A Charge to a Man of God — Part Two

0:39 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. Father, I pray that you might take my words and speak through them, that you will take our minds and help us to think through them, and that you will take our hearts and set them on fire with love for the Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen. The directive of Paul can be seen in these two verses by focusing on the imperatives, the verbs which he uses to call Timothy to a particular life of action. We do well to remind ourselves, incidentally, as we move towards the close of our studies, that Paul gives the context of his writing in the fifteenth verse of chapter 3, where he talks about how people should conduct themselves in the house of God. And in Philip's paraphrase of those verses, we have these words, At the moment of writing, I hope to be with you soon, but if there should be any considerable delay, then what I have written will show you the sort of character men of God's household ought to have—the sort of character and conduct which should mark men and women within the framework of God's church. And to that express purpose, Paul has ordered under the direction of the Holy Spirit the material in this letter, and has spoken regarding the conduct of various groups, as we have seen. And at this point, as he begins to move to a close, he is now giving an express and solemn charge to this young man Timothy as he exercises his duties in pastoral ministry.

2:43 Now, his first word to him that we noticed last time was the word, flee, run away from, split, don't have anything to do with all the stuff that I've just been mentioning to you. And he has been talking about an inordinate love of money, the mistaking of godliness as a means of gain, squabbling, an unhealthy interest in controversy, and so on. Timothy, he says, don't let your ministry be marred by these things. Don't ever let it be marked by these things. Instead, knowing what you must flee, let me tell you now what you must pursue. And do you remember we said last time that our Christian maturity can in large measure be determined by asking ourselves, what am I running from and what am I running to? Because the Bible constantly brings to us that polarization. Paul does it with frequency. In Colossians 3, since you have been raised with Christ, you seek those things which are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Then he says, put off all that is of your earthly nature. And then he lists a sorry litany of things that are not to be like clothes worn by the Christian. But he doesn't want the Christian then to run around naked, as it were. He says, I want you to put on, in turn, compassion and kindness and godliness and so on. Let him who steals, steal no longer. Straightforward. And then he says, but let him do something profitable with his hands. So it's not just that he is—Timothy's ministry is a call to say no. It is a call to say no, but it is a call to say yes. And the life which simply learns to say no without at the same time learning to say yes will be barren and bereft of the purposes of God. So he has moved from the flee to the follow, if you like, pursue.

4:36 The way hounds chase a fox, a single focused commitment to a clearly understood objective. As we landed last evening in the tail end of what I think must have been a thunderstorm, I was hoping very much that the gentleman in the left-hand seat had a single focused commitment to a clearly understood objective. And judging by the fact that we are present and correct this morning, he obviously did and was successful in attaining his charge. You gentlemen who are involved in business know that it is absolutely essential that within the framework of your corporation, you understand and those who work with you understand that you are committed to clearly understood objectives. And the Christian life has clearly understood objectives. We're not simply wandering aimlessly in the track of Jesus of Nazareth. We're not simply interested in doing whatever takes our fancy or being swayed by one particular group going in one direction or by going with whatever our instinct on a particular day happens to be—not if we are determining to go the way of Christ, not if we are going to go the way of Paul. Now, so he says, I want you to pursue these things, and let me tell you what they are, and he lists six virtues. It's been suggested quite helpfully that these six virtues can be gathered in three pairs. And I have decided to do that, I figured it may take less time than if we left them as six individuals. Although, judging by the first service, I'm not so sure of the wisdom of that. But anyway, first of all, and together, righteousness and godliness. Pursue righteousness and godliness.

6:33 Dikaios sunae is the word that is used for righteousness here, and when you find it referred to people in the New Testament, it virtually always conveys the idea of conduct that is in accord with God's will and is pleasing to him. So when you see that word righteousness, and you say, well, what does it really mean? What am I pursuing? We are pursuing a conduct that is in accordance with God's will and is pleasing to him. Now, like all Christian virtues, this is brought about by the transforming work of Christ. Paul is not calling these individuals here to try and muster up in their own strength a certain kind of lifestyle. The Christian life is not like a Christmas tree with ornaments attached that can be easily disengaged. But the Christian life is like a genuine tree which has grown through the wintertime now and is beginning to produce buds on its branches. And the reason that there are buds appearing on the branches is because there is life within the trunk. And what he is reminding these people of is that the life of Christ as it pulsates through the believer will evidence itself in a number of ways. So we are actually being called to pursue what it is that God, by his Spirit is determined to produce. So there need be no concern that we're going to be unachievers or poor achievers, because as soon as we, as it were, put our hands to the plow, we discover that God works by his Spirit to enable us to that which he has called us.

8:14 Philippians chapter 1 and verse 11, he prays for the Philippian believers. He says, I pray that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ. How does the fruit of righteousness appear? Through the Lord Jesus Christ. If you cross-reference that, and you will do so helpfully, with Romans chapter 14 and verse 17, Paul says, The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. In other words, he's saying to these people, don't think for a moment that you can take the Christian life and turn it simply into a whole succession of external rigmaroles. No, he says, the kingdom of God is about righteousness, it's about peace, it's about joy in the Holy Spirit. So, in other words, it is that which God engenders within us that he then calls us to pursue. Because by nature, we don't want to do the right thing. By nature, we want to do the wrong thing. By nature, we err and stray from his ways like lost sheep. So the Word of God comes to shine on our path and say, Do you want to know how to be righteous? Read this book. 2 Timothy 3.16, All Scripture is inspired by God, is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.

9:43 There doesn't need to be a great mystery about it. You say, Okay, I understand. I haven't been pursuing righteousness. I want to pursue righteousness. What should I do? Read your Bible. What should I do? Study the Word. What should I do? Sit under the instruction of God's Word. The righteous judge has a crown of righteousness laid up for those who pursue righteousness. And it is not that in our pursuit we seek to make ourselves acceptable to God. it is in our pursuit that we reveal the wonder of the fact that God in Christ has accepted us.

10:20 Now, to that word, he adds the word godliness, eusebia. And this word godliness he has used again with frequency throughout. In verse 2 of chapter 2, he urges them to live quiet lives in godliness and holiness. In verse 16 of chapter 3, he says the mystery of godliness is great. In verse 7 of chapter 4, he says, Don't mess around with godless myths and old wild tales. Rather, train yourself to be godly. In chapter 6 and verse 6, he says, Godliness with contentment is great gain. So it's hardly a surprise when he says, Okay, Timothy, let me tell you not what to chase or what not to chase. Let me tell you what to chase. Chase a rightness in your conduct, and chase a godliness in your dealings. Now, the word godliness or spiritual fitness is expressive of an old word which has fallen into disrepute, and the word is piety.

11:20 And the word piety is usually mentioned in a kind of negative and derogatory term, even when it is mentioned amongst believing people. It would be one thing if those who are secular sought to distance themselves from what they thought was pious. But the remarkable thing is to move in the company of God's people and hear them talking about piety and dismissing it. Do you understand what we're dismissing? We're dismissing what Paul says to Timothy. We're to pursue. We can't dismiss what we are to pursue without impoverishing ourselves, reducing our impact in the surrounding culture. And one of the reasons that we have such little impact is because we have distanced ourselves from the very things that will make us distinctive. Church doesn't make us distinctive in itself. Religious interest doesn't even make us distinctive. A concern for spiritual things only puts us on a par with millions of people all across this nation.

12:24 It's going to have to be something else. And it is. Now, there is no question that there is a legalism and a self-deceit that is wrapped up in false kinds of piety. Jesus abhorred that stuff in the Pharisees. He told them, Hey, I hope you enjoyed the people looking at you and saying, my, that's a long prayer. He says, Because that is all the reward you're getting. I hope you enjoyed putting your money in the box, he said, and having the people look and say, My, looks like he dumped quite a bit in there. Jesus says, I hope you enjoyed that, because that's all that you're getting. He said, But if you want to practice your deeds of piety, go in such a way that you don't let your left hand know what your right hand's doing, and your God who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you say your prayers, go into your closet and close the door and express the intimacy of your dealings with God in that way. Don't use the public forum as a profile for the displaying of your own particular affections.

13:26 That's what he was saying. Don't draw attention to yourself. Be godly. Be pious. Now, I got stuck on this, I must tell you, when I was studying, and so you're gonna get stuck here for a wee while yourselves. Because this hit me like a two-by-four just right on the head. I never got past godliness. I said, okay, godliness. Would anybody ever say, ever use this description in relationship to my life and conduct. See, that's the real test. Forget the congregation for a moment. I'm preaching this sermon to myself up the stairs here.

14:21 You just get to hear stuff that I preach up the stairs. And I went then, back a few years, actually to the seventeenth century, to try and find out something about piety and godliness. Because I couldn't find very much in the twentieth century, and some of the stuff in the nineteenth century seemed a little bit sentimental. The eighteenth century had some good spots, but I had to get to the seventeenth century to find a book by Lewis Bailey called The Practice of Piety. And it has been quite staggering to read this, and I want to read just a couple of comments to you from it. And this will take time, but believe me, I'm not trying to fill in time. I think you know me well enough by now. I don't need to fill in time. I'm reading this purposefully. It's a little archaic, and I have to read it slowly. But let me give you—this is the thought that struck me. There seems to be a direct correlation between the ordering of a life in terms of the use and abuse of time, money,

15:35 talent, and appetite—there's a correlation between the way in which we use those resources that God has given us and the experience of a pursuit of godliness or otherwise. And I further said to myself, I'm not sure but that my life at the moment isn't completely set up to mitigate against the very thing that I'm being called to pursue. That all of the elements that are in it, all of the time that is expended, all of the bits and pieces that are there, as with your lives—and I don't mean for one second that I would be distinct in that. I'm assuming myself to be standing beside you in these observations. But I'm saying to myself, I think the whole structure of my life prevents the pursuit of godliness. And it was driven home when I began to read Bailey again, whom I have read before and quoted in, I think, Made for His Pleasure. But let me give you a little flavor of it, what I'm meaning by this. He has a chapter entitled, Duties in the Holy Assembly, which being interpreted is what you ought to do when you're in public worship.

16:55 And he has a subsection entitled, When the Sermon is Ended. Now, you know I've said to you that it probably would be a good idea, when the sermon ends, to sit at least for 15 seconds and reflect upon what happened, rather than trying to be the first one out of the parking lot. Now, I know some of you are going for medical concerns and some for elderly infirmities and some of you for legitimate things. I'm not addressing that. I understand that in children's concerns. But I'm just saying that there was value in that. When we were silent this morning, incidentally, didn't it seem like a long time? I said, we'll take a moment in silence. It was 60 seconds, that was all. It felt to some of us like 25 minutes, because we never, ever take a moment in total silence. So he says, When the sermon is ended, beware thou depart not like the nine lepers. Till for thine instruction to saving health, thou hast returned thanks and praise to God by an after-prayer and singing of a psalm. And when the blessing is pronounced, stand up to receive thy part therein, and hear it as if Christ himself, whose minister he is, did pronounce the same unto thee. For in this case it is true," quoting Luke 10, "'He that heareth you heareth me.' And the Sabbath day is blessed, because God hath appointed it to be the day wherein by the mouth of his ministers he will bless his people who hear his word and glorify his name." That, loved ones, is what we believe about the preaching of the Word. That is why we want silence when we preach.

18:48 That is why we want the opportunity to have any kind of interference removed, because we actually believe that the mouth of God is heard through the mouth of a man. Is it wrong to anticipate that? You see, it is because we have such a low view of what is taking place in preaching that we would accommodate every other imaginable thing along with it. But as soon as we would think for a moment that God himself would speak through the voice of a mere man, then it changes the agenda completely. And he says, It is on the Lord's day that he is appointed, that by the mouth of his ministers he will bless his people.

19:33 That's why you don't ever want to get up here unless you're sent here. You don't ever want to stand here except by divine appointment. You don't ever want to think for 15 seconds that it would be easy or good or fun or whatever else it is. It is a solemn, sobering thing to stand between Almighty God and the people of God, knowing that you will give an account for every word you have spoken. And when the people of God understand that that is what is taking in the preaching of the Word, then it becomes a whole different business. And Bailey says, In the pursuit of godliness, you will understand it. Now he goes on, and he says, The third sort of duties after the holy assembly. He goes through all these duties about when you leave church, what do you do next? He says, As thou returnest home, or when thou art entered into thy house, meditate a little while upon those things which thou hast heard.

20:42 And as the clean beasts which chew the cud—a graphic picture—so must thou bring again to thy remembrance that which thou hast heard in the church. He says, you want to be godly? This is what it takes. You don't bring your thimble, fill it up, spill it in the parking lot, get in your car, turn on a secular station, and blast off for lunch. Not if you want to benefit from the preaching of the word of God. I thank God that this is my heritage. That's one of the reasons I'm so bizarre. I admit it freely. No TV in my home. And if there was a TV, it couldn't be turned on on Sunday. No riding of my bicycle on Sunday. No friends over on Sunday. You say, what a horrible Sunday. I thought that often.

21:43 I bucked that Sunday. I told my dad, this is the dumbest thing you ever did. I hate these Sundays. I like to sleep through all the Sundays that I'm ever gonna have coming, and then be done with them and then move on with my life. But you know what? If we hadn't had that kind of tranquil Sunday, then on the Sunday morning when some faithful Sunday school teacher, whose name I can't recall, bless her memory, made clear to me the simple gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, if we had not had that tranquility in our home, then I would never have had the occasion to say to my dad in the silence of the Lord's Day afternoon, Hey, Dad, how old do you have to be to BE A CHRISTIAN. And I don't want to lay the charge at anybody's feet but my own, but I came here holding to these convictions. And they're all shot. I can only condemn myself by my words.

22:45 I have failed to give my own children. what God in his mercy granted me in the wisdom of my parents, and I regret it. I am anxious to find out what's happening in the final four. I am concerned to know whether Lee Jensen is still the leader in the golf tournament. I am interested in all these things to the expense of the pursuit of godliness. Well, he then says he's not finished. He says, you go home, you regurgitate something that you learned, and you chew on that for a while. Kind of gross, but the picture's understandable.

23:49 And then, kneeling down, turn all to prayer, beseeching God to give such a blessing to those things which you have heard, that they may be a direction to your life and a consolation to your soul. For till the Word be thus made our own, and as it were close hidden in our hearts, we are in danger lest Satan steal it away, and we shall receive no profit thereby. I'm thoroughly convinced that this is what happens. You know, Jesus says, you sow the seed, it falls on the path, and the birds come and eat it up. We unleash the birds. I have a whole flock of birds that I just unleash from myself. Nobody else needs to do them. I'm doing it. I'm snatching my own food from myself. See, it's not externalism. Pharisees had it down on the outside. Jesus said, this is bogus. We're not talking about that. That's why we have to principalize this.

24:55 This guy, you know, he didn't have a car. He had a horse, if he had anything. I mean, he was walking everywhere. Life is different. I understand that. But principally, and when thou goest to dinner in that reverent and thankful manner before prescribed, remember, according to thy ability, to have one or more poor Christians whose hungry bowels may be refreshed with thy meat, imitating holy Job, who protested that he never did eat his morsel alone without the good company of the poor and the fatherless. So, in other words, this practice of piety is not something whereby we go off on our own and have a little holy club. No, no, he says, there are people who need food. There are people who need nurture. There are people who need help. Don't sit down and eat. Bring them with you. talk about a church making an impact no wonder the social services are going nuts because the church doesn't do it If the last 20 years in America had seen local churches taking seriously the call of God to what is clearly delineated for the people of God, instead of running around trying to elect everybody,

26:10 then I wager that we would be in a far different position than we are in today. I mean, there—oh, I better not start. I can't start. And when the sermon is ended, he gives instruction. And when, at the end of the day, you come to your prayers in your chamber—I'll give you one little bit and then—this is a great sermon by Lewis Bailey, isn't it? And how do you end the day? He says, Grimshaw, in here, in instructing his people, said, When you pull the sheets around you in your bed, imagine that you're pulling over you the winding sheets of your burial. Because, he said, before you realize it, they will pull those sheets over you. So do not live in foolishness, he said. Prepare to meet thy God. And if you and I knew that Christ would return this afternoon at 1.30, I wager again that the procedures planned for the next hour and a half would be radically altered.

27:35 Remember that you're nearer the end. Sit down a while before you go to bed, and consider with yourself what memorable thing thou hast seen, heard, or read that day, more than thou sawest, heardest, or knewest before, and make the best use of them. But especially call to mind what sin thou hast committed that day against God or man, and what good thou hast omitted. And humble thyself for both, if thou findest that thou has done any goodness, acknowledge it to be God's grace and give him the glory. And count that day lost wherein thou hast not done some good. If by frailty or strong temptation thou shalt perceive that thou hast committed any grievous sin or fault, presume not to sleep, till thou have upon thy knees made a particular reconciliation with God in Christ, both by confessing the fault and by fervently praying for pardon, thus making thy score even with Christ every night. Thou shalt of the less to account for when thou art to make thy final reckoning before his majesty in the judgment day. And if thou hast fallen out with any in the day, let not the sun go down on thine anger that night.

28:50 Now, when we discount it for the passage of three hundred years, We cannot distance ourselves in all honesty. At least I can't. from the fact that I cannot blame the culture for what I do. It influences me. I do what I do, and you do what you do. And you understand why it is that in certain places and certain times, people have chosen to take to themselves stringencies as an act of self-discipline and self-abnegation, not to draw attention to themselves, but to remind themselves before the watching world that they are a peculiar people. The problem with it is it so often has ended in mere externalism.

29:58 Let me bring it home as painfully as I can. Last Sunday, after church, in going for lunch somewhere with a twenty-five-minute wait, myself and the three girls went to the mall. And when I got my food, I sat down and looked immediately to my left to see the barrier down at Chick-fil-A. And I said, man, that takes conviction. That's a lot of money going down the tubes.

30:56 He's a great guy. And the Lord said, yeah. And what are you doing making it possible for this character to turn a profit while you sit here? Do you have no convictions left? So what I'm trying to say is simply this.

31:24 When he says, pursue righteousness and godliness, we're going to try with his help. I don't know how it'll change, what'll change. I don't know how obedient you'll be, how obedient I'll be. We must work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, but I know this. that godliness has to be a distinctive. Now, I had a lot more to do, but I won't. We'll just stop. But I want to come much closer in time and go to the 18th century and finish with another quote. You know, I'm reading this book about William Grimshaw. It's not a particularly well-written book, but it's fascinating.

32:15 And one of the appendices in the book is what is referred to as William Grimshaw's covenant with God. He made this covenant with God, he tells us, on the fourth day of December, 1752, when he was the minister of Howarth, which is the little place in Yorkshire where Emily and Charlotte Bronte's father was also the minister 80 years after William Grimshaw. He tells us that, I renewed this solemn dedication in a most awesome manner on the 5th of June, 1760, and he says, Oh, that I may carefully remember and keep it. I like that. You know, it's one thing to make it, it's another thing to renew it, it's another thing to remember it, and it's another thing to keep it. There's a freshness about this fellow. And he says, I purpose to renew this dedication with a quarterly fast the first Friday in January, April, July, and October, during the rest of my life. Let me give you just a flavor of it. I found it so challenging in relationship to this notion of pursuing righteousness and godliness. He says, Record, O eternal Lord, in thy book of remembrance that henceforth I am thine forever. From this day I solemnly renounce all former lords, world, flesh, and devil in thy name. No more directly or indirectly will I obey them. I renounced them many years ago, and I renounced them forever. This day I give myself up to thee, a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto thee, and which I know is my reasonable service. To thee I consecrate all my worldly possessions. Use me, O Lord, I beseech thee as the instrument of thy glory, and honor me so far as either by doing or suffering thy appointments I may bring praise to thy name and benefit to the world in which I live. And may it please thee from this day forward to number me amongst thy peculiar people, that I may no more be a stranger or foreigner, but a fellow citizen with the saints and of the household of God. And when I am thus numbered with the dead, and all the interests of mortality are over with me forever, if this

34:23 solemn memorial should fall into the hands of any surviving friends or relatives—you see, here is piety. He didn't write this and have it published. He didn't write this and show it to his wife. He didn't write this and confront his children with it. This was just between he and God. And the real issue, loved ones, is what is going on between you and God and me and God. People will observe, approximate, decide, criticize, whatever else it is. But the real issue is in the silent place where our hearts are laid bare before God, what will they find when they go through our papers? What will my children find when they find that which they do not know today? What will your children find? Financial statements? He says, If Ephesus should fall into the hands of any, and it's fallen into ours, may it be the means of making serious impressions upon their minds. And may they read it not only as my language, but as their own, and learn to fear the Lord my God and with me to put their trust under the shadow of his wings for time and for eternity. And may they also learn to adore with me that grace which inclines our hearts to enter into the covenant and condescends to admit us into it when so inclined, ascribing with me and with all the nations of the redeemed to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost that glory and honor and praise which is so justly due to each divine person for the part he bears in this illustrious work. I solemnly subscribe this dedication of myself to the forever blessed triune God in the presence of angels and all the invisible spectators this fourth day of December, 1752.

36:23 Surely we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses—those who have gone before, who have run the race, who have fought the fight, who have kept the faith. Paul says to Timothy as a young man in his day, Timothy, I don't want you to get sucked into unhealthy controversy. I don't want you to get involved in all this squabbling. I want you instead to stay away from that, and I want you to pursue the way the hounds pursue a fox—righteousness and godliness. May God help us. Let us pray together. O God our Father, we're moving now in realms of spiritual geography which are certainly alien to me—dimensions of your splendor and of your glory that we read of and know so little of.

37:25 Mine is, in comparison, such a superficial faith. Is that just stumbling commitment? Such an equivocating distinctiveness. We pray that you will both rebuke and correct and encourage and train us in righteousness and godliness as a people. not in externalism, a fake austerity, Phariseeism, our own man-made rules by which we congratulate ourselves, but a genuine, core, heart-changing commitment to doing the right thing and seeking to be godly.

38:31 We ask this for each other. We pray that you would help us as a company to encourage one another in this way, that our lives would be a help and not a hindrance. God, how often my life is a hindrance to these things in the very people that are around me. Now hear our prayers, and let our cry come unto you. And now unto him who is able to keep us from falling and to present us faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Savior be glory and majesty, dominion and power.