Is the Bible Reliable--1 Timothy 6: 1-21

We should GUARD THE GOSPEL with our lives!  This is the message of this text and in this message Pastor Joel describes the 5 ways that we, as a body of believers, Jesus's Church, should PROTECT the Gospel we were given by faith.

We should HONOR God through our work, REFLECT God's character, use our WEALTH for ETERNAL PURPOSES, PURSUE GODLINESS not GREED, and PROTECT the Gospel with our lives.

Living for Christ is not a casual walk in the park, it is a battle that we fight from Christ's victory by faith.

Listen in and re-engage in the GOOD NEWS and recommit to live for the purpose for which Christ died: to save us so we could live our lives sharing His GOOD NEWS and MAKING DISCIPLES for HIS Kingdom!

Email us at cornerstoneonourwayhome@gmail.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Welcome to the On Our Way Home podcast. The goal of On Our Way Home is to encourage you to keep taking steps with Jesus, with a good local church, and with a few close friends so that we will stay on Jesus' path, a path of truth which leads to life with the Father. As a church, Cornerstone is a Christ-centered, word-focused, spirit-empowered church family. Our time in God's Word and in praise to God each Sunday is essential to our growth together as his body. We are working through a series of sermons on the books of 1st and 2 Timothy right now as a church. Please join us today as we continue our current series entitled, Is the Bible Reliable? with a message from 1 Timothy chapter 6.

SPEAKER_01 0:50

We're in the final chapter of the first letter of Paul to his friend, his comrade, his battle partner in ministry. Again, Timothy is this new pastor who's pastoring in this wild town called Ephesus. And Timothy's trying to get after it. Paul's trying to encourage him. And really, this letter is to, yes, Timothy directly, but really for all of the church, there's all of these really powerful, good things for us to grab onto as God's church and to run after hard and really wrestle with. Paul, I think, is helping Timothy to wrestle with some of these questions and the church in Ephesus and the church today to wrestle with the questions in our hearts and our minds about is the Bible really reliable? Can I really, really trust it? How much? All of it? Just the really good parts? 1 Timothy chapter 6 is one of the really good parts. I'm really excited about the message here today and just this passage, what it has for us. We've been trying to answer that question throughout all of this letter. Is the Bible reliable? And when we come to the last uh chapter here, what I find is I I have this weird, I don't know, maybe I'm the only one who calls them this, but there's like these bomb verses, these um one-liners that are just powerful, and we grab onto them and we often pull these out and we use them. They're they're there in our memories, and we use them when something's happening in our life, or maybe just when it's convenient. And remembering Bible verses, I think, is is really important. I I don't want you to mishear me what I'm what I'm saying. It's the misuse of verses like these, these ones that we're really familiar with, if we don't remember and really apply them in our own hearts and lives to the context in which they're written. You're gonna hear me often say, I use that word a lot, context, because it really does matter. The context of what Paul is saying and who he's saying it to and what that person, Timothy, is doing, and who he's ministering to, and what's happening in that culture. What I think is really awesome is that what's happening in Ephesus is what's happening in America. We can really take those things and see so much of what they're wrestling with is this this degrading of morality across their city and across their region, within people. This mistrust of one another, this mistrust of authority, this mistrust, even in religious practice. And so this is where this letter is culminating in this final thing. And um, here's these ringers right in this passage. Okay, I want to just give you a couple of them. You'll know them. Godliness with contentment is great gain. The love of money is the root of all evil. Anybody ever heard that one used? Use that yourself. Fight the good fight of faith. Ooh, I like that one. And guard the good deposit entrusted to you. Actually, I put that one in there because it's really, I think, the heart of this text. It might not be one of those ones that we pull out, but uh even verse 7, I didn't put that up on the screen here, but what we brought nothing into the world and we can't take anything out of it. A lot of these verses are things that we kind of grab onto and often we use, but what do they mean? What is the context in which Paul is writing them to Timothy? Because they're good ones. As good as they are, and as easy as they are, I think to pull out for use, it's more important to know why Paul was writing these things to Timothy. And I think the answer is found right here. Look at verse 3. If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, there's more, but I'm gonna stop. The sound words of Jesus Christ, he's talking about the gospel. Paul says that all of those other phrases that we know pretty well, they're they're tied to the heart there of the gospel. The gospel is the point. Contentment and the love of money and the fighting, the good fight of faith is all about the gospel. Verses 13 and 14, look there. I charge you, Timothy, in the presence of God who gives life to all things in Christ Jesus, keep the command unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is the point, Jesus is the gospel. You are to be content because of what Jesus has done for you, right? You are to be careful about uh loving or caring too much about money because Jesus is the real treasure in your life. The only thing of great and true eternal value is Jesus. And you fight the good fight because Jesus has actually already gone before us and won the battle over death and hell and Satan and sin itself. And if you will confess your sin and repent of it and turn and trust in Jesus, then you will be saved, and that's the gospel. Paul says that's worth fighting for. It is, amen. That's what we're to contend for. You do these things, you guard the gospel with your life by learning it. You have to know that gospel, by the way. In order to get fired up about it, to guard it, to live it, you've got to learn it, you've got to lean into it at every occasion, you need to surrender yourself to it, you need to obey it, you need to do it. You can't just take one element of the gospel like I know it. I know the Bible says Jesus died for me, and I need to confess and repent of my sin. That's the beginning. That's like the first step, all important step, but there's more. The eternal life begins there, it continues on forever. And what am I doing with my forever life that God has given to me? Paul tells Timothy, guard it with your life. That's kind of there's a whole bunch of battle phrasology in this passage today. This chapter six is like the warrior cry. And that has kept on coming up this week for me. This idea of, man, I I can easily want in my heart, in my own spirit, to be lazy about life. In particular, about the Christian life. But it is of utmost importance, it's of utmost value. It should bring my full attention, my full passion, because of its worth. And I found this illustration that kind of points towards that worth. In 1799, just a couple years ago, when a few of you were just kids, uh nobody laughed. That was a joke. Okay. Uh a far a farmer in North Carolina, he found this shiny rock out in his field uh by a creek on his property, and he thought something looked interesting about it, so he brought it home and he used it as a doorstop. For years it held his door open until a jeweler, jeweler uh visiting the area told him that that rock was actually a 17-pound gold nugget. True story. 17-pound gold nugget that he had been using, this treasure of immense worth right under his feet as a doorstop. I think in many similar ways, today we've been entrusted with this invaluable thing, this unbelievable thing, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the truth of God's word, and we take it for granted. We've got it kind of just under our feet. We treat it like a doorstop instead of a treasure. Church, God's word is a treasure. Guard it with your life, engage it with the whole being of your life, heart, soul, mind, and spirit. The apostle Paul brings his letter to a full close here, this first letter. We know there's another one, but at the writing of this, there wasn't, right? So this is it. This is he's bringing the whole thing home. And he says, you've got to recognize Timothy, this treasure of the gospel, and you need to guard it faithfully. And Paul gives him five ways to live as a faithful steward over that treasure. So I want you to kind of, will you go back to that picture of the gold nugget? I know I'm jumping around here. I want you to like just get in your mind, in your heart, in your hands. You've got this gold nugget, this hidden gem in your hands, this unbelievable, eternally valuable thing. What am I gonna do with this thing that God has given? It's an incredible gift. Guard it faithfully. Here's how honor God through respectful work, pursue godliness instead of greed, fight the good fight of faith, use wealth for eternal investment, and guard that gospel that's been entrusted to you. Those are the five things that Paul says. He starts with this idea of honoring God through respectful work. How many of you have been, are currently, or would like to be employed? Employed? You've had a job, you've had a boss, an authority uh figure in your life. Paul kind of goes to this, and he goes in and out of this throughout many of his letters, addressing this relationship between those who are working for, now in the context in which he's giving, he's talking about slaves to slave masters. And we're like, ew, that's not good. Slavery is bad. In no place do you see that Paul says slavery is good, by the way. But he does describe within that context those who are bond servants, verse one, regard your own masters as worthy of all honor. Show them honor so that, okay, it doesn't say slavery is good, so you should do this. No. You do this, you honor them so that the name of God and the teaching, what teaching? That's the gospel again. This whole thing is gospel-centered. The teaching which you've already got from the word of the Lord, from the apostles, so that it, God's word might not be reviled. You honor your master so that Jesus' name is magnified. Verse 2, those who all those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brothers. Rather, they must serve all the better. That little phrase there, serve all the better. If you were to take that and just kind of flesh it out from Greek right into um English today, it's work harder. You know how you can honor Jesus and honor those you are working with and working for, work harder. Engage all of your might into what you're doing. Since, he continues verse 2, since those who benefit um by their good service are believers and beloved, teach and urge these things. So it's something that we pass on, and that's something as well Paul keeps talking about, from the younger generation all the way to the oldest generation. Pass on, teach these things, urge these things, do these things, work harder. Don't be a lazy bum, is what Paul's saying. Because the testimony of Jesus is on your life. Who sees your life? You honor the name of Jesus when you work hard. Your attitude at work either is going to honor or dishonor the gospel that you claim to believe. Most of us are not slaves. It doesn't mean this passage is not for us. We do, most of us, work under some form of authority. We have supervisors, bosses, managers, and the principal stands. We honor God when we work hard, even and especially when no one's watching. You're supposed to work hard when the boss is watching, right? Maybe even more when no one's watching. Number two, we honor God when we show respect, even or especially to unfair leaders. Yeah, but you don't know this guy I've been working for. They're a tyrant. You want to really show the name and the love of Jesus? Even when they're unfair. Number three, we honor God when our coworkers can see Christ in our integrity. That we are men and women of integrity in every situation. We don't steal time, we don't steal product, we don't do anything that takes away from the company because we don't want to take away from the name of Jesus in our testimony before others. And that's not just at work, that's in every situation. Pastor Joel, that's really hard. Yeah, it is. In every circumstance to live with that form of integrity, you know what we need in order to do that? Tons and tons of help. God gave us that help. He's called the helper, capital H. The Holy Spirit has been given to help us to live that way, and He's given us one another. I know many of you, I have good relationship with many of you who call me to live in accountable ways, to live in integrity. We've got to do that with one another again for the name of Jesus. There was a missionary who once said this: people may never read the Bible. They may never crack open the pages of scripture, but they're reading your life every single day. What is it that they're reading? How we act on Monday might either validate or invalidate what we say we believe on Sunday. So does our attitude at work make the gospel more attractive and more believable and more reliable? Do people see humility in us and diligence and grace and integrity? Paul says, man, you can honor God through your work. When people see your faithfulness, they begin to see Christ's faithfulness. So work hard. Honor those in authority. Then he moves into verses 3 through 10, kind of this whole section here on pursuing godliness rather than greed. Paul shifts really from the workplace right into our heart. He warns about these false teachers, and he's been doing that kind of throughout the book, throughout this letter. There's a real problem in Ephesus with people who were teaching a false doctrine. A doctrine by works, a doctrine that was self-focused, not Jesus-focused. It had spiritual elements. It sounded kind of good. It sounded maybe easy because it was a checklist of do's and don'ts. Again, God is not interested in that kind of relationship with his children. He's interested in a love relationship with us. He wants us to pursue godliness. Paul warns there against those false teachers who are using their religion in order to get rich. These men suppose that godliness is a means of great gain. In other words, they saw their ministry as a career path instead of a calling. Rotten, dirty dogs. Right? Who would do that? Truth is, they were not driven by their love for God at all. They were driven by their lust for money. Paul says something really profound. Look at verse number six. Godliness with contentment is great gain. And I believe that's really the heart of the Christian living, the Christian calling is godliness with contentment. Because our hearts are being drawn all of the time to all kinds of different things that we think is going to satisfy our heart and our longing. But I don't know about you, it seems like every time I pursue one of those things, those longings, apart from the word of the Lord and my relationship with him, it doesn't satisfy. Now it's not that it won't satisfy for a moment, but it's not lasting, right? Any of those other things that maybe you've gone after, kind of like Solomon, he really literally says, I chased after everything after the wind. Anything that blew across the world, I chased it, I checked it, and you know what? It's all vanity. There's a whole book by Solomon saying that word over and over and over. It's vanity, all is vanity. It's worthless. None of those things satisfy. Godliness with contentment is of great gain. We live in a world that constantly says you need more. You need more money, you need more stuff, you need more relationships, you need more success. Paul says, We brought nothing into the world, verse 7, and you are not going to take a single thing out of it. None of those things that the world says you need more of are going to go with you. There's this old story of a rich man who on his deathbed he told this to his family. He said, I want to be buried with all my money. His lawyer said to him, Don't worry, we'll write you a check. You can't take it with you. You invest your lives, you must invest your lives into things that are going to last. And the Bible says very clearly, the only things that will last are the things done for me. The only things that will last for eternity are the things that you do in the name and the cause for the glory of God Himself. Paul says, he continues verse 8. Look at verse 8. But if we have food and clothing, these we will be content with. We think we will. Contentment doesn't mean complacency, it means trust. We rest in God's provision instead of chasing more. Because if we chase it, we're chasing after the wind. You never catch it. You don't ever catch the wind if you're chasing it. Paul gives one more here, maybe one of the most misquoted verses in all of the Bible in verse 10. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evils. That one gets used a lot. The truth is, money is not evil in itself. The problem is when money becomes your master, when it becomes the highest priority, the greatest thing of value in your life. And it's going to call for that over and over and over. When the pursuit of wealth replaces the pursuit of God, then things have gone out of order. There's this guy pretty well known in history, John D. Rockefeller, at his time, maybe even if he were alive in our time, the richest man ever to have lived. He was the richest in the world at his time. And somebody asked him one time, how much money is enough? This is his reply. He said, I need just a little bit more. That's the trap. That's the trap of this world. It's the trap of the devil himself. Paul is warning against this, this endless craving that pierces the soul that I need something else and I need more of it all the time. No, church, we don't. The one thing we need the most of is the thing that we end up giving the least to, and that's God and his word and his son Jesus. We've got to get our alignment straight because he is the only thing that will satisfy. He is the only thing that we need. And where are we going to find him? We will find him every time in his word. Hopefully, we will also find him in his church, in his people. We need to run hard after Jesus because we're living in a world that is an open battlefield for our soul. And we just want to look at life like, ah, it's okay. You know, this is just take it easy, Pastor, you're getting a little fired up. I'm fired up. Eternity is weighing on the line. And we're like, ah, I'm just not sure how much I want to give to that. Give myself a little piece of it here, maybe a little piece of it there. Trust me, I know I feel the same way. I'm yelling at me too, okay? This is serious. Paul is dead serious here. It's like he's not just talking about money. He's talking still about what he's already talked about. All this comes down to our heart. Where is my heart? What is my heart longing after? What have I given my heart to? And the truth is, we see in the words of Jesus Himself, you need to take up your cross daily. That's your heart. Daily, you've got to surrender again your heart to him because your heart in its natural form is not going to long after Jesus, it's going to long after everything else. All the stuff that falls and fails you. So run hard, pursue Jesus, pursue godliness. Because there, with contentment, I am content in Jesus. There is the greatest gain. Where are you finding that contentment? Are you measuring success by salary or faithfulness? Your financial choices show that you trust God, or do they show that you're chasing security apart from Him? Paul warns Timothy so deeply in those verses. Don't get tangled up in greed. Instead, that's what the next verse is, verses 11 through 16, instead of that pursuit of the world and the world's things, here's what you need to pursue. Verse 11 through 16. But as for you, Christian, O man of God, O woman of God, flee the things I just talked about. Literally run away. Just as Paul tells in another letter, for young men to flee any of those lustful things within their heart. You need to literally set down whatever you got, just like Joseph when he's being grabbed onto, let your coat go and run the other direction. If the enemy's got a grip on something, toss it down and run away. Keep going towards Jesus Christ. And then he goes into this battle cry of verse 12. But as for you, O man of God, flee those things, pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. I just wish I knew what to do. Stop! We know what to do because God told us. Pursue righteousness instead, godliness instead, faith instead, love instead, steadfastness and gentleness, fight the good fight of faith. Raise up the sword. Run into battle. Why could we do any of those things? I mean, I could get you all riled up, but I could go rah-rah-rah. The only reason you would do that, full on, if there is an enemy in front of you that looks impossible, the only reason is because you're going to believe in the depths of your soul that you can win. Running into a losing battle that you know you're going to lose, like, no thanks. Nope, I'm out. Why can we run like this, screaming the battle cry, I'm gonna fight this good fight of faith? Because I believe this is true. I believe that the word of God, who it is that it's talking about, that Jesus has done what the Bible says he has done, and if it's true, Jesus gained the victory through his death and resurrection, that's why I can run, because the gospel. See, it keeps coming back. The gospel is true. Do you believe it? If you say yes, if you say amen, if you believe that, then it should cause you to get fired up. There should be something, uh, attack in your seat to prompt you to go running headlong into battle because you believe this is true. Flee greed, pursue godliness. The Christian life is not just about what we avoid. We've got to change that mindset. It's not just the things I don't, it's also about what we chase after, the things I do. What do I do? I fight the good fight of faith. This is by faith. I take on faith, this is true. Can I prove it in all of its senses to be true? Some of it I must take by faith. We chase after, Paul uses this athletic military language: fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of eternal life, grab it. The Christian life is not a casual stroll. It's a fight, a lifelong battle that you are you've got to grasp, hold on to faith and truth in a world that is constantly lying and trying to get you to pull away from the things that you believe. It's time for less mental health breaks and more warrior spirit. And I'm not against mental health, by the way. I just think that we're in a real battle. The spiritual life in which we live, we can't see it all happening, but it's happening. And I think we we sense it. Often we feel it deep to the depths of our soul. Like, why do I feel like this? Why is it heavy all the time? We're living in heaviness because the spiritual battle is alive around us. But we are more than conquerors through Christ. Through Christ, who he is makes us get pumped up, makes us it worth totally running this race, as Paul puts it. In 490 BC, there was a soldier. I can't even pronounce his name very well. Phidippides, I think, is how you pronounce it. Phidipides ran from a town named Marathon to a town named Athens. It was nearly 26 miles, where we get a certain distance race from, the Marathon. You know why he ran that race? The reason he ran all the way from Marathon to Athens was to announce that there was victory for his home country, Greece. You know what happened when he ran with all of his might and he got there and he delivered the massive message of victory? He died. He collapsed and died. And his last words were we have won the battle. Jesus has won the battle. It is finished. We are a part of this victory that has already taken place. This is the gospel. The gospel is good news of victory. Amen. That's good news. That's something to be excited about, something to run hard after the life that God has called us to. Run the race, fight the good fight, deliver the message of Christ faithfully until the end. Until he's given you your last breath. Don't stop. Don't be like, I ran three-quarters of the way, so that's good enough. No, finish. Proclaim the gospel till your very last breath. Then in verse 13 through 16, I love what Paul begins to do. He's given these instructions and he's given these battle cries. And then he says, verse 13, I charge you in the presence of God who gives life to all things, of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession. Keep the commandment, obey, unstain from uh free from reproach, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which, so there's a connection right there at the end of verse 14 into 15. Until the appearing of Jesus Christ, Jesus is coming back. Woo-hoo! That's good news. Then don't disconnect the end of 14 into 15, which he will display at the proper time. He's coming when he's coming. And only he knows, and it will be at the perfect time. Don't try to guess it. He will come when it's fully ready. His plan and his sovereignty eternally is known to him and him alone. When that proper time is, he who is blessed and only sovereign, the king of kings and lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see to him beyond or an eternal, eternal dominion. Amen. I say amen. You know what Paul does right in the middle of like uh getting the troops riled up, and here's the plan, and here's what you need to do. He starts lifting in his hands and he starts to sing a song. Because this is a doxology, this is worship. Because I really believe this. This is not an accident, because there's actually more after the doxology, 15 and 16, he finishes with more instruction. Worship is a weapon. Worship is a weapon formed for us to engage the battle. So when we sing these songs that we sing here at church, when we pray, when you pray at home in secret, when you pray in public here, when you sing out, when you worship the Lord with your life in whatever form of worship, and there's many, singing is not the only form of worship. But by golly, we better do it hard. No more, no more of this quiet, mousey stuff. This is battle. It's a worship cry. And the thing that kept coming to my mind, I couldn't get this out of my mind. What if I had been at Jericho? What if, what if you, what if we got to be at Jericho and march around those walls? God has given the instructions to his people and they march. They march quietly. It's not that there's never time for silence. They march quietly all together. This is what God has called us to do, and we march, and we march. We obey, we do what he is said to do. And then they cry aloud, banging the drums and blowing the trumpets and screaming their heads off in obedience to what God has said, so that the victory is his, exactly how he has instructed. Out of total engaging in obedience to what God has said, the victory is seen in Jericho. Oh man. I I think we're still in that battle, right? There's a battle raging, and we're marching, we're following what God has said. It's real, it's tough. The enemy is real, but God is greater. He's given us everything we need to do this thing. There's nothing that we are without. Worship is a weapon. Fight with it. Man, it's good. Verse 15 and 16. The motivation for faithfulness to God is not fear, it's awe. It's God is so amazing. Let's go. Do you believe that? If you believe it, are you engaging in warfare in a passionate way? What are you fighting for? Not who are you fighting with? What are you fighting for? We are prone to fight with, not for. We love to fight with. You know, just go on to social media for one minute and you'll see all these different fighting withs. No, no. Here's this doxology, this burst of worship in the middle of instruction, a worship song of response. I can't help it. God's so awesome. Let's go. Let me sing a song and then let's go again. You see, when you find out who Jesus is and you find out that he really is who he says he is, then your obedience stops being drudgery and it becomes a delight. Being a Christian is not wah-wah. It's woo, let's go. Because of who he is. And when you see somebody else who has that joy, the joy of Jesus in their life, in their heart, all of a sudden that starts to build, right? There's a fire that grows. And we're supposed to share that fire. Why are you so fired up? What are you talking about Jesus stuff all the time? I can't help it. It's too good. It's too amazing. God's amazing grace is too amazing. So are you fighting for comfort or faithfulness? The good fight isn't about winning an argument, it's about holding fast to truth and finishing the race well. So Paul, having charged Timothy to fight faithfully, turns to those who, again, have this worldly wealth as their pursuit. It's kind of like, okay, yeah, Paul, you already said it. Nope, he's not done. Verses 17 to 19, look there. After this doxology, he goes right back to it. As for the rich in this present age, charge them to not be haughty or set their hopes on uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. Do good, be rich in good works, be generous, be ready to share. God is not against people having money. You can't see that there. In fact, this is to those who have money, who love God, to make sure that you engage what He's given you still in kingdom work. Do good, be rich in good works, be generous and ready to share, store up that treasure for yourself as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life. If God has blessed you with anything, whatever it is, maybe it's talent, maybe it's riches, maybe it's kids. You're like, what? I know some people who've had a lot of those. Those are a gift, those are a treasure. Pour yourself into them. Give yourself, use those things ultimately all to the glory of God, all focused on the gospel and Jesus Himself. Your wealth, your good, your gift is to be used as an eternal investment because this life is fleeting. It's just a flash in the pan. Your life is so much bigger and broader and longer and greater and eternal than what you're living now, or even all of the breaths that you will take in this Christian life, in this human life. It's eternal. Paul says he doesn't condemn the rich, he just corrects their perspective perspective. Because the issue isn't about how much you have, but what you trust in. Because wealth really is uncertain. It could be there and it could be gone the next day. But God is eternal. His word will be forever. It cannot, will not, ever be destroyed. He is the true source of eternal provision, the only thing that satisfies. I found this little uh illustration about a pr a plane crash. It was so good I stapled it onto my notes so I could read it. The picture is this picture 269 people. You're like, why that many? I don't know. Just picture that many. They enter eternity in a plane crash. Before the crash happens, there's a noted politician, there's a millionaire corporate executive, there's a spoiled playboy, and a missionary kid on the way back from visiting his grandparents who enter that plane. After the crash, they all stand before God, utterly stripped of every MasterCard, check, book, credit line, image, clothes, success books, or anything else. The politician, the executive, the playboy, and the missionary kid on level ground with nothing, absolutely nothing in their hands, but only what they bring in their heart. You and I too will stand before Jesus this way, with only what we have in our heart before him. Oh, how absurd and tragic the lover of money is going to seem in that moment. On that day, like a man who spends his whole life collecting train tickets, and in the end, he gets so weighed down by the collection of all those train tickets he misses the last train. That's what Paul is saying. Don't pursue riches like that. For we brought nothing into the world, remember? And we'll bring nothing out of it. Only the things done for Christ will last. Only eternal relationship entered with him will save your soul. You must know Jesus. All those other things will pass away. So, what are you investing your life in? Kingdom investment is what Paul talks about. Do good, be rich in good works, generous, ready to share, store up treasures as a good foundation for the future. That's kingdom investment. Trading temporary wealth for eternal reward. Missionary Jim Elliott, he said this, famously said this. He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. Do your financial habits reflect a life of faith or one of fear? Are you using what God gave to you for his kingdom? What's going to outlast your paycheck? Your generosity or your greed? Paul finishes with, if it's the gospel, if it's generosity with the gospel, guard that with your life. Verse 20 and 21. Look there as we finish. O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge, for by professing it, some have swerved from the faith. Guard this deposit. That word deposit is talking about a treasure or a trust. The gospel truth that is passed down from Paul to Timothy, from believer, from generation to generation, is what he's speaking of. The message of salvation, the sound doctrine of scripture, the faith delivered once to the saints is that treasure. Guard it. This is so important. What do we do with the gospel? What do we do with this thing that has saved our souls? Paul says you need to protect it from distortion because it'll try to be twisted all the time. He's got these false prophets who are trying to twist it all the time. How do you know whether or not a dollar bill is real or fake? You need to look at the real thing, study it, know it. Then when the fake comes up, you'll just spot it right away. You'll just know. So you protect it from distortion, you defend it from falsehood. When somebody does take it and you see it falsely used or accused, defend it. And most importantly, I think this final piece is pass it on faithfully to the next generation. It's not just given for you to save you, like a golden ticket. It's given to you, yes, to save you. And then for you to pass it on, you've got to say something. If it's the greatest news ever, it would be crazy not to say something about it. Paul says, don't get distracted by the things in the world that will distract humanity. What are those things? Irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge. The pursuit of knowledge, the crazy conspiracy theories of the world, all of those other things that just distract from the main thing. Don't go there. Stay focused, stay with me, stay on track. Timothy needs to focus on the main thing, and so do we. In a museum, security guards who watch over all of the priceless artifacts that are that are there. Did you know that they didn't paint those? They didn't sculpt those. They didn't make those. They don't own them. But they are responsible for keeping them safe. That's their job. That's what they're to give their whole attention to. Don't go sit in the corner and eat a Twinkie. Watch the Mona Lisa, right? That's exactly what Paul is saying. He's saying, Timothy, you didn't create the gospel, but you've been entrusted with it. Don't let anyone or anything distract you, distort it, or devalue it. Church, are we guarding the gospel with that kind of sincerity and seriousness? Or are you drifting with culture? Culture wants to redefine the words of Jesus. They want to just slightly twist it or turn it or say that it's it's not completely perfect. It's a pretty good book. No. This is the word of God, it's everything. Are you speaking truth with courage and grace? Every believer is called to be a guardian of God's truth. In order to be a guardian of the truth, you have to know the truth. When you know the truth, you know what it does? This is a Bible verse. It sets you free. I am free indeed, because his truth, completely holy, reliable truth, is the thing that sets me free. Free from what? Bondage. Everything else that the world has to offer is bondage. It will try to weigh you down, sink you to the bottom. The only thing that sets you free, and you've got to keep coming back to it and breaking your chains with it, it's the grace of God given to us in the gospel. The truth and reliability of Scripture is the thing that will set you free. That same grace that Paul says, he ends this grace be with you. That same grace is the grace that saved us and empowers us to stand firm in the battle and finish well. God kept really poking at me this week about get to the point. I love to study. I love to go deep. I love to go wide and broad and ramble on and go on. And sometimes that deeper study is good. But Paul gets right to the point here. In these five charges, honor God through your work. Let your life reflect God's character, too. Pursue godliness, not greed. Be content with what Christ has given. Fight the good fight of faith. Hold on to the truth. Run with endurance. Use your wealth for good. Invest in eternity and guard the gospel. Treasure and protect the truth that you have been given. We've been given something unbelievable. Near the end of Paul's life, he writes another letter. We're actually going to begin that next letter next week. We're going to continue this series through 2 Timothy. He says in 2 Timothy, the second letter, chapter 4, verse 7, I have fought the fight. The good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. That's Paul's legacy. The legacy of a man who guarded the gospel till his dying breath, until the enemy and those who opposed him and what he stood for, the name of Jesus, literally chopped off his head. What lengths will you go to guard the gospel, to speak the truth, to live the truth? Are you willing to risk your life on this? Jesus has done it for you. He's calling you to something greater. This is the greatest treasure. And it's not because it's what you have in your bank account, it's what you have in your heart. The gospel of Jesus Christ, guard it, live it, share it, be completely satisfied with it. If you're not, surrender to it today.

SPEAKER_00 47:23

Thank you for joining us on our way home. May you continue to walk with Jesus Christ and live a life centered on Him, focused on God's Word, empowered by the Holy Spirit, as we live our lives together in God's family, the Church.