The Apostle Paul reminds us in these verses before us of the importance of affirming the truth, confessing the truth, and rejecting and denying error and false teaching, false theology. You may remember, I think I've used the illustration before, but you may remember something Martin Luther once said when he said, we cannot keep the birds from flying over our heads, but we can prevent them from making their nests in our hair. And of course, he was dealing with the same issues that we're dealing with this morning. And that is making the good confession. Something that is not a luxury, not a liability, but frankly, a very real necessity. What prompts Paul to write? Well, again, as I've said, error. The problem of, and it's the word he uses, heterodoxy, a different doctrine, one that is of an altogether different kind. Contrary to healthy words, words that produce good or promote good spiritual health. Holiness, godliness is something that Paul has addressed previously in that section. And so there's a contrast that is set up here, contrast between error and some of the components of error, and at least to some degree, the effects of error. Error doesn't promote holiness, but rather carnality and strife. Paul, again, speaks previously of a different dogma, a different doctrine, a different And along with that, the problem of covetousness. Not a problem with money. Money is necessary, but it's a problem with covetousness, which again, fits with error in that the person becomes altogether important and the person's perspective becomes paramount. Now, there are a couple of different ways that we could open up this text. I'm going to give you an alternative outline. It's not the one I'm going to use. I've done that before. As we look at verses 11 through 12, in particular, and by extension and application, then verses 13 through 16, these are the imperatives that are embedded in the text. And they all start with the letter F. First of all, flee, Paul says. Flee delusions, flee these things. He opens up verse 11 with that. Flee falsehood. And then secondly, follow a list of virtues. There are six virtues that are listed here, probably in three pairs that reflect a kind of balanced spirituality. Follow virtues. And then thirdly, fight for the faith, for the truth. Struggle not for faith, as in individual faith, but rather in the faith, for the truth. Fourthly, Paul speaks of laying hold on eternal life. Fasten yourself with regard to eternal life. And then toward the end, favor the son, confess the son, even as the son confessed. And then sixthly, and finally, fear. Fear God, not be afraid of God. so much as the believer has reverence for God who has revealed himself in his word. So that's one way that we could explore the text. But there's another way that we can explore the text and that is around the word confession or confess. Paul contends for our confessing, and at multiple levels. The solution is confession. In verses 11 and 12, and again in 14, that of a minister, that of the pastor, that of the elders. Secondly, that of the mediator, Christ himself confessed the good confession before Pilate. And then with regard to that of a significant and specific matter, that is the nature and character of God. The word confession is used repeatedly then in the text. Twice the confession is called good, Kalos, not Agathos. It is attractive proportion. It's noble. And the definite article appears with it twice, suggesting a well-known statement, the good, the noble, the beautiful confession. A. A. Hodge wrote in the 19th century, the real question is not as often pretended between the word of God and the creed of man, but between the tried and proved faith of the collective body of God's people and the private judgment and the unassisted wisdom of the repudiator of creeds. Follow, believe, confess these creeds, making the good confession. Scott Clark has made the point in something he has written that a good confession is a biblical boundary marker. by a piece of property, by a house, and a surveyor comes through to make sure where the boundary markers really are. And often they drive down a wooden stake. And of course, after so many years, the stake rots away and you may remember more or less where the boundary marker is. My father, when we bought the property on Mercer Island and my Grandfather built the house, took a piece of rebar about three feet long, and he drove it down into the ground where the boundary marker was, knowing that no one would be able to pull the thing out of the ground. And lest somebody forget where it was, I don't know how he moved it, but a huge rock in all four of these corners to make sure, a boundary marker. So Creed, And a confession, the good confession, is a boundary, biblical boundary marker. Well, there's several things here. If I remember correctly, six things about this good confession. First of all, the good confession is ministerial, in verse 11. But thou, O man of God, flee these things and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. The good confession is ministerial. Now, he refers to him, and he's referring to Timothy, Specifically, because he says, but you, oh man of God. So he has someone in mind, he has Timothy in mind. Flee these things, that is the things that Paul mentioned previously, that were marks of heterodoxy and follow after the following. And he speaks in verse 12 of that following as the good confession. And we refers to him as the man of God. And we might think initially of looking at this and saying, well, the man of God refers to any man or woman, any person who is a Christian and is marked by godliness. And to an extent, that's a fair appraisal. But this term man of God is a technical term. He is the man of God, which is not a universal but a technical term when it's found generally in the scriptures. Moses is referred to as the man of God. Samuel, likewise, the man of God. David, the man of God. And we may not remember this particular individual, but his name was Shimei, the prophet in 1 Kings chapter 12. Elijah was called a man of God. Elisha was called a man of God. And Paul now refers to Timothy as the man of God. And he does so again in 2 Timothy 3, verses 16 and 17, where he speaks of the Word of God, giving the man of God all that he needs in his work. And again, one could say that anyone who is a faithful believer may be dominated or denominated a man of God. But again, that's typically not the way the word is used. Calvin writes, by calling Timothy a man of God, he adds weight to his exhortation. He tells Timothy that the desires he ought to follow are spiritual. And so, as we saw previously, the very first command that Paul gives to Timothy as a man of God is to flee. It's a present imperative, suggesting an activity that is always part of his ministry. He is to flee from these gross errors and attendant sins. There's safety in flight if we're running from the right things, or perhaps we should say from the wrong. Patrick Fairbairn writes, but the whole passage evidently has respect to Timothy's destination as a public witness and servant of the Lord and the distinctive epithet both in itself and its usage best accords with that idea. So, flee. There's safety in flight. So the good confession is first of all ministerial, that is the pastors and elders of the church need to know the distinction or the difference between truth and error and to flee from error. There's a sense then in which pastoral ministry is polemical, confrontational, as opposed to heterodoxy, which is marked by speculation and covetousness. So first of all, biblical confession is ministerial, required of all who serve Christ as ministers or elders. Secondly, the good confession is ethical. It's spiritual. Here is this appeal to Timothy, and accompanying this flight, there is to be the following of certain spiritual and moral qualities. The confession must remain his confession, not merely intellectual and mental, but also ethical, life-changing, vital, and spiritual. And so there are these six qualities that are listed, six virtues. And it's generally thought that these six virtues are to be placed into three categories, perhaps even representing the three virtues that are mentioned in 1 Corinthians chapter 13, faith, hope, and love. Timothy must pursue from the heart this confession. And from the heart, Timothy must pursue devotion, piety before God, righteousness before men, godliness before God. Secondly, Timothy must pursue integrity, living out the Christian faith. And thirdly, Timothy must pursue tenacity, resolution, action in a hostile world. Fight the good fight, or excuse me, follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. And so the good confession requires the application of truth. and a changed life. Faith and life, confession and consecration, are inseparately bound together. Confessing is a moral issue, again, not just intellectual and mental. The Christian life is tested by the Christian confession, or the Christian confession is tested, perhaps a better way of putting it, the Christian confession is tested by the Christian life. Thirdly, the good confession is biblical. Verse 12, Paul writes, fight the good fight of the faith. Lay hold on the life eternal where unto thou wast called and didst confess the good confession in the sight of many witnesses. The good confession is biblical. It's radical. It's revealed. The content is the faith. Notice the definite article is placed next to the word faith. And when that's the case, it generally refers to the body of truth and not to an individual's faith. So it's not confess your faith, but rather confess the faith, which is the body of truth. Content. body of truth. In verses 10 and again in 20, it refers to people who have wandered from the faith, the apostolic faith, the truth, the teaching, that which is the deposit, having been deposited to God's people. The faith in view is fixed It's fixed by the Bible, it's fixed by God himself. Now, you'll notice that there's a citation from J. Gress of Machen in the bulletin today. And it's in my notes as well, which is actually where I retrieved it. And he said this, to pray for tolerance without careful definition of that of which you are to be tolerant, is just to pray for the breakdown of the Christian religion. For the Christian religion is intolerant to the core. There lies the whole offense of the cross and also the whole power of it. Always the gospel would have been received with favor by the world if it had been presented merely as one way of salvation. The offense came because it was presented as the only way and because it made relentless war on all other ways. I think that's quite good. It really does address the importance and the place of the truth. Paul tells Timothy, lay hold on that to which you were called. Since he's a Christian, it is doubtful if the calling is to repentance and faith, but rather not to the quantity of days, but to the quality of life. Eternal life is knowing God. Make this your ambition. Jesus says as much in John 17 in verse three, this is eternal life. that you might know the only true God. And then Jesus makes reference to himself. This is the substance of the contest. Lay hold on eternal life. There is no calling to life without the good confession. A confession that is ordained, accepted, and confirmed by God. Lay hold with violence, as it were, as Jesus snatched Peter about to sink below the waves. So the good confession is biblical. The good confession is radical. The good confession is revealed. And Paul goes on to say he was called to this and he did confess. Now we're talking about, again, about Timothy and did confess the good confession in the sight of many witnesses. Now, what is this good confession? Where did it take place? Well, there are two particular views that surface in the history of the church. This was Timothy's experience, and his experience as the man of God, probably, And so when did this take place? Well, some have said that it took place on the occasion of some particular persecution, but there's no evidence of that in the New Testament. Others have suggested, and not a few, that this is the confession that he made on the occasion of his initiation, that is his baptism, as a Christian. It's a possibility. Baptism is important. And Timothy would have been baptized. But given the fact that this has to do with something of a formal confession, that it may well refer to his ordination. In my thinking, that's probably the case. an ordination that took place before many witnesses. And we'll come to Second Timothy in due time and we'll notice his ordination. His ordination did take place in the company of many witnesses. Paul is referred to that. And so again, from the context, the appeal here is to Timothy as a leader, and Jesus was part of his work. And so he confesses this good confession on the occasion of his ordination. It's not that he was saved at that point, he already was, but it does not need to be limited to his baptism. Here is a good confession. A confession of the truth, a confession of the truth that would be required of him is he proclaims the truth of God. Calvin takes the good confession to be no single occasion, but that Timothy remained consistent throughout his whole ministry. Patrick Fairbairn wrote, though the precise moment of his doing so in public before many witnesses, as it is here put, might be either at his baptism or his ordination to the work of the ministry, there are the occasions that naturally present themselves to one's mind in confession or connection with such a statement, and it is needless to think of any other. Scott Clark wrote, it is one thing to have a high view of scripture. It is another thing, however, to have a theology, piety, and practice which are actually biblical. We think especially of this as a part of an ordination vow. Calvin wrote, nothing can fill us with courage more than the knowledge that we have been called by God from them that we may infer, from that we may infer that our labor which is under God's direction and in which he stretches out his hand to us will not be in vain. Fourthly, the good confession is official. It can be summarized. And on another occasion, we'll take a look at 2 Timothy chapter one and verse 13. And we'll notice there, as we look at those verses, and we will, of course, in due course, that Paul writes, let me just read that verse, 2 Timothy chapter one and verse 13. Here Paul tells Timothy, hold the pattern of sound words, which thou hast heard from me in faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus. That good thing, which was committed unto thee, guard through the Holy Spirit, which dwelleth in us. Notice that The teaching was apostolic, authority is attached to it. The particulars of that revelation are, in the words of Paul, healthy words, sound words, healthy words, destined for the benefit of God's people. Thirdly, notice the pattern, the order, the organization just not random words, but organized. The faith can be summarized and is comprehensive. Our faith is not minimalist, but maximalist, if you will. Fourthly, notice that these words are to be preserved and this order is to be preserved. Hold on to them. Always reforming does not mean innovation, but conformity. And then the profession of them. Confess them personally. Are these words the confession of your faith? Luther again once said that the church is not a pen house, but a mouth house. It's a place where truth is preached. Fifthly, the good confession is ecclesiastical. The church is to be acquainted with the truth. Verses 13 and 14, I charge thee in the sight of God who give of life to all things and of Christ Jesus before Pontius Pilate witnessed the good confession, that thou keep the commandment without spot, without reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here is a charge that is given to Timothy. all that Timothy has been enjoined to do with respect to the ministry of the gospel and the government of the church. Calvin writes, by the word commandment, here he means all that he has said up to now about Timothy's office, the sum of which was that he should show himself a minister faithful to Christ and the church. Thus to keep the commandment means discharge or to discharge in good faith the duty laid upon him. Paul speaks about Timothy commanded, commanded to be guarded or kept and for the church. The charge is not made in a vacuum. Timothy is responsible for the church in Ephesus, and we find Timothy in other places as he moved from place to place as Paul's lieutenant. Paul is saying, I command you to keep your orders without fault blameless, or failure above reproach. Timothy's commission has regard to the church's confession. George Knight wrote, for the fact that Timothy is charged here as a Christian leader should not take away from the fact that everything he has been commanded to do in verses 11 and following is to characterize the life of every Christian, not just that of a Christian leader. And there's no reason to think that that perspective has changed. in verse 14. And so here is a charge that is both ministerial and official. Sixthly, the good confession is Christological. It has Christ at the center. In verse 13, it speaks of Christ's own confession. I charge thee in the sight of God who gives life to all things and of Christ Jesus who before Pontius Pilate witnessed the good confession. Here is a place for us to follow Christ. Here's continuity between Christ and the believer. Calvinism is Christ-centered. Our faith is Christ-centered. It has to do with the gospel, the gospel of Jesus Christ. Calvin writes that our faith is creedal and immutable confession and an immutable confession ratified by the Son of God himself. Here's the excellence of Christ's own confession. and his own witness. Pilate is mentioned 49 times in the gospel writings, and he's included in the earliest post-apostolic Greek noun. Christ's confession animates, enlivens all other confessions of faith. Patrick Fairbairn, Longer citation writes, the confession which the disciple of Christ is called to make and which is declared to have been made by Timothy is as to its nature nothing else than that which was testified by Christ himself. And hence it is in each case, the good confession. a specific and formal utterance in respect to the essentials of the Christian faith. Differing it may be, and doubtless often does, in words, but coinciding in the substance of the doctrines confessed. Some commentators appear to broaden the difference between the confessions beyond that which the language necessarily implies or even properly admits of. So here's the example of Christ's own confession and a witness to the things of the gospel. His confession, again, animates all other confessions. He was asked, are you the king of the Jews? And so he is a king. Timothy is to persevere like Christ. Calvin writes, thus when our hearts waver, let us remember immediately to look to the death of Christ for strength. What cowardice it would be to desert such a leader who goes before us to show us the way. Now, seventhly, the good confession is methodical, or we might say theological, because it has God at the center. Notice that what Paul says, beginning as early as verse 15, which in its own times he shall show who is the blessed and only potentate, the King of kings and the Lord of lords. who only hath immortality, dwelling in light unapproachable, whom no man hath seen nor can seen, to whom be honor and power eternal. Amen. Here is a theological statement, that is, it's a statement about God himself. And there are six things that Paul tells Timothy about God. This actually is a sermon in and of itself. I'm sort of tempted to stop here and pick it up next time, but let me at least give you the rest of the outline, all right? Again, awful lot of material in this section. The good confession is systematic, theological, it has to do with God. Notice the six things that Paul affirms. First of all, he affirms that God is incomprehensible. There coming a time when God will show himself more fully, which in its own times, he shall show who is. So he's incomprehensible. He's independent, he's self-governing. His plans are his own, he's unsearchable. Remember, Paul says that elsewhere. He affirms that God is incomparable. He is the blessed one and only. Verse 15, verse B, or 15B. Thirdly, he affirms that God is incontestable. That is, no one can successfully contest him. No human rule can challenge his authority. Fourthly, he affirms that God is indefectible. He's without defect. He's without collapse. He's immortal. Our immortality is an endowment. His is innate. Indefectible in the sense that he is indestructible. Fifthly, he affirms that God is inaccessible. That is, he remains hidden until he reveals himself. He cannot be discovered by human ingenuity cannot be discovered apart from divine revelation. And then sixthly, Paul affirms that God is invisible. We can only know him insofar, as I've already said, as he chooses to reveal himself. He cannot be seen except as he shows himself, which he does principally through the life and ministry of his only begotten son, the Lord Jesus Christ. What do you think Paul is saying in these verses, especially verses 15 and 16, when he affirms that God is all of those things. Well, here's what I think he's affirming. What he's affirming is this, it's all, always all about God. It's always all about God. Mike Horton wrote, it is not because the culture is always changing, and we need to be up with the times, but because we are always in need of being reoriented to the word that stands over us, individually and collectively, that the church can never stand still. Again, notice what he says, it's not by being creative and innovative, but it's with the listening ear. In fact, he says that it must always be a listening church. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God, Romans 10, 17. We always need to return to the voice of our shepherd, neither behind us nor ahead of us, but above us, our savior, our sovereign Lord, reigns over his body in all times and in all places. And then finally, the good confession is always devotional and doxological. Sorry about that. Doxology. Praise. Notice the last word. Amen. May it be. This is it. This is true. To him belongs all honor. In fact, that's before the amen. To whom be honor and power eternal. To him belongs admiration or reverence, all honor belongs to God. And to him belongs authority or dominance, to whom be not only honor, but also power eternal. And so ninthly then, with the amen, and I got ahead of myself a little bit, the good confession is theological, the good confession is devotional, doxological, and the good confession is personal. Is this something that is a part of your life, a part of your conscious confession? of the things of God. The amen is frequently inserted in the scriptures and relates to the personal confirmation, approval of these things. Commitment to the good confession is a good cause. It's the crawling of the church. It is neither liability or luxury, but undeniable and an unending necessity for the minister, for the mediator, and for the mother of us all, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. live in a day in which many of these things are denied or find corruption in one way or the other, or are corrupted, I should say, one way or the other. Here is a text to live by. Here is the good confession, that to which we are, or ought to be at least, committed to, and may that truly be the case. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we would bow our heads, perhaps in shame for not taking seriously these matters. We bow our heads in grateful adoration and thanksgiving for having revealed yourself in such a mighty, saving way. May we take these truths with us from this day forward. And for those within the sound of my voice, since this is aired later We pray for those who may not have come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, that you might deliver them as they come to make the good confession. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.