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 15, 2014 Christian Hope Church of Christ, Plymouth, North Carolina by Reggie A. Braziel, Ministerial (Father's Day Message) (Today marks my 6 th anniversary at Christian Hope) TOPIC: Father's Day, Holiday Messages, Christian Living 3 Marks of A Man of God (A Father's Day Message) I Timothy 6:11-14 (NKJV) Please open your Bibles to our scripture text in I TIMOTHY, chapter six. 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 ********************************************************************** Introduction As we honor all fathers on this Father's Day, I have prepared a message that I pray will challenge every Christian man here today, to rise to a higher level in your walk of faith, regardless if you are a father, a grandfather or no father at all.

2 Men, imagine with me for just a moment that your earthly journey is over. And one day someone is walking through the cemetery where you have been laid to rest; perhaps its a family member, or a friend you had in life, or maybe its just a total stranger. And when they come to your gravestone they see these words engraved under your name: Here lies a man of GOD. What greater testimony could there be to a life well lived than to be remembered as A MAN OF GOD What images come to mind when you hear those words, MAN OF GOD? * Perhaps you think of a preacher standing behind a pulpit proclaiming GOD'S WORD in a deep, booming voice. * Or maybe you think of an elderly Christian man praying in Church using King James English like Thee and Thou and wouldest, and couldest. * Or perhaps you think of an elderly Christian man who spends several hours a day reading his Bible and praying. Men, what if I told you that you don't have to be A PREACHER or AN ELDER or A MISSIONARY in order to be A MAN OF GOD? And what if I told you that you don't have to pray beautiful, eloquent prayers or read your Bible several hours a day in order to be A MAN OF GOD?

3 In our scripture text, Paul gives us THREE MARKS OF A MAN OF GOD. And as you are going to see, being a man of GOD is all about CHARACTER. First of all... I. A Man of God Is Marked By WHAT HE FLEES FROM v. 11a But you O man of God, flee these things. 1. The Greek word Paul uses for flee in this verse is the word pheugo (fay- oo- go) from which we get our English word, fugitive. 2. A man of GOD is a fugitive. We are MEN ON THE RUN! We are CONSTANTLY FLEEING. But the question is, what are we fleeing from? 3. If you will back up to verses 9, 10 we read, 1 Timothy 6:9,10 (NKJV) 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. 4. So when Paul says in verse 11, But you, O man of GOD, flee these things, he is telling us to flee from the love of money and all the evil vices that go along with it.

4 5. Men, are you running towards or running away from money? Are you driven to accumulate as much money and as many material things as you can get your hands on? Are you known for your godliness or your worldliness? You can't be known for both. Jesus says in Matthew 6:24, No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve GOD and money. 6. A MAN OF GOD FLEES FROM THE LOVE OF MONEY AND WORLDLY PLEASURES AND TREASURES. In verses 6,7 Paul tells us that true godliness is marked by contentment. He says, Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 7. Paul is not saying it is sinful or wrong to have nice things, but that our love for money and love for nice things should and cannot be the driving force in our lives. 8. In I Corinthians 6:18 (NKJV) Paul warns us to Flee sexual immorality. In I Corinthians 10:14 he warns us to flee idolatry. In II Timothy 2:22 he warns us to flee youthful lusts.

5 9. You see men, TRUE MEN OF GOD ARE CONSTANTLY ON THE RUN, CONSTANTLY FLEEING THE CORRUPT INFLUENCES OF THIS WORLD. You and I can't be A MAN OF GOD and A MAN OF THE WORLD. 10. A man of God is marked by WHAT HE FLEES FROM. Secondly... II. A Man of God Is Marked by WHAT HE FOLLOWS AFTER v. 11 But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. 1. The Greek word Paul uses for pursue literally means, follow after. Follow after RIGHTEOUSNESS. Follow after GODLINESS. Follow after FAITH. Follow after LOVE. Follow after PATIENCE. Follow after GENTLENESS. 2. You see, A MAN OF GOD spends his whole life running away from the world, and running towards these spiritual virtues. And do you know others will know if you are A TRUE MAN OF GOD when they see these virtues in your life. They will see THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD in you. They will see GODLINESS in your habits, your speech and your attitudes. They will see YOUR FAITH in God by the way you respond to trials and adversity. They will see THE LOVE OF GOD...THE PATIENCE OF GOD...and THE GENTLENESS OF GOD in you by the way you relate to others.

6 3. Men, ask yourself, What am I after? Am I after success? Am I after money? Am I after stuff? Am I after sexual pleasure? Am I after popularity with the guys? Am I after a good time? What am I after? What am I running towards? 4. In II Corinthians 5:9,10 (NKJV) Paul tells us what he is running towards. 2 Corinthians 5:9,10 (NKJV) 9 Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Paul is saying, My ambition, my goal, my greatest desire in life is to please God. That's what I'm running after! That's what my life is all about...pleasing THE ONE BEFORE WHOM I WILL APPEAR WHEN MY LIFE IS OVER. 5. Men, shouldn't that be our greatest ambition in life also? Shouldn't want to live our lives to please the One to Whom one day we will give an account? A MAN OF GOD IS MARKED BY WHAT HE FLEES FROM. A MAN OF GOD IS MARKED BY WHAT HE FOLLOWS AFTER.

7 And thirdly... III. A Man of God Is Marked by WHAT HE FIGHTS FOR v.12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were called and have confessed the confession in the presence of many witnesses. ILLUSTRATION: When my brother Rick and I were young, my dad bought both of us a pair of boxing gloves one Christmas. And there were a lot of Saturday nights in our home when dad would have Rick and I lace up the old gloves and box each other in the living room. Now I'll be honest with you, I didn't like boxing very much. It was no fun taking a round house hook to the jaw or getting a hard jab to the ribs. But there was a reason why my dad wanted Rick and I to learn how to box. He was teaching us to DEFEND OURSELVES if we ever got in a situation where we were being bullied. 1. A MAN OF GOD IS A FIGHTER! Men, we have been called to be SOLDIERS. We have not been called to a life of ease and comfort, we have been called into battle. We have been called to fight the good fight of faith so that our children and our grandchildren can be free in Jesus Christ. 2. Every day we must fight against the temptations of Satan. Every day we must fight against the allure of this evil world. Every day we must fight against our fleshly desires. And these enemies never die!

8 3. Does it really matter whether or not we fight the good fight of faith? Absolutely! In fact it is the ONLY THING THAT MATTERS! There are people all over the world who are fighting for something. -People are fighting for higher wages and better work conditions. -People are fighting to save the hump back whales and snail darters and the redwood forests and the arctic glaciers and the ozone layer. -People are fighting to stop the production of crude oil. -There's even an organization fighting for equal rights for PLANTS. -Turn on any one of the 24 HOUR NEWS CHANNELS and you will see people fighting back and forth over issues that don't amount to a hill of beans! 4. There are some good causes people fight for, but when all is said and done, the good fight of faith is the only one that will matter in the end. 5. MEN, the good fight of faith is not a fight you and I can remain neutral in. You are either IN or you are OUT! You are either TOTALLY FOR JESUS CHRIST or you are against Him. You are either A FIGHTER or you are A FAKE! If you are not FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH then you are aiding and abetting the enemy!

9 6. MEN, there is no such thing as middle-of-the-road, back-of-the-bus, fence-straddling Christianity. 7. A Man of God Is Marked By What He Fights For! *********************************************************** C O N C L U S I O N Men, there is a severe shortage of GODLY MEN in America! Our society is permeated with GODLESS MEN...IMMORAL MEN...DECEITFUL MEN... and DISHONEST MEN; men without CHARACTER, HONOR and INTEGRITY. If there is to ever be a TRUE REVIVAL in America, we need for men who will rise up and CHAMPION the cause of JESUS CHRIST! We need men who will rise up and say, For the sake of MY HOME, for the sake of MY CHURCH, for the sake of MY COUNTRY, I WILL BE A TRUE MAN OF GOD! RISE UP O MEN OF GOD 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!