The Christian's Call to Contentment, Part 4

All right. Time to get started. And glad you're with us tonight as we have the opportunity to spend time in the Word of the Lord together. Congratulations, all Dodger fans. Only took you 32 years to get back, you know? And then it took you three times to finally win it in four years.

But you finally did it. So kudos to the Dodgers. Sorry about that, big guy. But anyway, they finally won, so you guys can all be content now.

What is contentment? The Dodgers winning the World Series. But I want to just spend a moment in prayer and asking God to do a great and mighty work. And so let's pray together. Father, we thank you, Lord, for tonight and a chance to spend some time in the Word of the Lord. Lord, these are very busy weeks, all consuming with things that are happening at home, at work, in our country, around the world. So many things on our minds, so many decisions to make. And Lord, sometimes we can be overwhelmed by those things.

And our prayer tonight is that. You would just cause us to rest and to be at ease as we spend time in your word, looking to understand more about what you have for us, that we might truly be obedient to your wor. Lord, we are a blessed people to be able to gather together and open your word and study you. Lord, you are in every page, in every paragraph, in every sentence in the scriptures. And as we read, Lord, we realize that there's so much there. And we pray, Father, for everyone who's here tonight.

Some are still coming, and we pray for them for safety. And we pray, Lord, for our children that you would protect them as they are in their classes. Pray for our youth as they gather together to study the word of the Lord and ask that you do a mighty work in their lives as well. We real that our time on this earth is very short. We want to be able to honor you in the time that you've given to us. And we pray, Lord, that tonight as we learn your word, that it will enable us to live a life that truly puts you on display.

So we thank you and just ask that you bless our time together in your word. In Jesus' name, amen. Okay, the opportunity to learn about contentment and to realize that our Lord has given us His Word to explain to us how. The peace of Christ is all suff for you and for me. To understand exactly what the Bible says concerning how it is we live.

Dependent upon God and independent from everything around us. It takes us a lifetime to learn those things. Wouldn't it be great if contentment came in a pill or came through a vaccine? Just quickly put a needle in and shoot up and you're content. Or take a pill and swallow it, and you're good to go. It doesn't work that way. And we wish it would come instantaneously, but it doesn't. It comes from a close walk. With the living God. And that takes time. We don't grow to maturity overnight. It takes time to grow in our walk with the Lord.

And so as we gather together, we realize the importance of studying. In your word, and am I gone? I'm back again. Okay, I'm in and out. So anyway, all that to say is that as we study God's Word together, we realize that nothing happens quickly. It takes time. And so we're looking at what the Bible says concerning contentment.

Paul said he learned contentment. So, how do we learn it? We're looking at what Paul tells Timothy. As Timothy pastors the church of Ephesus, he has to learn about contentment. And the people in the church need to learn about contentment. So the Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 6 outlines for us some principles. He gives us the text, and we're trying to outline it for you so you can begin to see exactly The process, the principles that help you understand how it is you can learn to be cont no matter what state.

You are in. We begin with point number one, which is found in 1 Timothy 6, verses 6 and 7, that you need to recognize the ultimate reality of our coming and going.

Paul says very clearly. Easily, but godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we can take or cannot take anything out of it. Either. The reality is, we come with nothing, we leave with nothing. And so, even though we spend all of our time accumulating all that we can in between birth and death. The bottom line is, is that you realize you came with nothing and you leave with nothing. So if you're going to learn contentment, you must recognize that.

Number two, you must rejoice in the sufficiency of each day's provision. For he says in verse number eight, If we have food and covering with these, we shall be cont. In other words, there is each day's sufficiency. In other words, the Bible says when you pray, pray this way.

That we are to ask God to give us this day our daily bread. In other words, we're not asking God to give us bread for next week, only for today. Because God will sufficiently supply each and every day with food and with clothing, we can be satisfied. We can be content with those things. If we realize that we came with nothing, we leave with nothing, then those necessities that we have from day to day, food and clothing, should be enough for us. But unfortunately, it's not enough for us. There's always something more.

But yet, if we recognize the fact that we came with nothing and we leave with nothing, we can then rejoice. In what God gives us every single day, giving thanks to God for how He supplies. And then, number three, verse number 10: we need to reject the tyranny of money love and material lusts.

Money can control us. Our material lusts can control us. And so Paul says. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge men, which drown men in ruin and destruction. Those who want to get rich, those who set their mind on accumulating more and more, whether it be money or materialism. Those who set their mind on those kinds of things find themselves in many harmful ways. In fact, it drowns men. It plunges them deep into ruin and destruction.

A word used to describe the body and the soul because it affects everything about us. We forget that when we are all consumed with something outside of God, it can very easily control everything that we do. So Paul says, those who set their minds on wanting to get rich, on wanting to accumulate more. They do not understand that it's going to drown them in all kinds of ruin and destruction. And then point number four was to realize the inability of the world to satisfy. When he says, For the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil.

And some, by longing for it, have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many. Griefs. In other words, he wants you to understand that no matter what you receive from the world, it's never going to satisfy. It's going to impale you. It's going to impale your soul so that you're filled with all kinds of grief on the inside. And that's what it does when you love money, when you love something, when you adore something more than the Lord, no matter what it is. It is going to do you physical, spiritual, and emotional harm.

And so, Paul wants Timothy to understand that. And we told you about Lot last week to help you understand how Uncle Abraham took him down to Egypt, and there he began to see the world, so much so that he wanted the things of Sodom. And the only way we would know that Lot was a righteous man is because of what Peter says in 2 Peter 2, where it tells us that he was oppressed. That Timothy was, excuse me, that Lot was a man who was so oppressed that his soul was tormented day and night. That's very important.

Because you see, Lot is the only person in Scripture that talks to us about people who go the way of the world but are truly righteous people. We would not know Lot was righteous if Peter didn't tell us. But under the inspiration of Scripture, we realize that Lot was a righteous man. But he says something very unique about Lot. That when you, how do you know that you know the Lord versus not knowing the Lord when you're in the things of the world? You know because your soul is tormented day and night.

If your soul is not tormented day and night when you're in the world, you're of the world. You're not of the Lord. And Lot had that torment in his soul. And it reminds us of a very simple process, and that's this: when you care for the things of the world, When you are consumed with the things of the world, understand that you can be very easily companioned. With the things of the world. And James says that if you're a friend of the world, you're an enemy of God. But if you begin to care for the things of the world, you'll be companioned with the things of the world.

If you become companioned with those things, you'll become cont by Those things. And James tells us in James 1: that true religion, undefiled before the Father, is this. That you keep oneself unspotted, unstained, unblem by the things of the world. But if you care about the world, you'll be comp with the world. If you are a companion of the world, you eventually will be contaminated by the world. If you're contaminated by the world, you're soon going to be conform to the world. That's why the Bible says in Romans chapter 12 that we're not to be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds.

Very easily, the world can shape us into its mold. And if we are the kind of people that are companioned with the world, So much so that we are contaminated by the world, we will eventually be conform to the world. And if you're being shaped into the world's mold, After being conformed to the world, you'll be cont by the world. Controlled. By the world. The Bible tells us in 2 Timothy 4, verse number 10, that Dem, having loved this present world, departed from the Apostle Paul, departed from the faith.

And so it's important to realize that once controlled by the world, if we're not converted from the world, Then we'll be condemned along with the world. That's why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11, verse number 32: we are to examine our lives when we take communion. Examine yourself to see if the Lord's in you, to see if you're really of the faith. And so we have to look at our lives and ask ourselves: how much do we care about the things of the world?

Do we care about him so much that we become companioned with the things of the world? We become very friendly with the world. So much so that we are contaminated by it, conform to it, controlled by it, if that's the case. You best be converted from it, or you'll eventually be condemned along with the world. And so when we look at the word of the Lord, it helps us understand where we are.

And Paul says to Timothy, look, Timothy, understand that contentment, guiding us with contentment is great gain. It's the highest of all gains. And so, therefore, make sure you set your mind on those things. And so, that leads us to point number five. And point number five is in verse number 11, and that is, we need to resist our innate carnality with tr spirituality. Resist our innate carnality with tr spirituality. Paul says in verse number 11, but flee from these things. He contrasts it again.

He says in verse number six, but godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. But flee from these things, you man of God. Flee from these things. He's providing once again another contrast. There are those who love the things of the world, there are those who want to get rich, who set their mind on doing those kinds of things. But you, Timothy, You be different. But you, Timothy, oh man of God. Very important because Timothy is the only character in the New Testament called a man of God.

Paul was a man of God, but he was never called a man of God. Peter was a man of God, never called a man of God. John was, okay? James was. But never called a man of God. Timothy, particularly, is called a man of God. But you, O man of God, what a statement. We know that Moses in the Old Testament was called a man of God. We know that David was. We know that Elijah was. So we know that there were characters in the Old Testament called men of God. But no character in the New Testament was, except for young Timothy.

And so it drives one to the point when Paul says, but you, oh man of God. You, Timothy, you are a man of God. Men of God are different than men of the world. Men of God are set apart uniquely than those of the world. And there's something about res our innate carnality with true spirituality. You know, Peter talks about in 1 Peter 2, verse number 11, that as aliens and strangers, we need to be careful of those things that wage w against our flesh against our soul, those fleshly lusts which wage war against our souls.

As aliens and strangers, we're different than those of the world. But there's this battle going on all the time on the inside. That's waging war with our soul. And we got to be careful about that. And so, Timothy is going to be exhorted by the Apostle Paul. To help him understand that as a man of God, things are completely different for you. And it should be for every one of us as believers: men of God, women of God, children of God. Our lives should be completely different than those of the world because we need to understand the importance of living for the Lord.

The Bible says in 2 Chronicles 16, verse number 9: For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth, that he might strongly support those who are completely his.

Completely his. And the Lord says through the prophet Ezekiel, I search for a man. Among them who should build up the wall and stand in the gap before me, so I would not destroy the land. But I found no one. We need to be men and women of God and understand exactly what Paul wants Timothy To grass. But thou, O man of God, there are things you need to flee. Flee these things. What things? In context, it's the love of money. You can't be a God's man and money's man. You can't be. That's why over in Matthew chapter 6, Christ made it very clear: you can't serve God and money.

You can't because you're going to hold to the one and despise the other. You're going to love one and you're going to hate the other. You cannot serve both God and money. Got to make your choice. You want to be God's man or money's man? And Paul knows that. So he says, Timothy, you, oh man of God, you need to run from these things. You need to flee this. You need to flee the love of money. You need to run from wanting to gain worldly possessions. You need to run from those things. Very important.

Because if you're not running from them, You'll be ensnared by them. And so there's something about a man of God that knows how to run very rapidly, how to run away from sin. And so the Apostle Paul says, you need to flee, Timothy, these things. You know, in the book of Proverbs, the 30th chapter, it talks about four little. um animals. It speaks about our insects. It speaks about the lizard. It speaks about the con or the badger, which is very, very small and it cannot defend itself, but it has to run and hide in the rocks.

Because it's very wise. It knows it can't defend itself, so it knows how to run and h itself a for protection purposes. And you know, when the Bible says that there is no temptation taking you but such as common to man, that God will always make a route of escape, that route of escape is a route that needs to be.

To be run down. You need to run down that route because if you don't, it'll ensnare you. We need to be running away from sin. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 6:1, flee immorality.

Flee immorality. It says over in 2 Timothy 2, 22, flee youthful lust. Run away from youthful lusts. Run away from immorality. Don't dabble in it. Don't hang around in it. Make sure you run away from it. And then over in 1 Corinthians 10, verse number 14, Paul tells those in Corinth need to flee idolatry. Flee any or anyone that takes precedence in your life over God. Because if you don't, it'll become that. Object, that person you worship more than God. So run away from it. Don't hang around that.

Make sure you're ready to run. You need to be a running man. So important. If not, then we're in for all kinds of problems. And so we need to be the kind of people that run from sin. And Paul tells Timothy, Timothy, if you don't run away from this, you're going to be in big trouble. And every one of us in the room needs to understand that this is something we are all engaged in. Back in 1989, when I was here, I had come back to speak at Azusa Pacific University. At the time, Terry Frans was the A track coach of the men and women's team at Azus Pacific.

And he'd won, he'd been coach of the year for 11 years. He 'd won 11 national championships in 13 years. had trained eight Olympians, had been to three Olympics. And I had the opportunity to talk to those student athletes one day before practice, after practice was over. Terry Francis and I had taken a walk around the track and I was asking him, I said, What is your main objective as a coach? He said, My main objective is to understand that every student is my project. And that project needs to understand how to run properly.

I teach them how to run properly, how to run effectively. That's my whole life. That's what I do. He knew that for them to be effective in track and field, they had to run properly. Listen, Christians need to run properly and run quickly and don't hesitate. My mom used to always say: he who hesitates is lost. So if sin arises, go, run, get out of there. So, you need to flee from the love of money. Flee from anything that will entrap you. You just don't run for running purposes. You run because you're pursuing something.

So Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter 6 these words. He says, Flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue right, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. Timothy. You need to resist your innate carnality with tr spirituality. In other words, you need to be a running man, and you need to be a hunting man. You need to pursue something. The word pursuit, pursue is a hunting term where the hunter goes and he tracks down his prey. That's exactly what we need to do as Christians.

We run from sin, but we run toward spiritual virtues. We run toward those spiritual virtues that set us apart uniquely for the purposes of God. That's what we do. And so Paul tells Timothy, I want you to run from sin, but I want you to run toward the spiritual virtues. I want you to run towards godliness. I want you to run towards righteousness. I want you to run towards love and gentleness and faith. Timothy, you need to run in this direction. There's something you need to asp to. Okay, there's something you need to avoid, there's something you need to attain, there's something you need to grasp as a man of God.

You run from sin, but you aspire. To spiritual virtues. And he begins by saying, Timothy, first of all, make sure you pursue right.

Righteousness. The Bible says over in Psalm 15, verse number 1, O Lord, who may abide in thy tent? Who may dwell on thy holy hill? He who walks with integrity and works. Righteousness. He's not talking about positional righteousness, where the one who knew no sin became sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. We are not looking at positional righteousness. We're looking at practical righteousness. The point where we match. Externally, what we are on the inside. There needs to be these righteous acts that we are pursuing.

That we live after. The Bible says in Proverbs 15, verse number 9: The Lord loves those who pursue righteousness.

Why? Why does he love those who pursue righteousness? Because they're pursuing being like him. He is a righteous and holy God. Christ would say in Matthew chapter 5, verse number 6, we are to hunger and thirst for righteousness. It should be that which We long for because those are the ones who are truly satisfied. So Paul tells Timothy: Look, you need to realize that when you are running away from the Things of the world, you are pursuing the things of God, and as you do, you will truly understand satisfaction because godliness with contentment is the greatest of all gains.

But you need to be a running man. And you need to hunt down righteousness. In other words, you need to pursue righteous living. The Bible says over in Psalm 17, verse number 15.

I shall behold thy face in righteousness. I will be satisfied with thy likeness when I awake. How do you pursue righteousness? Well, listen to 2 Timothy 3, verse 16. All scriptures inspired by God, profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training. In right, so that the man of God will be adequate. The man of God will be equipped for every good work. In other words, God has given us His inspired word to train us, to develop us, to show us exactly how to live righteously. So, if you're going to be one who pursues righteousness, you need to be one who is a student of the Word.

You need to be in the Word, under the Word, around the Word, around those people who love the Word. Why? Because it trains you in righteous thinking. It trains you in righteous ways and righteous acts. The Word of God teaches you and trains you. And so if I'm going to be a pursuer of righteousness, I've got to be a person of the Word. I've got to be in the Word. I've got to study the Word of God so I know what God says concerning righteous living.

If the Bible says, who may dwell in your holy hill, well, the one who works righteousness. That's the one who dwells in the holy hill of God. Well, what does that mean? I only know that through studying the truths of Scripture. So Paul tells Timothy: you need to pursue righteousness. And then, number two, you need to pursue godliness.

God. Remember godliness with the cont, great gain? You say be, used ten times in the New Testament, nine in the pastoral epistles. Because godliness is the issue for those who lead in the church. But Timothy, you need to pursue righteousness, pursue godliness. Righteousness are the acts on the outside, godliness is the attitude on the ins. Pursue being God-like inwardly. In other words, you can do everything right on the outside, but be bad on the inside. And that's called hypocrisy, duplicity. So, in order for there to be integrity, not only are you right on the outside, it's because you're right on the inside.

You're a godly person. You are pursuing God-. That's why Paul tells Timothy: train yourself unto godliness. It's work. It's not easy. It's a discipline that causes the man and the woman of God to live a holy and righteous life. How does this happen? Titus chapter 2. Book of Titus, the second chapter, verse number 11, it says this: For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny.

un and worldly desires, and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age. You see, there's something very instructive about the grace of God. Why? Because the grace of God teaches us something. God's grace teaches us how to deny ungodly living, worldly lusts, so we can live a righteous life, so we can live a godly life. See, without the grace of God, we can't do that. And so because of God's marvelous grace, we are able to deny sin, turn away from those things that entrap us, that we might live for his glory.

Over in 2 Peter. 2 Peter chapter 3 as Peter closes out his epistle, his second epistle. He says these words, 2 Peter 3, verse number 10. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the Elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Ultimate in global warming, right there. 2 Peter chapter 3, verse number 10. You don't have to worry about the earth getting warmer. God's going to burn it up. He's going to destroy it all and give us a whole new heaven and a whole new earth, brand new.

But he says these words, since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, because the world is going to burn up, it's all going to be destroyed, because that's going to happen, what sort of people ought you to be? What sort of people ought you to be? It's a unique phrase. Maybe you heard it. The King James says, What manner of people ought you to be? It's a word used of our Lord in Matthew's gospel, in Mark's gospel, in Luke's gospel, when it says, What manner of man is this that even the wind and the waves obey him?

It's the same word used in 1 John 3, verse number 1, when it says, What manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called the children of God? It's a word that means other-dimensional. It's a word that means from another pl, from another region, completely unknown in the natural realm because it's in the supernatural realm. And so, what kind of love is this? What kind of otherworldly love is this? What kind of supernatural kind of love is this that the Father should bestow upon us that we should be called the children of God?

What otherworldly kind of man is this that he speaks and the wind and the waves obey him? Well, that's the same thing. Phrase used of our Father in heaven, a phrase used of our Lord while he was on earth, is the same phrase used of you and me. Because everything is going to be destroyed, it's all going to be burned up. What kind of other people ought we to be? What kind of aliens ought we to be? That's why the Bible calls us aliens and strangers in a foreign land. Why are we referred to as aliens?

Because we're from another dimension. We're from another world. We're not like the people of this planet. We're not like the people of this world. We are from a different kingdom, from a different world. And so Peter emphasizes that right here. He knows he was on the boat. When they said, What otherworldly kind of man is this? That even the wind and the waves obey him. Now he says, What other kind of people from another dimension? Are you to be? That's what he says: holy in conduct and godliness.

That's the kind of person you need to be. A godly person is from another dimension. A holy person is from a different kind of world. He goes on to say this. Looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning and the elements will me with intense heat. But according to his promise, We are looking for a new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, bel, since you look for these things, be diligent. Make haste to be found by him in peace spotless.

And blameless. Those are the kind of people need to be. Paul tells Timothy, you, oh man of God, you run away from all these things. The love of money, the love of material lusts. You run from that, Timothy. And as you're running, you run toward right. Living a righteous kind of life. Run towards godliness, that inner attitude that sets you apart. That makes you so other that people will stand and take note that you truly are a stranger. You truly are an alien from another planet. Because you don't respond the way everybody else responds.

You don't live the way everybody else lives because you know that this planet is going to be destroyed. And therefore, the only thing you live for Is your God to be godly, to be holy, to be righteous? And then he says this: not only are you to pursue God and righteousness, you need to pursue, Timothy, faith. Pursue faith. Pursue confident trust in the living God. We are to be the kind of people that walk by faith and not by s. In the book of Abak, it says, The righteous shall live by faith. Hebrews 11 tells us that faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

We have faith in God because we trust and obey Him. Why? Because we believe everything He says. Men and women of faith believe what God says.

And so Paul tells Timothy, Timothy, you pursue faith. In other words, you pursue trusting God. You pursue obeying God. You pursue believing everything that He says. You keep believing everything that he says. Because if you're going to live a godd life, a contented life, you've got to understand that he truly is sufficient. And that everything he says is true. It's going to come to be as he said it's going to come to be. Therefore, you need to trust that with all of your heart, with all that you have.

And so he needs, it says, Timothy, you need to be a man of faith, trusting God. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5, verse number 9, that we make it our ambition to please him.

Well, how do you please him? Hebrews 11:6, without faith, it's impossible to please him. Without faith, without believing what God has said, you'll never please him. If anybody is to believe what God says, it should be us, right?

We are children of God. And so Paul tells Timothy, you need to pursue faith. We know that faith. Comet by hearing, and hearing by a word about the Christ. Romans 10:1, right? We know how man receives faith. It all commences with the Christ, but it's received through the revelation of the Christ. Everything about our faith begins with Jesus Christ. We have received, as Peter says in 2 Peter 1, verse number 1, a like precious faith. It's something that we receive from God. I don't muster up faith to believe what God says.

I can't sit down and say, okay, I going to believe what God says. I going to believe what God says. I' Believe what God says.

It's not like that. Why? Faith is a gift. God grants us the gift to believe what he says. So the reason I believe what God's word says is because God granted me the gift of faith to believe. It's something that's freely bestowed upon his children. That's why I believe in who he is. So when I hear the word of God, faith cometh by hearing, hearing by a word about the Christ. I know that faith is received through revelation. I also know that faith is witnessed by works. In other words, the proof of my faith is seen in my work.

James talks about being doers of the word, not just hearers only. There's something about the way I live based on what I believe. Because I believe what God says, I live what God says.

I aspire to be what God wants me to be. I aspire to live and follow Christ. That's what I do because I truly believe in what the word of the Lord says. And so Paul tells Timothy: Timothy, you be a pursuer of faith. In other words, you chase after, you hunt down everything that God has said and believe everything he says. You trust him, you believe in him. And then also know that faith always promises to persevere. Did you know that? True faith always perseveres. It never, never Fails fully or finally.

Why? Because God grants you the faith to believe. Remember Luke 22 when Christ came to Peter and said, You know what, Peter? Satan has des to sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you so that your faith Does not fail. In other words, when it's all said and done, you can then strengthen your brethren because I've prayed for you that your faith wouldn't fail. Isn't that great? We know that the Lord intercedes for us. We know the Lord is praying for us, a constant ministry to His own. We learned a little bit about that on Sunday.

We'll learn more about it as we go through the book of Hebrews. But there's something about our Lord who intercedes on our behalf. He is praying for us. Why is it our faith never fails finally or fully?

Because our Lord's praying. And the Father always answers the prayers of his son because he always prays in line with the will of the Father. So, whatever the Lord prays for, it's always yes, because he prays in line with the Father. And because He's praying for us, that the faith that He gives us doesn't fail. It never does. Are there times we sin? Absolutely. Are there times we deny the Lord? Yes, there is. Are there times that we fall back? Yes. Did Peter deny the Lord? Yes. Did he fail? Yes. But They never failed finally.

Nor did he fail fully. Why? Because the Lord prayed for him. And so Paul tells Timothy, Timothy, listen, you need to pursue faith. You pursue trusting obedience. You trust what God says and you obey what God says.

You know, I learn something about the Lord every day. I study the Bible every day. And as I study the scriptures, I realize there are so many things I don't know. But there are things that God wants me to do. I'm to obey my God. And so I learn to trust him. I learn to obey what he has to say. And that's what we do. And so we realize that there's something unique about our God that causes us to trust him and believe in what he says. You see, Israel's problem all throughout the Old Testament is that they wouldn't believe what God said.

God told them, they shouldn't believe it. And what makes us so unique is that we have this revelation of God that we can open and read every day, study every day, listen to every day. So we can grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord. Our faith can be rooted and strengthened because we understand what God has said and we believe what He says. Listen, if our faith doesn't work in times of trials, our faith just doesn't work. It just doesn't work. We believe what God says.

And we believe what God says no matter what's happening around us. That's what made Paul so content. He believed what God said, even though things around him were horrific at times. He believed in the promises of God, the purposes of God, the plans of God, because they were all outlined for him in the word of the Lord. And so as he believed those things, his faith was strengthened more and more and more. His ability and opportunity to trust the Lord was greater with each passing day. And that's the way it is with you and me.

So, Paul tells Timothy: Timothy, listen, you need to understand that you need to run away from sin. Just be a running man, but you run toward the spiritual virtues that will make you the man of God that is so unique and so special that you'll be able to lead others to a deeper knowledge of Christ. You pursue righteousness. You pursue godliness. You pursue faith. Timothy number four: you pursue love. You pursue love. In other words, the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 14, 1, pursue love, right?

We are to pursue love. It's something you pursue. It's something you chase after because it's something that we do. Love is an absolute choice, and we choose to love God. He says, Timothy, you need to pursue love because there's going to be times it's going to be difficult for you to love the Lord, but you pursue it anyway. And to love those who also know the Lord. You need to pursue that, Timothy. Go after those people. Reach out to them. Extend c, supp. But, Timothy, you pursue love. Love is something that you never stop pursuing because it's something that we are aspiring to do and to be.

The Bible says in Romans 5 that the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts. We can love anybody because God's love is in our hearts. It's not just in a little section of our hearts. It's shed all abroad in our hearts. It's all over the place in our hearts. So we can love anybody at any time and any place. But most importantly, we can love our God. And Paul tells Timothy, you pursue love. Peter says in 1 Peter 4, verse number 8, we are to be fervent in our love. 2 Corinthians 8, Paul says, We are to be sincere in our love.

So when you pursue love, you are pursuing genuine love, a genuineness about your life. A sincerity about your life. So your love is unfeigned, your love is unhypocritical. It's really truly who you are and what you believe. And you're supposed to spend your time, Timothy, consumed in pursuing love for God. And love for your fellow man. On top of that, Timothy, you're to pursue perseverance. Perseverance. That word that means to abide under, to be strong, steadfast, to be immovable. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:5, always abounding in the work of the Lord, because your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

You know, Romans 15, verse number 5, tells us that God grants us perseverance and encouragement. Do you know the reason we can persevere and not qu? It 's because God grants us the ability to persevere. Why is it we can just keep on keeping on? Why is it we don't fall by the wayside and quit the Christian life? Why is it we want to live the Christian life and we just keep moving toward Christ-likeness? It's because God has granted us perseverance and encouragement. And therefore, we persevere because we're always look to our Savior.

The write of Hebrews, Hebrews 12, would tell us that we need to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Who, for the joy set before him, endured the cross. Our Lord persevered all the way to the end. And if you are going to hunt down perseverance, You have to look to the Lord. You have to listen.

Listen to the saints and learn from them. Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy 3, verse number 10, Timothy, you learn my perseverance. You learn, Timothy, how I didn't fall by the wayside. And when you look at saints, old saints who have traveled many, many, many roads throughout their lives.

They are the ones who have persevered to the end. Look to those people. Learn from them. Why? Because you've seen how God has used them time and time and time again. As you learn from the saints and you listen to the scripture and you look to the Savior, you'll begin to persevere more and more and more. And Paul tells Timothy: Timothy, you need to persevere all the way to the very end. Don't give up. Don't ever give up, Timothy. And therefore, you won't if you hunt down perseverance. So important.

You know, the Bible says that we are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. God grants us faith. But we are to be faithful. God grants us perseverance, but we are to persevere. God grants us love, but we are to be loving. God grants us this peace, but we are to extend peace and, as much as is possible, live at peace with all men. That's working out your salvation with fear and trembling. We just can't sit by the wayside and say, Well, I hope I persevere today. I hope I love today. I hope I trust the Lord today.

No, we pursue those things. Because they're working on our salvation with fear and trembling. And then lastly, he says, Timothy, how about this? Make sure you pursue gentleness. You pursue meekness. You pursue a humble life. Timothy, this is something you need to set before you. Like John the Baptist, who said, He must increase and I must decrease. There's always something about the believer that wants to exalt Christ above himself. Who wants Christ to always be on display and not them? They want Christ to be seen.

They don't care to be seen. They want Christ to be glorified, Christ to be honored. And so Peter would say in 1 Peter 5, verse number 5: cl yourself. With humility. It's a phrase that means to tie in a knot. In other words, it takes him back to John chapter 13, when our Lord would take a slave's apron and tie it in a knot. And begin to wash the disciples' feet. Peter says, cl yourself with humility. Make sure you're willing to serve your fellow man. The greatest thing about being a godly person is you are a servant.

The greatest thing about being a righteous person is that you are a servant. The greatest thing about being a loving person is that you are a servant. You want to serve. Because you want to put your God on display, and He is the embodiment of humility. That's why He said, Come unto me, all ye that labor and heavy laden. I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Learn from me, for I am meek. I am lowly in heart. He opens himself up to give us a glimpse of his inner character. I am meek and lowly in heart.

Paul tells Timothy, Timothy, this is what you do. You want to resist your innate carnality and follow after true spirituality. Be the kind of man God wants you to be. And you'll be so consumed with the things of God, the things of the world. The love for money, the love for gaining more things, is going to slowly but surely slip away. But if you want to be content, you need to run away from sin and run toward the things of God. God. Let me pray with you.

Father, we thank you for tonight, an opportunity you give us in the middle of the week to study your word, to be reminded once again of the beauty of your word. Lord, we are a blessed people. Help us, Lord, to run from sin, to flee the love of money. To flee material lusts, to flee idolatry, to flee youthful lusts, to flee immorality, to be the kind of people that run away from anything. That would cause us to compromise our walk with the Lord, that we might truly pursue righteousness and godliness and faith and love and perseverance.

And gentleness, that we would be the kind of people you want us to be. As we go home tonight, Lord, keep us safe, protect us, and bring us back again this next Lord's Day. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.