1 Timothy Chapter 1 is “The church and its message.” Chapters 2 and 3 are “The church and its members.” Chapter 4 is “The church and its minister.” Chapter 5 is “The church and its ministry to itself.” And Chapter 6 is “The church and its ministry to the world.”

1 Timothy Chapter 6 Verse 1

•This speaks of fervency of service. In the workplace, in the church, in the home, in the neighborhood, in the marketplace parking lot…and you may say, “Well I don’t have a master to serve or a boss to count worthy of all honor when I’m picking up my kids from school…” Are you sure? Colossians 3:23 says, “Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.” And so when we digest this verse think of the “yoke” as the one Jesus spoke of in Matthew 11:29. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

•And then consider the end of the verse as the priority – or as the “why.” “Lift high the name of God and His teachings…” Because here’s the thing. Once they know you are a Christian you are now constantly on trial in the eyes of the world. To either prove or disprove the truth and the power of the gospel.

•Listen man…lazy, honorless and half-hearted work or flooshness (fleshly foolishness) causes the name of God and the Holy Spirit Himself to be blasphemed. Let’s them say, “See I told you Christians are a bunch of hypocrites!” And it’s just a small heart leap from there to get to “Christianity is powerless.”

1 Timothy Chapter 6 Verse 2

•If your boss is a Christian, don’t abuse that! This word for despise could be translated, disteem or think less of…if your boss is a Christian then all the more reason to work as unto the Lord because passive ministry to the world still happens but in the mix of it all, you are serving the body of Christ! Blessing a brother or a sister…benefiting them.

1 Timothy Chapter 6 Verse 3 – 5

•Paul is beginning to pull the whole story together. This statement of “If anyone teaches otherwise,” isn’t just the first two verses of chapter 6 but really everything that Paul has covered. This is how he opened his letter back in chapter 1 where he warned Timothy to guard the church…and now we see what we are guarding…the truth of Jesus Christ and the doctrine which accords with godliness…

•There was intense false doctrine then, there is today and there will be until Jesus returns to usher in the Millennial Reign. Paul wrote to the Galatians in Galatians Chapter 1, just 30 years or so after Jesus walked on the earth, “I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another (no gospel at all)…But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed…”

•It’s interesting because Paul was warning against false doctrine through men and false doctrine even through the heavenly host…angelic beings! Because the truth is, the Gospel came through only Jesus Christ! No angel. John Chapter 1 Verse 16, “And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

•And so Paul says whenever the emphasis comes off of Jesus and the simple, clear, and direct doctrine found by anyone who would seek it out in the Word of God…withdraw…I think of it not only as a statement of exit but also a statement of cost…like withdrawing from an ATM. Make it cost them to be around you…especially this type.

•Paul specifically goes after those that would peddle the Word of God or the title of Christian as a means of monetary profit or luxury. One who claims that they are in the faith and yet lives for self rather than living for the glory of God. This is actually quite prevalent today…and not only in America.

•Creflo Dollar has a net worth of $27 million while the average income in the city where his church is, is less than $30k per year. Nigerian preacher David Oyedepo has a reported net worth of $150 million in a country where 55% of its citizens live on less than $2 per day. Kenneth Copeland claims billionaire status and lives in a 6 million dollar church owned lakefront mansion. I’m putting in a board request on that one! HA!

•Listen, I’m not saying that having things is evil but these are the same folks that preach if you have enough faith then God will bless you. Believe God for that Lexus payment…God wants you to have the best! You’re Kings kids and God wants you to live that way…false. That is not the gospel…the gospel, the good news of Jesus is not that you can get more, it’s that you can get FREE! Paul is right! Godliness is not a means of worldly paper gain! It is a means of eternal gain! Here’s the truth…

1 Timothy Chapter 6 Verse 6

•There it is! Truly the rich man is not someone who wants more but rather someone who wants what they have. True gain is found there. The one who always wants more…will always be poor… This phrase in the Greek is megas porismos or quite literally, the greatest source of gain…not just gain…but the source of John 10:10 gain!

1 Timothy Chapter 6 Verses 7 – 9

•Listen up ‘Merica…I, you, we need to hear this and command our hearts. It’s good to do well and to ascend the corporate ladder and to increase and to progress but listen, that happens via verses 1 and 2 and 6, not verses 9 and 10! Work hard! Honor the Lord! But not for the reward of more stuff but for the reward of more of Him…change your focus from the next raise to the Lord. Change your focus from the gain of earthly wealth to the things of God and the cross of Christ…and you know what will happen? Your walk will become your strength. Your wife and kids will become your most desired focus of attention…

•Service to others will excite you more than the quarterly dividend payouts and the wonder of family and the gratitude for friends and the godliness WILL slowly return…so many are snared, fooled, harmed and drowning in the name of “making it” in this world but how much is a good marriage worth to you? How much is a good fervent inspired and thriving walk worth to you? How much is the heart of that little one worth to you? You might make senior leader in your company and make $200k a year or more…the answer is, that’s how much…sobering isn’t it…

1 Timothy Chapter 6 Verse 10

•A widely misquoted, misused and misunderstood verse along with many others…Why? Because the love of money doesn’t capture it all…really it’s the love of self rather than the love of God…, “The love of money is a root…” And the main thought here, the concept, the focus is this…that the things of this world cause us to stray…and man, straying from the truth, the simplicity…the wonder, beauty and the priority of the Gospel of Jesus is the path to a life pierced through with many sorrows. The word means consuming grief…and really it’s tragic, because many, most I’d say get used to it…and fall asleep to it…and it just becomes their life…

•When God has so much more for us…The common lie that we all believe and therefore just as Timothy must guard the church against this we must guard our heart against it is this, “If I just had this, then I’d be happy.” God at the center of a life is a life that is content. A life that is happy. No matter the circumstance or what he or she did…and if he or she complied then you’d be happy for about a day, maybe a week, and then you’d just find something else to be unhappy about…God at the center of a life, as the priority and the reason is a life that is rich and a life that is full. Because that brings about the river flowing out of your heart LIVING water, just as Jesus promised in John 7:38...