The Church Focused On Christ
Studies in 1 Timothy #14
When Truth Is A Distant Memory
1 Timothy 6:3-10
June 10, 2012
We desire to be a church that is focused on Christ. That seems to be Paul’s theme in this letter to Timothy.
We’ve taken an opportunity every Sunday we have been in 1 Timothy to quote what must have been a sort of
creed for the early church, at least in Ephesus, that communicated in a brief statement the truth about Jesus
we need to stay close to…
1 Timothy 3:16 — 16 He who was revealed in the flesh, Was vindicated in the Spirit, Beheld by angels,
Proclaimed among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory.
Show others there is more to life than now by pursuing a godliness that is not just about making your life
better now.
1 Timothy 6:3–10 — 3 If anyone advocates a different doctrine, and does not agree with sound words, those of
our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, 4 he is conceited and understands
nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise
envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, 5 and constant friction between men of depraved mind and
deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. 6 But godliness actually is a means of
great gain, when accompanied by contentment. 7 For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot
take anything out of it either. 8 And if we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. 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. 10 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 a pang.
1. Truth becomes a distant memory when I ignore it & disobey it. 1 Timothy 6:3-5
a. I demonstrate my arrogance & ignorance. he is conceited and understands nothing; The New
English Bible translated that “pompous ignoramus”. Those who abandon the truth of the
Gospel think of themselves as wise, but in reality, they are full of hot air.
b. I stir up conflict. but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about
words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, 5 and constant friction
between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, The opposite of healthy teaching is
the sickness of a morbid craving for conflict. What starts out as just “mere speculation” leads
to disputes about words and when that happens what you end up with is a fractured, sick
fellowship where people are always taking sides in an argument and there’s this atmosphere of
mutual irritation. And when we should be coming to know the truth, we end up being robbed
of the truth. Donald Guthrie wrote that “when reason is morally blinded, all correctives to
unworthy behavior are banished, and the mind becomes destitute.”
c. I become materialistic. who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. Here’s where I believe
the heart of what Paul was saying in this passage comes out clearly. This is the example Paul
puts forward to show that these individuals have been robbed of the truth of the Gospel. They
believe that godliness is a means to gain and for them, gain meant money, materialism. When I
ignore or disobey the truth of the Gospel, I start thinking more highly of myself than I ought to.
I get caught up in disputes that only promote conflict and encourage people to take
sides…that’s unhealthy in the church family. When the truth of the Gospel becomes a distant
memory, I start to believe that God ought to make my life better, more comfortable and what I
end up communicating to the people around me is that the Gospel is just about making my life
better now.
2. Truth becomes a distant memory when I abandon the rich simplicity of contentment. 1 Timothy 6:6-8
6 But godliness actually is a means of great gain, (Paul is saying, “Your statement is right, but your idea of
godliness is all wrong) when accompanied by contentment. 7 For we have brought nothing into the world, so
we cannot take anything out of it either. 8 And if we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.
Philippians 4:13 — 13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
a. Contentment keeps me focused on the goal of godliness. If I pursue false godliness---God will
give me more stuff (Grief). If I pursue true godliness---God will make me more like Himself
(Contentment). The gain of godliness is spiritual and inward, not material and outward.
b. Contentment keeps me focused on the value of life. 7 For we have brought nothing into the
world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. People whose lives are dominated by the
love of money spend their time pursuing what is locked into time and space. They ignore the
things that have eternal value. Proverbs 27:24 warns that “riches are not forever.” As an old
Spanish proverb put it, there are no pockets in a shroud. The modern equivalent of that saying
is that hearses do not haul trailers. When the truth of the Gospel becomes a distant memory
because I’ve abandoned the rich simplicity of contentment, I lose sight of what is really
important in this life. And I end up focusing my life on things that are temporary. We will end
our lives as we entered our lives---empty handed. So any material gain we might experience
during this life is irrelevant and greed is irrational. If we will take a step back and look at our
lives from the perspective of our birth and our death, then we’ll gain the proper vantage point
from which to appraise the stuff we so often chase in this life. What he’s warning us about is
this idea that material wealth can satisfy our soul…it can’t.
C.S. Lewis: Indeed if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards
promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not so strong, but too weak. We are
half-hearted creatures, fooling around with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an
ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the
offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.
c. Contentment keeps me focused on the faithfulness of God. 8 And if we have food and covering,
with these we shall be content. Contentment is living with the realization that this life isn’t all
there is and God is faithful. When I look for hope in anything else other than Jesus, I wander
from the truth! We redefine better when we wander from the truth. We don’t realize what
wealth we already possess in the Gospel. Paul said that he had learned to be content
(Philippians 4:11), how can we do that? Learning Contentment - Recognize that God is our sole
provider; Focus on the necessities of Life; Express Gratitude for what God has given us; Build
your relationship with Jesus.
David Platt in Radical---A wealthier man in our faith family came to my office after we had been studying the
story of the rich young man. He sat down, looked at me, and said point-blank, “I think you’re crazy for saying
some of the things you are saying.” Then he paused, and I wasn’t sure what direction this conversation was
going to go. He continued, “But I think you’re right. And so now I think I’m crazy for thinking some of the
things I’m thinking.” For the next few minutes, he described how he was selling his large house and had
decided to give away many of his other possessions. He talked about the needs he wanted to invest his
resources in for the glory of Christ. Then he looked at me through tears in his eyes and said, “I wonder at
some points if I’m being irresponsible or unwise. But then I realize there is never going to come a day when I
stand before God and he looks at me and says, ‘I wish you would have kept more for yourself.’ I’m confident
that God will take care of me.”
Truth becomes a distant memory when I ignore it & disobey it.
Truth becomes a distant memory when I abandon the rich simplicity of contentment.
3. Truth becomes a distant memory when I follow the path of the love of money. 1 Timothy 6:9-10
This is one of those passages in the Bible that people often misquote. Most of the time, you will hear people
say that money is the root of evil. That’s not what God said.
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. 10 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 a pang.
a. Making the acquisition of wealth my life’s pursuit leads to destruction.
b. Loving money leads to all sorts of trouble---a distant truth and regrettable decisions.
“THE DESTINED END OF MAN IS NOT HAPPINESS, NOR HEALTH, BUT HOLINESS. GOD IS NOT AN ETERNAL
BLESSING MACHINE FOR MEN. HE DID NOT COME TO SAVE MEN OUT OF PIT; HE CAME TO SAVE MEN
BECAUSE HE HAD CREATED THEM TO BE HOLY.”-Oswald Chambers
Let’s talk about a distant truth--
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What do I loose when truth becomes nothing more than a distant memory?
What do I gain from the pursuit of godliness?
What is godliness?
What is the connection between godliness and contentment?
What’s wrong with loving money?
When does money become a bad thing in my life?
When is the pursuit of godliness not a good thing in my life?
What is keeping me from being content?
What regrettable decisions have I made in my pursuit of possessions?
Who am I listening to that is influencing my view of godliness?
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What has my pursuit of possessions cost me?
What do I need to give up?