1 Timothy 6:11-16
October 11, 2009

Exordium: I want to start at the end of this passage. Paul’s great exhortation to Timothy and to each one of us who aspires to be a person of God – leads to the mountaintop. That is where this section ends – at the summit.

From below, Paul shows Timothy the summit he is trying to reach. That gives a person perspective on the climb, by constantly looking at that majestic mountain peak. The top is hidden from him, not by clouds, or by darkness, but by light. Glorious resplendent light – light brighter than the greatest sun. He is not blinded by the lack of light but by a great excess of light, so strong that no one can go there. No one can approach that light.

That summit is the presence of God- unapproachable, yet the whole Bible is a grand invitation. “Draw near to Me.” “Come to Me”, “Open the door and I will come in.” What is the meaning of God calling us to come to Him and yet holding us off by the splendor of His light?

The light is His holiness. Surrounding him, defining Him, protecting Him from unholiness. Because His nature is holiness that is purity, and signifies His being utterly cut off from all the stain of sin. “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.” (1John 1:5)

The light expresses the requirement of one who would approach God – summarized in the book of Hebrews by the words “without holiness shall no one see the Lord.” No wonder John writes in His first letter, “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another.”

Instead of the light excluding us and shutting us out, it gathers us in. Like is drawn to like, holiness is drawn to holiness because, by the blood of Christ, we enter into the presence of God Himself.

How is this possible? Here Paul, by the Spirit, instructs his son in the faith, Timothy whom he calls “the man of God”. That is one who is dedicated to Him, called by Him, set apart for Him, and not a man who is known as a man of wealth, or a man of the world, or a man of business, or a man of learning, but a man of God.

Paul gives him specific guidance in steps that lead into the unapproachable light of God. This is not unheard of. Moses came there on the Mount Sinai and was given a sight of God’s glory. Jacob came so close to God in His broken repentance over sinning against his brother that he wrestled with God all night. He had longed to close the gap and come nearer to God. Wrestling with God is a picture of Jacob’s trying to approach the unapproachable. God expects every Christian to lead a holy life. Holiness is a joint venture between God’s enabling and the Christians taking the steps needed. Paul list four stages in the growth toward holiness. David, chaser after God’s heart, said “In Your light, we shall see light.”

Likewise there is a place for you in the bosom of God. You too can approach the unapproachable. What must take place in us before the light breaks in?

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THERE MUST BE AN EMPTYING AND A FILLING

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Flee from the very things that Paul has been exposing to Timothy in the false teachers. The love of money, pride, useless quarreling and bickering, harmful lusts, greediness, sins of the flesh as well as of the spirit. Run don’t walk to the nearest exit from all of these.

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In their place pursue the Christian virtues that make for holiness. It isn’t God who has to change for you to get near Him; it is you, O man of God, and woman of God.

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The virtues are listed in pairs.

Righteousness- all our relation to God, and obedience to His law, trust and reverence toward Him, with all devotion and prayer. God wants us to aim at obedience rather than victory. Victory is the by-product of obedience.

Godliness- practical religion.

Faith and love are two essentials to a holy life

Faith here involves faithfulness. “The greatest ability is dependability.”

Love is that unselfish love that sacrifices itself for the sake of others.

Patience here means endurance, “stick to-it-ive-ness”. That is, staying with the task when the going gets rough. It is not a complacency that waits but a courage that continues in hard places.

Gentleness or meekness is not the same as meekness, but it is power under control. Endurance without meekness would make a person a tyrant.

Pursue these things, all of them, as essential to holiness. Go after them as for silver or gold.

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FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH

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There is only one good fight. It is the fight of faith, that is, the fight that seeks to win souls, to overcome evil, and to build up Christ’s kingdom through the Church.

But it is a fight because there is an enemy who is unscrupulous in his ways, resorting to every kind of evil to achieve his wicked ends. But we are called to wage war only according to the Word of God and the principles of God. And it is war. It is terribly serious and more real than any of the wars we have seen on Television. The battle is first within ourselves, and then with the enemies outside ourselves.

The word for fight is agon which is the struggle both of the soldier and the athlete. Its picture is not only fighting, but fighting with agony. That is with all your physical, mental, spiritual strength resisting the devil and his henchmen, overcoming temptation, coming against the world, the flesh and the devil with all the might which he pours into you. Temptation comes mainly from our desires. We must make sure our desires are directed toward the glory of God and not to satisfy the efforts or our bodies.

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LAY HOLD ON ETERNAL LIFE

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The believer has life from the fountain of life, and it is eternal life, a new kind of life, life of a different quality.

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When that life was quickened in me there were:

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New perceptions, new emotions, new desires.
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New eyes with which to see the invisible
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New ears with which to hear the voice of God that was before inaudible.
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New touch with which to get a grip on divine things.
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New taste by which I could taste and see that the Lord is good
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I was ushered into a new world which gave me new relationships and new privileges.

It is a life superior to that of common life. It is eternal life.

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Part of entering into holiness is to possess that kind of life with a firm grip. That is to live within it, to make it your own. So that you are already experiencing some of the exhilaration and blessing of the life to come. You have your feet on the ground, but you have your head in the “heavenlies”. When George Stephenson first conceived of the steam engine, he got the notion into his brain so that it became a natural part of his life and thought. We must do the same with the holiness of God.

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Each Lord’s Day when you come to worship, you find a sample of eternal life. Own it as yours. Do not hope for it in the future, but have it now. In part, remembering I want to be a heavenly person, to have some of the fragrance of heaven upon me. Walking in the atmosphere of Heaven with the spirit of Christ upon me, while I am still down to earth.

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“To this you have been called when you made your confession of faith before many witnesses”. You believed in your heart and confessed with your mouth – the requirement for a good confession. Now live that confession out in the pursuit of holiness.

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Live in the light of heaven and you will begin to realize the presence of the God of unapproachable light.

IV. KEEP THE COMMANDMENT SPOLTLESS AND BLAMELESS

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The Commandment is the whole Christian truth which you have received from our mother, grandmother, and Paul – the whole Christian truth that you have embraced. Hold it fast; don’t part with any part of it.

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Don’t leave any stain on it or mark of any kind. Let it be as pure and shining as it was given to you when you pass it on to others who come after you, because you carry out the commandment you have received in the sight of God who gives life to all things. He is the “life-quickener”. When they see your life, may then not find fault with the “commandment.”

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Don’t try to keep this commandment in your own strength. God will lift up your discouraged soul, your tired body, and your exhausted nervous system.

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Paul knew this renewing, strengthening power of God. He wrote, “as dying, and behold we live.”

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“And before Christ who witnessed a good confession before Pilate”. Jesus knew what stress was, as he stood before the Roman governor after a night of being scourged and beaten. When Pilate asked him if He was the king of the Jews, His answer cost Him his life. “It is as you say.” For this cause was a born and for this cause I am come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.” Not only do you have Christ’s example of witness and steadfastness before your eyes, but you have also this victory over the enemy, because He was raised from the dead and made “Prince to Savior.” These two experiences of Christ have their counterparts in our lives as well and we are to draw inspiration and courage from them.

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O Timothy, man of God, Mary, woman of God, David, man of God, Jordan, woman of God, follow that example of steadfast courage that did not wince in the face of certain suffering and death. What an example Paul puts before us here!

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THIS FIGHT, THIS PURSUIT, THIS GROWING IN HOLINESS WILL NOT BE FOR A DAY, BUT FOR A LIFETIME AND UNTIL HE APPEARS.

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We are in an endurance race – the grave is the intermediate goal, but heaven is the finish line. The race goes on beyond the grave.

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Still it may be, and only He knows, perhaps He will step out onto the track, the battlefield, all of a sudden, and holding up His right arm of victory, He will halt the struggle, and appear in all His glory to His own and reward them with the sight of His own glorious presence. He will say, “Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

Then we shall see as we are seen, know as we are known, and every sacrifice, every suffering, every abstinence, every self-denial made in His cause and for His people, will seem like nothing compared to the sight of His face. If, having not seen Him, we loved Him, how much more shall we throw our arms around His neck once we see Him as He is. At last, we will approach Him in the light where He lives and we shall live there with Him forever.

Glen C. Knecht