House Rule #20 Be Rich…in Good Works (1 Timothy 6:17-19)

The Church’s Hope Is Not in Riches

Good morning, everyone. Good to see each one this morning. We're glad you're here and Ready to study God's Word in our adult Sunday school class. We're going to return to 1st Timothy chapter 6 this morning, and there's an outline.

Out there someplace if you don't have one raise your hand. There's. The outline monitor will pass you one. Let's commit our time to our Lord this morning as we usually do and ask his blessing on our study this morning.

Our father we thank you for the privilege that we have to be able to Gather together in the name of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. To open your word and be taught by your spirit. Pray now that you would accomplish every divine purpose that you have for us and that you would be glorified in it.

And we just thank you in Jesus mighty name. Amen. So this morning once again back to first Timothy chapter 6 we're going to be looking at verses 17 through 19 this morning and This is house rule number 20 be rich in.

Good works. Okay. I thought if I didn't add that last part I might have a great big gathering here of people that wanted to get rich this morning. So I just put that on there because well, that's actually what the passage says so has to be there.

That's where we're going to be looking at this morning during the second week of January in 2016 the United States was in the midst of a presidential campaign as you remember. It's like we're always in the middle of a presidential campaign, but.

But also in the news was another story that was becoming very very popular and that was the Powerball lottery since the previous November Draw 18 drawings had failed to yield a winner causing the grand prize to increase to over a billion dollars.

The drawing was scheduled for Wednesday night the 13th of January and it drew so much publicity. Over the weekend prior to that.

That the.

Estimated payout prior to the weekend was 1 .3 billion dollars. The lottery's own projections even had trouble keeping up with the amount of money that was pouring in and by Monday The estimated payout had reached 1 .4 billion dollars and on Tuesday it hit 1 .5 Billion the time of the drawing it topped out at 1 .58 billion dollars.

Making it the largest Powerball jackpot payout in history. Ultimately three people shared the winnings on that one. If you win the 1 .5 billion dollar Powerball jackpot You may not be as lucky as you think.

Many winners befall the so-called curse of the lottery and. Some squander their fortunes in a very short period of time and others. Meet very tragic ends. An author named Don McKay. He's a financial consultant to lottery winners.

And he's also the author of a book called life lessons from the lottery. In an interview with Time magazine said this. So many of them wind up unhappy or wind up broke. People have had terrible things happen people commit suicide.

People run through their money easy come easy go. They go through divorce or people die. It's just upheaval that they're not ready for. It's the curse of the lottery because it made their lives worse instead of improving them.

Studies show that about 70 of the people who suddenly receive a windfall of cash will lose it within a few years. According to the National Endowment for Financial Education. Here are some of the stories of past winners that those who? Participate in the lottery should know about one man named Jack Whitaker was already a millionaire when he won 315 million dollars in a lottery in West Virginia in 2002 the then 55 year old West Virginia construction company president claimed.

He went broke about four years later and lost a daughter and a granddaughter to drug overdoses. Which he blamed on the curse of the Powerball wind according to ABC News. He says my granddaughter is dead because of the money he told ABC.

You know my wife had said she wished that she had torn the ticket up. Well, I wish that we had torn the ticket up, too, he said. Whitaker was also robbed of five hundred and forty five thousand dollars.

Sitting in his car while he was at a strip club eight months after winning the lottery. He said I just don't like Jack Whitaker. I don't like the hard heart. I've got he said. I don't like what I've become.

And in his interview with Time magazine this author Don McKay said of mr. Whitaker. He's the last person I would have prototyped for going completely crazy, but he did no question. It was because he won the lottery.

Another man Abraham Shakespeare was murdered in 2009 after he won a 30 million dollar lotto jackpot. The 47 year old Florida man was shot twice in the chest and then buried under a slab of concrete in the backyard.

ABC News reported a Woman Dee Dee Moore who authorities say befriended him after his lotto win was found guilty of first-degree murder in 2012. His brother Robert Brown told the BBC that Shakespeare always said he regretted winning the lottery.

I'd have had. I'd have been better off broke. He said that to me. He said that to me all the time. Another one Sandra Hayes won the Missouri lottery in 2006 and split a 224 million dollar Powerball with a dozen co-workers.

The st. Louis woman is now a retired social worker and wrote a book how winning the lottery changed my life. She told the Associated Press she had to adapt to this new life. Which changed how she saw her closest family and friends?

I had to endure the greed and the need that people have trying to get you to release your money to them. She said in 2012 that caused a lot of emotional pain. These are people who you've loved deep down and they're returning they're turning into vampires.

Trying to suck the life out of me. She said. Another Donna Micken won thirty four point five million dollars in the New York State Lottery in 2007 she said the big win ruined her life and led to quote emotional bankruptcy.

Most of us think that winning the lottery is the ultimate fulfillment. She said. But I found that wasn't the case. She wrote a blog post in 2014 saying most people look at winning the lottery as some magic pot of gold.

Waiting for you at the end of the rainbow. She said she had considered herself a happy person before the win. When we won the lottery. My inner dialogue was manic. I became more concerned about how I was being judged and perceived.

Not realizing I was the one doing the judging in the first place. She wrote if you asked me my life was hijacked by the lottery. This article and others written at the time talk about how so many people win huge sums of money and.

They are within a few years or at least by the end of their lives bankrupt and. Of course many questions come to mind when we hear these stories. How do you lose a massive fortune like that? And right now some of you are probably thinking well, I wouldn't happen to me.

Well, maybe not. Hopefully certainly as believers in Jesus Christ. We should be able to bring a biblical perspective to this. We're going to be talking about that later, but it's not always just lottery winners.

The Danger of Loving Money and the False Security of Wealth

A Man named Huntington Hartford. He lived from 1911 to 2008. Okay, so you can see his lifespan there. 1911 2008. Huntington was the heir to the great Atlantic and Pacific tea company fortune. This company which started just before the Civil War is better known as the A &P supermarket chain.

A &P was the first u .s. Coast to coast food store and from World War one to the 1960s was what Walmart is for today's American shoppers.

Huntington.

Inherited approximately 90 million dollars when he was 12 years old.

In.

1923 in 90 million dollars when he was 12 years old what could go wrong, right? Adjusting for inflation means that he was given almost 1 .3 billion as a child after taxes. Huntington declared bankruptcy in New York in 1992 approximately 70 years after being handed one of the largest fortunes in the world.

Huntington had the reverse Midas touch. He lost millions buying real estate creating an art museum and sponsoring theaters and shows. He combined poor business skills with an exceptionally lavish lifestyle.

That's a bad combination, too. After declaring bankruptcy, he lived as a recluse with a daughter in the Bahamas until the end of his life in 2008. Huntington's life story coupled with academic research that suggests people quickly spend their windfalls.

Means not only that you have very long odds of winning the Powerball jackpot prize. But you have just as long odds of keeping the money around after winning it. What's going on? That's more than 70 of the population.

Where does this desire to be wealthy come from and why does wealth not? Satisfy that desire nor improve the lives like people thought it would. And in some cases their lives end absolutely tragically as we have seen secular psychologists secular Sociologists certainly are going to have their answers right and we've seen a couple of them, but You and I who know the Word of God know that The Bible has the real answer to this.

We saw Paul deal with the issue of money back in chapter 3 back in verse 3 and following of chapter 6 and It was the false teachers you remember. He said that the people who are false teachers who abandon the Word of God and the people that listen to them He calls them they are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth.

Imagining that godliness is a means of gain and of course we understand the godliness there is not real godliness. It's that they just simply think being it somehow attached to Christianity or religious things is going to be profitable for them.

And he goes on to talk about it. It is a desire to be rich and they fall into temptation into a snare into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and Destruction for the love of money as a root of all kinds of evils.

It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith. We've seen that before in first Timothy and pierced themselves with many pangs and notice how every single time he references this He focuses on the internal spiritual Aspect of that person.

It's not their environment. It's not their social situation. It's not their marriage their spouse or anything else. It's not their job. It is a function of who they are internally and spiritually. So this morning we're going to see Paul really balance out this passage.

He's going to in this passage Verses 17 to 19 address the issue of people who are rich and it is very interesting passage because it really does almost read like a proverbial statement and so it can be applied to both Unbelievers and specifically in the case of the church here at Ephesus to believers.

I'm just going to read through these three verses to just sort of set this up a little bit and then we'll walk through the passage together. He says 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?

They are to do good and to be rich in good works to be generous and ready to share. 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.

Well, that's our passage this morning and it's really pretty easy to outline essentially again. It reads almost like a proverbial statement, you know there's a negative statement and then there's a but right in between the negative and the positive the but just sort of a Hinge point there, you know.

They're not to do this, but they are to do this. And so this morning what we're going to see. If we want to be rich in good works, it's really important that we don't do what he says. And that he we do what he says we are to do and so we're going to see this morning that it extends From those who are false teachers, of course who need to view Their riches their finances in the proper perspective, but also it applies to those who are in the church.

So the first thing we're going to see this morning from this passage is that when we set our hope on money our Focus is on the present. He says as for the rich in this present age charge them not to be haughty.

Charge them not to be haughty nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches the word haughty here little it literally means high-minded.

Okay.

An elevated mindset an elevated mindset from which you could very possibly look down on other people who don't have the same amount of material wealth as you do. Christians who get distracted by thinking that having more money will bring happiness or security forget who they are and where they are going they lose what we we commonly call an eternal perspective on life an Eternal perspective on life and we see this all through the Bible how important this is.

And the Bible is full of warnings to believers and their attitude toward money or possessions. And of course Proverbs the wisdom literature is just chock-a-block full of statements concerning how we are to relate to riches and material things.

For example Proverbs 11 for riches do not profit in the day of wrath. But righteousness delivers from death. Now there that certainly is applicable right to an unbeliever. If you focus on this life and the riches and all that did you think are profiting you?

Out there on God's calendar is a day that he has ordained. There is a day of wrath and all of your money all of your riches all of your material possessions will not profit you in that day, but righteousness delivers from death and again Proverbs 1616 how much better to get wisdom than gold.

To get understanding is to be chosen rather than Silver. Very simple statements comparing two things it's better to get wisdom. The wisdom of knowing God and having a personal relationship with God is much better than any kind of Material wealth you can imagine.

So the believer is encouraged to pursue wisdom rather than riches because of the fact of eternity. Keep your mind focused on eternity not just on what's here and now. For the Christian who has trusted in Jesus Christ for their salvation and has set their hope on money or material things.

They're in danger of forgetting what their Savior taught in Matthew 19. Very familiar passage. Matthew chapter 19 verses 16 through 30. An encounter with a man it says and behold a man came up to him to Jesus saying teacher What good deed must I do to have eternal life now right out of the starting blocks?

There's a problem. What must I do? Okay, so, you know what his mindset is concerning salvation. What must I do to inherit eternal life. And Jesus responds to him by saying if? You would enter life keep the commandments and then he says The the man says back to him which ones no give me a list.

Give me something I can do and I'll do it. He thinks he can do what it takes to enter The kingdom of God and Jesus said you shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness.

Honor your father and mother and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. The young man said to him all these I have kept he really hadn't. What do I still lack? Jesus said to him if you would be perfect go sell what you possess and give to the poor and you will have Treasure in heaven and come follow me.

When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful for he had great possessions and Jesus said to his disciples truly I say to you only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven.

Again, I tell you it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle Than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. When the disciples heard this they were greatly astonished saying who then can be saved.

But Jesus looked at them and said with man. This is impossible. But with God all things are possible. There was a prevailing Mentality in the day that if a person had Material wealth that they had riches that that was a sign of God's blessing and we're going to see of course it came from God.

They also thought that if a man or a woman was Somehow physically disabled in some way or born with a certain disability that that was a sign of God's curse. You remember when the they encountered the man born blind the disciples said to Jesus who sinned this man or his parents that he should be Born blind and of course the lesson was neither one of them did but that was a prevailing attitude.

It was a common view in ancient times. Wealth or health was a sign of the blessing or a lack of it of the cursing of God. Paul says to charge the rich not to be high-minded or haughty. Riches can blind a person to their spiritual needs and that's true both of Unregenerate people in particular, but also it applies to Christians as well.

It's easy to fall into the thinking that wealth is always a sign of God's blessing. Be careful because there's false teachers. There's con artists out there as we know who will propagate that and build great big ministries where they get very very wealthy so if we set our hope on riches on material possessions, our focus can become fixed only on the present and on ourselves and we can easily become High-minded as Paul says a second thing can happen.

Our funding is selfish. This is a counterpart to what we're going to see in verse verses 18 and 19. We tend to spend our money only on ourselves. Well, of course if your focus is only on the here-and-the-now You're going to focus on Your your funding only your personal needs.

You set your hope on money or your focus is on the present. Our funding can be selfish. Listen to James chapter 5 verses 1 through 6. I mean, this is this is just some blunt force counsel here. James says come now you rich.

Weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded in their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire.

You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields which you kept back by fraud are Crying out against you and the cries of the harvest Harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.

You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence and have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter in the day of slaughter. The slaughter is for that which has been fattened for the slaughter, right.

Like a fattened calf, right? But these people have fattened their own hearts for the day of slaughter. In other words, this is going to come back to judge them. The present focused and self-focused world of unregenerate people forms the backdrop in This passage and also a warning to believers and the wages of sin is still death.

Is it not wages of sin is death and God says vengeance is mine. I will repay and payday is coming for those who have rejected eternal life. For the temporary here and now life and luxuries that they can enjoy.

In fact as we know the so-called prosperity preachers. Their focus is always on the present always on the here and now right? Very well known very popular book written by Joel Olsteen was not your best life in eternity.

It wasn't your best life in the kingdom of God. What was it? It was your best life now right and if you just Don't recommend it, but if you just analyze them a little bit every single one of those folks.

Talk about the here and the now your wealth now the money now your health now all of it. So if we set our hope on money our focus is on the present. Our funding is selfish and there's a third one. Our foundation is really shaky.

That's why he calls it the uncertainty of riches. Don't set your hope on the uncertainty of riches setting your hope on materials things is like building a high-rise building 30 40 30 40 stories a high-rise building, but building it on cardboard boxes.

Okay, it's not gonna last it's not gonna stand. This is a as we can see and and I'm not Well versed in economics. There's some people here that are some of you guys are but I mean we can all see the Uncertainty of the financial situation that even right now is taking place in our country.

I mean, it's volatile. It's it's crazy things. What can you count on for next week and next month? As far as what is what is taking place and Again back to the wisdom of the Old Testament and the the wisdom literature Ecclesiastes 510 he who loves money will not be satisfied with money nor he who loves wealth with his income, this is also vanity or emptiness.

And again from Ecclesiastes 6 1 and following there is an evil that I have seen under the Sun and it lies heavy on mankind a Man to whom God gives wealth possessions and honor so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires.

Yet God does not give him power to enjoy them, but a stranger enjoys them. This is Vanity it is a grievous evil and we see this all around us. People work hard and yet other people enjoy the fruits of their labor and Clear back in the wisdom lit of the Old Testament.

This is called an evil and again back to Proverbs Chapter 23 verses 4 and 5 do not toil to acquire wealth be discerning enough to desist. When your eyes light on it, it is gone for suddenly it sprouts wings flying like an eagle Toward heaven boy.

Do you can you ever identify with that nowadays? What would we call that when when money just sort of sprouts wings and flies away or it it it it devolves in value because of inflation or. Talking to brother Dave about the Weimar Republic in the 1920s in Germany.

I mean a person could have a bushel of money, but it wouldn't even buy him a loaf of bread because of inflation. That's what can happen when you put your trust in wealth in money. Jesus told a parable in Luke chapter 12 to highlight the foolishness of trusting in material things.

Luke chapter 12 and a well the well-known story Luke 12 15 and following and He said take care and be on your guard against all covetousness. For one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.

And he told him a parable saying the land of a rich man produced plentifully and he thought to himself What shall I do for I have nowhere to store my crops and he said I will do this. I will tear down my barns and build larger ones.

He's gonna build his own storage center. Okay. For his stuff and there I will store all my grain and my goods and I will say to my soul soul. You have ample goods laid up for many years. Relax eat drink and be merry.

But God said to him fool. This night your soul is required of you and the things you have prepared. Whose will they be? So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. So if we set our hope on riches our focus is on the present.

Just the here and the now our funding tends to be selfish and our foundation is really really shaky. And if you don't know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you don't have a foundation. It's not just shaky.

You're like this man who went to bed that night thinking that he was Had his whole life planned out and he didn't wake up on this planet. He woke up in the presence of God as his judge and God said you fool.

That was a foolish thing to do. So when we set our hope on riches, that's what can happen. But and we have that very strong contrastive term here. But Paul says don't set your hope on the uncertainty of riches.

But and I'm going to supply what's not in the text set your hope on God. It's actually there but it's very common in the Greek text for there not to be a verb the second time. It's used like that. But set your hope on God who richly provides us with everything to enjoy when you have your hope set on God and Not on the temporary uncertain things of this world first.

We see our focus is also also on the future. Of course, it's on the here and the now. God knows that we have to live in this world. He's the one that put us here, but he's also the one that provides what we need.

We have to focus on what what we have to take care of here. We have families to provide for we have jobs to go to we have bills to pay all of that. God knows that and that's why Paul says he richly provides us with everything to enjoy we need to we need to understand that and It's not an either-or situation.

It's a both and our focus is not just on the here and now however. It's also on the future. This makes all the difference in the world. When our hope is on him, we won't be haughty. We'll understand where our material wealth comes from it comes from him.

He supplies it that precludes us hopefully from being conceded or prideful. We will acknowledge that it is God who provides all that we have and he richly provides us everything to enjoy. That's contentment not because we have everything.

But we know that everything we do have came from God and he wants us to enjoy. What we have in other words, we will be content. You remember that back to chapter 6 verses 4 and 5 and following they they imagine that godliness is a means of gain.

Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment. True godliness is going to be godliness with contentment. Why. Because you're going to understand that everything you have is a gift from God by his grace and that it is to be Enjoyed because of that and then he even says but if we have food and clothing with with these we will be content.

So again, this this little three-verse section here is a balance for what he talked about before concerning our material possessions and things so our focus is also on the future not just on the here and now and The scripture is so important about the believer keeping a an eternal perspective in Hebrews 13 5 keep your life free from the love of money and be Content with what you have for he has said I will never leave you nor forsake you.

You can only do that if you understand the second part of that, right? I mean if you if you want to have your life free from the love of money. If you want to be content keep your focal point on God. Keep your heart and mind fixed on God and his promises to you.

I will never leave you nor forsake you.

Okay.

And and the Apostle Paul Colossians 3 1 and 2 if you have been raised up with Christ He's speaking to Christians. This is a Conditional sentence that he's assuming is true.

Okay.

He's not questioning this if you have been raised up with Christ. Keep seeking the things above where Christ is Seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above not on the things that are on earth.

Doesn't say don't pay any attention to him when he says set your mind. He's talking about the major part of your thinking your focal point of your thoughts. And and your your heart and mind will be fixed on Christ seated at the right hand of God.

So if we keep our hopes set on God and the things of God The things of this life will be kept in their proper perspective and we will live in the present. Of course, we have to as long as the Lord has us here.

And we can enjoy with contentment what the Lord provides for us, but we will do all of that with an eternal perspective and Be our funding will include others also. Paul says that the rich Christians are to.

Rich Believers Are to Be Generous and Ready to Share

Do good.

To be rich in good works to be generous and ready to share. Paul says this because he understands if you keep that perspective an eternal perspective on life and in Eternity, you'll have an eternal perspective on your possessions.

Back to Proverbs chapter 11 verse 24 one gives freely. Yet grows all the richer. Another withholds what he should give and only suffers want. You take these things and you tell them to the to a person who doesn't understand scripture who is an unbeliever.

They're absolutely counterintuitive, right. And There's Proverbs telling you. Yeah one gives freely yet grows richer. Another withholds what he should give and only suffers want. Generous giving or sharing is a mark of true Christianity.

In fact at the birth of the church at Pentecost Luke records what happens when 3 ,000 people were saved. Okay, this goes back up to the upper room to John chapter 17 in the high priestly prayer and you can just track this this this flow of Characteristics all the way through people come to Christ there's unity and and that unity produces Mutual love within the body of Christ, but in Acts chapter 2 verses 41 through 47 Luke says this remember Peter preached on the day of Pentecost.

He then calls people to repentance and Here's what happened. So those who received his word were baptized and baptism is the first step of obedience. It's the first visible objective. Evidence of salvation.

Why. Because it's it's obedience. They were baptized and there were added that day about 3 ,000 souls and they devoted themselves to the Apostles teaching and the fellowship and that fellowship is made up of the breaking of bread or communion and prayers and all came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were being done through the Apostles and all who believed were together and had all things in common and they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need.

Very important as any had need and day by day attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes. They receive their food with glad and generous hearts. Praising God and having favor with all the people and the Lord added to their number day by day.

Those who are being saved there's a revolutionary thought the church is made up of people who are being saved. And it's the Lord who adds them. Okay, but for our purposes here Distributing the proceeds to all as any had need.

Very important this passage and many others are commonly used to try to to promote some sort of a Christian Socialism. Okay. Nonsense you can't get that out of that passage. They distributed to people to meet their needs of course.

Again Acts chapter 4 verse 32 through 35 the persecutions were taking place. And they had been imprisoned and beaten and Peter they came back out and Peter preached again preached the gospel and it says now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul and No one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common and with great power the Apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and Great grace was upon them all.

There was not a needy person among them for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the Proceeds of what was said and laid it at the Apostles feet. And it was distributed to each as any had need they met the needs in the church.

The preaching of the gospel produced people who were saved that salvation as they fellowship together produced unity in the spirit and working to the spirit and that Resulted in love within the church and the meeting of needs within the church, and so if we Set our hope and keep our hope set on God our focus is all is also not just in this life but on the future, but our funding will include others as well as we have seen and Finally see very important our foundation is solid.

Verse 19 says Thus I'll go back to 18. They are to do good to be rich in good works to be generous and ready to share 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.

We set our hope on God and not on the things of the world when we are generous stewards of what he has given us. We are storing up treasures for ourselves as a good foundation from for the future. Paul makes use here of What's called the reflexive pronoun this is an investment in the future?

But it's also an investment in yourself just like Proverbs said just like the Lord taught In he's taught it consistently in Matthew 6. Jesus said do not lay up for yourselves. Notice the reflexive nature of this.

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and Where thieves do not break in and steal for where your treasure is there your heart will be also.

That's an again a reference to keeping an eternal perspective. If your treasure is just physical in this world, that's where your hearts going to be, but if you have made an investment in the future by obedience to the Word of God.

Then your heart and your mind and your thoughts are going to be fixed on Christ and who he is and what he has accomplished for you and the fact that he's coming back and That's what Paul is saying here and by doing that you will be laying a good foundation for the future.

So that they may take hold of that which is truly life. We've seen Paul use this little phrase take hold. Remember what he said to Timothy back in 612 take hold of the eternal life to which you were called.