Warring for God or Shattered to Pieces (Part 3) by Dr. Rod Mattoon

About this sermon

1 Timothy 1:18-19... 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: As Timothy headed toward a difficult battlefield, Paul challenged him to make sure he was equipped with two important weapons that dealt with beliefs and blamelessness. These are two important areas for us as well if we are going to fight the good fight of faith and not be wrecked to pieces. It is the reason why the lives of so many Christians are shattered like the spray of ocean waves crashing into shoreline rocks because they have neglected these two things. Their failures or wrecks affect and hurt others like people who are cut by slivers of broken glass. Paul talked first about Timothy’s beliefs. Your beliefs are very important because they will affect how you behave. Out of the heart are the issues of life (Proverbs 4:23). When you believe crazy things you end up doing crazy things. If your attitude is careless, your behavior will be careless. If Timothy was to stand for the Lord and fight a good fight then he needed first of all a grip on the teachings of the Christian faith. Paul was telling Timothy, “Son, be sure you get a grip, that you cling, that you have a firm hold and continually possess the Christian faith in your heart and mind. Be steadfast, be faithful in the faith, in the Gospel, and the foundational doctrines of Christianity.” Like a bulldog with a bone, Timothy had to be belligerent or steadfast and have a grip on these truths if he was going to persuade or teach them to others. That goes for us, too! How are you going to teach your kids or grandkids about God when you never spend personal time reading the Bible or go to church only once in a while? If you don’t think these matters are important, then why would your kids think they were important? Timothy needed not to be not swayed away from the faith by the people he was going to confront or reach for Christ. It was critical that he not stray or waver from an accurate knowledge of God and the Gospel. That goes for you and for me, too! We must be the ones who are influencing people to turn to Christ instead of ungodly people swaying and turning us away from God so that we will be bound by addictions and live worldly, carnal, selfish, wicked, immoral lives. The doctrines of the Christian faith are essential for us to believe in and practice if we are going to stand for Christ and be victorious in our spiritual battles. Hopefully, you want to be a victorious Christian whose life counts for Christ, bounces with blessings, trounces troubles, and pounces on problems. Consistency in dedication to Christ is maintained by intimacy with Him. If you will develop a close relationship with Jesus Christ, it will help you to avoid deficiency in your dedication and delinquency in observing spiritual disciplines such as prayer, Bible reading, church attendance, tithing, and telling others about Christ. Walking with God will increase your dependency on God, your persistency in purity, and the sufficiency of the strength, peace, love, and joy you receive from the Lord. On the other hand, if your relationship with Christ cools and crumbles, eventually your service for the Lord crashes. If you are going to fight the good fight of faith, you will also need to have faith or trust in God. Doubt needs to be flushed from your life and replaced with dependence on God. It is vital for spiritual victory and growth that you and I trust in God and live by faith in Him. In this message, we will share nine important principles about faith and why the “just shall live by faith.” This message was preached on Wednesday night, December 21, 2022, at Lincoln Land Baptist Church.