Sermon for 9/25/22 "Words of Wisdom" 17 Minutes

1 Timothy 6:6-19

This morning I'll be reading 1 Timothy chapter 6 verses 6 through 19. And I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible. 1 Timothy 6:6-19 In the verses that we will look at this morning,,, Paul is writing to Timothy,,, to be wary of riches over godliness. In the previous verses,,, he has just given a false definition of gain,,, and in these verses,,, we will have the true meaning explained. 1 Timothy 6:6–19 (HCSB) 6 But godliness with contentment is a great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. 9 But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains. 11 But you, man of God, run from these things, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight for the faith; take hold of eternal life that you were called to and have made a good confession about in the presence of many witnesses. 13 In the presence of God, who gives life to all, and of Christ Jesus, who gave a good confession before Pontius Pilate, I charge you 14 to keep the command without fault or failure until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 God will bring this about in His own time. He is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords, 16 the only One who has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light; no one has seen or can see Him, to Him be honor and eternal might. Amen. 17 Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be arrogant or to set their hope on the uncertainty of wealth, but on God, who richly provides us with all things to enjoy. 18 Instruct them to do what is good, to be rich in good works, to be generous, willing to share, 19 storing up for themselves a good reserve for the age to come, so that they may take hold of life that is real. The word of God for the people of God,,, thanks be to God! God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning. Let us pray: Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone here today and all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen. ----------------------------------------------------------- Last Sunday we looked at Psalm 4 and answered the question of “Who can we turn to?”

That’s an easy question for those of us in church each Sunday to answer in words,,, but we must remember to put those words into action each day of our life,,, not just Sunday.

We saw where David trusted God no matter what he was going through,,, good or bad,,, easy or hard,,, it never changed his faith in God.

And that’s the example that we need to follow as we continue our walk with God each day.

Because,,, as Christians,,, we know that God is,,, the only one that we can turn to,,, so we should live out these words each day of our life,,, as an example to others!

This morning we will look at these verses in 1 Timothy and see how they will help us in our walk with God this week.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 6 through 8 say: 6 But godliness with contentment is a great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these.

In the previous verses Paul has warned Timothy about those who are trying to add to the teachings of Jesus and the way that they will try to mislead them.

He is also warning of some that are using religion for personal gain instead of doing the job that they set out to do at the beginning.

In this verse,,, Paul begins to show Timothy the correct response to them,,, and it begins with our attitude towards our daily needs.

If we remember the part of the Lords prayer that we say every Sunday that says,,, “Give us this day our daily bread” and truly live by those words like we should,,, we will be much more likely to be content.

Paul says,,, we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these.

This chapter bears a close resemblance to the teachings of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount.

Verse 7 reminds us of His instruction that we should trust our heavenly Father for the supply of our needs.

There are three times in life when we have empty hands—at birth,,, (when we must rely on others to survive),,, at the time we come to Jesus,,, (when we finally understand that we can’t survive without Jesus’ help),,, and at death,,, (when we leave this earth empty just like we came).

This verse reminds us of the first and the last.

We brought nothing into the world,,, and it is certain that we can carry nothing out.

It was written about Alexander the Great that before he died, he said: “When I am dead,,, be sure that my hands are visible on the way to the grave so that all may see that my hands are empty.

You see,,, those hands which once basically ruled the world;,,, which once held the most victorious sword;,, which once were filled with silver and gold;,,, which once had power to save or to sign away life,,, are now,,, EMPTY.

This great and powerful leader is going to the grave the same way that he came into the world,,, with nothing!

We spend way too much time worrying over riches of the world,,, and are in danger of losing our greatest gain,,, our eternity in heaven!

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 9 and 10 say: 9 But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.

It’s desiring to be rich and making this our priority in life that becomes the problem.

It can become a trap that Satan can use against us,,, and he does it very well,,, I might add.

It can cause us to lose sight of the relationship with God that is so important to us!

Paul has warned Timothy of the dangers,,, now he tells him what he needs to do to avoid them.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 11 and 12 say: 11 But you, man of God, run from these things, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight for the faith; take hold of eternal life that you were called to and have made a good confession about in the presence of many witnesses.

Sometimes when it comes to danger,,, the best way to deal with it is to run,,, get far away!

But that’s not all.

Paul tells Timothy to fight the good fight,,, by making sure that he is continuing to put God first in his life,,, doing everything that he can to live a life pleasing to God,,, as he has confessed to many.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 13 through 16 say: 13 In the presence of God, who gives life to all, and of Christ Jesus, who gave a good confession before Pontius Pilate, I charge you 14 to keep the command without fault or failure until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 God will bring this about in His own time. He is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords, 16 the only One who has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light; no one has seen or can see Him, to Him be honor and eternal might. Amen.

Paul now delivers a solemn charge to Timothy in the presence of two great witnesses,,, God,,, and Jesus Christ.

He does this to possibly remind him that God is in control,,, no matter what happens,,, and that the example of Christ should help see him through anything that might happen to him.

And the day is coming when all will know these things,,, even those who loudly proclaim,,, that there is no such thing,,, as “God”!

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 17 through 19 say: 17 Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be arrogant or to set their hope on the uncertainty of wealth, but on God, who richly provides us with all things to enjoy. 18 Instruct them to do what is good, to be rich in good works, to be generous, willing to share, 19 storing up for themselves a good reserve for the age to come, so that they may take hold of life that is real.

In earlier verses,,, Paul spoke about those who desired to be rich.

Here he deals with those who are already rich.

Timothy should command them not to be arrogant.

This is a temptation to the wealthy.

They are apt to look down on those who do not have a great deal of money.

And since all of us really have more than we need for our daily needs,,, this warning applies to everyone.

We should not look down on those that are in need,,, because if we put our faith in money instead of God,,, money can fail us,,, but God will never fail us!

Instead of trusting in our wealth,,, Paul instructs Timothy,,, and us,,, to be sure that we are storing our riches in heaven,,, so that we will be able to enjoy them forever,,, in heaven,,, and we do that by taking care of those in need,,, that we see,,, each and every day in our communities,,, or,,, wherever we see them!

----------------------------------------------------------- For us today,,, we need to be sure that we heed these “Words of Wisdom” from Paul that he shared with Timothy,,, and for us as well.

Be sure that we are fighting the good fight,,, and doing all of the things that will build us treasures in heaven,,, instead of laying up worldly treasures that never last.

This is some of the most important information that we can hear about and learn from.

When we spend too much time worrying about our future here on earth without any thought of our eternity,,, it can cause us to lose focus on whats most important.

And we don’t want to allow anything to make us backslide,,, and that’s always something that we need to watch out for.

If you aren’t spending time each day doing the things that strengthen your relationship with the Lord,,, (prayer,,, Bible reading and study,,, fellowship with other Christians,,, ),,, you need to go back to the things that helped you in the beginning,,, because like a relationship with anyone,,, it requires work to stay the course.

----------------------------------------------------------- And if you’ve never had that relationship,,, you should make the choice today to accept Christ as you Savior.

We aren't promised tomorrow,,, so the choice must be made today.

We don't know the hour or the day when Jesus comes back nor do we know if we will be called home,,, we are just told to be ready.

And to be ready,,, you must have made the decision to follow Jesus,,, be sure that you have made that decision today!

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So as we sing our final hymn,,, let me remind you that the alter is always open,,,

If you feel God speaking to you,,, don't hesitate to come,,, maybe you just have questions,,, God will answer,,, you just have to ask Him,,, whatever the need may be,,,

As we sing the final hymn,,, come if needed!

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