1 Timothy 6:17-21

[0:00] As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.

[0:14] They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous and ready to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future so that they may take hold of the life that really is life.

[0:28] Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you. Avoid the profane chatter and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge.

[0:40] By professing it, some have missed the mark as regards the faith. Grace be with you. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. You may be seated.

[0:58] There is a humorous story about a young man who was trying to win the heart of a girl, and he knew he was in the midst of steep competition.

[1:15] So he approached her and told her how much he loved her. And he said, I love you. I know I don't have the bank account that Johnny Green has, but I love you.

[1:33] And I know I don't drive the Mercedes that Johnny Green drives, but I love you. And I know that I can't take you around the world in my own jet like Johnny Green can, but I love you.

[1:51] And she lifted her hands and she said, I know you love me. Tell me a little more about Johnny Green. The desire for wealth.

[2:07] Last week, we looked at the text preceding the one that was read today, and we talked about the problem of the pursuit of wealth.

[2:20] Really, the problem was the problems. They were multiple. This week, Paul turns the attention of Timothy to the proper use of it.

[2:36] Look at it there with me in verses 17 through 19. The proper use of wealth. And it evidently was something that he needed to give attention to.

[2:52] That is, the writer for having said in the verses we looked at last week that godliness is not a means of gain.

[3:02] He needed to ensure the congregation that they likewise understood that if you had been given much gain, you weren't necessarily ungodly.

[3:19] So it was the desire for riches, not necessarily wealth itself. It was the love of money, not necessarily money.

[3:33] And while there was a deep, devastating problem with the pursuit of wealth that extended all the way to the swerving from faith, it did not follow necessarily that those who had great gain were therefore ungodly.

[3:53] And so now he addresses, I think, what is a subset within the congregation. You know, we speak of wealth in our own terms as North Americans as the wealthiest the world has ever known.

[4:13] And that's true. In one sense, you could say we are the wealthy in the present age. But that's on such a sliding scale, isn't it?

[4:23] There are those here in our own midst who might be considered wealthy within our own cultural context, even if we all went to a particular context and would deem ourselves wealthy.

[4:37] So I think he's addressing here a subset of people within Ephesus and the church there who had great gain.

[4:49] And what were they to do with it? Now, of course, the principles are applicable to us all. And so we all will benefit from looking at them.

[5:01] Look at verses 17 to 19. It's divided simply in this way. Six instructions for the rich and attended to that one incentive.

[5:15] Indeed, for they are the ones used to getting a return. Six instructions for the rich and one incentive for those who are used to a return.

[5:28] Take a look at it. The first set, the first two there, instructions, are presented to you in the negative. As for the rich in this present age, charge them, here it is first, not to be haughty.

[5:45] Secondly, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God. So this is the instruction for those of us here who are rich in this present age.

[6:01] that the wealth that we have been given, that you have been given, would not rise within your soul to a spirit of haughtiness, or that your hopes would be set on the uncertainty of those riches.

[6:22] Think of those two negatively stated instructions for yourself. It doesn't get any more practical. If you have wealth, or to the degree that you have it in the present age, don't be haughty.

[6:34] What's the problem with being haughty? It's a misplaced sense of self. That's the problem with it at just a strictly ethical level.

[6:47] It is to think that somehow because you have more, you are more worthy than another. You begin to measure yourself against others on the strength of your wealth.

[7:08] So a misplaced sense of self is the problem with being haughty, and the misplaced sense of self is devastating to yourself.

[7:22] You ever meet somebody who knows they have what they have and doesn't know that you know how poorly they operate with others?

[7:37] He says, if you have wealth, this is an instruction for you. Be careful that it does not lead you to have a misplaced sense of self.

[7:47] That's one of the great things about the Lord's table, which we celebrate right here monthly. That democratizing, universalizing, universal table where the need for you is the need of us all, and our need is your need, and your need is the gospel.

[8:08] There's a great leveling of the human race before the gospel. So, if you've been given wealth, this is instruction number one.

[8:22] Don't let it take root in your heart to where you think you are better than others because evidently you know what you're doing and they don't.

[8:34] The second instruction placed negatively is right there. nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches. Now, what's the problem with hopes being on the uncertainty of riches?

[8:50] Whereas haughtiness is a misplaced sense of self, your hope being set on such an uncertain foundation as wealth, that's a misplaced sense of security.

[9:04] What makes you feel secure? Is it your wealth? I remember an early night when my family, in the days when the children were little, we were housed in the east end of London, and I was guarding my family and I was worried about security.

[9:34] one night a bomb went off less than a mile away. Prior to that night, which shook the windows in our place, I had been carefully latching my door, and believe me, these British locks couldn't keep anybody out.

[9:57] But I was so concerned for my security, I did everything possible to make sure that I and my family were secure. And that's what happens with wealth. You begin to make not only provision and thankfulness for God has given you things, you begin to use wealth as the means by which you understand what it is to be secure in the world.

[10:21] And men and women chase 20, 30 years of work so that they will have the security. And he says to us, don't set your hopes on the uncertainty of riches.

[10:42] What a liberating moment when the bomb went off in London. Because then I knew I am not safe in the world save God.

[10:59] So that's why he says there, and Paul often does this when he writes, he says something clearly, like don't set your hope on the uncertainty of riches. And then he expects you, the reader, to supply all the things he's just said with the next phrase.

[11:13] So he only says but on God. But what he means for you to insert is don't set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches but set your hopes on the certainty of God.

[11:26] The security that you find in God. How often do you do that at night? We pray over so many things for our own security. How often do we address God as the one who makes us secure?

[11:40] Dear God, it's time to go to bed tonight. I have put my security in everything else. I have been reminded today at 440 in the afternoon. that you are the only one in whom my security truly rests.

[11:59] That word hopes, take a look back. It didn't take the letter writer long to bring it in. Verse 1 of chapter 1, Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope.

[12:20] To set your hope on the security that God can bring is to begin to understand how you set your hopes on that which Christ has secured.

[12:31] That Jesus Christ has secured for you anything and everything necessary for an eternity of security. And when you begin to understand that what Jesus has done for you is everything then you are secure though the world give way.

[12:55] Christ Jesus our hope. Take a look at the way he uses the word later in the letter chapter 4 somewhere in the neighborhood of verse 10.

[13:10] For to this end we toil and strive because we have our hope set on the living God. Your hope is on a living God.

[13:22] Don't set your hope on a non-living perishable item that can be taken away. put your hope in something living.

[13:36] This is what the wealthy need to hear. For it's so easy to think that this world is truly all there is and that your role in life is to provide the security for an easy or a well-lived life for you, for your children, for your grandchildren.

[14:00] And it all rests on a bed of uncertainty. And so he says, this is the second instruction for the wealthy, do not put your hopes there.

[14:11] Rather, be like the widow. The wealthy are to be like the widow. Take a look at chapter 5 and verse 5. The widow who was being supported by the church.

[14:25] Why? She who is truly a widow left all alone has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day.

[14:35] Imagine that. Imagine all of us who consider ourselves wealthy at some level to equate ourselves with the widow who is all alone and without any form of security or stability.

[14:48] The way home for the wealthy is to liken themselves to the widow and to put your hope on God for everything that He in your aloneness will supply.

[15:08] If you have God you will have all you need. He moves on from these first two instructions which are stated negatively and He moves to four instructions that are grouped in a positive framework.

[15:31] So take a look at verse 18. They are this is the third one to do good. Number four to be rich in good works. Number five to be generous. And six ready to share.

[15:44] Six instructions for the wealthy. They are to do good. And to be rich in good works. Don't you love to play on words?

[15:56] Those who are rich in the world are to remember that they are to be rich in good works. It's a fascinating thing here this idea of doing good.

[16:13] I don't know if you've picked up on it in our time in the letter. But the word good and the idea of that which is good or good works has just been all throughout the letter.

[16:25] Good works in 618, 525, 510, twice, chapter 3 verse 1, chapter 2 verse 10. Listen to how many times he uses the word good in connection with other words.

[16:39] We are to have a good conscience. Chapter 1, 5, and 19. You're to fight the good warfare. 1, 18. In chapter 3, deacons have a good standing. In 4, 6, Timothy is to be a good servant.

[16:53] There's the good doctrine. 6, 2, good service. 6, 12, fight the good fight. 6, 12, twice, you're to make a good confession. 6, 18, you're to do good.

[17:03] And in doing so, 6, 19, lay a good foundation. Indeed, chapter 1, the law itself is good, and all that he says is good. The conduct in the household is the conduct of goodness.

[17:17] You are to do good. To be rich in good works. Now let me separate out good works from simply check writing.

[17:32] Your work is not merely to write checks. That is not the summation of what good works are. The letter has already defined this for us. take a look back at what good works were when you look at chapter 5, verse 10.

[17:54] And anyone with wealth should have their eyes on this verse. For this is what God has given you to do. You are to have a reputation for good works. What does that look like?

[18:06] Not merely giving and leading boards. It's to bring up children. No absentee parental unit in this household.

[18:22] The good works of the wealthy before God place their family at the center of their world if God has given them children. You are to show hospitality.

[18:35] What a great thing. For the world in its riches isolates itself from others and has all kinds of places where we don't want people coming in here.

[18:51] We don't want people in here. They're a drain on my life. They're a drain on my service. The wealthy are actually to be hospitable. They are to be in the congregation opening their doors.

[19:02] feel wealthy today? Invite someone home for dinner. Hospitality is the doorway of good works for the wealthy.

[19:17] It also says there she has washed the feet of the saints. Now look, this is a description of the widow, but it's a description of that which has a reputation for good works. Imagine it.

[19:27] The wealthiest one in the congregation playing the chief servant role in the family and household of God. That's what that really is. Washing the feet of others.

[19:46] What are you to do with your wealth? You're to be the servant of all. To care for the afflicted.

[20:01] the people which is going to be muddy work. The oppressed. It's going to be a drain on your time and unproductive in your mind.

[20:16] But the care for the afflicted is the exercise of works for the wealthy. To every good work. I think of what Titus, the book of Titus that is defined as good works.

[20:34] Chapter 3 verse 1. Speaking evil of no one. I think how hard that is.

[20:45] Especially if you have wealth. Because if you have wealth you have control. If you have control you have power. Speaking evil of no one. the wealthiest among us is to be the purest in speech.

[21:04] Avoiding quarreling. Being gentle. Showing perfect courtesy toward all people. Now this is a man I knew a long time ago.

[21:20] He was in my mind the perfect gentleman. An attorney downtown. Lived a godly life. Raised his daughters well.

[21:33] He was for me the epitome of a gentleman. Whereas in our day so often those who have wealth have lost the social wherewithal to be modest to address others as equal to have a true exchange of conversation to not think in terms that time is money.

[22:04] All these things. These are Paul's instructions for the wealthy. To do good. To be rich in good works. Now here's a term that I think has some financial nature to it.

[22:17] to be generous. To be generous. To be open handed with all that you have.

[22:31] Open handed. What possessions has he given me? How can they be put into play? Knowing that when I put them into play they don't come back to me in the condition they went out.

[22:47] generous nevertheless. Financially. To give. And to not give merely in the terms of proportion of income but to give generously.

[23:06] To be known as a generous person. What a great description. Imagine that on your tombstone. generous. What words they might use to describe who you were.

[23:19] Imagine the word generous. Wouldn't that be great? It's the summation of the moral code of the Iron Age in Ireland.

[23:31] There is a tombstone in the nave of Kilcray Abbey and County Cork. This is what it reads. Lo, Arthur Leary, slain in his bloom, generous, handsome, brave, lies in this humble grave.

[23:55] Don't you love that? Arthur Leary, generous, handsome, brave, lies in this humble grave.

[24:11] What a way to live. What a great word of instruction. And then he says to share, or the word here really is the word that has a sense of what is common, felt where we get fellowship.

[24:30] So the wealthy individual, the sixth instruction which is laid out there is to be ready to share, to have a sense that what is yours is available to all.

[24:46] Now those are the six instructions for the wealthy. And I think in some measure they do apply and should apply by the power of the Holy Spirit to all of us individually to some extent.

[25:00] And look at the incentive. I love this because anyone with wealth says okay what's the return? What's the return if that's the world I follow?

[25:15] Thus verse 19 storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

[25:26] So what's the incentive? As you give in this way, as you watch your mind and remain humble, as you set your hopes on the living God and Christ and all the security He has brought you, as you do good, as you try to be wealthy in good works, works that are not always associated with finances, as you are being generous, as you are caring for the afflicted, you are storing up for yourself.

[25:58] Any wealthy person likes to hear that. Storing up for yourself a good foundation for the future. I think the future here being all the way under the very presence of God, where you then take hold of that which is truly life.

[26:16] Now, let me get this clear. Your use of money does not secure your place in heaven, but it is not inconsequential. The way we handle our assets in some measure is a demonstration of our ability or not to be taking hold of that which is truly life.

[26:39] It makes perfect sense. As you give of this world away, it is a demonstration that you are taking hold of something else, that which is truly life.

[26:57] You think this is life. That is life. So you are taking hold by giving away.

[27:13] What a great thing. I think of this letter. You know, so many people think 1 Timothy is simply about church order. I have really come to see this time through, the end of it all is life.

[27:27] He wants you to have life. He wants you to know God in Christ. Think of how many times in the letter we have seen this kind of, in a sense, goal for all that He gives us and will be to us.

[27:48] the life that He has prepared for us. Take a look at 611. The man of God is to be fleeing all these things, taking hold, fighting the fight, and then taking hold, verse 12, of the eternal life.

[28:07] So the pastor, the goal is life. Take a look back all the way at chapter 1, verse 1. How is God Himself introduced to us by the command of God our Savior?

[28:23] Take a look at chapter 1 and verse 16. I've received mercy for this reason that in me as the foremost Christ Jesus might display His perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in Him for eternal life.

[28:41] Take a look at chapter 2, verse 3. This is good, it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior who desires all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

[28:53] I could take you right through the letter into chapter 2, verse 15, or 3, 13, and 16, or 4, 16, 4, 9, and 10, 4, 8, all the way through.

[29:06] The goal of the letter is life. So he says here at the end, not surprisingly, live your life well in the gospel that you might take hold of life.

[29:18] You want life? You want the good life? Then get the gospel right, and that life will be yours.

[29:35] Now, he then, in a sense, finishes his letter, and we'll spend just a couple of minutes here here. But obviously, verses 20 and 21, he's moved on from his discussion on wealth, which began really all the way back at 6-3.

[29:52] Having talked about then the problem of the pursuit of wealth, and having applied that positively to the man of God or the pastor, verse 11 through 16, and now having applied it positively to the wealthy in the congregation, he's ready to finish.

[30:10] And so, in 20 and 21, there are three brief, pithy phrases, three words, final words, and one final warning.

[30:21] So, while the wealthy get six instructions, and one incentive that leads to life, the pastor gets three words and a warning, lest he swerve from the faith.

[30:34] And here it is. guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid irreverent babble. And third, the contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge.

[30:48] I just want to close the series out with a couple of thoughts in regard to this problematic phrase, the contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge.

[31:00] You know, to some, they've tried to understand this by spending all their time on the word knowledge. And they've posited that this could be some Gnostic problem, which is really a later second century problem.

[31:16] And they've wondered, what is this knowledge that Paul is speaking of? I wonder if there would be a better way forward if we actually thought about the word contradictions. Literally, it would be the word antithesis or antithesis.

[31:31] So, what the pastor is to avoid at the end of the day is holding the antithesis, the two ideas which really are moving in different directions and he holds them together in a way that he actually thinks is knowledge.

[31:49] But when he does so, it walks people out of faith. So, what are the antithesis put in the letter? There are four.

[32:01] There are four contradictions. And the first is in chapter 6 verse 5 that godliness, one thesis, is somehow connected to a means of gain.

[32:13] That proclamation and profit go hand in hand. And what he says is that actually goes through out of the pulpit. That's a contradiction.

[32:24] Although some think it's actually knowledge that you go to church as a way of increasing your wealth and that the Bible itself becomes a vehicle for the production of wealth.

[32:40] Think we've got that issue in our country? We are spewing this antithesis around the world. You'd be shocked to stand with me in the slums of Nairobi with open sewers, the excrement from the human body rolling down the lane.

[33:02] And all of its putrid aroma. And the pastors are struggling with the gospel of health and wealth. And misleading many, swerving from the faith, because what they're calling knowledge is that proclamation and profit go hand in hand.

[33:29] Think of the earlier antithesis that was put forward in this letter that the good, God and the good, somehow belong to the spiritual things, where the body and creation, I'm thinking of early chapter 4, somehow belong to a material reign, that the spiritual world is the good world, the material world is the bad world.

[33:53] they were bringing those antitheses together, calling it knowledge, and even forbidding marriage or the eating of certain kinds of food. In other words, one of the things they thought was that the spiritual and the material never connect.

[34:08] And Paul says, no, they do connect. In fact, they connected most beautifully in Jesus, who himself was manifested in flesh, but vindicated by spirit.

[34:23] A third antithesis in the letter was that what you believe is not necessarily connected to how you live, and that you're still okay.

[34:37] That you can believe the gospel, but not have to live in a godly way. And they call that knowledge. It's an issue of faith and fidelity.

[34:53] And what we've seen in the letter is that all throughout, no, your gospel belief and your godly living must be moving in parallel track.

[35:09] Christianity doesn't make sense otherwise. And of course, the fourth one was the one that he rolled out of the letter, that you could have Christian doctrine rooted in history and yet still connect all of the Old Testament to the language of myth and genealogy.

[35:30] That Christianity was somehow able to bring together myth and history in a way where they actually never had to be sorted out.

[35:42] That Christianity and myth were part of the problem of the letter. Now, there's four antitheses, there's four contradictions. The last one is historical.

[35:54] The one on what you believe and how you live, that's behavioral, that's practical. The idea of a spirit world and material world that don't connect, well, that's philosophical. The deal that you can preach one thing and profit from it, that's a whole distortion of that which is truly spiritual.

[36:13] These are the contradictions that some call knowledge and they are running through the church today and by nature, some, the very close of the letter, will wander from faith.

[36:27] And that's the pastor's role. So, pastor, get it right. Avoid the antitheses which many in your own vocation will call knowledge.

[36:45] And people, get it right. Right. Live well with your wealth that we both might have life.

[36:59] Our heavenly father, as we close this letter and look forward to our narratives in the summer over 1st Samuel, we pray that you would apply these truths to our heart, that we would, each one of us, no matter how old we are, live productively with every dollar you put in our hands, and that we would take these words to heart, that we would be humble, that our hope would be set on you, that we would do good, that we would even be the chief servant in the household of faith, and that by doing so, we would take hold of that which is truly life.

[37:46] We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.