
Who does Paul tell us we are fighting against as soldiers of Jesus Christ?
Alright, Satan, the world?
as other passages tell us, principalities and powers of darkness.
He doesn't say, grab up your sword, teach people that Jesus is the Lord, and if they don't accept it, off with their head.
That's not the message of Christianity.
Now, that is the message that has been co-opted many times through the years.
The Roman government and the Roman Catholic Church utilized a similar method of converting people.
You could proclaim Jesus as Lord, or you can go to prison, or you can be stoned, or you can be killed, or you could be killed by a sword.
You could have many things done to you if you didn't bow the knee to the Roman Catholic Church.
But was that Christianity?
No.
That wasn't what Paul called upon Timothy to be.
He said, you need to pursue righteousness.
You need to pursue godliness.
You need to pursue faith.
You need to pursue love.
You need to pursue patience.
You need to pursue gentleness.
If you're pursuing something, when do you quit pursuing?
When you catch it, all right?
If you are running down the dog that escaped from the leash on the walk, you stop running when you catch it.
When you're running down the child who misbehaved and is trying to escape, you stop when you catch it.
when the police officers running down the criminal they don't catch the criminal and keep running well you know it's a good day to
And yet, if you take these principles that Paul has established here and you turn over to Peter's writing.
You read in 2 Peter chapter 1.
Paul says pursue these things.
Peter says add these things.
Notice what he says, 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 5, but also for this very reason, give all diligence.
Add to your faith virtue.
To virtue, knowledge.
To knowledge, self-control.
That's the patience that Paul talks about.
To self-control,
perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.
For if these things are yours," but notice he doesn't say, yours full stop.
He says, are yours and abound.
You will neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Peter makes it clear
that as you go through this cycle, you go out of my diligence, I am going to add faith to my life.
And out of my faith, I am going to add virtue to my life.
And out of my virtue, I am going to add knowledge and then self-control.
And to my self-control, I'm going to add perseverance.
And to my perseverance, I'm going to add godliness.
And to my godliness, I'm going to add brotherly kindness.
And my brotherly kindness, I'm going to add charity or love.
And when I get there, I'm done.
No, I don't think so.
If you were to envision this as something you add to your life, envision it like a clock.
Because when the clock gets back up there to zero or to 12, however you like to think about it, what happens next?
starts over.
It keeps going.
It doesn't say, well, I made it through a day, I'm done.
Figure out your time for yourself tomorrow.
No.
It says, all right, let's do it again.
Hence, Peter's point, if these things be in you and abound.
picture that Peter paints here is you've added these things on top of one another, having reached the culmination of adding love to all of these attributes.
He says start over and add to your love, faith, and add to your faith, knowledge, virtue.
To your virtue, knowledge.
Build, compound on one another.
These attributes just keep building.
Paul tells Timothy, pursue these things.
And notably, he never tells him when he will have achieved enough so that he can stop pursuing.
It is the challenge of realizing that no matter how long we strive, no matter how long we learn, no matter how diligent we are, there is not going to be a point.
Where we go, all right, I've learned everything God wants me to learn.
I've done everything God wants me to do.
I've accomplished everything that God wants me to accomplish.
Sit back and rest.
I'm retired from Christianity now.
That doesn't work, does it?
That's not what God teaches us, and it's certainly not what God instills in His servants.
As a matter of fact, Jesus will say, when the Master comes in, and the servant who's been serving all day long sees the Master come in, does the servant, is the servant told by the
Master, why don't you sit down and let me serve you?
Jesus said no.
Rather the servant girds himself and serves the master who has come in for, as Jesus points out, when we've done everything that is required of us.
We are still an unprofitable servant.
We are still one who has simply done what we are required to do.
Paul will write over in 2 Timothy chapter 4.
Second Timothy chapter four.
In verse 6, for I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.
Paul says, sitting in a Roman prison for the second time.
His life is coming to a close and he knows it.
And he says, I'm about to be poured out as a drink offering to God.
You gotta have some Old Testament context to know about the drink offerings.
You gotta go read Exodus and Leviticus about those ordinances.
But these were offerings that were poured out as the part of the offering.
And he says, I am already being poured out as a drink offering.
In the time of my departure is at hand, I have fought the good fight.
I have finished the race.
have kept the faith." Okay, sounds like a retired Christian, right?
Sounds like he's done.
He's saying, know what?
I did what I was told to do.
I achieved what I was commanded to achieve.
I have finished the course.
When you finish the course, what do you do?
You quit the race.
That's not what Paul says.
He says, Finally there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day, and not to me only, but also to all who have
loved his appearing.
Be diligent to come to me, for Deim is his forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica, Cretians for Galatia, Titus for Dalmatia.
Only Luke is with me.
Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for...
ministry.
Paul says I fought the good fight, I finished my course, I kept the faith, I'm being poured out, by the way I'm not done.
As a matter of fact, I need you to bring John Mark because he's useful to my service that I'm continuing to do.
Antichicus I have sent to Ephesus, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas when you come and the books, especially the parchments.
Not only is Paul not done ministering and needs some assistance to be able to continue it, he wants the Scriptures with him so he can continue studying and reading.
Paul, an individual who had access to
divine revelation who was an inspired apostle was interested in having the text of the scriptures in his hands and at his access even at the point in his life where he says my
life's almost over.
That should tell us something about what we are to be doing when our life is almost over.
It tells us something about how we should treat our Christianity when we reach the point in life where we go, you know what, I can't do what I used to do.
I can't accomplish what I used to accomplish.
I can do this much, I used to be able to do this much.
I can't do that anymore.
And yet Paul is quite clear as he writes to Timothy, I might be only able to do this much, but that doesn't mean I'm done.
Because as far as Paul was concerned, he wasn't going to be done until this life was over.
So he tells Timothy, pursue these things.
He goes on to say, I urge you, verse 13, wait, let me go back to verse 12, fight the good fight of faith.
Lay hold on eternal life to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
Paul makes it clear to Timothy,
that Timothy has the ability as every Christian has the ability to lay hold on, to grasp and hold and secure eternal life for themselves.
Is Paul saying that Timothy can know that he is saved no matter how Timothy acts from that point forward?
Is Paul teaching a security of the saints that, you know what, it doesn't matter how you live, you've been saved and you're saved and from that point forward, no matter what
happens, you can never lose your salvation?
No, as a matter of fact, go back to 1 Timothy chapter one.
1 Timothy chapter 1 verse 18, charge this charge, commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare.
Now what did he just tell him to do again?
Wage a good warfare.
Same idea.
Beginning of the book, end of the book.
He says wage a good warfare, having faith and a good conscience which some having rejected.
He says, you hold your faith together with a good conscience because there have been those who have had the faith and have held it with an unclean conscience, with an evil
conscience.
He says, having faith in a good conscience which some having rejected concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck of whom are
Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan." They may learn not to blaspheme.
Here are two individuals called out by name by Paul as individuals who had the faith of Christ at one point, but now they have been turned over to Satan because of their
blasphemy.
Paul is quite clear you can lose your salvation.
And if you hold the faith of Christ with an evil conscience, Paul will escort you out of the body of Christ and hand you back to the world where you belong.
Paul tells Timothy, you fight the good fight of faith.
You lay hold on eternal life to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, if you...
care to understand what the good confession is, what is it that Jesus witnessed before Pontius Pilate?
Say what?
That he was innocent is one thing.
Okay.
Turn back to John chapter 18.
John chapter 18 verse 28, then they led Jesus from Calphus to the Praetorium, and it was early morning.
But they themselves did not go into the Praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover.
Pilate then went out to them and said, What accusation do you bring against this man?
They answered and said to him, If he were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered him up to you.
Then Pilate said to them, you take him and judge him according to your law.
Therefore the Jew said to him, it is not lawful for us to put anyone to death that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled which he spoke signifying by what death he would die.
Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again called Jesus and said to him, are you the King of the Jews?
Jesus answered, are you speaking for yourself about this or did others tell you concerning me?
Pilate answered, Am I a Jew?
Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you to me.
What have you done?
Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world.
If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight so that I should not be delivered to the Jews.
But now my kingdom is not from here.
Pilate therefore said to him, Are you a king then?
Jesus answered, You say rightly that I am a king.
For this cause I was born and for this cause I have come into the world that I should bear witness to the truth.
Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.
the witness that was born, the confession that was made was that Jesus Christ was King, Lord, Savior, not of a kingdom on this earth.
but of a spiritual kingdom.
Paul says that Timothy has made the same good confession.
The same confession that was made by Christ before Pontius Pilate.
So then consider that you keep this commandment without spot.
By the way, just before we get off of that confession, if you're waging a warfare, if you're fighting a good fight, that generally implies you belong to what?
A military.
Typically, who has a military?
a government.
if we were to use a first century term, a kingdom.
at the top of that authority structure of that government of a kingdom there is what?
A king.
Paul's telling Timothy, you are a soldier of Jesus Christ.
You follow the orders of the king.
And you profess allegiance to no one but your king.
because he declared himself to be king before the one who put him to death whose authority was derived power.
but his authority was not.
He says, I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession, before Pontius Pilate, that you keep this
commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ's appearing.
I've mentioned this before, but it's worth mentioning again.
There are two terms that are often,
merged together in our understanding, but we should be careful with that.
About Jesus' return, one of those terms is coming.
You've heard of the second coming, right?
That's the term we most often use in our language today.
There's another term in the New Testament speaking of Christ's return and it's the word appearing.
Interestingly, when you notice the text and the message of the context in those texts speaking concerning His coming versus His appearing, two things you should note.
The first one is
that in most contexts where the discussion is of the coming of Christ, the return of Christ, to deliver His servants, to deliver the faithful up into glory, the term appearing
is used.
The term appearing is the positive term of Christ's return.
Paul uses that idea that Christ will appear.
The term coming is most notably and consistently used in regards to those who are not faithful to God and was a term indicating his return for judgment and condemnation and
justice.
So Paul will help us to understand as he writes to Timothy that you are to be doing this until you see the return of your Lord.
You serve faithfully until you see your Lord.
The term coming more often was a warning that there is a day where Christ will return and those who are not prepared, His coming will be as a thief in the night.
His coming will be for judgment and justice.
And His coming will mean their destruction.
Okay?
So as you think about terms and what they mean and how they're seen in Scripture.
I it might be useful for us to spend more time talking about our Lord Jesus Christ's appearance than His coming because they give different connotations.
Now, notice what He says.
He says, which He will manifest in His own time.
One of the things, Timothy, that you need to be aware of and that you need to be fully conscious of is you don't get to set
the timetable for our Lord Jesus Christ appearance.
You don't get to anxiously wait for Christ to return and then give up hope when He hasn't come yet.
There were those in Peter's day and time as Peter was writing to Christians over in 2 Peter.
2 Peter chapter 3, writes, Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle in which I stir up your pure, uh I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder that you may be mindful of
the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets and of the commandments of us, the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus and Savior.
I'll get my words out eventually.
knowing this first, that scoffers will come in the last days walking according to their own lusts and saying, Where is the promise of his coming?
For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.
For this they will willfully forget, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water, by which the world that then existed
perished.
being flooded with water, but the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is one day.
The Lord is not slack concerning His promises, some count slackness, but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night.
in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise and the elements will melt with fervent heat.
Both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God,
because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat.
Nevertheless, we, according to His promise, look for new heavens."
and a new earth in which righteousness dwells."
Peter, as he writes, he says, there's some scoffers among you.
who insists that, you know what, since creation everything's just continued on the way it's always been.
Nothing ever changes, so we should just assume it never will.
Put away all this nonsense about Jesus returning.
Put away all this nonsense about a day of judgment.
The world's still here.
And I just checked and he's not back yet.
So we might as well just live.
Peter says, no, you need to go read your Old Testament scriptures.
Do you not remember that there was a day in which people were just living?
and God brought a flood and wiped the planet clean?
No, everything has not always just continued the way it was since creation.
There is a God who is active.
There is a God who judges and there is a God who has promised.
that his son is returning and that when he does
this world and everything in it is going to be burned up.
That the universe and all the things that make up the elements thereof are going to pass away.
There is much talk in our world today about becoming a multi-planetary species, as Elon Musk would put it.
But his, the reason he's...
with frenetic energy striving to get humanity to Mars is there's a higher likelihood of humanity continuing to exist if we're on two planets, in case something happens to Earth
or, you know, we enter into a mass nuclear war.
There are some things of which the world worries about that Christians shouldn't have to.
There are some things of which the political structures and the power structures and the financial structures of this world are concerned.
that we shouldn't really spend a whole lot of time being concerned.
because this much is true.
One day, this universe that God created is coming to a close.
And when Christ returns, it doesn't matter if you're on Earth or Mars or Venus or in another solar system.
because when Christ returns, this physical existence will end.
And Peter was not referring to a new heavens and a new earth in the physical sense.
He was not looking for a city that he could dwell in called the New Jerusalem that was on this earth.
He was not looking for a renovated planet where sin no longer existed.
He was looking for the same thing that Abraham was looking for.
If turn to Hebrews chapter 11.
Hebrews chapter 11 verse 8, By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance and he went out not knowing where he was
going.
By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob the heirs with him of the same promise.
For he waited for the city which has foundations whose builder and maker is God.
True or false, the city of Jerusalem existed before it was in Israel's hands.
We know that because it existed in the days of Abraham.
because the king of Salem, Melchizedek...
was presented an offering from Abraham.
Jerusalem already existed.
The city of peace already existed.
And guess what?
When Abraham met Melchizedek, he didn't suddenly say, look, there's the city I've been looking for all this time.
The city that was built by God.
The city that someday would be the city of David.
This is it.
No.
He showed honor to Melchizedek, but he didn't say, hey, that's the city I've been looking for.
No, he waited for a city which has foundations whose builder and maker is God.
You go forward just a few verses.
Verse 13, these, Abraham, Sarah, he says, these all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, were assured of them, embraced them, and
confessed.
that they were strangers and pilgrims?
Where?
on the earth.
Abraham apparently was far more knowledgeable of the promises of God than some individuals today who are claiming that when Christ returns those who are faithful to him will receive
an inheritance on the earth.
That is not the inheritance Abraham and Sarah were looking for.
they looked for a land for their descendants.
They looked for an inheritance on the earth that was part of their promise, but that was not the place they were headed towards.
They said, we're strangers here.
James and I were discussing something just recently.
about the government shutdown.
And I mentioned that one of the points of discussion was about money allocated for illegal aliens.
His brain immediately went aliens outer space.
I said, no, no, no, that's not how the aliens used.
The word alien means someone who is not from there.
Someone who is originally from there.
said, you have.
you have those in scripture who are spoken of as aliens.
They're not from outer space.
They're not from Israel.
They are those who are Gentiles.
uh
As you think about this...
Abraham and Sarah said, you know this planet Earth?
We're not from here.
and we don't plan to stay.
So often we in our mind tie our life, our being, our existence to our physical birth.
to our physical family, to the place where we grew up on this planet, to the existence that we've had on this planet.
And yet Paul is telling Timothy, you are a warrior of a kingdom that is not of this world.
and the life which you are to lay hold of is not of this world.
and the king which you serve is a king over a kingdom which is not of this world.
He says that you keep this command.
without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ appearing, which He will manifest in His own time.
He who is the blessed and only potentate, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who alone has immortality dwelling in unapproachable light.
whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power.
Paul reminds Timothy, all the striving that you see around you for the things of this world.
you remember that yes, you have to provide for your own and if you don't do that you're worse than an infidel.
Yes, you have to take care of those who are in need.
Yes, you have to provide for those who are serving in the service of God.
Yes, you have to do all those things.
Yes, you have to preach the truth.
Yes, you have to love people.
Yes, you have to care about people.
Yes, you have to fight a good fight of faith.
Yes, you have to be in a good example, but
This world isn't what it's about.
because everything we do.
is not so we can sit in a seat of power in this world.
It's not so we can rule over a province of people in this world.
It is so that we can dwell with a king.
we have never seen.
that no man is seen, that we might dwell in His abode.
that we only have human terms to, in such a minuscule way, describe.
Paul says you lay hold on eternal life and you never look back.
Thank you for your attention.