Sermon (25-Sep): "You've Been Charged!" 1 Tim 6:6-17

Chaplain, Captain David Godley

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Scripture:

1 Timothy 6:6-17 (SLIDE)

6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you 14 to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.

17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.

Big Idea:

The objective of this message is to take Paul’s direction to Timothy to heart—don’t be deceived by materialism or financial gain

Introduction:

- Picking up where we left off last time, Paul continues his first letter to Timothy

- Paul has shared his testimony, what he thinks about Timothy and how Timothy can continue to serve people

- Timothy like many others doesn’t yet have the confidence, experience and the wherewithal of Paul

- In many ways, I believe that Timothy is just beginning to come into his own

- Meaning that he realizes that he must figure this out so that the church can be productive

- Yes, people know of Paul but might not be as confident in Timothy

- Yet, Timothy has this to his credit…faithfulness

- Everybody doesn’t have that trait

- Faithfulness can stand where loyalty is questioned

- Faithfulness can and should stand in the face of adversity

- Standing alongside Paul was the best thing for young Timothy

- He was able to see excellence in action—for ministry and life

- Whereas false teachers seemed to abound, Timothy had someone to enlighten him to the true meaning of the faith

- Every Timothy needs a Paul; every new or young believer needs a mentor in the faith

- I still remember years ago when I was very young in the faith Minister Robert Earby, Mountain View Christian Center

- Former Air Force Master Sergeant helped me in my journey about 23 years ago

- Fast forward…his son serves in the Inspector General Office at Los Angeles Air Force Base

- God works through Paul to instill in Timothy vital principles that Timothy will need in ministry and in life

- From what I gather, Timothy was eager to hear…ready to receive instruction

- I don’t believe the either one had a mindset of superiority over the churches, congregation and the people

- It was essentially about educating and participating in the spiritual formation of the people

- That’s a part of what we endeavor to do here at the chapel

- We, as chaplains and lay leaders, want to “equip His people for the works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up” (Eph 4:13-14)

- The unity of the faith is at stake and the knowledge of God to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ

- Paul understood this, Timothy understood this and now, it’s our turn to understand this

- And, here we are, Paul in this sitting, wraps up this letter

- It would almost seem as if Paul were all over the place as he concludes

- But, he’s emphasizing what’s necessary for Timothy…what Timothy is been charged to do

- He’s charging Timothy to…

(SLIDE)

- Understand What is Great Gain

- Pursue the Right Things

- Teach Others

Transition: As a young minister and pastor, Timothy is in dire need of guidance on how to lead this church at Ephesus

1) Understand What is Great Gain (SLIDE)

- Paul knows going into this letter what Timothy is dealing with

- He would rather have been there himself but was unable to after having been recently released from prison

- He hears the news that his teaching had been distorted and twisted

- Before Timothy arrives, teaching on marriage, eating certain foods and how to mature spiritually was questioned

- It would take someone of Timothy’s magnitude to clear it up

- This letter is to Timothy, those false teachers and the congregation

- Paul wants everyone on the same page and the false teachers and their teaching rightfully exposed

- He doesn’t need to comfort them but expose them for the greater good of everybody

- If it’s not done here and now, then when…if ever

- Paul addresses that when it comes to godliness these false teachers have it all wrong

- Their motives are all wrong

- As much as we would like to equate godliness to wealth and promotion, it’s not necessarily so

- These teachers were spreading these thoughts and messaging freely enough to infect the people

- So, Paul corrects that theology by explaining what is truly great gain

- It’s godliness with contentment

- What is most advantageous to our character and development…

- It’s how God desires to mature us

- We may think that it is about bout being successful—in the world’s eyes—or out front

- Or out front and popular

- But, according to God’s Word, it’s godliness with contentment

- The reverence and respect that you and I have for God is essential

- God looks on that with approval

- Why because He sees our heart in it all?

- When our hearts are right with Him, it changes the whole outlook and trajectory of our lives with Him

- Paul is letting us know where our hearts need to be

- That contentment needs to be independent of circumstances

- Sometimes that is easier said than done

- What we—you and I—go through can be difficult to process

- Even to be content while you are in it

- Paul has always given me encouragement (Phil 4:11),

11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.

- Sometimes we may think that any position, accomplishment, and treasure we attain will follow us into eternity

- But, Paul makes it clear that we came into this world with nothing…

- And, when we leave, however we leave…we leave with nothing

- In other words, as one person once said and not to be too morbid,

“U-Hauls don’t follow hearses”

- What I find interesting is how Paul shows that the minimum that we have—the food and clothing—

- We can be content with it

- It’s funny how so countercultural to the world that idea can be

- It’s that same world that we go out into every day

- Whether we are at our jobs, in the marketplace; we face something contrary to what we believe on a regular basis…

- Can make it a challenge

- But look at what he says on the alternative

- Can we be content with what we have or be in pursuit of riches?

- That’s not necessarily black and white but at the very least…it’s two divergent ways of living life

- The pursuit can be so subtle that we need to question ourselves regularly, “Where’s my heart at when it comes to Christ?”

- And, does godliness with contentment characterize my life?

- That’s a challenging question to ask if we are going to be honest with ourselves

- But, this is the lifestyle that can tempt and trap us if we’re not aware of it and intentional about not embracing it

- I don’t want to be included as the ones whose (1 Tim 6:9)

“many foolish and harmful desires…plunge people into ruin and destruction”

- You and I have many opportunities to fall into the love of money

- Yet, we also have a responsibility to not allow it to drive and overwhelm us

- Because money is not the issue…the love of money is the real issue

- English philosopher and statesman Francis Bacon once said,

“Money is a great servant but a bad master.”

- I think sometimes the error is that we—as individuals—think that cannot or will not happen to me

- Still, if not aware of the possibility, any one of us can be susceptible or capable of “wandering” from the faith

- I tend to think that’s why Paul is mentioning it here; he charges Timothy

Transition: So, many distractions come that draw our attention and money can be one of those strong distractors

2) Pursue the Right Things (SLIDE)

- Paul gets right down to addressing Timothy in particular saying, “flee…”

- In order for Timothy, you and I to flee what’s bad, in this case what the false teachers were teaching…

- We have to move towards or pursue that which is good—meaning the right things—

- Righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness…

- All the things, character traits and virtues that God values

- This righteousness is recognizing that you and I are only right before God through Christ

- That godliness, as we mentioned before, is that awe, reverence and respect towards God

- You’ll notice that Paul doesn’t just use the term “flee” here when he’s talking to Timothy

- In his next letter to Timothy (2 Tim 2:22), he tells him to flee as well…

- Those youthful, evil desires for some of those same things he mentions here

- One of those things I’ll highlight is love

- In just about all his New Testament letters, Paul alludes to or touches upon love

- And, not the romantic or friendship love but the agape, unconditional love—the God kind of love

- There will be many times that we will have to utilize the God kind of love in our lives towards others

- I can’t give you every situation but, believe me, you’ll recognize it

- And, how will you?

- Because you’ll know that you have gone beyond the limits of yourself as far as you know yourself

- Love that stretches beyond your boundaries of forgiveness

- Because sometimes forgiveness and love are entwined together

- Kinda like Jesus in mentioning, and I am paraphrasing, “forgiven much…love much,” “forgiven little…love little”

- Endurance and gentleness, though different terms, are all wrapped up in Paul’s instruction of what impacts God’s heart

- If we choose to believe it or not, the life of faith is no cake walk or pie in the sky ideal

- Otherwise, Paul would not have said “fight” or contend

- He said it in the first chapter (1 Tim 1:18) and he’s saying it now

- He believed in Timothy and knew that there was a greater goal at stake—eternal life

- Your call—Timothy’s call—does not end in this life

- We have a greater calling at stake

- Timothy was meant to impact lives; we are meant to impact lives

- Christ knew and spoke that what we do here follow us into eternity

- That’s something we don’t talk about a lot but needs to be in our mind occasionally

- The thought that the “good fight of the faith” that we are in…

- It is in full view of God and Christ Jesus

- We can allow that truth to scare us or spur us—into right, holy living

- Not perfect living; but a life that is moving ever closer to God moment by moment

- We find ourselves only blameless and without spot in Him

- Our minds, memory and hearts must keep this truth in check

- If our lives rested in us alone, each one of us could not stand nor should we look to do so

- We are secure in Him alone

Transition: Although Paul is directly speaking to Timothy here, he doesn’t stop here

3) Teach Others

- Where Paul charges Timothy earlier in the letter, he tells Timothy to command or charge others

- Any one of us could perhaps ask the question, “Why is Timothy following Paul’s commands or charges?”

- The answer is shown in the relationship that is detailed in the New Testament—where they meet and form this father-son relationship

- The effect that Paul has on Timothy; Timothy will have on others…

- Those that will follow him

- We’re not called to be mindless, thoughtless followers

- But when we see those that are in tune with what’s best for us…

- A connection is formed—unknowingly or knowingly

- So, those that Timothy will connect with are urged by Paul not to be arrogant or hope in wealth

- Arrogance shows others how small our world is

- And hoping or trusting in wealth is at best foolish—it can literally be here today and gone tomorrow

- But what are we to do? The most godly decision we can make is to put our hope in God

- Still, what complicates things is our nature

- And, what it takes is knowing that God will never disappoint

- This is the same God who gives us richly all things to enjoy

- So, we don’t trust in riches which are uncertain

- But we do lean on, look to and hope in a God who affords us that which we can enjoy knowing He is the Source

Closing:

- As I close, as Paul charges Timothy, what is our response?

- Some of those same ideologies/teachings exist today

- It can be holding onto what we have, financial gain, or the love of money

- Our focus should be on eternal life with our heart and hopes on God

- As many uncertainties that exist in this world…

- A fixed hope in a constant God be not one of them

(SLIDE) Takeaway: God wants our focus to be on Him because fulfillment is from and through Him

- Would you pray with me?

Closing Prayer:

Heavenly Father, I ask you to forgive me for all of my sins known and unknown, I renounce them all. Lord Jesus, come into my heart. I receive you now as Lord and Savior of my life. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He died for me and arose and sits at the right hand of God praying for me, interceding for me. Lord Jesus, I give you everything. I thank you for saving me, delivering me and setting me free, in Jesus’ name!

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