1 Timothy 6:11 – The Stooping Grace
But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith… One Timothy 6:11, New King James Version
In his sermon, "Faith," Charles Spurgeon calls his title subject, "the stooping grace."
Blessed be that aspect, then, of Christ's benevolence toward His own as we consider the checks and balances within spiritual maturity offered by Paul in 1 Timothy 6:11. That Timothy would not be overcome by the twin traps of spiritual pride or materialism, Paul entices him to run TOWARD the fullness of Christ, and then begins to stud the young pastor's alternative path with aspects of the Master's glory which, by grace, can be apprehended by His servants.
Even here, there is a symmetry. Paul calls Timothy to run toward Christ's righteousness. Knowing, perhaps, this holistic descriptor of virtues can be attractive to the world for the world's ends, Paul next strings out godliness. Perhaps he reasons that by juxtaposing the two, we will see our righteousness as compared to the fullness of these quantities in Christ and be appropriately humbled. Knowing our hearts as none other, the Spirit Who inspires Paul knows just how quickly we can slip from this fully justified humility into a kind of despondency which is its own variety of mawkish , self-absorbed pride. We can quote Peter's and Isaiah's sentiments to be sure, that we are unclean and unworthy, but in our wicked hearts we can be forming excuses and relishing attention.
Thus comes faith as the wily, stooping virtue, our rescue from self-abasement for self-abasement's sake. Indeed, stirs faith, your good is infinitesimal compared to the Creator's good, and that small speck is His gift. Yet, challenges faith in confrontational love, Christ will finish the work He has begun in you. He has eternity, faith frames, to accomplish the work of remaking you, erstwhile mortal, in His glorious image. Here, rightly defines John Calvin in his sermon on Philippians 1:22-26, "Faith is itself goodness of conscience."
The process of sanctification is seamless and not in the fits and starts it seems to us in the middle of it. Spurgeon gains perspective in Morning and Evening when he writes of this sense of holy resilience intermittently overcome as we sense the vast distance between Christ's perfect holiness and our still mottled nature, "The eclipse of your faith, the darkness of your mind, the fainting of your hope," describes Spurgeon about to turn faith's corner, "all these things are but parts of God's method of making you ripe for the great inheritance upon which you shall soon enter." However soon soon as, brothers and sisters, it is but separated by a comma in 1 Timothy 6:11's holy procession. When we see Christ, we will be like Him. What He has begun, He is faithful to complete. This is faith's backstop.
In his sermon, "Faith," Charles Spurgeon calls his title subject, "the stooping grace."
Blessed be that aspect, then, of Christ's benevolence toward His own as we consider the checks and balances within spiritual maturity offered by Paul in 1 Timothy 6:11. That Timothy would not be overcome by the twin traps of spiritual pride or materialism, Paul entices him to run TOWARD the fullness of Christ, and then begins to stud the young pastor's alternative path with aspects of the Master's glory which, by grace, can be apprehended by His servants.
Even here, there is a symmetry. Paul calls Timothy to run toward Christ's righteousness. Knowing, perhaps, this holistic descriptor of virtues can be attractive to the world for the world's ends, Paul next strings out godliness. Perhaps he reasons that by juxtaposing the two, we will see our righteousness as compared to the fullness of these quantities in Christ and be appropriately humbled. Knowing our hearts as none other, the Spirit Who inspires Paul knows just how quickly we can slip from this fully justified humility into a kind of despondency which is its own variety of mawkish , self-absorbed pride. We can quote Peter's and Isaiah's sentiments to be sure, that we are unclean and unworthy, but in our wicked hearts we can be forming excuses and relishing attention.
Thus comes faith as the wily, stooping virtue, our rescue from self-abasement for self-abasement's sake. Indeed, stirs faith, your good is infinitesimal compared to the Creator's good, and that small speck is His gift. Yet, challenges faith in confrontational love, Christ will finish the work He has begun in you. He has eternity, faith frames, to accomplish the work of remaking you, erstwhile mortal, in His glorious image. Here, rightly defines John Calvin in his sermon on Philippians 1:22-26, "Faith is itself goodness of conscience."
The process of sanctification is seamless and not in the fits and starts it seems to us in the middle of it. Spurgeon gains perspective in Morning and Evening when he writes of this sense of holy resilience intermittently overcome as we sense the vast distance between Christ's perfect holiness and our still mottled nature, "The eclipse of your faith, the darkness of your mind, the fainting of your hope," describes Spurgeon about to turn faith's corner, "all these things are but parts of God's method of making you ripe for the great inheritance upon which you shall soon enter." However soon soon as, brothers and sisters, it is but separated by a comma in 1 Timothy 6:11's holy procession. When we see Christ, we will be like Him. What He has begun, He is faithful to complete. This is faith's backstop.
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