|
1 Timothy 6:11 |
But thou, O man of God, flee these
things; and follow after righteousness, godliness,
faith, love, patience, meekness.
|
printer-friendly
MP3
Note:
before doing a study on any
single verse, read all the verses from the beginning
of the chapter to this point and maybe a verse or
two beyond. Do this so you have the verse in context
before you begin. click here |
This section has six verses:
1 Timothy 6:11-16
11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and
follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love,
patience, meekness.
12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on
eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and
hast professed a good profession before many
witnesses.
13 I give thee charge in the sight of God, who
quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who
before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession;
14 That thou keep this commandment without spot,
unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus
Christ:
15 Which in his times he shall shew, who is the
blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and
Lord of lords;
16 Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light
which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath
seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power
everlasting. Amen.
We will begin with the Barclay commentary.
CHALLENGE TO TIMOTHY
1 Timothy 6:11–16
First the paraphrase of the verses:
But you, O man of God, flee from these things.
Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love,
endurance, gentleness. Fight the good fight of
faith; lay hold on eternal life, to which you are
called, now that you have witnessed a noble
profession of your faith in the presence of many
witnesses. I charge you in the sight of God, who
makes all things alive, and in the sight of Christ
Jesus, who, in the days of Pontius Pilate, witnessed
his noble confession, that you keep the commandment,
that you should be without spot and without blame,
until the day when our Lord Jesus Christ appears,
that appearance which in his own good times the
blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and
the Lord of lords, will show, he who alone possesses
immortality, he who dwells in the light that no man
can approach, he whom no man has seen or ever can
see, to whom be honour and everlasting power. Amen.
THE letter comes to an end with a tremendous
challenge to Timothy, a challenge all the greater
because of the deliberate sonorous [high-flown;
grandiloquent or lofty style] nobility of
the words in which it is clothed.
Right at the outset, Timothy is challenged to excel.
He is addressed as man of God. That is one of the
great Old Testament titles. It is a title given to
Moses. Deuteronomy 33:1 speaks of ‘Moses, the man of
God.’ The title of Psalm 90 is ‘A Prayer of Moses,
the man of God.’ It is a title of the prophets and
the messengers of God. God’s messenger to Eli is a
man of God (1 Samuel 2:27). Samuel is described as a
man of God (1 Samuel 9:6). Shemaiah, God’s messenger
to Rehoboam, is a man of God (1 Kings 12:22). John
Bunyan in The Pilgrim’s Progress calls Great-Grace
‘God’s Champion’.
Here is a tide of honour. When the challenge is
presented to Timothy, he is not reminded of his own
weakness and sin, which might well have reduced him
to pessimistic despair; rather, he is challenged by
the honour given to him, of being God’s man. It is
the Christian way, not to depress people by branding
them as lost and helpless sinners, but rather to
uplift them by summoning them to be what they have
it in them to be. The Christian way is not to fling
a humiliating past in someone’s face, but to set
before that person the splendour of the potential
future. The very fact that Timothy was addressed as
‘man of God’ would make him stand up straight and
throw his head back as one who has received his
commission from the King.
The virtues and noble qualities set before Timothy
are not just heaped haphazardly together. There is
an order in them. First, there comes righteousness,
dikaiosune¯. This is defined as ‘giving both to
other people and to God their due’. It is the most
comprehensive of the virtues; the righteous are
those who do their duty to God and to their
neighbours.
Second, there comes a group of three virtues which
look towards God. Godliness, eusebeia, is the
reverence of the person who never ceases to be aware
that all life is lived in the presence of God.
Faith, pistis, here means fidelity, and is the
virtue of the person who, through all the chances [opportunities]
and the changes of life, down even to the gates of
death, is loyal to God. Love, agape, is the virtue
possessed by those who, even if they tried, could
not forget what God has done for them nor the love
of God to all people.
Third, there comes the virtue which looks to the
conduct of life. It is hupomone¯. The Authorized
Version translates this as patience; but hupomone¯
never means the spirit which sits quietly and simply
puts up with things, letting the experiences of life
flow like a tide over it. It is victorious
endurance. ‘It is unswerving constancy to faith and
piety in spite of adversity and suffering.’ It is
the virtue which does not so much accept the
experiences of life as conquer them.
Fourth, there comes the virtue which considers
others. The Greek word is paupatheia. It is
translated as gentleness, but is really
untranslatable. It describes the spirit which never
blazes into anger for its own wrongs but can be
devastatingly angry about wrongs done to other
people. It describes the spirit which knows how to
forgive and yet knows how to wage the battle of
righteousness. It describes the spirit which walks
in humility and yet also in pride of its high
calling from God. It describes the virtue which
enables people to keep a true balance between
concern and respect for others and self-esteem.
MEMORIES WHICH INSPIRE
As Timothy is challenged to the task of the future,
he is inspired with the memories of the past.
(1) He is to remember his baptism and the vows he
took there. In the circumstances of the early
Church, baptism was inevitably adult baptism, for
men and women were coming straight from the old
religions to Christ. It was confession of faith and
witness to all that the baptized person had taken
Jesus Christ as Saviour, Master and Lord. The
earliest of all Christian confessions was the simple
creed: ‘Jesus Christ is Lord’ (Romans 10:9;
Philippians 2:11). But it has been suggested that
behind these words to Timothy lies a confession of
faith which said: ‘I believe in God the Almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth, and in Christ Jesus who
suffered under Pontius Pilate and will return to
judge; I believe in the resurrection from the dead
and in the [eternal life].’ It may well have been a
creed like that to which Timothy gave his
allegiance. So, first of all, he is reminded that he
is a man who has given his promise. Christians are
first and foremost men and women who have pledged
themselves to Jesus Christ.
(2) He is to remember that he has made the same
confession of his faith as Jesus did. When Jesus
stood before Pilate, Pilate said: ‘Are you the king
of the Jews?’ and Jesus answered: ‘You say so’ (Luke
23:3). Jesus had witnessed that he was a king, and
Timothy had always witnessed to the lordship of
Christ. When Christians confess their faith, they do
what their Master has already done; when they suffer
for their faith, they undergo what their Master has
already undergone. When we are engaged on some great
enterprise, we can say: ‘We are treading where the
saints have trod’, but when we confess our faith
before others, we are able to say even more; we can
say: ‘I stand with Christ’; and surely this must
lift up our hearts and inspire our lives.
(3) He is to remember that Christ comes again. He is
to remember that his life and work must be made fit
for him to see. Christians are not working to
satisfy other people; they are working to satisfy
Christ. The question a Christian must always ask is
not: ‘Is this good enough to pass the judgment of
others?’ but: ‘Is it good enough to win the approval
of Christ?’
(4) Above all, he is to remember God. And what a
memory that is! He is to remember the one who is
King of every king and Lord of every lord; the one
who possesses the gift of life eternal to give to
men and women; the one whose holiness and majesty
are such that no one can ever dare to look upon
them. Christians must always remember God and say:
‘If God is for us, who is against us?’ (Romans
8:31). ~Barclay Commentary
Now to the rest of the commentaries.
To put verse 11 in context, I want to read verses 9
and 10 as you will see an admonition in verse 11
speaking specifically to what we read in verses 9
and 10.
1 Timothy 6:9-11
9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation
and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful
lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
10 For the love of money is the root of all evil:
which while some coveted after, they have erred from
the faith, and pierced themselves through with many
sorrows.
11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and
follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love,
patience, meekness.
Generally the commentaries break the verse down this
way:
1] But thou, O man of God.
2] Flee these things.
3] And follow after righteousness.
4] Godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
Often, item 4 here is broken out into its separate
words. Each is a fruit of the Spirit; a spiritual
work.
Let us look at the general commentaries first and
then to the specific.
It ill becomes any men, but especially men of God,
to set their hearts upon the things of this world;
men of God should be taken up with the things of
God. There must be a conflict with corruption, and
temptations, and the powers of darkness. Eternal
life is the crown proposed for our encouragement. We
are called to lay hold thereon. To the rich must
especially be pointed out their dangers and duties,
as to the proper use of wealth. But who can give
such a charge, that is not himself above the love of
things that wealth can buy? The appearing of Christ
is certain, but it is not for us to know the time.
Mortal eyes cannot bear the brightness of the Divine
glory. None can approach him except as he is made
known unto sinners in and by Christ.
~Matthew Henry Concise
Now to the larger Matthew Henry commentary, breaking
into the text that there covers verses 6-12.
Hence he takes occasion to caution Timothy, and to
counsel him to keep in the way of God and his duty,
and particularly to fulfil the trust reposed in him
as a minister. He addresses himself to him as a man
of God. Ministers are men of God, and ought to
conduct themselves accordingly in every thing; they
are men employed for God, devoted to his honour more
immediately. The prophets under the Old Testament
were called men of God.
1. He charges Timothy to take heed of the love of
money, which had been so pernicious to many: Flee
these things. It ill becomes any men, but especially
men of God, to set their hearts upon the things of
this world; men of God should be taken up with the
things of God.
2. To arm him against the love of the world, he
directs him to follow that which is good. Follow
after righteousness, godliness, faith, love,
patience, meekness: righteousness in his
conversation towards men, godliness towards God,
faith and love as living principles, to support him
and carry him on in the practice both of
righteousness and godliness. Those that follow after
righteousness and godliness, from a principle of
faith and love, have need to put on patience and
meekness - patience to bear both the rebukes of
Providence and the reproaches of men, and meekness
wherewith to instruct gainsayers and pass by the
affronts and injuries that are done us. Observe, It
is not enough that men of God flee these things, but
they must follow after what is directly contrary
thereto. Further, What excellent persons men of God
are who follow after righteousness! They are the
excellent of the earth, and, being acceptable to
God, they should be approved of men.
3. He exhorts him to do the part of a soldier: Fight
the good fight of faith. Note, Those who will get to
[the Kingdom]
must fight their way thither. There must be a
conflict with corruption and temptations, and the
opposition of the powers of darkness. Observe, It is
a good fight, it is a good cause, and it will have a
good issue. It is the fight of faith; we do not war
after the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are
not carnal, 2 Corinthians 10:3-4. He exhorts him to
lay hold on eternal life.
Quoted verse:
2 Corinthians 10:3-4
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war
after the flesh:
4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal,
but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong
holds;)
Observe,
(1.) Eternal life is the crown proposed to us, for
our encouragement to war, and to fight the good
fight of faith, the good warfare.
(2.) This we must lay hold on, as those that are
afraid of coming short of it and losing it. Lay
hold, and take heed of losing your hold. Hold fast
that which thou hast, that no man take thy crown,
Revelation 3:11.
(3.) We are called to the fight, and to lay hold on
eternal life.
(4.) The profession Timothy and all faithful
ministers make before many witnesses is a good
profession; for they profess and engage to fight the
good fight of faith, and to lay hold on eternal
life; their calling and their own profession oblige
them to this. ~Matthew
Henry
Quoted verse:
Revelation 3:11
...the motto of the ICG
Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou
hast, that no man take thy crown.
Now to the specific commentaries:
1] But thou, O man of God.
O man of God - This
expression is used in the sense of an evangelist
devoted to God's work.
~People's New Testament
But thou, O man of God
- Thou, who hast taken God for thy portion, and art
seeking a city that hath foundations, whose builder
is the living God, flee these things. Escape for thy
life. Even thou art not out of the reach of the love
of money. How many of the ministers of religion have
been ruined by this! And how much has religion
itself suffered by their love of money!
~Adam Clarke
But thou, O man of God
- Not only by creation, as every man is; nor merely
by special grace, as everyone is, that is chosen of
God, redeemed by Christ, and regenerated and
sanctified by the Spirit; but by his peculiar
office, as an evangelist and minister of the word,
being qualified for, and devoted to, and employed in
the service of God. The phrase is taken out of the
Old Testament, where the prophets, Elijah and
Elisha, are so called, 2 Kings 1:9.
~John Gill
Quoted verse:
2 Kings 1:9
Then the king sent unto him a captain of fifty with
his fifty. And he went up to him: and, behold, he
sat on the top of an hill. And he spake unto him,
Thou man of God, the king hath said, Come down.
Man of God — who hast
God as thy true riches. Applying primarily to
Timothy as a minister, just as the term was used of
Moses (Deuteronomy 33:1), Samuel (1 Samuel 9:6),
Elijah, and Elisha; but, as the exhortation is as to
duties incumbent also on all Christians, the term
applies secondarily to him (so 2 Timothy 3:17) as a
Christian man born of God (James 1:18; 1 John 5:1),
no longer a man of the world raised above earthly
things; therefore, God’s property, not his own,
bought with a price, and so having parted with all
right in himself: Christ’s work is to be his great
work: he is to be Christ’s living representative.
~Jamieson, Fausset, Brown
Quoted verses:
Deuteronomy 33:1
...Moses man of God
And this is the blessing, wherewith Moses the man of
God blessed the children of Israel before his death.
1 Samuel 9:6
...Samuel man of God
And he said unto him, Behold now, there is in this
city a man of God, and he is an honourable man; all
that he saith cometh surely to pass: now let us go
thither; peradventure he can shew us our way that we
should go.
2 Timothy 3:17
...showing that the
exhortation applies secondarily to Timothy and
primarily to all firstfruits
That the man of God may be perfect, throughly
furnished unto all good works.
James 1:18
...firstfruits are born of God
That the man of God may be perfect, throughly
furnished unto all good works.
1 John 5:1
...firstfruits are born of
God
Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born
of God: and every one that loveth him that begat
loveth him also that is begotten of him.
2] Flee these things.
Flee these things —
namely, “the love of money” with its evil results.
~Jamieson, Fausset, Brown
Flee these things - The
love of money. Instead of following after money,
seek after righteousness, etc.
~People's New Testament
But thou, O man of God, flee
these things - These allurements of wealth,
and these sad consequences which the love of gold
produces. ~Barnes Notes
Flee these things - the
Arabic version reads "these abominations"; namely,
all questions and strifes of words, from whence so
many evils follow,
1 Timothy 6:4 and all worldly gain, selfish
interest, and mercenary views in religion; a wicked
resolution to be rich, at any rate, and an
immoderate love of the things of the world, and an
eager pursuit after them, which expose to great
danger, and even utter ruin; things very unbecoming
any professor of religion, but much more a minister
of the Gospel. ~John Gill
Quoted verse:
1 Timothy 6:4 [see
lesson]
He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about
questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy,
strife, railings, evil surmisings, [...and
the closing admonition of verse 5: "from such
withdraw thyself]
3] And follow after righteousness.
And follow after righteousness
- Make these the grand object of your pursuit. On
the virtues here enumerated see Galatians 5:22-23 [fruits
of the Spirit list].
~Barnes Notes
Follow after righteousness
- Justice and uprightness in all thy dealings with
men. Godliness - a thorough conformity to the image
of God and mind of Christ. Faith in Jesus, and in
all that he has spoken; and fidelity to the talents
thou hast received, and the office with which thou
art entrusted. ~Adam Clarke
And follow after righteousness
- not for justification before God, that he had
followed after, and attained unto, which is the
righteousness of Christ, and not of the law; but for
the honour of religion before men; and intends the
doing of justice between man and man, giving
everyone their own, which in undue affection for the
world sometimes leads men from.
~John Gill
4] Godliness, faith, love,
patience, meekness.
Godliness - spiritual
religion, holiness of heart, and conversation, which
has the promise of this life, as well as of the
other, and with contentment is great gain; wherefore
to pursue this is much better than greedily to run
after the riches of this world, or with the false
teachers to suppose that godliness lies in worldly
gain, or in securing to a man his worldly interest:
~John Gill
Godliness — “piety.”
Righteousness is more in relation to our fellow man;
piety (“godliness”)
to God”; faith is the root of both.
~Jamieson, Fausset, Brown
Faith - the grace of
faith, which looks not to things seen, which are
temporal, but to things not seen, which are eternal;
and leads off the mind from sublunary enjoyments to
God, and Christ, and the glories of another world;
and is the leading grace to all others, and the
foundation of good works, without which there is no
pleasing in acts of moral righteousness, or in any
acts of religious worship, which may be called
godliness: ~John Gill
Love - to God, which is
inconsistent with serving mammon, or with an
immoderate love of money; and to Christ, which will
put a man on seeking, not his own things, but the
things of Christ; and to the saints, which will
direct him to serve them by acts of beneficence and
liberality: ~John Gill
Love - To God and all
mankind. Patience in all trials and afflictions.
~Adam Clarke
Love — by which “faith
worketh.” ~Jamieson,
Fausset, Brown
Patience — enduring
perseverance amidst trials.
~Jamieson, Fausset, Brown
Patience - in bearing
reproaches and indignities; in suffering injuries,
loss of goods, imprisonment, and every sort of
persecution, for the sake of the Gospel; which a
covetous disposition will not admit of: last of all,
~John Gill
Meekness - Bearing up
with an even mind under all adversities and
contradictions. ~Adam
Clarke
Meekness - or humility,
not seeking great things, but being content with a
lower station of life; for generally it is pride
that puts men upon a determination to be rich at any
rate: it may also design meekness in instructing the
ignorant, in refuting error, and in reproving
offenders. ~John Gill |
back to the top |
|
|