1 Timothy 6:1-10 - Work, Money, and Worship
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction:
The title of today’s sermon is certainly relevant to us all. We all have some sort of work to do. We all must manage money in some way. And we are all worshipers of something - whether it be God, money, people, or things.
Sadly, many false teachers are out there trying to keep you from working for the Lord alone, managing your money for the Lord alone, and worshiping the Lord alone. Many encourage self-gratificaiton, self-worship, money-worship, and people worship.
I was recently reminded of the television personality and false prosperity teacher Jesse Duplantis. He has been in the spotlight for his love for money and things for quite some time. He has a 35,000+ square foot mansion in Louisiana and has his own private jet. He specializes in taking Scripture out of context to support his own agenda. He teaches that God created you to prosper and that poverty is a curse (1). He obviously ignores the life of Christ and the life of the disciples who lived in poverty. Yes, Jesus does bless some with riches, but we are told that it so that they can be a conduit to others (2 Corinthians 9:11) - not so they can live their best life now!
The Bible is clear that the desire for riches leads one into destruction. We will see this clearly taught in our Scripture today. The desire for riches leads one to discontentment which is sinful.
False teachers twist the Scriptures in order to try to make them say what they don’t actually say. This was recently very clear during a recent session with Duplantis. I share this as a lesson on being sure to understand a Scripture in its context. One of my jobs is to equip each of you to understand how to interpret the Scriptures.
This Scriptural rebuke actually came from his wife who read an explanatory version!
He attempted to use Psalm 49:16 in an effort to support his lust for wealth. The Scripture states:
Be not afraid when a man becomes rich, when the glory of his house increases.
He thought he had defended himself against others who had a problem with his lust for wealth. Yet he asked his wife to read this same verse from the amplified version, and it became obvious that he either doesn’t read or at least certainly doesn’t understand the Scriptures when she read the following:
“Be not afraid when [an ungodly] man becomes rich, when the wealth and glory of his house are increased;”
For those who are not familiar with the amplified Bible, it can be somewhat helpful in study but is not a great solo Bible translation as it adds in contextual words for the text which involves some interpretation more than translation. Although it is often right on, sometimes it may not be completely accurate.
However, in this case, it is spot on. And Duplantis was left floundering after his wife went on to read the context of the Scripture. In the ESV this Psalm states:
Be not afraid when a man becomes rich, when the glory of his house increases. For when he dies he will carry nothing away; his glory will not go down after him. For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed —and though you get praise when you do well for yourself— his soul will go to the generation of his fathers, who will never again see light. Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.
What a rebuke for Duplantis here. Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.
My prayer for us today is that as we go through our Scripture, we gain wisdom that only comes from the Word of God illuminated by the Holy Spirit. I pray that we see the value of godliness with contentment. May we avoid the false teachings of today’s worldly preachers and even our society that encourages us to live for ourselves and worship materialism.
Prayer
Today we will see three ways that we must live in response to the Scriptures. The first is…
I. You Must Work for His Glory (1-2)
I. You Must Work for His Glory (1-2)
Let all who are under a yoke as bondservants regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled. Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brothers; rather they must serve all the better since those who benefit by their good service are believers and beloved. Teach and urge these things.
Time would fail us to go through the history of slavery throughout the world. It is clear that Christianity has led to the abolition of slavery in the western world. Men such as William Wilberforce and Abraham Lincoln championed the abolition of slavery because of their Christian values.
Some may scoff at the fact that Paul did not directly preach against slavery in the New Testament. However, the teachings against slavery are easy to see in Scriptures such as 1 Corinthians 7:21 where he encourages those who can purchase their freedom to do so, Scriptures such as the book of Philemon where Paul encourages Philemon to treat his former runaway slave Onesimus as a brother, as well as Galatians 3:28 where Paul destroys any distinctions among those in Christ.
Yet, even more important than being a slave or servant to another person is being a slave to sin. Paul’s focus was on seeing men and women set free from their slavery to sin. What good would it have been for a person to be set free from physical slavery and yet die and go to hell? Social justice is important. The Bible is clear that all people are made in the image of God and worthy of respect. Yet we must also understand that social justice is not the utmost of importance. The Gospel is. Our world can only be changed by the Gospel - not by social reform. Slavery to sin is the most pressing matter in our world today and was the most pressing matter in Paul’s day as well. And the only hope for correcting it is through the Gospel of Jesus Christ - namely that by repenting of one’s sin and placing one’s trust in Christ as Savior and Lord - one may be saved.
So as we see here, Paul’s main focus in this section of Scripture is not the fact that someone is a bondservant but instead the heart of the bondservant. The bondservant who is a believer is an ambassador for the Gospel. He represents Christ. His master sees whether he is faithful or not. He sees his work ethic. He sees his heart.
Obviously, we thankfully do not have legalized slavery in our nation today. Praise God for this and may we pray that underground human trafficking comes to an end one day as well.
But with that said, how do we understand Paul’s teaching here?
The best application we can use to illustrate what Paul is teaching is by looking at the employee relationship with his or her employer. With that in mind, we will address the commands given here in a practical way for each of us.
1. Christian employees should honor their employers.
This means they should respect them. They should speak well of them.
Why? Paul asserts that this prevents the name of God and the teaching of the Gospel from being reviled.
How sad is it for a boss to see an openly Christian employee be slack in his work? How does this look upon Christ?
Note that this does not have a qualifier. This doesn’t say that you need to honor your employer if they honor you. We should work for them in order to bring glory to God first and foremost.
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
Everything we do needs to bring God glory.
2. Christian employees should not take advantage of Christian employers.
Sadly, sometimes people take advantage of believing employers. Because of the generous nature and gracious nature of many believers, some people feel they can be slack in their work. Because they are a brother or sister in Christ, one might be tempted to take advantage of their believing employer.
Paul hits hard at this. This should never be. If the one whom you work for is a believer then you should desire to be even more of a blessing to them! When a believing employer has better earnings, they are often generous with them and give to churches or to other Christian ministries that an unbelieving employer never would consider giving toward. So by robbing your employer in being slack in your work, you not only rob them but you indirectly are robbing God!
Before moving to our next point, it seems obvious in our culture today that we do not understand the Biblical importance of work. We are made to work. Work is not the curse. Work preceded the curse. Listen to Genesis 2:15:
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.
Man was given a job to do. This is before sin entered the world. Yes, work became harder after the Fall of man in Genesis 3, but we must understand that work itself is not a curse.
As believers, we should work for His glory. Whatever we do - whether it is at home, for an employer, for school, or whatever it is - we need to do it for His glory. It needs to be done with good effort, integrity, diligence, and excellence.
We must work in a godly way and be content that God has given us work to do.
Next we see that…
Scripture References: 2 Corinthians 9:11, Psalm 49:16-20, 1 Corinthians 7:21, Philemon, Galatians 3:28, 1 Corinthians 10:31, Genesis 2:15, Genesis 3
II. You Must Withstand Those Who Malign His Grace (3-5)
II. You Must Withstand Those Who Malign His Grace (3-5)
If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness,
Paul has just taught that we need to be content with our work and situation in life. And now he is going to expound on the need to be content with the Gospel and the Word of God.
He spends some time addressing false teachers and their ungodliness and discontentment.
He first addresses those who teach a different doctrine and those who do not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness.
This is a long first part of a three verse run-on sentence that spans verses 3-5. But let’s seek to understand this first part which will illuminate the rest.
These false teachers are those who are teaching a different doctrine. The Greek literally means other doctrine. This is further clarified as Paul asserts that what they teach does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness.
It is clear that the Gospel is of utmost importance. Jesus in the only way to God and His name is the only name in which man can be saved - John 14:6, Acts 4:12. However, we see the importance of all of the teachings of Jesus and His Word as well. As we have mentioned time and time again - we show Christ our love for Him by our obedience to His Word and commands (John 14:15).
We must avoid such false teachers that blatantly disregard the Gospel or the teachings of Jesus Christ and His Word - namely the Scriptures. Many today seek to malign the Word of God.
Sadly, today’s church cancel culture has attempted to weed out the teachings that they don’t agree with as they place themselves in the seat of judgment over God Almighty.
This has recently been clearly seen by the United Methodist - I hesitate to call it a church any longer as their lampstand has been removed - so I’ll just call them United Methodists. They have attempted to cancel much of the Bible with their most recent general conference.
During their conference they reversed their stance on abortion and now pledge, “solidarity with those who seek reproductive healthcare.” The petition that was approved “upholds a person’s right to an abortion after informed consideration...” Note their choice of the word person there assuming that a man may possibly have a baby as well. They have approved of LGBTQ+ clergy as well as approved and urged clergy to perform same-sex weddings. They redefined marriage. They now mandate sexual orientation diversity among church boards. They have required local church leadership to be trained and prepared to receive LGBTQ+ clergy. They became the first Christian denomination to vote on an action to divest from America’s support of Israel (2). In other words they do not support America’s support of the nation of Israel.
I could go on but my stomach cannot handle anymore lies at this point. I am sickened by this blatant regard of maligning the grace of God and the Word of God.
My heart goes out to those who have been attending a United Methodist Church. I grew up in this church, and it breaks my heart to see it being destroyed and imploding from the inside out. Although as a Baptist I certainly do not agree with some of the classical Methodist theology and doctrine, there have been great men and women who have been United Methodists over the years. However, now this group has ceased from being a church.
I ask for each of you to pray about three things in response to this blasphemous movement in the UMC.
1. Pray that those pastors and leaders in this organization that are firm believers - that they lead the charge in protecting their flocks and remove them from this apostate organization. Some 8,000 UMC congregations have already done so over the past few years as they saw the writing on the wall to come. May many more follow.
2. For those fellowships that refuse to disaffiliate with this new church of Satan disguised as an angel of light, may we pray for those who are true believers in these churches. May we reach out and encourage them to find a fellowship that is following after Jesus Christ - whether it is with us or with another fellowship. We aren’t about building our own kingdom but are about building God’s kingdom. We stand with any church that is preaching and obeying the Word of God and following Jesus Christ. But we stand against any that do not do so.
Some may be upset with my encouragement here claiming that this would be sheep-stealing - however, I am convinced that this is sheep-saving my friends. True believers must be rescued from the mouth of the wolves of the UMC.
3. Finally, may we withstand those who malign His grace brothers and sisters. May we take heed as we see this large denomination fall, and may we be sure that we are always aligned with God’s Word. May we pray for protection over our church fellowship and the SBC.
Getting back to our verses we see what happens when people depart from the teachings of Jesus Christ…
he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.
First, we see that these false teachers are puffed up with conceit and understand nothing. Their pride blinds them. They have become so puffed up with their so-called knowledge and intellectual assent that they have literally become fools.
They are like a peacock that is a relatively small bird but pretends to be much bigger by showing off its tail feathers. That is a great example of those who are puffed up with conceit. They try to show themselves larger than they are.
And in their pride they have an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words. This can be in regard to apostate movements such as what we have seen with the UMC as well as hyper-religious movements that we see among legalistic factions such as the Hebrew-roots movement. Some people out there cannot seem to get along with anyone. They always have a quarrel with someone. And because of their pride - they are always the one who is right. Beware of such people. Such people fall into the following:
Prideful and Puffed-up People Fall Into…
1. Envy which leads to dissension
Their pride leads to envy of anyone who might have more influence than they do. So they stir up dissension and cause division.
Next their pride leads to…
2. Slander and evil suspicions
They attempt to knock others down by their lies and evil suspicions in order to gain power for themselves. They are bullies who revel in their folly.
And all of this leads to…
3. Constant friction
Friction causes sparks which can lead to fires that set things ablaze. These false teachers can cause much trouble in the church. They must be dealt with by the church and cast out if unrepentant or else the church will be greatly harmed. The church must withstand those who malign the grace of God.
These teachers are of a depraved mind - meaning that they are lost and apostate. They are hostile toward the ways of God. And they are deprived of the truth as we see next. This speaks of one being robbed of the truth. They have been handed over as we see in Romans 1:28:
And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.
Because of their abuse of the Gospel, they are handed over in their wickedness.
And we are introduced to one of the biggest reasons that they have gone the way that they have. We know that pride has been the main root of their problems thus far. But now we are shown that money is a root of their evil heart as well.
1 Timothy 6:5 (ESV)
...imagining that godliness is a means of gain.
They think that their false piety and their manmade idea of godliness will be a means of gain. Like Duplantis that we mentioned in the opening introduction, these false teachers try to leverage their twisting of the Scriptures for their own selfish gain - which brings us to our final point…
Scripture References: John 14:6, Acts 4:12, John 14:15, Romans 1:28
III. You Must Worship Him Alone as God (6-10)
III. You Must Worship Him Alone as God (6-10)
But godliness with contentment is great gain,
Before getting into the negative, Paul changes gears and teaches true contentment.
Paul’s teaching on contentment is much different than the stoic Greek philosophers’ teaching of his day. They taught that contentment was a form of self-reliance which sounds a lot like the American spirit today doesn’t it? Like the Frank Sinatra song that repeated the phrase, ‘I did it my way’, many in our nation espouse such an independent spirit.
Paul, instead, teaches that contentment is a Christ-reliance. We can be content with our life situation, our provisions for a given day, and even the struggles of a given day because Christ enough.
Consider Philippians 4:11-13:
Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Paul wrote this letter while in prison, and yet he speaks of being content in all circumstances. He knows what it is like to have plenty and what it is like to have little. Yet, Christ is enough. Christ strengthens and empowers him to handle whatever comes his way.
I pray that you are content with Christ alone. I pray that you aren’t trying to find your joy and contentment in the things of this world because they will certainly fail you and let you down. But Christ will never leave you nor forsake you.
Paul fleshes this out further in the next two verses…
for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.
I’m sure most of us have heard someone quote this in some form or another. None of us can take anything with us when we die. All of the effort and work of storing up treasures on earth will prove to be wasted.
When the wealthy businessman John D. Rockefeller died, his aid was asked how much he left behind. The aid wisely answered, “He left it all behind.”
We can take nothing with us. It is only the treasures stored up in heaven that are forever lasting.
Paul reminds us that we should be content with our needs being met. We don’t need storehouses of goods. We don’t need a retirement that is so big that we could live to 160 and still be able to live high on the hog.
Investments and retirement are wise things - don’t misunderstand me. Jim Peterson is going to be leading a study on Biblical finance during our Growth Group time at 9 AM starting the first week of June. I highly encourage you to come out and learn how to manage God’s money God’s way!
However, our focus must first always be on Christ and not the things of this world. Because when our focus is on and our love is for money - in other words when we are worshiping money instead of God alone - we see the result in the following two verses…
But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.
When we give way to discontentment we fall into sin. And this is oftentimes most apparent when it comes to money. Paul lets us know that there are those who desire to be rich. I think we have a lot of those people today too don’t you? There is no shortage of this desire these days! Consider the thriving gambling market of powerball, casinos, sports gambling, pyramid schemes, and even some shady business deals which are leading people away from contentment.
So many people spend endless hours trying to get rich quick. Others spend countless time planning out how they would spend millions of dollars if they won powerball or another lottery.
Brothers and sisters, are you content with what you have? Even if nothing else changed - even if you had to continue to struggle to make ends meet - even if you never had that new car or were able to go on that nice cruise or were able to buy that new television?
Don’t misunderstand me. God is a God who does give good gifts at times as we see in James 1:17. God may very well bless you.
However, the desire for riches and things will lead you into sin. If the Lord blesses you financially, it isn’t for your unending pleasure. It is so that you can be a conduit and share with others as we already mentioned 2 Corinthians 9:11.
Those who follow after riches fall into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires which plunge them into ruin and destruction.
This is a terrifying warning and it only gets worse in the next verse.
This desire for riches leads to ruin and destruction.
We can see this today everywhere we look. How many families have been broken up because of the desire for money and things. Because of the affluent lifestyle that people wish to live today, we have many moms and dads both working full time, if not even greater than full time, jobs. They don’t have time for the kids or for one another and the family suffers and many times the family experiences the tragedy of divorce.
For others, their desire for riches leads them to making shady business deals or cheating on their taxes which leads to criminal prosecution. The love of money is destroying lives all across our world.
In verse 10, Paul moves to discussing the ultimate problem with loving money…
1 Timothy 6:10 (ESV)
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils…
Paul hammers this point home even harder in verse 10. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.
Note that Paul does not refer to money being evil. Money has been used to rent our church building. It is used to support our missionaries across the world. It is used to keep our lights on. Money can be used for much good such as feeding and clothing the hungry and supporting Gospel proclamation across the world.
But the love of money is the problem because it breaks the second commandment. It is idolatry. Anything placed in front of God is an idol.
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
Jesus hit on this understanding of the idolatry of money as well.
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
Note that Jesus could have used any example He wanted when he discussed serving two masters. Yet, He chose money because it is so commonly idolized.
As Jesus asserts so clearly here, the love of money is first and foremost a worship problem.
Money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is not the only root. We have already mentioned pride being a root of evil. But money is certainly a root of many evils. Consider the following examples and the root of them being money:
Human trafficking - money. Prostitution - money. Embezzlement, greed, fraud - money. Murder - often money-related. Drugs - money. We could mention countless other examples as well.
What does Paul say about the what happens when one worships money? See the end of verse 10.
1 Timothy 6:10 (ESV)
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
Paul then says that through this craving - through this love for and worship of money - some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
This is quite a vivid description. Pierced here literally means to be impaled by. This is no joke. Their love for money has impaled them. They have wondered from the faith. It is clear that their heart was not for the true Master - namely Jesus Christ. It is instead for money. As we already mentioned - you cannot serve both God and money (Matthew 6:24).
I pray that each of us takes this warning seriously. Christ is clear. He will not share His throne with anything or anyone else.
Scripture References: Philippians 4:11-13, James 1:17, 2 Corinthians 9:11, Exodus 20:4, Matthew 6:24
Conclusion
As we come to a close, we have covered some tough subjects today. These 10 verses have taught us the importance of our working for the glory of God. We have been charged to withstand those who malign the grace of God and reject His Word. And we have been charged to worship God alone and not money or anything else.
In your handout, I have provided some practical ways to prevent the idolatry of money. I would highly suggest praying through those. I would also highly suggest you coming to Brother Jim’s study on Biblical finance starting in June!
My friends, may we live godly lives empowered by Christ. And may we live content in Christ. May we be content with His provisions, our work, His commands and Word, and may we worship Him alone who is our Supreme Savior - the King of Kings - our Wonderful Counselor - and our Mighty God.
Some practical ways to prevent the idolatry of money:
1. Be generous
2. Budget - don’t spend money that you don’t have.
- It has been said that debt is mortgaging the future for the present.
- Try to avoid debt as much as possible.
- Be prayerful about how you spend God’s money. Remember that nothing is actually yours.
3. Praying for and waiting on making financial decisions - not impulse buying.
- Exercising self-control keeps money and things from controlling you.
Ecclesiastes 5:10 (ESV) - He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity.