FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT, FINISHING THE COURSE, KEEPING THE FAITH, AND LOVING THE LORD'S APPEARING IN ORDER TO RECEIVE THE REWARD OF CHRIST AS THE CROWN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
Message One
Fighting the Good Fight
Scripture Reading: 2 Tim. 4:7a; 1 Tim. 1:18; 6:12
I. As revealed in 2 Timothy 4:7, a proper Christian life is threefold; it involves fighting the good fight, running and finishing the course, and keeping the faith.
II. "I have fought the good fight"—v. 7a:
A. The believers fight the good fight by receiving the apostle's charge—1 Tim. 1:18:
1. The charge given by the apostle to his spiritual son concerns the economy of God positively and the different teachings negatively—vv. 3-4.
2. Paul charged Timothy to fight against the deviation from the faith, that is, to fight the good fight of the faith—6:12a.
B. Paul told Timothy that according to the prophesies previously made concerning him, he "might war the good warfare"—1:18:
1. To war the good warfare is to war against the different teachings of the dissenters and to carry out God's economy—v. 4.
2. This war is according to the apostle's ministry concerning the gospel of grace and eternal life for the glory of the blessed God—vv. 11-16.
3. On the one hand, Timothy was to war against the different teachings; on the other hand, he was to carry out God's economy according to the apostle's ministry—vv. 3-4, 18.
4. To teach and preach God's economy concerning Christ and the church is to war the good warfare—v. 18.
C. First Timothy 6:12a says, "Fight the good fight of the faith":
1. To fight for the faith means to fight for God's New Testament economy.
2. In particular, it is to fight for Christ as the embodiment of God and for the church as the Body of Christ—Col. 2:9; 1 Cor. 1:2; 12:27.
3. To fight the good fight of the faith is to fight for the contents of the complete gospel according to God's New Testament economy—Eph. 3:6.
4. Because of different teachings, the church had already become degraded and had deviated from the faith; Paul charged Timothy to fight against this deviation from the faith, which is to fight the good fight of the faith—1 Tim. 6:12a.
D. In 1 Timothy 6:12b Paul goes on to say, "Lay hold on the eternal life, to which you were called":
1. The eternal life is actually the processed and consummated Triune God being life to us—John 3:15-16.
2. The eternal life in 1 Timothy 6:12b is the divine life, the uncreated life of God, which is eternal.
3. Eternal denotes the nature more than the time element of the divine life— 1 John 5:11.
4. To fight the good fight of the faith in the Christian life, we need to lay hold on this divine life and not trust in our human life—cf. Matt. 16:25-26.
5. We fight the good fight of the faith not only objectively but also subjectively by laying hold on the eternal life—1 Tim. 6:12b.
6. The subtlety of the enemy in bringing deviation from the faith is to keep the believers from the eternal life.
7. We, the genuine believers, must lay hold on the eternal life; without the eternal life we are nothing—1 John 5:11.
8. We need to lay hold on the eternal life; then we will be able to fight the good fight—1 Tim. 6:12b.
9. In 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus, eternal life is stressed again and again— 1 Tim. 1:16; 6:19; 2 Tim. 1:1, 10; Titus 1:2; 3:7.
10. To carry out God's economy concerning the church, as seen in 1 Timothy, to confront the downward trend of the church's decline, as seen in 2 Timothy, and to maintain good order in the church, as seen in Titus, this life is a prerequisite.
E. We are fighting the good fight against Satan and the kingdom of darkness:
1. We should not only be able to preserve ourselves whole but should also challenge the devil—Matt. 12:26, 28.
2. We should be God's soldiers, fighting the good fight, overthrowing the devil's strongholds, and taking captive man's thoughts unto the obedience of Christ—2 Cor. 10:3-5.
F. We are fighting the good fight for the truth—1 Tim. 6:12; 1 John 1:6; 2:21; 4:6:
1. Truth is the Triune God with His word—John 1:1, 14-17; 14:6, 16-17; 15:26; 16:13; 17:17; 18:37b.
2. The divine truth is absolute, and we must be absolute for the truth and uphold the absoluteness of the truth—14:6; 18:37; 3 John 3-4, 8.
3. We should honor God's truth, take the way of the truth, and not compromise the truth in any way—2 Pet. 2:2.
4. We need to have the truth wrought into us and constituted into our being— 1 John 1:8; 2:4; 2 John 1-2; 3 John 3-4.
5. For the consummation of the divine economy, we should be absolute for the present truth and the highest truth and the subjective truths—2 Pet. 1:12; Rom. 8:3; 1:3-4; 12:4-5; John 8:32; 14:6.
6. We must learn to teach and preach things that are higher than where we are.
7. For the consummation of the divine economy, we should be absolute for the way of the divine truth—2 Pet. 2:2.
8. The churches should bear the responsibility to clarify our teachings in order to fight for the truth, care for the Lord's recovery, and take care of our testimony—1 Tim. 3:15; 6:12; 2 Tim. 4:7.