Growing Your Treasure

1 Timothy 6:17-19

July 25, 2010

Tonight we enter the final portion of this letter

Paul wrote to his young protégé.

This final section deals with how a Christian handles his treasure.

Verses 17-19 deal with Growing Your Treasure

Verses 20-21 deal with Guarding Your Treasure

Of course the truest application then relates to

WHAT WE VIEW AS OUR TREASURE.

The Christian’s treasure can never be the things of this world,

But must always be spiritual things.

Matthew 6:19-20 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;”

And so when a Christian rightly understands his treasure,

We then get to study this final portion of 1 Timothy

To see how to grow it and how to guard it.

If we wanted a more literally title for the sermon tonight, we might call it:

“How The Christian Handles Money”

You see immediately who Paul is dealing with in our text.

(17) “Instruct those who are rich in this present world”

Now, I know that most of us are tempted to read about those who are rich

And instantly think about someone else.

(typically anyone who has more than I do)

But that is not an accurate mindset.

After all, can anyone in here give me the dollar figure that separates the rich from the poor?

If someone has a million dollars, does that make him rich?

(Zimbabwe is full of millionaires who can’t afford bread)

If someone only has $100, does that make him poor?

($100 American dollars goes a long way in some countries)

I once heard a statistic that if you own a car,

That puts you in the top 2% of all the world’s wealthy.

It is really a difficult thing to define the difference between rich and poor.

So we will just do our best to define it biblically.

1 Timothy 6:7-8 “For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.”

And so I suppose that if food and covering are the status quo,

Then anyone with less than this could be considered poor,

And anyone with more than this could be considered rich.

The point is that this is a relevant passage of Scripture.

We can’t just pass it off as talking about some sports athlete

Or high investment banker.

The rich are defined as those who have extra.

It was they who John the Baptist confronted when he said:

Luke 3:11 “And he would answer and say to them, "The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise."

So we all have to honestly admit that Paul is addressing us here.

We all have something to give, because we all have extra.

Now before we dive into those instructions,

I want to help set your mind on the right course here tonight.

I want to first remind you that the Scripture speaks a lot about the rich,

And it is quite usually in a negative light.

Luke 6:24 "But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full.”

In other places we see why.

James 5:1-6 “Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure! Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and put to death the righteous man; he does not resist you.”

Of course we are all familiar with the rich man who denied the beggar Lazarus.

Luke 16:25 "But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony.”

The point is that many times in Scripture those who have riches

Are portrayed as those who cheated or lied or withheld to obtain it.

The implication is that a person who is rich should ask why?

They are also portrayed as those who are idolatrous,

Having served their wealth more than they served their God.

Luke 16:10-13 "He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. "Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? "And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? "No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth."

The Old Testament also spoke of the wealthy.

Psalms 49:16-20 “Do not be afraid when a man becomes rich, When the glory of his house is increased; For when he dies he will carry nothing away; His glory will not descend after him. Though while he lives he congratulates himself — And though men praise you when you do well for yourself — He shall go to the generation of his fathers; They will never see the light. Man in his pomp, yet without understanding, Is like the beasts that perish.”

And who could forget the revelation Asaph received when he desired to get rich?

Psalms 73:18-20 “Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction. How they are destroyed in a moment! They are utterly swept away by sudden terrors! Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when aroused, You will despise their form.”

And really we could go on and on

With the negative connotation Scripture often gives to the rich.

And one of the reasons riches get such a bad name in Scripture

Is because of how successful they often are

At pulling people away from the faith.

Matthew 19:21-24 “Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property. And Jesus said to His disciples, "Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. "Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

And this echoes what Paul taught us earlier in this chapter.

1 Timothy 6:9-10 “But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

And so we see that riches can be very dangerous,

And those who have them are often looked upon

As those who fell prey to the danger.

NOW DOES THAT SCARE YOU?

I truly believe it should.

If I am rich, (and Scripture says I am) then I am foolish to turn a blind eye

To all that the Scriptures say about those who are rich.

The question then becomes, WHAT SHOULD I DO?

Here Paul reveals 5 things:

#1 BE HUMBLE

1 Timothy 6:17a

“Instruct those who are rich in this present world not be conceited…”

In other words, don’t you dare set back and assume

That you either deserve, or that you earned all of that wealth.

How many times have I seen the rich withhold generosity because they assume the poor man doesn’t deserve it?

It makes one wonder what they would have said to a homeless man

Who lived 2,000 years ago named Jesus.

“If He would have just stayed with His father’s carpentry business…”

“If He would quit running around with those other loafers…”

But Paul’s point here is that if you have money, you must understand,

It is not because you were so smart, or hardworking.

It is because God has been merciful and gracious to you.

After all, look at the end of this verse.

“God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.”

Don’t forget who the provider is.

James 1:17 “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”

If you have it, it came from Him.

And this attitude that you did something to earn or deserve it

Is nothing but sheer arrogance.

Ezekiel 28:1-5 “The word of the LORD came again to me, saying, "Son of man, say to the leader of Tyre, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Because your heart is lifted up And you have said, 'I am a god, I sit in the seat of gods In the heart of the seas'; Yet you are a man and not God, Although you make your heart like the heart of God — Behold, you are wiser than Daniel; There is no secret that is a match for you. "By your wisdom and understanding You have acquired riches for yourself And have acquired gold and silver for your treasuries. "By your great wisdom, by your trade You have increased your riches And your heart is lifted up because of your riches”

James 2:1-4 “My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, "You sit here in a good place," and you say to the poor man, "You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool," have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?”

If you are rich, and you think you are so because you deserve it,

Then you are already handling your money pathetically.

God doesn’t call us to be proud for the things we have,

But to be thankful for the things we have.

If you have it, then it is because God gave it to you.

“who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.”

God is a generous God.

He gives us all sorts of things.

And it is ok to “enjoy” what He gives.

(Don’t you like your kids to enjoy the gifts you give them?)

Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 “Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat, to drink and enjoy oneself in all one's labor in which he toils under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him; for this is his reward. Furthermore, as for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, He has also empowered him to eat from them and to receive his reward and rejoice in his labor; this is the gift of God. For he will not often consider the years of his life, because God keeps him occupied with the gladness of his heart.”

It is ok to enjoy what you have, but the first rule is to understand that

The only reason you have it is because God gave it to you.

Be Humble

#2 BE RATIONAL

1 Timothy 6:17b

“or to fix their hope in the uncertainty of riches, but on God”

Someone once said, “Money talks”

To which another person replied “It says good-bye”

Money is uncertain to say the least.

Proverbs 23:4-5 “Do not weary yourself to gain wealth, Cease from your consideration of it. When you set your eyes on it, it is gone. For wealth certainly makes itself wings Like an eagle that flies toward the heavens.”

Proverbs 11:28 “He who trusts in his riches will fall, But the righteous will flourish like the green leaf.”

And therefore anyone who banks upon the certainty of money

Is a very foolish person.

James 4:13-17 “Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit." Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that." But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.”

Riches don’t last, money is uncertain.

Our hope is not to be in money.

Our hope is to be “on God, who richly supplies with all things to enjoy.”

Philippians 4:19 “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

WHY ARE WE SECURE?

Because the God who promises to care for us has infinite resources.

Have we not talked about it quite a bit lately?

Deuteronomy 8:2-3 "You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. "He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD.”

God can take care of the temporal things,

He is a far better place to put your hope than on your wealth.

The children of Israel had to learn this.

Remember God’s command concerning the manna?

- Don’t store it (or it gets worms)

Hence came the concept, “Give us this day our daily bread”

YOUR HOPE MUST BE IN GOD

And if you honor Him with your wealth, He will bless you with it.

Luke 6:38 "Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure — pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return."

And so it is not wrong to be rich in this world.

In fact, if you are, it is because God made you that way.

But it is wrong to be conceited about that wealth or to put your trust in it

As though that wealth makes you secure.

You may notice that both of these first two points deal with a mindset.

God hasn’t really asked you to do anything yet.

But if this is not your mindset in regard to your wealth,

Then you will not obey the rest of this passage.

Be Humble, Be Rational

#3 BE PROTECTED

1 Timothy 6:18a

“Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works”

I don’t know a whole lot about money management,

But I do know a word I hear all the time in regard to wealth.

DIVERSITY

“Don’t put all your eggs in one basket”

That is actually good advice, for that is what Paul is saying here.

If all your wealth is found here on this earth,

Then you have all your wealth in one basket and that is foolish.

You need to invest in another area, that is untouchable.

Heaven.

Matthew 6:20 "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;”

Don’t just be rich in money, “be rich in good works”

Have a backup plan.

Remember the guy who wanted to tear down his barns

And build bigger ones?

Luke 12:20-21 "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?' "So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."

He was left totally poor because he had no other treasure.

And even if you don’t want to see it in an eternal sense,

Then see it also in a temporal sense.

Who can estimate the value of friendship?

Who can estimate the value of a good church family?

Acts 4:32-35 “And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them. And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales and lay them at the apostles' feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need.”

I can’t tell you the number of times other people have given to me, But I can tell you that amount far exceeds anything I have given.

“be rich in good works”

Be Humble, Be Rational, Be Protected

#4 BE GENEROUS

1 Timothy 6:18b

He said to “be rich in good works” now he gets a little more specific.

“to be generous and ready to share”

“generous” speaks of the heart.

“ready to share” speaks of the eagerness.

It is the call to take your excess

And not only be willing to share it, but eager to do it.

After all, if you believe God gave it to you,

And if you believe God will supply all your needs,

Why not?

Be generous.

One of my favorite passages actually hangs in Peggy’s office.

Deuteronomy 15:7-11 "If there is a poor man with you, one of your brothers, in any of your towns in your land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand from your poor brother; but you shall freely open your hand to him, and shall generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks."Beware that there is no base thought in your heart, saying, 'The seventh year, the year of remission, is near,' and your eye is hostile toward your poor brother, and you give him nothing; then he may cry to the LORD against you, and it will be a sin in you. "You shall generously give to him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all your undertakings."For the poor will never cease to be in the land; therefore I command you, saying, 'You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land.'”

God desires generosity.

WHAT DOES IT SAY?

2 Corinthians 9:7 “Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

And of course we know why.

God is a cheerful giver.

2 Corinthians 8:9 “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.”

And so it becomes clear.

This is the area where we put our money where our mouth is.

If we believe it is all God’s.

If we believe God freely gives it.

If we believe God will give more of it.

THEN WHY NOT BE GENEROUS?

I remember my parents used to talk about my sister.

“She gets it from us and gives it away”

But it is the same principle that Alaina knew.

If God is my supplier then I can be generous.

Be Humble, Be Rational, Be Protected, Be Generous

#5 BE FOCUSED

1 Timothy 6:19

The idea here is that you understand where the truest riches are.

If God has supplied you with wealth, that’s fine,

Just understand that He did so

In order for you to exchange it for eternal riches.

Luke 16:1-9 “Now He was also saying to the disciples, "There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was reported to him as squandering his possessions. "And he called him and said to him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.' "The manager said to himself, 'What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg. 'I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the management people will welcome me into their homes.' "And he summoned each one of his master's debtors, and he began saying to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?' "And he said, 'A hundred measures of oil.' And he said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.' "Then he said to another, 'And how much do you owe?' And he said, 'A hundred measures of wheat.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.' "And his master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light. "And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into the eternal dwellings.”

Money isn’t meant to be hoarded or stored, but used.

It is a tremendous tool to help you store up eternal treasure.

That is “a good foundation for the future”

Furthermore, a person

Who will give earthly wealth to obtain eternal wealth

Is a person who has figured out what it means to truly live.

They have taken hold “of life indeed.”

Psalms 41:1-3 “How blessed is he who considers the helpless; The LORD will deliver him in a day of trouble. The LORD will protect him and keep him alive, And he shall be called blessed upon the earth; And do not give him over to the desire of his enemies. The LORD will sustain him upon his sickbed; In his illness, You restore him to health.”

The generous are the people who have figured out how to really live.

If you are rich in this present world:

Be Humble – You didn’t earn it

Be Rational – It is unstable

Be Protected – Invest in other areas

Be Generous – share what God shares

Be Focused – use it for eternal wealth

Now understand.

This passage does not mean,

“I can go get rich, so long as I use it correctly”

No, the previous text still applies.

1 Timothy 6:9 “But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.”

Furthermore, according to verse 11, the man of God flees from that.

Rather this passage says if you are rich, then use it for the kingdom.

1 Timothy 3:14-15 “I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long; but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.”