by I Timothy 6:11 “But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.”
I Timothy 6:5 “…from such withdraw thyself”
I Timothy 6:11 “…flee these things…”
WHAT IS FLEEING?
In today’s world, fleeing is quite an uncommon act. So seldom is it done, that when a Christian flees, others often think there is something wrong. We’ve got it in our minds that we should always exit a room at a certain pace and style; but that isn’t always possible. One may have to quickly dash out of a room to keep from sinning. Let’s look at the definition of “flee.”
Webster’s 1828 defines “flee” as:
- “To run with rapidity, as from danger; to attempt to escape; to hasten from danger or expected evil.”
- “To depart; to leave; to hasten away.”
- “To avoid; to keep at a distance from.”
After analyzing the definitions of “flee,” it is obvious to see that one may have to literally run away from a situation to keep from sinning. Sometimes, a departure of style and grace may be attainable; but sometimes one may have to flee and run from danger.
THINGS TO FLEE
What are the “things” we should flee from? It doesn’t take much studying to discover earlier in chapter 6 the “things” from which we should flee.
- Those who blaspheme the name of God v.1
- Those who do not teach and exhort (encourage) v.1-2
- Those who do not consent to wholesome (healthy & happy) words v.3
- Those who profess ungodly doctrine v.3
- The proud v.4
- Envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings (To suspect; to imagine without certain knowledge) – to assume without evidence v.4
- Perverse disputing of men v.5
- Those after ungodly gain v.5
- Foolish and hurtful lusts v.9
- Covetousness v.10
- Those who have gone away from the faith v.10
Notice, things in our list above are mostly things that would appear in conversations with others. As a Christian soldier in battle, we may have to flee conversations with people in town, in work, in church, at the store, etc. If the discussion involves things in our list above – flee! Or, if the conversation is fine; but one feels as if one may speak sinful things – then flee!
We think about soldiers fleeing a battle during physical fighting, but what about Christians fleeing a simple conversation? Most people do not think of “fleeing” a conversation. We may not be in a physical battle, but we are in a battle – a spiritual battle. In this modern world, this spiritual battle involves mostly conversation and speaking.
I Timothy 6:11-12 “But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.”
THE SPIRITUAL BATTLE
I Timothy 6:11 talks about fleeing and 6:12 talks about fighting the “good fight of faith.” We are in a spiritual battle and all too often, we ignore this battle and pretend it does not exist; but it does.
Ephesians 6:12 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
I Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:”
We are in a constant daily, spiritual battle. Satan wants to take as many Christians out of the battle as possible. He doesn’t want people going to heaven. He wants them in hell. If people are saved and going to heaven, then he tries to get them out of church and of no use for God. Do not ignore this spiritual battle. It is real!
So, what does one have to do in battle sometimes? Flee! Sometimes we have to “flee” situations and conversations in order to maintain our Christian integrity before God.
Webster’s 1828 defines integrity as: “The entire, unimpaired state of any thing, particularly of the mind; moral soundness or purity; incorruptness; uprightness; honesty.”
Psalms 26:1 “Judge me, O Lord; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the Lord; therefore I shall not slide.”
Fleeing is not a sin and it does mean we are running away, but we are fleeing to a place of comfort and refuge. This helps us to mentally regroup when we have been beaten on so much and we need to flee to a place of refuge.
Psalm 62:7 “In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.”
In life, I don’t believe Christians honestly seek sinful things; but we can easily get caught up in situations (temptations) that can lead to sin. For example, we can easily get caught in conversations that lead to gossip, to arguing, to discouraging others, to bragging, etc. We need to be on full alert like a soldier in battle – which we are in battle – remember?
DISTINGQUISHING THE BATTLE
Problem is, many have become so comfortable hanging around conversations with the “things” from our list that when they come face to face in a battle – they can’t distinguish it. People tend to stay in conversations and not even realize the atrocious things that pop up in the conversation as sinful. If people do recognise sinful speaking, they think “I can handle this. I won’t gossip. I won’t discourage, etc.” Remember, there is a real spiritual battle going on. If the need arises in a conversation – flee. Fleeing is not a sin! It is really a command by God.
I Timothy 6:11 “But thou, O man of God, flee these things…”
Ephesians 6:16 “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.”
THE ARTILLARY OF THE BATTLE
The artillery used in the spiritual battle in today’s modern world is – WORDS! If we are going to flee a modern, spiritual battle, it will most likely be a conversation that we need to flee. Fiery darts come at us mostly in the form of words by others. When in battle, resist the urge to fire back. Resist the urge to:
- blaspheme God
- discourage others
- use unwholesome words
- go against Godly doctrine
- be prideful
- be envious or cause strife
- surmise or assume things without evidence
- dispute
- go after ungodly gain
- be foolish
- go after hurtful lusts
- be covetous
- err from the faith
Ephesians 6:13 “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”
OUR SHELTER
In our battle, Satan is sending his “fiery darts of the wicked.” Let’s wield our “fiery darts” in battle to stand up for God and not sin against him. If necessary in battle – flee to a place of refuge. Use the shield of faith and exit the battle and find a place of refuge with the Lord. A soldier cannot find shelter if he does not get out of the battle. At times, we need to remove ourselves from the battle and flee to the Lord. Get comfort in the Bible and with prayer. Flee and find refuge with the Comforter.
Psalm 62:7 “In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.”
Psalm 61:3 “For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.”
