Well, good morning to everyone. Welcome to the men from Rhinelander, and we'll need you here every week to bless us with that singing, if you could. So, welcome. We're glad to have you here.

We're continuing our study. Actually, we're going to finish our study this morning in the book of 1 Timothy. I'm always amazed, as I study and preach and teach through a book, through God's Word, at how rich and rewarding, how edifying and life-changing it is to dig into God's truth. This has been a challenging but rewarding book for me to study and to preach on, and I hope it's been edifying for you as well.

We've learned a lot about how we are to conduct ourselves in the house of God, and we've been challenged in many areas, as well as encouraged greatly. And this morning, we come to the very end of Paul's words to the young pastor, Timothy, in the church in Ephesus. We're going to see a little bit more doctrine here from Paul concerning money, pursuing riches, but mostly I think we see in Paul's final words in this epistle a series of exhortations to emphasize what Paul thought was most important, to give one last emphasis, to encourage Timothy as to what really matters, what's most important in his ministry.

And there's amazing truth here, full words in the close of this letter. Let's look at our text again in 1 Timothy 6, at verse 6. 

Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it's certain that we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some, having strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

But you, O man of God, flee these things, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called, and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 

I urge you in the sight of God, who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus, who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless, until our Lord Jesus Christ appearing, which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.

Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they may be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life. O Timothy, guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge. By professing it, some have strayed concerning the faith. Grace be with you. Amen.

I've given you four points on your outline this morning. First, contentment. Second, uncertain riches. Third, hot pursuit. And fourth, guard your trust.

Well, Paul draws a great contrast in our text between contentment and a desire for riches and love of money. This is such a practical topic for us, for every man, especially in our culture, in our world. And it's something that as individual believers, we must ponder, we must think on, where our heart and desires lie concerning money, concerning sufficiency, concerning contentment.

I've often marveled at the industry, the intricacies of advertising and marketing. As we've grown our business over the last several years, Bobby's become somewhat of a student of marketing, and it's a most fascinating thing. It can be a very good thing. But what I noticed in the world at large, in our society and culture in America, is that the main goal of advertising, of marketing, is to make us discontent with what we have.

I think the infomercials were the ultimate example of this, some garbage on TV that worked when they did the demonstration, but you got it home and it didn't work. But there was a well-thought-out plan executed there on the television before us, convincing us that we cannot live without the newest and latest gizmo, that we are somehow lacking in the fullness of our life if we don't get the product that they are selling.

And of course, the major corporations and producers of goods are much more complex and subtle in their mission to convince us of our need for their products and the full life that will come with having them. We got rid of our television back in 2001, and at that time the influence of technology and computers and phones was not what it is today. I can remember my mom asking our small children for a list of what they wanted for Christmas, and we had to give our kids a catalog to look at in order to find something they wanted.

It was fascinating to watch because they were not discontent because they didn't know all the things that they were missing out on and what a deprived life they were living. I've heard it said that being truly rich is being content with what you have, and I think this is true. And for the believer in Jesus Christ, what we have is a lot. What we have is sufficient. It's more than we could ever need. What we have is Jesus Christ.

And the key to a full, fruitful Christian life is coming to an understanding that He is all that we need, that in Him we can be content, we can have peace, we can have joy, and we can stand firm and movable by the circumstances of this world. And what a challenging world we live in. What an amazing time. It can be so hard to keep our chin up, to keep looking up, to remember who we are and why we're here and what we have in Christ, to be content in Him.

Paul says in verse 6, Now godliness with contentment is great gain. The word here translated contentment is most instructive. Let me give you Weiss' comments on this word. He says, It speaks to an inward sufficiency as opposed to the lack of or the desire for outward things. It is a favorite Stoic word expressing the doctrine of that philosophy, that a man should be sufficient to himself for all things and able by the power of his own will to resist the force of circumstances.

Paul's teaching here is that the possession of a godly piety makes a person independent of outward circumstances and self-sufficient enabling him to maintain a spiritual equilibrium in the midst of both favorable and unfavorable circumstances. End quote. 

I've often thought of sanctification as a spiritual equilibrium. I come from a wildlife management background, and the goal of that field is to bring equilibrium in a population of a species of wildlife. The natural course of the population of wildlife is a sinus curve. This up and down, crash and boom kind of thing that happens in the wild. So the goal is to level the sinus curve.

The natural course of a man's emotions and circumstances in this world is also a sinus curve. Up and down, way up, way down. Good and adverse. But for the man in Christ who is pursuing holiness, who is pursuing Christ, this up and down life based on circumstances and feelings and emotions can be leveled out by contentment in Christ, trust in God, knowing and reckoning that he is in control, that he is working out his will in our life, and that his grace is sufficient for us each and every day.

Spiritual equilibrium. What an amazing word this word contentment is. I want that for my life each day, so that worldly circumstances, emotions, and feelings do not rule my heart and my mind, but the truth of the word of God, the fact of his sufficiency for me, his promises to me, and the hope that I have in him will bring a spiritual equilibrium, a contentment in my life. 

And I know when I'm getting away from godliness with contentment, you see they go together, there's a natural link. When I pursue godliness, when I am desperately abiding in him, needing him, looking to him, and he is producing fruit through my life, I much more easily find contentment and peace in this world of circumstances. 

But when I drift away, when the focus and forces of this world begin to lay hold of me, and my mind is wrapped up in all the injustice and fear and uncertainty of this old, cursed rule of Satan, then my contentment begins to wane. And I start a rollercoaster ride up and down that sinus curve of emotions and feelings, and my outward behavior, my godliness, Christlikeness begins to slip as well.

Turn over to Philippians 4 with me, please. Philippians 4, verse 10. One of the most amazing passages on contentment. Philippians 4.10, Paul says, But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again, though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am to be content. I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

This is amazing truth and insight into contentment. And Paul says, I have learned. This is a process, my friends. It's something that must be learned through experience, through trial, through tribulation. But when we can come to a point where we are content in Christ, and then come back to that point, and come back to that point, learning, growing, then we can experience that spiritual equilibrium which is such a witness in this world, which is such an encouragement to the body of believers, and is the basis for a fruitful life for the glory of God. 

Godliness with contentment is great gain. There's great benefit. There's abounding fruit in this, Paul is saying. And in contrast, we see that there is perdition and destruction in coveting and greed and pursuing riches in the love of money. 

Look at verse 9 in our text, please. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 

And if you look down at verse 17, he says, Command those who are rich in this present age, not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they may be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

In our text, we see contentment, and next we see uncertain riches. Notice that the text says that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. It does not say that money is the root of evil. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And for those whose life pursuit is to obtain riches, those who seek after riches with reckless abandon, doing anything and everything to get more, they will manifest every kind of evil in their lives. There's nothing they will not do to have it. 

The love of money is greediness, covetousness. It's a desire to have riches for the sake of personal wealth and fulfillment, security. This is much different than a desire to be productive, to do things well, to prosper in our work, to work hard, to be successful, to be excellent. The difference, I believe, is in the goal and the motive. 

It's good to work with our own hands, to produce, to do a good job. We were designed to do this very thing, and with this should come an accumulation of wealth. But the love, the passion in our work must be to glorify God, to be a witness, to be a good and faithful servant, to do excellent work and to perform an honest day's work for our pay. 

The love, the passion, the goal cannot be money, having more money. And Paul really captures the essence of this in verse 17 when he writes, Command those who are rich in this present age not to trust in uncertain riches. The issue is not with having money or not having money. There's absolutely nothing wrong with being rich, with having a lot, if God so chooses to bless you in this way. Having money in abundance is a wonderful thing, as long as our trust is not in money, but in God. 

And this can be a subtle thing, can be an easy thing to fall into. We can come to trust in our bank account. I've never thought that way. I know I have. If I just have a nice cushion, if I could have my debt paid off and a few thousand in the bank, then really nothing can go wrong in my life. I'd be on Easy Street because I'd have ample. This is why people buy lottery tickets, trusting in uncertain riches. And it's a lie. 

Just observe the ultra-wealthy in our world. How about Whitney Houston, Robin Williams, Michael Jackson? We could go on and on and on. Doug can give you a long list if you like. They had more money than we could ever fathom. Did they have any trouble? Did their riches bring them happiness? Did they bring them contentment? 

If we look to find contentment in riches, if we trust in our riches to deliver us from trials and troubles, then we are in real trouble. Verse 9, but those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 

The issue is desire. The issue is the love of money. And you don't have to have any to love it, to desire it, to pursue it at all costs. And what's such a man trying to find in pursuing the riches of this world? He's trying to find contentment. He's trying to find peace. He's trying to find joy and security. 

Somebody asked Rockefeller, how much money makes a man happy? Just a little more. Just a little more. I remember one glorious day in my beaver trapping career. There was a time when catching beaver was my passion, especially catching more beaver than anyone else. My partner and I one winter day years ago caught 56 beaver in one day under the ice. We loaded down his Toyota truck until the springs wouldn't take any more with traps and beaver and otter sleds and were headed home in the twilight after what was in our pursuit of being the best trappers in the Northwood a truly fulfilling day. 

And my buddy looked over at me as we drove and he said, I wish we could have caught just one more. This is the heart of man. Just a little more, then I’ll be happy. But that contentment never comes, not with uncertain riches. Don’t trust in them. Paul says, command those who are rich in this age. My brothers and sisters, we are the rich in this world. Relatively speaking, in our world, we are rich. I've been to India, we're rich.

May we never trust in our riches. May we never pursue lust after desire, strongly love money. Because we cannot serve God and money. We should not be storing up for ourselves riches on this earth. Rather, we should be in hot pursuit of righteousness. 

Verse 11 of our text, but you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life to which you were also called, and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 

He says, I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless, until our Lord Jesus Christ appearing, which He will manifest in His own time. He who’s the blessed and only potentate, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen. 

Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Our strong desire, our daily pursuit, our passion should be godliness, faith and love and patience and gentleness, a contentment in Christ, trusting in His grace, His sufficiency for accomplishing His will in my life.

Righteousness here is practical, outward righteousness, conformity to who we are inwardly by continual faith in and dependence on Christ, abiding in Him. It is a walking worthy of our calling, in equal weight with who we are in Christ. Love is agape, the love of God poured out in our hearts. All things, whatever we do, must be done in love. This is our motive, this is the manifestation of who we are and how the world will know that we belong to Christ.

Romans 12, Paul says it's a reasonable service, a reasonable service to present our bodies as living sacrifices to God. It's consistent with who we are because of what Christ has done in us. We are dead to sin, dead to the law, we are no longer in bondage to fear of death, we are new men, we have a new heart, the Holy Spirit lives in us, Jesus Christ lives in us producing His righteousness, His life out through us as we trust Him.

Patience, patience, this is such an important word, it speaks of steadfast continuance, unswerving. Thayer comments that in the New Testament, the characteristic of a man who is unswerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety even under the greatest trials and sufferings. We are to bear up under, that’s what this word means, to endure trials and tribulations of all kinds, placing our trust in the living God.

And gentleness, literally this speaks of a temperament where we accept all God's dealings with us as good and for our benefit. It's an attitude toward God, first of all, God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose. But also, it's an attitude toward men, even evil men, as we patiently endure for the purposes of God in our lives in sanctification and for the salvation of lost souls.

There's a great contrast here in our text between the man who pursues money, power, the things of this world, with a self-centered perspective seeking to find contentment, trusting in uncertain riches, having a love for money, and the man who finds his contentment in God, who seeks after righteousness and holiness, patiently enduring all the circumstances of this world. 

I tell you, it's getting harder to patiently endure the circumstances of our world. But the way we do that is looking unto Jesus, trusting in the sufficiency that comes from God. I love 2 Corinthians 3, you can turn over to 2 Corinthians 3, Paul makes this truth so clear, 2 Corinthians 3, 2, he says, Clearly, you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink, but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart. 

Look what he says in verse 4. And we have such trust through Christ toward God, not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. 

Our sufficiency is from God, and we look to Him, we trust in Him. That's how we operate in this new covenant. He makes it work through us. Every Sunday before I come and preach, I say, Lord, You've got to make this work. I can't do this, You have to, I trust You, You do it, I know You do it, but You have to make this work. And You have to open their hearts. Our sufficiency is from God, not of ourselves.

So what is the rich man to do with his money? If he's not to trust in it, not to love it, but God has blessed him with it, what should he do? Jesus said that where our money goes, our heart will follow. 

Look at verse 17. He says, command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. That's that Greek word apolosis, meaning that God blesses us, He gives us things for our enjoyment. It's not wrong to have things. 

Let them do good, that they may be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come that they may lay hold on eternal life. God gives us richly all things to enjoy, money, wealth is a blessing from God to be enjoyed, to be thankful for, and to use for His purposes. 

Let them do good, that they may be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share. If God has given you much, use it for His glory, use it for His purposes, store up for yourself a good foundation for the time to come, not on temporal earthly things, but for eternal glory. 

This is why God has blessed some with money and riches, because He wants to give them the opportunity to use it to further the gospel, to give to His work. If we trust in God and not in money, if we have a passion for the gospel, for the work of ministry, then we will use our riches for His work, for the furtherance of the gospel, and in this we will be blessed and God will be glorified, for it is more blessed to give than to receive, and how true that is. 

So we see contentment, we see uncertain riches, we see hot pursuit, and finally in our text we see, guard your trust. 

Verse 20, O Timothy, guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge. By professing it, some have strayed concerning the faith. Grace be with you, amen. 

And here we come back to the main theme and thrust of this entire epistle. We've seen this instruction again and again and how it is that Timothy can be a faithful man of God, a leader, an elder in the church. How is it that he could lead his people and facilitate growth and fruitfulness and stability in this church in Ephesus? Guard your trust. 

Listen to the heart and cry of Paul as he closes this letter, O Timothy, O Timothy, guard what was committed to your trust. Turn back to chapter 4 with me, 1 Timothy 4 verse 11. Paul says, these things command and teach. Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word and conduct and love and spirit and faith and purity. 

Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Do not neglect the gift that is in you which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. Meditate on these things. Give yourself entirely to them that your progress may be evident to all. Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. You in them for in doing this, you will save both yourself and those who hear you. 

Timothy has been entrusted with the gift of teaching and preaching with evangelism. He had been entrusted with the word of God, with the truth to be preached and applied in any and every situation. This is the core of the ministry of the man of God in the house of God. He's to give himself entirely to the word. He's to meditate on it, to preach it, to teach it, to give the sense of it and apply it and exhort the brethren to obey it. 

Timothy was to guard this trust. The words, the doctrine that Paul had imparted to him, he was to guard as a sacred trust. And he was to avoid the profane and idle babblings and contradictions. These words refer to arguments over words. To higher knowledge such as it was with the Gnostics. Such complicated systems of men that only they could impart to you the secret knowledge. 

And thus you needed them to explain it all to you and guide you into a higher spirituality. Timothy was not to fall into this kind of thing, but rather to focus on the clear, simple truth that was given to him by Paul through doctrine and teaching about Jesus Christ, who He is and what He has accomplished in the work of our salvation. The worldly wisdom of men is falsely called knowledge, Paul says. But it's no true knowledge. 

And by it, many have strayed concerning the faith. When we depart from the word, when we look for sufficiency somewhere else, to the world, to men, to systems, to ourselves, then we will stray concerning the faith, the once for all delivered body of truth given to the saints. And Jude tells us we are to contend for that faith. We're to agonize over it, study it, know it, preach it, reinforce it. 

Paul says it's not tedious for me to write the same things to you again and again, but it is safe for you. This has been the drumbeat of Paul's message of Timothy, the theme that carries through this entire book. And it must be our theme as well. It must be the rule for our church, the practice of our preaching and teaching. 

We must be immersed in the Word, in the truth. We must give ourselves entirely to it, striving to rightly divide it, cut the pieces straight so that we might have a true knowledge and understanding. I want to look ahead a bit to 2 Timothy and see that Paul is still concerned with this truth in the second letter. 

Look at 2 Timothy 3.10, and we'll read this lengthy passage as we close. 2 Timothy 3.10, but you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering, love, perseverance, persecutions, afflictions which happened to me at Antioch . . . Iconium at Lystra what persecutions I endured and out of them all the Lord delivered me Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution But evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse deceiving and being deceived but you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of knowing from whom you have learned them and That from childhood you have known the holy scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith Which is in Christ Jesus all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction for instruction and righteousness in order that The man of God may be complete thoroughly equipped for every good work sufficiency 

Chapter 4 verse 1 I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ Who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing in His kingdom? preach the word Be ready in season out of season convinced rebuke exhort with all long-suffering and teaching For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine But according to their own desires because they have itching ears They will heap up for themselves teachers, and they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables, but you Be watchful in all things endure afflictions do the work of an evangelist Fulfill your ministry 

This is Paul's continual message. These are the closing words of this epistle and they were the beginning words in the middle words Paul wants to be sure that Timothy knows that the way for the church to thrive to grow to stand fast in the faith to be fruitful for the glory of God and for the salvation of men is to preach the word.

And so my friends, this is what we endeavor to do here at Living Hope Church. We believe therefore we speak because we believe that God knows what is best and that we do well to heed what he says. We believe that his grace is sufficient for us for our life and ministry and we are content—content in Christ. 

This is our great heart and our desire. And because we trust him, we do what he says by his grace and power. That's our desire. 

Let's close in prayer. 

Father, we're so thankful for your word, for your truth. Thank you for this epistle to Timothy, just thank you that we can come to your word every week go to the next verses, the next book and study, and everywhere we go it's so full, so rich, so encouraging. 

Thank you for renewing our minds and helping us to think your thoughts. Thank you for the privilege of being witnesses for you in this world and that through us you accomplish your work in your will of salvation sanctification. 

We trust you for the time coming soon when we will be glorified with Christ; we long for that time, we look to that time. 

Father, we thank you that you're our father. Jesus is our Savior; in His name, we pray. Amen.