Please take your Bibles once again and turn to the New Testament now to 1 Timothy 6. 1 Timothy 6, it's found on page 1,365, 1,365 of the Bibles there in your rows. And we'll begin with verse three and read to verse 19 of 1 Timothy 6. The Apostle Paul writes, if anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to 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, reviling, evil suspicions, useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth. who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such, withdraw yourself. Now godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain that we 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 have 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 a good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things 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 an unapproachable light, with 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 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. Remember the grass withers and the flower falls, God's word abides forever. Well, we're continuing our series this morning on taking twisted scriptures and on twisting them. And the verse that we're looking at today is found in 1 Timothy 6, verse 10, which notes, for the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. It's from that phrase or that statement that some have just simply said that money is the root of all evil. In fact, I think it was Pink Floyd in their song Money that sang that. And there are others who have posited that simply all evils and all problems in this life are as a consequence of money. It's the root of evil. But as we consider this subject, I want to set before you an article that was put in the Wall Street Journal back in March of 2011, and it noted this, that we shouldn't envy the super-rich. After all, they're miserable. Would you have ever considered that? That the super-rich are actually miserable. They basically surveyed a hundred, they sought to survey over a thousand people, only had 120 responses, and it was 120 responses from people who make over $25 million. And yet some of the conclusions that they came to was that there is a sense of misery that's present in these individuals because although they have wealth and they should have happiness, they're filled with all sorts of contradictions. Because what they found is that the more money that they had did not lead to greater happiness. In fact, happiness ended up plateauing when certain income levels and needs were met. And so in some respects, they just existed like two lost souls swimming in a fishbowl year after year. They had fears, they had worries, they had all sorts of family issues, they were overwhelmed with anxiety as it pertained to work and family and their security in terms of their financial stability. In fact, even as they had 25 plus million dollars, they all, almost to a man, felt as if they still needed 25% beyond that. Some of the statements that these individuals made was that we ought not envy their wealth because the more money did not bring all that they had hoped for. In fact, the novelty of wealth had worn off. As they observed their relationship with their kids, they said having money caused great danger for the next generation because they ended up having a perverted worldview. Their approach was a sense of entitlement and they had lost the sense of empathy and compassion. It was hard to make friends. After all, anytime they went out for dinner, they were always expected to pay the bill. And holidays were miserable because everyone looked to them to say, where's the really good presents? It's really easy to get caught up in money, in wealth, in believing that the acquisition of riches would allow us then to have ease, to have security, to have comfort. And yet Paul notes something that is different. He cautions us in relation to the desire for money. This caution is rooted in what scripture notes elsewhere, particularly with the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, when he notes that where your treasure is, there your heart will also be. And what Jesus is showing isn't that your heart directs your treasure, but rather that you see that your treasure directs your heart. In other words, whatever you value, whatever it is that you show that is of significance and importance to you, that's where your affections will ultimately lie. And for all of us in this room, we would note that our finances are up there. After all, we probably spend about 50% of our time on money. How to keep it, how to save it, how to spend it, how to find it. And yet if you look through your monthly financial statements, it would tell a lot or say a lot to you and to anyone who looked. as to what you ultimately cared about. And so this morning, in light of correcting this misunderstanding about money being the root of evil, we want to then rightly see how we are cautioned to have an improper desire for money because of the consequence that can result inwardly. Paul notes this in the context of writing to Timothy, and as he writes to Timothy, he had left Timothy in the city of Ephesus in order to address some abuses that were there. One of those abuses involves the presence of money, and particularly the love of it. You see, it seems that as Paul had directed in Acts chapter 20, he had given that warning to the officers in Ephesus that there would be those who were false teachers who would come into the church, so it had happened. And as they had taken over and sought to then run the church, Paul sends Timothy in order to correct their false teachings. and to rightly direct the people of God. And we see these false teachers in the context of this passage this morning. These false teachers argued that the evidence of your godliness is seen in relation to your material gain. Notice what is argued previously in verse 5. Supposing that godliness is a means of gain from such, withdraw yourself." It's a two-fold argument. The first is that if you're really godly, then ultimately God will bless you with wealth. If you're blessed with wealth, it must be because you're really godly. And yet these individuals were taking that to say, well, we are teachers in the church, and therefore, as we have this position and this place of authority, then we ought to benefit, we ought to gain, we ought to increase. because of our position in our service. And yet ultimately in this desire for the use of their position for gain, it was an abuse of power in order then to fulfill their love of money. And so Paul in turn then challenges Timothy and the church to this pursuit of contentment and recognizing that there needs to be a mindfulness of the perspective on money. Now with this, we need to note that money in and of itself isn't bad, it's not wrong. It can be used for either purpose of good or ill. The challenge before us is what is our motive? What is our desire? What is our interest regarding this? The Bible tells us that we can use money rightly. That there's not an inherent evil in money itself. That money in and of itself isn't bad, it's a useful tool that benefits people as they go about their lives and deal with their place in this world and their need for business. Solomon notes in Proverbs 8 that God fills the treasuries of those who love him. The challenge to us is to not cling to it, to not hold it in a position of pride, to not make it the important thing or the place of the first place in our lives, to not allow riches to overcome anything and everything else, to be the thing that we're so focused on that it becomes somehow a substitute for God. and is the place in which we allow our confidence to rest. Jesus tells us to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all of these other things will be added. The authority of Jesus Christ is to be first. The place of the Savior is to be of utmost importance. Obedience to the Word of God in response to the salvation that He has provided is to be the direction for our life, not things that are temporal, not things that are transitioning, not things that are unlasting. And so Paul in turn then challenges the desire for riches. And he notes that the desire for riches is at the root of evil or sin. Money isn't the issue. It's the attitude or desire or longing for it. Interestingly enough, in terms of the verse, for the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, Paul writes this sentence in order to put the attention at the root. He cites that word first. He ultimately wants to note that the heart of this, the substance of this, the base of this, is the issue or the key in your life. because it's the love of it, it's the desire of it that leads not simply to evil, but to various types of evil. Have you ever noticed how the individual who is consumed with financial gain and that becomes the thing of utmost importance that all sorts of actions must occur in order for that desire to be met. The individual who has an in ordained longing for wealth and pursues it for luxury and personal gain, ends up violating all sorts of God's commandments. Rooted in the heart of false desire and false longing, they then begin to covet that which they can acquire, whether it's a higher number or the possessions that can be gained or the status among others, and they long for that. And that longing then becomes what's most important and what's most significant and their priority. And in this desire, they then are filled with greed, which Paul tells us in Colossians 3 is idolatrous. And so they forget God and they focus on self. They no longer desire to remember the time and the place of weekly worship, but instead they worship themselves and the status that they may acquire. and they consequently will do anything and everything in order to secure it, whether it by means of theft or fraud or dishonest gain. The problem with this desire is that it's rooted in something that has no permanence. Remember what we heard from Ecclesiastes five and also in accordance with Job chapter one, where we're told that we enter into this world with nothing. We come into this world naked. We live and we die and we go out the same way. In other words, there's nothing that we take with us to the other side of life. No possessions on this earth can somehow be carried over. There's no way in which you can put things into your coffin and they end up in the afterlife. If you recall, the Egyptians had that perspective, and so they filled the pyramids with all sorts of objects and gold, and they had servants who willingly died with the Pharaoh in order to be able to serve him, only to see that their bodies are still there, and all of the things that they set aside are there. This desire and longing for fulfillment will not give it because it has no eternal substance. And so here we then ask, what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, if he adds to his bank account, if he achieves the top rung of the corporate ladder, if he has friends, if he has support, if he has any and everything that is his in this world, and yet he cannot address the one thing that goes from this world to the next, which is his soul, if he does nothing to resolve that and his desire is outside of that? How then does it help? How does it benefit? How is it of use? And so the love and desire that is separate from that which is lasting, which is simply focused on financial gain, is rooted in some serious problems and issues. In fact, even as this desire is the root of all types of sins, Paul tells us secondly that there is then a delusion. We saw this desire that's rooted in sin, or the root of sin, we then see there's a delusion that is brought forth in riches. Notice what Paul again says in verse nine and verse 10. 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. The delusion is that it will give you something, and yet it doesn't follow through. The delusion is that it sets something for you to appear to be benefit and useful, but in the end it is only foolish and harmful. It's deceptive. It's deceptive that has an appearance of significance and of lasting benefit, only to find out in the end that there is no real happiness with it. As one author noted, that basically money can buy a bed, but it does not provide sleep. It gives you books, but it doesn't make you intelligent. It can buy all sorts of food, and yet it will not fulfill your appetite. It provides all sorts of amusements, and yet it never gives happiness. It can buy many, many houses, and yet never make a home. It can give you all sorts of medicines, and yet never give you health. It provides you with all sorts of luxuries and yet never makes you cultured. It gives you all sorts of religion and yet it does not provide salvation. It can buy you any and all passports and yet it will not get you to heaven. How many stories have you heard of entertainers who have everything they want and yet they have nothing? They have all sorts of things around them. They have servants. They have cars. They have possessions. They have anything and everything to their heart's desire. And yet they're lonely, separated from everyone else, and unhappy. Why? because they thought that these things would give them that which would last, and yet it had nothing. It didn't address the most fundamental need. It didn't resolve their problem of their conscience before a holy God. And as they thought that this whole, this God-shaped hole that was present in their life could then somehow be filled up or satisfied or diverted away because of the things they could acquire through their wealth, they ended up finding out it didn't do it. because they still had a conscience that convicted, because they still saw that they had death that was impending, that death was running closer and closer before them. And they knew that they would then meet their maker and could not then have any standing and their money wouldn't help. And yet God has provided us with the resolution to this problem. giving us even the riches of heaven itself through the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember the saying of Paul, that he who was rich beyond all splendor, all for love's sake, became poor. That through his poverty, you might become rich. the riches of Christ, that He then entered into this world, lived perfectly before the standard of God Himself, offered Himself as the one who could satisfy the wrath of God for our sins, and consequently secure that which only satisfies and that which only lasts, peace with God, the assurance of eternal life, and the confidence that we might have a standing before this God is the greatest wealth that provides hope and security. Well, there's a caution to us in this position. Paul ultimately notes that there is a destruction that can come about based on an inordinate love for wealth. It's a destruction or a deterioration that simply plunges the individual into ruin. Paul describes it here as those who actually have strayed from the faith in their greediness and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. They have fallen into temptation and a snare, in verse 9 he tells us. Ultimately, it's this idea that they are like an animal who's walked thinking that this ground was certain and firm in the jungle, only to find out that it was a trap and they fell through and they landed in this deep pit. And here they are stuck, waiting then to be destroyed. This is the truth for those who have made money their God. They're lost. They're wandering. They have no real eternal lasting security. In fact, they've wandered off the path of life thinking that it would somehow provide them that very thing. They seem to have it all together and yet they're confused. They seem to know exactly where they're going and yet they're off the true trail. They seem to have things all planned out and yet they can't resolve the biggest thing that is before them, the end. and the consequences if they remain in that position apart from God. Seeking this love to be of fulfillment, seeking this inordinate desire, thinking that this would somehow provide them with satisfaction, it will lead to destruction. The Bible has a powerful example for us in this. There was one within the twelve who was known as the treasurer, who was the one who was conscientious in terms of the money box. Judas himself. And yet as he was filled with love for money, look at what it led him to do. He would steal from Jesus and his fellow disciples as he had access to the treasury, he would pocket some for himself. And as he continued to see that it was never enough, he then sought how he might turn over the Lord Jesus himself for 30 pieces of silver, so that in that betrayal he might have then more, only to find out that ultimate conviction that was laid upon him for his desire to turn in Jesus for simply a few pieces of silver. that he never had opportunity to enjoy it or to spend it because his guilt and remorse was so much that he went out and hung himself. It's a perfect picture of how the love of money can ultimately lead not to fulfillment but to destruction. How the love of money does not lead to satisfaction but ultimately to your hurt and to your own devastation. And so this caution then is needed for us as we give thought to our lives in this world. Some of you may be wondering, well, where's my perspective? Where am I at in all of this? Well, here's a few questions for you. If you were given a large sum of money, what would be your first inclination to do with it? You could make it into this club, the millionaire club. You receive this large gift, what would you do with it? How would you spend it? Where does God and His church and His people and the work of missions in the gospel fit in to those gifts? If you could make it big, how much focus would you have simply on, now I can kick back and take it easy and simply live a life of luxury? How would you answer the following question? Real happiness for me is what? Money? Wealth? Fortune? How do you spend your time in relation to your finances? Why do you ultimately work? What's important in terms of your job? Are you able to look upon your job and be satisfied with what's there based on the income that you receive? Or are you still seeking to somehow hop and jump and move around because the move needs to be the occasion to secure more money in order to do what? These questions can help in terms of working through this thought. So what are we then to do with this? How ought we to think through this occasion? In light of the improper desire that the love of money is, in light of the deception that it shows and the destruction that it can ultimately bring, and yet recognizing that God has provided wealth in this world and he blesses us with it and by it in order to use it for the accomplishment of his purposes, what ought we then to do with this? Well, firstly, I think we ought to be mindful just how poor of a God money is. It doesn't care about you. It really doesn't concern itself with how it passes through your hands or how it remains. It ultimately can't address or answer any fundamental questions of life. Who are you? Why are you here? What's your purpose? Where are you going? In fact, if you make it into your God, you'll only find that you just want more of it. The secondly, and this is important, We often lose what we think money will give by pursuing it above all else. This is an aspect of the deception of it, right? The thought that if somehow we could then earn more money to spend time with our families, only to find out by the time that we're ready to spend time with them, they're all grown, they're all gone, the relationship has been overwhelmed and devastated. Do you remember the song from the 60s or 70s, The Cat's in the Cradle and the Silver Spoon, and the little boy grew up with a man in the moon? And what happened? The dad was busy working, acquiring wealth, making things good for his family. And his son then kept saying, Dad, one day I'm going to be just like you. And so here the dad is ready to spend time with the son as the son is of age. And the son says, Dad, I don't have time for you. I'm simply following the example that you set for me. The thing that we think money and wealth will give us, by the pursuit of it above all else, we lose it. Time with family, security. There's the story of Charles Schwab, the investor, who in the 20s, the early 1900s, was able to invest and had all sorts of money. In fact, early on, he built a house worth $7 million at the time. Here he thought he had security and strength and position only to lose his money through bad investments and the stark market crash of 1929, end up at the end of his life in debt and losing it all. It presents things that are honorable and apparently good, and yet in the end, it's nothing. Lastly, to overcome the desire of wealth or the love for it, God directs us to use our wealth as a means of advancing His kingdom and providing for his people. One of the ways that God keeps a check on our desire for wealth is to give it away. Is to recognize that he owns it all and to use it as the means of advancing his kingdom and his purposes by supporting his church. In doing so, the advancement of his causes causes us then to see that the interest and desire for money and security in this life isn't rooted on how much we can acquire, but instead how much we can give to advance the causes of Christ himself. It's easy to get caught up in a perspective on wealth simply because we've heard bad phrases based on misunderstandings of scripture. Or furthermore, because we simply have allowed ourselves to see what others have and to be filled then with discontentment. Paul in this passage directs our attention to recognize that satisfaction in the addressing of this improper desire is through the recognition that God is sovereign and he providentially will provide all that we need. And we therefore can take hope and confidence as we go about our days in recognition that God knows us, that he's with us, and that he assures us that he will provide above and beyond all that we need. May our desires and our interests then be kept away from the love of wealth and in turn towards the love of the wonder of the one who has loved us, who has saved us, and who's at work in our lives. giving us the privilege to serve Him with all that He provides to us. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, direct the attention of our hearts in the hope of our security, not in that which others say is great and powerful, but instead in what you say and in what you provide. Would you cause us to not get caught up in that which is temporal, but look and long for that which is eternal, and to note how you might even use our lives in this life which is passing away to bring lasting results in that which is to come. Direct us even now as we pray, saying, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever. Amen.