Fight The Fear #2: Challenged To Stand – 1 Timothy 1:8-18
Part 2 Call To Hold Fast – 1 Timothy 1:13-14
Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.
Unashamed of the Truth
Paul tells Timothy to fight the fear but he also tells him to fight the right battle. Hold fast the form of sound words.
That is an interesting phrase. Form means outline, or pattern or standard. Timothy is to stand and fight but he must hold fast to those things which are the truths for which he is fighting. The battle must be fought but it must be fought in the right way. That right way to fight against the fear is with the words, the truth that Timothy has heard from Paul in the faith and love of Jesus Christ.
Fight for What Is Right
Years ago I remember seeing a saying that was quoted two ways and the way you turned it gave it completely different meanings.
The saying was this “Right make might” or if you turned it the saying was “Might makes Right.” To a Christian only the first way is correct because the truth is where we must begin and end and the truth makes us powerful.
The second to me says, “If I am strong enough, I will force what is right.” One is about the power of truth the other is about the power of man.
Jesus said, “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” For the child of God every battle is for the cause of truth, for the cause of those sound words that have been passed down to us through the word of God.
One of the Baptist distinctives that sets up apart from most of the worlds religions is this. “The Bible is our only rule of faith and practice.” If its not taught here, if we can’t find it in these sound words then it has no place in our life. And if it is in here then we will fight in order to do what God tells us to do as His church and His people.
