This will be the second to the last study in our current series on 1 Timothy as we've been working through this book verse by verse and looking at the blueprints for the local church. It's been an edifying study, an enriching study, and I'm thankful for the various men who have taught various sections of this pastoral epistle, as their personalities and styles may differ, but the truth of the Word of God remains the same. And this morning we're going to study the scriptures together on a subject that touches us in every facet of our life. It's the topic of handling wisely the treasures or treasure of riches. So let me invite you to open your Bibles with me to the book of 1 Timothy chapter 6. 1 Timothy chapter 6. The Word of God utilizes a variety of metaphors to picture or portray some aspect of the Christian life, such as a son, a servant, a soldier, and a steward. A son, which every believer becomes when they're born again by receiving Jesus Christ through faith in him alone. A servant of Jesus Christ is positionally every believer's Lord, as they have been bought by the blood of Jesus Christ. A soldier, as every believer finds himself in a daily spiritual battle, as Satan's attacks and wiles are relentless, and this is why we need to put on the whole armor of God. And then a steward, as God has entrusted to every believer some very precious treasures to use for his glory and for the benefits of others. And as we'll concentrate on the stewardship of our treasures this morning, it can be a great but also grave responsibility to be entrusted a treasure, such as another's baby. You know, when they give you their baby, at first, with some people, it's like, whoa, Nellie. You know, I don't want to drop this precious thing. And sometimes with new parents, especially, there's a learning curve, obviously. what a precious treasure your children are. Or what a grave responsibility to be entrusted a treasure of someone else's money, for example. And they give you a bunch of money and they entrust it to you to use in a certain way, and you're responsible, you're accountable. You need to be wise in how you handle someone else's money. Or perhaps someone entrusts their car to you to drive somewhere. kind of like this $150,000 Maserati. The article I read this week about this very car was a driver in China borrowed it to a friend who immediately crashed it into a safety barrier across the road at a speed of 111 miles per hour. And if having his car crushed wasn't enough, his $150,000 Maserati, the insurance company has denied full replacement coverage for the accident due to the reckless driving involved. You see, as we think of stewardship this morning, as a believer in Christ, we are stewards before God of our time, of our talent, and of our treasure. These three commodities are more precious to God than any car. And we can either be a good and faithful steward of these three valuable commodities, or we can waste them in carnality or self-indulgence. So which are you? Are you using the time God has entrusted to you as a good steward? Are you using the talents God has given to you, whether it be natural talents or spiritual gifts? Are you using the treasure that God has given to you in a way that He wants, that would glorify Him and benefit others? You see, like any good steward, we need to know what our Lord requires of us and how our Lord wants us to utilize what he has entrusted to us and why being a good and faithful steward for the Lord is so important. So what? What does it matter? Well, the answers to those important questions are found right here in 1 Timothy 6, as we begin in verse 17. 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 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. Though Timothy is written by the Apostle Paul to his dear son in the faith, Timothy, who is involved in pastoral ministry in the city of Ephesus, I find it really interesting to observe how much the issue of money comes up in this epistle. You see, when he was talking about the qualifications of a elder or a pastor in 1 Timothy 3.3, he does mention again, not greedy for money. When he talks about the qualifications of a deacon in 1 Timothy 3.8, he mentions not greedy for money. This is to be true of all believers, but it must be true of pastors and deacons, for they're involved in handling money, that's entrusted to them for the Lord's work, and they must handle it wisely and well, in a godly fashion, and they must not be greedy for money, otherwise money, instead of biblical principle, will drive their decisions. And then if you look back with me at 1 Timothy chapter 6 and verse 3, and the verses preceding the passage we will consider today, we read, if anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ into the doctrine which accords with godliness, he is proud knowing nothing. but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words from which come envy, strife, reveling, evil suspicions, useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth. Now watch this. You suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself." Notice how in this passage there's going to be the wannabe rich, And then later we'll look at the already be rich. And right prior to the wanna be rich, he talks about godliness, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. And he's setting the stage for what he's going to say about how we handle money. How do we view material riches and the needs we have physically. And as I think of the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, What did Christ teach about godliness and riches? Well, many things could be said, but it's interesting to note that in the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ related to money, that 16 out of 38 parables address the stewardship of riches. It's interesting to note that one out of every 10 verses, 288 total in the Gospels deal directly with the issue of money. It's interesting to observe that it's been estimated that nearly 2,300 verses in the Bible touch on the subject of money. Now a lot of times when you mention the word money, people immediately grab for their wallet or want to walk out. And frankly, at Duluth Bible Church, we haven't talked about money a lot as we work our way verse by verse. And as we do, we address it. But our focus isn't on material riches. It's on the gospel and sound doctrine and the spiritual riches we have in Christ. But as we think of the Lord Jesus, what did he say? Well, he said things such as, do not store for yourself treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but store for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. Matthew 6, 19 and 20. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. You see, what is it you treasure? What is it you really value? What it is will be where your heart is. And isn't it interesting how people are willing to rise to the occasion for something they greatly value? I mean, some people, again, are going to say to themselves, there's no way I am going to miss the Vikings-Packers game today. Now, that's nothing wrong. That's between you and the Lord. I chose not to wear purple or green today. so as to not offend anyone. But I can't guarantee I'll do it every time. But the point I'm after is what you value, what you treasure, is where your heart's gonna be. The Lord Jesus went on to say, no man can serve two masters, for either he'll hate the one and love the other, or else he'll hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. You can't do it. You think you can, but you can't. The Lord Jesus said in Luke 12, 15, Life isn't about what you can get materially. In fact, in the context of the rich young ruler, the disciples were astonished at his words, but Jesus answered again and said to them, children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. And the eye of the needle that he's referring to there in the Greek is literally a sewing needle. You say, well, how in the world can a camel ever go through the eye of a needle? That's the point. It is impossible unless God does it. And you see, one of the problems of having riches is the tendency to either not see a need or rely on your riches to meet the need. And when it comes to spiritual riches, forgiveness, eternal life, a home in heaven, it can't be bought with silver and gold because it's already been purchased with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. And that's why when the Lord Jesus told the story of the rich man and Lazarus, what an incredible story. When you think about it, because in the minds of the Jews, if you were rich, you were righteous, and God was blessing you. So to hear Jesus talk about the rich man ending up in Hades and in torments, where the poor man, Lazarus, ends up again in Abraham's bosom would have been shocking to them. Because they thought material wealth meant godliness. And Jesus was teaching just the opposite. For not many mighty, not many noble are called, Paul would write. God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. The weak things of the world, the things that are nothing, to confound the things that are, that no one would glory in his presence. And that's why the false teachers that Timothy is referring to here suppose that godliness is a means of gain. of financial gain. This could have been a form of the prosperity gospel that we see and hear so much about today, in which people say, in essence, if you can just have enough faith and plant the seed of faith, that God is gonna bless you with health and wealth, and you can claim it in Jesus' name. But that's not what the Bible teaches. In fact, Jesus himself said, the foxes have holes and the birds have nests, but the son of man doesn't know where he's gonna lay his head tonight. It said of Paul that at times he was hungry and naked and destitute. God does not guarantee material riches for the believer in Christ, though at times he does bless us with that. Or this could have been a form of Old Testament law kind of thinking to the nation of Israel, obey and you'll be blessed, physically disobey and you'll be cursed. And by the way, the prosperity gospel preachers repeatedly refer to the Old Testament or kingdom passages to try to propagate their teaching instead of really in the letters written to the churches. And notice, from such withdraw yourself. Don't give your money to them. Separate from that kind of teaching. Like one person said, why wait for heaven to get your mansion? You can get it now. By the way, I watched a YouTube video not long ago on the 20 wealthiest preachers in the United States. Kind of interesting, 18 out of 20 were prosperity gospel preachers, with the wealthiest worth over multi, multi millions of dollars. Credo Dollar, kind of an interesting last name, wouldn't you say, especially since it isn't his original name, he changed it. Creflo Dollar said, Jesus bled and died for us so that we can lay claim to the promise of financial prosperity. Not true. Not biblical. Not for the church. And though God may sovereignly choose to bless a believer or even an unbeliever financially as the rain falls upon the just and the unjust, yet it's not as though we can just claim our pot of gold of health and wealth in Jesus' name. And that's why 1 Timothy 6 verse 6 says, Now godliness with contentment, now that's great gain. Godliness with contentment. For we brought nothing into this world and it's certain we can carry nothing out. Isn't that true? Again, you don't see the hearse loaded up this way, do you? And someone said, shrouds have no pockets. Do you really grasp this as a believer? Do you really live like this? For there are three eternal things we have the opportunity of dealing with on a consistent basis, Jesus Christ, the Word of God, and people. And that's what eternally matters. But we are so often into stuff. And while stuff isn't wrong in itself, it's not wrong to have stuff, it's wrong when stuff has you. It's not wrong to have money, but it's wrong when money has you. And it's dictating what your real priorities are instead of the Word of God. That's why verse 8 says, in having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. By the way, are you content? The opposite of contentment, by the way, is covetousness. I want more. Gimme, gimme, gimme. And perhaps you're under financial stress to teach you some things about money. Perhaps you're under financial stress to get your attention. Perhaps you're under financial stress to show you that your God can provide or all of the above. But having food and clothing were to be content. Why? Verse nine, for 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. How sad, but was true in Paul's day and certainly is still true today. Becoming rich should never be our goal in life, serving Jesus Christ is. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Our goal isn't to retire at 39. Our retire is to redeem the time God has given to us. And if you're able to retire at 39, so be it. If you retire at 62, so be it. However the Lord directs, but don't merely retire from something, but to something in which you now can devote greater attention and service that will matter in light of eternity. So what does verse 10 say? For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil to which some have strayed from the faith and their greediness and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. You see, some have strayed from the faith doctrinally, embracing the prosperity gospel. Or maybe practically due to dull of hearing or putting money before the word of God. You know, some believers just work long hours voluntarily when they don't have to, and then they wonder why they don't have time to hear the word of God. Or they get into the serious debt trap, and it is a trap in which they're under financial obligation now that crowds out their priorities in life, not good. pierce themselves through with many sorrows, in some cases, in their marriage or in their family or in their testimony for Christ. You know, Paul says of Demas, one who went on a missionary journey, or more than one, with him, that Demas forsook me, having loved this present world. And we don't know exactly what it is that he loved, but the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. So what does verse 11 say? But you, O man of God, flee these things. Flee. And then follow. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. And also make sure you fight. Fight the good fight of faith. And further, make sure you focus on eternal priorities. 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 was blessed and only potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords. who alone is immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen." You know, I just love that. Paul mentions Jesus Christ and His return, and pretty soon he just has this doxology and starts praising the Lord, and kind of just goes off course in awe and praise of the greatness and grace of God. But then beginning in verse 17, he's on course again. And he talks about the treasure of riches in verses 17 through 19. And then next Sunday, we will see the treasure of God's truth in verses 20 and 21. And both are precious treasures. And so in verses six through 10, he talks to the wannabe rich. But now in verses 17 through 19, the already be rich. And specifically, these instructions are for believers only. Now you gotta keep that in mind. This whole epistle isn't evangelistic, it's edificational. It's written to a pastor named Timothy in a local church, and this is what he, Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wants Pastor Timothy to teach with authority to that local church. For you see, the first and final issue between an unbeliever and God is not the issue of money. It's not the issue of how you use your money, but it's what do you think and believe about Jesus Christ? Do you believe he is God who became a man? Do you believe he died for your sins and rose again? Are you trusting in him alone to save you apart from law, ritual, and works? See, that's the first issue. Have you been born again? Have you been saved? Do you have eternal life? For you see, we're all born in Adam and in Adam all die. And that's why God sent his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. to become sin for us, because we were spiritually bankrupt, with no spiritual capital. And though we knew our sins could not save us, so often we thought our good works might, again, balance the scales in our favor, only to find out in Isaiah 64, 6, that all our righteousness were like filthy rags. Or Philippians 3, 8, that all the good things we've done are like loss and done. Unable to save ourselves, that's why God sent his son. And on the cross, he died for you and he paid for your sins and rose again in order to give eternal life to all who would simply believe in him alone. And the moment you do, you are placed into Christ and you are blessed with spiritual riches. You're accepted in Christ. You're redeemed by his blood. You're forgiven all trespasses. You're given an eternal inheritance. You are sealed with the Holy Spirit. You are guaranteed glory. And by the way, if you're here today and you've never been saved and your faith has never been placed in Christ and Him alone, today is the salvation, day of salvation for you. You don't have to raise a hand or sign a card or come forward or pray a prayer, ask Jesus in your heart. You need to just believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. And the moment you are, You are then in union with Christ, blessed with all spiritual blessing. You now know where you're going, and in the meantime, you can now make the most of time on earth. And so these instructions here are only for believers. But the second thing we notice is that these instructions are not suggestions to be considered. But they are commands to be preached by the pastor, namely Timothy, in the original context, or by me today, and then obeyed by the congregation. Verse 17, command those who are rich in this present age. You see the word command is parangelo, means to command, to charge, to instruct with a sense of authority. This word was used of Jesus charging the 12 to preach the gospel of the kingdom in Matthew 10. This word was used of Paul commanding an unclean spirit to come out of the sorceress in Acts 16.18. This was used of civil magistrates commanding the jailer to guard Paul and Silas securely in Acts 16.23. We're not talking here about a suggestion. This is a charge. This is a command. This is an instruction with authority. Biblical authority. You see, we've seen it already in 1 Timothy 1.3. As I urged you when I went to Macedonia, remain in Ephesus, that you may charge, that's the word, some that they teach no other doctrine. It was found in 1 Timothy 4.11, these things command, there it is, and teach. It was found in 1 Timothy 5.7, and these things command that they may be blameless. And now it's found again here in verse 17. It's in the present tense, which speaks of current or continual action. It's in the active voice, which was something Timothy must choose to do. And it was in the imperative mood, which means it's a command. It's a must. It's not a suggestion. Now, why would Timothy need to be commanded to do this? Well, first of all, Timothy was naturally timid. But in addition to that, when it comes to teaching on certain subjects and targeting certain people, and in this case, the rich, It is easy to want to be less than courageous. You're afraid to offend someone. You're afraid to step on someone's toes. And that's why I've said before, remember, I'm never preaching to you, it's always to the person next to you. Sometimes pastors are afraid to command, challenge, especially certain members of the congregation, in particular the rich. By the way, the elders here have made it a habit from the very beginning to never know who gives how much here at DBC. It's always been handled by the deacons. Because we don't ever in our mind want to struggle with teaching something, knowing, well, they're a rich giver at DBC, and I don't want to offend them, so therefore, you know what, we don't have those mental struggles at all. Because we don't know if you're rich or poor. Well, we do sometimes, but we don't know how much you give. We don't know that. We don't know if you give anything. Isn't it funny as a college student, a lot of times you think, I don't have any money to give, but you sure find money for a lot of other things. On the other hand, you may have some real financial needs in your home and therefore believe in grace giving and not tithing. You're free to give as the Lord leads you, no pressure. We try to make that very clear in the offering. In fact, I've never known of any other church besides our sister churches that before the offering says, if you're here today and you're not saved, don't give. One person told me, was that reverse psychology? Trying to get more? No, it's not. Timothy must not be afraid of the challenges, pastoral ministry, including this one. And by the way, thank you for your prayers for me and for the elders. We have so many challenges we face. and we need your prayers. But you know, as Paul writes 1 Timothy, Timothy's reading about, you need to address false teachers, you need to exercise church discipline, you need to set down policy and priorities, you need to address the place of women in the church, you need to keep the standard hot when it comes to elders and deacons and their qualifications, you need to address the issue of widows, you need to address pastoral remuneration, discipline, and so forth. And you know, when it comes to these things, it's easy to want to say, I think I just want to preach the gospel today. And avoid anything controversial or too close to home or that which you might get a reaction from. But if Pastor Timothy was to be faithful to the Lord and command the congregation at Ephesus with these imperatives, what does that mean on the part of his listeners? What does that mean to you today? It means they needed to place a high priority in being present to hear the word of God, otherwise how would they hear the instructions? And they needed to listen carefully to grasp the exhortation's time. And they needed to proceed to obey the commands that were being taught as they walked by faith and were filled with the spirit. And without these three necessities, what they're going to hear really isn't going to make a difference. By the way, you know when you think about the Word of God, do you know there's much more emphasis put on expository listening than expository preaching? That's for another time. Third thing specifically regarding this passage, these instructions are for those of you who are financially rich. You see, God is no respecter of persons and we are all one in Christ and equally blessed spiritually. And yet God still recognizes certain economic distinctions. He says, command those who are rich in this present age. You say, well, that's not me. I'm not rich. Well, wait a second. Depends on how you define rich. Rich means you have more than you need. Having food and rain, men, let us be content. And especially in comparison to third world countries in which I have gone on various visits, you are rich. Most of you. Even if you're middle class, you're rich. Per se. Rich, and now notice this, in this present age. That means materially rich. Financially rich. literally in the now age in contrast to the future age. The already be rich. And by the way, when we think of commands for the already rich, isn't it interesting that there's no sacred versus secular, that the Lord wants to get a hold of your thinking when it comes to how you use, invest, spend, save your money. Now, imagine yourself being at Ephesus. Paul reads this epistle, perhaps. And he talks about those who desire to be rich, and there you are, sitting in the audience, and you're rich. In fact, we know from chapter six, verses one and two, there were those who had servants, which means they were rich. And you're hearing those who desire to be rich, and you're looking, and people are kind of looking over at you, right? And you're saying, I don't desire to be rich, I am rich. Because that was true itself. Now, it is interesting how he's going to address the rich. And some very important things we need to learn from this. But the fact of the matter is, even in coming to DBC, the issue really isn't what do people think of you? but you're here for the right reasons. You know, sometimes I hear people say, well, I'm thinking about leaving because of what so-and-so said to me or thought about me. And I thought, well, did you originally come because everyone thought well of you? Is that why you came? Well, no, I came because I wanted to hear the word of God. Well, has anything changed? Yeah, my perspective has. And so we need to guard our hearts in these matters. Now, some passages teach us how to treat the rich, like James 2, without partiality, or how not to desire to be rich, like we read earlier in chapter 6. But in this case, this passage addresses how the rich need to think and respond. Now, don't misunderstand me. It's not wrong to be rich, as we're going to see here. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. It's the misuse of riches that is wrong. It's not wrong to be rich. You may be rich due to hard work. You may be rich due to wise stewardship. You may be rich because your parents were rich and you got a nice inheritance. It may be the unusual circumstances. In the Bible, Lydia was rich in Acts 16. Philemon was rich. Abraham was rich, David was rich, Job was rich, and these were godly people. See, what is the real issue being addressed in this verse is not whether it's wrong to have riches or not, it's not. The real issue is how you view yourself in light of your riches, and what you do with them, that's the issue. So what we have in the verses that follow here are a series of instructive commands by way of infinitives to rich believers how to properly view and wisely use the wealth God has entrusted to them as stewards. And so we see, first of all, some negative commands in verse 17. Command those who are rich in this present world not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches. Two negative commands. Now, what I find interesting is what Paul does not write. He doesn't say, and it's a sin to be rich. He doesn't say that. He doesn't say, shame on you, you capitalists. He doesn't say that. He doesn't say, give everything you have away and take a vow of poverty. He doesn't say that. He doesn't say, we need to have economic equality in the church and social justice. He doesn't say that. He doesn't tell them they were wrong to be rich, and he doesn't tell them to get rid of their riches. He tells them how to think and how to use them in a way that honors the Lord. So the first command is, regarding your self-evaluation, God commands you to not be haughty due to your riches. Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, proud, arrogant, conceited, exalted in your own mind about yourself. The opposite of genuine humility. Don't develop an attitude of self-sufficiency as you need the Lord. And why is this command so needed? It's needed because our world elevates beauty, brain, brawn, and bucks. Riches tend to inflate our egos. But remember, and in fact, just jot down Deuteronomy 8, 18. And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives power to get wealth. The tendency with rich people is to have an attitude of superiority versus inferiority, and therefore to be haughty or conceited. And so often churches pander to the rich, and that's why James 2 was written. Or because the rich, they get put on a board, even though they may not be spiritually mature. Or people, especially pastors, don't want to offend them, and so they back off. Proverbs 28, 11 says, the rich man is wise in his own eyes, but the poor who has understanding searches them out. If you have more than you need, and that's probably true of you today, the first thing God is saying to you is don't get stuck on yourself. Be humble. Recognize that what you have has been a gift from God and a stewardship from Him. And secondly, Regarding security, God wants you to not fix your trust or your hope in uncertain riches. And you see the word trust here is actually the Greek word for hope. It speaks of expecting or trusting something in the future, a confident assurance of some future blessing. Don't place your hope upon uncertain riches. Now why is a warning like that needed? Because riches are uncertain, they're insecure, they're unreliable due to the brevity of life, due to the relative value of money. All it takes is inflation or a war, or down in South Carolina, North Carolina, Hurricane Florence, all those wealthy homes along the coast, because people always want to live along the coast, right? And so much damage that is done. Not wrong to live there, but how uncertain, how unreliable. All it takes is a financial reversal. All it takes is an economic collapse. So don't bank on the false security of money like in an IRA or social security or life insurance policy. Now, none of those are wrong in themselves. And that may be the means God uses to provide for your needs and other needs. But make sure your faith, your trust, your hope isn't in those things, it's in the Lord. Because as we learned a few years ago, IRAs, may lose tremendous value. But God remains faithful. Why is this command needed? Because we can get like the rich young ruler of Luke 12 and said, soul, you have many goods laid up for years. Take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry. And Jesus said, you fool, tonight your soul will be required of you. He that trusts in his riches shall fall. and riches again are uncertain. And so negatively, we are not to be proud about our riches or haughty due to our wealth, neither are we to fix our hope on our bank accounts or our earthly treasure as they are uncertain and temporary. But now, he moves to the positive side of the equation, and he utilizes the word but to do just that. He says, but trust or hope in the living God who gives us richly all things to enjoy. And so the first command we see is God wants you to fix your hope in the living God, Jehovah Jireh, the God who sees and knows and provides for you. Put your trust in God, not in gold, and your heavenly father, not your Uncle Sam. Why? Well, one, he's the living God. That's why. He's not some dead idol. He knows your needs. And secondly, he's the one who gives us richly all things to enjoy. That's why. He's the one who's been providing for you all along. He's the one who's been taking care of you all along. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want or lack. And by the way, how are riches best enjoyed? If he's given them all things to enjoy, how are they best enjoyed? Not by self-indulgence, not by fleshly gratification, not by personal hoarding, not by spending it all on ourselves, but to know that what you are doing is bringing glory to the Savior and being spent in a worthwhile way that is truly a blessing to others. I mean, is there not some great satisfaction in knowing that the money I gave there furthered the gospel? The money I gave there met somebody's need, bought something they needed. And it could be our kids' needs, but beyond our children, to the needs of others as well. Let us do good unto all men, but especially those of the household of faith. And that word in joy speaks of real pleasure, true joy, genuine satisfaction. So if you're to find your future assurance and security in your God and not your gold, and find spiritual delight and pleasure in wisely investing it in God's plan, what are you to do with your wealth in the meantime? as you again recognize that God is the ultimate provider of your riches. How does he want you to spend it? For my God shall supply all your need according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus. So now we move from specific negative and positive instructions to the practical. Let's get it down to brass tacks. What does this mean to you in a practical way, to those of you who are rich? Number one, God wants you to use your riches to do good. To do good. And the word for good is a broad idea. Intrinsic good, noble deeds, valuable works, to do good things energetically with your money. You see, we're not saved by works, we're not kept saved by works, we're not spiritual because of our works. But as we're walking by faith and we are spiritual, good works are to flow out of us, motivated by the love of Christ, out of genuine need for others, in which we can do good to them in a practical, financial, material way. And what are some of the specific ways to do good with your money? Well, just in 1 Timothy 5, we saw by providing for your family, verse eight, by helping the needy and less fortunate, verse 16, by supporting your pastors and the ministry of God's word, verses 17 and 18. To do good. Are you doing good with your money? Are you just wasting it away? Secondly, God wants you to use your riches to be rich in good works. Now there's a little play on words there. Use your riches to be rich in good works on behalf of others. And by the way, there are many examples, as it were, in the New Testament alone, where in Acts 2 and 4 the early church reached out and met a need of hospitality to those who had gotten saved and remained there on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem. By the way, they never repeated what they did there after Acts 4. Or the case of the Macedonians, who gave so abundantly that Paul was blown away and was reluctant to take their offering in 2 Corinthians 8 and 9. Or there was the church of Smyrna in Revelation 2 and 9, which were rich in good works. where you see as believers, for by grace have you been saved through faith. And that's not of yourself, it's the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created into Christ Jesus for what? For good works, that God hath before ordained that we should walk therein. So God wants you to use your riches, number one, to do good, number two, to be rich in good works, number three, to be generous in giving. The word ready to give literally means to give generously, bountifully, liberally. And why is this the case? Because God has given to you richly all things to enjoy, so give to others richly. Someone has said a stingy Christian is a contradiction of the grace of God. To give generously. Don't be the Scrooge when it comes to giving. And fourthly, he says, to be willing to share. willing to share. The Greek word is a form of koinonia, to share, to fellowship with someone by sharing with them. It's not something aloof, but it involves personal participation. It's contrary to James 2, if a brother or sister is destitute and naked and in need of daily food, and you say to him, be warm to be filled, and you don't give them the things that they really need, how does your faith benefit them? It doesn't. Now, this is willing to share. Not to everyone who asks you, but those who have a need. And by the way, if you have the need, you need to look to the Lord to meet that need, not be begging off somebody else. On the other hand, if you're in a position to give as you're looking to the Lord, you can be motivated to meet another's need. You see, if you expect grace, it's not grace, because grace is undeserved. and you are to focus on the Lord as to the one who provides for you, though he may use various means to do that. So we've seen here that God has clearly told you not to be proud due to your riches or to fix your hope on the uncertainty of riches. Instead, you are to fix your hope on the living God who has given you all things that you have in order to find great pleasure and true joy. by using it for his glory and for the blessing of others. And how is it to be used? By doing good, to be rich in good works, to be generous in giving, to be willing to share. But what difference does it make? And is it really worthwhile? And the answer is yes, as we look at verse 19 and what this means to us eternally. storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come that they may lay hold on eternal life. The wise and godly handling of your riches will result in great personal enjoyment in time as God is glorified and others are blessed by your good works and generous giving. By the way, can I just use a little example? You know, we have grandchildren. You know, it's great to be grandparents. All the blessings and none of the responsibilities, you know. And you know, there's great joy. You know, my wife loves picking up stuff at Rumminsdale's and other places for our grandkids. And I am in it. And, you know, there's this joy of giving it to them and their eyes light up. They're like another matchbox car, you know. They're just thrilled. There's a joy in giving. Jesus said it's more blessed to give than to receive. And so eternally, as we think of giving, number one, is it worth it in time? Absolutely. But is it worth it in light of eternity? Without question. For the wise and godly handling of your riches in time will result in amassing a good foundation like a treasure or savings account for yourself in the future when you give an account of your redeemed life to Jesus Christ. You see the phrase, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, says that if you wisely use your money now, As you walk with the Lord and you invest in eternity, you know what that's gonna mean? That means when you stand before the Lord one day and he rewards faithful servant, that it's like sending money ahead into an eternal bank account in which you'll be credited for this, and you could hear, well done thou good and faithful servant. This is a bank account nobody can touch. This is what Jesus meant when he said, again, store up treasures not on earth, but in heaven. And notice that phrase, that they may lay hold on eternal life. What does that mean? We saw it earlier in chapter 6. We saw in chapter 4 bodily exercise profits a little, temporarily, not only in this life, but in that which is to come. As Paul repeatedly reminds Timothy, as I'm reminding you today, that there is great value in time as well as eternity in walking with the Lord and as a byproduct obeying the instructions of the Word of God, including these. These are things to be commanded, and I have commanded them today, in seeking to be faithful as your pastor. Not because I get anything out of it, particularly. It's not about me. It's about Jesus Christ and others. And I want you to have a good foundation to the time to come. I want you to have a good report when you stand before the Lord. I want you to receive a reward at the judgment seat of Christ. I want you to find great enjoyment in time by being a good steward of what God has given to you. What does obeying these commands reflect and result in? That you as a believer have really gotten a grip on the reality and ramifications of your eternal relationship with God, i.e. eternal life. If you really get a grip on the fact that when you were saved, you were given eternal life. Eternal life doesn't mean you're going to live forever. Everyone lives forever. Eternal life means you're going to live forever with God. There's also eternal death. And in eternal life, you now have this eternal relationship with God in which He is your Father, you are His Son, Christ is your Savior and Lord, you are His child and such. And as a result, as you're walking by faith in light of this eternal relationship you have, the Spirit of God uses the Word of God to begin to impact various areas of your thinking, including this one. And as you do, you're getting a grip, as it were, on what eternal life is really all about and how God wants to lead you and direct you and fellowship with you and use you in time and reward you in eternity. You see, your money won't follow you to heaven, but something will, do you know what? Revelation 14, 13 says, blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth, yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors and their works do follow them. By way of reward or by impacting others for Christ. You see, what's going on in this passage is the issue of stewardship. of handling financial riches in a way that's honoring to the Lord. And the whole issue centers around your perspective of yourself, of your money, of your master, of your God. It centers around your personal trust. Will you trust in the uncertainty of riches or in the living God who provides you all things to enjoy? And it centers around your priorities. Is it to pursue the temporal or to invest in the eternal? Have you grasped onto real living yet? Living in light of eternity, living for Jesus Christ, getting a grip on eternal life. These are great challenges for you as a believer, for me. To go home, to pray about, to think about, to evaluate. How am I using what the Lord has given to me? Like your house, it's either a tool or an idol. Like your car, it's either a tool or an idol. Like what God has given to you, it's either a tool or an idol. Which one is it? Let's let the Lord sift us. Let's let the Lord adjust us. Let the Lord calibrate our thinking in this area, that we could be good stewards of what he has given to us. But if you're here today and you've never been saved, if you're here today and you don't know for sure you have eternal life, I have good news for you. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Notice, for the wages of sin is death, separation from God, but the gift of God is eternal life. And how do you get that? In Jesus Christ, our Lord. The one who died for your sins and rose again. And dear friends, much better to be spiritually rich and physically poor than the opposite. And in some cases, we're spiritually rich and we're physically rich. And let's rejoice in both and use them to the glory of God. Let's pray. Father, thank you again for your word today and the opportunity to have studied it together in a passage that speaks to our hearts, it speaks to where we live. Father, thank you so much. May we reflect on this we've been convicted, may we allow you to make those adjustments, may we think through and prayerfully consider these admonitions to us, that we might be good stewards of the treasures you've given to us, handling them in a way that honor you and benefit others. And we know the boomerang effect is that we then enjoy the usage of these riches in ways we wouldn't otherwise. and they are used to impact both the saved and the lost for what really matters in light of eternity. And thank you, Father, that he who was rich, the Lord Jesus, for our sakes became poor. He became a man. and yet without sin, that we, through His poverty and His death on the cross, might become spiritually rich. And we pray for anyone here today who has never been saved. May today be the day they trust in the finished work of Christ alone. In Jesus' name, amen.