But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.  (12) 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.  (13) I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontus Pilate, (14) that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, (15) which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings (16) who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power.  Amen 

The first letter to Timothy was written by the apostle Paul. Timothy had been sent to minister to the church Paul had founded in Ephesus and, as was usually the case, the Jewish legalizers had moved in to corrupt the message of the gospel. Basically these legalizers preached Jesus AND – Jesus and circumcision; Jesus and the law; Jesus and rituals.  The message of the gospel is that man is saved by faith alone in Christ Jesus alone. Many in Ephesus had been led astray and Paul reached out to Timothy, Man of God, (an Old Testament appellation) commanding him to persevere – to rely on God in every situation and not to chafe under adversity.

In today’s verses Paul’s advice is to maintain integrity under fire which is advice to all Christians. The truth of Christianity is not relative. Clearly Timothy was feeling pressure to compromise.  Paul urges him to guard what he has inherited and to always be a faithful witness of Christ Jesus. There are times when we ARE to flee worldliness to take hold of eternal life – to flee immorality, idolatry, lusts, avarice and false doctrine. Paul advises us not to just flee this world but to run toward godliness .

Through original sin we have a depraved nature – we were dead in sin and hostile to God-but we have been called by God, justified in Christ.  God reached out to man, not the  other way around.  We respond by faith and public confession of our faith to take hold of God’s blessings.  God is the only source of true joy.  God is invisible – meaning God cannot he apprehended by our senses; cannot be known by our reason, will power or human ability.  God has been revealed to us by the Bible and by and in Jesus Christ.

Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercession, and giving of thanks be made for all men, (2) for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. (3) For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, (4) who desires  all men to he saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (5) For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, (6) who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time, (7) for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle – I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying – a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth 

The first letter to Timothy was written by the apostle Paul as instruction in dealing with heresy in doctrine and practice in the ancient church – the Jews were indignant at the calling of the Gentiles who were made equal to themselves in the eyes of God. ( Paul had left Timothy in charge of the church at Ephesus.). In our verses today Paul is addressing the priority of prayer; but Paul is talking about the need for prayer and its relationship of salvation to the lost souls. There is one God who desires all men to be saved and has provided one mediator, Christ Jesus,  who has provided the ransom for all. Prayer that all people may be reached by the gospel is what Paul is telling Timothy is a priority.

No man is too far gone whom God’s Grace cannot reach.  No man does NOT NEED God’s Grace.  Maybe we can’t speak to someone about God but we can sure speak to God about sinners.  Paul’s reason for prayer for authorities and princes was not so we can have a tranquil life but so that the faithful can grow in godliness  and prayer is in line with Gods pleasure.  Praying for the unsaved is a serious calling.  Truth is the reliability of the gospel and faith is the means by which people appropriate the truth.

We are all ministers in faith and our prayers are not just a priority but mandatory.

And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, (13) although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. (14) And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.  (15) This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.  (16) However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all long suffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.  (17) Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever.  Amen

The apostle Paul wrote the first letter to Timothy to give instruction for the confrontation of false teachers who were corrupting the gospel.  Paul was probably at liberty when writing this epistle – he had left Timothy at Ephesus and Paul is teaching him concerning the outward order of the early church  – practical instruction of the gospel as contrasted to the Law of Moses.  Timothy was a devoted servant of the Lord and of Paul – Timothy was sealed for ministry by the laying on of Paul’s hands which is the only such reference in the New Testament.

In our verses today Paul emphasizes the simple profound truth that Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners.  Paul expresses his deep gratitude for God’s Grace – if he was chief of sinners and could be forgiven and in Christ transformed to an apostle he is the model of the power of Transformation by faith and not by any worthiness on his part.  A fundamental biblical truth is that God gives us the faith to believe in Christ and supplies us in grace with everything we need for salvation. Scripture here shows the distinction between a person who sins in ignorance and one who willingly rejects the light of god – those who do so run the terrible danger of hardening their hearts.  C.S.Lewis writes in Mere Christianity “ When a man is getting better he understands more and more clearly the evil that is still in him.  When a man is getting worse, he understands his own badness less and less.”

The gospel is for sinners.  We become better or worse as we age – if we fall into self righteousness, pride and self reliance we will never know God because we won’t realize how much we are forgiven.

yet for love’s sake I rather appeal to you – being such a one as Paul, the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ  – (10) I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains (12) I am sending him back.  You therefore receive him, that is, my own heart, (13) whom I wished to keep with me, that on your behalf he might minister to me in my chains for the gospel. (14) But without your consent I wanted to do nothing, that your good deed might not be by compulsion, as it were, but voluntary.  (15) For perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose,that you might receive him forever, (16) no longer as a slave but more than a slave – a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.  (17) If then you count me as a partner, receive him as you would me.

The apostle Paul wrote this very personal  letter to Philemon which we study today. Philemon was a wealthy converted Christian Gentile who lived  in the city of Colosse and who probably held Christian services in his home. In the culture of those ancient times, the Roman world accepted slavery and slaves had no protection under Roman law. A certain slave of Philemon, named Onesimus, (meaning useful), apparently stole from Philemon and escaped from Colosse, making his way to Rome and somehow ended up with Paul who was imprisoned there. Onesimus grew in faith through Paul’s teaching to the point that both Paul and Onesimus felt the right thing to do was for Onesimus to return to Philemon. Paul penned this letter asking Philemon not just for forgiveness and a return to the  status quo but that Philemon receive Onesimus as a brother in Christ.

Everyone in this story changed and behaved differently after meeting Jesus Christ.  Paul was a Pharisee; a zealous persecutor of Christians  and murderous aggressor.  Onesimus was a grudging servant and thief and Philomen professed to follow Christ and treat all men as equal in the eyes of God yet he kept slaves. But now Paul sends Onesimus back, not claiming his apostolic authority but asking for demonstration of  Christianity on the part of Philomen.  Onesimus agrees to return to possible terrible punishment, including death, as God changes every person He saves through the gospel. As for Philomen, we don’t know the end of the story but the fact that this letter survives indicates Philomen did exactly what God meant for him to do.  If the other were true I suspect the letter would have been destroyed

How has God changed our lives and attitudes?  As Martin Luther put it, we are God’s Onesimi.  We need to stop relating to each other on the basis of social status and relate as a family

For you have not come to the  mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, (19) and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore.  (22) But now you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, (23) to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect

The letter to the Hebrews (author unknown) is written to Christian Jews who are in danger of refusing salvation offered in Christ. Our verses today are a warning to those who are not fully committed to Christ; not saved, indecisive and under pressure of persecution, knowing what they know of the gospel and yet reverting to Judaism (Mt. Sinai). This would be a final irrevocable rejection of salvation in Christ.

Mt. Sinai was a physical place where the Law was given.  There the Old Testament God was unapproachable except through an intermediator.  Man couldn’t actually touch that physical place where there were physical phenomena that terrified the Jews  and man learned that he could never approach God on the basis of his own works.  But in Christ, in faith, we are not coming to judgment because He has already paid for our sins. Jesus is the new Mt Zion and Jerusalem is the heavenly city where God dwells.  Every Jew knew Mt. Sinai was a place of judgment – no man was ever saved by the Law.  But we are told not to fear – that the faithful are not coming back to Mr Sinai.

If you don’t know what you possess you may disregard it or even give it away. Our verses draw a sharp contrast between the judgment of the Old Testament and the spiritual life by justification of faith in Christ.  Mt. Zion represents grace, forgiveness and salvation. We have a clear choice; either judgment or grace and eternal life in Christ. Don’t let anything take you back.