The Charge He Entrusts to Us

1 Timothy 1:18-20 ESV

“This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.”

I am not going to talk about Timothy here. I believe the Lord Jesus wants me to make practical application of this passage of Scripture to our lives today. So what I believe he is leading me to do here is to ask this question: 

“What has God charged and entrusted us to do as followers of Christ?”

Those whom God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, Jesus Christ. For God saved us and he called us to a holy calling. He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. As he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct. For you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. [This was a summary of the following verses:]

[Psalms 139:13-16; Romans 1:6-7; Romans 8:28-29; 1 Corinthians 1:9; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; Galatians 5:13; Ephesians 1:3-4; 1 Thessalonians 4:7; 2 Timothy 1:8-9; 1 Peter 1:14-16; 1 Peter 2:9; 2 Peter 1:3] And…

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:1-2).

“I therefore, .. urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called” (Eph 4:1). “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil” (Eph 5:15-16). “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Col 3:16). “But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Heb 3:13). 

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Heb 10:24-25). “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt 28:19-20). “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses..” (Acts 1:8).

And this (all the above) is what it means to “wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience.” For to be holy is to be separate (unlike, different) from the world because we are being conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ. And it means that we are walking in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, and that we are walking in righteousness, in moral purity, in honesty, in uprightness, and in faithfulness to God. And it means that our lives are surrendered to Jesus Christ as living sacrifices, pleasing to him.

It means that we are his witnesses, that we are proclaiming the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness (sin) into his wonderful light (Christ, truth, righteousness), and that we are making disciples of Christ of the people of this world by what we teach, and that we are teaching that we must obey our Lord and his commands (New Covenant), and that we are exhorting one another daily so that none of us is hardened by sin’s deceitfulness, and that we are exposing the fruitless deeds of darkness.

But not everyone who professes faith in Jesus Christ is of true faith in Christ Jesus. Many professing Christians today are ignoring all of the above (and more) of what the word of God teaches us with regard to how we are to live, as followers of Christ. And many of them are claiming that they don’t have to do anything in obedience to the Lord nor to be pleasing to him. And so they are still walking in sin, making sin their practice, doing whatever their evil hearts decide to do without regard for what God called them to do.

And so they are not saved from their sins, and they do not have eternal life with God. According to the Scriptures they don’t even know God, they are not born of God, they are not in fellowship with him, they don’t love him, and he is not their Lord (owner-master). And one day he is going to say to them, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness,” because they refused to obey the Lord and to walk in his ways and to do what he has called them and predestined them to do as followers of Christ.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

My Sheep  

An Original Work / June 24, 2012  

Based off John 10:1-18 NIV

My sheep hear me. They know me.

They listen to my voice and obey.

I call them and lead them.

They know my voice, so they follow me.

They will never follow strangers.

They will run away from them.

The voice of a stranger they know not;

They do not follow him.

So, I tell you the truth that

I am the gate, so you enter in.

Whoever does enter

Will find forgiveness and will be saved.

Nonetheless whoever enters

Not by the gate; other way,

He is the thief and a robber.

Listen not, the sheep to him.

Oh, I am the Good Shepherd,

Who laid his own life down for the sheep.

I know them. They know me.

They will live with me eternally.

The thief only comes to steal and

Kill and to destroy the church.

I have come to give you life that

You may have it to the full… 

They know my voice, so they follow me.

https://vimeo.com/114938263