The New Testament reading will be looking at 1st Timothy in chapter 6. 1st Timothy in chapter 6. Verse 1. Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their masters worthy of all honor, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed. And they that have believing masters, let them not despise them because they are brethren, but rather do them service because they are faithful and beloved, for takers of the benefit. These things teach and exhort. If any man teach otherwise, then consider not the wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to God in us. He is proud, knowing nothing, but noting about questions and strife of words. whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmises, perverse men, disputing of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness, from such withdraw thyself. But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain that we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment, let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, with drowned men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things, and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession, that thou keep'st His commandment without spot, unrefutable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which in His signs He shall show, who is the blessed and only potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who only hath immortality, dwelling in the life which no man can approach unto, who no man has seen nor can see, to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen. Brother Thomas, I urge you to come and lead our prayer this morning. Let us pray. Father, we thank you for a time to come together at seminary and chapel, a time to sing your praise and hear your word read. Lord, we thank you for Brother Ricky Williams as he's going to come and share your word with us. We thank you for those who have given their lives and much of their life on foreign fields to serve your cause. Cause us not to only honor those men and women for their dedication to the cause of the gospel. Cause us to honor your gospel and be missionaries here at home. Help us to be mindful to pray for those who have been mentioned today, those that have needs. Lord, there are many, and Lord, we pray that you will attend to them and cause us to have a listening ear to your Spirit. May we always say yes, in Christ's name. Amen. Good morning. In the past, well, let's just leave it at that. In the past, I've stood three times in this pulpit and tremble each time. Well, in the past, two times. This one is the third time. The first time was homiletic class. with Joe Pendleton as teacher and this is where we did our final exam. In fact, we preached twice that year, at least I did. I remember being scared other than twice. Once my final exam here and then I guess the practice sermon of the midterm, I don't know. I preached in the breezeway between the library and the main building because Dr. Crank, who was business manager at that time, had planted pansies. So I preached that passage out of Matthew 5 about the lilies of the field. So we went out there and had a sermon. The second time I preached here was for a Bible conference. I don't remember the year. And then this is my third time. Each time I shake and so it doesn't get any easier. But I will confess that I feel the responsibility each time as I stand before God first and before His people. Let me just put in a little commercial. My wife, where's your hand? Priscilla. has prayer cards, and so I would greatly appreciate you having a prayer card to pray for us. And it's got a little information and two email addresses. One that's been corrected. It had an H instead of a K, but feel free after service to pick one of those up and put it on your, well, wherever you put things like that. Hopefully in a visible spot and remember us. Most of the time, when anyone, and especially ministers, think of ministry, getting rich seldom enters your mind. In fact, when I announce my topic, you'll think, well, did he mistake this for another denomination? For the next few minutes, we're going to think about making a real profit in the ministry. Making a real profit in the ministry, and we've already read the passage there in first Timothy, but if you'd like to open your Bibles again there to first Timothy chapter 6 We'll be looking at verses 6 through 11 Now some of you Are thinking right now why in the world is it preaching this passage? To a bunch of poor seminary students and professors who aren't getting rich quick Well, let me answer that First of all, a lot of people think that 1 Timothy, besides being a manual for church operation or how to do church, some people look at it, especially at chapter 1 verse 3, as being the key First it governs all that what Paul says here in 1st Timothy and there in chapter 1 verse 3 says Paul talking to Timothy says I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus of course I left you there when I went into Macedonia that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine and that all that what Paul mentions to Timothy in this letter is governed by that first description. In other words, all that he tells Timothy about, in some shape or fashion, the false teachers, the errant leaders in the church there, or the errant members in the church there in Ephesus, had somehow twisted it. And so he's correcting that, and he's showing Timothy, this is what you need to talk to these folks about. And if that's the case, Then one of the things that these false teachers or air preachers or teachers had done is they had somehow gotten their hands in the coffers of the church. They had somehow made themselves rich or at least richer or had gotten some kind of gain from serving the Lord there and not a righteous way. That reminds me of a long time ago. East Texas camp over here out of Garrett, L.A. training, was speaking to young ministers. And this is not a quote, but it's the gist of what he said. Basically he said, and he had a group of young preachers there, and we all met in a separate class. And he basically said, he said, When you get into the pastoring, watch out for these three things. Money, women, and your head, your pride. And I think this is kind of what he said, keep your hands off the women, keep your hands out of the offering plate, and don't let your headband get too tight. Something like that. I basically think that if there's three pitfalls for preachers, those are the three pitfalls. And one of those has to do with money. So I think this passage is... I mean, if that was a problem in Paul's day, then it very well could be a problem today. You may not have that problem right now, but it could be a potential problem. Also watch what Paul says further down in the passage. In verse 10, he talks about the love of money. You don't have to be rich to love money. You just have to be human. I know many poor people in Mexico that need this passage preached to them just as much as any Warren Buffet or Bill Gates. In fact, providentially I was, we are, I think we, Chris and I were coming back from Arkansas and I was listening to the radio and a particular speaker that was being interviewed on the AFR radio said this, and this is almost, this is like a Well, quotable quote, I guess is what Reader Digest says in English. Greed has no price tag. Greed has no price tag. That's true. So if those two arguments are valid, then this passage is as good as any passage to be preached here at seminary. So let's look at what Paul says about money that glitters and godliness. First of all, he says that real profit in ministry is found in a satisfied godliness. Real profit is found in satisfied godliness. Paul is correcting here these errant teachers, as I mentioned earlier, by pointing out that godliness is not a means for great gain, but in and of itself is great gain. To be godly is a great profit. What exactly is godliness? Godliness, or it can be translated piety. This is a real interesting passage or term in Spanish. Its noun form is where we get the name Eusebius, or it is the name Eusebius, or Eusebio, Jevil in Spanish, which is a very common name in Spanish. James Orr gives the following definition of this term. He says, Godliness as an owning character and conduct determined by the principle of love of God or fear of God in the heart is the summing up of genuine religion. Let me repeat that. Godliness as denoting character and conduct determined by the principle of love or fear of God in the heart is the summing up of genuine religion. So we might say that godliness is when a person When a person publishes each day, through his actions, headlines that read, I love God with all my heart and I reverently fear Him. That's my greatest possession. Is that written on your life? Is that what you publish each day? Is that what people read when they read you, when they see you? If that's what's written all over your daily life, then you're a godly person. Paul also explains why piety or godliness is a great gain. He says in verse 7 and 8 that our arrival to this world and our departure from this world is with nothing. We got here with nothing and we leave here with nothing. When one of the rich Rockefellers died, A curious soul asked his lawyer, who was the executor of the stake, how much the deceased Rockefeller had left. The lawyer replied, everything. When we leave, everything stays here, everything. That's what makes Godhead so much more profitable. This is not the only time that Paul mentions this. In fact, this term, godliness, is a real popular term in the pastoral epistles. You'll find it more, and I know you'll check on this, all of y'all professors, but I think that it's more popular in the pastorals than anywhere else in the New Testament. But in chapter 4, verse 8, he expresses the same idea. The ESV says it this way, for while bodily training is of some value, and let me emphasize that some value, we still need to exercise it. Godliness is of value in every way as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. So it's a much greater profit because it doesn't matter what happens politically. It doesn't matter whether the dollar goes up or goes down, godliness has the same value here and for eternity. This implies that if we really possess godliness, the lack of material possessions is of no importance since we can't take it with us. I see this, those of you that have been to Mexico, we can go up there. The classic example is a new village we're going into called Link Hut. You go up there and the little kids are running barefoot. And even if you carry shoes, they'll put them up on top of their little attic in their huts. And you'll say, why didn't you wear your shoes? Well, I don't want to get those things muddy. And so it'll be cold, but they'll be barefooted. And they don't have much. But ain't you lying when our young people went up there to do an outreach on a Saturday and 65 of those kids come. And for them it's big time because we bought the colors. They don't have any colors. And they colored and they painted and they listened. So their Bible listened and was taken. And they just thoroughly thoroughly enjoyed it and understood it. They don't have a lot. But you know, possessions is not what it's all about. This passage says that it's godliness, it's godliness. We can take godliness with us. It's one thing to know this, but Paul adds the word contentment. Notice with me, he says, godliness with contentment is great gain. That's the idea of the satisfied feeling. It's the spiritual equivalent of going down to luncheons and getting a big hamburger, and when you finish, you're satisfied. Well, that's the kind of spiritual feeling that comes when we're godly, with contentment. And I think what he's talking about here is, godliness is not just a holy kind of atmosphere, but it's showing that you're content with it. You know, it's not a, what is the word you mean, but anyway, it's not this, well I'm holy and you're sad about it, but you're satisfied with what God has given you. We'll look at that passage that goes along with that over in Philippians, but since real profit and ministry is found in godliness, Then Paul says to Timothy, pursue godliness. In other words, Paul tells us don't long or reach out for those riches, but rather chase after godliness. Verses 9 and 10, they that will be rich, and that will there is not just a future type thing, but it's a word that has to do with your Pull them tight. You will. You're pulling them tight. You will. What you want to do. We'll be rich. Fall into temptation and sin. Then he goes on down and he says in verse 10, For the love of money is the root of all evil. Which while some coveted, that's that desire, that reaching out, that longing for. Those are the two ideas here. So instead of being content, And satisfied, there's this idea that there's never enough. Gotta have more. Gotta have more. And that desire for more leads the person into other pitfalls. And verse 9 and 10 mentions that. Hurtful lusts drown men in destruction and perdition. Verse 10 talks about them being pierced themselves through with many sorrows. This almost sounds like what we read over in Proverbs 28, well, what Dr. Holmes read in Proverbs 28. Did you notice that? That haste to be rich, and it appears twice. In the ESV it says, a faithful man will be richly blessed, but one eager, they translate that haste as eager to get rich. And then once again, a stingy man is eager to get rich. When that is the driving motivation in life, then godliness takes second place or second position. And it shouldn't be that way. The real prophet in our ministry is not material, rather it's spiritual. It's godliness. It's loving our Lord and reverently fearing Him. Instead of great gain, ruin and destruction is the future for those that long after riches. Paul exhorts us to chase after Godliness. Verse 11 says, Thou, O man of God, flee these things. Flee that longing, that lusting for riches, and follow after righteousness. Pursue is also a valid way to translate that. I like chase after. I mean, you're giving it all you've got. Chase after godliness. Don't chase after the fleeting riches of this life. Now, how can we apply this? Before I get to my last point. How can we apply this? Two things. First thing, a personal experience. Before I came to Jacksonville, and then Chris and I were married, I ministered in a church north of town and enjoyed just the sweet, sweet memories there at Mount Selma. Then I had an invitation to come downtown. Big church, fine pastor, but a well-known pastor. And I decided I'll go. I'll go. Didn't stay there long. I look back on that and it wasn't necessarily more money but it might have kind of been in that area like a more prestigious type thing. I look back on that and I really believe I made a mistake. But thank the Lord He can take even our mistakes and teach us Because I needed to learn what a real life business meeting was like. And I learned that it was 13 months. And got used to that. But I had in mind, I didn't think about that I could serve the Lord and continue to serve Him in the church. I did not sell me. But it just, the glitter of serving at the church in town, captioned me. Be careful in your ministry to let things like that guide your calling. That's not God's calling. He can use those kinds of things in spite of our pig-headedness. He can use those for our benefit. But really ask yourself, is it God's calling? Will this promote godliness in my life? Secondly, sometimes when in the future for y'all you think about planning churches, sometimes we let the glitter of gold take precedent over godliness. Because sometimes we think about planning a church where it can be successful financially. Well, my question is, what about all those poor folks that need the gospel too? And they need a church too. They might need a bi-vocational ministry. But they need to hear the gospel too. And if we gear our church planning to just, well, if they can pay for the building or not, or if they can pay the pastor, some folks that are part of God's creation are just going to get left out. And I think that's where Satan comes in the back door with the love of money in our ministry. So be careful. Now, can we do this? Can we see godliness as great gain? More than the love of money? Can we remember these passages the next time? Okay, get ready. We step into Best Buy. And we see that omnipotent laptop. They can do all things. Yeah, yeah. I know where y'all walk. I walk the same way. Yeah. Now it may not be a laptop. It may be a hybrid car. Or it may be that nice Dodge Ram or whatever pickup, you know. I thought I used to have to have a pickup back when we were here in Jacksonville. That's another story. It didn't work out too well. Is it just a matter of following what Paul says in Philippians, that famous passage? I think he expresses godliness here. Philippians 4, 11-13. Not that I speak in respect of want, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound. Everywhere in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. And then he closes with that famous passage, I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. It's just a matter of following that example. I think Paul's expression found its basis in Christ's own example. John Quiet in the 1800s captured it well in the hymn, Was it for me? Was it for me, for me alone? The Savior left his glorious throne, the dazzling splendors of the sky. Was it for me he came to die? And then the refrain, of course, says, It was for me, yes, all for me, O love of God, so great, so free, O wondrous love, I'll shout and sing, He died for me, my Lord and King. I like that. Godliness becomes greater in our life than the glitter of money, the glitter of gold, when our love for Him overshadows all. When we sing each day through our conduct, the refrain of this hymn, it was for me. Yes, all for me. Oh, love of God, so great, so free, a wondrous love. I'll shout and sing. I'll publish it through a godly life each day. He died for me, my Lord and King. Remember when you met your wife? Or we'll meet your wife, you can't remember that, but those of y'all who are single, just remember this and apply it when that comes. Do you remember how it didn't matter if you had money in the bank or not? You had her. In fact, those days were some of the sweetest days in your life. You remember you love her, not because she's a great cook, although she is. Nor because she's the most beautiful woman you've ever seen, even though she is. You love her for being who she is. When we love Jesus for who he is, and our love shows in a reverent, godly conduct each day, then we've got real profit in our life, in our ministry. Because folks, that's the kind of preacher people will follow. That's the kind of preacher and pastor that people respect because they see that Godliness is not just a sermon thing. It's a life thing. Real profit ministry is not the salary you get or don't get. It's Godliness. Love the Lord. Let's pray. Father, we want to publish each day through our walk and our talk that you are our Lord and our King. Thank you for what you've done, but help us Lord in our life to worship you for who you are and to love you and let that show. Love you not for what we can get out of it. This is not a transaction. But just love you for being our Savior and our King. For being the perfect and holy God that you are. And each day may that Godliness show. May we wear it in our actions and in the way we talk. And also in what we don't share and what we don't talk about. In Christ's name I pray. Amen.