WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:11.880 Well, we've been marching through Paul's letter to the very young pastor Timothy in 00:00:11.880 --> 00:00:14.560 Ephesus for the past couple of months. 00:00:14.560 --> 00:00:21.359 And Paul has been talking every single week about how the family of God, the church, should 00:00:21.359 --> 00:00:22.800 live together. 00:00:22.800 --> 00:00:29.640 And the big couple of things that he said is that we've got to stick like glue to the 00:00:29.640 --> 00:00:32.799 truth as God has revealed it in the Bible. 00:00:32.799 --> 00:00:37.120 And so we said week one, Paul wants us to be truth people. 00:00:37.120 --> 00:00:42.679 And that truth then has to affect the heart and produce change and growth. 00:00:42.679 --> 00:00:46.960 And so he said truth has always got to issue forth in love. 00:00:46.960 --> 00:00:49.640 So truth people and love people. 00:00:49.640 --> 00:00:55.760 In other words, the Christian cannot live the normal life of the kingdom of this world, 00:00:55.759 --> 00:01:02.320 there's got to live a life that looks like the kingdom of God already in the now. 00:01:02.320 --> 00:01:04.200 And we come to the close of this letter. 00:01:04.200 --> 00:01:06.599 This is the penultimate section. 00:01:06.599 --> 00:01:08.519 We'll just have one more week. 00:01:08.519 --> 00:01:13.799 And Paul's getting to the crescendo of all that he's had to say. 00:01:13.799 --> 00:01:18.640 And if you were to say, Paul, what is on your mind as you close down this letter and this 00:01:18.640 --> 00:01:23.879 long letter, but also sermon really about what the church should look like and live 00:01:23.879 --> 00:01:29.560 like the same thing is on his mind at the end that he started with. 00:01:29.560 --> 00:01:35.439 And that's that he wants Ephesus and he wants St. Columbus to be all about the life of the 00:01:35.439 --> 00:01:38.799 mind toward God and the life of the heart toward God. 00:01:38.799 --> 00:01:40.399 Truth people and love people. 00:01:40.399 --> 00:01:43.519 It's all right here in the last chapter as well all over again. 00:01:43.519 --> 00:01:51.679 And so to say that, he says very famously, fight the good fight of the faith. 00:01:51.680 --> 00:01:55.720 And the question we have this morning is what does that mean? 00:01:55.720 --> 00:01:57.360 And so let's explore that. 00:01:57.360 --> 00:02:01.040 Let's see three things about fighting the good fight. 00:02:01.040 --> 00:02:04.120 And first is we'll look at the call to fight. 00:02:04.120 --> 00:02:07.160 Secondly, the charge to keep. 00:02:07.160 --> 00:02:11.240 And lastly, the reason for both. 00:02:11.240 --> 00:02:14.680 So first, the call to fight. 00:02:14.680 --> 00:02:20.960 Paul starts in verse 11, knowing that we've got a problem. 00:02:20.960 --> 00:02:26.280 He's about to tell us to flee something and he knows that we have a problem and he's talking 00:02:26.280 --> 00:02:31.840 here to professing Christians and specifically about the problem that professing Christians 00:02:31.840 --> 00:02:32.840 have. 00:02:32.840 --> 00:02:38.640 Martin Luther in the time of the Reformation in the early 1500s captured the problem that 00:02:38.640 --> 00:02:41.200 Paul is talking about here really well. 00:02:41.200 --> 00:02:44.960 Luther was a monk and he was trained to think only in Latin. 00:02:44.960 --> 00:02:49.240 And so he wrote this very famous Latin phrase to capture the problem. 00:02:49.240 --> 00:02:56.800 He said that Christians are simile Eustace at picator, that we are simultaneously justified 00:02:56.800 --> 00:02:59.879 and sinners at the same time. 00:02:59.879 --> 00:03:05.240 And what he was saying is that if you profess faith in Jesus, you are legally, before God 00:03:05.240 --> 00:03:08.080 the Father, free of your sin. 00:03:08.080 --> 00:03:09.600 You're guilt free. 00:03:09.600 --> 00:03:10.920 You've died with Christ. 00:03:10.920 --> 00:03:12.680 You've risen with Christ. 00:03:12.680 --> 00:03:19.200 In the eyes of God, you are not a sinner legally, but you are at the same time a sinner. 00:03:19.199 --> 00:03:25.359 And you've still got the kingdom of this world down in your bones. 00:03:25.359 --> 00:03:30.319 Paul calls it the sinful passions of the flesh and it's still there. 00:03:30.319 --> 00:03:33.719 We're simultaneously justified and yet sinners. 00:03:33.719 --> 00:03:39.479 And so Paul knows practically that we're still in a space where we're really struggling 00:03:39.479 --> 00:03:44.839 to be what God has proclaimed us to be in Christ Jesus and the way we actually live 00:03:44.839 --> 00:03:48.719 our lives and the way our heart is actually changed on the ground. 00:03:48.719 --> 00:03:54.520 But what he's saying here is that justification being legally sin free has got to give birth 00:03:54.520 --> 00:03:58.680 to sanctification growth in our lives that we've got to change. 00:03:58.680 --> 00:04:00.439 We've got to grow. 00:04:00.439 --> 00:04:05.960 And Paul comes here and says that that's our struggle that we're simultaneously justified, 00:04:05.960 --> 00:04:08.919 but we're sinful and we're struggling with sin. 00:04:08.919 --> 00:04:19.240 And so after you profess, I believe, Crayto, I believe Paul says now the fight begins. 00:04:19.240 --> 00:04:21.279 The fight has to start. 00:04:21.279 --> 00:04:26.000 And it's not a fight to get a seat at the table of God. 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:31.360 Instead, the fight is that you've got a seat at the table of God and now we're called to 00:04:31.360 --> 00:04:38.039 put off the old self to become like the God whose table we sit at. 00:04:38.040 --> 00:04:40.160 And that's what he's dealing with here. 00:04:40.160 --> 00:04:47.040 And so over and over, Paul says, you know, don't let sin overwhelm your faith. 00:04:47.040 --> 00:04:52.800 And you've got the desires of the world deep down in your heart and in your bones. 00:04:52.800 --> 00:04:59.680 And so three times, three times in this letter and in second time, if the Paul will say the 00:04:59.680 --> 00:05:04.160 same thing, the very famous phrase, fight the good fight. 00:05:04.160 --> 00:05:10.439 And this is the second time he said it in this letter, in this letter of 1 Timothy. 00:05:10.439 --> 00:05:14.320 And it's, you know, it's a good fight. 00:05:14.320 --> 00:05:18.200 And that's important because not all fights are good. 00:05:18.200 --> 00:05:23.240 And he's already told us multiple times in this letter, a lot of you in Ephesus are fighting 00:05:23.240 --> 00:05:24.440 in bad ways. 00:05:24.440 --> 00:05:26.400 You're quarrelsome. 00:05:26.400 --> 00:05:29.120 You create controversies about every little thing. 00:05:29.120 --> 00:05:30.820 That's not the good fight. 00:05:30.819 --> 00:05:35.319 But there is a good fight and the good fight is the fight for your life. 00:05:35.319 --> 00:05:36.800 It's the fight for your heart. 00:05:36.800 --> 00:05:40.240 The good fight is the fight for holiness. 00:05:40.240 --> 00:05:42.639 And that's the exact fight that he's talking about here. 00:05:42.639 --> 00:05:49.000 And so just a simple diagnostic question as we start. 00:05:49.000 --> 00:05:50.000 And it's obvious. 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:52.600 It's, are you in the fight? 00:05:52.600 --> 00:05:57.279 You know, are you in the fight today right now for the life of your heart? 00:05:57.279 --> 00:06:03.000 Are you struggling with the sinful passions that are still in you as a professing, as 00:06:03.000 --> 00:06:04.000 a professional Christian? 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:07.919 Or do you find yourself on the sidelines? 00:06:07.919 --> 00:06:14.199 And the question is then, how do you know am I in the fight or am I on the sideline? 00:06:14.199 --> 00:06:15.919 And this is exactly what he's going to tell us. 00:06:15.919 --> 00:06:19.799 He's going to tell us that the fight has two elements to it. 00:06:19.799 --> 00:06:20.799 Okay. 00:06:20.799 --> 00:06:25.839 First, the fight means, if you're in the fight, the first thing is that you're running away 00:06:25.839 --> 00:06:27.879 from something. 00:06:27.879 --> 00:06:30.759 And if you're in the fight, secondly, you're also running to something. 00:06:30.759 --> 00:06:32.079 You're chasing after something. 00:06:32.079 --> 00:06:35.479 And that's exactly what he says. 00:06:35.479 --> 00:06:40.399 Psychologists will regularly point out that human beings have a very natural instinct. 00:06:40.399 --> 00:06:43.839 We call that the fight or flight instinct. 00:06:43.839 --> 00:06:50.719 And you know, whenever you approach a circumstance of immense danger, sometimes you need to run 00:06:50.719 --> 00:06:51.719 away. 00:06:51.719 --> 00:06:54.559 That's the only option you have. 00:06:54.560 --> 00:06:56.480 Sometimes you need to stay and fight. 00:06:56.480 --> 00:06:59.160 That's the only option you have. 00:06:59.160 --> 00:07:02.800 Your instinct triggers and your adrenaline pumps and you know you're going to run or 00:07:02.800 --> 00:07:04.720 you're going to fight. 00:07:04.720 --> 00:07:09.560 And Paul comes to the Christian and says the answer is yes. 00:07:09.560 --> 00:07:13.480 That the Christian has to run and stay and fight. 00:07:13.480 --> 00:07:15.879 You have to be defensive and offensive. 00:07:15.879 --> 00:07:18.199 There's something to defend yourself from. 00:07:18.199 --> 00:07:21.199 There's something to get on the offensive about in the Christian life. 00:07:21.199 --> 00:07:23.160 And that's what he unpacks here. 00:07:23.160 --> 00:07:28.720 And so the first thing he says in verse 11 is that we have to run away. 00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:33.880 He says, man of God, woman of God, flee these things. 00:07:33.880 --> 00:07:35.640 Run away from these things. 00:07:35.640 --> 00:07:39.040 That's the negative side of the fight. 00:07:39.040 --> 00:07:41.320 And of course we can ask, what are these things, Paul? 00:07:41.320 --> 00:07:44.080 What is it that you're telling us to run away from? 00:07:44.080 --> 00:07:48.960 And that's really what he's been unpacking last week in verse, in the whole of chapter 00:07:48.960 --> 00:07:50.520 six up to this point. 00:07:50.520 --> 00:07:52.840 But just to review that very quickly. 00:07:52.839 --> 00:07:59.279 He says at the beginning of chapter six, one of the things to run away from is a growing 00:07:59.279 --> 00:08:06.199 pride deep down in the heart that starts to say that God's word isn't what it really 00:08:06.199 --> 00:08:08.479 says it is. 00:08:08.479 --> 00:08:15.319 And we could call this, we could call this Paul's command to flee from theological liberalism. 00:08:15.319 --> 00:08:16.959 That's one of the things he's been treating in the whole book. 00:08:16.959 --> 00:08:22.039 He's saying run away whenever you start to sense in your own life or you see in your church 00:08:22.040 --> 00:08:29.040 or you see outside of you, a theology that's being constructed starting with your own personal 00:08:29.040 --> 00:08:34.120 desires or starting with the cultural demands out in the world. 00:08:34.120 --> 00:08:38.320 When theology is being built and that's the foundation, he says run away from that. 00:08:38.320 --> 00:08:39.320 You got to get away. 00:08:39.320 --> 00:08:40.320 You got to run away from that. 00:08:40.320 --> 00:08:41.320 That's one of the things he tells. 00:08:41.320 --> 00:08:47.399 In other words, protect the life of your mind from the ideas that are contrary to the word 00:08:47.399 --> 00:08:48.399 of God. 00:08:48.399 --> 00:08:54.399 The second thing in chapter six he had said was run away from the love of money, from 00:08:54.399 --> 00:08:56.600 obsession with money. 00:08:56.600 --> 00:09:02.919 And in other words, run away, flee from being dominated by anything that is more important 00:09:02.919 --> 00:09:04.840 to you than God is. 00:09:04.840 --> 00:09:05.840 And that's us. 00:09:05.840 --> 00:09:09.439 We love stuff more than we love God so often. 00:09:09.439 --> 00:09:16.039 And so he says run away when you have a sense that money, power, prestige, family, children, 00:09:16.039 --> 00:09:20.159 security, safety, wealth, whatever it may be, when that is more, when you sense this, 00:09:20.159 --> 00:09:24.000 I think this is more important to me than God is, he says you got to run, you got to 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:25.000 run away from that. 00:09:25.000 --> 00:09:27.240 You got to run away from that thing. 00:09:27.240 --> 00:09:30.559 But we can be even more simple than that. 00:09:30.559 --> 00:09:38.000 The Christian life that is marked by growth, by marked by the fight is simply one, Paul 00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:41.759 says, that is running away from sin. 00:09:41.759 --> 00:09:43.000 It's that simple. 00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:45.360 Run away from sin. 00:09:45.360 --> 00:09:46.840 That's all he really means here. 00:09:46.840 --> 00:09:54.480 And John Owen, the English Puritan, very famously said, kill your sin, lest your sin be killing 00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:55.800 you. 00:09:55.800 --> 00:10:03.200 And step one in that is to run away from sin, flee from the sin that's in your life. 00:10:03.200 --> 00:10:07.600 I saw Top Gun this week and it was fantastic. 00:10:07.600 --> 00:10:12.240 And I learned from Top Gun that we need evasive maneuvers. 00:10:12.240 --> 00:10:16.440 We've got to run from sin. 00:10:16.440 --> 00:10:21.159 And John Bunyan read the pilgrim's progress. 00:10:21.159 --> 00:10:26.960 And at the very beginning of the pilgrim's progress, Christian, who is the main character, 00:10:26.960 --> 00:10:32.360 he lives his life in the city of this world, is how Bunyan puts it. 00:10:32.360 --> 00:10:40.120 And then evangelist comes to him and says, go Christian and flee to a better city. 00:10:40.120 --> 00:10:47.919 And Christian says to the evangelist, I cannot see the gate of the city you're talking about. 00:10:47.919 --> 00:10:49.159 It's too far in the distance. 00:10:49.159 --> 00:10:50.519 It's too cloudy. 00:10:50.519 --> 00:10:53.560 I can't see the gate of the city that you want me to run to. 00:10:53.560 --> 00:10:58.320 And so evangelist says, don't worry about that. 00:10:58.320 --> 00:11:00.480 You just need to run. 00:11:00.480 --> 00:11:04.200 I know that you can't see the end point, but just start running. 00:11:04.200 --> 00:11:09.320 In other words, he says, the Christian life, Christian, is one where you have put sin at 00:11:09.320 --> 00:11:15.400 your back and not that it's not gaining up on you and grabbing you all the time, but 00:11:15.400 --> 00:11:17.360 that at least you're in the fight. 00:11:17.360 --> 00:11:20.560 You're saying sin is now at my back. 00:11:20.560 --> 00:11:25.640 My life is not a place that is hospitable to sin any longer. 00:11:25.640 --> 00:11:30.080 And so that's the first thing Paul says is run away from something. 00:11:30.080 --> 00:11:32.520 Now that's the negative side, but there's a positive side. 00:11:32.520 --> 00:11:36.000 He turns to the positive side in verses 11 and 12. 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:41.320 We not only run from sin, but we've also got to run to something, chase after something. 00:11:41.320 --> 00:11:46.600 And you can see the language of that verse 12 when he says fight, sorry, verse 11 as 00:11:46.600 --> 00:11:51.120 well, flee from something, but also pursue. 00:11:51.120 --> 00:11:52.120 That's the verb. 00:11:52.120 --> 00:11:58.240 So he action verbs all over this, this section, flee now pursue chase after something verse 00:11:58.240 --> 00:11:59.240 12. 00:11:59.240 --> 00:12:01.799 He says, take hold of something. 00:12:01.799 --> 00:12:05.799 Now before I tell you exactly what that something is, it's just worth mentioning that at the 00:12:05.799 --> 00:12:12.399 very beginning of the passage, verse 11, he says he titles the Christian that's in the 00:12:12.399 --> 00:12:17.079 fight man of God or woman of God. 00:12:17.079 --> 00:12:21.639 And he's going to use this same exact phrase, not only for Timothy here, but also for any 00:12:21.639 --> 00:12:25.559 Christian in second Timothy 3 17. 00:12:25.559 --> 00:12:26.759 This is Paul's favorite thing to say. 00:12:26.759 --> 00:12:32.679 He says, if you're a man or a woman or God, a woman of God, that means that you're a Christian 00:12:32.679 --> 00:12:37.359 who's seeking maturity in both the life of the mind and the life of the heart. 00:12:37.359 --> 00:12:38.359 You're running from sin. 00:12:38.359 --> 00:12:40.599 You're running to something. 00:12:40.599 --> 00:12:43.839 And Paul actually says in second Timothy that it's a great honor. 00:12:43.839 --> 00:12:47.279 It's a great honor to be a man of God or a woman of God. 00:12:47.279 --> 00:12:56.079 And you've, many of you have probably been to funerals where the preacher stood up in 00:12:56.080 --> 00:13:05.360 the pulpit and talked about the person that had died and they said that this was a man 00:13:05.360 --> 00:13:10.280 of God or this was a woman of God and everybody, you look around the room and everybody kind 00:13:10.280 --> 00:13:15.280 of nods, you know, you know, that everybody knew that was a man of God. 00:13:15.280 --> 00:13:17.080 That was a woman of God. 00:13:17.080 --> 00:13:22.200 And Timothy Paul says here that this is exactly what we're describing is what it, what it means 00:13:22.200 --> 00:13:26.440 to be a man of God or a woman of God. 00:13:26.440 --> 00:13:30.759 Jay Gresham Machen was an American theologian at Princeton, Princeton Seminary. 00:13:30.759 --> 00:13:37.480 And he in the 1920s, he left Princeton Seminary because he felt like Princeton was struggling 00:13:37.480 --> 00:13:40.560 with not being faithful to the Bible. 00:13:40.560 --> 00:13:46.440 And when he died, and I don't know a ton about Machen's life, so I can't testify how true 00:13:46.440 --> 00:13:47.440 this is. 00:13:47.440 --> 00:13:54.320 But when he died, what they put on his tombstone was Revelation 2.17, they said, a man faithful 00:13:54.320 --> 00:13:57.640 to the end, a man of God. 00:13:57.640 --> 00:14:00.120 And that's exactly what Paul is trying to describe to us here. 00:14:00.120 --> 00:14:05.000 And so he says the man of God, the woman of God has to run from sin, but they're chasing 00:14:05.000 --> 00:14:07.340 after something. 00:14:07.340 --> 00:14:08.340 And what is it? 00:14:08.340 --> 00:14:12.640 And he gets very specific here about what they're chasing after in verse 11. 00:14:12.639 --> 00:14:18.439 That's what John, John Stott calls the hot pursuit of goodness. 00:14:18.439 --> 00:14:22.960 And in verse 11, he says, pursue six things. 00:14:22.960 --> 00:14:28.480 And actually these six things, righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfast, and be 00:14:28.480 --> 00:14:33.080 steadfast and gentle are actually three things. 00:14:33.080 --> 00:14:35.699 They're presented in Greek and couplets. 00:14:35.699 --> 00:14:37.980 So the first two are righteousness and godliness. 00:14:37.980 --> 00:14:39.799 They go together. 00:14:39.799 --> 00:14:43.679 And we won't say but two sentences about each of these. 00:14:43.679 --> 00:14:50.479 But Paul says the Christian life, the man of God, the woman of God is running from sin, 00:14:50.479 --> 00:14:53.199 chasing after godliness. 00:14:53.199 --> 00:15:01.120 And godliness here, righteousness here simply means chasing after what God says is good. 00:15:01.120 --> 00:15:06.000 What people have called the Godward life, what people used to call the life of true 00:15:06.000 --> 00:15:08.279 religion or piety. 00:15:08.279 --> 00:15:10.120 And that's, it's very simple. 00:15:10.120 --> 00:15:16.919 It's just that the man, the woman lives for God and wants to live a life that God says 00:15:16.919 --> 00:15:17.919 is good. 00:15:17.919 --> 00:15:21.839 And it's a certain mark of devotion, a life devoted to God. 00:15:21.839 --> 00:15:24.600 And then the second couplet, faith and love. 00:15:24.600 --> 00:15:28.199 And here, faith here I think means trust. 00:15:28.199 --> 00:15:35.699 And so what it's saying is that the man or woman of God has trust where the consistent 00:15:35.700 --> 00:15:42.640 pursuit of godliness is precisely because I believe in what I cannot yet see. 00:15:42.640 --> 00:15:47.360 I trust and hope in something that I know is not yet visible to me. 00:15:47.360 --> 00:15:54.600 And so love pours forth because I got love from Christ so I issue forth in love. 00:15:54.600 --> 00:15:59.640 And then the third couplet, to be steadfast and gentle. 00:15:59.639 --> 00:16:07.439 Steadfast and gentle are both forms of patience actually and to be steadfast is to be patient 00:16:07.439 --> 00:16:13.840 in hard circumstances and to be gentle is to be patient with hard people. 00:16:13.840 --> 00:16:24.039 And so Paul says very specifically, the Christian life chase after godliness in trust in what 00:16:24.039 --> 00:16:27.200 you cannot see with patience. 00:16:27.200 --> 00:16:29.319 That's what he says very specifically. 00:16:29.320 --> 00:16:34.120 And he puts it more generally in verse 12 when he says that what you're chasing after 00:16:34.120 --> 00:16:38.120 you grasp hold of, take hold of eternal life. 00:16:38.120 --> 00:16:45.160 In doing these things, you're actually reaching out and you're grabbing eternal life. 00:16:45.160 --> 00:16:47.960 And you've got to be very careful and you've got to look at what he says very carefully 00:16:47.960 --> 00:16:51.480 because he says take hold of the eternal life to which you were called. 00:16:51.480 --> 00:16:57.160 Meaning he says reach out and grab hold of eternal life in the way you live your life. 00:16:57.159 --> 00:17:02.279 But that doesn't mean reach out in order that if you're gentle enough and steadfast enough 00:17:02.279 --> 00:17:05.279 and godly enough maybe god would give you eternal life. 00:17:05.279 --> 00:17:06.279 That's not what it's saying. 00:17:06.279 --> 00:17:09.519 It's saying you were called to eternal life. 00:17:09.519 --> 00:17:11.619 That's already secure. 00:17:11.619 --> 00:17:13.700 So now take hold of it. 00:17:13.700 --> 00:17:18.359 In other words, right now in this life, take hold of the eternal life that you have in 00:17:18.359 --> 00:17:21.759 Jesus Christ that is to come today. 00:17:21.759 --> 00:17:23.359 Grab it because you have it. 00:17:23.359 --> 00:17:26.319 So grab hold of it and take it and live like it. 00:17:26.319 --> 00:17:30.679 And so this is the good fight. 00:17:30.679 --> 00:17:33.119 This is what Paul means when he says fight the good fight. 00:17:33.119 --> 00:17:41.279 You've got, we're called Christian today to be like the fugitive where you've broken free 00:17:41.279 --> 00:17:44.919 and you're always, for the rest of your life, you're going to be a fugitive. 00:17:44.919 --> 00:17:48.919 You're always going to be running away from the kingdom of this world. 00:17:48.919 --> 00:17:50.480 It's never going to stop until the day you die. 00:17:50.480 --> 00:17:56.480 You've got to be like Harrison Ford at his best or Tom Cruise, top gun. 00:17:56.480 --> 00:18:00.680 You've got to be running your entire life away from sin. 00:18:00.680 --> 00:18:05.240 And then at the same time, you've got to be in the hot pursuit, the hot pursuit of goodness, 00:18:05.240 --> 00:18:10.680 the life of God, a Godward life, taking hold of eternal life today. 00:18:10.680 --> 00:18:15.759 A life today that reflects and witnesses to the life that is to come in the kingdom that 00:18:15.759 --> 00:18:16.759 is to come. 00:18:16.759 --> 00:18:22.279 Before we move on and points two and three are very brief, but before we move on, I just 00:18:22.279 --> 00:18:28.160 want to mention that fight, the word fight here is a metaphor, of course. 00:18:28.160 --> 00:18:34.079 And it's a metaphor that the commentators will say is very likely referencing Greco-Roman 00:18:34.079 --> 00:18:35.079 wrestling match. 00:18:35.079 --> 00:18:36.079 Okay. 00:18:36.079 --> 00:18:44.319 So Paul probably has in mind a one on one Greco-Roman wrestling match in a little arena. 00:18:44.319 --> 00:18:49.359 And that means that Paul here uses two metaphors to describe what it's like to live life as 00:18:49.359 --> 00:18:50.879 a Christian. 00:18:50.879 --> 00:18:51.879 The one is obvious. 00:18:51.879 --> 00:18:53.799 It's running, racing. 00:18:53.799 --> 00:18:56.519 So on the one hand, he's saying you've got to be Usain Bolt. 00:18:56.519 --> 00:18:59.720 You got to run away from your sin as fast as you can. 00:18:59.720 --> 00:19:03.879 And you got to run towards the godliness as fast as you can. 00:19:03.879 --> 00:19:09.879 But that dialectic where that tension where sin is always at your back, but it's chasing 00:19:09.879 --> 00:19:13.839 you, it's trying to get your heart. 00:19:13.839 --> 00:19:18.919 And you've got something out in front of your face, which is the Christ and his example 00:19:18.919 --> 00:19:21.679 that you're always running towards. 00:19:21.679 --> 00:19:27.519 That tension is reflected so well in the other metaphor, which is wrestling. 00:19:27.519 --> 00:19:34.279 So it's like you're always, sometimes sin has got you in a headlock on the Greco-Roman 00:19:34.279 --> 00:19:36.079 floor of the wrestling match. 00:19:36.079 --> 00:19:39.720 And then sometimes you break free and you pin it down. 00:19:39.720 --> 00:19:43.819 But what he's saying here is when you're fighting the good fight, you're wrestling. 00:19:43.819 --> 00:19:46.799 You are at least in the struggle. 00:19:46.799 --> 00:19:48.799 Are you in the struggle? 00:19:48.799 --> 00:19:49.799 Are you fighting? 00:19:49.799 --> 00:19:51.399 Are you wrestling? 00:19:51.399 --> 00:19:55.399 Are you saying sin does not have a home here anymore? 00:19:55.399 --> 00:19:59.519 And so sometimes you might be losing, but you're wrestling. 00:19:59.519 --> 00:20:02.079 You see what Paul picks this metaphor? 00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:03.579 Wrestle today. 00:20:03.579 --> 00:20:10.799 Don't let this moment pass by to at least examine yourself and ask, am I wrestling, struggling 00:20:10.799 --> 00:20:15.919 and fighting for the life of my mind and my heart against sin? 00:20:15.919 --> 00:20:18.319 Am I fighting for godliness? 00:20:18.319 --> 00:20:19.519 Be in the struggle. 00:20:19.519 --> 00:20:21.000 That's what fight the good fight means. 00:20:21.000 --> 00:20:22.000 All right. 00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:28.119 Secondly, and very briefly, Paul knows how hard this is and how serious this is. 00:20:28.119 --> 00:20:33.159 And so what he does is he gives us a charge and you can see it. 00:20:33.159 --> 00:20:36.720 He starts with it in verse 12 and then really gives it in 13. 00:20:36.720 --> 00:20:38.440 I charge you. 00:20:38.440 --> 00:20:45.000 And this is now Paul is saying, I am Paul saying I am the coach, the wrestling coach 00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:48.039 on the side watching this wrestling match. 00:20:48.039 --> 00:20:49.400 And I'm yelling at you. 00:20:49.400 --> 00:20:51.200 I'm giving you orders. 00:20:51.200 --> 00:20:54.480 I'm telling you exactly what to do. 00:20:54.480 --> 00:20:58.720 Remember that our problem is that you profess faith in Jesus. 00:20:58.720 --> 00:21:01.680 You still got the world in your bones. 00:21:01.680 --> 00:21:03.039 And so you're still struggling. 00:21:03.039 --> 00:21:09.159 You still, if you're like me today, you hear everything we've already looked at and you 00:21:09.159 --> 00:21:19.200 say, you know, I know for me that I want what I should be running away from and I run away 00:21:19.200 --> 00:21:22.240 from what I should be desiring. 00:21:22.240 --> 00:21:24.119 That's what I learned from the first section. 00:21:24.119 --> 00:21:30.960 I run from, I run from what I should be wanting and I want what I should be running from. 00:21:30.960 --> 00:21:38.200 And so Paul says, he's already told us sometimes our conscience gets cauterized and burned 00:21:38.200 --> 00:21:40.840 and Augustine says, we've got disordered loves. 00:21:40.840 --> 00:21:45.000 We want things in the wrong order and badly we want the wrong things. 00:21:45.000 --> 00:21:50.740 And Paul says, I know that your desires are all out of whack. 00:21:50.740 --> 00:21:58.559 And so I charge you, you know, Paul's doing us such a favor here because what he's saying 00:21:58.559 --> 00:22:02.159 is if you need, you need all the help you can get. 00:22:02.159 --> 00:22:05.039 So listen, I'm telling you, this is a command. 00:22:05.039 --> 00:22:11.000 And so how kind that is to say, God says, I command you to do that. 00:22:11.000 --> 00:22:13.319 I command you to get into the struggle. 00:22:13.319 --> 00:22:18.079 I command you to be a person that's in the midst of the fight. 00:22:18.079 --> 00:22:22.879 John Stott puts it, he talks about how simple it is. 00:22:22.879 --> 00:22:28.440 He says, when it comes to being in the fight here, there's no particular secret to learn. 00:22:28.440 --> 00:22:30.440 There's no formula to recite. 00:22:30.440 --> 00:22:32.880 There's no technique to master. 00:22:32.880 --> 00:22:39.240 The apostle gives us no teaching on holiness, quote unquote, and how to attain it in any 00:22:39.240 --> 00:22:40.880 specific way. 00:22:40.880 --> 00:22:48.000 We are simply to do this, run from evil, run from danger and run after goodness. 00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:49.160 That's it. 00:22:49.160 --> 00:22:50.160 It's simple. 00:22:50.160 --> 00:22:53.160 And yet it is so hard. 00:22:53.160 --> 00:23:01.040 And for some of us, our apathy is the overpowering factor right now in the midst of this. 00:23:01.040 --> 00:23:06.040 And in difference, and Paul's saying, I know that you need power today to step back into 00:23:06.040 --> 00:23:07.040 the fight. 00:23:07.040 --> 00:23:08.800 And so here's step one of that power. 00:23:08.800 --> 00:23:10.300 I command you. 00:23:10.300 --> 00:23:12.240 I charge you. 00:23:12.240 --> 00:23:14.640 Get back in the fight today. 00:23:14.640 --> 00:23:20.120 And when he gives that charge, he says in verse 14, keep the commandment, which is the 00:23:20.120 --> 00:23:21.600 command to fight. 00:23:21.599 --> 00:23:23.639 This is the command that he's talking about. 00:23:23.639 --> 00:23:28.559 And he says, I charge you to hold fast to the good confession you made. 00:23:28.559 --> 00:23:34.799 And so here this, he says, keep hold of the confession, the profession that you've made. 00:23:34.799 --> 00:23:37.919 Talking about when you profess faith, you were baptized. 00:23:37.919 --> 00:23:38.919 Hold to that. 00:23:38.919 --> 00:23:39.919 Hold to the profession. 00:23:39.919 --> 00:23:41.079 Grab hold of it. 00:23:41.079 --> 00:23:42.079 Take it up. 00:23:42.079 --> 00:23:43.819 Live through it and in it. 00:23:43.819 --> 00:23:47.279 But then he says, here's the real power. 00:23:47.279 --> 00:23:48.959 And did you notice where he goes with it? 00:23:48.960 --> 00:23:56.799 He says, I charge you today in the presence of Jesus Christ to keep the commandment. 00:23:56.799 --> 00:24:03.240 And then he says, because he made the good confession before punches pilot. 00:24:03.240 --> 00:24:06.559 And you see, Paul knows how hard this is. 00:24:06.559 --> 00:24:12.240 And he knows that of your own resources, you're going to leave the fight. 00:24:12.240 --> 00:24:15.039 And so he says, today, here's the charge. 00:24:15.039 --> 00:24:20.519 Today you stand in the presence of Jesus Christ and remember where your power comes from. 00:24:20.519 --> 00:24:22.759 He made a confession too. 00:24:22.759 --> 00:24:25.119 He made a profession. 00:24:25.119 --> 00:24:29.680 And he did it where Paul says he did it before punches pilot. 00:24:29.680 --> 00:24:35.960 Now this is talking about in the gospels when Jesus was brought, he was dragged to punches 00:24:35.960 --> 00:24:38.920 pilot to this Roman courtroom. 00:24:38.920 --> 00:24:46.560 And he stood before this very local governor who had very little power in real life. 00:24:46.560 --> 00:24:50.880 And this governor became the judge. 00:24:50.880 --> 00:24:53.000 Punches pilot became the judge. 00:24:53.000 --> 00:24:58.039 Jesus Christ, the judge of all the earth stood in the seat of the accused. 00:24:58.039 --> 00:25:01.000 And punches pilot stood in the seat of the judge. 00:25:01.000 --> 00:25:06.039 And he said, are you the king? 00:25:06.039 --> 00:25:10.680 And Jesus said, you have said it. 00:25:10.680 --> 00:25:16.079 And pilot said, behold the man. 00:25:16.079 --> 00:25:21.680 And the reason that this was happening, despite the fact that pilot did not want this, he 00:25:21.680 --> 00:25:23.079 didn't want Jesus to be there. 00:25:23.079 --> 00:25:25.480 He didn't want the court to meet none of it. 00:25:25.480 --> 00:25:31.680 It's because the religious leaders that wanted Jesus killed, they dragged him to punches 00:25:31.680 --> 00:25:33.399 pilot. 00:25:33.400 --> 00:25:37.640 Because when pilot said, I don't want anything to do with this, try him in your own court. 00:25:37.640 --> 00:25:44.680 They said, pilot, only you have the power in this region to sentence a man to death. 00:25:44.680 --> 00:25:47.160 And they said, we need you. 00:25:47.160 --> 00:25:51.600 If you will not try Jesus, then we can't kill him. 00:25:51.600 --> 00:25:53.360 And we need him to die. 00:25:53.360 --> 00:25:55.120 And so we need you to take up this case. 00:25:55.120 --> 00:26:02.640 And so you see, before the religious leaders, they said, Jesus is a blasphemer because he 00:26:02.640 --> 00:26:03.880 claims to be God. 00:26:03.880 --> 00:26:05.480 That was his confession. 00:26:05.480 --> 00:26:08.280 And then before pilot, they all heard it. 00:26:08.280 --> 00:26:09.280 He said, you hear that? 00:26:09.280 --> 00:26:11.240 He said he was king. 00:26:11.240 --> 00:26:13.080 And so pilot's hands were tied. 00:26:13.080 --> 00:26:14.160 That's what they were saying. 00:26:14.160 --> 00:26:19.600 He is claimed before your face to be king, meaning he's not only committed blasphemy, 00:26:19.600 --> 00:26:22.920 he's committed treason against Caesar. 00:26:22.920 --> 00:26:24.960 And so he has to be punished capital. 00:26:24.960 --> 00:26:26.440 He has to be murdered. 00:26:26.440 --> 00:26:29.560 He has to be tried and committed unto death. 00:26:29.559 --> 00:26:33.359 And so pilot still did not, he still wanted out. 00:26:33.359 --> 00:26:39.440 And so what he did was he took the king and he set him next to Barabbas in the open square. 00:26:39.440 --> 00:26:43.200 And he said, look, I will release Jesus. 00:26:43.200 --> 00:26:45.039 You can have him back. 00:26:45.039 --> 00:26:51.119 This king of yours, or you can have Barabbas, this horrible criminal. 00:26:51.119 --> 00:26:58.039 And this man who's not done anything or this man, and they shouted, we want Barabbas, kill 00:26:58.039 --> 00:27:00.240 him and give us Barabbas. 00:27:00.240 --> 00:27:04.559 And you see what was happening in that moment. 00:27:04.559 --> 00:27:09.799 The innocent one would go to death so that the guilty man may go free. 00:27:09.799 --> 00:27:15.279 And if you're a Christian today, you are Barabbas. 00:27:15.279 --> 00:27:18.799 The innocent one went to die so that you might go free. 00:27:18.799 --> 00:27:19.960 And you see what Paul's saying? 00:27:19.960 --> 00:27:25.440 Paul's saying Jesus went to the court and he made his confession. 00:27:25.440 --> 00:27:29.759 And his confession was I am God and I am king. 00:27:29.759 --> 00:27:31.160 So take my life. 00:27:31.160 --> 00:27:37.080 You see, he's saying he made his confession so that you could be Barabbas, so that you 00:27:37.080 --> 00:27:39.080 could walk away so that you could go free. 00:27:39.080 --> 00:27:42.600 And so he says today, step back into the fight. 00:27:42.600 --> 00:27:46.720 Remember that you've professed faith, but remember that the only power you have to stick 00:27:46.720 --> 00:27:51.360 to it is because Jesus Christ also made a profession in the courtroom. 00:27:51.359 --> 00:27:56.119 And his profession was that he is the king and he is God and he knew that it would kill 00:27:56.119 --> 00:27:57.479 him. 00:27:57.479 --> 00:27:58.479 And he did it. 00:27:58.479 --> 00:28:05.639 In other words, you can struggle today to run away from sin, to take hold of that which 00:28:05.639 --> 00:28:10.599 is good precisely because Christ is with you. 00:28:10.599 --> 00:28:15.519 And the reason he is with you is because nobody was with him. 00:28:15.519 --> 00:28:17.559 Not that day. 00:28:17.559 --> 00:28:22.559 He was all alone so that he could be with you, so that you can have power to step back 00:28:22.559 --> 00:28:25.039 into the fight. 00:28:25.039 --> 00:28:30.599 And so in 2 Timothy 4, Paul says, I have fought the good fight. 00:28:30.599 --> 00:28:32.599 I have run the race. 00:28:32.599 --> 00:28:40.720 I've wrestled and I've run to the finish line, but he says only Jesus can carry me across 00:28:40.720 --> 00:28:42.799 the line. 00:28:42.799 --> 00:28:48.639 And you see, it's only because Jesus Christ lets and dominate him that you now can have 00:28:48.639 --> 00:28:52.319 the power to dominate sin in your life. 00:28:52.319 --> 00:28:58.960 And so thirdly and finally, hear this charge. 00:28:58.960 --> 00:29:04.599 Let the charge wash over you this morning and hear it again as you step back out into 00:29:04.599 --> 00:29:06.599 your normal work week. 00:29:06.599 --> 00:29:11.599 And hear it lastly underneath just the reason for both. 00:29:11.599 --> 00:29:17.359 And here Paul at the very end of the passage, he breaks out into a doxology. 00:29:17.359 --> 00:29:25.719 This doxology is very famous if you buy any theological textbook of any sort versus 15 00:29:25.719 --> 00:29:30.000 and 16 will be quoted in about 100 times. 00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:33.519 He says that God is the only king, power above all powers. 00:29:33.519 --> 00:29:37.079 He's the one who dwells in unapproachable light. 00:29:37.079 --> 00:29:40.919 The point however here is not academic knowledge. 00:29:40.920 --> 00:29:47.160 It's not really to construct a grand theology, but he includes this. 00:29:47.160 --> 00:29:50.680 Why does Paul break into doxology about God at the end of this? 00:29:50.680 --> 00:29:54.000 And the reason is he's saying this. 00:29:54.000 --> 00:29:56.440 Step back into the fight today. 00:29:56.440 --> 00:30:03.640 But the reason, the reason, discipline is not for the sake of discipline. 00:30:03.640 --> 00:30:06.920 Killing your sin is not for the sake of killing your sin. 00:30:06.920 --> 00:30:11.600 Chasing after good, the good is not for the sake of chasing after the good. 00:30:11.600 --> 00:30:17.240 He says the reason to step back into the fight today and to hear the command to fight for 00:30:17.240 --> 00:30:23.519 the life of your heart is to see God. 00:30:23.519 --> 00:30:26.080 That's why he breaks out into doxology. 00:30:26.080 --> 00:30:36.519 He says don't let a quiet time in the morning be a reason to do a quiet time in the morning. 00:30:36.519 --> 00:30:38.920 Don't tick boxes. 00:30:38.920 --> 00:30:40.559 Don't care about any of that. 00:30:40.559 --> 00:30:41.920 Don't worry about that stuff. 00:30:41.920 --> 00:30:43.879 That doesn't matter. 00:30:43.879 --> 00:30:51.879 Instead wake up early in the morning to chase after God, to desire God, to pray and seek 00:30:51.879 --> 00:30:53.960 the face of God. 00:30:53.960 --> 00:30:55.119 Don't do a quiet time. 00:30:55.119 --> 00:30:57.519 Seek the face of God. 00:30:57.519 --> 00:31:00.839 God is the reason for getting back into the fight. 00:31:00.839 --> 00:31:08.279 God is the reason for doing the fight at all because knowing God today and getting God, 00:31:08.279 --> 00:31:09.279 that is the reason. 00:31:09.279 --> 00:31:12.039 And so very quickly, we'll just take two minutes on this. 00:31:12.039 --> 00:31:13.039 This is what Paul says. 00:31:13.039 --> 00:31:17.039 He says in verse 13, one, here's three specific reasons. 00:31:17.039 --> 00:31:22.559 One, verse 13, you stand in the presence of God, specifically in the presence of Christ 00:31:22.559 --> 00:31:23.559 today. 00:31:23.559 --> 00:31:28.439 So Paul knew very well all of us at all moments of our life. 00:31:28.440 --> 00:31:36.440 And Corum deo, before the face of God, God sees the heart absolutely. 00:31:36.440 --> 00:31:42.680 And so he's saying, number one, live today as if God is with you because he is. 00:31:42.680 --> 00:31:50.120 Number two, 15b, he is the, God is the blessed and only ruler, the king of kings, the Lord 00:31:50.120 --> 00:31:51.400 of lords. 00:31:51.400 --> 00:31:53.880 God is above every earthly power. 00:31:53.880 --> 00:31:57.200 He has not only absolute presence in your life. 00:31:57.200 --> 00:32:00.759 He is the absolute power over all existence. 00:32:00.759 --> 00:32:06.400 And so he's saying fight the good fight because living for him is not relative, like living 00:32:06.400 --> 00:32:07.840 for the little gods of this life. 00:32:07.840 --> 00:32:11.640 They come, they go, they break your heart when they leave. 00:32:11.640 --> 00:32:13.080 He doesn't do that. 00:32:13.080 --> 00:32:15.039 He's absolute power. 00:32:15.039 --> 00:32:20.080 And then thirdly and finally, he dwells in unapproachable light. 00:32:20.080 --> 00:32:26.120 Not only can you not see him, but his dwelling is so unapproachable for us because of his 00:32:26.119 --> 00:32:27.399 holiness. 00:32:27.399 --> 00:32:28.959 His holiness is so great. 00:32:28.959 --> 00:32:32.279 It's greater than we can conceive of any greatness. 00:32:32.279 --> 00:32:34.919 And this is it. 00:32:34.919 --> 00:32:40.439 Exodus 3320, because of the holiness of God, no one can see God and live. 00:32:40.439 --> 00:32:41.439 Nobody. 00:32:41.439 --> 00:32:43.799 You cannot see God and live. 00:32:43.799 --> 00:32:50.159 But then he comes to us and says, but chase after him, pursue him, seek him, put on in 00:32:50.160 --> 00:32:56.360 your life right now the eternal life that is to come, be holy, change, grow. 00:32:56.360 --> 00:32:57.360 Why? 00:32:57.360 --> 00:32:59.640 And it's John 1.18. 00:32:59.640 --> 00:33:06.840 John 1.18 says nobody has seen God, but Jesus Christ has made him known. 00:33:06.840 --> 00:33:09.000 And he said, you were made to see God. 00:33:09.000 --> 00:33:11.800 You were made to change for God. 00:33:11.800 --> 00:33:16.720 You were made to experience God even in today, even by faith, not by sight. 00:33:16.720 --> 00:33:20.880 And all of it is because the God that you cannot see, the God is that too holy for you 00:33:20.880 --> 00:33:23.759 to approach, Jesus Christ has made him known. 00:33:23.759 --> 00:33:25.759 He's come down to see you. 00:33:25.759 --> 00:33:35.160 And that means that God must be our life today because he shall be our life in the future. 00:33:35.160 --> 00:33:38.559 And our eyes will see him, Jesus Christ. 00:33:38.559 --> 00:33:41.519 Our eyes will see the living God. 00:33:41.519 --> 00:33:47.400 And so the charge again will give Paul the last word. 00:33:47.400 --> 00:33:52.359 He says, I charge you today to fight the good fight of the faith. 00:33:52.359 --> 00:34:02.759 Today, in our time in just a moment in prayer, pursue the face of God, enter the struggle 00:34:02.759 --> 00:34:10.400 as you step into prepare so that tomorrow you don't just come to do a quiet time. 00:34:10.400 --> 00:34:17.360 You come to seek the living God and to be in the midst of his presence and to let his 00:34:17.360 --> 00:34:20.519 spirit change your desires. 00:34:20.519 --> 00:34:21.880 So let's pray for that now. 00:34:21.880 --> 00:34:26.480 Father, we ask that you would change us. 00:34:26.480 --> 00:34:32.680 And we ask, Lord, that instead of wanting the things of this world more than you, that 00:34:32.680 --> 00:34:38.680 you would change our desires so that we would want you more than the things of this world. 00:34:38.679 --> 00:34:43.279 And we confess our apathy in the midst of the struggle. 00:34:43.279 --> 00:34:47.239 And so we ask, Lord, that you would help us to see how serious your command is here through 00:34:47.239 --> 00:34:49.279 Paul. 00:34:49.279 --> 00:34:50.719 And Lord, we long to grow. 00:34:50.719 --> 00:34:51.879 We long to mature. 00:34:51.879 --> 00:34:56.119 We long to hear and understand that our mission is holiness. 00:34:56.119 --> 00:34:58.279 And so we ask for help. 00:34:58.279 --> 00:35:00.199 And we ask for help in Jesus' name. 00:35:00.199 --> 00:35:10.919 Amen.