Faith of our fathers, 2 Timothy 1: 1-7

Paul writes this second letter to his son in the faith, Timothy.  He says in vs2, “to Timothy my beloved son.” Paul was Timothy’s spiritual father.  Timothy’s natural father had died early in his life, from what we understand from scripture. His mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois raised him, presumably without a father figure in his life until the apostle Paul came on the scene. And at that point, Paul became his spiritual father, possibly leading Timothy to the Lord.

Paul went on to mentor Timothy as a disciple in the faith, and then later as a brother in arms so to speak, as he took Timothy into ministry with him on various missionary journeys, traveling together to all parts of the Roman Empire. Now as Paul is much older and Timothy is about 32 years of age or so, he writes to him as one who will be his successor, carrying on Paul’s ministry of overseeing the churches that they had planted together.

It must have been a bittersweet experience for Paul, recognizing the maturity of Timothy on the one hand, and being proud of his spiritual son, and on the other hand realizing the inevitableness of their separation, and soon his own execution, which meant that he probably would not see Timothy again on this side of heaven.  In the first letter to Timothy, Paul had been released from prison, and he was able to travel again and minister freely.  But when this letter is written, he is by all accounts in a Roman prison, not much more than a hole in the ground  with a metal grate above from which food and water is let down to him.  And it seems certain that he recognizes that this time he is not going to get out there alive.  This time his imprisonment will certainly conclude by execution from the court of the Emperor Nero.

So considering their relationship, it seems odd that Paul begins his letter by emphasizing his apostleship.  It would be like me writing a letter to my daughter in California and saying, Roy Harrell,  pastor of the Beach Fellowship, to my daughter Rachel, greetings!”  She would probably think that something was wrong with me if I used that kind of introduction.

The only explanation, of course, for Paul writing this way, was that it was going to be read as scripture in the churches, and also he wanted to emphasize his apostleship, so that it might be received in the context of his apostolic commission to establish the doctrine of the church. Notice that his apostleship was of Christ Jesus.  That means he is a witness to the resurrected Christ. He is sent as an apostle to the Genties by Christ, which is the will of God.

This apostleship is in accordance with the promise of life in Christ Jesus.  In other words, there could be no apostleship without the promise of life in Christ Jesus. This is the promise given by Jesus to those who believed in Him, that they would be given life.  Jesus said I came that they might have life, and have it more abundantly.  He said “I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father except by Me.”  Jesus said “I give eternal life to them, and no one shall snatch them out of My hand.”  This life that Jesus speaks of is spiritual life, which is eternal, which is real life, which is life indeed.  It is life that transcends the physical existence.

This life is salvation.  This life in Christ is Christianity, the Christian life. It is a new way of living, a new way of thinking, a new perspective, a new heart, new desires, new outlook. This life requires a new birth.  Jesus said to Nicodemus, “you must be born again.”  John 3:3, 5-6  Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." ... 5 Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

And it’s fitting that Paul would mention the promise of this life, this indestructible life, when he is considering the certainty of his own death. Therefore 2 Timothy is not only the last letter we have from Paul, but there is a note of urgency and passion as we might expect from a man who knew he would soon be executed. And it’s a testament to Paul’s faith in his life in Christ, that in spite of his own impending death, he is able to bless Timothy and express thanksgiving for Timothy’s  life of faith. He says in vs 2, “Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.” 

I think it was the great 19th century pastor Charles Haddon Spurgeon who noticed that when Paul wrote to the churches in general in all of his other epistles, he wrote the greeting “Grace and peace.”  But when he wrote what are called the pastoral epistles, the letters he wrote to pastors, such as 1 Tim. 2 Tim., and Titus,  Paul includes “Grace, mercy and peace.” He went on to say that pastors need more mercy than most people. ““Did you ever notice this one thing about Christian ministers, that they need even more mercy than other people? Although everybody needs mercy, ministers need it more than anybody else; and so we do, for if we are not faithful, we shall be greater sinners even than our hearers, and it needs much grace for us always to be faithful, and much mercy will be required to cover our shortcomings.”

I told the group that came out on Wednesday evening to our bonfire Bible study that I had recently found some old cassette tapes of my Dad’s preaching.  My dad died over 30 years ago now. These tapes were probably made back in the late 70’s and preached in country churches in eastern North Carolina.  I hadn’t heard them for over 30 years, and now that I’m a pastor, I listened to them a lot more critically than I had before. And I was struck by a few things as I listened to my dad.  First, I would have recognized his voice anywhere.  But unfortunately, he wasn’t speaking to me as his son, he was speaking as a preacher.  And in those days, in that culture, preaching had a particular style that was definitely of that era and of that region, and of that particular brand of church.

I must confess it was a little hard to listen to in some respects. I guess there is no greater critic than those of your own family.  But I will say this about my dad.  He was faithful to the Lord.  He was faithful to scripture.  He may not have understood every doctrine perfectly, he may not have been the greatest orator.  But I believe that the Lord counted him faithful.  I said last week that when my Dad died, he did not look like a winner from the world’s perspective.  He was living in subsidized housing.  He had no family nearby.  My mother had divorced him.  His health was ruined.  And he died at the same age I am now. But I believe that in the sight of the Lord, he kept the faith, he fought the good fight, he finished the course. And I believe the Lord will reward him on that day. And I will add this, the testimony of the faithfulness of his life is my faith today. I have the same faith as my father.  I may not preach the way he preached, I may not understand all doctrines the same way he understood them.  But the fundamental faith of my father is the same faith that I have.

Paul didn’t look like a winner to the world either.  His enemies were rejoicing that he was in prison.  They had followed him all over the Roman Empire trying to undermine his ministry, discredit his apostleship, and malign his character.  And now he was rotting in a Roman prison, cold, hungry, hurting, and he says later in this letter that everyone had deserted him except Luke. And he urged Timothy to come soon, and bring his winter coat and the parchments, that would have been the scriptures.  We don’t know that Timothy ever got there in time. It’s doubtful. But the triumph of Paul’s faith was the enduring faith of Timothy.  It was the faith that he passed on to Timothy, that he instilled in Timothy, the faith that would endure even after his departure.

And in turn Paul speaks about the faith of his forefathers that had been passed on to him in vs 3, “I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience the way my forefathers did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day…”   Paul had a clear conscience in regards to his ministry. Though he was convicted by the Roman courts as a criminal, he knew that he had served God faithfully and fully.  Though he would be sentenced to death by the world’s court, he would be granted life by God’s court.

But what’s interesting is that he references the faith of his forefathers.  That is a reference to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses,  Elijah, and other men of old, Israelites who believed in God, and it was counted to them as righteousness.  Not men who kept every commandment perfectly, but who were given righteousness by God as a gift of His grace, in exchange for their faith.  Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness.  The OT saints were saved the same way we are saved; they were saved by faith.

And so the examples of faith that we read about in scripture should be examples for us to follow, to emulate, that give us encouragement.  They were men with similar passions such as we have.  They were flesh and blood like us.  They were sometimes weak, sometimes timid, sometimes doubtful, but they persevered in faith, and they were counted as faithful, and as such they were granted the righteousness of Christ. The faith of our fathers should encourage us, it should strengthen us, and give us hope that we can also persevere in faith.

But notice that a key to Timothy persevering in faith is the fact that Paul prayed for him constantly night and day.  Do you think that is merely hyperbole on Paul’s part?  Do you think he really is praying constantly night and day for Timothy?  I can assume from my own experience in praying for my kids that perhaps Paul puts night before day because nighttime is a time when I really pray for my kids.  In the middle of the night I seem to wake up and lay there and the thoughts concerning my kids come unbidden in the darkness, and I have no other recourse but to pray.  At three in the morning here it’s midnight in California, and I start to wonder whether or not they are safe in their beds are running around somewhere in California and I really begin to pray in earnest.

I can’t over emphasize the importance of your prayers in the life of your children. I don’t know how it works, I don’t often see evidence of my prayers working, but I believe that our prayers can change the trajectory of our children’s lives.  I believe God protects them according to our prayers. I believe God hears our prayers, and answers our prayers,  especially the prayers of a parent in the middle of the night. I often think in that regard of Jesus, who in the middle of the night before he was arrested and crucified, asked the disciples to pray with Him for just one hour.  Do you think their prayers were necessary?  Do you think their prayers helped? It’s hard for us to understand how it works, or what purpose there was to their prayers, but nevertheless, Jesus wanted them to pray for an hour.  Have you ever prayed for your kids for one solid hour?  Maybe you should.

Paul said to Timothy that he was “longing to see you, even as I recall your tears, so that I may be filled with joy.”  Undoubtedly, Timothy had learned or was possibly even there when Paul was taken prisoner, or at the least, had wept when Paul had departed from him the last time, perhaps knowing that this might be the last time  they would be together.  Timothy had a genuine love for Paul that I think was like  the love a man has for his father.  I know in my life there was nothing that rocked me to the core like losing my father.  I had anticipated it for years because of his bad health, but when it happened it tore me up.  I would have done anything for just one more day with him.

And Paul as well longs to see Timothy one more time.  The memory of Timothy’s tears probably made it especially hard for him.  But ultimately, he knows and is assured of Timothy’s faith, and the fact that one day they will be reunited again in heaven.

He says in vs5 “For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that [it is] in you as well.” I don’t know if we can be sure that Paul led Timothy to the Lord, or his mother Eunice did, or perhaps his grandmother Lois. But one thing is for sure, his mother and grandmother played a major part in his coming to faith.

In chapter 3:14 Paul says to Timothy, “You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned [them,]  and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”  How could Timothy know the sacred writings, the scriptures from childhood unless his mother and grandmother had not read to him and taught him the word of God when he was a little boy.

Listen folks, as a parent or a grandparent you have no greater responsibility than to raise up your children in the nurture and admonition of the word.  You have no greater responsibility than to bring your children with you to church.  I am just flabbergasted when I hear  parents or grandparents say that they can’t come to church the next week because their grandchildren are visiting with them. That’s your opportunity to live out your faith before them as an example.  That’s your opportunity to share the scriptures with them which are able to give them the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 

Perhaps some of you think that because the church doesn’t have a children’s program they won’t be able to understand or relate to what’s going on.  Nothing could be further from the truth. Timothy learned the scriptures from childhood. And the scriptures gave him the wisdom that lead him to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.  Jesus said in Mark 10:15  "Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it [at all.]” So childlike faith is what is required for salvation.

We had a young family come to our bonfire Bible study the other night and they have two boys, one 7 and the other about 12.  And I was surprised when I talked to them the next day that they said they had really enjoyed the Bible study.  I was surprised because we didn’t have anything special for the kids.  And we were studying Malachi.  A few weeks earlier we had studied Jonah and I could maybe see how kids might enjoy the story of Jonah.  But not Malachi.  And the littlest one, Solomon was his name.   He was so smart, he was telling me all the things that I had said, or at least what he thought I had said.  But he was pretty much on track.  I doubt many adults had understood much more than he did.  But you know, it’s the Holy Spirit who teaches us from the word.  And so the Lord is able to give them enough understanding.  But what is probably the greatest lesson that children get from church is seeing the faith of their father and mother as they participate in church.  They may learn more from watching their parents than they do from hearing the pastor preach a sermon.

On the basis then of the faith that Timothy’s mother and grandmother had established in him, Paul says in vs 6, “For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.”  Now most commentators seem to agree that the gift which Paul refers to here is the gift of ministry as the apostle’s representative to the churches. And the reference to Paul laying on of hands on Timothy Is more than likely a reference to that.

But I think it could also be the gift of faith that Paul is referring to. He is saying, rekindle the gift of God which is in you.  That is very possibly the gift of faith. Ephesians 2:8 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, [it is] the gift of God.”  What is a gift?  Salvation or faith? I would say that both are a gift of God. Because faith is salvation. And God is the initiator of our faith.  1 Cor. 12 which lists the gifts of the Spirit includes in that list “faith.”  So faith is a gift.  And I can tell you from experience that faith needs to be stirred up from time to time.

Peter had this to say to the church in 2Pe 1:13-14 “I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder,  knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.”

I would suggest that all of us need our faith to be stirred up now and again. That’s one of the main reasons we need to be under sound preaching of the word.  We need to be refreshed once in a while.  It’s possible for our love to grow cold.  It’s possible for our spiritual fire to start to wane, to flicker and come close to going out.  I would suggest that some of you have left your first love and gone back to the things of the world and have allowed the things of the world to draw your focus off of the things of the Lord. Folks, I urge you to rekindle the gift which has been given to you.  Let us be able to say like Paul, I have kept the faith, I have finished the course, I have fought a good fight.  That we persevered to the end.  That we might leave a legacy of faith for our family to emulate as they carry on in our absence.

So to that need to be stirred up, to kindle afresh the gift of faith within you, Paul adds in vs 7, “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.”  Our faith is not something to be timid about, to be kept in a closet.  Our faith is not something we are to hide under a bushel basket.  Our faith is not some private, personal thing that we do not share with others. But our faith is the source of power.  This word power in the Greek is dynamis.  It’s the word we get our word dynamite from.

It’s the same word used in Romans 1:16 where Paul says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”  Faith is the means by which we tap into the power of God, by which we believe in the promises of God, so that we might even move mountains.  So that we might be able to do that which seems impossible.  Timothy needs to be rekindled in his faith so that he might be able to proclaim the gospel in the power of God.  The power of God is able to be brought to bear on our situation, because we pray in faith, we persevere in faith, and we act in faith.  The power of faith is a tremendous power.  Not faith in faith, but faith in God and in His word, His promises. By faith we receive the Spirit of God, by whom we have the power of Christ in us.

Then Paul says our faith produces love.  Love is not a feeling.  A lot of people think that faith is a feeling.  Faith may be joined to feelings, whether they be good feelings or not remains to be seen.  But faith in and of itself is not feeling, it’s believing in the truth, and then acting upon the truth.  And the truth of the gospel is God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  And then through faith we love Him because He first loved us.  And through faith we love one another because He loves us.  And through faith we love even our enemies.  But love is not a feeling, it’s obedience.  It’s obedience to the Lord’s commands.  If we love our neighbor, then we will certainly share the gospel with our neighbor that they might escape the condemnation of death and be saved. 

1 Cor. 13 says, “if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.”  So true faith produces love, and love is considering the needs of others as more important than your own.  The world is lost and dying and without hope, and we have the answer.  If you love as Christ loved us, then we must tell the world of the hope of life that comes through Jesus Christ. 

Last thing Paul says faith produces is discipline, or sound judgment, or a sound mind.  I have quoted this verse a thousand times to soothe a person or even my own mind in times of distress, emotional upheaval, and things like anxiety attacks or depression.  And the translation “a sound mind” certainly helps us to see that application.  But I must confess that I don’t think the definition of a sound mind means a peaceful mind. Though peace should be the result of a sound mind.  But the word in the Greek is “sōphronismos”. (so-fron-is-mos’)

“Sōphronismos” means discipline, or self control.  Faith then produces power, love and self control. In other words, through faith I have power over sinful impulses. Through faith I have power over temptation. Through faith I have power over the lusts of the flesh.  But my faith needs to be stirred up.  I need to be reminded of the faith of my fathers.  I need to remember their steadfastness, their devotion to the Lord regardless of their circumstances, regardless of their temptations.  I need to be reminded of the Lord’s love for me, and His sacrifice on my behalf that I might be considered righteous before God. 

Self control by the way is a fruit of the spirit that is listed in Galatians 5:23. We don’t hear a lot about it because it’s not as glamorous or exciting as some of the other gifts. But self control is something we achieve by faith, especially by a faith that is stirred up, because we know that God’s way is better than man’s ways.  We can trust God’s plan, and so we don’t have to feel like we need to give in to our lusts, or our sinful desires.  But it also means trusting in God’s word as being true, and recognizing the lies of the devil and the lies of the world.  That’s self control, that’s sound judgment, and that produces a sound mind.  A mind that is set on the right course by the word of God, that as a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;  but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all [aspects] into Him who is the head, [even] Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.”

The bottom line is that the faith of our fathers is one which we pass on to others, which is a mature faith, which is not timid, but is a faith that produces power, faith and love.  I trust that you will rekindle the faith within yourselves, that you might be able to say with Paul, 2Tim. 4:7-8 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;  in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”

Storing up treasure, 1 Timothy 6:17-21

Many years ago, before I was called into ministry, I used to be an antique dealer.  I used to try to explain my work as an antique dealer to people as being very much like a treasure hunter. There was a great allure in looking for treasures, whether in a flea market, or auction house, or someone’s attic.  Occasionally, I would find something I used to refer to as a “national treasure.”  That may have been an exaggeration, but not always.  And when it really paid off financially, I said that I had hit a home run.

I guess everyone can relate to a certain degree with the idea of treasure. Some form of riches or wealth makes us feel tremendous.  That’s the appeal of a new car.  Even though 99% of the people passing you on the road don’t know who you are, and will probably never see you again, it makes you feel really good to think that they admire your new car, and by extension, they admire you.  I suppose that’s the appeal of new clothes, or expensive clothes.  Wearing that shirt or outfit that has that expensive label makes you feel more confident, more appealing, more attractive.  

Paul is wrapping up the end of his letter to Timothy, in which he has been giving a lot of instructions on how the church is to conduct itself.  And included in that are a lot of instructions about the way to use money, or the danger of money’s allure.  It’s not that money in and of itself is evil.  But what is a potential problem for the believer is that money or wealth or earthly treasure becomes an idol in our lives. Paul said earlier in this chapter that the love of money is a root of evil. It’s being seduced by the allure of what the world treasures, the materialism, the bank balance, the investments you have made, and even the addiction to chasing the latest fashion or the latest technology or automobile or boat.  

When Paul talks about being rich in this present world, he is including all those things which the natural man values.  All the comforts, the financial independence, the desire for the world’s goods which we think will make our lives more enjoyable, more successful, more rewarding. And so he warns against focusing our attention on gaining more and more of the world’s riches.  He warns against the very seductive way that the world appeals to us and draws us after the materialism of the world, and away from pure devotion to the Lord. 

 So just to make it clear from the outset, when Paul warns against being captivated by the riches of this present world, he is talking about the things that the world values and calls success.  It’s not a warning that is given just to millionaires.  But it’s something that we all suffer from.  And that is an attraction and desire for the things of this world, that we believe will bring us happiness and enjoyment in life.

He closes this last section of his letter then by speaking of two things that we should treasure, that we have been given to be good stewards of. And these treasures are not simply worldly treasures, but heavenly treasures.  In other words, these treasures will go with you into eternity where you will live forever.  They will provide for you in eternity.  Earthly treasures will remain behind when you die.  As Paul said back in vs 7 “For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either.”  The treasures we accumulate here on earth we will leave on earth, when we pass out of this life into the next. But what Paul wants to assure us of is that if we are good stewards on earth of what we have been entrusted with, it will store up for us treasure in heaven.

So notice vs 17, as he speaks of the first kind of treasure.  1Tim.  6:17-19 “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.”

So first we recognize that he is speaking to everyone of us. All of us are rich in this present world. We all have an attraction to the riches of this world, and to some extent, we have a desire to accumulate more of those riches. We may not call them riches, we may call them living expenses.  But we spend the majority of our time and resources acquiring things that we think will make our lives comfortable, enjoyable and successful.

The second thing we should recognize is that Paul is warning against allowing that self interest, desire for self gratification, to unduly influence your life.  Our goal in life as Christians should not be that whoever dies with the most toys wins, or whoever has the biggest bank account wins. My translation interprets Paul’s denunciation as being conceited. It’s taking pride in what you have, or how much you have. That’s pride, and pride is sinful.  Pride was the original sin.  It was the sin of Lucifer before he fell from heaven. Money may be A root of evil, but I would suggest that pride is THE root of all evil.

And when you have an abundance of the world’s riches, you feel pride, you are conceited, and as such you cannot love others as much as you love yourself. Jesus said you should love your neighbor as yourself.  But being conceited means you just love yourself. Riches, in whatever shape or form they may take, causes a person to feel they are somehow better than others.  I think some Christians think they are more deserving than other people because they have a better work ethic, or they think they are smarter, or they are more of an upstanding citizen than others. But the fact is that none of us deserve God’s grace. 

And furthermore, we need to make sure that we don’t confuse God’s grace, or God’s blessing, with acquiring the world’s riches.  Christians have a bad habit of referring to a raise, or a new car, or a new house, or some financial windfall, as “God blessed me.”  If you are truly saved, then God has indeed blessed you.  But the eternal, spiritual blessings He has given you are not to be confused with the mammon of this world.  He may have entrusted riches to you. But if so, that is for you to use for the glory of God, not for your own glory.

So the third warning in this section is don’t put your hope in the riches of this world.  Paul calls it the uncertainty of riches.  What that refers to is the unreliability of riches. I’m not very well versed in the financial markets, but I do try to read the business news occasionally.  And I know that if you invested your money in certain crypto currencies, there was a time not that long ago when you might have seen that investment dramatically increase.  But if you continued to hold onto it, today you are looking at a fraction of what it was worth a few months ago.  And a lot of earthly riches are like that.  They are unreliable.  Our money is not worth today what it was a decade ago.  The housing market goes up, and then it goes down.  The same with the stock market.  And one things for sure; no amount of money can buy good health. But the most unreliable thing about riches is that it’s only temporary. You certainly can’t rely upon your riches in eternity.  The world’s currency will not spend in heaven or in hell.

Instead, Paul says to fix our hope on God. Now God we can depend upon.  We can depend upon His promises.  We can depend upon His word.  We can depend upon His faithfulness. 2Tim. 2:13  “If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.”  We can confidently put our hope in Jesus Christ, because He lives forever, and He never changes.  Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ [is] the same yesterday and today and forever.”  

Paul says we can hope in God because He richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Not only is God rich, but He provides according to His riches in glory. Phl. 4:19 says, “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”  Now to be fair, the context of that verse is in relation to the Philippian’s sacrificial giving. God would provide the means by which they would be able to give sacrificially. So this is not a verse to be taken out of context and used as a pretext to say that God wants you to have a new Cadillac.

What are the riches of God’s glory then? What does that refer to? A description of what are the riches of His glory might be found in Eph 3:16-19 which says “that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,  so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; [and] that you, being rooted and grounded in love,  may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,  and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.”

So then the riches of HIs glory is the fullness of the Spirit of Christ in you. That Christ may dwell in your hearts, and that you may know the fullness of the love of Christ. That knowledge, that inner power, surpasses knowledge, surpasses worldly riches.  It is the riches of heaven which satisfies, which brings everlasting joy.  To know the love of God is to be far richer than any billionaire.  It is a treasure that is not only good for this life, but will still be of inestimable value in the next life.  In fact, it is the only way to appropriate eternal life.

And those riches that we have in Christ should overflow to others.  That’s the point of the second set of instructions Paul gives.  He says in vs 18, “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.”

So when Paul says God richly supplies us with all things to enjoy, and then he tells us in the next verse to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, do you suppose that what God richly supplies are the means by which we  share and do good works, to be generous, and that we are to enjoy doing these things?  I think so.  

Consider what he wrote to the Corinthian church in [2Co 9:7-8, 10-11 “Each one [must do] just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.  And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed; ... 10 Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness;  you will be enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God.”

So our good deeds, our generosity, should come out of a grateful heart to God, and it should be out of a heart of joy and not grudgingly.  Now we do this because our heart has been changed first of all.  Because we are being conformed to the image of Christ, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross so that we might receive salvation. But the added benefit of such generosity is that we store up for ourselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future.  What is he talking about?  He’s talking about our good works, our generosity, our sharing is in effect our 401k plan for eternity.

I don’t personally have a 401k plan in our church, but I have a little understanding I guess of how it works.  Typically, if you work for an employer like the US Government, you put some money from your paycheck every couple of weeks into your 401k and your employer matches that money.  On top of that, it’s tax free if you wait until you retire to take it out and in the meantime, it’s accumulating compound interest.  A lot of you have made a lot of money in your 401k.  And that can be a good thing as a means of saving for your retirement, I suppose. 

But I tell you what, having a heavenly 401k is a whole lot better. You do good works here on earth, and when you retire so to speak from this world, and go to the next, you find that God has multiplied and multiplied the interest on your account beyond what you can possibly imagine.  Our good works do not earn us a place in heaven, but our good works gain us an inheritance and a reward in heaven.

Jesus said in Mark 9:41  "For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name as [followers] of Christ, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward.”  We are constantly told in the scriptures that as Christians we are to receive an inheritance in heaven.  That there awaits us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison to the things of this world. So then if we truly believe that, we should joyfully look for opportunities to do good, to do good deeds, to be generous, to share, that we may lay up treasure in heaven.

So that being true, Paul says in regards to doing good that it results in “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.”  He is not saying that by doing good works you can earn eternal life, as if you can work your way into heaven.  But what he is saying is that you should invest in heaven.  Eternal life is life indeed.  We should be investing in that life, and concerned with storing up treasure in that life, not in this life which is temporary. 

Jesus said, in Mat 6:19-21 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;  for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Now closely related to the first treasure is the second treasure that we have been entrusted with. A treasure that we are to be good stewards of.  And that treasure is the gospel - the scriptures - which lead to eternal life.  Paul says regarding that treasure in vs 20-21 “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.”

We have talked about deposits we may make in heaven by our good deeds, now Paul speaks of a deposit that God has made to our account. It is as if God had made a deposit in Timothy’s bank. And he is given a command or charge to protect that deposit, to guard that treasure.  That treasure is simply the gospel, which includes all of scripture, which is the means by which we lay hold of that life which is life indeed.

In his next letter, in chapter 3, Paul speaks of the scripture being the means by which one is saved.  He says in 2Tim 3:14-17 “You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned [them,]  and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.  All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;  so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” Paul says, “You have known the sacred writings which are able to give you wisdom that leads to salvation through faith in Christ.”  Such a valuable treasure, and we are all given stewardship of it.

Years ago I worked in a 5 star hotel as a food and beverage manager.  And one of the positions that I hired and trained employees for was a wine steward.  They were the guys that were responsible for knowing all about the various wines on the menu, who took care of ordering and storing the wine at the proper temperature, and would open the wine at the table and serve it to the guests.  That gives us some idea of what a steward is.  He takes care of the scriptures, he knows all the qualities of the scriptures, what scriptures apply best to this situation and which to another.  And he is able to dispense the scriptures in the proper way, according to the correct interpretation and application.

We are all called to be Bible stewards.  To know it frontwards and backwards.  To make sure that it is being interpreted and taught correctly, and applied according to the right context. In the next letter, Paul will tell Timothy, in 2Tim. 2:15-16 “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.  But avoid worldly [and] empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness.”  Here at the end of 1 Timothy Paul speaks of that worldly and empty chatter that leads to ungodliness as “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.”

We see that even in many of the religious seminaries today, in a majority of the colleges and universities that claim to be Christian.  They have undermined the reliability of the word of God, the truth of God, by claiming a worldly knowledge that contradicts the truth of the scripture. We see that in many of the mainstream denominations that no longer hold to the authority and inerrancy and inspiration of scripture.  They claim that the scriptures were written by many different men over sometimes centuries, each adding or taking away from it over time until we cannot be certain who wrote it, when they wrote it, or how reliable it is.  They take the word of science over the word of God and say that the world was formed by an cosmic explosion and man and the animals evolved over millions of years.  And in many ways like that they undermine the authority of scripture, they detract from the inspiration of scripture, and they end up with a collection of worldly fables that are not to be taken literally and have very little benefit to anyone. It’s no wonder that there is a wholesale departure from the faith today in our culture.  Paul says those who have professed such false knowledge have gone astray from the faith.  They are unable to be saved, because the scriptures are the means by which we are saved, and the only way to know the truth of God.

So the scriptures are a national treasure which are of inestimable value, for it is the means by which we are able to know God, know HIs will, and know His salvation which gives eternal life, which is life indeed. Paul urges Timothy, and by extension, urges us, to guard this treasure which has been entrusted to you.  Proclaim this truth which provides the way to life.  Teach this truth which is able to lead us to a saving knowledge of God by faith in Jesus Christ. God’s word is forever settled in heaven.  It is eternal.  Jesus Christ is the manifestation of the Word of God, and knowing Him is the greatest treasure that we can have in this world or in the world to come.  

Paul ends this letter with “Grace be with you.”  God’s grace is the manifestation of Jesus Christ to be our Savior, and by faith in Him, we are given forgiveness of sins, the indwelling of the Spirit of Christ, and everlasting life.  Grace means gift.  Eph 2:8 says “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, [it is] the gift of God.”  That gift of God, that gift of the greatest treasure that the world will ever know, has been offered to you.  I pray that you will trust in Jesus Christ as  your Lord and Savior, that you might receive that which is life indeed. 

Keeping the faith, 1 Timothy 6:11-16

                             

If we have been born of God, or what is commonly referred to as born again, then we have become the children of God.  Paul addresses such a person here, speaking in an immediate context to Timothy, his child in the faith, and calling him a man of God. That’s a reference to the spiritual maturity that is expected and desired once a person has become born again as a child of God; they are matured into a man or woman of God.

Timothy has become a man of God, and he is a man of God in a deeper sense, as a spokesman of God, in the same vein as Moses was called a man of God, or Elisha was called a man of God. Timothy is a minister of the gospel as a sort of deputy apostle.  He is acting on behalf of the apostle Paul in setting up and establishing the churches in the region of Ephesus and selecting and instructing the pastors of those churches.  That was the role of an apostle.  They were the foundation of the church.  

And so in the immediate context Paul is writing to Timothy as a man of God in the position of a deputy apostle. But I believe it is entirely appropriate for us to see ourselves that are saved and mature in our faith as also men or women of God, and apply the same instructions that were given to Timothy to ourselves.  We may not have the same role as Timothy, but we all are given a role as ministers, and  we are even called priests of God.  Not all of us are called to be a pastor of a church, perhaps, but we are commissioned to be an ambassador of the gospel, going into our world to proclaim the gospel.

That role as a minister that we are given is described and prescribed for us by the apostle Peter, saying in 1Peter 2:9 “But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR [God's] OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”  That is our ministry, our priestly duty, to proclaim Christ, and to testify of the truth of the gospel.

So rather than interpreting this passage today as only relating to pastors, or just to men such as Timothy, we can reliably apply it to everyone that has come out from the darkness of sin and ignorance into the light of the truth of the gospel.  The man or woman of God is then instructed by Paul in this passage to conform to the doctrine of godliness, and to accomplish that to do four things; what they are to flee from, what they are to follow after, what they are to fight for, and what they are to be faithful to. 

Paul begins by saying what the man of God should flee from. Vs 11 “But flee from these things, you man of God….”  Now to find out what things he should flee from, we must go back to the preceding verses.  First we must flee from a different doctrine, not conforming to the doctrine of godliness.  This doctrine or teaching we should flee from is not sound.  It has no basis in scripture. This is simply the doctrine of worldliness. It’s mixing a little scripture with a lot of man’s wisdom and a mind set on the world.  It’s what he says later in vs 5 as a depraved mind and deprived of the truth. That’s a worldly mind.  It’s a doctrine that is not derived from the truth, but deprived of the truth.  You know, it doesn’t take much error to make what may have elements of truth, to not be the truth anymore.  A little leaven leavens the whole lump. So doctrinal purity, doctrinal truth is essential, and that man who eschews the truth of God for the truth according to man, is not wise.  We should flee that sort of doctrine.

Paul went on to say that sort of false doctrine produces bad attributes.  And those bad attributes are “he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.”

So bad doctrine produces conceit, and that conceit, that self interest, selfish concern, results in a lack of understanding of sound doctrine.  Instead they question the words of scripture to contrive a doctrine that appeals to their lusts of the flesh.  And such conceit produces selfishness that is evidenced by strife, envy, evil suspicions.  They want what seems best for themselves, to the point of disregarding the needs of others.

And that conceited attitude thinks that they can use the gospel, or their Christianity, to get more of the riches of this world. Paul goes on to talk about the love of money being a root of evil, and some longing for it have wandered away from the faith and caused themselves many griefs.  So Paul says flee from such things.  As mature men and women of God, we should flee those types of desires, flee the lusts of the flesh, flee the self conceit that produces such selfish, hateful behavior.

Instead, Paul says what the man of God should follow after, or pursue after. He gives us a list of different kind of behavior characterized by “righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.”  This is the exact opposite of the conceited, self interested behavior they should flee from.  This is selflessness, dying to the lusts of the world, and pursuing godliness, being of the same mind set as God.

That’s what Phl 2:3-8 talks about; “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;  do not [merely] look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.  Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,  who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,  but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, [and] being made in the likeness of men.  Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” 

That’s what we should follow after, the same attributes that Christ exhibited as an example for us, that we might follow in his footsteps.  Peter said in 1Peter 2:21 “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps.”  So as Christ was exemplary in these things, so we should pursue righteousness, be godly, or holy in our behavior, in our speech, remain faithful, love others with a sacrificial love, love them enough to share the gospel with them, to serve them. 

And that faith and love will be characterized by perseverance.  Perseverance in this sense I think is speaking of endurance. Endurance is an undervalued virtue in the church today. But endurance is sometimes all we can do when we go through various trials. Our faith is sometimes stretched to the breaking point.  It seems like everything is going wrong, that the devil is winning on every front.  When we go through  trials like that, James said, we should consider it as joy, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance, or perseverance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.”  Endurance is a character trait of the spiritually mature man or woman of God.  I can assure you that endurance or perseverance is not always fun, but James says we should count it as joy.  We endure it as a trial, but we count it as joy.  It is something that may bring weeping may last through the  long night of suffering, but a shout of joy in the morning when we see Jesus.

So we have seen what we should flee from, what we should follow after, and then Paul says what we should fight for.  Vs12 “Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” Bible scholars tell us that the Greek word in the original text is one that means contest, and the anguish and conflict that is concerned with it.  So from that, they surmise that what Paul has in mind here is not a race, which is a commonly used metaphor of Paul, but more likely a boxing match.

It’s kind of funny to think of faith as a fight isn’t it?  But it really is.  We are constantly in a conflict with lies, with doubt, with fear, with attacks of the devil, with heartaches, with disappointments. It’s a real struggle to maintain faith, to persevere in faith in the midst of such attacks. In this first letter to Timothy Paul is out of prison.  But in his second letter he is in prison, and I think it’s obvious to Paul that he isn’t getting out of there alive.  And so he writes to Timothy near the end of that letter, in 2Tim. 4:7-8 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;  in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.” I put that verse on my dad’s gravestone.  He was a minister of the gospel, who to some degree might have not looked like a winner from the world’s perspective, but from God’s perspective, he had fought the good fight, he had kept the faith, and there was laid up for him a crown of righteousness which the Lord will award to him.

But notice in that verse Paul likens the fight to finishing the course. Paul had finished the course that God had called him to run.  He finished his ministry.  And he says he has kept the faith. That’s a reference to endurance, to perseverance.  He kept the faith in spite of many attacks against him from all quarters.  Faith is a race, an endurance race.  But it’s also a battle. Its a battle against the lusts of the flesh, against the desires of this world, and against the lies of the devil.

We should remember though that according to 2Cor. 10:3-4 “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh,  for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.” Our faith is the victory over our enemies. We fight the lie of Satan and the world with the truth of the scripture.

That’s why Paul joins that statement with another which says, lay hold of the eternal life to which you are called. Faith is believing, and believing is receiving.  Eternal life, new life in Christ, is not something only available in the future, but right now.  The idea is that Timothy is to grab hold of it and hang on to it.  Possess the life of Christ now.  Because as you are confident that you have eternal life now, you can proceed to serve the Lord without fear.  Our life belongs to the Lord.  He gives it, He will protect it, and He will not take it away until we have finished our course.

There is another aspect of laying hold of eternal life.  Paul says Timothy “made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” There doesn’t seem to be a consensus of opinion by Bible scholars on what he means by saying the good confession.  But if you notice in the next verse, he says “Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate.”  So whatever the good confession is, both Timothy and Christ seem to have made it.

I think it can only be one thing for Timothy.  I think it is confessing Jesus Christ as Lord.  Paul says in Romans 10:9, “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus [as] Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”  This was written at a time when Rome was trying to force people to say “Caesar is lord,” and they did so under penalty of death.  So to publicly confess Jesus as Lord was to deny Caesar, and to put yourself at risk of death.

But we know that confession is also making the point that Jesus is the Messiah, the Anointed One from God, the Savior of the world.  It’s also understood that the Messiah was to be the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.  And furthermore, it should be understood that to confess Jesus as Lord is to confess Him as YOUR Lord, your Sovereign, your Master. Thus your life belongs to Him. He controls your destiny.  Timothy more than likely at his baptism publicly confessed Jesus as Lord in the presence of many witnesses, thus proclaiming his salvation and obtaining eternal life.  And that faith is the victory over sin and death.

So we are to flee some things, follow after other things, fight the good fight, and then finally, Paul says what we are to be faithful to.  Vs 13 “I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate,  that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,  which He will bring about at the proper time--He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords,  who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him [be] honor and eternal dominion! Amen.”

Now there is a lot that is said there, but the primary point he makes is that we are to be faithful to keep the commandment.  Now that sounds way too legalistic for most of us, so we better look at the original language and see what we might find that is more palatable for us.  And we find in so doing that sixty nine times out of 71 it is translated as commandment.  The other two are precepts.  So that’s really not much help to us.

But what is helpful is the definition provided, which is, “an order, command, charge, precept, injunction , that which is prescribed to one by reason of his office, a prescribed rule in accordance with which a thing is done , a precept relating to lineage, of the Mosaic precept concerning the priesthood.”  So what we might deduce is that the commandment might be understood to be a commission that was given to Timothy. It encompassed all that Timothy had been commanded to do in regards to his ministry and the governance of the churches under his care. 

Now we too have been given orders, a commission, a commandment to proclaim the gospel to every living creature, to go into all the world with the gospel, to start in the realm of our family, then our neighborhood, then community, and then to the farthest reaches of the world.  This is our ministry that we have all be commissioned to do.  One of the other metaphors that Paul likes to use is that of the military.  And he often likens the good fight of faith to being a good soldier of Jesus Christ. So this commission is our orders, what we are tasked to do as the church of Jesus Christ. Our ministry is to win souls.  To proclaim the truth which is able to save souls.

Notice though that Paul uses especially strong words to convey the seriousness and urgency of this commission.  He says I charge you in the presence of God.  That’s like the phrase we hear sometimes used: “As God is my witness!” But Paul uses this for great effect, to show the seriousness of the charge he is giving Timothy, that it is not just coming from Paul, but from God Himself. So we should have a reverance, a holy fear of God that gives us motivation to do what He has charged us to do, and there is the added assurance that Paul gives which is that God gives live to all things.  So though this commission may cause us to go through danger, our lives are watched over by God, and He will preserve us as we are keeping His charge.

And to that witness of God, Paul adds the witness of Jesus, saying, “and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate.”  Now we talked about Timothy’s confession, which resulted in his salvation and obtaining eternal life.  What confession did Jesus make before Pilate?  I believe it is a reference to the dialogue between Pilate and Jesus as recorded in John 18, where it says, 

Vs. 33 Therefore Pilate entered again into the Praetorium, and summoned Jesus and said to Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?"  Jesus answered, "Are you saying this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about Me?"  Pilate answered, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered You to me; what have You done?" Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm."  Therefore Pilate said to Him, "So You are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say [correctly] that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”

So the good confession that Jesus made is similar to the good confession that Timothy made, which is that Jesus is Lord, King of kings, that He is the Messiah that came into the world, born of man, but preexisting with God. Jesus said my kingdom is not of this realm, but I am a King, and for this I have been born, and for this I came into the world to testify to the truth.  So there is a lot that is contained in the confession that Jesus gave Pilate.  But it is the truth of God which we must believe if we are to be saved.  Pilate did not believe the truth.  His answer was “what is truth?” He tried to find a way to not commit one way or another.  But in the end, his refusal to believe in Jesus Christ, caused him to side with those who would kill Jesus.

There is no neutral position in regards to Christ.  A lot of people today want to think that they can have a little bit of Christianity and be ok.  That they can mix the wisdom of the world and a little bit of Christianity together and they can have the best of both worlds.  They can have the world’s riches, and yet still gain heaven in eternity.  But the fact is that believing in Jesus Christ as Lord is not a 50/50 position.  If Jesus is Lord, then He must be King, and if He is King, then to Him be all honor and eternal dominion.  

Our worship of Jesus Christ as King then means that we offer up our selves as a living sacrifice, dying to the world and the lusts of this world that have controlled us and held us captive, so that through faith in Christ we might receive forgiveness of our sins, and be credited with the righteousness of Jesus Christ, so that we might receive new life, even everlasting life, which we now live as a citizen of the kingdom of God in submission to His will and His purpose.  

That is salvation.  It’s not sugar coated. It’s not if you come to Jesus all your wildest dreams will come true.  Or you can live your best life now and get heaven to boot. But salvation requires full obeisance, honor and submission to Christ our King, and in exchange for renouncing our sinful life, and the passing, temporary pleasures of this world, He will give us forgiveness and HIs righteousness, and a life that is everlasting, and a crown which He will award to us on that day when He establishes His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.  I hope that you will lay hold of that truth, and confess Jesus as your Lord and King, that you might receive that life from God.

Godliness versus worldliness, 1 Timothy 6:1-11

Before we start our exposition of this sixth chapter of 1 Timothy this morning, I would like to turn to Paul’s second letter to Timothy, chapter 3 verse 16 which says, 2Tim. 3:16-17 “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;  so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” I quote that verse as a reminder that the text we are looking at today is indeed Scripture, and it is therefore profitable, even though at times we may question it’s relevancy today.

1 Timothy has several difficult passages, not the least of which are those found at the beginning of chapter 6.  And because of the difficulty of this passage and others like it,  I have sometimes doubted my own sanity in choosing to preach through 1 Timothy on Sunday mornings, and especially to preach through it on the beach.  But as I have stressed every week, Paul is writing this letter, according to chapter 3 vs 15, “so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.”

Now to that end, how we are to conduct ourselves in the household of God, Paul has talked about virtually every element of the household of Christ, from pastors/teachers, to women, old men, widows, deacons, and now he is going to speak to slaves.  But the primary point of what Paul is speaking about here is not the rightness or wrongness of slavery per se, but the Christian’s life of godliness as opposed to worldliness. That’s really what Paul is addressing, godliness versus worldliness.  And he is going to give instructions about that in reference slaves and indirectly to their masters in regards to this principle of godliness.

Now remember, this is scripture, it is the truth of God.  But in rightly interpreting scripture, it is imperative that we begin by understanding the immediate historical context in which it was written.  Only when it has first been understood who it was written to, at what time it was written, under what historical conditions and circumstances it was written, are we then able to extract principles which can then be applied to todays circumstances and conditions.  But if you fail to take the historical context into consideration, and instead try to make application of what was written directly to today’s culture or the society that we live in, you are very likely to end up with a distorted, or incorrect interpretation of scripture.

I say all of that as an introduction to this section, because though Paul is addressing the broader theme of godliness as opposed to worldliness, he is going to work it through the historical context of slavery as he knew it living in the height of the Roman Empire. It’s estimated by scholars that there were about 60 million slaves at that time in the Roman Empire.  Slavery was the status quo for about 1/3 of the population. Slavery was a grievous institution both then and now, but in Paul’s day, it was much more an accepted way of life for a large segment of the population.  You were either slave or free.  And in the church, there were both slaves and free people mixing together, as one body, which was the household of God.

In Roman society, there were many ways you could become a slave. One of the most common  ways was that your native country had been conquered in war, and the survivors were offered either slavery or death.  The majority of people faced with that choice chose slavery. And as a result, there was a broad range of the types of occupations that were occupied by slaves.  Most of the artisans and tradesmen were slaves. Teachers were predominately slaves.  Even physicians were sometimes slaves. Slavery affected all levels of life.  And it was a fact of life in that society that was not something that could just be easily done away with.

So as Paul addresses this large group of people within the church, his concern is not to rouse them to rebel and to overthrow their masters so that they might be free.  His concern is that they live lives that are godly, and as such, they become examples of godliness to others, that they might be drawn to the gospel and be saved.  Paul doesn’t approve of slavery.  But he doesn’t advocate abolishing slavery from external means such as through rebellion or legislation, but he advocates working from the inside out.   He knows that if hearts are changed, then society will be changed, and slavery will be eventually abolished. God’s method of changing man is always from the inside, to the outside.  Not vice a versa.  We are not commissioned to change the world through political maneuvers, not even through legislating morality, but we are commissioned to go into the world with the gospel, that hearts might be changed, souls converted, so that men might become workers of righteousness, and not doers of evil.

So understanding that historical context, let’s consider Paul’s words in vs 1. “All who are under the yoke as slaves are to regard their own masters as worthy of all honor so that the name of God and [our] doctrine will not be spoken against.”  You should remember that in chapter five the church was told to give honor to widows, then it was told to give double honor to pastors.  And now Paul is saying that slaves are to give honor to their masters.

To give honor in this respect is not to give financial remuneration as with widows or pastors, but to give respect and honor to their masters as in giving them an honest day’s work. And they are to do that so that the name of God and the teachings of Christianity would not get a bad reputation. The goal of Paul’s instruction is that God would be glorified, Christian doctrine would be magnified, and souls would be saved.  Having a rebellious attitude, sloughing off when you are supposed to be working, perhaps pilfering from their employer, all those things would only serve to give Christianity a bad name, and give an excuse to those who are looking for a reason not to become a believer.

Another possibility for misuse of their position might be that not only was the slave a Christian, but his master may have become a Christian.  So how did that change the worker/owner dynamic? Paul says in vs 2, “Those who have believers as their masters must not be disrespectful to them because they are brethren, but must serve them all the more, because those who partake of the benefit are believers and beloved. Teach and preach these [principles.]”.  So rather than seeing the fact that their master has become a believer as a possible benefit to themselves in regards to better work, or less work, or even their potential freedom, Paul says that they are to actually work even harder for their Christian masters.

Now that goes against the grain of our thinking.  Our first inclination is to say that the first job of a Christian convert should be to free their slaves.  Paul doesn’t say that.  He does not advocate for slavery, but neither does he call for it’s abolition here. His immediate concern is that the one whom is a slave is to be without reproach in his responsibilities to his master.  As the master’s heart is changed and conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, and he learns to love his neighbor as himself, his attitude towards owning slaves will be undoubtedly changed.  But Paul is going to trust that change of heart to God, and not try to legislate it.  And in the interim, the slave is to be diligent in his work and give honor to his master.

Paul doesn’t see fit here to spend any time writing about the evils of slavery.  That’s not his point.  His point is to exhort the church in all it’s facets to a life of godliness so that the cause of Christ will not be maligned and the gospel will not be hindered. In due time, the church and it’s doctrine will be the undoing of slavery.  But it will come from God changing hearts, and not Christians changing culture.

Now that was the message in it’s historical context. And the principle that we ought to take from that and apply to our day is that as Christians in the workplace, we should give honor to our employers.  The best worker at the job site should be the Christian. The most conscientious worker in the office should be the Christian. We should not be undermining the authority of the boss by backbiting or slacking off.  Instead our testimony at work should be such that the name of Christ is glorified by our work and our attitude at work. And if we should work for a Christian employer, then rather than seeing that as an opportunity for taking advantage, but should render them even more diligent effort in our work.  I will say from personal experience, that unfortunately that is not always the case with Christian workers.  I built a house many years ago, and wanted to use Christians from my church as contractors.  And I found that some of the Christian contractors were the worst in regards to the work that they did and the timeliness of it and so forth.  I suspect that they thought they should expect a greater degree of laxity due to the fact that we were both Christians.  Paul says that should not be. A Christian should exemplify godliness in his work, whether it be for believers or non believers.

That principle of godliness on the part of the church is the subject of the next paragraph. Vs3, “If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness,  he is conceited [and] understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions,  and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.  But godliness [actually] is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment.”

So what does Paul mean by a different doctrine?  What was the original doctrine?  Well, the true doctrine of the church is stated in vs 2 as that which conforms to godliness.  What is godliness? Godliness is being holy, being Christ like, being like minded as God, and our actions following suit.  It’s the life of sanctification.  It’s following in the example of Jesus Christ.  Godliness is God’s character lived out in our lives.  Godliness then is the template that is given for our lives.  And Paul compares that with worldliness.  Worldliness is life that is according to man’s natural inclinations, what seems right to us, what the world’s wisdom advocates.

And what Paul has been teaching in this letter since the beginning, is that there was and is in the church a doctrine which purports to be of God, but in actuality is the doctrine of demons. It is the doctrine of the world.  Man’s wisdom mixed with a little bit of scripture, verses cherry picked from here and there in order to substantiate man’s wisdom.

Notice how Paul describes what that worldly doctrine produces; “he is conceited [and] understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions,  and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.”

Worldly doctrine produces conceitedness, pride in oneself, in one’s achievements.  Pride in one’s rights and what they have deemed to be blessings given to them.  Worldliness produces controversy about words, arguments about scripture, which they try to twist to serve their own interests, and use to validate their rebellion.  They are not interested in the truth of God, but only in how to use God’s word for their benefit or to substantiate their position or agenda. Did you know that you can find some text in the Bible to seemingly validate almost anything you want to do? That was done in regards to slavery in this country for a long time by quoting from this very passage.  And it’s done today to validate homosexuality or women in ministry or host of other errant doctrines.  They twist scripture and use verses out of context and argue about what something really means in order to try to validate their agenda.

And what is the world’s agenda? Generally speaking, their agenda is to accumulate more of the world’s riches, to get rich.  And to that end, Paul says, they suppose that godliness is a means of gain.  There is a prevailing false doctrine today that we are constantly being exposed to by a large number of preachers out there which is what we call the prosperity gospel.  And it is a very good sounding doctrine, very appealing.  It promises health and wealth and prosperity to those who believe in Christ. And the bottom line of that doctrine is that God wants the best for you, and for you to have your best life NOW.  Not the best life in eternity in heaven, but right now in this life. And you can have YOUR best life now, whatever you want that to be, if you will just believe it.  If you have enough faith, God will give you all that you can imagine and ask for, in order for you to have your best life now.  And they have a lot of Bible verses that they can quote which to the naive seem to support that doctrine.

But that is not God’s truth.  They have twisted God’s truth and made their own doctrine.  And Paul says that doctrine may have a form of religion, but it is worldly and it produces worldly results, which are envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, and constant friction by men of a depraved mind and deprived of the truth.  A depraved mind is a mind set on the things of this world, what this world can offer.  But that which the world offers can never satisfy the soul. Sin begets sin, and lust begets more lust, and that life which the world offers can never satisfy, and the riches of this world you can’t take with you when you die, so they won’t be of any help in the next life either. The currency of this world is of no use in the next. It won’t spend.

Paul says in vs6 “But godliness [actually] is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either.  If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.”  Contentment in the way Paul is using it here means something like being satisfied.  The idea is that you are content with your lot, content with the life you have in Christ.  It’s not trying to find satisfaction by material things, because we know they will never satisfy.  But it’s being satisfied in what God has done in your heart.  Knowing that you are God’s child, knowing that He cares for you.  Knowing that your sins have been forgiven, that you have an inheritance in heaven that is far greater than anything you could ever imagine.

Paul speaks of having that contentment irregardless of his circumstances in Phl. 4:11-13 “Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.  I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.  I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” 

So godliness with contentment is a great gain. It’s something we should aspire to. Not in the accumulation of the world’s goods, but in conformity to the example of Jesus Christ. Being willing to suffer temporary hardship now in order to experience eternal glorification later.  Contentment is satisfaction deferred now, for the satisfaction that will endure forever when we are with the Lord.

The Psalmist said in Psalm 131:2 “Surely I have composed and quieted my soul; Like a weaned child [rests] against his mother, My soul is like a weaned child within me.”  A nursing child cannot rest against the mother’s breast without wanting more milk. But a weaned child can rest against his mother’s breast and find even greater comfort than simply warm milk. That is a picture of contentment with godliness.  Not always wanting more and more, but simply being satisfied with what God has already provided, knowing that He will take care of our needs.

So the opposite of godliness with contentment is worldliness and a craving for more.  Paul addresses that craving for more as a desire for riches in vs 9 “But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.  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.” 

Notice the downward progression of the product of worldly doctrine.  First there is the desire, the craving for riches.  Then the fall into temptation, the sin that allures us with the promise of riches, and then the plunge into ruin and destruction.  

And notice that riches itself are not identified as a sin.  But the love of money is a root of sin.  It’s not the only root, there are other causes of sin.  But the love of money is A root of sin which leads men into sin, in order to try to satisfy their desires.  We excuse a lot of sinful practices in the name of making money.  Money is the world’s god.  And the world promises that money will make you happy, that it will provide satisfaction.  But of course, when you die, your money goes to someone else.  You can’t take it with you.

On the other hand, you can use money for good.  Money in and of itself is not evil.  But the desire for money, to accumulate money, to hoard money, is a root of all sorts of evil. And many people have been ruined by it.  If that’s what you’re living for, then what you have ruined is your hope of heaven. Jesus said in Matt. 6:24 "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” 

So serving God produces godliness and contentment.  Serving  worldly wealth produces ruin and destruction.  , Paul says “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.”  Wandering away from the faith does not mean they are no longer saved, but they have wandered away from the truths of the faith, the doctrines of the faith.  Those are the doctrines which produce godliness.  But instead they have turned aside to other doctrines, and those doctrines are false, offering false hope in worldly wisdom, and they end up suffering the consequences of that sin.  And those consequences are often painful.

So Paul ends this section with an exhortation to be godly.  Vs 11, “But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance [and] gentleness.” If you are a man or woman of God, then your life will be characterized with the attributes of God.  Those attributes are things we should pursue, and not the allure of this world.  The attributes of God is righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.  I don’t want to belabor those attributes, for the most part they are self explanatory.  But we will look at them in more depth next week.

For now let’s just close with that exhortation to pursue godliness.  To follow in the footsteps of Christ.  To fix your mind on things of heaven and not on things of earth.  I think a good example of godliness with contentment is seen in Abraham, about whom Hebrews 11 says, “By faith [Abraham] lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign [land,] dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise;  for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. ...  All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. ...  But as it is, they desire a better [country,] that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.” 

Let us keep our gaze fixed on things above, and our purpose fixed on the mission here on earth.  Then after we have suffered a little while, and kept the faith, and proclaimed the gospel, we will find that in the future there is laid up for us the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to us on that day; and not only to us, but also to all who have loved His appearing.