2 Timothy 1:13-14

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13 What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. ~ 2 Timothy 1:13-14

In our last passage of study, the Apostle Paul wrote about how his life was entrusted to God. In today's text Paul writes about how God has entrusted the word of God to Timothy. Can you imagine a world without truth? How chaotic it would be. There would be no trust for without the truth trust dies. Trust is quite difficult when we do not know who or what we are trusting.

In v.13 we read, "What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus."

The Apostle begins with, "What you heard from me." The "What" spoken of here in this verse is the truth from God, given to the Apostle Paul. The word "heard" reminds me of Romans 10:17 which reads, "Faith comes by hearing by the word of God." The word used here for "word" is rhema which is the spoken word of God. We do not hear God with our ears, we hear Him with our hearts and minds. It is the experiential word of God that gives birth to faith in our hearts. This is why we must be in the word daily, expecting God to speak to our hearts through His word.

The word “keep,” in our text, means to hold tightly or firmly, to grasp. The idea behind this word is to hold onto in such a way that we interact with it. In this way, it holds on to us. The truth is meant to be interactive. It was given to us by God in order to impact our lives in a qualitative way. We struggle with it and that is good. We must be careful to remain honest with it or we will trump it by what we think is right. Of course, our way is not the way.

We struggle with doubting the veracity of truth and this is normal. The Lord Jesus consistently made a distinction between doubt and unbelief, not doubt and faith. Doubt is the shadow cast by faith. Doubt is can’t believe, whereas unbelief is won’t believe. Doubt is honestly wrestling with the truth, but unbelief is being obstinate with the truth. Doubt is looking for light whereas unbelief is content with the darkness.

The word  “pattern," means "an architect’s sketch.” In v,13 Paul writes, "keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus." This means the pattern came from the architect, God Himself. He is the architect of the truth and we are not making it, it is making us. 

The word "sound" means "healthful and whole," words that will lead us to wholesome living. In Proverbs 14:12 we read,  "There is a way that seems right to a man, but the ends thereof are the ways of death." There is our way that leads to destruction or there is God's way which leads us to a life filled with "faith and love which are in Christ Jesus."

It was the Holy Spirit who committed the truth to Paul, and then, Paul committed God's truth to Timothy. Apart from the ministry of the Holy Spirit, we are in the dark when it comes to having the truth and understanding it. God's word is so important because in it, God has shown us the way, the truth, and the life. And, from the beginning of human history, Satan has opposed God’s Word because "it is the power of God unto salvation for all who choose to believe it."

In v.14 we read, "Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us."

This word "guard" means to retain the standard of sound, wholesome, life-giving words. Be committed to it, to the proper theological structure, the proper interpretation of Scripture, the proper outline of the truth that produces spiritual growth, spiritual maturity. This will result in sound theology.

We live in a world where people get squeamish when we have biblically based convictions, but those with strong convictions must be bold. The "good deposit" is the Scriptures. Though the word truth does not actually appear in this verse, we are to "guard the truth with the help of the Spirit." The glory of Christianity is that it is knowledge that can free us from the lies that the world in its blindness is following to its own destruction.

It is not merely the words of the Bible that make it powerful, rather it is the presence of the Holy Spirit enlightening the words of God contained in the Bible. The Spirit illuminates the Bible so that we can take it to heart. He makes the words of the Bible living words that enlighten our minds, pierce our hearts, words that produce profound changes in attitude and behavior in us that we can't produce ourselves. This is the reason we must keep and guard it because it keeps and guards us.

2 Timothy 1:11-12

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11 And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. 12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day. ~ 2 Timothy 1:11-12

Faithful til the end is the overarching theme of 2 Timothy. Faithful, as we considered yesterday, is to be full of faith which always has a forward lean to it. Our problem with this is: we do not do well with trusting, especially if those whom we should have been able to trust were not all that faithful to us when we were in our formative years.

I have a dog that my son and daughter-in-law rescued out of a park near downtown Columbia. Although, for two years now, I have been nothing but loving to Millie, she sometimes struggles with trusting me. When we brought her home with us, she was five months old. I've often wondered, "What happened in her life in those first five months that makes her struggle with trusting me?" You see this truth is not only true for dogs, it is true for us.

Another problem that we have with faith is we do not know what tomorrow will bring. But, we can trust the God of the Bible who has always been faithful to His promises. Of course, we must give Him time to bring about His promises and His timetable is not on par with ours. Corrie ten Boom said it well when she said, "Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God."

Today's text begins with, "And of this gospel I was appointed a herald." The focus of all things must be the gospel which includes the utter helplessness of man, the coming of the Savior, His death, burial and resurrection. And, most importantly, that we believe it, that we trust in His gospel. And, for fallen people, trusting is a very hard thing to do.

Think of the Apostle Paul as he wrote this, he was a prisoner in a Roman dungeon. This is where the gospel led him and he was not daunted in his faith. Why? Because through the darkness a light shined forth which never stopped lighting. He was strategically abandoned by all who had helped him to that point. I say strategically because we will never be convince that the Lord Jesus is all we need until He is all we have.

The Apostle Paul was appointed, as we all are. You and I are appointed to the advancement of the gospel in one sphere or another. As the Apostle Paul was called to be a herald, so are you and I. And, I might add, people are convince more by our deeds than they are by our words. We must keep the message simple. We must focus on the gospel and share it consistently and all the rest, God will see fit to teach. He may use you and me to do the further teaching, but we must be patient to give people the time to process the gospel first.

In v.12 we read, "That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day."

Paul's confidence was in Christ because he knew His faithfulness. Notice his emphasis on the person of Christ: “I know whom I have believed.” As you probably already know, Paul went through hell on earth to garner such confidence in the Savior. This is how it works in a fallen world. And, we have to trust that even the bad stuff is used of God for our good. Our problem is our definition of what is good. If we allow God to define things for us, we will have a biblical understanding of what is good.

Salvation is not the result of believing certain doctrines, though doctrines are important. A sinner is saved because he believes in a Person—Jesus Christ the Savior. Paul had deposited his soul in the care and keeping of the Savior, and Paul was sure that Jesus Christ would faithfully guard that deposit. 

In these difficult days that we live in, it is important that we stand true to Christ and be willing to suffer for Him. We may not be put into prison, as was Paul, but we will suffer in other ways: the loss of friends, being bypassed for a promotion, loss of customers, being snubbed by people, and so forth. 

Our text for today ends with, "and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day." Paul had sunk to the lowest lows, yet he was at the highest heights regarding his faith, his heart's ability to see God. It is at rock bottom that we realize the bed-rock nature of our God's faithfulness. The key is that we learn to use the unwanteds of life as a means to knowing the Lord Jesus. This is what it means to "entrust" it to Him. Taking all of our stuff, both good and bad, and giving it to Him, and trusting Him with the outcome. And, God writes a far better story than we.

2 Timothy. 1:9-10

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9 He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. ~ 2 Timothy 1:9-10

Martin Luther once said, “Where the battle rages, there, the loyalty of the soldier is proved.” We come back to the book which has as its theme: Faithful til the end. In order to remain faithful to the end, we must recognize truth for what it is; sometimes it is pleasant, and, at others, it is the hardest thing to embrace. One thing is for sure, the truth is the only thing that we can count on in this fallen world and our lack of faithfulness to it is not wise.

Once we embrace the truth, we must learn to look at life as a voyage of discovery, all the while running the risk of disappointment, fear and failure. As C.S. Lewis once said, "You can't have the love without the pain." Those who find a way to be defined by God's truth will be more faithful to it than those who hide behind the less substantive things of this world. To be faithful is to be filled with faith. When we are not defined by the truth, we will struggle at discovering our true identity.

In v.9 we read, "He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time."

God made the choice to call us to Himself by His grace “before the beginning of time.” He is transcendent which means He is not bound by time and space as we are. Given our fallen state, He had to allow pain and suffering to be part of His sovereign plan, otherwise we would have been programmed, and, where is the love in that? It is difficult to understand that the bad things that have happened to us throughout our lives are useful in the loving hands of this One who love us more than we can fathom.

The emphasis in this verse is on grace. God had to sacrifice His Son in order to make it possible for mankind to be saved because we lack the ability to save ourselves. He called us to Himself, not on the basis of our good works, but totally on the basis of His favor that we can never merit. And, our pain and suffering enables our ears to hear His gracious call. Once we hear, we discover that it is His purpose that we wisely want, and if these purposes include suffering, then we can accept it by faith and know that God’s will is best. All of this grace was given to us in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Notice the reason God saved us by His grace: So that we might experience His holiness. His holiness lacks nothing. Unlike Him, mankind lacks, and, this is the root to all of our problems, we lack. This is why we covet. My mother died when I was five years old and I desperately lacked the affection that I did not get from her. That lack defined me so deeply that I made many bad and destructive choices until I came to the place of understanding His holiness.

When God's holiness defines us, our lack problem will increasingly be addressed until the point where we will experience His wholeness. His wholeness will never be perfect in us this side of heaven, yet, it gradually murders our insecurities, if we let it. And, the freedom that comes to the once shackeled soul is as liberating as when Frodo dropped that ring into the pit of fire at Mount Doom. 

There have been times in my life when it was as if I could hear the chains clang in my mind as they fell to the floor of my existence and I was freed from my own demise. It wasn't the demise of God or my mother, it was my demise. I came to understand that ninety percent of life is how I respond to the ten percent that happens to me.

In v.10 we read, "but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel."

Through His resurrection, Christ has defeated our last and ultimate enemy: death. He not only destroyed death, He revealed life and immortality. In the Old Testament the doctrines of eternal life, death, and the resurrection were kept in the shadows. Then, the Lord Jesus Christ came shining His light on all that is really real, and, through His teachings, He has pulled back that stiff curtain that separated us from all that is substantive, enabling us to see the real which garners for us assurance of the life to come.

“Immortality” is “incorruptibility” which will be the believer's eventual condition and experience. Our present bodies are corruptible thus they will die and decay. But our eventual bodies will be like His, never again subject to decay or death. The grave and the terror death has held over us all of these years will be vanquished, and, we will know our heavenly inheritance in an upclose way.

We must fight against allowing the death and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus to become mechanical and indifferent to us. These are at the heart of the Christian faith. We must live so close to the cross that we find ourselves in danger of getting splinters in our noses. This is why, by the way, God gave us the Lord' Supper. As often as we remember Him on that cross, the more our hearts will possibly be engulfed in His.

When the Lord Jesus destroyed the power of death, He eliminated it. The word destroyed is the Greek word that means "to bring to nothing."  But the practical aspects of a destroyed death is yet to be realized by us. There will come a day when we will know nothing but life, death will be a thing of the past.

Our text today ends with, "immortality to light through the gospel." The Old Testament does not give a lot of information on what lies beyond, but when the Lord Jesus came, He made clear that our long dark struggle with sin and death will soon be over. Then, we will live life to its fullest, permanently enjoyed into our everlasting future.

The word "life" here is a reference to the change that will take place when we are given new bodies, but it also refers to that which occurs in our hearts when we are invaded by God's presence. The new quality of life that was imparted to us was delivered by the Lord Jesus. He made it visible to us through the paradox of His death and resurrection.

It is the power of God that brings that kind of certainty and hope into our lives, if we choose to be defined by it. It is the gospel, and it is the answer to the deepest longings of people everywhere. We live in a world of the superficial. When we allow it to define us, we find ourselves trapped by the fallen devices of the enemy. The reality is, when we examine what is real, we are left with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus which not only rescues us from death but frees us from the obnoxious lack that has plagued us from birth. 

2 Timothy 1:6-8

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6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. 8 So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. ~ 2 Timothy 1:6-8

The emphasis in this second letter written by Paul to Timothy is remaining faithful to God til the end. When Timothy came to Christ, like all believers, he received the incredible gift of a personal relationship with God through the indwelling Holy Spirit. As we learned in Paul's first letter to Timothy, a prophetic utterance was given that indicated that Timothy was a young man who would be greatly used of God. 

Paul wrote,"For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God." 

Every Christian does not have the same spiritual gift(s), but every Christian has the gift of the Holy Spirit. When the believer in Christ yields to the Holy Spirit, we make it possible for the Holy Spirit to freely work in and through our lives in such a way that God is glorified. The ultimate purpose of the Holy Spirit is to aid us in knowing God and the advancement of God's kingdom in the sphere wherein we operate. To do this we must fan into flame the gift of God.

The verb “flame” means to get the fire going and keep it blazing. The believer must not put the fire out; we must fan it by feeding the Holy Spirit rather than our flesh. Like getting oxygen into a struggling fire, we feed the Spirit by walking in God's will, by praying, reading His word, and sharing our findings with others. To fan the flame is to practice the presence of God in our lives and to yield to His daily leading.

In v.7 we read, "For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline."

At the time of the writing of this second letter of the Apostle Paul to Timothy, Paul was in a Roman dungeon. This was Paul's last will and testament, so to speak, his final words. That dungeon that he was in was dark and cold, yet, it was a great reminder of the need of a warm flame. Paul's conditions no doubt aided his thoughts as they were penned. 

The most often repeated command in the Bible is "Fear not!" When we fan the flame or give freedom to the Holy Spirit to do His work in and through us, we experience His power. Through His power the enemy is broken and God enables us to see the validity and fulfillment of His will in our lives. 

The word “power” is the Greek word from which we get our English word dynamite. It means dynamic energy and it doesn’t matter how powerful the adversary is, the power of God will always trump him, and enable us in our yielded state, to accomplish that which God has called us to do.

God's power is released to and in us when we choose to obey God. He does not make us feel powerful, we still struggle with our feelings of weakness, but His strength is imparted to us to see and follow the truth, as we serve Him in this dark and dreadful world. Our courage rises out of a sense of our calling and giftedness. When we know our calling and our giftedness, we will not be ashamed because this is what we are designed to do while we are in this world. This is what the Spirit of God has enabled and empowered us to do, and it is from the Holy Spirit that we gain the motivation to do it.

In addition to providing the power that we need to overcome our fears, the Holy Spirit provides us with God's love to share the truth with others. This is commitment love. It is the highest type of love wherein we volitionally choose to love another. 

As we grow in our understanding of God's love for us, we will subsequently see others through His eyes of love and compassion. Nothing gives more proof that a person is filled with the Spirit than when he evidences concern for somebody else's eternity.

In addition to power and love, the Holy Spirit provides the yielded believer self-discipline which means the control of one’s self, no matter the circumstances. This is the only time this Greek word is used in the Bible. It is that sound judgment that takes every feature of life and makes it positive for the advancement of the kingdom of God. It’s more than wisdom. It’s the application of  wisdom. And, every believer in Christ has access to this resource.

Finally, in v.8 we read, "So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God." 

The believer in Christ must be programmed for rejection and the threats from people who say that if we don’t change our message or stop sharing it, they’re going to sue us. Therefore, we must not be reluctant to preach the Gospel of Christ in word and in deed.

I remember a day back in 1983 when I was punched in the face for giving testimony of Christ. I was working in a Pawn Shop in Savannah, Georgia. It was a Saturday morning and I was listening to Charles Stanley on the radio. A man who also worked at the Pawn Shop turned off the radio. At the time, I didn't realize that he had turned it off, so I went over and turned it back on. After that this colleague came over and punched me in the face and said to me, "I do not want to hear that @#&%!"

I was startled, caught between two great emotions: love and anger. I wanted to punch him in his fat gut. I immediately walked away. About fifteen minutes later he came and appologized to me. I will never forget that moment for it was the first time I had ever experienced any type of persecution for the Lord Jesus. And, although it was hard, it felt good. I was happy that I could suffer for the name of Christ. I only hope it aided that man in coming to the Lord Jesus before he entered eternity just a few years later.

2 Timothy 1:1-5

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1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, in keeping with the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,2 To Timothy, my dear son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 3 I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. 4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.~ 2 Timothy 1:1-5

When Paul wrote this second letter to Timothy, his situation had changed drastically. The Apostle was now a prisoner in Rome and was facing certain death. However, Paul’s concern was for Timothy. As in his first letter to Timothy, Paul encouraged him to remain faithful to the One who died for him. This second letter was probably written about four or five years after 1 Timothy.

In v.1 we read, "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, in keeping with the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus."

Although Paul’s own circumstances were difficult, he was granted a really big view of God. That is the way it works: we gain a big view of God at the expense of the trouble that we go through in this life. I have found that my most profound observations about the Lord and life have come into my purview through the hardest moments. Like Paul, I am discovering that whatever happens in my life, I am in the hands of God, and I have no reason to fear. This is possible, because like Paul, I have “the promise of life that is in Jesus Christ."

Everybody, everywhere, has a hunger for this kind of life Paul references here. Nobody wants meaninglessness or emptiness. We all want to experience excitement and to feel alive. This is what makes us vulnerable to the appeals of the world, which constantly reminds us that we only go around once and we must grab it while we can. The problem with the world's proposition, it doesn't come near to delivering what it promises. It is amazing how desperate we all are for this world's lies.

In v.2 we read, "To Timothy, my dear son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord."

This verse literally reads, “Timothy, my dearly beloved son.” This greeting is much stronger than the one the Apostle gave in his first letter to Timothy which was: “Timothy, my own son in the faith.” It is not that Paul loved Timothy less when he wrote that first letter, Paul's ability to love has increased and that increase parallels the depths he has gone through with the Lord Jesus. As Paul’s life drew to a close, he realized in a deeper way how dear the Lord Jesus was to him. And, when the Lord Jesus becomes more dear to us, those that are most dear to Him become more dear to us.

Sixty-five year old Paul, wished grace, mercy and peace upon thirty-five year old Timothy. “Grace” is God’s undeserved favor given to rebellious at heart sinners to free us from sin, enabling us to live a life from eternities view. “Mercy” is God’s undeserved compassion in freeing us from the misery that our sin created. And “peace” is the heart tranquility and settled relationship with God that results from grace and mercy. It is God's grace that covers our sin, His mercy that overrules our misery, and, it is His peace that guides us through this distracting world to the things that are most important.

In v.3 we read, "I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers."

Paul was in prison in Rome and he had a lot of time on his hands to pray. This is usually the way it works: we experience isolation like imprisonment, hospitalisation or retirement, in order to get to the most important. If we lack the wisdom to see God's design in this, we will not pray. But, when we embrace Him through it, we become a player in the cosmic battle which rages. Knowing that he would soon die, Paul factors in most greatly in the advancement of the kingdom of God in the hearts of people through prayer.

Incarcerated in that dark dungeon, crowded with criminals, facing an unjust execution, Paul thinks about Timothy. Sweet memories flood his heart. No complaints. No bitterness. No anger. No vengeance. He writes, “night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers.” 

Prayer is the cornerstone of the Christian life because it acknowledges God's presence in our lives. It also recognizes our utter dependence upon our Father in heaven. Prayer is the cry of a beloved child to his faithful father. Frequently it is the cry of a lost child who does not know his way, who is lost in dark woods, with strange and frightening noises. The child may cry out to be led to an open road or to be home safe in bed or at least to see a light in the distance so he can know his way. Yet this prayer is not always answered that way, for God is our Father and, as the Lord Jesus once said, He knows already what we have need of before we pray. 

In v.4 we read, "Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy." Sometimes, our tears are necessary. It is often our tears or the cause of them that we are made more ardent in prayer through which we gain an angle that enables us to see the heart of our Father better. This is when joy is often heightened in our lives. In fact, Nehemiah reminds us through the most stressful time of his life that "the joy of the LORD is our strength." God's joy comes most often into our lives through our tears.

In v.5 we read, "I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also."

Timothy had a sincere faith, the type of faith that was authentic and believable. He had this sincere faith because his mother and grandmother had seen to it that he was taught the Scriptures. Integral to the development of our faith is our consumption of the word of God. Augustine said it well when he said, "The Holy Scriptures are our letters from home."

Prayer and the Word of God go hand in hand in framing up a better understanding of our calling in this sin-sick world. Tim Keller says that prayer is “helplessness accepted and given to God.” Prayer is connecting with God almighty who is faithful to make His word come alive to us in a way that is eternal, exciting, and impactful.

1 Timothy 6:20-21

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20 Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, 21 which some have professed and in so doing have departed from the faith. Grace be with you all. ~ 1 Timothy 6:20-21

Today, we come to the final two verses in 1 Timothy. In these two verses the Apostle Paul issues us a call to guard the truth which is a fitting way to end this letter.

When the Apostle Paul wrote, "Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care," he was speaking of the truth as is set forth in the Bible. Just like Timothy, we have all been given the truth, but we tend to take the truth for granted. It is the truth which enables us to know the difference between right and wrong. We live in a world full of deceit and many are being deceived and they do not have one idea of the deception that they are under. 

We "guard" the truth by living by it, and by not allowing anybody to take it away from us, or to water it down with false teachings. The Bible is the self-revelation of God. This is our primary source for all that we know about God. If we say we believe it and we don’t live it, then we are not taking His word seriously. But, the Bible is the most sacred thing we will ever hold in our hands. This is the ultimate sacred trust.

Guarding the truth is not only a matter of right interpretation, it’s a matter of right living. When we think about the sacredness with which people treated the Bible who gave their lives for it, martyrs whose literal blood was poured out in their guarding of God's truth. And then, we have people who treat it flippantly by using the Scriptures to get rich.

In the remainder of v.20 we read, "Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge."

Paul commands us to “Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas.” The word "godless" is the Greek word  bebēlos which originally was used by the Greeks to refer to everything outside the sacred grounds of a temple. It then came to mean anything unsacred. So these so-called intellectual musings that attack the Bible are unsacred, and have no connection with God. All that stuff, Paul says to us, keep turning away from it. 

It seems in America today that education is spending our whole life learning error. To combat this, we must preserve the truth. We must guard and protect the truth. The word there for chatter is meaningless talk unrelated to the truth. Professors, who use “science” to oppose the words of God, say that God didn’t create the universe, it evolved.  However, when applying science to this hypothesis we find that their theory of how we got here cannot be true. It takes more faith to believe in their "science" than in the intelligent Creator who created us all.

In v.21 we read, "knowledge which some have professed and in so doing have departed from the faith. Grace be with you all."  

Those who picked up on this "knowledge" have deviated from the faith. And they have led a lot of other people with them. The word Paul uses for departed brings with it the idea that they have lost their way or they have lost sight of the Lord.

The final words in this epistle are: “Grace be with you all.” Paul uses no verb here. It literally reads, “Grace with you all.” The Apostle is very abrupt in this ending, because he knows we can’t do any of this unless the grace of God enable us. We must believe the Word of God to the point that it defines us. Then, we must defend it with our very lives. If we do, we will preserve all that keeps us and our culture from spinning out of control.

1 Timothy 6:17-19

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17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. ~ 1 Timothy 6:17-19

The city of Ephesus where Timothy lived was a center of travel and commerce. Situated on the Aegean Sea, the city was one of the greatest seaports of the ancient world. Three major roads led from the Ephesian seaport. This made commerce explode in that day and it explains why Ephesus was so wealthy.

In today's text, the Apostle Paul reintroduces the subject of money which is a big deal in the Bible. We’re given more instruction in the Bible about money (about 2,000 verses) than almost anything else. 

You will remember that back in 1 Timothy 6:5 Paul described the motive of false teachers: material gain. And then, in 1 Timothy 6:9-10, he underscored the possibility of the rich being more susceptible to falling into the temptations and traps that ultimately could lead one to destruction. And then he made this point: the love of money is the root of all evil. Hosea 13:6 sums up this tragic disparity: “Being satisfied, their heart became proud; therefore, they forgot Me.”  

The Bible does not condemn wealth nor does it teach that all wealth denotes the blessing of God. We must be careful not to equate material blessing with the blessing of God, because riches have a way of pushing us up in our own minds above those who have less. That’s just part of our fallen nature. We tend to look down on people who are lower on the economic ladder than we. 

In v.17 we read, "Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment."

When Lucifer placed himself on par with God, he rebelled against Him. This was the first sin ever committed and pride inaugurated sin. Pride is the most difficult of sins because it makes us think we are better than others. If wealth makes us proud, then we do not understand the purpose of wealth. When we are given by God material wealth, we ought to increase in humility and seek for ways to use our wealth to glorify Him for this is its ultimate purpose.

The word enjoyment at the end of v.17 is one of the recurring themes in the Bible. In Ecclesiastes we are told “Enjoy the blessings of life now, because life will end one day.” It is not a sin to enjoy the abundance the Lord chooses to give us.

In v.18 we read, "Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share." 

The real enjoyment that riches bring us is that we might be a blessing to others. God created us with two basic needs: to be loved and to love. This is what creates a sense of joy and gladness in the heart, to know that we are the object of His love and that we have been used by Him to bless others.

In v.19 we read, "In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life."

There are two things in this world that will survive: the Word of God and the souls of people. When we are used of God to bring these two together, we are laying up treasures in heaven. The Lord Jesus taught us to use our money to win friends so that when the money fails our friends will be there to greet us when we get to heaven.

The best investment strategy on earth is putting stock in heaven! In Matthew 6:19-21, the Lord Jesus affirmed this investment strategy when He said to store up treasure in heaven where nothing can destroy it. Godliness that overcomes the craving for material wealth produces great spiritual wealth.

Using money to help people now, makes it more possible that they may come to the Lord Jesus now. When we are used of God to bless others we will experience the excitement and adventure of the life that the Lord Jesus Christ came to give us. Nothing in this world, even prosperity, puts the paddles to the chest of our spirituality. It is when we are living in concert with God's for our lives will we truly be resuscitated by Him.

1 Timothy 6:13-16

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13 In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you 14 to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen. ~ 1 Timothy 6:13-16

We return to the Apostle Paul's instructions to Timothy on how to be a man of God. Nothing helps us to flee sin, to follow the Lord and to fight the good fight more than a closer walk with the Lord Jesus. Our problem is we want to see Him with our eyes, but in order to get this deeper glimpse of Him we must learn to look for Him with our hearts. This is what faith is, the ability to see God with our hearts. 

In v.13 we read, "In the sight of God, who gives life to everything." 

We find ourselves often arriving at the corner of beaten, dejected, and defeated at the same time. Good thing that the God of the Bible is the giver of life. We all have experienced the infusion of new strength, new purpose and new courage from God when we have turned to Him in prayer in the moments of pressure. Why does it require amped up pressure for us to seek Him more diligently? We must learn to live in the sight of God or avail ourselves to Him in the good times, as well as the bad. We do this by seeking Him daily by being in His word daily and by being in prayer or conversation with God as much as we can. This will amp up His presence in our lives and we will see the world anew.

The remainder of v.13 reads, "and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you."

When we remember the good confession of the Lord Jesus as He stood before Pontius Pilate, we gain a perspective that causes us to conclude that God has everything in His sovereign control and we have no need to be discouraged. In sight of Christ's good confession, we gain an endurance which enables us to persevere according to God's calling on our lives. It is at this point that the Lord God provides an infusion of life into our mortal existence, and then we recognize the Lord Jesus is always at the center of all that God does. The Lord Jesus was the Word who spoke all things into existence. The Lord Jesus speaks life into our mortal lives more than we know. As our awareness of Him heightens, the more we will recognize Him and His way of thinking and living. 

By the way, Christ's good confession was His silence. While He didn't defend Himself, He was defending us. He didn't resist the will of God, He embraced it so that He could embrace us.

In Colossians 2 we read, "16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together."

It is He who is holding us together, so we need not fear. He is like laminin in the human body, the rebar in a sturdy foundation. 

Stanford University is the site of a linear accelerator, a two-mile long atom smasher. It is a great lever with which scientists try to pry the lid off the secrets of matter and discover what is in the miniature world of the atom, the neutron, and the proton. Linear Accelerator scientists have discovered a complexity they never dreamed of, and they have found particles that they cannot even invent enough names for. But one thing they are consistently discovering is that there is some strange force that holds everything together. They call it the cosmic glue that holds things together. This force has a name and it is the Lord Jesus Christ.

In v.14-15 the Apostle Paul charges Timothy "to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords."

Christ's confession produces a continual genuine confession of the gospel in the life of the yielded man of God. Although the Lord Jesus was put to death, He is coming again as the Lord of life. The One who was here in weakness is coming again in great strength and He will exercise His sovereignty over all at that point. When we keep our eyes on Him, we will not be daunted by the distractions that this life throws at us.

The Greek word translated “appearing” in v.14 gives us our English word epiphany, which means “a glorious manifestation.” In Paul’s day, the word was used in the myths to describe the appearing of a god, especially to deliver someone from trouble. Paul used it of the first coming of Jesus Christ (2 Tim. 1:10) and of His return (2 Tim. 4:1,8). 

The commands to flee from sin that hinders the gospel from being heard and believed, to pursue the Lord will all of your soul, and to fight the good fight of the faith as mentioned in v.11-12 take on a whole new focus with this fresh infusion of life from God. We live in a volatile world and we are tempted to be overly concerned about what may happen. The believer in Christ has no reason to worry for God has all things in His control. 

In v.16 we read, "who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen."

To be “immortal” is to “not be subject to death.” Man is subject to death, but God is not. Only God has immortality as an essential and inherent part of His being. Since God is not subject to death, He is Life and the Giver of life. He is incorruptible and not subject to decay or change. In this world, we are in mortal bodies, but when the Lord Jesus Christ returns, we shall share His immortality.

For God to "live in unapproachable light" means there is no one remotely like the Lord Jesus Christ. No one can draw near to His light apart from the provision He has made through His finished work on the cross. The great message of the gospel is that the invisible God became visible in a Man. No wonder the Apostle Paul ends this section with worship: "To him be honor and might forever. Amen."

In Isaiah 42:16 we read, “I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.” The question which must be asked at this point is: Are we blind enough to this world to see beyond to this great God whom we serve?

1 Timothy 6:12

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Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. ~ 1 Timothy 6:12

In 1 Timothy 6:11-12 the Apostle Paul gives to Timothy a threefold formula that will enable him to do the ministry the Lord called him to do there in Ephesus. Having considered the first two imperatives in 1 Timothy 6:11, today we consider the third. These imperatives, when heeded, distinguishes one as a man of God. 

Before we get to this third imperative, though, let me be clear, 1 Timothy 6:11-12 is not justification teaching, this is sanctification teaching. This teaching has nothing to do with us getting into heaven. You will remember that it is only the finished work of the Lord Jesus on the cross and our trust in that alone which justifies or makes us right with God. 

Sanctification, on the other hand, is the process that we entered into after we had trusted Christ for the forgiveness of our sins. This process is the changing of our souls: our minds, our wills, and our emotions. And, God's goal in our sanctification is that others would see our changed lives and turn to God for salvation for themselves.

The third imperative that leads to a man being called the man of God is he fights the good fight of the faith. The man of God is engaged in a relentless war. He battles the kingdom of darkness which yields its ground very reluctantly. He faces many unseen adversaries, and, he is preoccupied with this unseen battle that is waging every moment of every day.

The greek word that the Apostle Paul uses for fight is agōnizomai, from which we get our English word agonize. It describes a level of concentration, and a level of effort, coupled with discipline and conviction that leads to success. 

In New Testament days, Greek boxers had gloves lined with just a little fur. There was just a little fur and leather, no padding. They were made generally of ox hide. And stitched into the glove at the knuckles was lead and iron. When Paul talks about fighting the good fight, he’s talking about some serious action. And in a Greek boxing match, the loser had his eyes gouged out as emblematic of his failure. Boxing was a death/life struggle. Serious conflict from which you could emerge dead or lifetime blind. 

Notice the second half of today's text, "Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses." 

This means "get a grip on the fact that you’re dealing with eternal issues. This is war, and eternity is at stake." The man of God is called to eternal issues. Having confessed Jesus Christ as Lord, he publicly commits himself to a battle over eternal issues. As long as he lives, he fights the good fight, the noble fight for the souls of men against the kingdom of darkness and against the world, the flesh and the devil. The man of God is marked by what he flees from, by what he follows after and by what he fights for.

This fight is not between believers, it really isn't a fight with the forces of darkness. This fight begins and ends with knowing God. Paul writes, "Take hold of the eternal life." All too often we are preoccupied with Satan more than we are with God. Here, the Apostle Paul writes, "Take hold of," which means grasp and hold on for dear life. The man of God had a dogged determination to know God for himself. 

The story is told of a young man who went to a wise old man for advice. When he found the wise man he was sitting on the banks of a large lake. The young man sat down next to him and asked, "How can I become as wise as you, sir?" At that point the wise old man raised up and plunged the young man's head down into the water and the young man fought hard to raise his head up but to no avail. The young man feared that he was going to die. At the last moment the wise man lifted the young man's head out of the water and said, "When you fight as hard at fighting the good fight as when I held you head under that water, it will be then that you will be wise."

The man of God flees sin, follows God and fights the good fight of faith. The result of this is the man of God is laid hold of by that which he is trying to lay hold of; he is laid hold of by God Himself. And, as the Potter, He shapes us and equips us to fight the good fight of faith. It is this faith or our heart's ability to see God for ourselves which enables us to beat a path to knowing Him for ourselves, and it is this faith which enables us to fight for those who have yet to enter into a personal relationship with God.

1 Timothy 6:11

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But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. ~ 1 Timothy 6:11

We come today to the final section of Paul's first epistle to Timothy. In today's text, we discover what it means to be a "man of God." There are three imperative verbs here in 1 Timothy 6:11-12 that enables one to be a man of God. First, "flee," second, "pursue," and third, "fight." Today, we are  considering the first two of these three.

In the Old Testament the title, man of God, was reserved only for the prophets. In fact, it is used seventy times in the Old Testament, always referring to someone who speaks God’s Word. In the New Testament this term is only used of Timothy.

You will remember that Timothy is one of the leading Elders in the church in Ephesus. There were false teachers there who were pointing people away from God. As a result, sin was rampant. Where truth is not holding sin in check, sin will run wild. There was doctrinal confusion there because the false teachers were undermining the truth. Thus, the people there were abandoning the truth and it was diminishing the ministry of the gospel. 

As we learn later, this led the church at Ephesus to be referred to by the Apostle John in the book of the Revelation as having left their first love. In all of this, while caring for the needs of God's people, Timothy needed to care for himself as well, so Paul gives him these instructions.

The first step toward being a man of God is to “flee from all this.” 

Paul is here referring to what he has just covered in the previous paragraph about false teachers. Timothy is to flee false teaching and the characteristics associated with it including selfishness, arrogance, conceit, pride, the love of controversy, and the love of money. 

In today's text, the Apostle Paul commands the man of God to "flee" which means "to run from." It means to flee like a fugitive. During our whole life here on earth, the man of God is on the run from sin. This doesn't mean he will not sin, but it means that he will be aware of and stay away from those certain sins that hinders the furtherance of the Gospel. 

Next, the man of God is to pursue which is to run hard after something. His first pursuit is righteousness not as a behavior, but as a belief. When we came to know the Lord Jesus Christ, He gave us His righteousness, and, as we understand that this is the way God sees us, we are to see ourselves as no longer guilty, no longer tied to evil, but made righteous by God. We are to therefore live out of our righteous standing in Christ.

This is what gives a sense of security and stability in life. If we are always focusing on our behavior, trying to get a sense of worth because we act right, we will end up becoming legalists, feeling that our behavior is what makes us acceptable before God. But if we understand that God has already made us acceptable in Jesus Christ when we believed in Him, and, therefore, that God loves us with the same love He has for the Lord Jesus. This means we are as righteous as the Lord Jesus is in the eyes of God. This is the basis of stability and of proper functioning in life.

This leads us to the next pursuit which is godliness which means balanced wholeness. The Apostle is speaking of a mind that views life the way God sees it. Our minds, wills and emotions are brought under His control so that we are not off balance all the time. This means we are not merely living for the visible things of life, but we see our relationship with God as the most important factor in life. That is godliness, balanced wholeness.

Next, the man of God pursues faith which is having confident trust in God for everything. As a result, we literally put our lives  into God’s hands, and we trust Him with everything. We will then find ourselves living under His gracious sovereignty. When we look to Him for our needs and not others, we will genuinely love others. 

The next pursuit of the man of God is love which is agape love. This is the type of love that is commitment love. Agape love sacrifices for the sake of others. It seeks to give, not to gain.

The man of God's next pursuit is endurance which is perseverance or patience. This quality carries the idea of sticking to it when the going is tough. It is not a complacency that waits, but a courage that continues in hard places.

The final pursuit of the man of God is gentleness which is meekness or power under control. A courageous endurance without gentleness would make the man of God a tyrant, but this will not be so if He lives out of His relationship with the Lord for He is most gentle with His children. Those who have experienced the gentleness of God, render it to others.

When we flee sin and we pursue God amazing things can happen. In actuality, when we do these and the third thing Paul tells us to do, we find ourselves being conduits for God to work amazing things into and through our yielded lives. Today is the the day to enter into the fray of the man of God. Will you do it?

1 Timothy 6:9-10

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9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. ~ 1 Timothy 6:9-10

We return to the final chapter of Paul's first epistle to Timothy. The Apostle opened this letter with warnings about false teachers, and now, he closes with deeper explanations for how the false wrecks our lives if we are defined by it.

In v.9 we read, "Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction."

Paul describes a person who has to have more and more material things in order to be happy and feel successful. But the riches of this world can be a trap, leading us into bondage away from freedom. Instead of giving satisfaction, the riches of this world create additional lusts which are never satisfied. The result is "ruin and destruction." 

When we set our hearts on money, we expose ourselves to powerful temptations that have ruined many people. Money is a great servant but a terrible master. If we set our hearts on money, it will break our hearts. We will not keep what we gain. We will give into powerful temptations that lead us to those places that we can check in to but we can not check out of. In fact, we may wander from the faith. 

The picture given here is of someone who gives his heart to the things of this world, and then can not resist its lure, and then we find ourselves being plunged into the greatest depths from which we may never recover. 

When we resist bringing our desires down to the level of our possessions, we enter the process of arriving at that which God calls "great gain." This is why godliness with contentment is great gain. When we have less, we must learn the art of contentment. It is at this point that we will begin to discover that having less is really more.

No one gets to ruin and destruction in one large step. No, we get there through a series of little, small baby steps, not realizing what is happening to us until it is too late. No temptation appears as temptation. No one ever deliberately steps into a trap that they know in advance will destroy them. Temptation always carries with it bait that appeals to our natural desires. The bait not only attracts us, but it also hides the fact that yielding to it will eventually bring death and destruction. The bait is always that which keeps us from seeing the consequences of living beyond God's definitions of things.

In v.10 we read, "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."

Experts tell us that the average person thinks about money fifty percent of the time. Now, having money is not wrong in itself. Money, in and of itself, is neither moral or immoral. It is what we do with it that determines whether it is moral or immoral. The key is that we seek His kingdom first, then everything else, including money, will be seen by us from His view point.

Our hearts will always be attached to that which we give them. The term "love of money" is one word in the Greek, and means affection for silver. The issue is our affection. The issue isn’t money, the issue is how we feel about money. And the sin here is the sin of greed. When we find ourselves spending more time thinking about how to get more money, we are probably guilty at loving money. This leads to trying to find ways to acquire more money. And, those who love money in order to get money will be tempted to take bribes, distort justice and take advantage of the poor to get it. This leads to lying, cheating, deceiving, stealing, robbing and abusing to get more money. Those who love money will never be satisfied and therefore they will commit every imaginable sin if they think it will gain them more money. The love of money is a mad exercise that pleases its appetite never.

Understanding the principles the Apostle Paul is giving here helps us to understand Judas Iscariot who chose thirty pieces of silver over the greatest person to ever walk the earth. And, this drove him suicidally mad.

In Psalm 17:15 we read, "As for me, I will behold your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with your likeness." This is the wise man's pursuit. And anything we possess is only to be used to advance His kingdom in this world. Money love is deadly love. It ignores the true gain; it focuses on the temporal; it obscures the simple joys of life; it leads to sinful entrapment; it succumbs to harmful lusts. To love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength is the way of the truly rich.

1 Timothy 6:6-8

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6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. ~ 1 Timothy 6:6-8

In the previous verse, the Apostle Paul addressed the fact that false teachers are very often motivated by financial gain. They use false godliness to garner material gain. When we believe this world is the ultimate, we will live for what this world has to offer us. This world will define more than God does, thus we will have false godliness. We experience false godliness because we are not willing to bow our will to the Lord and to let Him have His way in our lives. 

In v.6 we read, "But godliness with contentment is great gain." 

Godliness grows not through the pursuit of a process, but through the presence of a person. The presence of the Lord Jesus Christ in our lives is the mystery of godliness. But, His presence isn't enough, we must practice His presence which is to treat Him like we do our best friend. 

Twice in this passage the Apostle uses the word content which is true wealth. We are taught in this world that contentment is the product of the comfort of this world. When we are being defined by God and what He says, our love for money will diminish because we will increasingly be defined by His pursuit of us. Loving money ignores the true gain which is the discovery of what is really real. 

The word used for godliness is the Greek word which means sacred awe or awe of God. This is the secret to contentment, the awe of God. In Colossians 1:27 we discover that it is Christ in us that is the hope of glory or the presence of God in our lives. So, it is not just His presence, it is when we practice His presence that we develop this sense of awe of Him. And, this awe is the product of getting to know Him on a personal level. And, if all we pursue is money, we will never have this awe of God, because we will never be made content by money. Only God renders contentment in the soul that He has created. Genuine gain comes from true godliness which is inseparably linked to His presence in our lives and the contentment that only He can give. 

The Greek word for contentment means unflappable, not moved by circumstance, the ability to live immune to external distraction, oblivious to outside troubles. Being content with what we have is one of the greatest things in life. Our contentment is based on the sufficiency of Christ. It is the product of knowing Him and discovering that He is our provider and He is enough. True contentment comes from God in our heart, not wealth in our hand. A person who depends on material things for peace and assurance will never be satisfied, for material things have a way of being lost. 

True riches is not related to how much we have, it is related to whether we are content with what we have. The root of all sin is that last of the Ten Commandments: do not covet. The person who is rich is the person who doesn’t need anything else. The Greek philosopher Epicurus said “The secret of contentment is not to add to a man’s possessions but to take away from his desires.”

The only thing that makes us truly rich is God who uses contentment to enable us to see and hear Him more clearly. And, the practice of His presence yields a greater expression of Him in and through our lives. This is godliness. So, great gain comes through godliness linked to contentment. To pursue riches out of discontent is an illusion and is to ignore the true gain.

In v.7 we read, "For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it." The Greek word translated nothing is the first word of the verse. It literally reads: “Nothing we brought into the world.” Someone once said, “Money is like sea water, the more you drink the thirstier you get.” God has promised that our basic needs will be met. Even millionaires do not die as millionaires because they can not take their wealth with them beyond the realm of time and space.

In v.8 we read, "But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that."

It is clear in this passage that contentment comes from a whole and balanced life. And, wholeness is a product of His holiness which is His definition of all of life. And, wholeness produces a contented heart. Some think contentment is getting everything we want as soon as we want it. One of the best definitions of contentment is, "not having all we want but wanting only what we have been given by the Lord."

Contentment, therefore, is finding joy in what God has given to us. The opposite of contentment is greed which destroys our capacity to enjoy God and what He has given. Being content with what we have is satisfaction. This is why the Lord Jesus taught in Matthew 5, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." 

He also said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God."  It is our knowledge of and our fellowship with the Lord Jesus that makes our hearts rejoice. From Him do we receive peace and a sense of worth and security. This is contentment, this is real life.

1 Timothy 6:3-5

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3 If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, 4 they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions 5 and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain. ~ 1 Timothy 6:3-5

As the Apostle Paul brings 1 Timothy to a conclusion, he addresses some of the things most dear to his heart. In today's text, he returns to the subject of false teachers. The spiritual leaders in the local church must constantly oversee what is being taught because it is easy for false doctrines to slip in without notice.

In v.3 we read, "If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching."  

The first mark of the false teacher is he "teaches otherwise." The Greek word the Apostle uses here for teaches otherwise is heterodidaskalei which essentially means heresy. It is heresy because it is contrary to God's definitions of things. It is teaching that denies that the God of the Bible is the only true God. It is teaching that is error about Christ, His lineage, His virgin birth, His teaching and His salvation.

The litmus test of truth is the Scriptures. Since false teaching is contrary to the Scriptures, one who has been born again, overcomes the false by the Word of God. The believer must know the Word, so that we may be able to discern error. A believer who understands the Word will have a broken heart, but not a big head. 

The false teacher is not willing to agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Greek word translated sound is the English word hygiene. The false teacher does not give himself to hygienic words, healthy words, wholesome words, beneficial words that are the definitions of our Lord Jesus Christ.

As indicated at the very end of v.3, the ultimate test of a teaching is whether it produces godliness. Truth always results in godliness when it is applied correctly. The Word of God will produce healthy spiritual behavior. The Word of God will bring truth to bear on a life that results in godliness, because God is the truth personified in the Lord Jesus Christ.

In v.4-5 we read, "4 they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions 5 and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain."

The second mark of the false teacher is he is conceited or arrogant. The Greek word used here for conceited means to be enveloped in smoke. It means false teachers are in a settled state of being engulfed in their own smoke. They’re just a big puff of hot air. 

The result of unspiritual teaching is "envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions." Godliness is the ultimate test of truth. And, so is unity. The thing that unites us is our common commitment to truth. Since we all believe the same truth, we’re all linked together.

When the false teacher teaches what is right in his own eyes, he will eventually be at odds with everyone. This is the sign that he has been robbed of the truth. Satan himself is the one who used just enough of the truth to deceive Eve in the Garden. As a result, all he teaches leads to chaos, and envy reigns. Envy is that inward discontent with the advantages enjoyed by someone else’s popularity and prosperity. 

Envy will always lead to strife because strife is the outward expression of the inward reality. Then strife gives way to malicious talk or insults. Then malicious talk gives life to evil suspicion, which means to embrace evil motives. All of this results in constant friction.

As a result, the false teacher has but a legacy of error and chaos and selfish financial gain. They produce no good effect. They exploit through false words. They entice unstable souls. They forsake the right way. They promise freedom but are the slaves of corruption. They have gone the path of the flesh and they perish in their own rebellion. 

But, the truth always wins because the truth will always remain the same and it will always endure. The truth permits us to be all that we were meant to be. The truth delivers us from self as it confronts us with its stability. The Lord Jesus says to us, "Come to me. Look at life as I see it and a wonderful thing will happen: there will be a change in you. You will be given a life that you never had before, and you will be freed from the destiny to which the false leads."  

1 Timothy 6:1-2

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"1 All who are under the yoke of slavery should consider their masters worthy of full respect, so that God’s name and our teaching may not be slandered. 2 Those who have believing masters should not show them disrespect just because they are fellow believers. Instead, they should serve them even better because their masters are dear to them as fellow believers and are devoted to the welfare of their slaves. These are the things you are to teach and insist on." ~ 1 Timothy 6:1-2

When the Apostle Paul wrote his first letter to Timothy, half the population of the Roman Empire were slaves. Many of them had been taken as prisoners of war by the Roman legions. Some were taken away out of their own countries, while others were kept captive within their own lands. Slavery, then, became an immediate problem in the early church, as both slaves and their masters were being converted to Christianity. 

Many today are troubled by the fact the New Testament does not denounce slavery. Passages like this sound as though slavery was accepted and was acceptable in Christianity. But the truth is the Scripture does not approve of slavery. There is no defense of slavery in Scripture; there is no attempt made to perpetuate it in any way. In fact, by the end of the second century slavery had widely disappeared, largely because of the impact of Christian teaching and influence of Christians throughout the Empire. 

In today's text, the Apostle Paul continues teaching on how the believer in Christ best ministers to the various groups in the church at Ephesus. While he uses the terminology of the servant-master relationship, this teaching applies to us today in the context of the employer-employee relationship. 

The Apostle uses the Greek word douloi which describes those who have chosen to be in submission to someone as a slave. This slave is willfully employed and paid to do a job for the employer. The Greek word translated masters is despotēs which refers to one who had unrestricted, unrestrained, sovereign authority over the employee.

Today's text was penned by Paul because there were some slaves who used their newfound freedom in Christ as an excuse to disobey their masters. They didn't understand that their spiritual freedom in Christ did not alter their social position, even though they were accepted graciously into the fellowship of the church. For a slave to rebel against an unsaved master would bring disgrace on the gospel.

In v.1 we read, "All who are under the yoke of slavery should consider their masters worthy of full respect, so that God’s name and our teaching may not be slandered."

The danger here is that a Christian slave might take advantage of his master because both are saved. “My master is my brother!” a slave might argue. “Since we are equal, he has no right to tell me what to do!” he might think. This attitude would create serious problems both in the homes and in the churches.

The Apostle Paul explains why Christian employees should show respect for their believing employers and not take advantage of them. The most obvious reason is their employers are Christians and love does not rebel or look for opportunities to escape responsibility.

If we work for a non-Christian employer, we are to give him all of the honor that is due to one who is in the position of authority and who is providing our livelihood, in order that the name of God and the doctrine of the gospel might not be spoken evil against. 

How we function in an employment situation is of grave spiritual significance. We should live out our Christianity before men in such a way as to make the gospel attractive to all who look on. Our faith must be lived out in our jobs as a sacred duty which is rendered on behalf of God.

In v. 2 we read, "Those who have believing masters should not show them disrespect just because they are fellow believers. Instead, they should serve them even better because their masters are dear to them as fellow believers and are devoted to the welfare of their slaves. These are the things you are to teach and insist on."

If we are working for a believing boss, we are not to think less of him as our employer because he’s also our brother. But we are to serve him even more because he is a believer. 

We serve God by serving others. From this angle we begin to see our jobs as our ministry. This is a whole different approach to ministry. When we live godly lives and work with godly attitudes, others will see it and they will begin to desire what we have. And then, in eternity, we may see them because of our commitment to be defined by God in the workplace.