10/7/07 - Pentecost 19 - 1 Timothy 6:11-16

FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT
- You have made the good confession
- Take hold of eternal life

At the beginning of Paul’s second missionary journey he went back to where he had been before. As he reached the town of Lystra, he met a young believer there named Timothy. Timothy soon became Paul’s coworker, a fellow missionary to the lost, and eventually he ended up in the city of Ephesus as the pastor of the congregation there. Near the end of Paul’s life, he wrote a couple letters to this young pastor Timothy, letters that are now known as 1st and 2nd Timothy in our Bibles. And at the end of the first of these letters from Paul to Timothy our sermon text is taken today - 1 Timothy chapter 6. Paul urges and encourages and motivates both Timothy and us, “Fight the good fight. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”
We don’t know when Timothy made this “good confession” that Paul refers to here. It could have been when he was ordained into the public ministry. It could have been when he was circumcised in Lystra before he left with Paul to show the Jewish people that he was for them and not against them. It could have been at his baptism if Timothy was baptized as an adult. In any case, this confession was made in the presence of many witnesses, and it had to be a confession of faith. Publicly Timothy confessed “This is what I believe.” He probably confessed that Jesus was his Savior, that Scripture was God’s Word, and that he would hold firm to that Word until the end. This confession is what Paul wants his understudy to remember: “You have made that good confession. Now continue to fight the good fight of faith of faith!”
These words of Paul should strike a cord in your heart because you too have made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. Maybe not in the same way as Timothy did, but for the same reasons. Each one of you has publicly confessed your faith in the presence of other Christians. Each one of you confessed your faith when you were confirmed and accepted into membership. Whether it was into this congregation or another, you stood in front of the church and confessed what you believed in the presence of many witnesses. And Paul wants you to remember that confession. Do you remember what you confessed?
Let me remind you. As you stood up in front of church, to the question, “Do you believe in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit?” you responded by confessing the Apostles’ Creed. To the question, “Do you believe the teachings of this church are in accordance with the Word of God?” you confessed, “I do.” To the question, “Do you intend to continue steadfast in this teaching and to endure all things, even death, rather than fall away from it?” you confessed, “I do.” To the question, “Do you intend to remain faithful in the use of the Word and sacraments as long as you live?” again you confessed, “I do.” You confessed in front of many witnesses and in front of the Lord himself that you would remain steadfast and faithful to God’s Word. Have you upheld your confession? Have you always been fighting the good fight of faith and making that good confession from that day until now?
Many of us tend to think, “I believe in Jesus as my Savior. I made the good confession. But fight the good fight of faith, Paul? There’s no fight here. There’s no battle. There isn’t any kind of war. I’m not in a struggle to confess the faith. People know what I believe. I have no problems making the good confession. What does making the good confession have to do with battle anyway?” Well, battle can take on many different forms. And one of the ways that Christians must fight at times is to stand up for the truth and make the good confession. Have you always done that?
You’re among family members over the weekend and one of your relatives mentions a sin that he committed - and he’s proud of it! He even goes into elaborate detail as he tells his story. What do you do? Do you make the good confession that was so easy for you to do in front of other Christians? Do you fight the good fight for the faith? Or do you say to yourself, “That’s just the way he is. I don’t want to get into an argument. I’ll just let it slide this time.”
Your coworker is having some major problems in her life. Things seem to get worse and worse for her and she is always in a constant state of hopelessness. What do you do? Do you make the good confession? Do you fight the good fight? Or do you simply feed her with empty words, “Oh, that’s really terrible. I’m sure everything is going to turn out all right. Hang in there. Things will get better from here on out.”
One day you get into a conversation with your neighbor who happens to mention that his nephew died the other week in a car accident. “But,” your neighbor says, “He was a good kid. He was always really polite and kept out of trouble. So I’m sure he’s in a better place now anyway.” What do you do? Do you make the good confession? Do you fight the good fight for the faith? Or do you decide that now is not the best time to get into a discussion on the only Way to heaven - through Jesus? Do you just nod your head in sympathetic agreement and look at the ground?
We find it so hard to make the good confession to those who really need to hear it. We find it so hard to fight the good fight when souls need to be won. What cowardly Christians we are. Christians who don’t even deserve to carry the name. Because remember what Jesus himself said, “Whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. But he who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God” (Luke 12:8-9). Have we disowned Jesus? By refusing to speak about Jesus to those who need to hear about him, by pretending that we don’t know what real comfort is, by avoiding entering the battle to fight the good fight - these are ways of disowning Jesus! These are ways of ignoring what he has done for all people. These are ways of acting as if he never existed. These are ways worthy of condemnation. These are ways we all need to repent of.
A few hours before Jesus was condemned to death, he stood in the courts of Pontius Pilate. His friends had left him, his countrymen had already sentenced him, and he was standing in front of an unbeliever who, humanly speaking, held Jesus’ life in his hands. This is the very scene Paul reminds Timothy about in our text. It’s a scene we all are to look back upon. Paul tells us, “Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession.” Jesus made the good confession! Jesus was in an extreme situation to say the least. He was alone, he was being interrogated to see whether or not he was worthy of crucifixion, and thousands of people were screaming for his death outside. But Jesus did not back down. He boldly said what needed to be said. He made the good confession. “You are right in saying that I am a king,” he told Pilate. “In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me” (John 18:37).
Now that was a good confession. And Christ upheld that confession even during the unbearable trials of the cross. He continued to confess the truth up until his death all so that we would have something to confess while we live. So that we would have something to fight for in this life. Christ publicly confessed the truth in front of his enemies. He was crucified by those who hated him. He valiantly fought sin, death, and Satan himself for us - and won. The good fight was never as fierce as it was outside of Jerusalem that day. But it was never more glorious either. And this is exactly what we confess every time we make the good confession: the bloody cross, the empty tomb, forgiveness, victory, eternal life. These things are worth confessing. These things are worth fighting for. These things are worth taking hold of.
“Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called,” Paul urges us. We were called to eternal life by faith through the Word of God. Eternal life has already been earned for us. It has been won for us. It has been given to us. We don’t have to do anything to get eternal life - and so Paul here is pleading with us not to let it go! Just as a child grasps his teddy bear in the dark, just as a ship wreck survivor clings to the life preserver thrown to her, you are to take hold of the eternal life that has been given to you. Do not let it go. Continue to fight the good fight of faith with God’s help to keep that most precious gift secure.
So how do you take hold of eternal life? You take hold of it in the same way you were called to it: through the Word. The only reason you have been called to eternal life in the first place is because the Holy Spirit worked faith in your heart through the Word. And that is the only way you can take hold of eternal life now. By getting in the Word. By fervently studying the Word. By immersing yourself in the Word. When you come to church, fight to pay attention. Struggle against your sinful nature. When you are in Bible class, fight to honestly apply every question to yourself. Struggle to understand what is being said. When you read your Bible at home, fight to stay focused. Concentrate on every word you read. Because with every single verse you should ask yourself: “Why did the Holy Spirit use these words at this time? What exactly do they mean? And how do they apply to me right now?” When these things are done, when you are in the Word giving the Holy Spirit the opportunity to strengthen your faith, you are taking hold of that eternal life and grasping it that much more tightly.
This part of the battle is not an offensive move. It’s not about going out and making the good confession, this part of the battle is defensive. Building up the stronghold, securing the walls, supplying yourself with what you need so that you can stand up under attack. “For our struggle,” Paul tells us, “is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph. 6:12). This is a dangerous battle. And we need to be prepared. We need to be prepared with the only weapon we’ve got: the Word of God. This is what brought you eternal life and this is the only thing that can keep it for you. Prepare yourself with the Word of God so that you can fight with it when the time comes.
And we will have to fight with it until the end. Paul calls the end in our text, “the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.” We are to fight the good fight until our Victor comes back. That could be a while. Or that could be in another couple of minutes. But however long it may take, when the battle is intense, when eternal life seems out of reach, when fighting the good fight is almost overwhelming, remember these words, “the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory” (Deut. 20:4). The Lord will never abandon you. He will not leave you to fend for yourself. He will always be with you. He will always strengthen you with his Word. He will always fight for you because you are his own. With this in the back of your mind, fight the good fight. Make the good confession. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called. Act like the victory is already yours. Because it already is.
Amen.

“God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen” - 1 Tim. 6:15-16