A Daily Walk

Guest (Male): Pastor John Randall with a question for you as we begin.

John Randall: Friend, listen. What are you chasing after this morning? What are you running after? What are you pursuing? And whatever it is that you're pursuing will tell you something about yourself. What the desire of your heart is, what your pursuit is. Are you running after more of Jesus? Are you pursuing after a life that is found in Christ? Jesus said, follow me and I will make you fishers of men. He said, if any man desires to come after me, let him deny himself, let him take up his cross and follow me.

Guest (Male): Well, remember back to the beginning of this year when many of us made some resolutions, maybe to shed a few pounds, hit the gym, eat healthier. Well, here we are now in September and many of us have no doubt broken some of those commitments. We want to encourage you to take a look within today on a daily walk. Consider where you are spiritually today. Pastor John Randall will encourage us to run after and run away from some things in our daily walk. We'll meet you in 1 Timothy chapter 6 on this edition of a daily walk.

John Randall: 1 Timothy chapter 6 beginning this morning in verse 11 if you would follow along with me. 1 Timothy chapter 6 beginning in verse 11. But you, oh man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold on eternal life to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. In the conclusion of his letter to Timothy, the Apostle Paul sets forth some very important exhortations. In verse 11, Paul uses a conjunction to draw a contrast between the life and the ministry of Timothy in comparison to the false teachers that were seeking worldly gain.

Paul had pointed out in previous verses that some of these men were not only living for but actually were controlled by the love of money. And they had become ensnared in all that was material, wandered away from their faith in Christ. They had fallen into temptation. They were in bondage to their lusts and they were drowning in destruction. These were the characteristics. These were the pursuits of the worldly man. But Timothy, Timothy was not called to be a worldly man. He was called to be a godly man. And that is why Paul declares in verse 11, but you, oh man of God.

The phrase man of God is used over 70 times within the Old Testament. It was used to describe men like Moses, Samuel, David, Elijah and several of the prophets. And it means a person whose life belongs entirely to God. A person who follows God's word within their life. And I want to ask you this question before we move forward and it is simply this. Do you have a desire today to be a man of God, to be a woman of God, a person who seeks to live a godly life? Do you long for your life to be found in Christ?

How do you know if a person is truly a godly person? Paul gives us insight in the following verses. For one thing, you can tell whether or not a person is seeking to be godly by what they run away from. By what they run away from. Paul tells us in verse 11, but you, oh man of God, flee, run away from these things. The word flee means to take flight in order to seek safety or to escape something, safe from danger. And it is used in what is called the present imperative tense which means it is a call to a long-term commitment and implies a continued way of life.

This was something for Timothy that wasn't an option. If he's going to be a godly man, he has to continually run away from those things that would lead him away from Jesus Christ. It's as if Paul is a general in the army and he's speaking to a soldier, Timothy, and he's telling him, Timothy, you've got to run away from these things, these worldly riches, the pursuit of all these things that would ultimately lead you away from the Lord and lead you to destruction. He's talking about fleeing the works of the flesh. In his second letter to Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 22, he says much the same thing.

He says, flee youthful lusts. I think of Joseph in the book of Genesis when he was confronted by Potiphar's wife and when he was given the opportunity to sin, he ran in the opposite direction. Sin will always hinder the work of God's spirit within your life. It will always rob you of the blessings that God desires to impart to you. The blessing of his peace, the blessing of joy, the blessing of assurance and comfort. That is why it is to be avoided. The Bible says that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Bible tells us that when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin and sin when it is full grown brings forth death. Therefore, if it brings forth death, I'm going to run away for it. I'm going to run after life which is found in Christ. You know a person is seeking to live a godly life by what they run away from. But you can also tell whether a person is seeking and pursuing a godly life by what they run after, what they follow after. For here it says, pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience and gentleness.

To run swiftly in order to catch something. It is the idea of a diligent, determined, earnest, eager effort in pursuit of something. This word seemed to be one of Paul's favorites because he used this word in so many of his epistles in writing to the Romans, for example. He said, therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify one another. Run after those things. In writing to the Corinthians, he said, pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. To the Philippians, he said, not that I have already attained or I'm already perfected, but I press on that I may lay hold of that for which Jesus Christ has already laid hold of me.

This is the pursuit. Friend, listen. What are you chasing after this morning? What are you running after? What are you pursuing? And whatever it is that you're pursuing will tell you something about yourself. What the desire of your heart is, what your pursuit is. Are you running after more of Jesus? Are you pursuing after a life that is found in Christ? Jesus said, follow me and I will make you fishers of men. He said, if any man desires to come after me, let him deny himself, let him take up his cross and follow me. If you want to pursue him, if you want to come after him, Paul encouraged Timothy to pursue several things continuously.

First of all, righteousness. Pursue righteousness. Righteousness is a word that means to be in a right standing with God. A person is placed in a right standing with God today based upon the righteousness of Christ being imparted to them by placing their faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ upon the cross. You cannot be placed in a right standing with God through your good works, through your church attendance, through anything that you can do. Righteousness is outside of our ability in and of ourselves. That is why Christ went and died upon the cross so that we could have his righteousness imparted, imputed to us.

And if you come to faith in Christ, when you are born again and you repent of sin, positionally you are righteous. You are clothed in the righteousness of Christ. Friend, you don't have to stand before God in your own righteousness which is as filthy rags, but you can stand before God clothed in the righteousness of his son. What a blessing today to know that it's not by works of righteousness that we have done, but according to his mercy that he has saved us and he has imparted his righteousness to us. Positionally, we are righteous if we are in Christ.

Paul's not talking about positional righteousness here. He's talking about the fact that we are positionally righteous that now we seek to live a righteous life because I know who I am in Christ, what my position is in Christ. This is now the way that I live. I want a right life in the sight of God. I want a life that is holy. I want to do what is right in relationship to God and relationship to man, pursuing a righteous life. In addition to pursuing righteousness, he says, pursue godliness. Right living emphasizes the outward expression wherein godliness is the motive within the heart, the motivation.

Godliness is the right attitude and response toward God. It is a reverence, it is an awe in the worship of God. Godliness. Remember Paul said in a previous verse, godliness with contentment is great gain. Charles Spurgeon commented on godliness. This is what he said. Godliness is the result of a great change of heart in reference to God and his character. Godliness looks toward God and mourns its distance from him. Godliness hastens to draw near and doesn't rest until it's at home with God. Godliness gives us the desire to be like God. Godliness leads a person to love God, to serve God, brings them into the fear of God.

It leads to consecration, sanctification. The person who seeks to walk in godliness seeks first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and trust that all these things will be added unto them. Friend, are you pursuing godliness today and righteousness? He then goes on to say, pursue faith. The Bible tells us that as believers we walk by faith and not by sight. That without faith it's impossible to please God. Anyone that comes to him must believe that he exists and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. The Bible tells us that whatever is born of God overcomes the world.

And this is our victory that overcomes the world, our faith. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Our faith grows as it is rooted in the character and nature of God and watered by the truth of God's word. He is faithful. His word is faithful. He can be trusted. He is worthy of our trust because he is faithful. Trusting in God, living a life that believes that what God has said God will bring to pass, the promises of God will be fulfilled in God's time. That is a life that we live, a life of trust in God.

The truth is sometimes we can be weak in faith. We can doubt. Even the disciples of Jesus who walked with him struggled with this. Jesus would say to them at one point, you remember, oh you of little faith, why did you doubt? Jesus would say on another occasion, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, move from here to there and it will move and nothing will be impossible for you. I'm so glad Jesus said that. I'm so glad he didn't say, John, if you have faith the size of a mountain, you can move a mustard seed.

He said, if you just have faith the size of a mustard seed. The Bible tells us, beloved, build yourselves up on your most holy faith. Faith is the atmosphere in which the man of God exists. Faith is a confident trust in God. The Bible says many sorrows shall be to the wicked, but he who trusts in the Lord mercy shall surround him. We are exhorted in the Psalms to trust in the Lord, to do good, to dwell in the land and to feed upon his faithfulness. Are you pursuing a life of faith and trust in God?

The Bible says to trust in the Lord with all of your heart and to lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways to acknowledge him and he will direct your path trusting in God. He then encourages him to pursue love, to run after love. The word for love here is one that perhaps you are familiar with. It is the word agape. It is a love that describes who God is in his nature and character. The Bible says in 1 John chapter 4 verse 8, God is love. This is who he is. And it 's not only who he is, but it's also the kind of love that he has demonstrated toward us.

For in Romans chapter 5 it says, God demonstrated his own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. God is love. He has demonstrated his love toward you and me in a way that that no other demonstration could ever prove how much he loves you by sending his own son to die for you. Listen, friend, you are loved by God this morning. He loves you with an everlasting love and seeks to draw you to himself with loving kindness. And he tells us to pursue love. This kind of love is to mark the life of the child of God.

➋ You ➋ remember ➋ Jesus ➋ said, ➋ ➋ love ➋ God ➋ ➋ with ➋ all ➋ your ➋ heart, ➋ ➋ with ➋ all ➋ your ➋ soul, ➋ ➋ with ➋ all ➋ your ➋ mind. ➋ This ➋ is ➋ the ➋ first and great commandment. And he said the second is like unto it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Can you imagine what kind of world we would live in if people loved God with all that was within them and then in turn loved their neighbor like themselves? It is no wonder that Jesus said, on these hang all the law and the prophets.

You could sum up the entire Old Testament with these things right here, loving God and loving other people. Jesus said to his disciples, a new commandment I give to you that you love one another as I have loved you. And he said, by this all will know that you are my disciples by the love that you have for one another. Paul wrote to the church in Corinth stressing the importance of love. A church that had every spiritual gift available, accessible to them, but they were lacking something that was critical to every other gift. What was it?

Love. And therefore he said, though I speak with the tongue of men and of angels, but if I have not love, I become as a sounding brass or a clanging symbol. And though I have the gift of prophecy and I understand all mysteries and all knowledge and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains, if I have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor and though I give my body to be burned, but if I have not love, it profits me nothing. Learning to love others is a lifelong pursuit.

And it is a work of the Holy Spirit within our lives. For the fruit of the spirit is love and the longer that you walk with Jesus and the more that you yield to the work of the spirit in your life, the more loving you become. It's a choice. It isn't a love that is based upon whether the person deserves it or not or we think they're worthy of it. This is a decision that we make as we yield to the Lord and the spirit of God begins to work in our lives. We are experiencing the love of God personally and then we were able to show that love and demonstrate that love practically to other people because the spirit of God is working in our lives and the byproduct of that is love.

This should be the culture of the church. The love of Jesus should be present, should be evident. This is how people know the difference of whether or not we're actually a disciple of Jesus Christ. Paul said to Timothy, you must pursue love. A godly person. A godly man or woman pursues love. And he says, I want you to pursue patience. Pursue patience. It is also translated perseverance. And it literally means abiding under. It is a word that describes a steadfastness in the face of difficult circumstances or afflictions. And it's not a passive, defeatist resignation, but it's a victorious, triumphant, unswerving loyalty to the Lord in the midst of trials.

That kind of perseverance. The Bible says you have need of endurance or perseverance so that after you have done the will of God, you can receive the promise. And we need endurance. We need perseverance. I imagine for Timothy ministering in Ephesus, this was something top priority on the list. Timothy, what do you need? Paul, I need endurance. I need perseverance. I'm in a godless culture in Ephesus surrounded by immorality and idolatry. I need perseverance. I need endurance to keep going. The wonderful news is this morning, listen carefully. The perseverance that you need, the endurance that I need, God provides it.

Maybe you came in here this morning and you felt defeated. You feel like I can't endure. God says, listen, I will impart to you endurance and perseverance as you seek me. I will give unto you all things that pertain to life and godliness. And friend, that includes endurance and perseverance in the midst of opposition. It's available to you in him, in Christ. Who is your sufficiency? God is the provider. He also said, I want you to pursue gentleness, to run after gentleness which describes a composure or a calm disposition. It's actually a word that describes meekness.

And meekness is not weakness. It is strength that is under control. Jesus said, blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. Jesus said, take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle. The word is meek and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls. James tells us when it comes to receiving the word of God, to lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save your souls. Are you pursuing gentleness? Does that mark your life? Gentleness, compassion, a concern for other people.

This is a quality that was seen in Jesus. And thus it is a quality that is to be seen in his children, in the people of God. Gentleness.

Guest (Male): Pastor John Randall speaking of some of the things we are to pursue in our daily walk. And this is a daily walk. We've been in 1 Timothy chapter 6 today. You can hear this study again at adailywalk.org or download our church app so you can listen through your mobile device. Just search for Calvary South OC. You'll also find us on most of the major podcast platforms. When a listener takes the time to write or call, it really blesses us more than words can tell. And yes, Pastor John reads your emails and letters. The Lord deserves all the credit for anything good that comes from and through this ministry.

And it's an opportunity to praise and thank him for what he's doing. Share a praise report or a prayer request at adailywalk@gmail.com. That's adailywalk@gmail.com. Here in the month of September, we're pleased to offer you a book written by Jack Hibbs entitled Called to Make a Bold Stand. Whether you realize it or not, you've been commissioned by God to live a life of meaning, purpose and holy sacrifice. Called to take a bold stand will equip you to heed this call as you engage the sometimes hostile and hurting world around you. Learn to represent Jesus courageously to a world in need, influence our secular culture and overcome the fear of intimidation or persecution.

It's available right now through our e-store for the cost of $11. Go to adailywalk.org or call 877 242 0828. Here at A Daily Walk, we also have the goal of pleasing God in all we say and do. If you believe in what we're doing and would like to get behind us, we would very much appreciate your prayers and financial support. God is proven to be faithful to provide where he's guided us and we look to him and you to help us continue. To make a donation today, drop by adailywalk.org or call 877 242 0828. Stay connected with Pastor John on X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram and receive biblical encouragement throughout the week.

Follow him on X at pjrandall7 and on Instagram at johnprandall. We're going through the Bible with Pastor John Randall on A Daily Walk. Don't miss a moment of the journey right here. This program is brought to you by Calvary South OC and made possible through the support of our listeners.