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1 Timothy 6:1-10 - The Deception of Riches · Tabernacle Talk - A Bible Study Podcast with Pastor Bryon Self

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  Welcome to Tabernacle Talk. Tabernacle Talk is a Bible study
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  podcast brought from Tabernacle Baptist Church in Essex, MD.
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  I'm your host, Brian Self. We hope this podcast encourages
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  you to know Christ, grow in his Word, and show his love to
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  others. Let's dive right in.
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  Welcome back to Tabernacle Talk. Today we are in First Timothy
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  chapter 6 verses one through 10. First Timothy chapter 6 verses
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  one through 10. It is crazy to me that we are
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  already at the conclusion of the letter of First Timothy and this
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  is written from the Apostle Paul to his son in the faith,
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  Timothy, who he left in the city of Ephesus in order to put back
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  in order the church as some false teachers had come in.
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  There was bad doctrine and bad behavior as we saw even 2
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  episodes ago, misuse and mismanagement of church funds.
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  And this book just has it all. I told you guys, I think it was
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  the last episode. I was on a time crunch.
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  I'm also on a time crunch on this episode.
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  And so this will be a nice brief one for you.
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  And I'm hoping to get all the way through to verse #10 but
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  let's begin reading together in verse #1 All who are under the
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  yoke as slaves should regard their own masters as worthy of
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  all respect, so that God's name and His teaching will not be
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  blasphemed. Let those who have believing
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  masters not be disrespectful to them because they are brothers,
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  but serve them even better, since those who benefit from
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  their service are believers and dearly loved.
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  Teach and encourage these things.
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  If anyone teaches false doctrine and does not agree with the
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  sound teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ and with the teaching
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  that promotes godliness. He is conceited and understands
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  nothing, but has an unhealthy interest in disputes and
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  arguments over words. From these come envy,
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  quarreling, slander, evil suspicions, and constant
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  disagreement among people whose minds are depraved and deprived
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  of the truth, who imagine that godliness is a way to material
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  gain. But godliness with contentment
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  is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we
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  can take nothing out. If we have food and clothing,
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  we'll be content with these. But those who want to be rich
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  fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful
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  desires which plunge people into ruin and destruction.
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  For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by
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  craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced
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  themselves with many griefs. OK, we've got kind of two
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  aspects of this passage, 1st and verses one through 3.
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  We see the way that Paul encourages Timothy to disciple
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  those that were in 1st century Roman slavery.
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  Now I got a level with you guys. There is such a difference
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  between slavery in the Roman Empire and slavery as we were
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  familiar with it. Even as we learn about American
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  and British and other nations slavery from the 15 hundreds, 15
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  and 16 hundreds onward that even these verses appear to give if
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  you will legitimacy to the evil kidnapping racism and abusive
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  actions of those within the last several centuries before slavery
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  was abolished in Britain, in America, among other places.
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  I want to make it very clear it was a totally different thing.
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  Slavery during these times was something that you were viewed
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  as a part of the household, that someone was responsible for you
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  like they were responsible for their own child.
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  Now there were. As with American slavery, there
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  were gross excesses and harms that were often times done to
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  those that were slaves. They were consistently given.
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  They were consistently physically, emotionally, and
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  verbally and sexually abused by those that were their masters.
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  However, there were some recourses available for them.
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  Ability to both be paid and to buy your freedom.
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  Like to purchase your freedom after, you know, having whatever
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  amount of money that you could purchase your freedom or your
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  citizenship as a Roman citizen. A Roman citizen could not be a
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  slave from that point forward. So there were some differences
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  there, but I, I just want to name it very directly here that
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  there is an uncomfortability as we look at these verses nowadays
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  to the people that Paul was writing this to, they would be
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  thinking about it more in this way.
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  I am free in Christ. I am not a, if you will, I'm not
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  a mere possession of any other person.
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  And so I have worth and dignity before God.
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  And the temptation for some people would be due to the fact
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  that like when I gather with the church, I am not viewed as a
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  second class person. I'm not viewed as property.
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  When I gather with the church man, I am given worth and
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  integrity there. There's nothing in First Timothy
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  3 that says that a person could not be a slave and be an elder
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  or be a Deacon. You have these people that they
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  are given full and free access to everything within the local
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  church that they eat together with those that are rich, with
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  those that are poor. And so the temptation would be
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  for these individuals that then as they go back to a special
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  those masters that were not Christians, that they could be
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  really disrespectful to those people, not treating them as
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  image bearers of God. But instead, if you will,
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  lashing out in in bitterness and in anger and in a refusal to, if
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  you will do the job that they are hired to do that their
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  clothing and food and shelter is all paid for.
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  It's all given and provided by their master.
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  And So what Paul says here in verses one and two, everyone
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  that is under the yoke as slaves.
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  I, I noticed even there he doesn't say those of you that
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  are slaves. He says those of you that are
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  under the yoke as slaves. He says a slave isn't your
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  ultimate identity. And I know this and I want you
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  to know it as well, he says. All who are under the yoga slave
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  should regard their own masters as worthy of all respect so that
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  God's name and his teaching will not be blasphemed.
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  He says, I want the way that you interact with your master, with
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  your boss, to use common colloquialisms.
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  I want the way that you interact with your boss to be filled with
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  respect and honor for the sake of God's name and his teachings.
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  That people wouldn't associate Christianity with some of the
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  various other like uprising groups that you would have
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  throughout Roman history, some slave rebellions and different
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  things like that. Paul says, I, I don't want us to
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  get it mixed up. The Jesus crew is a crew that is
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  respectful and kind and loving and forgiving and for bearing.
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  We're patient with other people. We are respectful towards
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  everyone. We don't say, OK, be respectful
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  towards everyone except for your employer, except for your
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  master. He says, I want us to show
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  respect to everyone. These are the same types of
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  things that we learned together in first Peter two and three and
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  that we learned in Ephesians chapters 5 and 6.
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  It is I am choosing to listen to, to, to treat well, to obey,
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  to submit to someone else, not because they have earned it or
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  because I am just subservient to them.
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  No, it's because I'm trying to make the gospel look good and
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  look appealing that someone would see the way that I treat
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  my master or I treat my employer versus how someone else treats
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  them. And they would go, man, there's
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  something different about the Jesus people.
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  And so here, this is what Paul says so that God's name and his
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  teachings will not be blaspheming.
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  They wouldn't be like, oh, man, yeah, I've got a couple of those
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  Christians that are working here at my farm or that, you know,
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  one that's a steward, a manager over my house.
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  And he's just constantly like insulting me.
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  He won't do anything that I have asked.
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  Yeah, these Christians, they are just lazy workers.
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  They, they do not care about us. And here Paul says we can
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  beautify the gospel and have God's name not be blasphemed
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  through how we work and how we treat others with respect.
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  Here he does not say, OK, I want you guys to go enslave people or
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  go and purchase slaves. Here he is saying for those of
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  you that are in this context right now, this is the spot in
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  life where you find yourself. Use it for the glory of God and
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  for the exultation of the gospel.
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  He says, let those who have believing masters not be
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  disrespectful to them because they are brothers.
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  So whether or not a master was a Christian, they were supposed to
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  be respectful towards them. That is not asking more than we
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  say for every single person, Every single person that we
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  interact with, we ought to view with respect and care because
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  they are made in the image of God with his dignity.
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  So he says if you have a believing brother that is a
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  master, then like serve him and what a joy because everything
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  that you're doing is for one of your brothers in the Lord.
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  Much more could be said about that, but that'll suffice for
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  right now. We're going to end today looking
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  just at verses 3 through 10 on money says teach and encourage
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  these things. If anyone teaches false doctrine
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  and doesn't agree with the sound teaching of our Lord Jesus
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  Christ and with the teaching that promotes godliness.
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  He's conceited and understands nothing but has an unhealthy
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  interest in disputes and arguments over words.
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  If you find an argumentative person that is a person that is
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  is not like submitting themselves to the teachings of
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  Jesus and argumentative. A constantly debating person is
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  not someone that you should emulate their lives or actions.
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  Many times, especially in the realm of theology, you can get
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  people that will want to quibble over tiny little words and and
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  perfect phrasings and things that do not ultimately matter.
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  And they are. They can often be unchrist like
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  individuals. They can be hateful, they can be
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  angry, they can be sometimes even, like lust, fuller or
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  covetous, greedy people. And it's easily known by what
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  they talk about and how they talk about it.
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  My, my prayer would be, you know, I'm, I'm in God's word
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  constantly. I don't want to be this person
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  that just quibbles over words. I want to be someone that cares
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  deeply about godliness, about Jesus showing up in and through
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  me. And I want to encourage you to
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  do the same. The most important thing that
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  you can do is like know the gospel and exhibit the fruit of
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  the spirit. And if that's all you have in
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  your life is the gospel and godliness, like Jesus's
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  characteristics coming out of you, you will be all right.
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  You will be doing well as opposed to this there at the
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  universe 4, he says. From these, from the debating
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  people, come envy, quarreling, slander, evil suspicions, and
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  constant disagreement among people whose minds are depraved
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  and deprived of the truth, who imagine that godliness is a way
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  to material gain. Envy is.
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  I wish I had that position that someone else has.
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  I wish I had this possession that someone else has quarreling
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  here, constant argument, arguments.
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  You find an argumentative person, you find someone who is
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  always duking it out with someone else verbally.
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  You're always complaining about someone else.
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  That is an ungodly person. He says slander, evil
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  suspicions. I'm sure they intended this.
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  They meant this. I bet they fill in the blank.
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  That is an ungodly person. And Paul says these kinds of
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  people, their minds are depraved and deprived of the truth.
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  Like they don't recognize what is most important.
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  And he says and they think that godliness is a way to financial
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  gain, to material gain. Being godly is not a way to get
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  rich. Being a, if you will, being a
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  pastor, being an evangelist, being a seminary professor
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  should not be a way that we go, OK, I'm going to get tons of
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  money by telling everyone what they want to hear.
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  You can look, you know, on basically any of the, you know,
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  quote UN quote, like Christian broadcasting networks and you
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  will find people who have utilized quote UN quote
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  godliness or teaching the word of God in order to get immense
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  financial gain. Paul says that's not the way to
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  true gain. He says godliness with
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  contentment is great gain. You don't need godliness and
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  money to really win in life. He says you need godliness and
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  contentment, that I live like Jesus and I'm content with what
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  God has for me. That I'm not always trying to
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  fleece people for more. Instead I say, God, thank you
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  for what you've given me and I'm going to be like you in the way
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  that I live. He says in verse #7 we brought
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  nothing into the world and we can take nothing out.
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  Everything we have is temporary. The house, the boat, the four O
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  1K, the Social Security, the, you know, the, the Airbnb,
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  everything that we have, we will one day not have.
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  So don't focus on the possessions, Don't focus on the
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  bank account. Instead focus on your soul.
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  Focus on being like Jesus in what you say and what we do
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  verse #8 if we have food and clothing, we will be content
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  with these. Unfortunately for many of us, we
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  go, yeah, I have the food and clothing, but I also want this
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  laundry list of 90 other things. And what God tells us is if you
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  have the bare necessities, then praise the Lord for it and be
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  content with what you have. Verse #9 The flip side of this,
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  those that are not content but want to pursue a financial gain.
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  He says those who want to be rich.
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  This is a all pressing, all consuming desire to get and get
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  and get. This is not those who want to
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  provide for their family. This is those who are intent on
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  being rich, they fall into temptation, a trap, and many
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  foolish and harmful desires which plunge people into ruin
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  and destruction. You can look at all the people
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  that buy the, you know, get rich quick things and you will see
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  over and over again. They waste their funds.
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  They put their money into, you know, gambling.
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  They, they really want to get rich fast and so they'll gamble
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  and it ruins their life. I want to encourage you guys.
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  This shouldn't be a shock coming from Baptist pastor, but like,
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  make good wise financial decisions.
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  Don't bet on the ponies, those types of things.
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  If you have an all pressing, all consuming desire to be rich, you
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  will make bad choices, whether that's bad financial investments
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  or attempting to, you know, Ponzi scheme, pyramid scheme,
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  get get money from other people robbing people.
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  Proverbs actually, humorously enough, has a bunch to say about
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  extorting or cheating other people in your business.
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  Don't do that. That should never be the case
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  for the child of God. And as we end here in verse #10
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  For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by
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  craving it some have wandered away from the faith and pierced
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  themselves with many griefs. Here the love of money is not
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  the root of all evil. It is all types of evil.
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  And many different people in our world today have fallen into
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  this trap that for love of money they have done things that they
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  shouldn't have done. For the love of money, they have
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  abandoned family or caring for their children or caring for
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  loved ones. For love of money, people have
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  refused to be generous or to care for the poor or the widows
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  or the orphans. For love of money, people have
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  forsaken the worship of God in order to work more and more and
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  more and get more and more money.
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  Want to encourage you? Greed is never the answer.
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  Godliness is the answer. That we would not pursue
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  financial gain, but we would, if you will, pursue the spiritual
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  gain that blesses us and all of those around us, both for now
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  and for eternity. Your family will be all right if
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  they're, you know, father or mother, is spiritual, is godly,
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  is caring and loving, and exhibits Jesus's
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  characteristics. And you guys have a smaller
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  house than if you spent all of your time pursuing financial
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  gain. Pursue, if you will, using the
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  words of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount.
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  Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all of
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  the things of life will be added to you.
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  What you need. Godliness with content is great
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  game. Thanks for tuning in.
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  Look forward to seeing you next episode.