Keep the Faith!
1 Timothy • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 96 viewsBeliever, be encouraged to "fight the good fight of faith" until the Lord comes back. Remember the confession you made before others and share it with those who are lost.
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
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.
13 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,
14 that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing,
15 which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords,
16 who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.
Keep the faith (12-13)
Keep the faith (12-13)
Paul told Timothy to “fight the good fight of faith.”
What are we fighting against?
We fight against falsehoods coming from non-believers.
We fight against false teachings of those who profess to know Christ.
Notice how he uses the phrase “eternal life.”
The “eternal life to which you were called.”
Some might argue, and do so with Biblical grounds that we are eternal beings. We never really die.
Paul says, “you were called” to this. He isn’t simply arguing that they would be eternal, but their eternity would rest in Christ because He called them to Himself.
Paul talks about the “good confession.”
13 while, through the proof of this ministry, they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal sharing with them and all men,
A “good confession” brings with it works that come from a life that shows it has been with Jesus.
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror;
24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.
25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
26 If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.
27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
James 1:22-
Paul “urged” Timothy.
He urged him to remain true to the gospel.
Just as he was urged in
3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia—remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine,
And in “command”=”urge”
7 And these things command, that they may be blameless.
Do so until He comes (14)
Do so until He comes (14)
Most things have an end right?
What’s the end of the week? (Friday for many!)
What happens when you are finished eating?
Vacations end.
The terrible two’s end.
And so does our work for Him on earth.
Check this out. We learn here where I get my phrase, “work for Jesus until you quit sucking wind.”
14 that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing,
Friends, living a life of faith stops when our heart does or when Jesus comes.
Can we move to a slower pace of ministry? Yes, but I know of many saints who speed up for Jesus when they retire from a vocational job.
Does a baby, a job change, or a special life circumstance sometimes hinder our ability to get out like we once did?
You bet, but it should never give us the excuse to sit on the sidelines.
Friends, don’t stop telling about the good confession!
The apostle John gives us a pretty good example of a “good confession.”
34 Jesus answered him, “Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?”
35 Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me. What have You done?”
36 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.”
37 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.”
John 18:
Concord, keep the faith.
Keep sharing your faith.
Make disciples who share their faith.