1 Tim 6:12-14
Fight the good fight of the faith; lay hold of the eternal life to which you were summoned and [for which] you confessed the good confession [of faith] before many witnesses.
13 In the presence of God, Who preserves alive all living things, and of Christ Jesus, Who in His testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I [solemnly] charge you
14 To keep all His precepts unsullied and flawless, irreproachable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Anointed One),
AMP
Fight the good fight of the faith; lay hold of the eternal life to which you were summoned and [for which] you confessed the good confession [of faith] before many witnesses.
13 In the presence of God, Who preserves alive all living things, and of Christ Jesus, Who in His testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I [solemnly] charge you
14 To keep all His precepts unsullied and flawless, irreproachable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Anointed One),
AMP
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00As a
00:29Christian, are you just existing or are you fighting the good fight of faith?
00:36Have you ever thought of the fact, dear listener, that we live in a temporary
00:42world? In fact, we live in a temporary body as a Christian believer in Jesus
00:49Christ. This body will one day die and the world will be replaced by a new
00:56world by the very hand of God, the very one who created it. But this temporary
01:03body has hope in a future life according to the scripture which tells us that as
01:10a believer that we have hope of living forever. Let's read in Romans chapter 8
01:18beginning in verse 13. For if you live according to the dictates of the flesh
01:25you will surely die. But if through the power of the Holy Spirit you are
01:31habitually putting to death, making extinct, deadening the evil deeds
01:36prompted by the body, you shall really genuinely live forever. Verse 14. For all
01:45who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For the Spirit which you now
01:51have received is not a spirit of slavery to put you once more into
01:56bondage of fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption, the spirit
02:01producing sonship in the bliss of which we cry, Abba, Father, Father. Verse 16. The
02:10Spirit himself thus testifies together with our spirit assuring us that we are
02:16children of God. And if we are his children, then we are his heirs also,
02:23heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, sharing his inheritance with him.
02:30Only we must share his suffering if we are to share his glory. But what of that?
02:37For if I consider that the sufferings of this present time, this present life, are
02:43not worth being compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us and
02:48in us and for us and conferred on us. Verse 19. For even the whole creation,
02:56all nature, waits expectantly and longs earnestly for God's sons to be made
03:02known, waits for the revealing, the disclosing of their sonship. For the
03:07creation, the nature, was subject to frailty, to futility, condemned to
03:13frustration, not because of some intentional fault on its part, but by the
03:18will of him who subjected it. Yet with the hope that nature, creation itself,
03:25will be set free from its bondage to decay and corruption and gain an
03:31entrance into the glorious freedom of God's children. Verse 22. We know that the
03:39whole creation of irrational creatures has been moaning together in the pains
03:45of labor until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves too, who have
03:51and enjoyed the firstfruits of the adoption of the Holy Spirit, a foretaste
03:57of the blissful things to come, we've grown inwardly as we wait for the
04:02redemption of our bodies from sensuality in the grave, which will reveal our
04:07adoption, our manifestation as God's sons. Verse 24. For in this hope we are saved,
04:15but the hope of the object which is seen is not hope, for how can one hope for
04:22what he already sees? But if we hope for what is still unseen by us, we wait for
04:28it with patience and composure. So too the Holy Spirit comes to our aid, bears
04:35us up in our weakness, for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it
04:40worthily as we ought. But the Spirit himself goes to meet our supplication
04:45and pleads on our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too
04:51deep for utterance. Verse 27. And he who searches the hearts of men knows what's
04:58in the mind of the Holy Spirit, what his intent is, because the Spirit intercedes
05:03and pleads before God in behalf of the saints according to and in harmony with
05:09God's will. We are assured and know that God being a partner in their labor, all
05:16things work together and are fitting into a plan for good too and for those
05:21who love God and are called according to his design and purpose. Hallelujah. So you
05:30see, as a believer in Jesus Christ, we have hope in a future life through the
05:37Holy Spirit who intercedes and leads and guides us through this evil, wicked world
05:43and teaches us according to the will, plan, and the design of God for each and
05:48every life of those who live according to his will. In this world, as was said in
05:55the opening, we live in a temporary world. Nothing ever really vanishes because
06:02when something is burned, it becomes ashes changing from one form of
06:08existence. This is the truth which helps us to understand certain misunderstood
06:15words in the New Testament. To destroy, to lose, to perish, are all transitions of
06:23the Greek word apoleum. It does not mean to cease to exist, but rather it means to
06:30ruin so as to make something unable or unfit to accomplish what it was made for.
06:36We see an example of this in the parable of the wineskins that Jesus
06:42shared in Luke chapter 5. Then he spoke a parable to them. No one puts a piece from
06:49a new garment to an old one. Otherwise, the new makes a tear and also the piece
06:56that was taken out of the new does not match the old. Verse 37, And no one puts
07:02new wine into an old wineskin or else the new wine will burst the wineskins
07:07and be spilled and wineskin will be ruined. But new wine must be put into new
07:14wineskins and both are preserved. And no one having drunk old wine immediately
07:20desires new wine for he says the old is better. It means to lose possession of
07:27someone or something. In the parable of the shepherd who could not find the
07:33sheep, the sheep still existed because the good shepherd found it. And likewise,
07:39the wayward son who was lost to his father still existed even though he was
07:45not visible to his father's eyes. The same is true of the perishing food. Jesus
07:51was speaking as an example in John chapter 6 verse 27 when he said, Stop
07:59toiling and doing and producing for food that perishes and decomposes in the
08:05using, but strive and work and produce rather for the lasting food which
08:10endures continually into eternal life. The Son of Man will give and furnish
08:17you that for God the Father has authorized and certified him and put his
08:22seal of endorsement upon him. Even dying is the reducing of someone from bodily
08:31form of life to another form which is decayed over time in the grave. There's
08:38so many examples of life forms that live and die but take the form of dust and
08:43return to the dust. In short, though many of these examples, we must be able as a
08:50believer to distinguish between the temporary and the eternal matters.
08:56Scriptures counsel us to distinguish between the two and attribute
09:02corresponding priorities to each of them. Temporal things are not necessarily
09:09unimportant. The scriptures do not say to seek only the kingdom of God but to
09:16seek it first as Jesus taught us in Matthew chapter 6 when he said, And who
09:23of you by worrying and being anxious can add one unit of measure to a stature or
09:31to the lifespan or to the span of his life? And why should you be anxious about
09:38clothes? Consider the lilies of the field and learn thoroughly how they grow. They
09:44neither toil nor spin and yet I tell you even Solomon in all of his magnificence,
09:50excellence, dignity, and grace was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so
09:58clothes the grass of the field which today is alive and green and tomorrow is
10:04tossed into the fire, will he not much more surely clothe you? O you of little
10:10faith, therefore do not be anxious saying, What are we going to have or eat or what
10:16are we going to have to drink or what are we going to have to wear?
10:21For the Gentiles, the heathens, wish and crave for and diligently seek all of
10:28these things and your Heavenly Father knows well that you need them all. But
10:34seek, aim, strive after first of all his kingdom, his righteousness, and his way of
10:41doing and being right and then all of these other things will be together
10:45given to you besides. Well the lesson for us is rather than pursuing material
10:53things which are temporal but rather we are instructed to pursue something that
10:59has greater importance and significance and has eternal life-giving value. Seeking
11:07first, the kingdom of God involves pursuing the things about the kingdom of
11:12in which Jesus taught his disciples to pray. And as you see by the verse in
11:18Matthew chapter 6 verses 9 and 10 we see as we read that is namely for God's
11:24honor and his design and his will when Jesus taught us how to pray saying,
11:29Therefore pray like this, Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed, kept holy be
11:37your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on this earth as it is in heaven.
11:43This is only one of five places in Matthew where we read the kingdom of God
11:50rather than the kingdom of heaven. In each case the framework for this
11:57teaching requires a more special reference to God rather than a more
12:03indirect or implied reference to heaven. Seeking God's righteousness means
12:09pursuing righteousness in this life of submission to God's will. In the end
12:15there are only two kinds of reverence and holiness which are found in either a
12:22self-centered pseudo or pretender religious life or a God-centered life
12:28that pursues Jesus Christ because of love-focused motives and desire to know
12:35him more and more. There are only two kinds of ambition. One can be ambition
12:40either for oneself or for God. There are no other alternatives. One is temporary
12:48while the other is eternal. Not one thing created by God is unimportant and not
12:56one word of God is without power. Each thing must be evaluated to its relative
13:03importance to the permanent and remaining which is temporal. Paul in
13:102nd Corinthians chapter 4 verses 17 and 18 classifies these. He says for our
13:18light momentary affliction the slight distress of the passing hour is even
13:25more and more abundantly preparing and producing and achieving for us an
13:32everlasting weight of glory beyond all measure excessive surpassing all
13:38comparisons and all calculations a vast transcendent glory the blessedness never
13:46to cease verse 18 since we consider and look not to the things that are seen but
13:52to the things that are unseen for the things that are visible are temporal
13:56brief and fleeting but the things that are invisible are deathless and
14:02everlasting you see our light afflictions are but for a moment could
14:08be better translated the transient thing is light and therefore it's easy to bear
14:15anything else that passes is tolerable and I believe that we have all
14:22experienced light afflictions however they have come whether it was by
14:28persecution tribulation anguish of some kind self-inflicted because of ignorance
14:35or just plain sinful weaknesses but nevertheless in whatever way they came
14:41we remember it was for a moment in time before they passed we have all
14:47experienced it the words translated that say which is but for a moment means
14:54that which is for this very instant or momentary or a fleeting thing and it
15:02will pass dear listener it would do us all well to recognize the fleeting or
15:09the transient things of life and how they have affected us but it is good to
15:15know that even the momentary or fleeting or brief things such as
15:21afflictions will or can affect our permanent status in 2nd Corinthians
15:29chapter 4 verse 1 again tells us for our light and momentary affliction this
15:37slight distress of the passing hour is ever more and more abundantly preparing
15:44and producing and achieving for us an everlasting weight of glory beyond all
15:51measure excessively surpassing all comparisons and all calculations a vast
15:58and transcendent glory and blessedness never to cease hope you caught that
16:07laboring over this point a bit we learned that we must not forget in
16:12moments of affliction that we learned that these troubles according to our
16:16word tells us they work for us a more exceeding and eternal weight of glory
16:24and this is saying that we suffer for a moment of time but later these
16:29afflictions are producing a stronger faith that which was ready to deliver a
16:36heavy and long and grievous and tedious pain of suffering even to the point of
16:41trying one's faith and to be a light or short for a moment of time suffering
16:47that eventually passes hallelujah and on the other hand the worth and weight of
16:55the crown of glory as they are exceedingly great in themselves are
17:00esteemed to be by the believing heart and soul of the individual are far more
17:06exceeding all of the expressions and thoughts that one could have hallelujah
17:13these are and will be very special support in our suffering when we can
17:19perceive them appointed by God and by faith as a way and preparation for us to
17:25enjoy the future glory God has that awaits for us you see faith enables
17:32people to make right judgment of things because we look not at the things which
17:36are seen but the things that which are not seen in Hebrews chapter 11 verses 1
17:45through 3 speaks this truth to us beginning in verse 1 now faith is the
17:52assurance the confirmation the title deed of the things that we hope for
17:56being the proof of things we do not see and the conviction of the reality faith
18:02perceiving is a real fact which is not revealed to the senses for by faith
18:08trust and holy fervor born of faith the men of old had divine testimony born to
18:15them and obtained a good report by faith we understand that the world's during
18:20the successive ages were framed fashion put in order and equipped for their
18:26intended purpose by the Word of God so that what we see was not made out of
18:31things which are visible it is by faith we see God who is invisible and by this
18:41we look to the unseen heaven faith is the evidence of things not seen there
18:48are unseen things as well as things that are seen there is a vast difference
18:54between them unseen things are eternal while the things that are seen are
19:01temporal or fleeting by faith we not only discern these things but the great
19:07difference between them but by this also we take our focus and unseen things and
19:16above all we consider them and make them our end an opportunity to escape future
19:23evils by recognizing that the unseen things are more real and certain and
19:30eternal by remembering that faith is the substance of things hope for as well
19:36as the evidence of things not seen so you see we have the fleeting experiences
19:44they are light because they are fleeting or brief moments whereas the eternal
19:50experiences of understanding our future inheritance are weighted with the glory
19:55of God think about it our eternal glorification will be affected by how
20:03lightly we take the transient afflictions of this life on earth
20:09remember when we talk about these transient afflictions or fleeting
20:15afflictions in our lives on this earth these are any conditions or problems
20:22that produce suffering or pain these fleeting momentary afflictions can
20:27represent those personal sins that we are endeavoring to overcome and can be
20:33those things that believers are dealing with in sickness in ignorance pressure
20:39persecution which takes forgiveness and the moving on from the evil words of
20:45ignorant people struggles with pride mental torment depression and the list
20:51goes on for the believer growing in maturity and fighting the good fight of
20:57faith by living in God's righteousness and holiness will deliver a struggling
21:03son or daughter out of these fleeting struggles understand please the purpose
21:11of these momentary struggles and sufferings are about the purifying of a
21:17believer as he identifies with Christ as we're told in Romans chapter 5 verses
21:243 through 5 which declares moreover let us also be full of joy now let us exalt
21:33and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings knowing that the
21:38pressure and affliction and hardship produce patience and on swerving
21:43endurance and endurance fortitude develops maturity of character approved
21:50faith and tried integrity and character of this sort produces the habit of
21:55joyful and confident hope of eternal salvation such hope never disappoints or
22:02deludes or shames us for God's love has been poured out in our hearts through
22:07the Holy Spirit was been given to us hallelujah keeping our eyes fixed on the
22:14author and finisher of our faith brings a dedicated true and honest believer in
22:20Jesus Christ into being glorified one day as they hold fast to the one who
22:26died for them and saves them from the evil one in 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2
22:33beginning with verse 13 Apostle Paul encourages us by saying but we brethren
22:40loved by the Lord ought and are obligated as those who are in debt to
22:46give thanks always to God for you because God chose you from the beginning
22:52as his first fruits first converts for salvation through the sanctifying work
22:57of the Holy Spirit and your belief in it here to trust in relied on the truth as
23:04it was to this end that he called you through our gospel so that you may
23:10obtain and share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ now the process of
23:16sanctification and consecration is at work in us now but moves from one degree
23:24to another of glory to another until this work reaches its final glory in
23:30which the believer will be made glorious and holy and blameless in the sight of
23:36God our Father and Lord Jesus Christ our bridegroom who has shared his own glory
23:42with all who are faithful and obedient in Ephesians chapter 5 verses 26 and 27
23:52encourages the believer to keep reaching for the high mark who is Jesus Christ so
23:58that they can share in the glory and splendor of their King verse 26 so that
24:04he might sanctify her having cleansed her by the washing of water with the
24:09word that he might present the church to himself in glorious splendor without
24:15spot or wrinkle or any such thing that she might be holy and faultless these
24:23are the words who were permitted and empowered by God to reach a final goal
24:29to reign with Jesus Christ forever and ever do you long to be one of these are
24:37you longing to overcome everything that stands in your way dear believer and
24:42hopefully you're not just longing but you are fighting to take hold of what is
24:49rightfully yours as a believer in Jesus Christ he provided everything we need he
24:56provided freedom liberty peace joy and the promise of salvation and eternal
25:03life of which we should never take lightly Jesus Christ shook the earth
25:09when he was being crucified as told in Matthew chapter 27 beginning in verse 50
25:17which declares and Jesus cried again with a loud voice and gave up his spirit
25:24and at once the curtain of the sanctuary of the temple was torn in two from top
25:31to bottom and the earth shook and the rocks split and the tombs were open and
25:38many bodies of the Saints who had fallen asleep in death were raised to
25:42life and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the Holy
25:46City and appeared to many people dear listener who we are told that Jesus will
25:54come again in all of his glory with his powerful army that when he comes again
26:00he will shake not only the earth but also the heaven in Hebrews chapter 12 in
26:07verses 25 and 26 we read so see to it that you do not reject or refuse and
26:14listen to him and heed him who is speaking to you now for if they the
26:19Israelites did not escape when they refused to listen and heed him who warned
26:24and divinely instructed them here on earth revealing with heavenly warnings
26:29his will how much less shall we escape if we reject and turn our backs on him
26:35who cautions and admonishes us from heaven first 26 then at Mount Sinai his
26:42voice shook the earth but now he is given a promise yet once more I will
26:49shake and make tremble not only the earth but also the starry skies and this
26:57will be the final change of what is meant to be shaken and that which is
27:02temporary those things of temporary nature will be changed to permanent
27:09nature to coexist with the permanently eternal things what a glorious depiction
27:16of the temporary which are now visible to our eyes and to the eternal now
27:22invisible which will one day be made visible when we will be glorified in the
27:28likeness of our precious Savior Jesus Christ who has made all things possible
27:33we see the invisible in part and we know by faith that God exists and Jesus
27:40Christ has died for me and the love I have for him is real and genuine in
27:47first John chapter 3 verse 2 we are told beloved we are even here now God's
27:56children it is not yet disclosed made clear what we shall be here after but we
28:03know that when he comes and is manifested we shall ask God's children
28:09resemble and be like him for we shall see him as he really is hallelujah
28:16praise the Lord Apostle Paul declares in Romans chapter 8 beginning in verse 18
28:24for I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be
28:29compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us for the earnest
28:34expectation of the glory eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God for
28:41the creation was subjected to futility not willingly but because of him who
28:46subjected it in hope because the creation itself will also be delivered
28:51from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God
28:56for we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs
29:01together until now and not only that but we also who have the firstfruits of the
29:07Spirit even we ourselves grown within ourselves eagerly waiting for the
29:13adoption the redemption of our bodies verse 24 for we are saved in this hope
29:19but hope that is seen is not hope for why does one still hope for what he
29:26sees verse 25 for if we hope for what we do not see we eagerly await it with
29:34perseverance well we're told in this verse but if we hope for what we do not
29:40see we eagerly wait for it with perseverance which means additionally
29:47with patience and composure but dear one waiting for what we will see one day
29:55with perseverance and patience does not mean that we will not do our part in
30:01fighting the good fight of faith sitting down to whittling our sums waiting for
30:07God to do everything doesn't mean that at all we have too many examples
30:13throughout scripture that tells us how we must fight this good fight of faith
30:18life is a race only those who run get to the goal and if we do not reach the goal
30:27it means that we did not run it's never too late to start fighting the good
30:34fight of faith tells us that we must put off sin and those things that burden us
30:39down in Hebrews chapter 12 beginning in verse 1 we read therefore since we are
30:46surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses who have borne testimony to
30:50the truth let us strip off and throw aside every weight and every encumbrance
30:57unnecessary weight and that sin which so easily deftly cleverly clings to us and
31:04entangles us let us run with patient endurance and steady and active
31:09persistence at the appointed course of the race that is set before us verse 2
31:15looking away from all that will distract us to Jesus who is the leader and source
31:20of our faith giving the first incentive for our belief and is also its finisher
31:27bringing it to maturity and perfection he for the joy of obtaining the prize
31:32that was set before him endured the cross despising and ignoring the shame
31:38and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God you see stripping off
31:45everything that encumbers us is speaking about personal sin and the temporary or
31:51transient things called afflictions and so on let us examine ourselves for
31:58spiritual enemies because the sooner we discover them and eradicate them with
32:03the help of the Holy Spirit the faster we can run the race and this is also
32:07called overcoming and this will be our constant journey until our dear and
32:14precious Savior Jesus Christ comes to take us home and there we will receive
32:19our glorification as Jesus will complete his wonderful work in us second
32:25Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 14 and 15 declare it was to this end that he
32:34called you through our gospel so that you may obtain and share in the glory of
32:39our Lord Jesus Christ the Messiah so then brethren stand firm and hold fast
32:46to the traditions and instructions which you were taught by us whether by our
32:52word of mouth or by letter I encourage you and I exhort you to keep looking up
32:59to the author and the finisher of your faith I caution you to end with that
33:06regarding to this world and to the volatile state and condition that we
33:12live in in 2024 do not focus on the awful things happening and that are
33:21involved in this nation's unstable situations that come up before us in
33:28the news every day but focus on your salvation and your future life in Jesus
33:35Christ and your eternal home your home away from home and if you do this you
33:42will never regret or look back to the sick and dying world if you follow the
33:47one who died for you and whom your heart loves