1 Timothy 6:11
The Higher Standard
1Tim 6:11 But thou, O man of God, flee these
things; and follow after righteousness,
godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
I am interested in the three words toward the beginning of that
verse: Man of God.
Several thoughts just in the introduction.
1. Paul was speaking to a preacher but the book is not limited
to preachers.
a. Timothy was a godly preacher.
b. So here, in this Scripture, the term does mean a godly
preacher.
c. However, every man should aspire to be a man of God.
(1) That does not mean every man should aspire to preach.
(2) By that I mean you should have the character and
testimony of a godly man.
2. Paul was speaking to a man but the book is not limited to
men.
a. There is certainly enough confusion in our world today
about men and women.
b. With each passing day, new ignorance abounds.
(1) I have seen several articles where some want to ban
"biologically-born males" from competing in female
sports.
(a) They say my generation is old and stupid but we
nailed that problem with two doorplates.
(b) One read "Woman only" and the other "Men Only."
(2) Do you know the reason is it is not fair for
surgically-altered men to participate in women’s
sports?
(3) It is because they are MEN and men and women are
DIFFERENT.
c. Yet this text, although addressed to the man of God, most
certainly has application to the woman of God as well.
I. Name the Imposters
A. Even before we had surgically-altered women pretending to be
males, we had males pretending to be men of God.
B. Paul had talked about them in this book.
1. The name that I like to refer to them by is found in
\\#1Tim 1:6\\.
1Ti 1:6 From which some having swerved have
turned aside unto vain jangling;
a. I call them the "vain janglers."
(1) "To jangle" means to make a noise.
(2) "Vain" means worthless or without meaning.
b. The imposters of men of God make worthless noise.
c. They may stand in pulpits or behind podiums.
d. They may be called by titles such as Reverend,
Pastor, Brother, Bishop, Apostle, or by their
first name, but all they do is make a worthless
noise.
2. Paul was fairly thorough in describing them. (I will be
brief as I want to spend more time noting the genuine
instead of the counterfeit.)
1Tim 6:4 He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting
about questions and strifes of words, whereof
cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings,
5 Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds,
and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is
godliness: from such withdraw thyself.
a. Their nature—PROUD.
b. Their knowledge—KNOWS NOTHING.
c. Their strategy—TO DOTE ABOUT QUESTIONS AND
STRIFES OF (OVER) WORDS.
d. Their results—They produce ENVY, STRIFE,
RAILINGS, EVIL SURMISINGS, PERVERSE DISPUTINGS.
e. Their followers are described as DESTITUTE OF THE
TRUTH, SUPPOSING THAT GAIN IS GODLINESS.
f. \\#5\\ Paul even told Timothy how to deal with these
vain janglers-WITHDRAW THYSELF.
C. However, Paul had much the opposite in mind for Timothy and
his ministry.
1. He pointed Timothy in a different direction with three
BUTs
2. We don’t have the time to look at all of them, but
let’s…
II. Note the Participants
A. Beginning in \\#1Tim 6:6\\, Paul spoke to the man of God.
B. As He began this conversation, he used the contrasting
conjunction "BUT," not one time but three times in six
verses \\#1Tim 6:6, 9, 11\\.
1. By separating what he said about the vain janglers from
what Paul had to say to the man of God with the word BUT,
Paul was declaring the man of God to be the opposite of
everything the vain janglers were.
2. If we had no specific description of the man of god, the
context along would argue that the true man of God is
humble, knowledgeable, teaches the Word of God to produce
like servants of Christ who have the truth and power of
God!
C. However, we do have a description—in words—of what the man of
God should like.
1Tim 6:11 But thou, O man of God, flee these
things; and follow after righteousness,
godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold
on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called,
and hast professed a good profession before
many witnesses.
1. The man of God FOLLOWS righteous.
a. Righteousness deals with our behaviors, our actions.
b. To be righteous is to have the right kind of actions.
c. There are three areas where a Christian needs to
maintain a right relationship.
(1) We must the right actions before God.
(a) It is God’s desire that we have the very
highest standard, i.e. that we "sin not."
(b) Thankfully, God sets a high mark but is
gracious to forgive.
(c) Even so, to be right with God means to have
no sin currently on our accounts.
(2) As much as possible, we have the right actions
with our fellow man.
(a) I add "as much as possible" because to be
right with some people would make you wrong
with God.
i. That is because mankind’s values are so
corrupt that they actually think wrong
is right.
ii. In cases like these, we are just
destined to be wrong with mankind.
(b) Our fellow men are the exact reverse of God
in nature.
i. They set much lower standards.
ii. But they are more stingy with
forgiveness.
(c) So again, we have a high standard to
maintain.
(3) We have the right actions when no one else is
around.
(a) I guess you say we must have the right
actions with ourselves.
(b) We have all heard the expression that
character is what you are in the dark, and
that is a true statement.
2. The man of God MODELS godliness.
a. To be godly is to be god-like.
b. This deals less with our behavior and more with our
nature.
c. Instead of explaining in great detail the many
characteristics that godliness IS, Paul instead just
listed one thing that godliness IS NOT.
1Tim 6:5 …supposing that gain is godliness….
(1) Godliness is NOT gain.
(2) Apparently, there have always been preachers who
preach that message.
(3) It is interesting that Paul in this section
teaches just the opposite!
1Tim 6:6 But godliness with contentment is great
gain.
7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it
is certain we can carry nothing out.
8 And having food and raiment let us be
therewith content.
9 But they that will be rich fall into
temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and
hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and
perdition.
10 For the love of money is the root of all
evil…
d. While Paul did not elaborate on what godliness is,
based on what he said, I would guess to be godlike
is to be more on the giving end than the getting.
3. The man of God USES faith.
a. Faith is not the opposite of knowledge nor is it in
competition with (true) knowledge.
b. Faith is the compass and completer for knowledge.
(1) Knowledge is limited.
(2) It can tell us where we are right now on our
journey into the unknown.
(3) Knowledge cannot finish the journey or even tell
us the route to get there.
(4) By faith, I am going to walk the God route.
(a) I believe that will always be the right
direction and…
(b) I believe it will always take me to the
correct destination.
4. The man of God GIVES love.
a. Love is only good when it is given to people.
(1) Love kept is worthless.
(2) And love bestowed upon objects is wasted.
b. A true man of God knows to love the people that God
brings into his life.
5. The man of God HAS patience.
a. Some years back, Kathy gave a book by Charles Stanley,
Surviving in an Angry World.
b. The world has gotten a lot angrier since then.
c. Christians being angry at angry people won’t help.
d. We need patience.
(1) Having patience does not mean we will not get
angry.
(2) But having patience does mean we pick the time,
place, and cause of our anger.
6. The man of God IS meek.
a. Being meek is having rights that you do not demand.
b. A true man (or woman) of God cannot live for what is
rightfully theirs.
c. They are busying living for what is right.
In this book, Paul presented a contrast between those who are "vain
janglers" and the true men and women of God. You cannot be both. The
question is, "Which are you?"
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