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1 Timothy 6:12
I. Grace not law
II. 1 Timothy 6:12
III. Faith to manifest God’s kingdom
John 6:29
Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one He has sent.”
We mustn’t trust in our own abilities to create spiritual realities but our trust must be in Jesus Christ, operating through us.
Matthew 11:30
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Fighting the good fight of faith in the context of 1 Timothy 6 is avoiding:
1.) an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and
2.)the love of money pursuing righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.
Thesis:
I’ve noticed many in the body of Christ don’t have any fight in them. They are bobbing in the water but aren’t fighting for anything. It’s time we picked up the fight of faith.
Fighting for what we cannot see.
Hebrews 11: 1 says, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. “
Faith begins where the will of God is revealed. What has God told you? What are you fighting for?
Why is there a “fight” of faith? Well, we have to fight against the inclination to just allow circumstances to determine our reality. When God speaks through His word or into our hearts and we believe it, now we have to fight for it because nothing in the kingdoms of this world or the demonic world wants to see the kingdom of God expressed!
We also have to fight ourselves!
Often the Word of God can be contrary to paradigms of thinking that we’ve grown accustomed to.
Isaiah 55:9
“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
When God spoke to Moses and told him what to do, go into Egypt and liberate the Israelites he began to “sputter” a bit in Exodus 3. He tried to hide behind his inability to put his thoughts together quickly.
Acts 7:22
Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.
If anything is created in the world, it starts with a thought that is believed in. I would call this faith. If you don’t believe you can do something, chances are you will never try it while this remains your mindset. However, if you believe you can do something you will persist until you see it accomplished.
Much of the church has divorced itself from faith because of the fight. It’s much easier to say, “God works in mysterious ways”. Than it is to say, “I’m very sorry, I didn’t have enough faith for this situation.”
Matthew 17:14-20
14 When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. 15 “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.” 17 “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” 18 Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” 20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Why were the disciples unable to expel the demon that was causing the manifestation of epilepsy? Was it because God was trying to teach the parents and the boy something important? Was it because God had a greater plan for the boy that included this disease? Was it because he would reach people with the disease he had that otherwise he couldn’t reach?
All these reasons come out of the mouths of Christian leaders on a fairly regular basis but let’s take a look at where Jesus squarely places the responsibility for the solution to this difficult situation.
Reason #1 or Rebuke #1
v. 17 Unbelief
Reason #2 or Rebuke #2
perverse generation
Perverse - turned away from what is right or good : corrupt Generation - a group of individuals born and living at the same time
Reason #3
little faith v. 20
Now in Mark 9:14-29 we see another similar story where Jesus mentions prayer and fasting as the reason the disciples could not drive out a spirit. I believe the prayer and fasting increases the faith of the believer. I don’t believe there is a prayer or fasting threshold that is reached and then spirits come out. It’s not like saving up enough money to buy a car or some other object.
So, you’ve heard the message, and you’re thinking, “I want to fight!”. The fight of faith begins with the work of Jesus on the Cross and is followed up with prayer, fasting and victory over sin. When this starts the fight will begin to be won.
If you live in Batesville please tune into KBAP 88.1 FM to listen to contemporary worship music.
Jubilee Family Church45 Thunderbird Dr. Batesville, AR 72501 (870) 793-9124