In 2 Tim. 4:7 Paul testified that he fought the good fight of the faith; we need to fight the good fight of the faith, fight for the faith, realizing that our service to God is a warfare, not being entangled with the things of this life, and lay hold of the eternal life.
This week in our morning revival we come to the matter of, Fighting the Good Fight of the Faith, Finishing the Course, and Loving the Lord’s Appearing.
The New Testament tells us that Christ in His resurrection has become the prototype, the standard model, and we as the many sons of God are the many sons of the Firstborn Son, and we are being conformed to His image.
In His resurrection, Christ became the Firstborn Son of God, and He is the prototype to be reproduced in us, the many sons of God.
In addition to Christ being the prototype and us being conformed to His image, God in His wisdom has presented and provided to us a pattern in the New Testament – the apostle Paul.
He testified how he was such a great sinner, but the Lord had mercy on him to make him a pattern to all those who would believe; this includes us.
Paul was a pattern of a God-man, one who lived an overcoming life, one who lived in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens.
On one hand, Christ is reproducing Himself in us; on the other hand, Paul said, Christ lives in me, and it is no longer I who live for I have been crucified with Christ, and Christ lives in me.
Paul was given by God to be a pattern to us, the believers in Christ; he learned to live Christ, express Christ, magnify Christ, speak Christ, minister Christ, and he is our pattern in the Lord.
He was a pattern of living an overcoming life in the midst of incredibly difficult circumstances; even in prison, he lived Christ.
In particular, Paul is a pattern of one who fought the good fight, finished the course, and loved the Lord’s appearing. He truly was an overcomer, and his epistles express his living and pursuit of Christ.
He didn’t know until the end that he is an overcomer; even in Philippians, he said that he continued to pursue, for he didn’t arrive yet.
However, in 1 Tim. 4 he said that he fought the good fight, he finished his course, and he kept the faith; now he was expecting to receive the crown of righteousness, which the Lord will recompense him in that day – and not only him, but also all those who love the Lord’s appearing.
As those living close to the consummation of the age, we need to fight the good fight of the faith, finish our course, and love the Lord’s appearing; all these three matters are in the light of the Lord’s return.
We need to fulfill our own ministry; we need to finish our own course; we need to fight the good fight of the faith; we need to keep the faith.
Because we are on a lengthy journey, the entire Christian life journey, between now and the end anything can happen; we are capable of any failure.
We still have a body that is of sin and of death, and some of us may overcome the lusts and sins in the flesh, yet to fail or stumble right after that. Oh, Lord!
We need to be encouraged, however, because even though we stumble, we will rise again, and when we’re in darkness, the Lord will be a light to us!
We need to be Freed from any Entanglement and Fight the Good Fight of the Faith for God’s Interest on Earth
Our Christian life is a warfare; a proper Christian life involves fighting the good fight against Satan and his kingdom of darkness and fighting for the interests of God’s kingdom (Eph. 6:9-10).
Paul testified in 2 Tim. 4:7a, I have fought the good fight; this was not an afterthought for Paul but rather, he realized that the Christian life is a fight, and he fought the good fight of the faith.
This is something we all need to learn; we have an increasing sense that, as we live the Christian life and serve the Lord, there is a warfare going on, for Satan and his kingdom of darkness fights back and does its best to hinder us.
Just look around at what is happening in our own country, in society, and in the whole world; the forces of darkness are at work, and the kingdom of darkness is more active than at any time before.
People fight against each other, parties fight against parties, and even in the family and among the relatives there are fights.
Paul considered the ministry a warfare for Christ, just as in the Old Testament the priestly service was considered a military service, a warfare (2 Tim. 3:5; Num. 4:23, 30, 35).
Paul told us that we are like soldiers in our Christian life and service, and we should not be entangled with the things of this life, the affairs of this life.
We do need to take care of the affairs of this life, having an occupation, a job, being parents, and having all kinds of responsibilities, and taking good care of our finances, but we should not get entangled!
It is such a shame to see many believers doing their best to take care of the practical matters of their life, yet being entangled with these things!
Millions of people are entangled by what media says, by what social media says, and by what is happening in the world.
May we be those who fight for God’s interest, fight the good fight of the faith, and not be entangled by the affairs of this life or by what the world has to offer.
No one serving as a soldier entangles himself with the affairs of this life; for us to fight the good fight of the faith for God’s interest on earth, we need to clear away all earthly entanglements (2 Tim. 2:4).
We may be in debt, and for us to clear the entanglements is to clear away the debt. We may be working at a job, and for us not to be entangled we need to consecrate to the Lord the amount of time we put in at the job, so that we may have a proper family life and a solid church life.
Furthermore, our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces in the air, for our Christian living and service is a warfare for Christ.
We must be cleared of any earthly entanglement and we need to fight against Satan and his kingdom, fighting for the interests of God.
We fight the good fight of the faith to minister Christ to others.
On one hand, our priestly service is a ministry to God, and on the other hand, it is a warfare against God’s enemy.
In the Old Testament, the priests were bearing the Ark of Testimony for God, and at the same time, they had to be prepared to fight against those who might attack this testimony.
May we be freed from any entanglement and fight the good fight of the faith for God’s interests on earth today!
Lord Jesus, we want to fight the good fight of the faith against Satan and his kingdom of darkness and for the interests of God’s kingdom. Amen, Lord, we realize that our service to You and our ministry is a warfare for Christ, for on one hand we bear Your testimony and minister to You, and on the other, we fight against the evil one and his constant attacks. May we would not be entangled with the affairs of this life but be freed from any earthly things to be one with You to fight the good fight for God’s interests on earth. Amen, Lord Jesus, we stand one with You for Your interests on earth today. We stand one with You and one with the saints to fight the good fight against the enemy and for God’s interests on earth!
We Fight the Good Fight of the Faith for God’s Economy and by Laying Hold on the Eternal Life
If we check with our experience, we will realize that, whenever we minister Christ to others, we find ourselves in a battle; we should therefore be soldiers fighting for God’s interests (2 Tim. 2:3-4).
As we learn to bear responsibility in the church life, as we learn to serve and minister Christ by being perfected, we realize more and more that we are in a battle.
Actually, every aspect of our Christian life and church life is a warfare, and we need to fight the good fight of the faith.
There’s a battle for the proper raising up and education of our children; there’s a battle for our caring for one another in the church life, and there’s a great battle for the meetings of the church.
As we learn to serve the Lord, we are not shocked concerning the spiritual warfare going on, neither are we paranoid about it – we simply know this happens.
The enemy hates us, and he will do everything he can to wear us out and even take some of us away; as soldiers in God’s army, we need to fight the good fight of the faith.
To teach and preach God’s New Testament economy concerning Christ and the church is to war the good warfare (1 Tim. 1:4; Eph. 5:32).
For us to fight the good fight of the faith is to fight for God’s New Testament economy, and in particular, it is for us to fight for Christ as the embodiment of God and for the church as the Body of Christ (1 Tim. 6:12; 1:4; Col. 2:9, 19).
There are so many erroneous teachings out there, for the leaven is put and even hidden in the fine flour; we need to fight the good fight of the faith by teaching God’s economy concerning Christ and the church.
And our fight is not merely objectively but also subjectively by laying hold on the eternal life (1 Tim. 6:12).
Our fighting the good fight is not merely doctrinal but also personal, internal; it is not only the spirit fighting against the flesh but also fighting against the things that the enemy is injecting in us and in the church.
Again and again, we need to take the helmet of salvation because there are many fiery darts that come, and inwardly we fight the good fight of the faith.
For us to fight the good fight of the faith in our Christian life, especially in our Christian ministry, we need to lay hold on the divine life and not trust in our human life.
This life is a prerequisite to bringing forth God’s dispensation concerning the church (according to 1 Timothy), to confront the process of the church’s decline (according to 2 Timothy), and to maintain good order in the church life (according to Titus). Amen!
As men of God, we should pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and meekness; we should fight for God’s New Testament economy and lay hold on eternal life.
May we all fight for Christ as the embodiment of God and for the church as the Body of Christ. And may we realize that our fight is not merely objective but subjective by laying hold on eternal life, doing nothing apart from this life.
Even in our speaking to one another, husband speaking to the wife or to the children, we should do it not by our natural life but by the divine life, the eternal life. Amen, may we be the Timothy of today, laying hold on the eternal life!
Lord Jesus, we want to fight the good fight of the faith by fighting for God’s New Testament economy, that is, fighting for Christ as the embodiment of God and for the church as the Body of Christ! Hallelujah for God’s economy, His dispensing, for Him to gain what He is after – the enlargement of Christ as the embodiment of God to be the Body of Christ, the corporate expression of God in humanity! Amen, Lord, we want to fight the good fight of the faith by laying hold on the eternal life. We want to do everything by the divine life, the eternal life in our spirit. May our living, our actions, and our speaking all be regulated and directed by the divine life, so that we may lay hold on the eternal life, thus fighting the good fight of the faith!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Minoru Chen for this week, and portions from, Life-study of 1 Timothy, msgs. 2, 12 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Christian Life, the Church Life, the Consummation of the Age, and the Coming of the Lord (2020 fall ITERO), week 7, Fighting the Good Fight, Finishing the Course, and Loving the Lord’s Appearing.
- Hymns on this topic:
– I have fought the good fight; / I have finished the course; / I have fought the good fight; / I have kept the faith. / Henceforth there is laid up for me / The crown of righteousness, / Which the Lord, the Righteous Judge, / Will recompense me in that day, / And not only me / But also all those who have loved His appearing. (Scripture song)
– Charge, soldiers, charge in battle! / And gaze upon thy Lord; / If thou wilt fight His battle, / The throne is thy reward. / This war is of the spirit, / Not fought on earthly ground; / The Lord well knows the foe is near, / Encircling us around. (Hymns #873)
– Fight the good fight with all thy might! / Christ is thy strength, and Christ thy right; / Lay hold on life, and it shall be / Thy joy and crown eternally. (Hymns #872)
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