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Well, you can turn with me in 
your Bibles to the book of 1 Timothy, 1 Timothy chapter 6. This isn't a baptism text per 
se, but it certainly speaks to this particular occasion. Our 
focus this morning will be verses 11 to 12, but I want to read 
beginning in verse 3 to the end of the chapter. 1 Timothy chapter 
6, the Apostle Paul is writing to his young ministerial companion 
named Timothy. So beginning in verse 3. If anyone 
teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even 
the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords 
with godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed 
with disputes and arguments over words. from which come envy, 
strife, reviling, evil suspicions, useless wranglings of men of 
corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, who suppose that 
godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself. 
Now godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought 
nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing 
out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. 
But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and to snare, 
and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction 
and perdition. For the love of money is a root 
of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith 
in their greediness and pierced themselves through with many 
sorrows. But you, O man of God, flee these 
things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, 
gentleness. 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. 
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, 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 glory, honor and 
everlasting power, amen. Command those who are rich in 
this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches 
but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be 
rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing 
up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come that they 
may lay hold on eternal life. Oh, Timothy, guard what was committed 
to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions 
of what is falsely called knowledge. By professing it, some have strayed 
concerning the faith. Grace be with you. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our God and 
Father, we thank you for your word, we thank you for this day, 
we thank you for the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank 
you as well that in the ordinance of baptism we get to see the 
gospel, a demonstration outwardly of what you have done to these 
young people inwardly. We acknowledge with the prophet 
that salvation is of the Lord. We look forward to that day in 
the eternal state when we stand before the throne of God and 
before the Lamb, and we ascribe all glory and honor and praise 
unto you, world without end. Until that time, may we find 
the Lord's Day a great and a blessed day. May it indeed cause us to 
rise with joy on Sunday and to gather with your sheep, with 
your people, and cause us to glorify and to honor you. And 
Lord, we ask that you would encourage our hearts, that you would build 
us up in our most holy faith, that you would be merciful to 
any and all who've come here this morning that are dead in 
their trespasses and sins. We pray that you would awaken 
them through the preaching of your gospel and the power of 
the Holy Spirit, that you would call them out of darkness into 
marvelous light to lay hold of Jesus Christ and the forgiveness 
of sins by Him. Forgive us now for all sin and 
transgression. Cleanse us in that precious blood 
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Guide us by your Holy Spirit. 
And we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, as we come to this 
last chapter in the book of 1 Timothy, essentially what the Apostle 
does is he indicts false teachers, or we'll call them heretics as 
we move on through the sermon. A heretic is somebody that engages 
in false teaching that has damnable consequences. A heretic isn't 
somebody that just differs a little bit with you on a point of theology, 
on something that isn't essential in terms of acceptance with God. 
A heretic distorts the gospel to the damnation of his own soul 
and to the damnation of those who hear him or receive him. 
So the apostle speaks very sternly and harshly against such. So he does that in verses 3 to 
5. And then he warns of the dangers of covetousness in verses 6 to 
10, which attach themselves to these heretics. These heretics 
think that they can make money through religion. And then as 
well, he gives, or in the rest of the chapter, Paul gives Timothy 
specific commands. He exhorts Timothy to be a faithful 
man of God in verses 11 to 16. He then tells Timothy to instruct 
the rich concerning their situation in verses 17 to 19. And then 
he ends with a final charge in verses 20 and 21. So that's a 
bit of an overview of the chapter itself. But as I said, we're 
going to focus specifically on verses 11 and 12. Now there's 
something we need to appreciate before we look at this passage. 
In this section, Paul is not telling Timothy, who is an unbeliever, 
on how to get saved. In other words, he's not telling 
Timothy that the way to acceptance with God is by fleeing these 
things. The way to acceptance with God 
is by pursuing these things. The way to acceptance with God 
is by fighting this fight. And the way to acceptance with 
God is by the way that you lay hold on it. He's dealing with 
Timothy who's a believer. He's dealing with Timothy who's 
already a Christian. He's dealing with Timothy who 
he refers to as man of God. So again, the emphasis is not 
in verses 11 and 12 how to get saved, but rather this is what 
it looks like when a man is saved. when a man is conquered by sovereign 
grace. We know that the Apostle Paul 
was in fact the champion of sovereign grace. He himself was not seeking 
salvation by Jesus Christ the Lord. In fact, he was doing just 
the opposite. He was trying to destroy the 
Church of God. He rejected the claims initially that Jesus was 
in fact the Messiah or the Christ. And so Saul of Tarsus, armed 
with extradition papers, was on his way to Damascus to arrest 
those who were worshipping God through Jesus Christ and bring 
them back to Jerusalem so that they could be punished by the 
civil court. Well, on that way to Damascus, the Lord Christ 
comes to him, and the Lord Christ saves him, and then the Lord 
Christ puts the mission upon him to go and preach the gospel 
of free and sovereign grace indiscriminately to every creature everywhere, 
and that's what he took up. And the great emphasis of the 
Apostle Paul is that we're accepted by God, we're saved by God, not 
because of things that we do or contribute to God's work, 
but we're saved by grace alone, through faith alone in Jesus 
Christ alone. He was, in fact, the apostle 
of free and sovereign grace, along with John, along with Peter, 
along with the prophet Isaiah, along with Jeremiah, along with 
Abraham, along with everybody in scripture. It is obvious that 
by our works, we will never attain heaven. By our works, we will 
never achieve God's acceptance. It must come by grace through 
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. So let's make sure we understand 
that. He's not telling Timothy how 
to be saved. He's telling Timothy, rather, 
as a man of God, how to function as a saved man. So let's look 
at our passage. Paul gives Timothy a series of 
four exhortations. First, the necessity to flee 
wickedness in 11a. Secondly, the exhortation to 
pursue righteousness in 11b. Third, the command to fight the 
good fight in 12a. And then finally, the necessity 
to maintain steadfastness in verse 12b. But notice in the 
first place, with reference to the necessity to flee wickedness, 
there's a contrast. Paul does this in his letters 
to Timothy often. If you look at 2 Timothy 3 for 
just a moment, in 2 Timothy 3, in verses 1-9, the apostle highlights the character of men 
in the last days. And the last days is the time 
frame between the first and second coming of the Lord. It's not 
in our future, it was upon Timothy. Because Paul is able to tell 
Timothy, from such people turn away, in verse five. And so the 
characteristics of those who are in the last days, who find 
themselves in the church, they're professing godliness, but they 
deny its power, they're wicked, they're vile, they're wretched. 
In fact, very, Look quickly, notice what he says in verse 
1, but know this that in the last days perilous times will 
come for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, 
boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, 
unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers without self-control, 
brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of 
pleasure rather than lovers of God. Now, this sounds a lot like 
Romans 1, where the apostle portrays or describes the heathen, those 
apart from the grace of God, those apart from the revelation 
of God in the gospel. But here, it's within the context 
of the church. Because again, notice what he 
says in verse 5. These wicked people, they have a form of godliness, 
but they deny its power. And from such people turn away. 
So Paul underscores what's gonna happen in terms of even true 
churches. These kinds of persons are gonna 
find their way in the midst. These lovers of themselves, these 
lovers of money, these lovers of pleasure will find themselves 
among the professing people of God. And the apostle tells Timothy 
to be on the lookout for them and as well to avoid them. And 
then notice in verse 10 the contrast. But you have carefully followed 
my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering, 
love, perseverance. Same thing that he does in 1 
Timothy 6. So he highlights the heretics 
in verses 3 to 5. He underscores their covetousness 
in verses 6 to 10. And then he says in verse 11, 
but you, O man of God, flee these things. In other words, don't 
be a heretic, don't be a false teacher, don't be the sort of 
guy that is indicated there in verses 3 and 4. Notice, if anyone 
teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even 
the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords 
with godliness, notice what Paul goes on to say. I mentioned I 
think last week or the week before, Jesus would probably be kicked 
out of most churches today. Certainly Paul would, because 
this isn't nice, this isn't kind, this isn't saccharine, this isn't 
sugary, this isn't palatable, this isn't pleasing. Listen to 
what he says in terms of these men who distort and twist the 
gospel of Jesus Christ. He says in verse 4, he is proud. 
He knows nothing, but he's obsessed with disputes and arguments over 
words from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, useless 
wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth 
who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw 
yourself. There comes a point in time where 
it is to cast your pearls before swine. There comes a point in 
time where it is to cast your pearls before dogs. Now, God 
is most generous and most benevolent and calls us to preach the gospel 
to every creature. But somebody who's antagonistic, 
somebody who is violent, somebody who continues to refuse and reject, 
somebody in this class of heresy, there comes a point where we 
withdraw from them. And so the apostle is encouraging 
Timothy in that vein. Notice in verse 11, but you, 
O man of God, flee these things. Timothy didn't have to ask the 
question, well, what things? Because he's listening, he's 
paying attention. Don't be like the guy who twists 
the gospel. Don't be like the guy who adds 
works to salvation. Don't be like the guy who's covetous. 
Don't be like the guy who thinks that religion is a means to prosperity 
or to gain. Certainly a fitting word for 
our generation, where the so-called health, wealth, and prosperity 
gospel has infected a multitude. If sin is killing its thousands, 
that twisted version of God's grace is killing its tens of 
thousands. And we need to make sure we understand 
that God demands truth in his pulpits. God demands not a distortion, 
not a twisting, but an exposition of God's Word accurately. So you, O man of God, flee these 
things. So notice, there is the special 
function of Timothy as a church office, this title of man of 
God. finds its tap roots in the Old Testament, Moses, Samuel, 
David, Elijah, Elisha, et cetera, were men of God. In the New Testament, 
we see Paul describe Timothy in that way. Timothy, again, 
was his ministerial companion. Timothy was met by Paul in Acts 
chapter 16. Paul definitely approved of him 
right away and accepted him into the cause, and now he is exhorting 
him to flee these things. So specifically for the man of 
God who preaches in the pulpit every Sunday, but for all of 
us generally. Paul doesn't want any of us to 
be caught up in covetousness. Paul doesn't want any of us to 
be caught up in distorting the truth of God's gospel. Paul doesn't 
want any of us to duplicate or replicate the various things 
that we see condemned there in verses three to five. So for 
all of us, we need to flee these things, and that picks up a biblical 
emphasis. The godly man is not only seen 
by what he pursues, but by what he flees from. Remember that 
instance where Joseph was in Potiphar's house, and Potiphar's 
wife was coming on to him day by day. The text is specific 
and conspicuous. It was day by day. It wasn't 
just a one-off, but each and every day this wretch, this Jezebel, 
this horrible woman, I don't want to get too bad here with 
young people around, but this mother or wife of the year kept 
coming on to him. What does he do? He continually 
resists. He continually rejects. He continually 
flees from this, even to the point where he actually flees. 
He actually runs out of the house. That's what Paul is telling Timothy 
when it comes to these sorts of heretics in the church. Flee 
these things. Don't have truck with them. Don't 
entertain them. Don't sort of allow them in. 
Don't pat them on the back and see them as sort of a subset 
of orthodox Christianity. They're not that. They are outsiders. They are heretics. They will 
condemn and destroy the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. For 
a minister of the gospel to put his hand favorably on the hand 
of a heretic is to violate God's holy word. And we need to take 
these things seriously. So again, specifically the man 
of God in terms of preaching and pastoring, but all of us 
generally speaking. The heretic is condemned for 
his doctrine, his character, and his covetousness, and Paul 
does not want Timothy to go down that road. Notice in 2 Timothy 
2, same sort of an emphasis on what Timothy is to flee. 2 Timothy 
2, verse 22, flee also youthful lusts. Timothy, don't give in 
to these things. Don't pursue these things. Don't 
go down that particular road. Again, if sin is damning or killing 
its thousands, sexual sin has killed its tens of thousands 
of men in pastoral ministry. And the Apostle Paul says, flee 
these things. Flee youthful lusts. Don't get 
caught up in it. Don't get flirty. Don't get texting. Don't get engaged in that sort 
of thing. Timothy, flee those things and be faithful in your 
pursuit after righteousness. The Proverbs are filled, again, 
not only with the wise man as he pursues good and godly virtues, 
but it's filled with the wise man who is fleeing those things, 
who sees the danger ahead, and he hides himself. He doesn't 
go and court it. In Proverbs chapter eight, the 
father tells the son, or seven rather, tells the son, do not 
go near the door of her house. He's talking about the strange 
woman there. I've always thought that very 
peculiar information or very peculiar instruction, he doesn't 
say don't go into her bed, he says don't go near the door of 
her house. Why? Because if you go near the 
door, guess what the next step is? You're not that strong, you're 
not that holy, you're not that righteous, you're not that pure. 
In Proverbs 1, my son, if sinners entice you, what does he say? 
Listen to them, hear them out, give them some thought. No, do 
not consent with them. There is this aspect of fleeing 
godlessness that the people of God need to imbibe. But then 
notice, secondly, the exhortation to pursue righteousness. So it's 
not just fleeing from it. Sometimes people give up bad 
things, and that's to be commended, at least at one level. I think 
it's good if a guy gives up crack. I think it's good if a guy gives 
up embezzlement. I think it's good if a guy gives 
up white collar crime or fraud or whatever sorts of things he's 
into. I'm not going to say no, continue in it. But just because 
a person gives something up doesn't mean they're pursuing righteousness. 
Just because somebody doesn't go near the door of her house 
doesn't necessarily mean that he's nurturing a vital communion 
with his own wife. So there are these twin aspects, 
flee from the godless and pursue the godliness. And that's the 
emphasis of the apostle here with reference to Timothy. Here's 
what the heretics look like, here's what you need to flee 
from, and here's what you need to pursue. But you, O man of 
God, flee these things and then notice what he says. He says, 
you are to pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, 
gentleness. The man of God is not only identified 
by what he flees from, but also what he pursues. Again, 2 Timothy 
2 at verse 22. He says, flee also youthful lusts, 
but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call 
on the Lord out of a pure heart. We need to understand that two-fold 
dynamic in Christian sanctification. Again, we need to put to death 
the deeds of the body. Nobody's doubting that. Romans 8.13, if by the Spirit 
you do mortify the deeds of the body, you will live. But in terms 
of Christianity, the killing of the sin is to be replaced 
by doing the right thing before God. Paul sort of captures this 
essence in Romans 13, 14. He says, but put on the Lord 
Jesus Christ, put on the benefits, put on the protection, put on 
those things that are identifiable with our blessed Savior, and 
make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts. So as far 
as scripture is concerned, yeah, we need to flee, but we also 
need to pursue. And it's those righteous virtues 
that Paul outlines here. And again, just look at the list. 
Nothing here should be surprising. I can't believe Paul wants Timothy 
to pursue righteousness. Of course he wants Timothy to 
pursue righteousness. I can't believe he wants him to pursue 
godliness. Of course he wants him to pursue godliness. And 
then notice faith, love, patience, gentleness. William Mounts makes 
the observation in the pastoral epistles, and the pastoral epistles 
are letters, epistles, written to pastors, hence the name pastoral 
epistles. First Timothy, Second Timothy, 
and Titus. Mounce makes the observation 
that love occurs 11 times in the pastoral epistles. Its frequency 
attests to one of the basic problems in Ephesus. Paul's opponents 
are without love. When you wanna boil it all down, 
what's wrong with the heretic? Well, he doesn't love God and 
he certainly doesn't love men. If somebody's gonna make their 
money off the backs of another person's damnation, that's not 
generated by love, brethren, that's hatred. That is corruption, 
that is degeneracy, that is as bad as it can get. To make your 
money off of the damnation of rubes that have fallen under 
your purview and actually pay attention to you, there's gotta 
be a special circle in hell for such a class of godless men. 
And so the apostle says to pursue righteousness, to pursue godliness, 
to pursue faith, to pursue love, to pursue patience, to pursue 
gentleness. And there are other places all 
throughout the New Testament that sort of confirm or affirm 
this emphasis throughout. So it's not a one-off. Paul wants 
Timothy to be a special class of man of God. No, it's for all 
the people of God. This is what we should be pursuing. 
This is what we should be after. We should be fleeing heretics 
and heresy, and we should be pursuing after these virtues. 
Now notice, thirdly, the command to fight the good fight. The 
command to fight the good fight. Paul uses martial language, military 
language to depict for us the nature of the battle. Where do 
you think he got that? Jesus, the Old Testament, everybody 
that ever walked the earth before him that tried to live godly 
in Christ Jesus. What happens when you try to 
be faithful in a faithless world? Do people applaud you? Do they 
praise you? Oh yeah, you're just doing a 
bang up job here. You're just doing great in your 
pursuit of righteousness and love. We're so envious or we're 
so jealous that you're like... No, they hate it. They despise 
it. It's that whole scene in John 
chapter 3 when Jesus talks about the darkness and the light. The 
darkness doesn't want to come to the light. Why? because its 
evil deeds will be exposed. Cockroaches, when you turn on 
the light, I don't know this by experience, I've read about 
this, when you turn on the light, the cockroaches bail. They flee, 
they run. Why? Because they don't want 
to be in the light. And that's what happens with 
reference to the believer in the world. If we are living, 
and the bar is pretty low right now, just be against killing 
babies and old people and infirm people and now drug addicts and 
be against the mutilation of children, you're going to stand 
out as an odd duck. What do you mean? People don't 
have the right to chop off perfectly good body parts when they're 
12? No, they don't have that right at all. And that we think 
they do is a horrible, horrible sort of an indictment upon this 
present evil age. Again, you don't have to be John 
the Baptist out in the wilderness eating locusts and wild honey. 
You don't have to be Elijah on Mount Carmel challenging the 
prophets of Baal. You don't have to be John the 
Baptist standing before Herod saying, everything you're doing 
is wrong. It's a breach of God's law. Just try to be a little 
faithful in this present evil age and what's going to happen? 
They're not going to like you. So what does that mean? It means 
you're involved in a fight. I think a lot of Christians are 
finally waking up to that reality. You mean they don't love us? 
You mean they are against us? You mean they do despise the 
Lord God Most High and His Christ? Yeah. So we've been kind of saying 
it for a while here and starting to come into sharp view. So notice what he says here. 
He says, fight the good fight of faith. Now, in terms of this 
language, look back at 1 Timothy 1, 1 Timothy chapter 1. Again, 
to see this language by Paul, I'm sorry, 1 Timothy 1.18. Notice in 1 Timothy 1.18, this 
charge, I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies 
previously made concerning you, that by them you may what? Wage 
the good warfare. Of course the apostle is speaking 
metaphorically. He's not telling Timothy, I want 
you to do your reloads, I want you to get your bandoliers, I 
want you to shine up your Sherman tank, I want you to go out there 
and in the name of God engage in jihad and win Ephesus for 
Jesus. That's not what he's saying. 
It's a metaphor. He says in 2 Corinthians 10, 
the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. They're mighty for 
the pulling down of strongholds. We need to remember that, brothers 
and sisters. We don't advance Christ's cause by bullets. We 
don't advance Christ's cause. Again, as the church, I'm not 
speaking as to individuals, if they come after you, you have 
the right to defend yourself. The Bible envisages that and 
it does claim that we have that right. but in terms of the mission 
of the church. We're not to advance the cause 
of Jesus by violent force. So Paul is speaking metaphorically, 
but listen to the metaphor, that by them you may wage the good 
warfare. Notice in 2 Timothy 2, specifically 
at verse 3. Again, he's speaking metaphorically, 
he's speaking analogically, he's speaking in terms of some images 
that suggest themselves for the apostle to compare Timothy's 
ministry to. Notice, he gives this general 
admonition in verse one, that you therefore, my son, be strong 
in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And then he gives Timothy 
a very, very specific duty as a pastor, as a man involved in 
leadership in the church. Notice what that duty is in verse 
two. 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. That's inherent in the pastoral 
ministry. Duplicate yourselves. In other words, the kingdom of 
God isn't supposed to stop when Paul dies. The kingdom of God 
is not supposed to stop when John Calvin dies. The kingdom 
of God is not supposed to stop when C.H. Spurgeon dies. Those 
men are to train other men, identify them within the congregation, 
train those men, see them fit and qualified for pastoral ministry, 
get the church's approval and affirmation, and then bring them 
into that role of preaching and teaching and ministry. And then 
notice what he says in verse 3, 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. The hardworking farmer must be 
first to partake of the crops. Consider what I say and may the 
Lord give you understanding in all these things. You need to 
be devoted like the soldier, you need to be disciplined like 
the athlete, and you need to be diligent like the farmer. 
In other words, Timothy, if you, under God, are gonna be instrumental 
in advancing the cause of Jesus Christ, it's not with military 
might, but it's by faithfulness and steadfastness, waging the 
good warfare and fighting the good fight. And of course, Paul 
signs off his ministry in this same sort of language. You can 
turn to 2 Timothy 4, verse 7. Well, verse 6 sets it in context. Actually, we need to go back 
to verse 1 to set it in context. The last corporate command that 
the apostle gives to the church. He gives Timothy some specific 
commands later on in verses 9 and following. He basically says, 
you know, bring the cloak in verse 13 that I left with Carpus. 
at Troas when you come, and the books, especially the parchments. 
So Paul is in his second Roman imprisonment. Paul knows that 
he's going to die. This isn't like the time he writes 
Philippians. In Philippians, or the time that he writes Philippians, 
he thinks there's the potential he could die. It's his first 
Roman imprisonment in about AD 60 to 62. This is later on. This is the mid-60s. Nero is 
gone. Nero is a beast. Nero has, you 
know, left the reservation, as we might say. He's burning Christians 
as torches in his garden party. He's just a foul, wicked, beastly 
man. He blames the Christians when 
the city of Rome burns down. He is vicious and animated against 
the church. So Paul knows that his time is 
short, he knows that he's going to die. This isn't a hypothetical, 
this isn't a potential, this is his last letter and he knows 
it. So look at verse one. I charge you therefore before 
God and the Lord Jesus Christ who will judge the living and 
the dead at his appearing in his kingdom. Notice the last 
corporate command. Be the nicest fellow any city 
has ever seen in terms of the pastor. I'm not saying pastors 
shouldn't try to be nice. That's not the main imperative. 
Have coffee with everybody because that really shows that you're 
nice. Again, not against coffee with everybody. But the imperative 
of the apostle to his young ministerial companion is to preach the word. 
Why? Because God is well pleased in 
the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 
We don't advance the cause by guns. We don't advance the cause 
by tanks. We don't advance the cause by 
F-15s. We advance the cause through 
prayer and the proclamation of God's holy word. For since, in 
the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, 
it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save 
those who believe. We ought not to be surprised 
that the last corporate command by the apostle to Timothy, for 
the church as a whole, is to preach the word. At some point 
in the 20th century, we took a different route. We wanted 
cheerleaders. We wanted CEOs. We wanted high-powered 
businessmen to run our churches. We need faithful preachers, theologian 
pastors, men who understand scripture and theology, those who labor 
in the Word and in doctrine, those who are worthy of double 
honor. Paul tells Timothy, preach the 
word. And then he gives him two reasons 
why he's supposed to preach the word. The first is found in verse 
three. For the time will come when they 
will not endure sound doctrine. How do I deal with this group 
of people that doesn't want sound doctrine? Preach to them sound 
doctrine. It's kind of like your child. How do I deal with this child 
that won't eat his protein and fat and all he wants is sugary 
treats? Feed him protein and fat. But, but, oh he'll eat it, I 
guarantee you. May take a little while, but 
he will eat it. What do we do when the church wants puppets 
and ponies and programs back in the day? I don't even know 
what the current iteration is. What do we do? Do we cater to 
them? Oh yeah, we're gonna get rid 
of the pulpit and put a big easy chair there and I'm gonna sit 
and tell you stories and we'll have a nice cup of coffee. preach 
the word. They will not endure sound doctrine, 
Timothy, or Paul, so then give them more sound doctrine. God 
knows what they need. They need the protein and the 
fat. They don't need sugary treats. That's what got them into the 
mess that they're in. And then the second reason, again 
you see it marked out by the word for, so preach the word, 
verse 3, for the time will come when they will not endure sound 
doctrine. Notice the second reason in verse 6, for I am already 
being poured out as a drink offering and the time of my departure 
is at hand. He knows he's going to die. It's 
the final word of the apostle to his young ministerial companion. 
Preach the word, Timothy. Don't mess with that. Don't try 
to reinvent the wheel. Don't go and adopt military might 
or power. Don't go off and engage in holy 
war or jihad, but you preach the word. It is that vehicle 
that the Lord has chosen among reading the Bible, not suggesting 
that people can't read their Bible and get saved, but when 
you trace the book of Acts, typically it comes When the apostles go 
to the synagogue and preach Christ and Him crucified. When they 
declare the truth as it is in Jesus. So Paul knows that he's 
going to die. And then notice what he says 
in verse 7. He says, I have fought the good 
fight. I have finished the race. I have 
kept the faith. It shouldn't surprise us in 1 
Timothy chapter 6 at verse 12 that he calls his ministerial 
companion to do the same thing. Fight the good fight. Calvin made the observation, 
for carelessness and self-indulgence arise from this cause, that the 
greater part wish to serve Christ at ease, and as if it were pastime, 
whereas Christ calls his servants to warfare. Again, find where, 
you know, you sign on the dotted line, God in his grace opens 
your heart, he gives you the graces of faith and repentance 
so you can lay hold of Jesus, and then something bad happens 
in your life and you say, but wait a minute, sir, I didn't 
sign up for this. Many a recruit in the US military, 
and probably here in Canada, has said the same thing. You 
know, they give you this dream sheet where you'd like to be 
stationed. Guess where everybody picks? Not Thule, Greenland. Guess where sometimes people 
end up? Thule, Greenland. Guess what they say? But I didn't 
want to go there. It doesn't matter what you want. The needs of the military dictate. Now, I'm not trying to be a harsh, 
sort of mean fellow, but God may bring that to you, brethren. 
He may bring that to me, but I didn't sign up for this. Yeah, 
you did. Back in Matthew 16, Jesus talked 
about people who followed him, and he used the imagery of taking 
up your cross daily and following him. You remember that? Oh yeah, but I didn't think it 
would mean difficult people in my life. Well, guess what? Guess what? Fight the good fight. So Calvin is bang on. Carelessness 
and self-indulgence arise from this cause, that the greater 
part wish to serve Christ at ease, and as if it were pastime, 
whereas Christ calls his servants to warfare. But notice that Paul 
doesn't just say fight the fight. It's a good fight. We never must 
forget this. It's not slugging out this fight 
in some horrible cause. It's a good fight. It's God's 
fight. It's Christ's fight. He empowers 
us and enables us to engage in the fight. In fact, we are privileged 
to get to engage in this fight. Remember the Apostolic Church 
in about Acts 5, when they were beaten by the Sanhedrin, and 
when they left from there, you know what they didn't do? Call 
your MP, these guys just treated us poorly. I'm not against calling 
your MP, I'm not. But that's not what they said. 
They rejoiced. Why? Because they were counted 
worthy to suffer shame for his name. That's just so contrary. Not to you, I'm right here, I'm 
preaching to me here. Rejoice when bad things happen? 
Yeah, that's what James says. Count it all joy when you fall 
into various trials. That is not the way we operate. That is the way that we want 
to avoid as far as we're able. And I'm not saying run out and 
try to get persecuted. Run out and try to get thrown 
down a well. That's not necessarily bright 
either. But we need to understand that 
the fight is good because it is God's fight. Again, Calvin, 
he says, if earthly soldiers do not hesitate to fight when 
the result is doubtful and when there is a risk of being killed, 
how much more bravely ought we to do battle under the guidance 
and banner of Christ when we are certain of victory? That's 
an assured thing. We may not see it in our lifetime. 
You need to reorient yourself that way, right? Well, if I don't 
see it, brethren, we are in this for the long haul, right? We 
hope and pray and try to labor and move and have our being in 
such a way that our grandchildren's grandchildren's grandchildren 
will have Free Grace Baptist Church at Chilliwack so they 
can come sing Psalm 148 and praise God most high and listen to the 
preached word and then go live like they're supposed to in this 
present evil age. We pray for that, we hope for that, we want 
that. But we need to understand that this is in fact a fight. 
When he says the good fight of faith, I think he's stressing 
there. Faith comes in the New Testament 
in one of two ways, objective and subjective. Objective means 
it's the content of the Christian faith. It's the content or the 
stuff that we're supposed to believe. The subjective is when 
we are called to hold on to it. And I think that's what he's 
talking about here. Fight the good fight of faith. When he 
says, lay hold on eternal life, I think he's redoubling his efforts 
there. The lay hold on eternal life is not so that you can be 
accepted by God. This has already been given to 
you by God. But steadfast perseverance means 
you will lay hold on it. You will keep a firm grip. You'll 
fight the good fight of faith. You won't waver. You won't doubt. 
You won't start to, well, I don't know if it's really good to be 
in this fight. I don't know if it really is 
something that I'm fit for. If you are Christ's blood-bought 
child, if you have the Holy Spirit, you're fit for this fight. You 
need to embrace it, you need to receive it, and you need to 
run with it. That's what Paul says, fight 
the good fight of faith. So in other words, make sure, 
Timothy, that your faith isn't wanting, that your faith isn't 
waning, that your faith isn't growing cold. How do you think 
he's supposed to feed that faith? He's supposed to feed it through 
the scriptures. He's supposed to feed it in the prayer closet. 
He's supposed to feed it in the public worship of God. It's not 
esoteric, it's not mysticism. Go out to Mount Sham, forget 
your phone, and just tune out and let God invade you. Now, 
brethren, again, it's not wrong to go up to Mount Shem, it's 
not wrong to go meditate upon God, but it's the means of grace 
that God has ordained that are calculated to feed our faith. And that's His emphasis, fight 
the good fight of faith. Now, fight the good fight of 
faith in the objective sense as well. Jude 3, contend earnestly 
for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. 
I want to make sure you know that. It's not just your faith 
in Jesus that's supposed to grow, but it's the faith as the deposit 
of Christian doctrine that we all need to be engaged in to 
fight for. In other words, we ought to pursue 
truth, because that's what God uses to bless His people. I've 
already mentioned the engagement in the fight. It's 2 Corinthians 
10, 4 and 5. The weapons of our warfare are 
not carnal, but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds. 
And that brings us finally to the necessity to maintain steadfastness. Again, don't mistake what Paul 
is saying here. When he says, lay hold on eternal 
life, he's not saying so that you can be saved. He's saying, 
you've got this because God has given it to you. Don't let it 
go. Don't let it go. Pretty simple, right? Don't let 
it go. Yes, pretty simple. But at times it can be a bit 
of a challenge, right? Especially when you live in a 
perverse age, when you live in a sinful age, when you live in 
an age where there's a lot of compromise, and oftentimes that 
compromise comes in the church, or the professing church. I mean, 
they're flying the flags, they're doing the thing, they're engaged 
in this sort of stuff. Well, you need to hear the words 
of Jesus in Revelation chapter three. He speaks to the church 
in Laodicea, and he says, because you're neither hot nor cold, 
I'll spit you out of my mouth. Now he picks up a theme that 
you find in the Old Testament. We've seen it in our studies 
in the book of Leviticus. Specifically in Leviticus chapter 18, God 
uses none too righteous Israel to go into Canaan and to judge 
the less righteous Canaanites. It wasn't vindictive punishment 
on the part of God. Just go in and destroy those 
Canaanites. They were sinners. They were wicked, they were vile, 
they were wretched. When Israel does this and takes 
the possession of the land and then she apes the conduct of 
the Canaanites, she gets vomited out of the land too. God uses 
Assyria and then he uses Babylon to throw up the people right 
out of that land. Well, Jesus, when he says, I 
will vomit you out of my mouth, again, it's not without a context. Land, in the old covenant theology, 
was central in terms of Israel's life. It was by inheritance. It was by the promise of God, 
contingent upon their faithfulness, contingent upon their covenant 
obedience. But Jesus says to the church 
in Laodicea, because you're neither hot nor cold, I'm gonna spit 
you out of my mouth. Now, commentators get really weird there because 
they say, well, Jesus would prefer you to be an outright atheist. 
That's not what he means by cold. The city of Laodicea was flanked 
by two cities. One had hot springs, like Hera 
said, and the other had a cool and refreshing sort of a spring. By the time water was piped into 
Laodicea, it was lukewarm. Lukewarm isn't good. We either 
like hot coffee or cold water. Most people, you might say, well, 
I like lukewarm. You're about one in a billion, 
so this isn't really for you. But when it was piped in, it 
was lukewarm. He's using a convention that 
they would be familiar with and say, if you're not hot or cold, 
if you're not bringing refreshment in terms of cold to your community, 
again, do what you're able to do in terms of your vocation. 
If you're not bringing the hot medicinal healing waters of the 
gospel, if you're not doing anything, if you're not being faithful, 
if you're not fighting the good fight, if you're not laying hold 
on eternal life, you're betraying that you're not really His. And 
it's in that context, he says, I will spit you or vomit you 
out of my mouth. So back to our text, notice, 
lay hold on eternal life to which you were also called and have 
confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. The heretics made a profession, 
but it was false. The heretics made a profession 
and tried to profit from it, but it was false. The heretics 
made a profession, but had no power of godliness. Timothy conversely, 
or by contrast, is to lay hold on eternal life. He is to lay 
hold onto that with which he was called by God. So in other 
words, God calls him, God gives him, and then God calls upon 
him to live in a manner consistent with that. Now, if you'd have 
been attending our evening services, you'll understand this concept. 
In Ephesians 4, for instance, in Ephesians 4.1, Paul says, 
let your conduct be worthy of the gospel. Let your conduct 
be worthy of the calling with which God has called you. So 
basically, here's what you were, dead in your trespasses and sins. 
Here's what you've become by God's grace through faith in 
Jesus Christ, and here's then how you're supposed to live. 
Walk this way. Don't walk the way the Gentiles 
walked. Walk in love, walk in light, walk in wisdom in Ephesians 
chapter 5. That's what he's emphasizing 
here. Lay hold on eternal life and then that next clause, to 
which you were also called and have confessed the good confession 
in the presence of many witnesses. Now that confessing of the good 
confession is a bit of an ambiguous thing. It could have been at 
his baptism. When Timothy was baptized, it was a public declaration 
of what God had done inwardly. It could have been his ordination 
when Paul and others laid hands on him to fit him, not because 
they're magic, but it was the means by which God the Spirit 
comes upon Timothy to set him apart for the work of gospel 
ministry. Or it could just be his overarching life and conduct 
and faithfulness as he moved in and about the people of God 
that the many witnesses had seen as faithfulness. So just back 
up then. To which you are also called. 
That refers to the effectual call. Now, the Bible, theology, 
makes this distinction between what we call the effectual call 
and the outward or general call. Jesus tells his church to go 
and preach the gospel to every creature, indiscriminately. Go 
tell all men everywhere that God is holy, you're not, and 
that Christ has come into this world, he lived, he died, and 
he was raised again. If anyone believes that message, 
he will have everlasting life. That's the outward or external 
call. The Bible speaks of an internal or effectual call. In 
other words, the Holy Spirit working upon the heart of a man 
or a woman or a boy or a girl. God's good, God's gracious, God's 
merciful. That's what he's referring here 
to. So again, it's not lay hold on something in order to appropriate 
it for yourself. It's already been given to you 
and your stewardship now is to lay hold of it and don't let 
it go. To move and live and have your 
being in such a way that is consistent with your calling in Christ Jesus. 
Paul uses the language in Romans chapter 8. We know verse 28, 
we know that all things work for good to those who love God, 
to those who are the what? The called according to his purpose. 
And then he goes on to say, for whom God foreknew, these he also 
predestined. He predestined them to be conformed 
to the image of his son. The ones who were predestined, 
these he called. Those he called, he justified. 
The ones who are justified, he will glorify. So the emphasis 
here in verse 12 at the latter part, to which you were also 
called and have confessed, is on the effectual call. Now, when 
you consider Paul the Apostle, we're coming to a close here, 
we're not gonna be here all day. I love the pastorals, let me 
go like a horse in the meadow and I don't wanna tromp through 
them, because it's just so much fitting and appropriate stuff 
for the church today. But when it comes to the life 
and ministry of Paul, I already kind of alluded earlier, way 
back when at the beginning of the sermon about Paul's salvation, 
what happened? He had papers in hand, he's going 
to Damascus, and he's going to arrest people. Now, he says it 
later in his own testimony, men and women. There's something 
extremely perverse, or not perverse in a sexual way, but just wicked, 
that you'd arrest men and women. just to haul them back to Jerusalem 
so they could stay on trial and so that they could be punished 
for their faith commitment in the Lord Jesus Christ. But what 
happens on that road? Jesus comes to him. It's pretty 
amazing. That's not usually how it happens, 
brethren. It's usually very imperceptible. You sort of pass from death unto 
life. There's a moment where, yeah, 
now I believe on Jesus. Now I understand Jesus. Now I get it. Forgiveness and 
a righteousness that now avails with God. But when you think 
of the conversion of an apostle Paul, you go, wow, look at the 
powerful grace of God. Some in this church have shown 
or demonstrated that powerful grace of God. Sit down sometime 
at coffee and ask them, tell me your conversion, tell me your 
testimony. Well, I was engaged in this, 
and I was doing that, and I was going here, and I was going there, 
and God seized me, and God pulled me, and God gave me grace to 
believe the gospel. And we go, wow! But what about 
a Timothy? What about a Tabea and a Benjamin? 
I'm not picking on them, but I am suggesting that when they're 
brought up in a Christian home where they haven't gone out and 
done all that stuff, they haven't been out in the distant country, 
they haven't been longing for food that's being given to pigs, 
we don't see that power as vividly, do we? See, Paul does. Paul says the same effectual 
grace, the same effectual call, the same power of God that arrested 
him and stopped him on the road to Damascus and enabled him to 
be a preacher of the gospel is the same grace that God gave 
to Timothy. Look at 2 Timothy 1 in verse 
3. I thank God whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers 
did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day, 
greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, 
that I may be filled with joy. When I call to remembrance the 
genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother, 
Lois, and your mother, Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you 
also. Look at 2 Timothy 3, verse 14. But you must continue in the 
things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing 
from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have 
known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for 
salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. The effectual 
call is as necessary for one brought up under a godly Eunice 
and a Lois as it is for a man who's got papers to go to Damascus 
and arrest the people of God to bring them back to Jerusalem 
where they will likely be imprisoned and executed. In other words, 
that anybody is saved is a testimony to the glorious and amazing grace 
of God Almighty. There's this mindset, well, you 
know, it's only the guy who's gone out and done all those things. 
We want him to share his testimony at coffee. We don't want to hear 
from the person that was brought up in a Christian home and can't 
really remember the time. There was no light bulb. It's 
just imperceptible. There was a time I was dead in 
my sins and now I'm alive and I'm believing in Jesus. Oh, okay. Is that our attitude? Oh, okay. 
Praise God! That's miraculous! Regeneration! We just sang it in the hymn by 
Wesley. Listen to the language of the 
effectual call, sort of put into song. He says, long my imprisoned 
spirit lay, fast bound in sin and nature's night. Thine eye 
diffused a quickening ray, I woke the dungeon flamed with light. 
My chains fell off, my heart was free. I rose, went forth, 
and followed thee. Whether you're 25, whether you're 
55, whether you're 105, and you've lived a profligate, godless, 
vicious life, or you're brought up in the home of a Eunice and 
a Lois, and they've taught you the sacred scriptures from your 
youth, and around six or seven or eight or 10 or 12 or whatever, 
you believed. It's the same effectual call. It's the same grace. We celebrate 
it, we sing of it, we need to appreciate it when it happens 
in the lives of our young people. And brethren, brothers and sisters, 
may I say, we pray for that. We pray for that. God is great. He saves the prodigal, even from 
the pig slop. But he's great to save them before 
they go to the pig slop, before they go to the heroin, before 
they go to the prostitute, wherever it is they might end up. Pray 
for God's grace in the lives of your children. That should 
be priority number one for every parent, every grandparent, every 
single day. Not binding, oh, you're telling 
us legalistic thing. You hear what I'm saying? Make 
this a prayer. Make this a priority. Make this the thing that you 
plead on behalf of your children. A righteous man leaves an inheritance 
for his children's children. You may be dirt broke, but you 
know what you have? You have what Peter and John 
said to that man they met on the way to the temple. What's 
the man say? He says, Serge, do you have any 
silver or gold? What does Peter say? We don't 
have any silver or gold, but what we have, we give to you. 
In the name of Jesus Christ the Lord, rise up and walk. We may 
not have a lot of money in the bank, but we have a great savior 
and a great cause and a good fight and we should pray to hand 
that down to them and praise God when we see them come forward 
and wanna identify publicly with our savior in the waters of baptism. This is a day for rejoicing, 
a day for celebration, a day to understand God's graciousness. Now, I want to end with two thoughts, 
and that means two thoughts. First, the elements involved 
in eternal life, the effectual call. Again, We can't change 
their hearts, but we can certainly put them in the places where 
they need to be. Shlep them to church. Commenting 
on John 3, when Jesus likens the spirit to the wind. The wind 
comes, you don't know where from, and you don't know where it's 
going, but Spurgeon says, when you see that gust, open the window 
to let it in. Where do we bring our children? 
We bring them to the family altar. We bring them to the church. 
Family altar doesn't mean a popish idea. It means rather that place 
where you have family worship. We bring them unto the sound 
of God's gospel. And then with reference to this 
good confession, it's done in baptism, but it's done in the 
totality of one's life, in the presence of many witnesses, being 
faithful day in and day out. And brethren, that doesn't mean 
spotless holy perfection, we're gonna sin. You know, there's 
a bit of a powerful testimony when you tell somebody, man, 
I didn't live up to what I'm supposed to be, please forgive 
me. I sinned, I shouldn't have done that. People don't know 
how to process that. I don't do it with, you know, 
the proud virtue, the proud humility. I'm just, you know, so humble. But if you mess with somebody 
and you betray your calling in Christ, there's nothing wrong 
to say, please forgive me. It'd be nice if some of our government 
leaders would learn that brave phrase, we made a mistake. Okay, 
I don't expect infallibility and perfection, but I expect 
a bit of ownership. The one who covers his transgression, 
Proverbs 28, 13, will not prosper. But whoever confesses and forsakes 
it will find mercy. So again, the call here isn't 
to holy, harmless, spotless perfection, but it's a faithfulness. It's 
to laying hold on eternal life. It's to fighting the good fight. 
This acknowledgment comes in baptism, comes through the life 
of the believer. And then I want to end specifically 
with reference to Tabea and Benjamin. The nature of the good fight 
of faith. You need to remember this, and I'm not just talking 
to them. Everybody should pay attention here. Okay, I can just 
tune out now. The reason for the fight, the 
reason for the fight is because it's God's fight. You don't wanna 
be that guy that goes out and starts fights over your deal. 
No, no, don't do that. Start fights or engage in the 
fight that is God's fight, God's good fight. The necessity for 
the fight, I don't think that's tough. We've got the world, we've 
got the devil, and then we've got our own remaining sin. So 
there is a necessity for us to watch and pray and to fight. 
As well, the perpetuity of the fight. It will be present until 
the consummation. In other words, if you signed 
up and you thought, well, I'm going to have a week or two or five of difficulty 
in warfare, but then it's going to be easy sailing. Hate to break 
it to you, brethren, the Christian life, oftentimes, not for everybody, 
God is good, there's not constant misery and torment for every 
one of God's people, I'm not suggesting that, but until that 
day when Jesus comes again in glory to judge the living and 
the dead, there's gonna be some heartaches, there's gonna be 
some hardships, there's gonna be some challenges. The manner 
of the fight, how do we fight the good fight? Dependence upon 
the Father, faith always in our Lord Jesus Christ, and the power 
and the presence of the Holy Spirit. It's not, again, a mystery. Well, how do I fight this good 
fight? You told me I can't use guns and tanks and F-15s. How 
do I do it? With the triune God and the power of His glory. And 
then the goodness of the fight. Never lose sight of that. We 
should smile in the midst of the fight. I don't know if Samson 
did when he was dispatching those thousand Philistines with the 
jawbone of an ass, but knowing his character, he might have. 
He liked to pun, he liked limericks, he liked to compose little riddles 
and that sort of thing. I mean, there's a sense where 
it's the good fight of God, so we have to be encouraged that 
we're actually in it. And then finally, the triumph 
in the fight is not ultimately up to us, and that ought to give 
us great encouragement. If it was up to us, we would 
certainly fail. Listen to the Psalm, Psalm 60, 
verses 11 and 12, and then again replicated or duplicated in Psalm 
108, 12, and 13. He says, give us help from trouble, for the 
help of man is useless. And he's not condemning the church, 
all participating. There's a context, but listen 
to what he says. Through God we will do valiantly, for it 
is he who shall tread down our enemies. Let us never lose sight 
of that. He will tread down our enemies. 
Maybe not in our lifetime, maybe not with our eyes seeing it, 
but it's gonna happen. Psalm 110, 1, the Lord said to 
my Lord, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your 
footstool. And then that great, famous, wonderful, biblical declaration 
by the apostle in Romans 8, 31b, if God is for us, what can man 
do? If God is for us, who can be 
against us? So fight the good fight, believer. Unbeliever, look unto the Lord 
Jesus Christ in faith, and you will have everlasting life. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, 
we thank you for your word. We see that the man of God here 
is a fleeing man, he's a fighting man, he's a faithful man, and 
we pray that you would help us to be likewise. Give us grace 
to grow in our understanding of your word, give us fidelity 
to your cause, and give us that joy in being called as servants 
of God most high to fight this good fight in this present evil 
age. Cause us to do it in a manner that is consistent with your 
word, and give us grace in the presence and the power of the 
Holy Spirit to engage as we are able and as we are called. Bless 
Tabea and bless Benjamin. I pray this would be an encouragement 
for them and that they would look back on this day with great 
fondness and that they would go forward in the fear of the 
Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit.