Passing The Torch (1st Timothy 6:12)

Introduction

And then I thought about what might be more appropriate to say tonight. So I want to talk to you for just a few minutes about passing on the torch. I wonder if we think about this concept as much as we should as soldiers of the cross. And I want to begin with a couple of opening remarks, and that is that our mission extends to generations that may well follow. Now, the reason why I put it in those terms, may well follow, is that God could conclude all of this tonight. I mean, we assume that if time continues as the Lord would allow that, then our mission would extend to generous generations that may follow. And so I want to say some things tonight to young people that we have here in our group and how this lesson ultimately impacts them.

And that says something else. That we do this not just for ourselves, but others. Sometimes we plug along even though we don’t feel very good. Now that doesn’t mean bring your communicable disease to the building.

And that explains their massive absence. But what I am saying is that you don’t always feel 100%. There have been Sunday afternoons that even your preacher thought, wow, I might just want to stay in this recliner at this particular time. But of course, if I did that, you would be looking for the next preacher. But beyond all of that, even if I wasn’t the preacher, I need to be considering the fact that my participation in the things that we do in this place has an impact upon others. We sing to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. We’re not just singing words into the air. I’m singing to encourage you and your singing to encourage me. And we pray together and we amen together.

Because these are our thoughts going together to the throne of God. And you are a participant in what I’m doing and the way that you’re responding to God’s message for our lives. I think one of the things that affects the decisions that people make to assemble or not to assemble are sometimes based on purely personal considerations. The way I feel, what I want to do. We didn’t quit thinking like that. That’s not the nature of the cross. That’s not the nature of discipleship. That’s not the nature of living, the attitude or the mind of Christ. He didn’t think about what would be comfortable for him. What would be more convenient? You know, I think I’ll just skip around this whole cross concept. What does it mean to take up our crosses?

Jesus considered others. He considered all others. And so the way that we participate in this place, the things that we decide to do or not to do, the way we conduct ourselves in the world, we have to think something larger, something bigger than just me. And so as I think tonight with you about passing the torch, I want us to think in terms of what we are contributing and how that impacts others, and not just the people that are present here today, but people who may be sitting in these seats after we’re gone. The passage that I want you to consider briefly tonight, and we’re going to look at it since it’s only a couple of verses, is in 1 Timothy chapter 1. And really, you need to take both epistles together, and I’ll show you that in a moment.

But in 1 Timothy chapter 1, this command I entrust to you, Timothy. Timothy was his son in the faith. The Apostle Paul was his mentor. He says, I entrust this command to you, my son, Timothy, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you. Wonder what those were. Those aren’t spelled out in the text for us. But apparently, some things concerning Timothy’s work among God’s people have already been made public through prophecy that has been made. And he says, that by them, whatever those prophecies contain, he said, that by them you may fight the good fight, keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. We all know Paul’s words in the second epistle, or at least most of us probably do.

I am ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith. There is laid up for me a crown of righteousness that the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me at that day, and not to me only, but to all those who love his appearing. Paul’s crown neared. And so it is important for men like Timothy and Luke and Mark, as he mentions them in the fourth chapter of the second epistle, that they would carry on the torch that Paul himself had carried all across the world of the first century. And I thought that talking about our role in God’s great plan. And what we are doing here in this time and in this place, and having the concept of passing the torch on to others was appropriate.

It was appropriate tonight. Because of the loss of our brother Waley a few months ago of Sister Tana. And then I thought back about three years, where we lost another tandem of saints within a couple of months span. Lucy’s dad. And just prior to that, Linda Parker. And I think of these four individuals.

And the soldiers that they were. And the things that they taught us and the impact that they had among us. The people that they loved, the people that they served. And to me, that emphasizes this concept. I don’t know who’s going to be next on the list. But I do know that this is the nature of things in God’s kingdom. Soldiers go on to their reward. And as many of us have said, it’s better to depart and be with Christ. And we need to have our sense of mission and the role that we play, the role that you play among the people of God. This isn’t just about preachers. This isn’t just about elders. It’s about all of us. And the impact that we have in this great cause.

1. We Too Must Fight the Good Fight

No, I don’t think there’s been any prophecies made concerning me or concerning you. So we may not know what God has planned for us. We don’t know. What’s around the next quarter, what’s going to occur a few weeks from now. We don’t have prophecies like Timothy had regarding his work and his life. But in the absence of that, what Paul tells Timothy as he’s passing on the torch to the young evangelist is true for us as well. We too must fight the good fight. As he would say in 1 Timothy chapter 6. Fight the good fight of faith and lay hold of eternal life. And the thing that I want to emphasize from this text is that it is indeed a good fight. The fact that the word fight is mentioned suggests a struggle.

It’s a struggle against the onslaught of temptation. It is a struggle against the various trials that will be put within our path. It will be the struggle of merely maintaining faith week after week and month after month and year after year. And I can preach a sermon like this, and I realize that their effect are only temporary. That’s why, Lord willing, I’ll be preaching next week. And the week after that. Because these messages, their impact is minimized over time. And as events happen in our lives, but hopefully the messages themselves are keeping us focused on what our responsibilities are and keep us walking down the pathway of righteousness and goodness, continuing to fight the good fight of faith. It’s good. And there’s no other struggle. There’s no other endeavor in this world.

That is an equivalent to our participation in this. And passing this torch to perhaps succeeding generations. Our children. It’s not our children, other people’s children. And their grandchildren. And that’s why our Bible classes are important. I think back to these kids. And I always think of Satan and Carissa because when I got here, I mean, they were itty bitty. And now look at them. They’re grown women. If you don’t believe me, just ask them. It happens in a hurry. Places that I preached before, whether it was Auburn eight and a half years ago or Baytown before that, all those kids, man, they’re massive now. I’ll still look at them as kids and they’re adults. I mean, Blake Herrett was just a skinny little teenager when I was at Baytown.

So quickly the generations grow up behind us. Fight the good fight. Really, that’s the point of Hebrews chapter 12, isn’t it? After the great hall of faith in Hebrews chapter 11, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, those four saints that I mentioned. They’re really a part of that cloud now.

And they admonish us, those who have finished the race, they admonish us, lay aside every encumbrance. Oh, now we’re back to the idea of the fight or the struggle of all of this. There are things that are encumbrances that are that can weigh us down and affect the right expression of faith before God. Lay aside everything, every possible encumbrance. You know, I wish there was an enumeration of all the things that could encumber. But whatever it is, it’s in the it’s in the bucket. Lay aside every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles us and run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on the great and original torchbearer, Jesus Himself, who, for the joy set before him, endured the cross, despised the shame.

Boy, the encumbrances that our Lord faced and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. He conquered. For consider him who has endured such hostility by sinners against himself, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart. And then he says, now let me tell you something about your struggle. It’s not as severe as was his.

This will become your responsibility. This becomes your calling as you continue on in life. And you need to be thinking about how you would be able to contribute in the future to this great cause. How you can help the generations behind you. How you can prepare yourself to be the Bible class teacher, the elder, the elder’s wife, the deacon, the deacon’s wife, just the servant in the local church that continues the wielding of the torch. And the passing along of the torch to others. I think about later in this epistle in 1 Timothy chapter 1, as I’ve already quoted, 1 Timothy chapter 6, rather, I’ve already quoted from verse 12, where Timothy is told to fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called.

2. Keeping Faith: Nobody Can Do That for You

But really, the entire context is about Timothy fighting the good fight of faith. He says godliness is actually a means of great gain and reminds him that he brought nothing into this world and he can take nothing out, and that he should not be a lover of money. But he should instead lay up for himself, lay up for yourself the treasure of a good foundation for the future, verse 19, so that you may take hold of that which is life indeed. And beyond fighting the good fight of faith, he says in the next verse, keeping faith. And I’ve made this observation a number of times. But I think it should be made again. Nobody can do that for you. The elders can’t do that for you.

I can’t do that for you. You can’t do that for me. You have to keep faith for you. Timothy had to keep faith. You think Paul would have liked to have helped him do that? Sure. But Timothy has to make that his pursuit and that his choice. I may have mentioned this to you before. I ran across these verses a while back, and when I hold gospel meetings, when people have me into their home, it’s my practice to send them a note thanking them for their hospitality. And that’s the least I could do. But one of the things that I always do in those notes is I put Jude 20 and 21. And I realize when I do that, they’re going, what does that say? Because I want them to go look it up.

3. A Good Conscience

And in these verses it says, But you beloved, building yourselves up on the most holy faith. Praying in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. Build yourself up in the most holy faith. Keep yourselves in the love of God, and we’ll talk about praying in the Holy Spirit in our Holy Spirit study. And a good conscience. And that reminds me of Jeff’s invitation. The goal of our instruction earlier in the context of 1 Timothy chapter 1. The goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. The possession of a good conscience comes from a conscience that is properly trained in the principles and teaching of the New Testament, of the righteousness of God, and then the measurement of our lives in relation to this message about goodness and holiness and the way our lives are to be lived.

Ailha’s notes from this morning. Don’t silence your conscience. Sometimes when our conscience is telling us, and it’s that inner mechanism that says we’re the handiwork of God. It’s that inner mechanism that says, you know, you’re not really acting consistently with the principles that are true and right. That word that just came out of your mouth that your parents said, you’re not supposed to say that word. That word of profanity. And when you said it, you knew. I don’t know if I’ve ever told this story. There was a time in my life where I was really young at the time. I think I was in fifth grade. Where I thought it might be cool to experiment with those words. And I was in school early one day.

I don’t know why I was there early.

I was playing a board game with a close friend of mine, and I decided I was going to experiment with one of those words. And the minute that word came out of my mouth, in walked my teacher. Mrs. Beatty. Now, you realize this has been over 40 years ago. A long time. And my memory isn’t as good as it was, but I remember the look on her face. And I’ll remember what she said to me. She said, You know your mom would not approve of you saying that word. There, I told on myself in the pulpit. That was all I needed. Thank you, Mrs. Beatty. But I knew. My conscience was telling me. That wasn’t right. Don’t silence the conscience. When you know that your behavior does not conform with what is right, deal with it.

4. Some Suffer Shipwreck in Regard to Their Faith

Don’t sear your conscience. Paul talks about those who have seared their conscience with a hot iron. You can say, you can tune your conscience out for so long that it stops firing. All of a sudden you start thinking the behavior’s okay because the conscience isn’t accusing you anymore. And that’s why there’s so much comment made about keeping a good conscience. In 1 Timothy chapter 1. And then there’s the sad part at the end of this, when he says, keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. And then he mentioned a couple fellows that obviously Timothy knew them. Hymeneus and Alexander, whom I have delivered over to Satan so that they may be taught not to blaspheme.

Oh, and by the way, adding to the casualties in the second epistle is Demas, who forsook Paul having loved this present world. As the torch is being passed. Here’s what you will observe. You will see a number of people who do exactly what Paul writes right here. Who will make shipwreck of the faith. I guess a modern analogy is that they’ll make plane crash of the faith. They give up the fight. Perhaps they start by thinking that the fight is too severe or the fight is not good, and then they stop keeping faith. They lose sight of what we said in the very beginning that what I do impacts the lives of others. And then I do this not just for myself, but myself, but other people.

5. Be Undeterred as Disciples of Jesus

We have to be undeterred by those who will. I can preach until my voice is lost. And some will quit. I say this in meetings all the time, and I said it here, I don’t know how long it’s been. But everywhere you go. You can look back several years, two to three years in the church directory, and you’ll find somebody who’s no longer serving the Lord. You think anybody’s fallen away from the Lord in the last year among us here? Yes. It’s discouraging. Sometimes it makes me feel that I’ve not done my job well enough. But it’s about ultimately your responsibility to keep faith. And others will fall away. Don’t let that affect you. Some will suffer shipwreck in regard to the faith, but you can’t let that affect you because you are a disciple of Jesus.

And that’s always the case, regardless of what others choose to do. I saw this on Brother Doy Moyer’s Facebook page. I like acrostics, and this is a good one. Disciple. A disciple is one who disentangles from the world. A disciple is one who integrates among the Lord’s people. Again, it’s not just about you. A disciple practices self-denial because that’s what Jesus practiced. And yes, you all are going to have to write rapidly who are writing this down. A disciple is one who is focused on spiritual things and lays up treasures for himself or herself in heaven. Keep setting your affections on things above. And we are imitators of Jesus. His thinking, his choices, his behavior. And we pursue holiness. And we love as he loved. And we teach or evangelize as he taught.

Conclusion

Let us be undeterred in our practice as the disciples of Jesus. And let us realize our mission to pass on the torch from this generation to those who follow. What we do as the people of God is unique and special. We proclaim a message that by and large is not taught in Christianity in our world. That it matters how you think, it matters what you say, it matters how you live, and the choices that you make will bring you into judgment, good or bad. 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 10. And the terror of the Lord is something that you need to be concerned about. According to 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 11. And we preach a message of salvation by listening and submitting to truth.

And that includes the final step that places us in Christ, baptism for the remission of sins. And that is an appeal to God for a good conscience. Is there somebody in this audience who needs to get involved among God’s people, who needs to have your sins washed away in the blood of Christ? Let’s sing the invitation song.