Christ will be revealed from Heaven – 1 Timothy 6 v 11 – 16

A couple of months ago I conducted a funeral service for a man who died aged 82, and when I met with his family to plan the service, I was told how he played a prominent and very active role in the local community – over 150 people attended the service – how he was much respected by everyone who knew him, and how he led a fulfilled life.

I was also told that he believed in Jesus, but because of everything he was actively involved with, he very rarely attended church. Now whilst there is nothing wrong in working within the community and helping others, what I found sad was that as a professed believer, he clearly lost sight of Jesus.

Much of his life was focused primarily upon other things instead of the Lord. And in our reading, Paul reminds us where our focus as Christians should, first and foremost, lie. He reminds us where we should fix our eyes, which is upon Jesus and especially upon his future appearing – verse 14.

Friends, if there is ONE thing you and I should be looking for that affects everything else we do in this life, it is how we should be looking for Jesus’ appearing’ which a number of the commentators I read believe is a reference to His coming back to rapture his church just prior to the Great Tribulation.

The ‘rapture’ of the church is described primarily in 1 Thessalonians Chapter 4 verses 13 -1 8 and 1 Corinthians 15 verses 50 – 54, and Jesus also refers to it in Matthew Chapter 24, Mark Chapter 13, Luke Chapter 17, and John Chapter 14.

The truth of the matter folks, is that Jesus is coming again. He is going to reappear. And as His people, we should be looking for his appearing. We should be watching, waiting, anticipating his appearing – his return.

But I guess the question we need to consider is ‘How will looking for Christ’s appearing affect our lives in the here and now? What will it achieve?

Well, from my background reading on this passage, there are a number of things it will do for us, and the first is ‘it will help us to live our life for God’ – verses 11 & 12. As the life of the man whose funeral I led proves, it’s so easy to get distracted in life.

Because there are so many things vying for our attention, we often struggle with conflicting desires and emotions. Knowing what to look for however, will help us to establish priorities and make appropriate decisions.

For example, if the police have a description of a person or vehicle they are looking for, they can immediately eliminate other distractions or options, sharpen their focus, and make the correct decisions. And it is the same with regard to Jesus’ future appearing.

When we learn to focus upon Jesus’ return, it will also help us to establish priorities and make appropriate decisions. It will help us to eliminate many unhelpful or unnecessary options in life, and it will also help us to live our life for God, something which Paul urged Timothy to do.

In verse 11 we read these words of Paul to Timothy: ‘But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness’. You will recall that back in Chapter 1, Paul warned Timothy about false teachers who had infiltrated the church, who were stirring up controversies and quarrels, and who as we heard from Tom last Sunday, were using their influence for financial gain.

The false teachers and their teaching presented a serious threat to the church, and they also presented a great financial temptation to Timothy which, if he gave into the temptation, would stain his ministry and his reputation.

So, by way of ensuring Timothy’s ministry was protected and his reputation remained intact, Paul urges Timothy to ‘flee from them’, and pursue instead the things of God. The Greek word Paul used for ‘flee’ means ‘to run away from’.

Timothy was to ‘run away’ – distance himself – from the danger to his ministry, and he was to pursue – run after – righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.

Righteousness refers to right living; Godliness refers to reverence or respect towards God; faith and love refer to two of the three great Christian virtues – the other being hope; endurance refers to patience and steadfastness, especially during times of personal trial; and gentleness refers to meekness or humility.

Basically, Timothy was to pursue all the things that characterised Jesus’s life. And by addressing Timothy as ‘a man of God’, Paul is also reminding Timothy he is to pursue them because he now belongs to God and NOT the world.

Because he is now God’s possession and not Satan’s, Timothy was to escape the traps of Satan and the world – which in this instance came in the form of false doctrines from false teachers plus the temptation of financial gain – and he was to pursue the things of God.

So, friends, before I move on, who do you belong too? Do you belong to the world OR do you belong to God? If you belong to God, then you are a man and woman of God. But as a man and woman of God, you must also live and act like a man or woman of God, which includes actively pursuing righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.

Having instructed Timothy on how he is to flee from all ungodliness and pursue a godly lifestyle, Paul provides Timothy with further instructions. In verse 12 he wrote: ‘Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses’.

As we have heard many times from this platform, God never promised the Christian life would be easy. We may belong to God, but we still live in a fallen world, which means we will continue to experience all kinds of trials, tribulations, and struggles, including our ongoing struggle between the things of the world and the things of God.

There will always be conflict between the worldly and sensual desires of the flesh and wanting to live for God. But what are we to do when we experience that conflict? Do we throw our arms up in surrender to our fleshly desires OR do we fight them?

Well, in this verse Paul leaves us in no doubt about what we are to do, and that is we are to fight. He wrote, ‘Fight the good fight of faith’. The Greek word Paul used for “fight” is a word that was used to describe athletes contesting against other athletes, and it is also from this word that the English word ‘agony’ originates.

It’s a word that speaks of extraordinary effort being expended. Remember, back in Paul’s day, some of the contests or games athletes participated in, were actually life and death struggles. You did not enter such competitions half-heartedly.

So instead of giving in to our struggles and trials, we are to fight back. Even though they may be agonising, we are to keep going. The Christian life is a fight, and none of us are immune from the fight.

But notice also how Paul describes it as ‘a good fight’. Paul wrote ‘Fight the good fight of the faith’. Now whilst it may be a contradiction in terms, the reason Paul describes it as ‘a good fight’ is simply because it’s a fight worth fighting.

It’s worth all the effort. It’s worth all the agony. It’s worth all the pain and sacrifice. And the reason it’s worth all these things is because of what awaits us, which is eternity with God in His Kingdom.

In verse 12 Paul wrote ‘Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses’. Friends, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, then God has called you to take hold of the eternal life he has promised you.

No matter what your struggles, trials, sufferings in this life may be, you can take great comfort, peace, and assurance in the knowledge that because of your faith in Jesus, your final destination is God’s eternal Kingdom, either through your physical death or through the rapture should Jesus appear while you are still alive.

That’s what awaits you. And because we don’t know when Jesus will appear, then we need to be watchful, and we need to fight the good fight of faith against all the things that seek to take our eyes away from Jesus and his appearing.

The second thing our looking for Christ’s appearing will do for us, is it will motivate us to witness. In verse 12, Paul speaks of how Timothy made his ‘good confession in the presence of many witnesses’ – his ‘good confession’ being his confession of faith in Jesus..

As we know from the scriptures, in order for people to be saved and become a Christian, they need to repent of their sins, they need to ask God for His forgiveness of their sins, and they need to confess faith in Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.

Acts 16 records the moment Paul first met Timothy and how he enlisted Timothy to support him during his missionary journeys, and although we are not told when or where Timothy made his confession, there are two main possibilities.  

We know it was a public confession before witnesses, so Paul may have in mind either Timothy’s baptism or his ordination as the Minister of the church in Philippi.

Now I personally lean more towards Timothy’s baptism, because as we know, before people are baptised, they verbally declare before everyone who is present to witness their baptism, their faith in Jesus, and when they go under the water and rise back up, they are also identifying with Jesus in his death and resurrection.

When they come up out of the water in baptism, not only is it a picture of their new life in Christ, including eternal life, but it is also an anticipation of the day when Jesus will return to rapture his church which is also when He will resurrect their physical bodies which will be just like His perfect resurrection body.

Friends, we are all called to witness to others our faith in Jesus, and looking for Jesus’ appearing and all that his appearing will mean for us will, I hope, motivate us to witness. Having reminded Timothy about his confession of faith before many witnesses, Paul turns his attention to Jesus’ witness before Pontius Pilate.

In verse 13 we read, ‘In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you’. Just as in baptism you confess your faith in the sight of witnesses, so you live your life of faith in the sight of God and Christ.

Paul describes God as the “God who gives life to everything.” God is not only the one who gives you life to begin with, but He is also the one who brings life out of death and calls you to eternal life through his Son, Jesus.

You live your life in the sight of this life-giving God, and you live your life in the sight of Christ, who also made the good confession while testifying before Pilate. Now I guess the question this raises is ‘what exactly was Christ’s good confession?’ What did it consist of?

Well, when you and I confess Jesus is Lord, we are proclaiming our faith in Jesus as the Christ, as the Messiah, as the Son of God who came to this Earth to die for the sins of the world, who was raised again to life, who ascended back into Heaven where He now sits at the right hand of the Father, and who will one day return to this Earth as King to rule over all.

So what was Jesus’ confession? Well, I would suggest it was His confession of WHO HE WAS. In Matthew Chapter 26 verses 63 & 64 we read this confession of Jesus before Caiaphas the Jewish High Priest, and also the Sanhedrin who were the Jewish ruling council:

Matthew writes: ‘The high Priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” “Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven”.

In this passage, Jesus confessed that not only was he the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God who had come into the world, but how in the future all men will see him sitting at the right hand of God the Father – the right hand symbolising a place of judgment, power, and authority – and all men will witness his return to the world on the clouds of heaven to rule over all.

Jesus’s good confession centred upon himself and who He was, and after He made the good confession, Matthew records in verses 65 & 66 the violent reaction of Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin to His confession which led to them sending Jesus to Pilate to be tried by Pilate for blasphemy. He wrote:

‘Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?” “He is worthy of death,” they answered. Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him, and said, “Prophecy to us Christ. Who hit you?”

Friends, Jesus’ ‘good confession’ concerning himself, led to His suffering and eventual death upon a Roman cross, a death which ultimately paid the price for my sin and your sin, and which has led to my redemption and your redemption.

Jesus died so that we may have life, and have it in abundance. And because of what he did, and the significance of what he did, Paul issues what is essentially a charge, not just to Timothy, but to all of God’s people.

In verse 14 we read: ‘I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ’. The phrase ‘this command” is a general phrase which probably refers to the whole of the Christian faith that both Timothy and we have been charged to keep, and which we are to keep ‘without spot and blame’.

Keeping it ‘without spot and blame’, basically means we are to ensure the command is untainted by our sin. Our witness of Jesus is to be rooted in a life that, as much as possible, is clean from sin.

And what’s more, we are to do all that we can to ensure it remains that way ‘until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ which God will bring about in his own time’, which reminds us that because we do not know when Christ will return, we therefore need to be always watching for his appearing, and we need to be always ready for his appearing.

Friends, it is only a matter of time before Jesus will appear, so as we wait and look for His appearing, it should motivate us to witness for Him, not just with our lips, but also with our lives.

And finally, the third thing our looking for Jesus’ appearing will do, is it will prompt us to praise. As Paul reflects on Christ’s return and all that it means, it causes him to pour out his praise of God, which is something he often did in his letters.

In verses 15 &16 Paul wrote: ‘God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honour and might forever. Amen.”

From what Paul writes, we discover a number of glorious truths about God that are the focus of Paul’s praise. We are told how ‘God is the blessed and only ruler’. The word “blessed” carries the idea of happiness. God is the sovereign ruler of the universe in whom all true blessing and happiness are found.

We are told how ‘He is the King of kings and Lord of Lords’. His rule is absolute, and on the Day of Judgement, all other kings and lords will bow before him and confess Him as the King of Kings and Lord of Lord’s – Philippians Chapter 2.

We are told how ‘He alone is immortal’ which reminds us how God is self-existent, is incapable of dying, and has life in himself. Because God created us and gave us life, you and I are dependent upon God for our life, both physical and spiritual. Our immortal God on the other hand is dependent upon no one.

And we are told how ‘He lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see’. Moses you may remember, asked to see the light of God’s glory, but because God knew mortal, sinful Moses would never have been able to tolerate the fullness of His glory, God hid Moses in a cleft in the rock and only allowed him a partial glimpse.

In Exodus Chapter 33 verses 19 – 20 Moses wrote: The LORD said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live”.

Jesus also said in John Chapter 1 verse 18, “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.” Friends, only Jesus has seen the Father. Because Jesus came to us from the Father’s side, only Jesus has seen the Father, and only Jesus can make the Father known to us.

In saying that however, a day is coming when Jesus will come back for His people, and on that day He will bring His people into God the Father’s presence where they will be able to see Him in all His magnificent glory, beauty, majesty, splendour, and holiness.

Brothers and sisters, as Paul reflected on Jesus’ appearing, it caused him to break into a crescendo of praise to this great, awesome, and mighty God to whom all honour and might be forever, and ever. As we also reflect on Jesus and his future appearing, may it cause us to do the same.

One of my most cherished memories – and I will finish with this – is when I used to walk down my road – Glenwood Avenue in Westcliff – on my way home from working in the City. We lived half way down Glenwood, and particularly in the Summer, Lisa who was around 7 or 8 years old at the time, used to wait by our front gate looking out for me.

I would also look out for her, and when she spotted me, she would run as fast as she could towards me with arms outstretched, and when she reached me, she would throw herself into my outstretched arms, and I would scoop her up and give her a big kiss and cuddle.

Lisa waited patiently by the gate looking in anticipation for my appearing, and when she saw me, it caused her to joyfully run as fast as she could to meet and greet me. Friends, the Lord is coming back.

He is going to re-appear. And as His children, we need to be watching, waiting, and looking in joyful eager anticipation because by doing so, it will help us to live our life for God; it will motivate us to witness for Jesus; and it will prompt us to praise our great and glorious God. Jesus is going to return. It is up to us make sure we are ready. AMEN