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| Wage a good warfare! |
Scripture: 1 Tim. 1:18-20
This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare; [19] Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: [20] Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.
Introduction: When I was growing up, one of the most frightening ongoing news stories was the Vietnam War. For the first time in history, the evening news brought the war into our living rooms. And the war was confusing. My parents never understood what was going on. Neither did most Americans. I as a child certainly didn’t understand.
Among the points that was confusing was this shaded place on the mats of Vietnam. The country of Vietnam was divided into a north and a south. The country had a shape somewhat like a snake. Dividing the north and the south was an area known as the DMZ.
The de-militarized zone. A portion of land between north and south that was supposed to be free of military activity.
Like so much of that war, the DMZ didn’t make a lot of sense.
We will likewise make a big mistake if we think there are areas in this life that are the DMZ.
The Christian life, the spiritual life, is by definition a life of warfare. Repeatedly, in the Bible, descriptions and pictures and commands are loaded with military language.
It is not just God using metaphors or figurative language. The Christian life is a battle. It is not just like a battle. It is a battle.
There is a war going on and the battle is for the soul.
Let’s think again about the good warfare that Paul calls upon Timothy to wage.
II. Wrong Approaches to Good Warfare
A. Actual Wars in History waged under the banner of Christ that have brought reproach to the name of Christ.
The primary example is always the Crusades. Lots of misunderstandings and confusion over the wars for the Holy Land waged by European kings and popes during the Middle Ages.
Back and forth warfare between the Muslim east and the Christian west.
Yes, Europeans many times tried to conquer the Middle East in the name of Christ, doing things very unchristian.
4th Crusade—a victory for the Europeans. They captured the Christian city of Constantinople. Senseless and wicked.
Many times the Muslim east tried to capture Europe.
Bad theology and wrongful use of the name of Christ.
B. Another wrong approach has been one close to the heart of Reformed Christians.
John Frame has spoken and written about what he calls ‘Machen’s Warrior Children.’
J. Gresham Machen waged the good warfare against real enemies of the faith: Men who denied the Bible, the Deity of Christ, the Resurrection of Christ, and other key doctrines.
He and his followers had a zeal with study for knowing exactly what the Bible teaches.
But all too often, Reformed Christians have fought against each other, viciously, over doctrinal differences. Great men of God whose books set side by side on my shelves could not get along together.
Frame talked about over 20 different conflicts between Reformed Christians.
C. Another wrongful approach is the one that says that Christians should not wage war against others FOR ANY REASON. Sad to say, many Christians have bought into the idea that we just get along, we just accept differences, we overlook doctrine.
III. The War to be Waged
A. There are at least 2 fronts on this war: There are the big picture theological battles for the truth and there is the personal battle.
B. In the history of the Church, there have been major conflicts where the essential truths of the Bible, the essence of the Gospel, were at stake.
1. The Nicene Creed, which we recited today, is an example. The big word for some of the early Church battles is Christology. It simply means, the study of Christ. Who is Jesus Christ?The Nicene Creed was a defining statement of what the Church believed reflects Scripture.
2. The Reformation. This topic is dear to the heart of this church since we are by definition a Reformed Church.
The truth of the Gospel had gotten increasingly obscured during the Middle Ages. There were Christians in the Church, which meant the RC church, during the Middle Ages. There were Christians in the RC church before and during the time of Martin Luther and John Calvin.The Gospel was there, but obscured, distorted, ignored. People were converted before the Reformation not by the teachings of the Church, but in spite of the teachings of the Church.
3. The Battle for the Bible in the Twentieth Century.
This was J. Gresham Machen’s great battle at Princeton Theological Seminary. Later, men like Harold Lindsell (The Battle for the Bible) and Francis Schaeffer carried on this war. You cannot understand the real culture war of modern times without understanding this. Machen’s book Christianity and Liberalism is still one of the defining books of sound, Biblical Christianity.
C. The Personal Warfare
These great world-changing battles for the faith are a big part of who we are. They give us the role call of the faith: Men who spent their lives for the sake of sound doctrine. But Waging the Good Warfare is not just about those great battles.
It is also about you.
What if the church holds to a right view of Christ, salvation, and the Bible, but you personally are a wreck?
If GCC holds to sound doctrine, thank God, but again, the question has to be faced, what about you?
There are no group rates or package deals for either getting into heaven or for living a faithful Christian life here on earth.
Yes, sometimes Christians have faced the Bible and faith too individualistically.
“Me and Jesus have a good thing going. Me and Jesus have it all worked out.”
Just you and your Bible and your own walk with Christ—yes American Christianity errs in that direction all too often.
But it is an error of emphasis, not an error of essence.
You, personally, need to be waging the good warfare.
Traditionally, the talk has been about ‘Christian Disciplines’ or ‘Spiritual Disciplines.’
If the word Discipline is scary (and it derives from Disciple), then the next word is also scary—Daily.
Prayer, Bible Reading, Fellowship, Meditation, Giving, and Worship.
Setting aside specific times where you pray.
Purposefully reading Christian books, not just good books containing a Christian element, but specifically Christian books that challenge and change the way you live.
Reading the Bible—by a plan or pattern. Whether it is all the way through or repeated readings of a specific book.
Talking with a brother or sister in Christ about the Faith. Not just a safe conversation, but a sharing of the faith.
These are among the elements of Spiritual Disciplines.
These are not things of which you advertise, boast, post on your FB, etc.
If you are doing your Bible reading and prayers on the corner of AR Blvd. And Stateline where all Texarkana can see you, you have a problem. You recognize the Pharisaical problem with all that.
When Jesus spoke of the spiritual disciplines in the Sermon on the Mount. Repeatedly, He said, “Your Father who sees….”
But I will tell you something else, and you know this from experience, the Christian who is doing all these spiritual exercises is not talking or boasting, but in time, it is like there is a flashing neon light around you.
Church members start knowing that when they are around you, they are going to hear exhortations, hear Scripture, be encouraged.
They will know that when they ask you to pray for them, you will—maybe right there on the spot.
Much more can be said on Spiritual Disciplines, let me sum that matter up with a few suggestions:
1. A couple of studies that women and girls can sign up for in the foyer.
2. Start or restart or improve what you are currently doing: Bible reading and prayer.
3. Turn something off, minimize some screen, slow down somewhere.
4. Find a book that slaps you in the face and read it slowly.
5. Do something small that makes a difference.
IV. What about Timothy?
A. At an early point in Timothy’s life and ministry, there was an ordination, a laying on of hands. There was a prophecy made regarding him. Prophecies are teachings from God. Sometimes about the future, sometimes just truths about God. Several references to this point are made, but Paul never tells us specifically what the prophecy was.
There is a warped old evangelistic saying, “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.”
I don’t want to dwell on how it is misused, but rather, take note that there is a great element of truth in it.
The world affirms the truth of it in that popular movie, “It’s a wonderful life.” God saved you for a purpose. God placed you in a Christian church, or perhaps a Christian family, or a Christian school for a purpose.
You are probably not going to be a Martin Luther or Billy Graham, but you are not just a number or a statistic.
What has God purposed for you?
Paul is reminding Timothy of his ordination and the prophecies. “Timothy, stay on mission.”
Timothy is battling the big picture, the big issues—the church, the faith. But repeatedly, Paul tells him to attend to his own personal warfare. And if Timothy needs reminders, encouragement, teaching, how much more the rest of us.
B. Conclusion: There is no DMZ—no demilitarized zone. No place on earth or in your soul where the spiritual battle is not being wages.
Wage the Good Warfare.
