1 Timothy 6:17-21
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 695 viewsNotes
Transcript
Why Expository Preaching?
Why Expository Preaching?
1. It is the method least likely to stray from Scripture.
2. It teaches people how to read their Bibles.
Overview of 1 Timothy
Overview of 1 Timothy
3. It gives confidence to the preacher and authorizes the sermon. If you are faithful to the text, you are certain your message is God’s message.
4. It meets the need for relevance without letting the clamor for relevance dictate the message.
5. It forces the preacher to handle the tough questions and ensures less traveled areas of the Bible are covered. You start working through text after text, and soon you hit passages on divorce, on homosexuality, on women in ministry, and you have to deal with the text.
6. It enables the preacher to expound systematically the whole counsel of God.
Overview of 1 Timothy
Overview of 1 Timothy
These are Paul’s last words of this letter to Timothy.
He will write to him again, and much of what we find in 2 Timothy is a lot of the same themes.
One difference you will find between 1 and 2 Timothy is that 2 Timothy is much more personal.
1 Timothy is dealing with the leadership structure of the church of Ephesus, the problem going on in the church.
In 1 Timothy, we have dealt with many themes.
The need for sound doctrine.
The need to fight against false doctrine.
The need for prayer.
The role of women in the church.
the role of men in the church.
The qualifications of overseer and deacon
The results of false doctrine and false teaching.
How Timothy is is supposed to approach each type of person in the church.
How the church is to approach elders.
In chapter 6, so far We have dealt with the character of leadership and the man of God.
Today we will look at two things:
Living for the right things.
Guarding from the wrong things.
Living for the Right things.
Living for the Right things.
Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.
In verse 17, Paul is talking to people already rich.
Its not that they are trying to become wealthy.
They are wealthy.
From the get go, lets be clear, Paul is not and does condemn wealth or being wealthy.
Being wealthy is not a sin.
This is not a poverty Gospel that preaches that you have to be poor to please God.
BUT. Paul does say in verse 10 of this same chapter.
For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Its not having money and heaving things and having wealth that is the problem. The problem lies when money and things and wealth come to occupy the place in your heart that only God deserves.
That is when we have a problem. It is then when money and things and wealth become the focus of our attention rather than the things of God.
In fact it is these things that Paul warns Timothy to flee earlier in this chapter.
Back to verse 17
Instruct those who are rich.
This implies that there are and will be wealthy people in the church of Ephesus.
I want to take a minute here and just speak a reality to you. “Those who are rich” probably applies to most if not all of us here. As Americans, we are some of the richest people on earth. Doesn’t mean all Americans are, but the majority are.
I’ve been to third world countries where children drink out of the ditch and come running when they see you and beg for food.
We have a lot compared to the world. Just so we are clear, verse 17 should be rightly applied to us.
You may not feel rich because you are comparing yourself to those around you who may have more, but you are rich in comparison to others in this world.
Paul is telling Timothy to instruct the rich.
But before we get to the instructions, look at the words that follow those who are rich.
In this present world.
Rich, in this present world.
I’ve been o third world countries. We have a lot compared to the world.
In other words, the wealth that we have here does not translate to the next world or to the next life.
It does not go with us. Wherever we go (hell or heaven), it does not go with us.
The wealth that we accumulate here is only temporary and only good for here.
Monopoly money only works in monopoly.
Try taking that orange 500 dollar bill to Walmart next time and buy groceries with it.
In the same way, the money we play with here, serves us no good in the future.
It is merely in this present world that our money works, but that does not mean that it does not matter what we do with it.
It most certainly does matter what we do with it, because what happens in this present world matters in light of eternity.
So with that in mind what are the instructions:
Do not be conceited.
Conceited meaning here prideful or haughty with regard to our wealth.
We tend to measure ourselves and others by how much we have. You may think at this point. No I don’t do that. But I want to expose this real quick.
When we ask the question: How much is he or she worth? What their net worth? What are we referencing?
How much money they have in cash and assets. As if someone’s worth and value really is determined by how many dollars they have.
Paul is warning the rich here to avoid this type of worldly estimation of worth and value.
Someone who is rich may have the tendency to think that because their bank account has more in it that they are somehow more valuable or worth more.
Paul is reminding them that is a worldly way of thinking.
Ultimately, its conceit, pride, and sinfulness that causes us to think that way.
For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?
Your money is not your worth.
Do not fix your hope on the uncertainty of riches.
We have this tendency as well.
The wealthier we become the more dependent we become on our wealth.
But theres some key words here.
Uncertainty of riches
Your riches are not guaranteed.
I don’t care if your bank is FDIC
Riches are uncertain in this world. It can be here today and gone tomorrow.
This is a real temptation for rich people. Its a real battle. Its hard for us to see the need for us to be dependent. We are spoiled. We think take care of ourselves.
If we don’t like this food, we will go get something else. If something comes up and I need to spend money, not to worry. I’ll just make more by working more.
We are just fine. We think. But riches are uncertain. To depend on something uncertain is foolish.
Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure!
Your money is not your worth. Your money is not your hope.
Our hope is in God.
Who richly supplies us with all things.
God is the provider and blesser.
He is the giver of every good gift. if anyone has anything in this life, it is because God in His grace has given it.
For us, with the gift, comes obligation and responsibility. Look in verses 18-19.
Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.
Here are the instructions for those with riches.
Do good.
Be rich in good works.
Be generous.
Ready to share.
I truly believe that the mark of a true believer is generosity. I believe that because a true believer understands his utter dependance upon God for all that he has.
A true believer knows that his salvation, his life, his money is all actually a gift from God.
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
It is by God’s grace that any of us are saved.
It took God giving himself to us. He sent his son, born of a virgin, perfect in life, obedient to death. He raised him to life again for us.
And in salvation we have not been given what we deserve but what we do no deserve.
How could a genuine believer of that message withhold anything from the God who has saved.
Also, a true believer has submitted his life to the Lordship of Christ, which means they take seriously the Lord’s commands.
They take seriously the work of God in this world.
According to verse 18 Genuine believers are open handed because they realize they serve and open handed God.
Let me ask you this morning: Do you give with an open hand?
Do you give at all?
Paul here is commanding generous giving. He doesn’t put a percentage on it. In the Old Testament, we find the idea of a tithe or a tenth. In the New Testament, we don’t find a percentage, but we are taught to give generously and I believe we are to give according to how he has blessed us.
With that in mind, 10% doesn’t seem like it should be ceiling, but the floor from which we work up.
I genuinely believe that true believers will have no problem giving and being generous because they know just how generous God has been to them.
A lot of pastors take a month a year to preach on giving.
Its not necessarily a bad thing.
Y’all know me. I don’t preach topically. I think this is one of the first sermons I’ve even mentioned giving to this extent. We’ve touched on it, but I just believe that people who have been given much will give much.
With that in mind, evaluate your giving, and recognize that it does matter how you give. Look at verse 19
storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.
1 Timothy
The treasure that we should be longing for and living for is the treasure in the future.
Our money is temporary here, but we can use it for the good of the future.
Paul says that is true life.
Take hold of that which is life indeed.
I believe one of the greatest joys of heaven will be meeting people who maybe we have never met but have been supported by our generous giving.
Verse 17-19, Paul wants the rich to live for the right things.
He will end this book with a familiar reminder.
Guard against the wrong things.
Guard against the wrong things.
O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called “knowledge”— which some have professed and thus gone astray from the faith. Grace be with you.
1 timothy
Guard what has been entrusted to you.
This has been the main feature of this book and its only proper that he would end it this way.
Guard what has been given to you.
Avoid worldly and empty chatter and he give the warning of what happens when people go in that direction.
Timothy, you guard it. Protect it.
We accomplish that in a number of ways:
Trust the Word of God is true
Obeying the Word of God.
Loving God’s word.
Preaching God’s Word.
Living God’s Word.
Studying God’s Word.
Defending God’s Word.
“The most important yardstick by which a church can be measured is not how large it is, how good it’s fellowship is, or how interesting the pastor is. It is not how good the music is, how will the grounds are kept up, or how well respected it is in the community. The most important measure of any church is how it handles the word of God. Whether or not they teach and live out divine truth is the key issue, because the church’s responsibility before God is to guard and proclaim the truth of Scripture. Consequently, the most severe crime against God is to miss handle his revelation, thus portraying a false idolatrous image of him to the world.”
John Macarthur
If there’s one theme of 1 Timothy, its stay true to God’s Word.
Living for the right things.
Guarding against the wrong things.
Let me pray for you.