Intro To The Pursuit Of Holiness…

Morning!

Raises his cup of coffee

It is Monday April 14th of 2025.  It is a cool, cloudy morning with a high of 70 forecast today.  There’s a 35% chance of rain sometime this afternoon.

Do we value what God values?

1 Timothy 6: 6-16

“Now godliness with contentment is great gain.  For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.  And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.  But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.  For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.  But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.  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.  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, that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power.  Amen.”

The Lord blesses to each man according to his works, but what are the fruits we are gathering?  What is it that God values and have we made those things our goals yet?

We’re starting in 1 Timothy this morning, and as you may already know, 1 Timothy is Paul writing a letter of instruction to his son in the faith, Timothy.  I begin with this passage today because of the clear and easy-to-understand statement of truth we find in the very first line: “Godliness with contentment is great gain.”  Godliness—holiness—being set apart for the worship and praise of Jesus.  With contentment, that is great gain.  Having food and clothing—with these we are to be content.  That means everything else we have been given— For what is it that we have that has not been given?— Anything more than food and clothing is an extra blessing from the Lord.  Yes, we may have labored for what we have, but that does not change the truth: It is given to us by the Lord.

But let’s not worry so much about the love of money today.  Paul is pretty clear in our text: we are to flee from the love of money and from loving the things of the world.  Jesus taught us to be careful what we treasure—and what treasure in our hearts.  But Paul doesn’t leave Timothy, or us, with just a warning.  He gives us a replacement—a better pursuit.  We are to flee from the love of money and the world, and we are to pursue: Righteousness. Godliness. Faith. Love. Patience. Gentleness.

We are to pursue righteousness.  We are to pursue godliness.  The word used in the text is…

Dioko: (Greek)

- To pursue

- To follow after

- Press toward

It is a verb and implies action—it requires intent.  Our goal is not meant to be the pleasures and fruits of this world, but instead, we are to have righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and gentleness be our pursuit.  These are the things which are to be our motivators.

And then Paul does something interesting.  He reminds us that we live forever.  For believers—for every human being—there will be a tomorrow.  The only question is: where will tomorrow be?  One of the things I say to myself to help me think about this is,  “Every day is a building block.”

So let’s take heed to what we are building!

Paul teaches…

1 Corinthians 3: 5-17

“Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one?  I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.  So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.  Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive to his own reward according to his own labor.  For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building.  According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it.  But let each one take heed how he builds on it.  For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.  Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.  If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward.  If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.  Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?  If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him.  For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.”

But the question still remains, doesn’t it?  What is it that God values?

Let’s take a look at some wisdom literature this morning…

Proverbs 6: 16-19

“These six things the LORD hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren.”

Everyone wants confidence.  We are to boast in the Lord.  But the Lord hates a proud look.  To pursue righteousness— To pursue that which God loves— We must walk away from that which He hates.  To pursue righteousness, we need to take pride from our hearts and replace it with humility.  We are to turn our joy to sorrow, our laughter to tears. We are to become fools in this world in order to become wise.  We are to trust in the Lord with all our hearts, and to lean not on our own understanding.  If we are to boast— Let us boast in the Lord.

So, are we weighing our hearts against The Word?

We are to pursue godliness.  The godly do not speak with a forked tongue. The fountain of our mouths is meant to be refreshing, pure water— Not the brackish brine of undrinkable, tainted water.  Out of one side of our mouths we praise Jesus, and out of the other, we are cruel— Speaking ill of men made in God’s image, our brothers and sisters in humanity.

Do we think this should be so?

We are to pursue our faith, our trust in Jesus.  We are to lean into and grow our trust in Jesus.

Let’s not forget Jesus teaches us…

Matthew 5: 3-12

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.  Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.  Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.  Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.  Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.  Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.  Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.  Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Lay hold on eternal life.  There will always be a tomorrow.  And that tomorrow will always have Jesus right there with us.  For our God is the same God of Abraham.  He is the God of the beginning.  He is the God of the end.  He is the same—always and forever.  Our God does not change.  He is immutably Perfect.  And because of this, His desires for us do not change either.

So what is it we are pursuing today?

1 Peter 3: 8-17

“Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing for ‘He who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit.  Let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it.  For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayers; but the face of the LORD is against those who do evil.’  And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good?  But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed.  And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.  But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.  For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.”

Are we pursuing compassion for one another?

Are we pursuing tenderhearted brotherly love?

Are we pursuing simple courtesy?

If we encounter trouble today, are we prepared?  Have we sanctified the Lord in our hearts?

Which brings us to our Psalm 119 challenge of the day.

Psalm 119: 145-152

“I cry out with my whole heart, hear me, O LORD!  I will keep Your statutes.  I cry out to You; save me, and I will keep Your testimonies.   I rise before the dawning of the morning, and cry for help; I hope in Your Word.  My eyes are awake through the night watches, that I may meditate on Your Word.  Hear my voice according to Your lovingkindness; O LORD, revive me according to Your justice.  They draw near who follow after wickedness; They are far from Your law.  You are near, O LORD, and all Your commandments are truth.  Concerning Your testimonies, I have known of old that You have founded them forever.”

David is crying out for holiness.  It is his holiness that he appeals to as he prays to God.  It is his love of the Word, and the evidence of his love of the Word, that David brings to God’s attention as he reasons with Him.  David prays to God about his holiness— And then he asks Him for more.

This week we are going to take a closer look at the pursuit of holiness.  We want to continue to identify the things in our lives we need to set aside.  We want to continue the work of setting aside our love of the world.  We want to continue to set ourselves apart for prayer, giving thanks, abiding in Jesus Word and continuing in His love.

I think that’s a good place to start for the day.