1 Timothy: Session 11

Our discussion tonight has a tag line that I want us to keep in mind as we study the Scripture: Your Passion, your pursuit.

Jesus Himself brought this truth to the world in His Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 6:21 is where we find the quote, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

In this passage… Jesus is talking about storing up the right “treasure” - specifically treasures in heaven. And in order to do that, our heart must pursue the right passions.

We will pursue what we are passionate about. We will follow what takes highest priority in our heart. And this truth… this idea that your passion will determine your pursuit is at the heart of 1 Timothy 6.

This chapter hits on our pursuits. This chapter brings the book to a close with a challenge to our hearts: What is it that you pursue? Who is it that you serve?

The NIV breaks the chapter down into three segments but all have the same underlying theme. And It is a proper ending for this book. Let’s recap a moment.

What was the initial instruction given from Paul to Timothy in chapter 1? 1 Tim 1:3 ...stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer 4 or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith.

What was the goal of this instruction? 1 Tim 1:5 The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

Guide people to love (God) with love (good conscience and sincere faith). Our love for others is an extension of God’s love to us.

Leading people back to love with love requires more than just practical (nuts and bolts) teaching. Paul now takes Timothy back to the heart… a person will pursue their passion.

And in the case of chapter six… the passion is personal gain. The passion is self over selflessness and Paul gives clear warning against such.

In All Circumstances… Serve God First.

Section one of 1 Timothy 6 deals with a topic that might not go over well with our culture today… but when we look beyond the context we will find the timeless truth.

1 Timothy 6:1-2 reads, “All who are under the yoke of slavery should consider their masters worthy of full respect, so that God’s name and our teaching may not be slandered. 2 Those who have believing masters should not show them disrespect just because they are fellow believers. Instead, they should serve them even better because their masters are dear to them as fellow believers and are devoted to the welfare of their slaves.

First off… Paul is NOT condoning slavery in this passage. But slavery did exist in his day and it is interesting where the Spirit leads him to go with this teaching.

Paul speaks to the slaves… “under the yoke” and he instructs them to show full respect to their masters. To be clear… Paul s speaking to the slaves that BELIEVE IN CHRIST AS LORD AND SAVIOR. Even in slavery… they are to shine the light of Christ.

Now… I struggle to think of any situation in life that is worse than being a salve… yet even then, Paul says believers are to be… CHRIST-LIKE!

Why? Because a believing slave STILL CARRIES THE NAME OF THE LORD wherever he/she goes! AND… if their master is a fellow believer, they should extend even MORE respect as they were “devoted to the welfare of their slaves.”

Slavery in this day was different than we know it. It was a financial agreement… if you will. If a person did not have the means to pay back a debt, they could become a slave to the one they owed the debt to. Again, Paul is not condoning or placing a stamp on approval for slavery, he simply instructs (in this case) the believing slave in how he/she should conduct themselves.

Moving back to the central point tonight, your passion your pursuit, Paul makes clear that even believing slaves ought to serve God first above their own interests.

What kind of interests might a slave have?

Freedom, revolt, debt forgiven, “master” of their own domain, etc. Yet Paul says to the slave let your actions bring glory to God’s name. May your passion be God… and your pursuit be His glory.

Choose Gain Over Grief

But before this choice can be made, we need to have a CLEAR understanding by what is meant by gain. Paul lays this out in the next section.

1 Timothy 6:3-10 reads, “3 If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, 4 they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions 5 and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain. 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.

Verse 5 and 6 is where Paul brings some clarification

He begins with what gain IS NOT. People “robbed” of the truth believe godliness is the avenue to financial gain. This is interesting. Financial gain becomes the driving force instead of glorifying God. The metric to measure one’s godliness is how much money is in their account. Thus, the incorrect talk and motives surface as their aim to gain is slightly… off.

Verse 6 highlights what gain… GREAT gain… IS. Godliness + contentment = great gain. Note there is NO MENTION of monetary wealth here. A life with God + a content heart is THE GAIN. This is a life NOT MANAGED by what earthly resource we have. It is a life governed by FAITH ALONE. It is GAIN as the system of the world is no longer what drives the person.

As believers… we’ve got to look at what it means to “gain” from a biblical perspective.

Everything around us tells us that gain is more stuff, more money, more house, more car, more pretty, more social media likes, more happiness, more, more, more, more. The Bible tells us something different. It basically says this, “When you’ve got God, what more could you possibly want?”

Now, let’s look at the grief side of this thing for a moment. What grief is Paul speaking of here?

What the world counts as gain… really is a path that brings a person grief. The more effort a person places in trying to “gain” more… the more grief that person puts themselves through.

How much trial, toil, stress, work, etc, might a person go through in order to gain the whole world? Could it go so far as to cost them their soul? Jesus said in Mark 8:6 that there is NO PROFIT IN THIS! In other words… this is not a gain at all but a TOTAL LOSS!

And at the heart of this “grief” is the love of money - a love that prompts all kinds of evil.

Money in and of itself is not evil. Having money does not make you evil. The real question is… is a person in control of their money or does that money have control of their heart?

Paul gives the answer to the problem in 1 Timothy 6:17-19. “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. 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

PUT YOUR HOPE IN GOD AND NOTHING ELSE. Your passion, your pursuit. Paul laid out how, if not kept in check, an incorrect passion for gain can actually bring loss to our lives. He then finishes out this letter to Timothy with one final note.

Pursue, Fight, Take Hold of

Paul gives Timothy some powerful closing words. 1 Timothy 6:11-16; 20-21 “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. (20) Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, 21 which some have professed and in so doing have departed from the faith. Grace be with you all.

We “flee” from the wrong of this world as we pursue the righteousness of God. We “flee” from the wrong fight as we choose to fight the good fight of faith. We “flee” from taking on the pattern of this world as we take hold of eternal life.

Our pursuit reveals our passion as our passion defines our pursuit. IF God is our passion… if God is our treasure… if God is our gain… our pursuit will give the testimony.

Lay down what is false… what brings grief to your heart, and pursue the One that gave it all so we could gain it all!