04/26/2026
“Fight The Good Fight Of Faith” Sermon
I Timothy 6:11-16 NKJV
[11] “But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. [12] Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. [13] I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, [14] that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, [15] which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, [16] who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.”
Today's message from God's Word begins with these select verses in the middle of the sixth chapter of the Apostle Paul's first letter to his young protege in ministry, Timothy, in which we highlight Paul's Holy Spirit inspired and very personal charge to Timothy in verse twelve to “fight the good fight of faith.”
While the letters to Timothy are among what are known as the Pastoral epistles, which are theological instruction manuals for the ministry, Paul is still consistent in his approach as with his other letters to the first century churches spread across the pagan Roman empire.
Here, as we read, Paul showcases his signature style of appreciation for military language, essentially once again commanding Timothy to be a good soldier of Jesus Christ, to defend and preach the Gospel while also pursuing the righteousness of Christ, essentially living the Gospel as well.
For a better understanding of the context, in the prior verses, in an effort to encourage Timothy to continue to teach and exhort the doctrines that Christ handed down to Paul and the other Apostles, Paul uses the example of the destructive fates of those in ministry who teach false doctrines or those who are consumed with the love of money, which becomes a ruinous force for any ministry.
Therefore, to attempt to compare and contrast the connection between how the Gospel is preached and how our lives are lived, Paul begins the instructions in our introductory verses by reminding Timothy that he is a “man of God” and as such, he is ordered to flee those destructive fates and “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.”
Essentially, the point is while no man is perfect and sinless, which is why we all need Jesus, those who teach unsound doctrines, false Gospels, are also those who aren't living the Gospel.
In contrast, it is possible for an imperfect messenger to share God's perfect message, because that is the exact nature of both, but again, the issue which Paul is describing begins with the teaching rather than the teacher, as in, good theology always reveals the righteousness of Christ in the teacher, whereas bad theology reveals the bad character of the minister.
Hence this is why as soon Paul issues The Holy Spirit command to “fight the good fight of faith,” he immediately follows up with ‘lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses” which means that we are to hold ourselves accountable to living as though we have already received eternal life, which indeed we have if we are true born again believers, and in that way, our words and actions in public will be a confession confirming the true Gospel, a testimony representing the transformative power of the Holy Spirit by God's grace through our faith in Jesus Christ, who is God in the flesh, who is the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the image of the invisible God, and our Absolute Authority who is returning very soon.
From the flesh, Paul understood the physical and emotional and mental health hazards associated with ministry, and he knew that the first thing that is at risk is our faith from the tri-level battle we as believers face every day, the battle against the flesh, the battle against the world and the battle against the devil.
Yet Paul also understood the origin of faith and that it's not something we generate on our own, rather it is a gift from God who draws us to Christ.
John 6:44 NKJV
[44] “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
Therefore, from The Holy Spirit within him, Paul expresses with confidence that faith could indeed be protected while under inevitable attack, meaning that where there is faith, there is also spiritual warfare, and yet, even while our faith is tried and tested in that tri-level battle, we have been given by God the spiritual protection of the whole Armor of God.
Ephesians 6:10-13 NKJV
[10] “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. [11] Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. [12] For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. [13] Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”
Now, before we highlight the specific component of the whole Armor of God that relates to this message today, let's return to the context of our introductory verses to note that again, Paul is ministering to Timothy who is just beginning his ministry, hence, Paul referring to faith in the context of ministry, and this why he equips his young protege with the truth that faith is a fight, a battle for which we must be prepared, again, especially in ministry.
Paul, who once was in deep rebellion against God as an anti-messianic and treacherous Pharisee known as Saul, who had made a name for himself as an often violent persecutor of the disciples and many other believers, however was still chosen by God to experience a supernatural encounter with the Resurrected Christ who appeared about three years after His ascension on the road to Damascus to specifically convict and convert the faithless Saul, who would later be known as Paul, the repentant, faithful Jewish Apostle to the Gentiles, making his transformation the kind of radical spiritual rebirth that attracted the extra attention of Satan and his legions.
Hence, even as a new creation in Christ with a new assignment from God to preach the Gospel and be an ambassador for Christ everywhere he went, the spiritual war surrounding him was evident, in that, thorns, like from the crown that once pierced the head of our Lord and Savior were now being symbolically used by the devil to pierce Paul's side as a constant reminder that Hell was always on his heels and his past was never too far behind him, which God allowed as a lesson for Paul to learn so he could share that it takes God's strength and grace to fulfill our ministries.
Therefore, Paul knew from first hand experience that not only is faith a fight, but so is ministry, and hence the battle of ministry is the ultimate test of our faith, and it will reveal to us just how imperfect, weak, unrighteous and unqualified we all really are, yet, not that God desires for us to have such a negative self-image, but it is in our fleshly weaknesses that we can draw from His spiritual strength, essentially sustaining us with His grace which uses each shortcoming of ours as an opportunity to teach us to lean on Him.
II Corinthians 12:7-10 NKJV
[7] “And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. [8] Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. [9] And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. [10] Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
And if you haven't already put the pieces together, this lesson surrounding our introductory verses was included in Scripture not just as a personal story about Paul, the teacher, teaching Timothy, the student how to teach, but additionally this lesson is given by The Holy Spirit for us to keep alive and apply today, for me as your Pastor to use as a tool to disciple and equip you for the work of your ministries, which is the purpose of the gathering of the Body of Christ who are also referred to as saints according to God's Word.
Ephesians 4:12 NKJV
[12] “for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,”
Because again, whether we hold a title or an office in the church building, we are all equal members of the Church Body of Christ and therefore, also according to God's Word we all have been given by God the ministry of reconciliation as ambassadors for Christ who made the great exchange of His righteousness for our sins on the cross.
II Corinthians 5:17-21 NKJV
[17] “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. [18] Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, [19] that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. [20] Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. [21] For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
By now, as I have been led to preach on these verses countless times, you all should be familiar with them, and for those of you who have been taking your ministries seriously and sharing the Gospel whether in word or deed, I pray that you have ears to hear that this specific message to Timothy is the same message I have been led to give all of you today, a message of encouragement to continue to fight the good fight of faith.
Because again, just as Christ explained and personally experienced during His earthly ministry, just as Paul explained and personally experienced during his ministry, and just as I have been explaining and personally experiencing during my ministry, faith is a fight, hence it is inevitable that spiritual warfare will accompany our ministries and Satan will stop at nothing to prevent us from sharing and living the Gospel, meaning that he will target our faith to not only weaken our witness in the lives of non-believers, but also in our own personal lives, since ministry and life are so intertwined.
Yet, as I began to mention earlier, since our faith is a gift from God, it can also be protected by God, hence why The Holy Spirit commands us to wear the whole Armor of God, and even more specifically, the component that directly relates to this sermon today, which is the shield of faith, the fourth piece of the Armor of God:
Ephesians 6:16 NKJV
[16] “above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.”
Again, for those who don't know, The Holy Spirit inspired Paul to use the armor of the Roman soldiers at the time in the first century as a visual example of the six pieces of Armor of God, hence the shield of faith was modeled after a Roman shield known as a scutum, which was as large as a door and would cover the soldier entirely.
Furthermore, such a shield was not just defensive, but could also be used to push enemies back during attacks to regain ground.
Even further, while fighting as a group, soldiers could pivot and stand back to back, bending their bodies towards the ground and raising their shields above their heads positioning them to form an enclosure around themselves called a testudo, which is Latin for tortoise, which visually is like a protective shell to stop the arrows that were launched from the walls of the cities they were attacking.
As well, these shields were often made of wood and then covered in animal hide, and when wet, could extinguish the flaming arrows of the enemies who preferred to light the tips of their arrows on fire for more of a damaging impact on surrounding soldiers.
For us as followers of Christ, Satan's fiery arrows are laced with doubt, fear, anxiety, uncertainty, confusion, depression, anything that he can use to pe*****te our trust in God and His plan, hence when these feelings and emotions start to creep into our hearts and minds, we must recognize that Satan is the author of them and we must raise our shields, deflect those demonic darts and remain strong in the power of the Lord, not only for the sake of our ministries but for the sake of pleasing God.
Essentially, the shield of faith is of vital importance, because even the devil knows, without faith it is impossible to please God.
Hebrews 11:6 NKJV
[6] “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
If our faith is weakened to the point that we are no longer sharing or living the Gospel, we are then held responsible by God, hence
why The Holy Spirit describes through Paul and charges not only Timothy - but all of us in verse fourteen of our introductory verses to fight the good fight of faith “without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing,”
Again, this does not mean that we will be perfect, or that our faith won't be tested and tried and that we won't fall short as a result, because, as we have been discussing, these things most certainly will happen, but it means that when we get knocked down, we get back up.
As it has been said, it's not how hard you can hit, but it's how hard you can get hit and get back up.
In the entirety of our intertwined lives and ministries as followers of Christ, faith is the both the bloodiest and most worthy fight we will ever face, and we do so for the sake of the One who has already won the ultimate fight against sin, death and the power of the devil.
And technically, as we pick up our crosses and follow our Lord and Savior into eternal victory, all we will have room for is our faith.
Matthew 16:24-26 NKJV
[24] “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. [25] For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. [26] For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”
As we mature from believers into disciples and follow Christ, like a runner in a race, we must shed everything and everyone that weighs us down and holds us back, for it is this discipline that will strengthen our faith.
Hebrews 12:1-2 NKJV
[1] “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, [2] looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Realistically, the only thing we can take with us into eternity is our faith, hence we must leave the world and everyone and everything in it including and our old selves behind.
At the end of this fight of faith, we will literally have to give up everything for eternal life, however, until we get there, the most important thing we could ever give up, is giving up.
The fight of faith is the fight of our lives, and it will take everything out of us, hence we can take breaks, we can take breathers, we can retreat to quiet places to rest and pray and realign our will with God's will just as Christ did, but we can never ever quit fighting.
The world of non-believers is watching not only our struggles but how we handle them, and if we are acting and living like them, we will have failed them.
One of the most powerful ways to introduce the Gospel is to allow our faith to speak for itself in the face of the fight.
Even during our suffering and even if our faith is shaken, we must rise up to show them that while every man falls, only a man of God gets back up again and keeps moving forward.
On a personal note, I know these words that I am speaking to you today are indeed inspired by The Holy Spirit since I had been praying for God's strength and grace earlier this week to get through some private struggles with my faith.
While I was praying, the sentence “fight the good fight of faith” appeared in my thoughts and I knew immediately that God was answering my prayer by renewing my mind with His Written Word.
After a day or so of reading and meditating on our introductory verses, it became even more clear to me that this wasn't only God's direction for me this week but also for all of you, hence why I am delivering this sermon today, because I'm sure that even if it's not today, each of you eventually will need to hear this as much as I do.
I'm also sure you know that as your Pastor I haven't always handled my struggles with faith perfectly, I have definitely made my share of mistakes along the way, and I've been transparent about those, but most importantly, I also haven't given up.
As you have heard me share with you before, there are plenty of times that I have wanted to throw in the towel during my ministry, to stop the fight, to come down from the cross because I couldn't take the suffering any longer.
As a result of this ministry my faith has increased, but as a result of that, the spiritual warfare that I have experienced has also increased, and as a result of that, I've lost more people and things than I was prepared to lose.
So while my faith has increased, it has also been tested through the fires, at times revealing weaknesses and faults of mine that I am definitely not proud of.
Most days I feel like a fighter in a ring who has been knocked down by the devil, who is still coming at me throwing punches while I'm still struggling to stand up again so I can resume the fight.
It's seemingly impossible to fight when you are on the ground, when you can't stand, but from there we can learn the humility it takes to accept God's plan even if we don't understand it, at which point we can learn to fight on our knees.
It's not always easy to see God's plan or even to trust in it, especially when you have been knocked down in the fight of ministry so many times that you have made friends with the ground.
But again, if you are paying attention, you can learn to fight on your knees by learning that some of the most valuable lessons are found at the bottom of life, and this is where God's wisdom comes in and changes your perspective to understand that with Christ living within us through The Holy Spirit of God, we may indeed at times be struck down, like Christ on the cross, but we are never destroyed, like Christ on the day He resurrected, meaning that even if we lose in the flesh, we are still victorious in Christ.
II Corinthians 4:8-9 NKJV
[8] “We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; [9] persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—”
What God has been trying to teach me through these relentless attacks from the devil is that trust is a part of faith, and since faith is a gift from God, we can't lose something that was never ours to begin with, meaning that again, God's grace is indeed sufficient to carry us through the battles of our ministries.
It is indeed by the grace and strength of God that I have been empowered to continue to write and deliver these sermons to you week after week, especially since almost a year ago now, the devil launched his cruelest and most powerful and painful campaigns against me yet, and while I have shown up here with a smile on my face, in all honesty I have felt like I'm dying on the inside, hence for me the fight of faith has been far from good, because every day since, I have been fighting for my life and my ministry.
And yet God in His ultimate goodness has allowed these attacks on my faith to teach me lessons I wouldn't have otherwise learned and been able to teach you, therefore, in response to God's grace, I will remain obedient to my calling and loyal to all of you, and I will continue to suffer for Christ who suffered for me and I will keep fighting.
In saying that, I am very aware that since God placed me here behind the pulpit almost 5 years ago, I have been pushing myself and all of you hard, very hard, because immediately God gave me the new direction for this church, which was to Armor up and fight the good fight of faith in order to relight the lampstand of this church and bring us back from the dark recesses of lukewarmness.
And as we have been spiritually maturing from believers into disciples, we have experienced both growth and loss here in the congregation, and we have most definitely experienced more spiritual warfare than we ever have individually and collectively.
Hence, I pray that you all finally understand why I was called here, because we are at war against the devil, we always have been, and if you aren't aware of this, your witness for Christ is compromised.
While other churches are enjoying ice cream social hour and hold annual family pet blessings in the parking lot, we aren't actors on a stage here, or players on a field or politicians in offices, we are indeed good soldiers of Jesus Christ fighting very real spiritual battles that manifest themselves into our agreed physical reality everyday, meaning that our real physical lives are at risk as much as Christ's life was.
That was real blood that Jesus shed upon the cross and this is the real world that we live in where real people die every day and will spend eternity separated from God as a result of rejecting the good fight of faith in Jesus Christ.
And since we are awake to the reality that faith is a fight, we have no choice but to become fighters, and to do that we have to think like fighters, we have to eat like fighters, we have to sleep like fighters, we have to breathe like fighters, we have to train like fighters, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually, relying on God only for our strength.
I can promise all of you this, that through the guidance of God's Word, I can train you to fight, but of course, I can't fight your fights for you.
And where it starts, if you are willing, is filling yourselves with The Holy Spirit so that you are empowered to fight on your own.
Ephesians 5:18-21 NKJV
[18] “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, [19] speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, [20] giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, [21] submitting to one another in the fear of God.”
As we just read these words from the Apostle Paul who instructs the Body of Christ in Ephesus, note that The Holy Spirit speaks through him to every believer in every generation and commands us to be filled with The Holy Spirit by practicing spiritual disciplines, such as the few that Paul listed, including sharing God's Word in the form of Psalms and hymns with one another, singing and celebrating the praises of God, giving thanks to God for everything, good and bad in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and submitting to each other, cooperating as a body of believers out of reverence for God.
Again, filling ourselves with the temporary things of the world will only drain us and weaken us, but abiding in God's Word and following these Biblical examples of spiritual disciplines is how believers are empowered by The Holy Spirit to become disciples who fight the good fight of faith, which in itself is an effective way to share the Gospel, and since this is one of the missions of this church, please allow me to now present to you the list of twelve spiritual disciplines that God has led me to equip you with which I have appropriately dubbed as:
"The Terrific Twelve "
Spiritual Disciplines
of Disciples
1. Fear of the Lord
(Proverbs 9:10)
2. Trust in God
(Proverbs 3:5-6)
3. Love God
(Matthew 22:37)
4. Love your neighbor as yourself
(Matthew 22:39)
5. Praise God always
(Psalm 34:1)
6. Pray without ceasing
(I Thessalonians 5:17)
7. Go to church
(Hebrews 10:25)
8. Sing spiritual hymns together
(Ephesians 5:19)
9. Study God's Word
(II Timothy 2:15)
10. Preach the Gospel
(Mark 16:15)
11. Make Disciples
(Matthew 28:19-20)
12. Rest
(Mark 6:31)
Again, I promise you that if you follow these and any of the multitude of the spiritual disciplines throughout the entirety of Scripture, you will be strengthened and matured and empowered as disciples victorious in Christ Jesus.
Because again, believers believe, but disciples disciple, and the difference between the two is discipline, which is the root word for disciple.
For example, Jesus calls us all to believe, but only those who do believe He calls disciples and then commands us to make disciples of others, which, as we read above is a spiritual discipline.
In closing, again, even when we are struck down, we must remember that our best fight is still inside us because Christ is inside us through The Holy Spirit, and since it is impossible for Him to lose, neither can we.
Hence, we are not just building a body of believers here in this church, we are deploying an army of disciples, good soldiers of Jesus Christ who are willing and equipped to fight the good fight of faith and fulfill our ministries by sharing and living the Gospel as examples of God's grace, bearing the fruits of repentance and transformation, not just going, but being the Church everywhere we go in the outside world.
For there is nothing more important than sharing the Gospel because it has the power to save souls and there is nothing more important than the salvation of souls.
Amen and God bless you all 🙏 ✝️ ❤️
Pastor Jonah Haze