Fight the Good Fight of Faith 1 Timothy 1:12-20. REVIEW: 1 Timothy 1:1-11 • Stop false teaching. • Aim at love & truth. • Know the law & Gospel. There is hope for everyone. 1 Timothy 1:12 (NLT), “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength to do his work. He considered me trustworthy and appointed me to serve him, 13 even though I used to blaspheme the name of Christ. In my insolence, I persecuted his people. But God had mercy on me because I did it in ignorance and unbelief. 14 Oh, how generous and gracious our Lord was! He filled me with the faith and love that come from Christ Jesus. 15 This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners’—and I am the worst of them all.” Lewis in Mere Christianity, “When a man is getting better, he understands more and more clearly the evil that is still left in him. When a man is getting worse, he understands his own badness less and less.” God is merciful. 1 Timothy 1:16 (NLT), “But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life. 17 All honor and glory to God forever and ever! He is the eternal King, the unseen one who never dies; he alone is God. Amen.” • Mercy is not getting what you do deserve. • Grace is getting what you don’t deserve. • Justice is getting what you deserve. Keep the faith and a clear conscience. 1 Timothy 1:18 (NLT), “Timothy, my son, here are my instructions for you, based on the prophetic words spoken about you earlier. May they help you fight well in the Lord’s battles. 19 Cling to your faith in Christ, and keep your conscience clear. For some people have deliberately violated their consciences; as a result, their faith has been shipwrecked. 20 Hymenaeus and Alexander are two examples. I threw them out and handed them over to Satan so they might learn not to blaspheme God.” • Jay Budziszewski has written on the importance of conscience in private and public life. He asks the question, ‘What happens to us when we tell ourselves we don’t know, but we really do?” • The answer is nothing good! • When we violate our conscience, we lie to ourselves, and worse, we lie to the Holy Spirit in us. Turn the ship around a.s.a.p. or your spiritual life is headed for the rocks. Fight for the Faith The most important weapons in fighting for the faith are using your God-given gifts, understanding the Christian faith (the Gospel) and keeping a clear conscience (short accounts with God and others). CONCLUSION Russell Kirk (1992), “If a culture is to survive and flourish, it must not be severed from the religious vision out of which it arose. The high necessity of reflective men and women, then, is to labor for the restoration of religious teachings as a credible body of doctrine. America as we know it cannot survive without biblical Christianity. The rights we cherish, the freedoms we enjoy, the ideals we all love together – all are rooted in and sustained by the tradition of the Bible. Christianity is the electric current of our national life. Turn it off, and the light will fade.” • Our nation is in trouble, because deep in our national consciousness, we know what we are doing is wrong, and instead of repenting and turning to God, people take revenge, and try to silence the voice of truth.