Fight The Good Fight of Faith - Pastor Jon Haley

3 If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, 4 he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, 5 and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. 6 But godliness with contentment is great gain, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. 11 But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

There is obviously much that we could talk about in this passage.

Books could be written and many sermons drawn from this text but the title of my sermon is “Fight the Good Fight of Faith”.

There are many times in our life when we feel like life is a battle.

There are moments when everything comes crashing down at once and we feel like life is falling apart.

And we sometimes question God in these moments. Our faith might waiver.

It would be easy to try and teach a sermon about the struggles we face in life and how our faith in Jesus is going to make life work out ...........but that is not what this sermon is about.

This is not about a fight to obtain a life without problems or pain but it is about a fight for true life.

Before we dive in, I think it is important to take a moment and understand a bit of the context of this passage.

CONTEXT

These verses are the beginning of the final and concluding section of the letter in which Paul is encouraging Timothy in his ministry.

This letter is one of three “pastoral epistles” written by the Apostle Paul.

Those three being First and Second Timothy and Titus.

They are called the pastoral epistles because the primary focus of the these letters is the “pastoring” or shepherding the church.

In I Timothy, Paul’s main focus is instructing him on how to deal with false teachers, how to conduct church services, the roll of elders and deacons, guarding sound doctrine, and practical instruction concerning ministering to people in the church.

It was probably written right around 63-67 AD which would be over thirty years after Jesus had walked the earth.

Timothy did not go to seminary or have a network of churches and leaders to reach out to with all the problems that he was having.

There was no Facebook group or online forum to post a question to or get encouragement from.

These letters of Paul’s were instrumental in building the foundation of the church.

Why is it important that we understand the context of this letter?

It is because it is highly significant that Paul writes so much about the church and fighting against false doctrine.

30 years before this letter.......... Paul was ravaging the church.

Paul was standing there in approval when Stephen was stoned.

It is important to think of Paul’s writing in the broader context of his life because Paul becomes one of the most ultimate example’s of God’s transforming power and redemptive work in the history of the church.

God took this man who was trying to destroy the early Christian church because he was zealous for the Jewish doctrine.

He said this of himself in Galatians 1:13-14

Galatians 1:13–14 ESV

13 For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. 14 And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers.

Paul was a Jew of Jews. Trained as a Pharisee.

But Paul did not have faith in Jesus at that point.

30 years ago Paul thought he was fighting the good fight of faith.

But here in 1 Timothy Paul’s is now fighting against the very false doctrines that he once stood for.

He is now building up God’s church instead of tearing it down.

Paul defends the very Gospel that he once persecuted.

Now he encourages Christians to “Fight the Good fight of Faith.”

He was no longer fighting the fight of Judaism or of the law but he is rather now fighting the fight of faith in Jesus.

And Paul sees that this is a good fight.

So to understanding the context of who Paul was and where he is coming from, shows us the weight of this passage and why Paul takes this fight of faith so seriously.

FALSE DOCTRINE AND SELFISH AMBITION

Part of the fighting the good fight of faith, for a pastor, is making sure the flock is hearing the truth of God’s word.

From the very beginning of this letter, Paul brings dealing with false doctrine to the forefront.

1 Timothy 1:3–4 ESV

3 As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, 4 nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith.

This letter is a calling to church leaders to guard the Lord’s flock against teaching that goes against “the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Timothy was dealing with some heavy things in Ephesus and he was needing encouragement.

He was more than likely struggling with the desire to quit the ministry and give up.

It seems like ministering in Ephesus was very challenging.

Paul speaks of “fighting with beasts” regarding his time in Ephesus .

The city was the capital city of Asia Minor and the third largest city in the Roman Empire.

Ephesus was a major commercial port so there was some wealth in the city but it was also a city of many religions.

Timothy was living in a place that was very worldly , very diverse in religious culture, and probably not really interested in the gospel.

You may compare it to trying to lead a church in modern city America.

Even though it was probably difficult leading a church in this environment, it seems the most difficult, hardest, and painful problems are coming from within the church body.

These people who are teaching wrong doctrine out of selfish gain are leaders from within the church who are causing division.

Many of us have been in church long enough to have experienced this first hand.

We have all experienced the atmosphere of division and it almost always comes out of any teaching that does not align with the whole Bible and often is accompanied by a spirit of selfish gain.

This division through false teaching is a very dangerous and sneaky ploy of the devil.

Usually false doctrine will have some snippet of truth in there taken out of context.

This is what Satan tried to do when he tempted Jesus. He quoted Scripture.

But of course Jesus quoted scripture right back because Jesus was grounded in God’s word.

The devil is always trying to divide because a house divided cannot stand.

Satan wants the church to fail.

This is why it is so important for leaders and church members to be aware of what bad doctrine is.

This awareness is part of our fighting the good fight of faith.

From day one, the devil has been dividing and pitting people against each other and against God with lies and deception.

Paul knows this.

And Paul makes it very clear how we should look at these people who preach a false doctrine.

He says of these people, “he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing”.

Pride is the source of this division just as pride is the source from which all sin flows.

Pauls says something very interesting in verses 4 and 5 and it is easy to miss.

He says that those who teach false doctrine have

I timothy 6:4-5

1 Timothy 6:4–5 ESV

4 he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, 5 and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.

“an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.”

I don’t know if you saw this but Paul does not say that false teaching creates friction, dissension, and evil suspicions among ALL people.

Rather it is those who are depraved in mind.

In other words, when someone is teaching wrongly...... it is those who are “depraved in mind and deprived of the truth” who are in constant friction and dissension.

Those who are NOT deprived of truth and NOT depraved in mind, will NOT be affected by false doctrine.

This is a very important lesson for us all to learn here.

As followers of Jesus you have a responsibility to take everything back to the Bible and test it for yourself.

Even though this letter is addressed to Timothy who is essentially a lead pastor in this church, everything Paul is saying indirectly applies to all who are in the body of Christ.

You all are not supposed to sit here and just believe everything that anyones says.

We should all be involved in this fight against false teaching.

Now obviously, we have a great teacher in Pastor David who wrestles with scripture himself for hours and really devotes himself to making sure that we hear the truth.

Many of us who have listened to him preach for 20 years know that we can trust what he says.

But he would never tell you not to seek things out in the Bible for yourself.

It is important that you do this.

And if something rubs you the wrong way, what you are NOT to do is say, “I don’t agree with that” or “I don’t like that interpretation” and then walk away.

That is a foolish, lazy, and complacent attitude.

You have the Holy Spirit within you and if you can read and study the scripture you can be grounded in God’s word.

We do not need to be afraid of false doctrine and wrong teaching because if you are grounded in God’s word and know the truth, there is nothing that can deprive you of the truth.

It is those who are NOT grounded in God’s wisdom, who are tossed around on the waves of indecision, or insecurity of faith.

These are the people change their mind about God.

They often wonder if they are Christians.

They are easily swayed in their thought.

So the best defense against false teaching is to always be grounded in God’s word.

False teaching is usually guided by selfish ambition.

I guess you could make a case for ignorance but from what I have seen, in many cases that ignorance of scripture is usually the result of a proud and arrogant heart that thinks God gave them a special message.

Selfish and prideful ambition is almost always a key indicator of false teaching. And those who follow it also have their own ambitions for listening to false teaching.

When the church is full of people who are not grounded in God’s word, people will lose sight of the truth because they are going to hear what they want to hear.

Paul says this:

2 Timothy 4:3–4 ESV

3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

False teachers capitalize on the fact that many people will hear what they want to hear.

But those who know the truth know that Jesus does not promise money, riches, or even an easy life.

And Paul shows us that these cravings for wealth leads to all kinds of evil and even the most dangerous thing of all to wander away from the faith.

These cravings are self-inflicted.

In our desires to be successful in this world and for worldly gain, we often have self-inflicted pain that makes us discontent.

We have so much unnecessary pain and stress when we live life this way.

We are not happy with our salary, or how we look, or what we drive.

All of this pain and inner turmoil is self-inflicted and only hurts because we are trying to make the Christian life be something that it is not meant to be.

Beware of false teaching. Guard your hearts with God’s word.

We need to take care of our own hearts. We need to be prepared.

This is part fighting the good fight of faith.

How Do We Respond to False Teaching

So how do we respond to false teaching?

I timothy 6:11-12

1 Timothy 6:11–12 ESV

11 But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

Paul gives Timothy instruction on how to personally respond to this.

Paul says “But as for you, O man of God”. He is separating Timothy from those who teach false doctrines and imagine that godliness is a means of gain.

Paul is separating Timothy because he is a man of God.

Timothy is a man who stands on God’s word. He is a man who is devoted to teaching and the reading of God’s word.

This phrase “man of God” was used often in the OT about Moses, for other prophets like Elisha.

So Paul is talking to Timothy and he reminds him that he is a Man of God, called to preach the Gospel.

And as a Man of God he is to flee the things the of the world.

He is to flee the love of money and the desire to be rich.

He is to flee discontentment.

He is to flee unhealthy cravings for controversy, and quarrels about words.

The Greek word used for “flee” here is in what is called the present imperative case.

That is the technical grammar language that means it is something that we must keep doing.

This is to be an ongoing action. We do not flee once and we are done. We are continuously fleeing.

Then Paul says in contrast that while we are fleeing these worldly desires, we are to pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness.

We are to pursue the things of God.

You have to realize that when you are are running from something you are always running to something.

In God’s kingdom we are called to pursue God and when we do that we are fleeing Satan.

When we pursue righteousness we flee unrighteousness.

When we pursue godliness we flee godlessness.

When we pursue Faith we flee unbelief.

When we pursue love we flee hate.

Whether or not it is our intention, we are always pursuing something whether we want to or not.

The word for pursue is also in the present imperative case which, again means that we are to do this constantly. There is no end to this.

We are to always be pursuing the things of God.

What Are We Fighting?

What does it mean to fight the good fight of faith?

If Jesus gives us peace that passes all understanding, then why do we need to fight?

What are we fighting? Who are we fighting? How are we to fight?

We have seen part of this fight is against false teaching but this is part of a bigger picture.

We must first accept the fact that the Christian life on this earth is meant to be seen through spiritual eyes.

Because of this we are not engaged in a physical battle.

There are physical manifestations of this battle between evil and righteousness, but we know everything that is happening is not about the physical.

2 Corinthians 10:3 ESV

3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.

Ephesians 6:11–12 ESV

11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

The word that Pauls uses for “fight” in our passage today is the greek word Agonizomai.

It means to struggle, or strive, or engage in a contest.

We are engaged in a struggle against Satan.

We do physical things but for spiritual purposes.

We now see our entire life through a spiritual lens.

So when we talk about fighting the good fight of faith we are talking about a spiritual between Jesus’s Kingdom and Satan’s Kingdom.

Second, While the Christian life is a fight against the schemes of the devil it is also a fight between our flesh and our new man while we are on this earth.

This is the struggle between the “now and not yet” aspect of being a Christian who is still in this earthly body.

1 Peter 2:11 ESV

11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.

Romans 7:23 ESV

23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.

James 4:1 ESV

1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?

Did you notice in these verses that Peter, Paul, and James are talking about external things like abstaining from passions, or quarrels and fights, but yet they point towards the internal.

They use language like “war against your soul” , “I see in my members”, and “passions are at war within you.”

These are not external wars.

What that means, is that for a Christian in this world, the external factors might make us feel like we are in a physical war but we are in a spiritual struggle between our old self and our new self.

We have a tendency to think that our struggles come from the outside.

This can be deceiving because external factors will effect what is happening on the inside of us.

This is normal and okay. God designed us to feel these feelings.

But when tough and painful things happen, if we are not careful, we might begin to question God and his goodness or his wisdom or his justice.

Seeds of bitterness or doubt might begin to sprout up.

These thoughts and these feelings are the internal and spiritual battlefield on which we fight.

The spiritual struggle is in every aspect of our life.

When we lose a loved one and we weep and mourn because the physical relationship that we had is gone.

But for a Christian, these are the external reactions to living in a broken spiritual world where death has a temporary affect on us.

When we lose our job or finances are tight, perhaps we feel the weight of this because we are dealing with an internal struggle to trust in God, or desire to serve money instead of God.

I am not saying that we are not to do anything.

We are commanded to take action.

The Bible says we are to help others. We are commanded to go out and make disciples.

We can’t do those things without physical actions.

Preaching, singing, praying, or serving are all outward manifestations of what God has done for our souls.

The moment we try to do those things outwardly apart from the internal, spiritual help of the Holy Spirit, is the moment we are trying to fight a spiritual battle in a physical way.

It is impossible.

Paul also tells us that this is a good fight.

This is a fight that is worth fighting.

The fight for our faith is the most important fight that we are engaged in.

How do we fight?

So how do we fight the good fight of faith?

Paul has already shown how we fight.

We fight by fleeing the things of this world and by pursuing God.

The weapons of our warfare are not carnal so we cannot use carnal weapons.

We are to pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness.

We fight by immersing ourselves in things of God.

We fight by immersing ourselves in the Bible.

Romans 10:17 ESV

17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

It is in this pursuit of God and the things of God, where we will find our contentment and peace.

It is in this pursuit of God that we will take hold of eternal life and make the good confession.

It is in this pursuit of God that we will find steadfastness and the strength to withstand the devil.

This steadfastness that Paul is talking about is defined by one Greek lexicon I have as

A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed. ὑπομονή

the capacity to hold out or bear up in the face of difficulty

What is amazing about all of this is that in order to withstand the devil and remain steadfast in our faith in the most difficult times, we must abide in Christ.

The reality is that we win the battle against Satan by truly surrendering our life to Jesus.

In God’s kingdom, everything is the opposite of how we think it should be done.

We have spiritual armor and spiritual weapons.

Application

So what does this mean for all of us here.

It means our only hope is found in Jesus.

You can try to be a good person and think that you are doing good in this world but if you do not abide in Jesus or believe in him it is all pointless.

Good works don’t get you into heaven.

Even knowing the Bible inside and out by itself, will not even get you into heaven.

It is believing in Jesus and having faith in him that gets you through the narrow gate.

This is how we overcome this world and Satan.

Surrender.

We surrender to God. We are to give up trying to do this on our own.

Our hope is in Jesus. It is only through him and by him that we will be able to withstand temptation. It is only by abiding in Jesus that we find true life and strength.

We don’t need to try and search for an original message or reinvent what God has told us. God has been fully revealed in the person of Jesus. So keep an eye out for false doctrine.

Fight the good fight of Faith.

There are so many great teachers and preachers on the radio, TV, and internet, but they are not all preaching the true gospel.

You need to be on the look out. You need to know God’s word.

This is why you need to read it. You need spiritual armor and spiritual weapons in this battle.

Take hold of eternal life to which you were called and promised in the word of God.

It is only in this state of surrender and pursuit of God that we can truly fight the good fight of faith and find true contentment.

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