God Provides Richly

Bishop Latimer was a great preacher and one of the great English Martyrs. In the 16th century Queen Mary had him burnt at the stake for his biblical faith. In better times, when Edward VI was on the throne, he was asked to preach before the King. He began one sermon by quoting three times over our Lord’s words: “Take heed and beware of covetousness.” He then said this: “What if I should say nothing else these three or four hours?” Do not fear! I’m not going to be here for that long.

But Latimer knew that the danger of the sin of covetousness, or greed, was so serious that it needed to be drummed into the young King’s consciousness. And our passage for tonight warns us about greed, as Latimer warned the King.

We are going to be looking at 1 Timothy 6; and after some words of introduction, my headings are first, THE CONTEXT; secondly, THE CAUTION; and, thirdly, THE COMMANDS.

The Bible has much to say about how we are to treat and use money. And the world has much to say about money, but little about its use. There is a major debate going on in the United States about university education. It will soon come here. The question is, “What are universities for?”

A recent Oxford University Press book, by an American academic, David Somerville, is entitled The Decline of the Secular University. He summarizes the problem as follows:

“The way I put it to my students is to ask where in the university they would go to learn how to spend their money. We have lots of programmes that tell you how to make money and be useful to the economy. But where would you go to learn how to spend your money intelligently? That is, where does one learn what is valuable in and of itself? What is the point of money? It is not self-evident, although we increasingly treat it as such.”

I trust you will see how Paul might have answered those questions as you consider 1 Timothy chapter 6.


First, THE CONTEXT

In chapter 1 verse 3 Paul has reminded Timothy, his young colleague, to …

“stay … in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrine.”

Ephesus, we know, was an important and rich city. But Paul can’t be present personally. So in this letter he is giving Timothy guidance for the right ordering of the church. However, the number one issue, says Paul, is to maintain apostolic truth (we, of course, now have that truth in the New Testament). Timothy is to prevent it from being denied or distorted by false teachers. So Paul begins his letter by saying, “command certain men not to teach false doctrine.” Similarly he ends the letter, here in chapter 6, on the same note. Look at verse 3

“If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, he is conceited and understands nothing.”

He is conceited in thinking he knows better than Jesus Christ and he, actually, understands nothing. He is truly ignorant. Like some modern theologians, such people may have considerable intellects but not be intelligent or have true understanding. Intellect is the ability to grasp and manipulate complex ideas. Intelligence involves combining intellect with judgment which needs practical wisdom. So the sort of person Timothy came up against may have been clever but, in reality, he understood nothing.

But what motivated him? Answer: money. Look at verse 5. He was not only at home with “men of corrupt minds, who have been robbed of the truth”, but they also thought “godliness is a means to financial gain.” Beware of greed driving false teachers in the church. If you’re a bishop and write a book denying much of the Christian faith, of course, it will sell. It will then give a high return to the publisher who will want more of your revisionist best-selling writing. This happened in the 1960s when I was a student with Bishop John Robinson’s book, Honest to God. That was a key factor in the evolving spiritual and moral rot we have to fight today. Well, so much for the context of our chapter.

That, therefore, brings us …


Secondly, to THE CAUTION

These false teachers, then, thought “that godliness is a means to financial gain”. To counter this thinking Paul outlines four fundamental facts.

The first fact is, verse 6, that “godliness with contentment is great gain.” Godliness – knowing God and all that means - gives you a gain which is huge. But it is not financial – although on average social studies have found that godliness does go with higher living standards. No! the gain is “contentment”.

Yes, most people think they would be happier if they had more money. And typically they react to an increase in wealth with a temporary spike in their reported happiness. But it is found they soon adapt and revert to their former level. However, this happiness is just “subjective” happiness – feelings of being happy. Buying a brand new car can make you feel happy. Then after a few months, a few scratches and an insurance bill, that feeling has gone. So like a drug you need more money to give you the same high of feeling happy. Contrast that with “objective” happiness or contentment. That is when you don’t just consider the present but your whole life. Then, not just Christians are saying money is not the key.

A month ago there was a Times’ magazine article entitled: “What really makes men happy?” To illustrate that title were question marks over pictures of a Lamborghini, a bikini clad girl and a mug of beer, and the caption “it’s not what you’re thinking at all.” The article started like this: “Richer, safer, healthier, more long-lived, with a huge choice of leisure pursuits, lifestyles and material goods, men ought to be happy. Happier than they’ve ever been. But they are not.” And it concluded …

“true happiness for the male of the species is tied up with some thoroughly old-fashioned notions: duty, service and self-sacrifice…

The author was not a believer but he wrote: “You don’t, of course, need to be a believer to live according to a moral code. [However] most surveys conclude that the devout are happier than the faithless.”

Paul would have given the reason for that. It is that true godliness involves “duty, service and self-sacrifice” not only to others but to God.

So “godliness with contentment is great gain.”

The second fact is, verse 7, that …

“we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.”

You have to realise that possessions are very temporary and all belong to God. We simply steward them for him. Ultimately they are his; and, in the short time we have on earth, we should do with our money and possessions what he wants. Addressing God about gifts to build the Temple, David said:

“Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand” (1 Chronicles 29.14)

Once John Wesley was told something terrible had happened. A breathless messenger said: “Mr Wesley, your house has burned to the ground!” In reply, after some thought, Wesley calmly said: “No! The Lord’s house burned to the ground. That means one less responsibility for me.”

So we are to steward our short lived wealth for the Lord.

The third fact, as Paul tells Timothy, is, verse 8, that …

“if we have food and clothing [the word covers shelter or housing], we will be content with that.”

Abject poverty, with too little food, clothing, shelter and health care is found to bring unhappiness. That is why we should give for straight relief causes. But given that minimum, it is then found that people can be no less content than people with much more.

And that leads to the fourth fact in verses 9-10 which is the caution:

“People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money [note, not money but the love of money] is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

This is always relevant but especially for those “climbing” the ladder at work. If you are a medic or social worker, you can compromise on modern ethical issues, from abortion to homosexual adoption, in the interests of getting on and, yes, getting richer. In business, there are honesty issues; and there is the temptation to ignore the wider good for straight profits. In Ephesus the temptation was great because trade would have been more difficult, simply because you were known as a Christian.

So, godliness is the way to true contentment; temporary material possessions are to be stewarded for God; given food, clothing and shelter all can be content; but – here is the caution – in the desire “to get rich” you can “fall into temptation” and with dire consequences both for now and eternity.


In the light of all that we come, thirdly, to THE COMMANDS

There are three commands.

First, there is the command to the “man of God”. Probably that is Timothy himself; but it needed to be heeded by all in leadership in the church, both men and women.

Negatively, in verse 11, Paul says, “flee from all this” – such as the love of money that leads to temptation. So if you consider yourself a committed Christian, make sure at this giving review that you are not tempted to ignore Paul’s teaching in this chapter. And the temptation of money is so powerful you have to “flee” it urgently – like those Australians fleeing the hurricane in Queensland last week. It is a strong word.

Then positively you have, verse 11 again, to “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.” And pursuing is not an easy stroll. It is an energetic trying to catch up with someone. In the Christian life it will involve, as Bishop Ryle said, “money, influence, pains and prayer”. Therefore, the command is also, verse 12, to “Fight the good fight of the faith.” Yes, it is hard enough fighting “the good fight of the faith” at the best of times. When you fear losing out financially and even your job, it is much harder. But at the end of the day remember that great promise of God we had in 1 Samuel 2.30 from a few Sundays ago:

“Those who honour me I will honour.”

So Paul tells Timothy in verse 12:

“Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”

Through new birth into eternal life – life in God’s new age – there are new spiritual resources. So Timothy has to grasp them firmly. Therefore, the metaphor means clinging to and relying on the fact that the Holy Spirit is with you to strengthen you in any conflict; that Christ has all authority in heaven and earth; and that God is, verse 15, “the King of kings and Lord of lords”.

So the first command is for Timothy to ensure he flees the temptations of money and pursues what is good.

The second command is for Timothy to give commands to the rich. And most of us in jobs in the West are undoubtedly “rich” by world standards. So this command applies to us. Look at verse 17:

“Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain.”

Notice what Timothy is not to say to the rich. He is not to say, as Jesus said to the rich young ruler, “get rid of your wealth”. Timothy is not to assume that in the Ephesian congregations riches have got to such idolatrous proportions. Rather Timothy is to say, “do not to let your wealth make you ‘arrogant’.” For rich people can boast about their possessions. As we heard last week from Deuteronomy 8.17-18:

“You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’ But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth.”

So, if you are rich, to be arrogant is blasphemous and idolatrous. It is putting yourself in the place of God, then telling others. Nor are the rich to be materialists. They are not “to put their hope in wealth”. Not only has wealth a short life span, it is also “so uncertain”.

I am visiting a friend this week who lost a fortune in the Lloyds crash some years ago. Some medical people here will have lost parts of their pensions in the Equitable Life fracas. And we all have got this current recession. Yes, wealth is so uncertain. Therefore, in the second half of verse 17, Paul tells Timothy to command the rich …

“… to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.”

Paul is not exchanging materialism for a Gnostic asceticism, where it is wrong to enjoy material things. Paul has already said in 1 Timothy 4.4:

“everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.”

No! Timothy is to tell people simply to trust and hope in God and not money. But then enjoy what God gives you. Money, you see, is neutral. It is a form of power. The moral questions are how did you get it and how are you going to spend it. The problem today is that many only ask that first question. The Bible, however, is concerned with the second, how you spend money. Yes, there is a time to spend money on good things – and on good things for God.

Remember the woman who poured “expensive perfume” on Jesus (Mark 14.3-5). And wealth is to be created. The Genesis creation mandate is to be fruitful and multiply. It was Wesley, to quote him again, who said, “earn all you can, save all you can and give all you can.” Paul knew not only of the temptations of money. He also knew the essential need for money. He knew that good things needed money. And a supreme good is sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with others, as we are to be doing at this church. That needs money. And you need to give in advance to enable God’s kingdom to grow.

When I was first at JPC, our South Gallery was unusable, with access only through the tower. How could we expect God to send us more people for special and regular services, if we couldn’t cater for them. So the small congregation gave sacrificially to build a staircase. It was soon in use. God blessed that faith and giving.

The third command, therefore, is, verse 18:

“Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.”

The rich are to spend their money on doing good – in the church and in the world. And, to repeat, all of us in work, by world standards, are relatively rich. But charitable giving in America, per head of the population, is six times as much as in Britain. And here the richest third give less than the poorest third as a proportion of earnings. Tax differences don’t explain all of that. I hope that is not true of churches and certainly this one. You see, the reason why we are to be generous is for God’s honour and the folly of not giving. For when people are generous and willing to share, Paul says in verse 19:

“In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.”

This is not buying your way into heaven. As Jesus told Nicodemus, entry into God’s kingdom is through faith in him. And some here may need to come to such faith - if so, join up for Christianity Explored.

But giving money now will have eternal effects. Among other things, it should result in others living more as God intended, then helping Christ’s church to grow and so playing their part in changing the nation. And, as you give for that, you yourself will take a greater “hold of the life that is truly life” (the last part of verse 19). For as you give, you show your thanks to, and become more like, God himself - the “richest provider” and giver of all, with Jesus Christ his greatest gift.

There is a lawyer who gives away half his income each year and now says this:

“My pursuit of money drove me away from God. But since I’ve been giving it to him, everything has changed. In fact, giving has brought me closer to God than anything else.”