Charged in the sight of God

1 Timothy 6:13-16  I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession;  (14)  That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ:  (15)  Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;  (16)  Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.

There are two main thoughts in this passage. First, Timothy is charged to keep what Paul commanded. Second, the Majesty and Holiness of the King we are charged to serve. This solemn charge is before and in the name of the Lord Jesus. These two themes weave back and forth through this section.

1 Timothy 6:13-16  I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession;

Paul charges, or adjures Timothy. Barnes says "the word rendered “charge” means, properly, to call to witness; then to affirm with solemn attestations; and then to admonish solemnly, to urge upon earnestly. It is a word which implies that the subject is of great importance." Paul is saying this command is no small matter. Being a pastor is no small calling. It is certainly not anything to take lightly. We need a fresh reminder of what it is we are doing as men of God. Whose word we are proclaiming. Who we are speaking for and that we will give an account to our King for everything we do in His name.

Paul charged Timothy in the sight of the God who gives life to all things. Timothy will have to answer to the Almighty for what he does and what he does not do. He is also charged in the sight of Jesus Christ, His Lord and King. Jesus, who gave a good profession (I Timothy 6:12) in the sight of Pontius Pilate. When asked if Jesus was a King, he said "Thou Sayest" and proceeds to explain the nature and scope of His kingdom. Timothy is charged in the sight of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

I don't want to say we shouldn't care what our people think, we should. But we should want our people to think like God thinks. We should care how they think much more than what they think about us. The only opinion that really matters is God's. I might get called in before the church to give an answer for what I preached or what I believe. I might get fired from a church or asked to leave. But the ultimately, all that matters is whether or not I am doing what God has called me to do and whether I was faithful to that task. The opinions of men will not matter when we stand before Christ Jesus the Lord. 

(14)  That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ:

The charge was to keep what Paul has commanded. The immediate context refers to fighting the good fight of faith, following after righteousness, and fleeing the lusts of the flesh and the pride of life. However, I believe that Paul is referring to the whole of this epistle.

The duties of the pastor must be kept without spot, or will all sincerity and purity. He must do the work of the pastor in a way that cannot be reproached or corrected. Obviously, God is the judge of this. Timothy isn't to be living up to the expectation of the congregation. However, the congregation should not be able to call Timothy on not doing the work of the ministry. His life must be in order and he must be proactively carrying out what he was commanded to do.

Timothy is to continue on until the Lord comes back or he goes and meets him. There is a danger in the ministry, to glide along on past years work. A man can get to the point where he has a lot of knowledge, and he has homiletical skills and is just beating his time in, going through the motions. We cannot rest. As long as we are living, we are on assignment and as long as we are at our post, we must be diligent to be a faithful solider of Christ. Imagine a solider charged with keeping the night watch at the fort, falling asleep on the job because he's been doing it so long, he's got an intuition about when danger comes. Here is a man who doesn't take his post seriously and doesn't fear his commanding officer, and sadly, doesn't care about the soldiers he was charged to keep and protect.