3 Marks of A Man of God (A Father's Day Message) I Timothy 6:11-14 NKJV

Transcription

1 Message for THE LORD'S DAY MORNING, June 16, 2013 FATHER'S DAY MESSAGE Christian Hope Church of Christ, Plymouth, North Carolina by Reggie A. Braziel, Minister HUMOROUS ILLUSTRATION 3 Marks of A Man of God (A Father's Day Message) I Timothy 6:11-14 NKJV Three fathers are sitting the hospital waiting room waiting on word about the birth of their children. A nurse comes out and says to the first father, Sir, I am happy to tell you that your wife just gave birth to TWIN DAUGHTERS. The father replied, Well isn't that something; I work for the DOUBLE COLA bottling company and now I have TWIN DAUGHTERS. Pretty soon the nurse returns and says to the second father, Sir, I am happy to tell you that your wife just gave birth to TRIPLETS. The father replied, Well isn't that something! I work for the 3-M Corporation and I now have THREE CHILDREN all born on the same day. As the nurse turns to go back to the delivery room she hears a loud thud. She turns and sees the third father sprawled out on the floor. She asks the other two fathers, What's wrong with him? One of the fathers said, I don't know. He was telling us he works for SEVEN UP and the next thing we knew he was passed out on the floor. Happy Father's Day guys! (pause...) Since this is Father's Day I want to set our series from The Sermon On The Mount aside for today and share a message with you men that I pray will challenge all of us men to rise to a higher level in our walk with Christ.

2 Please turn with me to FIRST TIMOTHY, the sixth chapter. And let's read VERSES Timothy 6:11-14 (NKJV) 11 But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 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, 14 that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ s appearing, P R A Y E R Paul and Timothy had a very special bond between them. Paul often referred to Timothy as his beloved son or his son in the faith. But notice how Paul refers to Timothy in VERSE v.11a But you, O man of God. Now what does Paul mean by this phrase? Well the simple answer is A man of God is God's man...god's man. A man of GOD does NOT belong to the WORLD. A man of GOD BELONGS to GOD...He is POSSESSED by GOD...He is GOVERNED by GOD...He is in SUBMISSION to GOD...He is SURRENDERED to God.

3 While this phrase, Man of God appears just two times in the New Testament, it appears over seventy times in the Old Testament. MOSES is called THE MAN OF GOD. SAMUEL is called THE MAN OF GOD. ELIJAH...ELISHA...and DAVID were called MEN OF GOD. Where are THE MEN OF GOD today? Where are GOD'S MEN...men who are totally SOLD OUT and SURRENDERED TO Almighty God? Where are the men who are NOT possessed by the WORLD...or...MONEY or...material POSSESSIONS...or SINFUL PLEASURES? In our text Paul reveals THREE MARKS OF MAN OF GOD. Let's look at them together. MARK #1: A MAN OF GOD IS KNOWN BY WHAT HE FLEES FROM (v.11a) 11a But you, O man of God, flee these things... 1.The Greek word Paul uses here for flee literally means FUGITIVE. When you think of a FUGITIVE you think of someone who is constantly on the run...someone who is always trying to stay one step ahead of that which pursues him.

4 2. When Paul says, O man of GOD, flee these things what things is he talking about? We find our answer in VERSES 9, But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. (I TIMOTHY 6:9,10 NKJV) (A) One of the things A MAN OF GOD flees from is THE LOVE OF MONEY. Guys, the day you and I were born we came out of our mother's womb without one solitary thing in our hands...not A DIME OF MONEY...NOT A SINGLE MATERIALPOSSESSION...NOTHING! And when we leave this world we will leave the same way as we came...empty HANDED! THE MAN OF GOD understands this valuable truth and therefore flees the temptation to waste his life chasing after money and material things. THE MAN OF GOD understands the path to riches is filled with many traps and pitfalls that can cause a man to become so preoccupied with the temporal that he loses sight of the eternal. (B) Another thing A MAN OF GOD flees from is SEXUAL immorality. 1 Corinthians 6:18 (NKJV) Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.

5 ILLUSTRATION One of the most honorable of all Christian men in the third century was a theologian named AUGUSTINE. Early on in his Christian life Augustine struggled to stay sexually pure and it kept him from really following God. Augustine used to pray, God, make me pure...but not just yet! It wasn't until Augustine made a firm commitment to flee all sexual immorality that GOD completely transformed his life and he learned what it really meant to be A MAN OF GOD. Many godly men have fallen because they grossly underestimated the power of lust and sexual temptation. King David is called in the scriptures, A man after God's own heart. But look how sexual immorality nearly destroyed David's whole life. Samson was one of the strongest men who ever lived. He never met a man he couldn't defeat, but by the same token he never met a beautiful woman he could resist. And look at the tragic way Samson's life ended. There's an old saying that says, If you play with fire you will get burned. That is especially true when it comes to sexual temptation. Men, if you and I are to be true MEN OF GOD we must flee from every form of sexual temptation...whether its magazines...websites TV shows...movies...or flirtatious women. A MAN OF GOD IS KNOWN BY WHAT HE FLEES FROM. Now let's look at the second mark... MARK #2: A Man of God Is Known By What He FOLLOWS AFTER (v.11) 11 But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. 1. A man of God doesn't just flee from the love of money and sexual immorality, he follows after or actively pursues the things of God.

6 2. Paul mentions six things the man of GOD follows after. Think of these as six things the man of GOD values most in this life. (A) The man of GOD follows after RIGHTEOUSNESS. Men, this means that we must always seek to do what is right in the eyes of GOD. It means we don't determine right and wrong by what our society says or by what we feel, but rather by what GOD'S words says. And we seek to uphold GOD'S righteous standard in our lives. (B) The man of GOD follows after GODLINESS. Whereas righteousness has more to do with DOING what is RIGHT...GODLINESS GODLINESS has more to do with THINKING what is RIGHT. TRUE GODLINESS lies within our mind and heart. True godliness is thinking the way God thinks and having a passion for the things God Himself has passion for. Men, God is NOT interested in some outward show or spiritual charade. Like young David, GOD is looking for men after His own heart. He's looking for genuine godliness in our heart. THE MAN OF GOD FOLLOWS AFTER RIGHTEOUSNESS. THE MAN OF GOD FOLLOWS AFTER GODLINESS. (C) The man of GOD follows after FAITH. The true man of GOD is known by his unshakeable faith in GOD. The man of GOD believes if he lives by God's word and obeys God's commands that GOD will do exactly what He promises to do in His word. Men, if ever there was a time when this world needs HEROES OF THE FAITH it is now! As men of GOD we've got to do more than just talk about our faith we have got to GET OUT OF THE BOAT AND START MOVING TOWARDS JESUS!

7 (D) The man of GOD also follows after LOVE. This means the true man of GOD will have an undying love for GOD and an unconditional love for God's people. Men, we are to demonstrate our love for GOD through sacrifice and surrender; and we are to demonstrate our love for others through service. THE MAN OF GOD FOLLOWS AFTER RIGHTEOUSNESS...AFTER GODLINESS...AFTER FAITH...AFTER LOVE... (E) The man of GOD also follows after PATIENCE. There is a TOUGHNESS about a true MAN OF GOD! A man of GOD demonstrates an amazing resilience and perseverance even in the face of adversity and difficulty. Guys, if we are to be TRUE MEN OF GOD we must not QUIT or GIVE UP when things get tough. We must hang in there and trust in God's all-sufficient grace to see us through. (F) The man of GOD also follows after GENTLENESS. We have all seen guys who try to prove their manhood by physically or verbally abusing their wife or children. Those guys aren't men. Those guys are cowards of the worst kind. A real man...a MAN OF GOD is not harsh or cruel towards his wife or children or anyone else for that matter. But rather he demonstrates the GENTLENESS of JESUS CHRIST in his WORDS and his ACTIONS. RIGHTEOUSNESS...GODLINESS...FAITH...LOVE...PATIENCE...AND GENTLENESS. THESE ARE THE THINGS THE MAN OF GOD PURSUES IN LIFE. A MAN OF GOD IS KNOWN BY WHAT HE FLEES FROM. A MAN OF GOD IS KNOWN BY WHAT HE FOLLOWS AFTER.

8 And the third mark is... MARK #3: A Man of God Is Known By What He FIGHTS FOR (v.12) 12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 1. When you examine the lives of THE MEN OF GOD in the scriptures you discover they all had a warrior spirit. 2. They were men who were willing to DEFEND THE TRUTH OF GOD regardless of how unpopular it made them or even if it put their own lives at risk. 3. They didn't let society dictate how they lived their lives, they lived by the word of GOD. They refused to COMPROMISE the word of GOD under any circumstance. 4. Now guys, let's be honest. Most of us aren't fighters, in the physical sense any way. And most of us will do everything we can to avoid getting into a fight. 5. But there is one fight we must be involved in and that is the good fight of FAITH! 6. Men, God has called us to be SPIRITUAL WARRIORS not SPIRITUAL WIMPS! He has called us to be SOLDIERS not sissies. 7. To fight the good fight of faith doesn't mean we are to go around beating people up if they don't agree with our Christian beliefs. But it does mean that we must have the courage to take our stand for the LORD even if we are the only man standing! A MAN OF GOD IS KNOWN BY WHAT HE FIGHTS FOR!

9 C O N C L U S I O N Rise up, O men of God! Have done with lesser things. Give heart and mind and soul and strength To serve the King of kings. Rise up, O men of God! The kingdom tarries long. Bring in the day of brotherhood And end the night of wrong. Rise up, O men of God! The church for you doth wait, Her strength unequal to her task; Rise up and make her great! Lift high the cross of Christ! Tread where His feet have trod. As brothers of the Son of Man, Rise up, O men of God! Men, the challenge before us on this Father's Day and every day forward is to truly be MEN OF GOD! Men who are known by THE THINGS WE FLEE FROM! THE THINGS WE FOLLOW AFTER! AND THE THINGS WE FIGHT FOR! RISE UP, O MEN OF GOD!