Message of the Week
The Little White Community Church
Scripture: I Tim. 6: 11-20
October 4, 2026
Message: “The Good Confession!”
by Pastor George Gnade
Introduction
1. Today we come to the last message on the Book of I Timothy. Last week we spent a lot of time on the value of “godliness with contentment.”
a. In the process we were warned of the danger putting the desire for money ahead of our commitment to the Lord.
b. This led to a discussion of being physically rich but spiritually poor, of depending on things instead of depending on the Lord.
2. In I Tim. 6: 11, Paul emphasized this even more emphatically. Having warned us of the love of money, he encourages us “to flee from all of this and to pursue right-eousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentle-ness.”
a. Endurance and perseverance are like two sides of the same coin. This life is full of trials and temptations. None of us can avoid it. So we must spiritually prepare ourselves for it.
b. Paul describes this as a spiritual battle. In vs. 12, he writes: “Fight the good fight of the faith.” A physical fight can take a lot of energy out of us. This spiritual fight can take a lot of emotional strength out of us.
c. Notice the two verbs. We are “to flee” the one and “to pursue” the other. Only the Holy Spirit can help us do this.
3. That brings us to the main topic discussed in this chapter. It is called “the good confession.”
A. What is this good confession?
1. Clearly it is related to God’s gift of eternal life. To “take hold of eternal life,” we are commanded to make “the good confession” (I Tim. 6: 12-13). We can’t have the one without the other.
a. Not only that, we must make this confession “before many witnesses.”
b. That implies you can’t say it to some and deny it to others. God will gladly save you, but you must be willing to confess your faith before others.
c. In Rom. 1:16, Paul says: “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation…” In Rom. 10:9, he wrotes: “If you will confess with thy mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in thine heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
2. Of course, that includes God Himself who sees all and knows all as well as the Lord Jesus Christ who made this “good confession while testifying before Pontius Pilot”
(I Tim. 6:13). That is what our passage is referring to. What “good confession” did Jesus make before Pontius Pilate?
3. We can find this in all four gospels. We will simply use the Gospel of John. In John 18:29, Pilate asked His accusers: “What charges are you bringing against this man?” They accused Him of claiming to be the promised Messiah who would come to reign over God’s people.
(The Hebrew word for the Messiah is the Greek word translated Christ.)
b. So Pilate directly asked Jesus in John 18:33 if He was the promised king of the Jews. Jesus responded: “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But my kingdom is from another place.”
c. “You are a king then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered: “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born and for this I came into this world to testify to the Truth.” This confession before Pontius Pilate is what motivated the Pharisees to have Him put to death.
4. Many of you know the story of how Jesus met with His disciples and asked them who people thought He was. Then He asked them who they believed He was. Peter, speaking for all of the 12 disciples responded: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”(Matt. 16: 13-20).
a. Very soon after that Jesus explained to the disciples that this confession of faith would cause the Scribes and Pharisees to arrest Him and put Him to death (16:21-22).
b. That is exactly what happened. But Jesus also taught His disciples that He was the good shepherd of God’s sheep. “The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. No one can take my life from me. I lay it down that I may take it again” (John 10:14-18).
B. In I Tim. 6:11-13, this confession that resulted in Jesus’ crucifixion also results in our salvation!
1. In vs. 12, Paul writes Timothy: “Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”
2. Any time a person has the courage to take this stand for Christ, the world will test you. Yes, you will find yourself caught in a spiritual battle for your soul.
3. Everywhere we look in our world today, Christians who love the Lord for dying for our sins in our place will find themselves under attack from those around them. As Jesus put it in John 15:20: “Remember the words I spoke to you. No servant is greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you.”
4. But if and when we acknowledge Him, He promises to guide our steps and save our souls. As Jesus Himself said: “He who confesses me before men, I will confess before my Father who is in heaven.”
a. A song I learned growing up says: “Safe am I, safe am I, in the hollow of His hand; Sheltered o’er, Sheltered o’er, with His love forever more. No ill can harm me, no foe alarm me, for He keeps both day and night. Safe am I, safe am I, in the hollow of His hand!”
b. That means even in times of persecution, we are safe in the arms of Jesus. We need to always remind ourselves, since He has brought me this far, I know He can bring me the rest of the way.
In conclusion:
1. In my first lesson on I Timothy, I talked about brackets, often used in a bookcase to hold books together, are often used in the Bible to hold important truths from God’s Word together. Thus God’s Word often seems to repeat itself, drawing our attention to the lessons found between the brackets while reinforcing the truth revealed by the brackets themselves.
2. In this case, Paul repeats himself at the end of this letter saying almost the identical things he said in Chapter one.
a. In I Tim. 1: 17, Paul turns our attention to the greatness of our God, saying: “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” Then he adds in vs. 18: “Timothy, my son, I give you this important instruction…so that by following them you may fight the good fight, holding on to (your) faith…”
b. Now near the end of this letter in I Tim. 6:12, Paul repeats himself in reverse order. He writes: “Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called…” And then he adds in vs. 15: “God will bring this about in His own time – God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To Him be honor and might forever. Amen!”
3. So even though the enemy seems strong, always remember our God is stronger and greater. If we will confess our faith in Him and hold on to Him, we are guaranteed the victory over all of life’s challenges. Amen.
Thank you pastor ❤️