Several
years ago we heard one of the Lord's servants make a rather remarkable
statement. He said, "I would not give you my spirit, even if I could.
Because if I did you would know too much about me."
We can all appreciate the
above statement, for each of us would undoubtedly shrink from having
our fellow man know us as we really are. And yet God has given us
His Spirit. Why? Because He wants us to know Him fully. He will hide
nothing from us, for our greatest blessing is the knowledge of Himself.
So we read:
"But as it
is written: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into
the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love
Him. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit
searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows
the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?
Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God."
(1 Cor. 2:9-11)
Verse 9 does not refer,
as some suppose, to the wonders awaiting us in heaven, for that is
not the subject. The subject is the deep and precious truths which
God has for his full-grown children. Also, verse 9 should never be
separated from verse 10. Many quote verse 9 alone and then conclude
that we must remain in ignorance, but verse 10 says that the Spirit
knows "the deep things of God" and He reveals them to those who are
willing to be taught. These deep things are found in the Word of God,
and we must study the Word in dependence upon the Holy Spirit and
then He will make them known. Yet many of God's people are like the
Corinthians and lack the knowledge. Therefore, they must be dealt
with as carnal instead of spiritual. They must be fed with milk instead
of meat. Instead of the "deep things" their knowledge of God and His
Word is very shallow. Surely this is inexcusable when God has given
us of His Spirit in order that we might be illumined and instructed.
"Now we have
received, not the spirit of this world, but the Spirit which is of
God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of
God." (1 Cor. 2:12)
We have received ... the
Spirit which is of God. What a surprising and wonderful thing that
God should have given to us His Spirit to bring us into communion
with Himself and to open up to us His deep things. He could not have
given us a greater gift. How much do we appreciate it? And do we indeed
recognize the presence within us of the Spirit which is of God?
What moved
Thee to impart
Thy Spirit from above,
Therewith to fill our heart
With heavenly peace and love?
'Twas love, unbounded love to us
Moved Thee to give Thy Spirit thus.
"But you, O
man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness,
faith, love, patience, gentleness. 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 Tim. 6:11-12)
Continued from last
month.
In
this series, we have examined two traits which characterize the "man
of God": what he flees and what he follows after. This month, we will
consider the third trait which distinguishes the man of God: what
he fights for.
FIGHT
The "man of God" is a fighter.
We don't often associate fighting with living the Christian life.
While Jesus once described Himself as "gentle and lowly in heart"
(Matt. 11:29), many people assume He was passive, even weak. We sometimes
see Him portrayed this way in movie versions of His life. The truth
is that Jesus was a "fighter." Certainly Jesus was not a brawler;
He didn't physically fight anyone, nor did He argue with people, but
He always took a firm stand for the truth of God. For instance, Jesus
was not afraid of offending the scribes and Pharisees when He confronted
them regarding their religious traditions and how these traditions
caused them to transgress the commandment of God (Matt. 15:1-14).
When He found moneylenders and merchants conducting their sordid business
in the temple, Jesus boldly kicked over their tables and seats and
drove them out, quoting the Scripture which declared: "My house shall
be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves"
(Matt 21:12-13). Jesus openly and repeatedly warned the Jewish people
about the hypocrisy of their religious leaders, declaring these self-righteous
men to be the: "sons of those who murdered the prophets" (Matt. 23:1-36).
Paul directed Timothy,
as a man of God, to "fight the good fight of faith." What did he mean
by this? Both the verb and noun forms of "fight" are used in this
verse. The Greek words they are translated from are the words agonizomai
(verb) and agon (noun), from which we get our English words agonize
and agony. Agony speaks of great mental or physical pain. Years ago,
a television program called ABC's Wide World of Sports, opened by
claiming they covered every aspect of the sporting world, from "the
thrill of victory" to "the agony of defeat." The video clip they used
to illustrate the "agony of defeat" was a ski jumper falling and crashing
through a fence. While this may be an appropriate picture of the agony
of a sports defeat, it does not accurately reflect what the Greek
agonizomai and agon mean.
The Greek word agon (fight)
was used to refer to an athletic contest or game (like the Olympic
games which originated in Greece). The writer to the Hebrews spoke
of believers running "the race (agon) that is set before us." Paul
often compared the Christian life to an athletic endeavor (1 Cor.
9:24-25, Phil. 3:14, Eph. 6:12). The word agon is also used to refer
to a conflict (Phil 1:30, Col. 2:1) or a fight against one's adversaries
(1 Tim. 6:12, 2 Tim. 4:7).
The basic idea of "agonizing,"
whether in a contest or a conflict, is struggling through tremendous
difficulties or dangers. Kenneth Weust, in his Word Studies in the
Greek New Testament, points out the gravity of this struggle as he
comments on Greek boxing matches:
"... the gloves
of the Greek boxer were fur-lined on the inside, but made on the outside
of ox-hide with lead and iron sewed into it, and the loser in a wrestling
match had his eyes gouged out."
Clearly the stakes of the
Greek contest (agon) were often life and death. This is why those
engaged in such a struggle prepared for it with great zeal and labored
with all their might when actually engaged in the fight.
The man of God is engaged
in just such a life and death struggle: one which has powerful adversaries,
one which is fraught with great difficulties and dangers, and one
which requires the most earnest and diligent labor on our part. We
must remember that, as believers, we are not only to be "servants
of the Lord," we are also to be "good soldiers of Jesus Christ" (2
Tim. 2:3).
Of Faith
What is the nature of this
fight? What is this fight all about? Paul referred to it as "the good
fight of faith," hence it is a spiritual fight. Paul spoke to the
Corinthians about the nature of this spiritual warfare:
"For though
we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the
weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling
down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that
exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought
into captivity to the obedience of Christ." (2 Cor. 10:3-5)
Our fight is not against
flesh and blood, but against spiritual enemies in heavenly places,
spiritual hosts of "the wicked one" (Eph. 6:12), which is Satan himself.
Thus, if we are to succeed in this fight, the strength, the armor,
and the weapons we utilize must be those provided by the Lord.
The Faith
In the Greek, the word
for faith in the expression "the good fight of faith" is preceded
by the definite article, so it literally reads "the faith." We have
seen in this series that when this is the case, then "faith" speaks
of the body of truth we place our faith in. Paul makes reference to
"the faith" this way numerous times, especially in the pastoral epistles
(letters to pastors).
On one level, "the faith"
refers to the entire Word of God, an issue which has become one of
the great spiritual battlegrounds in these last days of the dispensation
of grace. Over the years, we have seen many churches and denominations,
which once stood firmly for the truth of God's Word and the inspiration
of the Scriptures, turn away from this fundamental doctrine. Paul
warned Timothy of those who have "a form of godliness" but "deny its
power," and he instructed Timothy: "for such turn away" (2 Tim. 3:5).
In Paul's final charge
to Timothy, he once again stressed this problem, saying:
"... the time
will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according
to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap
up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from
the truth, and be turned aside to fables" (2 Tim. 4:3-4).
This is exactly what we
see in our society today. As more and more people turn away from the
Word of God, they are easily turned aside to fables or myths. Who
is at the source of this apostasy? The answer is found in 1 Timothy
4:1-2:
"Now the Spirit
expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith,
giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking
lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron..."
How does the man of God
respond to such a discouraging trend? Paul's charge to Timothy was:
"Preach the Word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince,
rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching (doctrine)" (2
Tim. 4:2). Having warned Timothy of the apostasy, he said: "If you
instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister
(servant) of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of [the] faith and
of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed" (1 Tim. 4:6).
As we can see from this
last verse, Paul also used the expression "the faith" to refer, specifically,
to the truth of the mystery, the message God revealed to and through
Paul for this present dispensation of grace. Satan hates the message
of God's grace, for it is the power of God unto salvation to all who
will believe it (Eph. 2:8-9), and it puts to rest any reliance upon
man's religion for it plainly declares we are "complete in Christ"
(Col. 2:9-17). From the time Paul began to fully unveil this glorious
mystery, Satan has opposed it and sought to turn men from it. When
Paul wrote his last letter to Timothy, he informed him, "all those
in Asia have turned away from me" (2 Tim. 1:15). This departure from
Paul was not just because he was in prison; Paul had been in prison
numerous times before. The real problem was the message he was proclaiming:
the gospel of the grace of God and God's formation of a new body of
believers, the church the body of Christ, in which all difference
between Jew and Gentile was done away. It is sad to say that this
situation still exists today. How few there are who hold fast to and
faithfully proclaim the truth of the mystery revealed by God through
the Apostle Paul. The man of God stands firm for this truth and faithfully
proclaims it to others.
Good Fight
As we undertake this fight
"of faith," we need to take note that Paul referred to it as "the
good fight." The word good is from the Greek word kalos which means
beautiful, excellent, useful, admirable, praiseworthy, and honorable.
This word described the way the Greek athlete conducted himself in
the contest. We, too, must be careful to engage in the fight of faith
in a commendable, a praiseworthy manner.
In 2 Timothy 2:16-26, believers
are specifically told to "shun profane and idle babblings" and to
"avoid foolish and ignorant disputes." The servant of the Lord must
not strive (quarrel) with others. Such foolish questions and heated
arguments have no spiritual benefit to anyone, but only generate more
strife, envy, and ungodliness (1 Tim. 6:3-5, 2 Tim. 2:16-18, 23-24).
How can the man of God
"fight the good fight of [the] faith" honorably, commendably, and
in a manner worthy of God's praise? If we are to effectively fight
this fight, we must:
- Depend on God's POWER--2
Tim. 2:1, Col. 1:29.
- Labor earnestly in PRAYER--Col.
4:2, Eph. 6:18.
- Diligently PREPARE--1
Cor. 9:27, 1 Pet. 3:15.
- Expect PERSECUTION--1
Cor. 16:9, 2 Tim. 3:12.
- Endure PATIENTLY--2
Tim. 2:3-4, Heb. 12:1.
- Focus on the PRIZE--Phil.
3:14, Heb. 12:2.
The man of God is commanded
to be continually fleeing, following after, and fighting certain things,
but the key to realizing this in our lives on a daily basis is found
in the latter part of 1 Timothy 6:12: "lay hold on eternal life."
Next month we will look
at this expression, considering what it means and how it can tremendously
impact our lives, our relationships with the Lord, and our service
for Him.
(Continued Next Month)
