What do you want more than anything else?<\/p>\n
Consider these Scriptures. What do they say we should want more than anything else?<\/p>\n
Proverbs 2:1-5: My son, if you receive my words
\nand treasure up my commandments with you,
\nmaking your ear attentive to wisdom
\nand inclining your heart to understanding;
\nyes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding,
\nif you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures,
\nthen you will understand the fear of the LORD
\nand find the knowledge of God.<\/p>\n
Do all this: and you will know God! <\/i><\/p>\n
Isaiah 55:1-3a Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters;
\nand he who has no money, come, buy and eat!
\nCome, buy wine and milk
\nwithout money and without price.
\nWhy do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
\nand your labor for that which does not satisfy?
\nListen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
\nand delight yourselves in rich food.
\nIncline your ear, and come to me;
\nhear, that your soul may live.<\/p>\n
Real life. True life. Rich life. Satisfying life \u2013 given as a free gift when we come to God to accept His feast.<\/p>\n
Psalm 119:14, 15, 72 In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches.
\nI will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.\u00a0 . . .
\nThe law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.<\/p>\n
God\u2019s testimonies, His precepts, His ways, His law \u2013 all these display God\u2019s character, what He is like. Through these, we come to know Him.<\/p>\n
So these Scriptures tell us we should want to know God, and to desire like with Him, life in relationship to Him.<\/p>\n
That, according to the Scriptures, is the greatest joy, the greatest fulfillment possible – worth more than the greatest fortune.<\/p>\n
Do you believe that?<\/p>\n
Scripture states that \u2013 over and over and over. Do you believe it?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not easy to believe.<\/p>\n
The world around us invites us to find joy and fulfillment elsewhere:<\/p>\n
But 1 John 5:4 tells us:<\/p>\n
Everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world.
\nAnd this is the victory that has overcome the world \u2013 our faith.<\/p>\n
Our faith. Our belief in God and in His revealed word.<\/p>\n
We must conquer the world and its lies.<\/p>\n
We must fight the good fight of faith \u2013 the good fight to believe.<\/p>\n
And when we believe that Jesus is the Son of God, when we hold on to that truth and apply it to every attitude, every thought, every action, every feeling – when we see all around us in light of the truth:<\/p>\n
Then we are in God\u2019s family \u2013 we have an identity. Then we have all security. Then we have all joy. Then we have eternal life \u2013 not just life without end, but what Proverbs 2 and Isaiah 55 and Psalm 119 hold out as the greatest joy: knowing the only true God.<\/p>\n
So: What do you want more than anything else? To know God? That is: To have eternal life?<\/p>\n
Take hold of that eternal life \u2013 today!<\/p>\n
Fight the good fight to believe!<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the message of our text this morning, 1 Timothy 6:5-19. And that\u2019s the concluding message in this sermon series, Where Do You Find Identity, Security, and Joy? A Scriptural Understanding of Money, Giving, and Material Possessions<\/i><\/p>\n
Let\u2019s turn to the passage to see how it beautifully summarizes and extends the truths we have learned these last four months.<\/p>\n
1) Fight the Good Fight to Believe <\/b><\/p>\n
The title of this first section comes from verse 12: Fight the good fight of faith. That is: Fight the good fight to believe that what God says is true.<\/p>\n
What does God say in verses 5-11 that Timothy \u2013 and we! \u2013 must fight to believe?<\/p>\n
Three main points: Verse 5 concludes with Paul discussing false teachers who imagine \u201cthat godliness is a means of gain.\u00a0 Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment.\u201d<\/p>\n What is the Apostle Paul saying here?<\/p>\n To answer that, we need to know what he means by three words or phrases:<\/p>\n We spent an entire sermon examining contentment, seeing that it means we are not self-sufficient but \u201cGod-sufficient.\u201d We know that God gives us identity, security, and joy. Thus if have Him, we have all that we need.<\/p>\n The second word is \u201cgodliness.\u201d The Greek word doesn\u2019t mean what it sounds like, \u201ctaking on the character of God.\u201d Rather it means having the right and proper response and attitude to God, given His revealed character. The most authoritative Greek lexicon renders this word, \u201cAwesome respect accorded to God, devoutness, piety.\u201d<\/p>\n One Greek word is translated \u201cmeans of gain\u201d in verse 5 and \u201cgain\u201d in verse 6. The usual meaning of the word is \u201cmeans of gain;\u201d I think it makes most sense to translate the word the same way in both verses.<\/p>\n So with that understanding, let\u2019s now try to paraphrase what the Apostle is saying:<\/p>\n These false teachers try to use their fake devotion to God as a means to gain money. The irony is that true devotion – genuine, awesome respect for God \u2013 combined with complete satisfaction in Who He is – is indeed the greatest means of gain \u2013 not in the currency of money but in a much more valuable currency.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve seen Paul use this idea of different currencies when we looked at 2 Corinthians 8 and 9. The false teachers are using their supposed piety to gain money. We need to see that what we have from God when He is all to us is far, far more valuable than money \u2013 so that devotion to Him is the greatest means of gain.<\/p>\n b) Believe that Money Isn\u2019t the Greatest Means of Gain \u2013 So Flee from Love of Money!<\/span><\/p>\n Paul then explains why money and material possessions cannot be the greatest means of gain.<\/p>\n He makes three arguments to establish these points:<\/p>\n i) \u201cFor we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world\u201d (verse 7).<\/p>\n That is: You are going to leave this world the same way you entered it: Naked, owning nothing.<\/p>\n And more than that: You will live on after your death in this world. You are an eternal being. The great, great majority of your life will be after<\/i> your life in this world. So the greatest means of gain must yield eternal <\/i>benefits, not only benefits in this life. Thus, money cannot be the greatest means of gain, for you are eternal, and money is not.<\/p>\n ii) We see the second part of Paul\u2019s argument in verse 8: \u201cBut if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.\u201d<\/p>\n As long as we are in this world, we need enough food to keep us alive. We also need some protection from elements. But if we have these plus God \u2013 that\u2019s enough. We can then be content, \u201cGod-sufficient.\u201d Thus money cannot be the greatest means of gain because we don\u2019t need it for true contentment, we don\u2019t need it for true happiness even in this life. <\/i><\/p>\n So we could summarize the first two parts of Paul\u2019s argument like this:<\/p>\n iii) Paul\u2019s third argument: When the desire for money controls us, there are horrible consequences.<\/p>\n But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.\u00a0 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.\u00a0 (verses 9-10)<\/p>\n Paul points out that love of money has negative consequences in this life. We see that all the time, don\u2019t we? Consider former Charlotte mayor Patrick Cannon who became corrupt, violated trust \u2013 and has now fallen from his high position to what will certainly be many years in prison. But such dangers are common. Think of the many husbands who, desiring money, have become workaholics, destroying their marriages and neglecting their children \u2013 all in the name of providing for their wives and children. That is why the love of money is such a trap, such a snare.<\/p>\n But the greatest danger from loving money is eternal. If the love of money leads you to wander away from the faith, you will suffer for all time. You will remain under God\u2019s wrath. You will have no hope.<\/p>\n So we must understand that money and material possessions are not the greatest means of gain. We must fight to believe that, even though we constantly receive messages to the contrary.<\/p>\n c) With Great Effort Put Your Belief into Practice <\/span><\/p>\n But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.\u00a0 Fight the good fight of the faith. (verses 11-12a)<\/p>\n First note the way Paul underlines the great effort involved. The word translated \u201cfight\u201d is an athletic term (we get our word \u201cagonize\u201d from this word). Paul is saying, \u201cMake your supreme effort to believe these truths.\u201d<\/p>\n He then tells us how to do that. We make that effort by running away <\/i>from the love of money, and running after<\/i> the virtues he then lists. We won\u2019t look at them one by one today.\u00a0 Just note that they are either aspects of God\u2019s character that we take on (the fruit of the Holy Spirit that Paul describes in Galatians 5:22-23), or our right response to God\u2019s character (such as godliness and faith).<\/p>\n How do you conduct this fight?<\/p>\n This is a key part of living the Christian life: Fighting the fight to believe that what God says is true.<\/p>\n 2) Take Hold of Eternal Life <\/b><\/p>\n Paul has said \u201cFight the fight to believe.\u201d Now he says: \u201cTake hold of the eternal life to which you were called.\u201d He is saying, in part, \u201cLive out those beliefs.\u201d But he\u2019s saying more than that. He is also saying,<\/p>\n This is true life. <\/i>This is true joy. <\/i>So grasp that today. <\/i>Jesus came so that you might have life, and have it abundantly. So live out that abundant, eternal life today, as you walk with your Savior and Lord.<\/p>\n We\u2019ll note three ways Paul highlights this:<\/p>\n a) You\u2019ve Professed It<\/span><\/p>\n Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.<\/p>\n God called you to this. \u2013 to participate in this eternal life now. And you have acknowledged that calling. You have professed faith in Christ. You have said that you were lost, without hope, justly under God\u2019s wrath because of yr rebellion against the holy God. And yet while you were in this state, God showed his love by sending His Son. And not just sending His Son as a messenger, but sending Him to suffer and die on your behalf. He paid the penalty you deserved \u2013 and God raised Him from the dead, showing the penalty paid was sufficient. He sits today at God the Father\u2019s right hand. And He will come again to usher in His eternal kingdom. Having professed that Christ died for you and that you are thus God\u2019s beloved child, take hold of that life today! Remember what you have professed!\u00a0 Continue in it! Persevere!<\/p>\n b) Live It Out Until Jesus Returns!<\/span><\/p>\n So, Paul says, keep holding on to that promise until Jesus appears:<\/p>\n I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession,\u00a0 to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,\u00a0 which he will display at the proper time–he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords,\u00a0 who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.\u00a0 (verses 13-16)<\/p>\n Paul charges Timothy. What is Paul\u2019s charge?<\/p>\n \u201cKeep the commandment.\u201d<\/p>\n What commandment?<\/p>\n Surely, \u201cFight the good fight of faith.\u201d Surely, \u201cTake hold of eternal life.\u201d\u00a0 But really all the imperatives of Christian life are included here. Paul is saying: Follow Christ. Be conformed to the image of Christ. Take on His character. Love with His love. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Love your neighbor as you love yourself. For this is eternal life. <\/i>This is the greatest joy. <\/i>God is the giver of life<\/i>\u2013 so you will only find life in following Him.<\/p>\n Jesus made that good confession just like you \u2013 and He suffered for it. But He is at Father\u2019s right hand and will reign forever. You too, act like Jesus: Remain steadfast even through trials, until His return. God will bring that about at exactly the right time. He is the only Ruler, the true Sovereign, the only blessed One, the One who will never die. He is so pure and brilliant we can\u2019t imagine approaching Him \u2013 and yet He says, \u201cBoldly approach Me through my Son!\u201d All honor and might are His and His alone, forever.<\/p>\n This is who God the Father is. So how can you ever think that true life would come from anyone or anything else?<\/p>\n Jesus is coming back. And then faith will be sight. We will not have to fight to believe. We will not have to work to take hold of eternal life. It will be perfectly obvious Who the King is, and what He is like.<\/p>\n But until then: You and I can live out eternal life. As author of Hebrews says: \u201c<\/b>Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful\u201d (Hebrews 10:23).<\/p>\n c) Use Your Riches as a Means of Taking Hold of True Life<\/span><\/p>\n Having begun by pointing out that money cannot satisfy, and that the love of money leads to all kinds of evil, Paul concludes by saying: Money can be used to help you take hold of true life.<\/p>\n Note the last clause in v19, which gives the purpose for the entire 3 verses: \u201cso that they may take hold of that which is truly life.\u201d Since eternal life is true life, this is the same idea we saw in verse 12: \u201cTake hold of the eternal life.\u201d<\/p>\n Remember, Jesus said, \u201cIt is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:24). So Paul here is specifically helping those who are rich to know how they can avoid the negative effects of money, and to take hold of eternal life.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t forget: As we have noted before, by the standards of Jesus\u2019 day, of Paul\u2019s day, all of us are incredibly rich. So know that Paul here is speaking about you.<\/p>\n As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.\u00a0 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share,\u00a0 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.<\/p>\n Paul tells Timothy to give the rich two negative commands, five positive commands, with one result, all working to one goal, one purpose.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve spent time looking at parts of these verses earlier in this series, so we will now just note the flow of Paul\u2019s argument, and then highlight the result and the purpose.<\/p>\n First negative command<\/i>: Do not be haughty or arrogant because you are richer than others. This is related to Paul\u2019s statement in Romans 12:3: \u201cFor by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think.\u201d Because we rich people have<\/i> more than others, it is easy to imagine that we deserve <\/i>more than others. We must take care to avoid that temptation.<\/p>\n Second negative command<\/i>: Don\u2019t set your hope on the uncertainty of riches. As we saw in the sermon on security, Paul highlights the foolishness of setting your hope on an uncertainty. And all riches are uncertain.<\/p>\n So now the five positive commands:<\/p>\n First positive command: <\/i>Set your hope on God. He is the solid rock. He is your hope, your strength. And He is always providing for us, doing good for us: He \u201crichly provides us with all things unto enjoyment.\u201d (We spent an entire sermon considering that phrase.)<\/p>\n Second positive command: <\/i>We rich are to do good. That is, we are to act like the one who richly provides for us.<\/p>\n Third positive command: <\/i>We are To be rich in good works, not only rich in assets. Here Paul uses the idea of currency again. Wealth in one currency \u2013 money, material possessions \u2013 makes it easier for us to be rich in another currency \u2013 good works. And as Jesus says, our light is to shine before others so that they may see our good works and give glory to our Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16).<\/p>\n Fourth positive command: <\/i>To be generous. I think the third positive command emphasizes time<\/i> \u2013 since we rich don\u2019t have to spend all our time providing for our basic necessities, we can spend time doing good works \u2013 while this fourth positive command emphasizes giving money and material goods.<\/p>\n Last positive command: <\/i>To be \u201cwilling to share.\u201d That phrase is one word in Greek. Like the previous word, it can be translated \u201cgenerous.\u201d The difference is that this second word seems to be concerned more with the inner attitude. This word shares a root with a Greek word many of you know, koinonia<\/i>, \u201cpartnership for a common purpose.\u201d Think of this word, then, as \u201ccharacterized by koinonia.\u201d <\/i>That is, \u201cSee your fellow believers as your partners, and live out that partnership, so that you use the grant God has given you to help advance God\u2019s purposes among your brothers and sisters who have fewer resources.\u201d<\/p>\n So those are the two negative commands and the five positive commands.<\/p>\n The Result: <\/i>We see this in the first part of verse 19. The Holman Christian Standard Bible translates this quite well (and is similar to the King James and New American Standard): \u201cStoring up for themselves a good foundation for the age to come.\u201d<\/p>\n I think the point is this: When we obey these seven commands, we are displaying the character of God. We are taking on His character. We are thereby knowing God better. And this is eternal life \u2013 that we may know Him <\/i>(John 17:3). This is our joy for all eternity, the purpose of eternal life: To know more and more of His infinite goodness and excellence.<\/p>\n So do you see how this is a foundation for the age to come? Become like Him today. Thereby know Him better now. And that\u2019s the joyful foundation for what you will do for all eternity.<\/p>\n That then leads us to the purpose: <\/i>To take hold of the life that is truly life. To live out eternal life today \u2013 to know Him, to live with Him, to love Him, to be loved by Him.<\/p>\n Conclusion<\/b><\/p>\n So: What do you want more than anything else?<\/p>\n O, that you would desire to know God! That you would take hold of the eternal life that is<\/i> knowing God the Father, and Jesus Christ whom He sent!<\/p>\n O, that you would be free from the snare of the love of money, and its consequent ruin and destruction.<\/p>\n O, that you and I might live out what we profess:<\/p>\n May we live out this profession through generous giving to God\u2019s glory motivated by sincere concern.<\/p>\n May we \u2013 in our interactions with one another, in our interactions with the world \u2013 display God\u2019s mercy, grace, and tender care.<\/p>\n May we thereby take hold of the life that is truly life.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What do you want more than anything else? Consider these Scriptures. What do they say we should want more than anything else? Proverbs 2:1-5: My son, if you receive my…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,19,24],"tags":[43,290,341,533,590,648,952,1002,1534,1618,1704],"class_list":["post-1006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-money","category-sermons","tag-1-timothy-6","tag-christian-hedonism","tag-contentment","tag-fight-the-good-fight","tag-generous","tag-godliness","tag-love-of-money","tag-means-of-gain","tag-take-hold-of-eternal-life","tag-true-life","tag-willing-to-share"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1006"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1006\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u00a0a) Believe that Awesome Respect for God is the Greatest Means of Gain<\/span><\/p>\n\n
\n
\n
\n