How many verses are there in the Bible? The entire Bible. Anyone want to guess?
31,000 31,000 verses in the Bible. And our brother, Johnson, George, came from India.
And spoke on the same exact passage that I'm speaking on this morning. So I guess the Lord wants us to hear it again.
1st Timothy 6 versus 11.
We can turn off this, oh here I'll just do it.
There we go. Timothy 6.
1st Timothy 6. I'm going to go ahead and read. Versus 11 through 16.
1st Timothy 6 11, but you old man of God flee these things and pursue righteousness.
Godliness, faith, love. Patients, gentleness. Fight the good fight a faith, lay hold on eternal life.
To which you are 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 spat. Blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ 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 we honor and everlasting power. Amen. Let's pray.
All right. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this. Passage before us. Lord, I pray that you would undertake for this time.
I pray that your word would go forth. Or we just look to you now and commit this time into your hands.
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen. So just a real quick. A review for those that are joining us today.
Going through the book at Timothy. Finishing up here we'll see today. But.
What we have here in the book of Timothy is Paul. Has left Timothy in Ephesus.
And he wants Timothy to stand. Stand for the truth. Stand for the gospel, stand for the apostolic ministry, the apostolic doctrine.
And church order here in this place. And at the end of the book, we find Paul giving him some exhortations, some some additional charges that he has for young Timothy.
Paul had just identified some of the issues that Timothy is dealing with. They are an Ephesus.
He's dealing with some of these men. Who have different motives. And it says here in 1st Amendment 6 3.
And 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 suspicion.
So there's these men that have impure motives. That are are bringing in strife. To the Lord's people.
And, and Paul says they're proud and they're ignorant. That's a dangerous combination.
You're ignorant and you don't even know it. And it goes on verse 5, useless wranglings.
A man with of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.
From such withdrawal yourself. So these are men that are using the outward. Religiosity, right?
The outward godly making themselves look godly for personal gain.
Self promotion. Men of ambition trying to make a name for themselves. Trying to seek a following.
And of course this is just pride. Not consenting to the Word of God, causing strife.
And their true motivation it comes down to Like I said, that personal gain. Supposing godliness that outward appearance of godliness is a means of gain.
And then he goes on, he says, Verse 9, but those who desire to be rich. Fall into temptation in a snare.
Verse 10, for the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. So here we see these men.
Seeking position. All just for their own personal gain. Self-destruction. It says, Verse 9, but those who desire to be rich fall into temptation in a snare and to many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction.
And tradition. So these are things that are happening there in his midst. But then he goes on, he says, verse 11.
But you. But you, O man, of God. Flee these things. And pursue righteousness.
Godliness, faith, love, patience. Gentleness. He says, flee these things.
And that's why I read that. Passage before because so we understand what things Paul is talking about.
Flee these things. And in one word, you could say, worldliness, worldliness. Take a look at 1st John 2.
I think this sums it up really well.
Flee this worldliness. It says. In 1st John 2 15.
Do not love the world. Or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world. The loss of the flesh. The lust of the eyes. And the pride of life is not of the Father.
But as of the world. Doesn't that sound like these men? Filled with the lust of the flesh, lust the eyes, the pride of life, like I said, trying to make something of themselves.
Tal says to Timothy, flee. These things. Flee these things. So how do we do that?
How do we flee these things? We remember our brother mentioned this last week as well. Joseph, there in Potfer's household.
He fled, he physically ran. He fled temptation. These type of things. They're not necessarily things you can actually run away from.
Literally. How do we flee these things? That we that that comes up. Well, one of the one of the ways that we flee these things is having Proper perspective.
And proper perspective and a right attitude about these things. Paul addresses it right here at 1st Timothy.
Back in 1st Timothy 6. He says here in verse 6, now godliness with contentment.
Is great gain. So we need to have our attitude. Adjusted our perspective we need a higher perspective to deal with this worldliness that can seep into our hearts and minds.
Godliness with contentment is great gain. There's great gain. In contentment. It says, for we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
There's nothing that we came into this world with and there's nothing we can take with us.
We need to have that proper expectation or proper perspective. And having food and clothing with these we shall be content.
That's 1 way to deal with. How to flee from these things. Is to have the right attitude.
We get that from scripture. We get the truth. And the truth leads us in the right direction.
Take a look at Luke 12. Here's another example of the scripture. Giving us the proper perspective.
Luke 12.
For 16.
He says, the Lord speaking here, he says, then he spoke a parable to them saying, the ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully.
And he thought within himself saying, what shall I do since I have no room to store my crops?
So he said, I will do this. I will do this. I will pull down my barns and build greater.
And there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, soul, you have many good, laid up.
For many years, take your ease, eat, drink. And be merry. Sounds like he's set for life.
Building his and concern about only his life. Here in this time. But then he says, first, st but then he says in verse 20, But God said to him.
This night your soul will be required of you. Then who will those things be which you have provided? So is he who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich.
Toward God. So. We get the right perspective. About these things that we are to flee, this worldliness that we are to flee.
The right perspective. This man built, tried to build himself. These barns with all of his provisions.
For years and he could just ease back. Not concerned with anyone else. Doesn't say anything about a family.
Who's going to have all these things when you're gone? Going to have it? It's gone.
There's no value to you. The Lord says your soul is required of you. Today. So.
We live for this the next life, right? That's where our eyes should be. It says.
So is he who lays up treasure for himself. Where our treasure is, there will our hearts be.
Also. So back there in 1st Timothy. So this Here's an example, like I said, of getting the proper perspective on these things.
But there's also a way. That we can. Of.
Deal with these temptations that come into our lives.
So we are to flee one way, but it says that we're also supposed to follow after something else.
We're supposed to follow something else. We don't just run away from something, we run towards something.
And it says here, verse 11, But you all men of God flee these things and pursue. There's something that we need to be pursuing.
And as a matter of fact, there's some one. We need to be pursuing. It says.
Flee these things and pursue righteousness. Godliness, faith. Love, patience. Gentleness or meekness.
Now, when you read these characteristics. Righteousness, godliness. Let's say faithfulness.
Love. Patience, gentleness, who does that sound like?
Who is that? Who does that perfectly?
The Lord Jesus Christ.
That's who this describes.
The Christian life is. Christ.
Here is what is before us the morning in this passage. Worldliness or Christ likeness?
We have to choose. Are we going to pursue this way? Worldliness or are we going to pursue?
Christ likeness. So many of the old hymns. That we sing or to be like thee.
Blessed Redeemer. I just want to be more like him.
Another song. He's changing me. He's changing me from earthly things to the heavenly.
See, he's not done with us. When we come to him, as a sinner. We need him, he saves us, he declares us righteous.
But he's not done with us. He wants to continue to work in our lives. He wants to change us.
He wants to make us righteous in our actions.
He's changing me.
Take a look at Matthew 11.
How do we flee these things? How do we? Pursue him.
Here is.
The Lord gives us. Some wonderful instructions.
Matthew 11. Verse 28. Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden.
And I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn. From me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest.
For your souls, for my yoke is easy. And my burden is light. He says, take my yok upon you and learn of me.
He wants us to learn about him. He knows that we're not like him. He knows that.
So a yoke, a yoke would be used. A beast of burdens, right? Oxen perhaps.
And they would put a wood in yolk. Connect its neck and then they would have a they would have an older, more mature ox on one side that kind of knew the job and they would bring a younger one and they would connect it to this yoke so they were yoke together.
When the older one would look this way, the younger one would. You'd have to look that way too.
Eventually he'd start to understand and know the yoke and understand what he was supposed to do. Get in the yoke with the Lord Jesus.
He can teach us. About himself. To be more like him. And I think that's what.
That's what we're talking about here today, back in 1st Timothy.
1st Timothy 6. Let's go through this.
But you, a man of God. Flee these things, verse 11. And pursue righteousness.
Again, this is. Think about our Lord Jesus Christ. Think of His righteousness. The Lord Jesus displayed absolute perfect righteousness and everything that he did.
He always did what was right. When Peter went to speak to the Gentile Cornelius in Acts chapter 10, Peter said to him, He went about doing good.
He was talking to Cornelius about the Lord Jesus. He said, he went about doing. Good.
Everything he did.
As I said, our justification when we come to Lord Jesus, for salvation, he declares this righteous.
But he wants us to be proud. In our righteousness, in our actions. He can teach us.
Righteousness. It says they're Pursue righteousness, godliness.
So the Lord Jesus, he perfectly displays godliness in every possible way. He is devoted.
To the heavenly father. Says, for I always do those things. That please him. That was personal devotion, wanting to please the Father.
He can teach us. How to please the Father.
Faith. It says. Pursue righteousness, godliness. Faith or trust.
Dependence. Confidence. Lord Jesus was completely confident. Dependent on the Heavenly Father.
He displayed complete trust. In the Heavenly Father when he came here into this world. Take a look at 1st Peter 2.
1st Peter 2.
Yeah.
Peter holds up our Lord Jesus as an example to us.
The context here is in the midst of suffering.
And it says here. Verse 21, 1st Peter 221.
For to this you were called. Because Christ also suffered for us. Leaving us an example that you should follow his steps.
Now here's speaking of the Lord Jesus who committed no sin. Nor was deceit found in his mouth.
Who when he was reviled did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten.
But committed himself to him. Who judges righteously.
He didn't feel the Lord Jesus didn't feel like he had to vindicate himself. At that time.
He will. He will. But at that time he committed himself, Lord, you know. The father knows.
Whatever you're going through right now, the father knows. Maybe we feel like we need to assert ourselves and make things right.
Sometimes we can't. Sometimes we just need to trust. Or do you know? You will make it right.
He committed himself to him. Who judges righteously, I can rest. In that.
Back there in 1st 1st Timothy.
1st Timothy 6. Righteousness, godliness. Faith and love. Think about our Lord how much he loved.
Us. He knows everything about us. There's nothing that. We can hide from him.
He knows all of the sin and darkness in our hearts. He knows all about it. Yet he loves us, unconditionally.
The Lord can't love us any more than he already does.
Right? There's nothing I can do to make him love me more. There's nothing I can do to make him love me less.
It is unconditional, it is agape. Love. Take a look at first, st excuse me, John, 15, John 15.
John 15 verse 9
The father loved me I also have loved you. Abide in my love. As the father loves the son.
The sun loves us. Unbelievable. Verse 12. This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you.
Can I'm sorry, we don't have that kind of love in us. That's not going to be found in us.
That's only in our Lord Jesus. That's only when we get into the yoke, right?
And we learn from him. His life in us. That we could possibly ever love as he loves.
Love your enemies, he says. Matthew 6, 43, love your enemies. I can't do that.
So, yes, we love each other. We're to love each other. We're to love our enemies.
Again, I can't do that. But that's why it's not based upon my abilities, right?
It's all. Him. The Christian life is Christ. Back there in 1st Timothy.
Righteousness, godliness, faith, love. Patience. The patience of our Lord Jesus Christ.
No, some of your translations may say steadfastness. Or endurance. Inured. Think about what the Lord Jesus endured.
So the word itself there. It means to remain under. To remain under. So think of the Lord.
He remained under the weight of the cross. Right? The sins of the whole world, he remained under that weight.
Says for the joy set before him, he endured the cross.
And He carried the terrible weight of the sins of the whole world on himself. Do you think he can teach us how to?
Carry the load. That we have today.
He can. Learn of me, right? Learn of him. He can teach us.
Whatever we're going through, whatever. Trials that we face.
He can teach us to bear. That load.
1st Timothy 6.
Lastly, Righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience. Gentleness or meekness.
I like that word meek. We don't use it very often. Because it's kind of confusing.
Meek? What does that mean? We think about a little meek mouse running around. That's really not.
The biblical term meek.
Meekness. Is a quiet confidence. It's a quiet confidence. There's no need for me to try to prove myself.
Because there's a confidence in me. I don't need to try to. You know, promote myself.
I don't need to try to. Assert myself. Look at me. Right?
You don't need to do them. Not meekness.
A quiet confidence, someone who's meek doesn't always feel the need to forcefully assert oneself.
You know, you're driving on the road and somebody cuts you off. Like, hey. I'm going to bang into him with my car, bumper cars.
Sometimes you wish you would want to do that, right? Meekness is, you know, I don't need to assert myself, okay?
All right, somebody cut me off.
I'm not I'm not here. I don't need to prove anything, right?
Of meekness is holding power in check. Our Lord Jesus held his power in check. He could have called a legion of angels and destroyed the entire Roman Empire if you wanted to.
To rescue himself from the cross. But he didn't. Take a look at Hebrews one.
He can teach us to be meek.
Hebrews one.
Think about our Lord Jesus.
It says in verse 3. I mean, you could read this whole passage, but. Just this one.
Well, let's read verse 2. Speaking of God, the Father has in these last days spoken to us by his son whom he has appointed heir of all things.
Through whom also he made the worlds. This is the power of our Lord Jesus. Who being the brightness of his glory.
And the express image of his person and upholding all things. By the word of his power.
When he had by himself purged our sins, sat down in the right hand of majesty and high.
So think about this. Lord Jesus, upholding all things by the word of his power just the absolute power.
Of our Lord Jesus. You know, in Revelation one. John, the Apostle John, sees an image of the.
View of the glorified Lord Jesus Christ and he just falls down in fear. Of who this man is.
The Lord Jesus. And yet.
A little child could come and sit on his lap. That's meekness, He can teach us meekness.
Back there in 1st Timothy.
1st Timothy 6.
Goes on. Fight the good fight of faith. Fight the good fight a fay. This is a You know, the Olympics are coming up, so we see the Olympics.
We see people working very hard. The word actually there is agony. To agonize. Hmm.
Fight the good fight of faith. What they go through to prepare for their athletic games We're to fight the good fight.
It's a contest. We're in a contest. We're in a battle. We fight.
The good fight of faith. Lay hold on eternal life. Get it. Get a hold of what you already have.
Get a hold of it, appropriate what's already ours. We belong to him. He's blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places.
We lay hold on him.
We thank him for what we already have.
In him and learn to depend on his resources, appropriate what's already ours. Verse 12. Sorry, it goes on.
They hold on internal life. To which you are also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence.
Of many witnesses. You know, Timothy, so here Paul is. He's commending him that he gave a good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
Perhaps this was when he got saved. In his life perhaps baptized. And he gave a good confession.
He was bold in his proclamation of a testimony, a witness. To what had happened in his life.
Then Paul lifts up our Lord Jesus in the same way. It says in verse 13, I give you in the sight of God who gives life to all things and before Christ Jesus.
Who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate. He points back the Lord Jesus was bold.
Before pilot, the man who who thought that he had the power to take his life. He was bold.
He gave a good confession. And Paul lifts up again the Lord can help us. Give a good confession, give a good profession, a good witness.
In this world. You know, Paul could have said here, you know, I gave a good confession too, right?
We just heard on Wednesday. He was standing before King Agrippa. You know, and he, he laid it out and he was sharing the gospel and.
You know, he was very bold, but Paul didn't point at himself. He didn't say, look at me, he said, look at Jesus.
Look at what he did. Look at him. He can teach you. To be a bold witness for him.
And then. Verse 14.
So actually. If you, in the beginning of verse 13, he says, I urge you in the sight of God.
So this is another charge, it's another exhortation. I urge you in the sight of God, it says that you keep This commandment without spot.
Blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ. Appear. That's our motivation. Our Lord Jesus is coming back.
He is coming back. Now this word appearing is epiphany. Epiphany, you've heard that, epiphany.
It's the brightness. The brightness of his coming. There's coming a day when
This light, this brightness will shine.
And if we know the Lord Jesus There is a completely different. Experience for those that know the Lord Jesus.
Than those who don't. At this time. In fact, there's Probably a couple different.
Times you're mentioned, it's just the brightness, right, the brightness, who he is.
This is our divine motivation.
We are, we pursue him. We seek him, we follow after him. Because one day we're going to stand before him.
We're going to stand before him. One day.
Take a look at 1st John. Again, 1st John.
1st John 2.
Actually, that's just let's just do
Verse 3. I'm sorry, 1st John 3. Verse one.
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called the children of God, therefore the world does not know us because it did not know him.
Beloved, now are we the children of God and it has not yet appeared? I'm sorry, it has not yet been revealed what we shall be.
But we know that when he is revealed, we shall be like him. For we shall see him as he is.
He is going to be revealed.
And we're going to be like him.
For we shall see him as he is. And then it says here and everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure.
See if we know that the Lord Jesus is coming back. It's going to make a difference in our lives.
If this is our hope, if we're waiting for this. It's going to make a difference.
It's going to make a difference. You know, if, in Matthew 24 talks about the unfaithful servants that says the Lord is going to delay his coming.
He's not coming. And then it suddenly changed his whole. Behaviour it says he began to beat his servants.
Because all the Lord's delaying his coming, he's not coming back. It makes a difference.
In our hope. It makes a difference in how we live. Because of him coming again. Let's take a look at what's going to happen.
In the world. You know I talked about
There's this worldliness. And there's this Christ likeness.
And the world, the pathway that the world is on, the pathway that if you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ.
In Revelation 6, a brother Bob said being revelation this morning and Sure enough, we are here.
Revelation 6 verse 12.
Revelation 6 12 I looked and when he opened the 6th seal and behold there was a great earthquake and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair and the moon became like blood and the stars of heaven fell to the earth.
As a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up and every mountain an island was moved out of its place.
This is going to happen. This is going to happen. You know, this little bubble of time and space that we live in.
One day it's just going to get torn open like a scroll. The glory of the Lord Jesus Christ is going to be seen.
That light that's going that epiphany that light is going to come into this world. What does it say here?
It says mountains and islands are just going to be shoved out of the way. This is going to happen.
And it says verse 15. And the kings of the earth and the great men and the rich men and the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man hid themselves in the caves.
In the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb.
For the great day of his wrath has come and who is able to stand. They would rather a mountain fall on them than they have to face that light in that day.
Hmm. Today is the day of salvation. Today is the day come to him today. And you'll have a completely different experience.
In that day. You will see him as he is in that glory and you'll be like him.
That's our hope. That's what we have. That's our. Glorious future when you know the Lord Jesus Christ.
He's making me more like him. You know it says that the day grows brighter and brighter until that perfect day.
There's going to be a day when we're going to see him and we're going to be like him.
Amen.
So with that. Will end our time. He's making us like him.
We have a choice before us. Worldliness. Right? The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life.
Or Christ's likeness to be like him. He can teach us how to be like him.
He can teach us how to. Deal with the things of this world of every day. Sorrows that we deal with trials.
Temptations. He can help us with all of these things.
So with that, let's close in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you. For this time, we thank you that we can.
Have a wonderful hope of the future. We thank you that our Lord Jesus Christ is coming again. We thank you that we can.
Prepare for that day. Or that we can purify ourselves even as he is pure, that we can.
Seek after you and seek your your will in our lives. And follow after you. We thank you for that wonderful yoke of Christ that you will teach us.
Where we just thank you and praise you for all these things. We commit the rest of this day into your hands.
The name of our Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.