Godliness With Contentment

1 Timothy 6:2b-10

Introduction

What is the place of money in our lives?

What does the Bible say about this topic?

A Garland of money?

Garland made of currency note - approx $400,000 - $2m

3

Introduction 1 Tim - Paul to Timothy

1 Tim 3:15 - “how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.

Three parts:

1 Tim 6: 2b- 5 - The danger of using religion to become rich

1 Tim 6:6-8 - The life of contentment which true godliness produces

1 Tim 6:9-10 - The dangers associated with loving money.

1. 1 Tim 6:2b-5 Using Religion to Become Rich

Itinerant preachers and hospitality of the believers.

Didache: Hospitality extended only after travelling preacher passed the “doctrinal test” and “time limit.”

Didache 11:2 How to differentiate between genuine ministers and impostors

1. 1 Tim 6:2b-5 Using Religion to Become Rich

Paul and fund raising - example of Corinthian and Philippian church.

1 Peter 5:2 “tend the flock…not for sordid gain…” (OT imagery Ez 34:2-10)

Timothy needed to guard his lifestyle and teaching (1 Tim 4:16)

1. 1 Tim 6:2b-5 Using Religion to Become Rich

Trull and Carter - Ministerial Ethics - Example of financial misconduct and unaccountability.

Garland or noose?

Do we have to live in poverty?

2. 1 Tim 6:6-8 Godliness with Contentment

Godliness with contentment

Contentment - Stoic and Cynic word - “self-sufficiency”

Phil 4:13 - “Christ - Sufficiency”

God provides. My testimony.

2. 1 Tim 6:6-8 Godliness with Contentment

Contentment

implies faith in God’s ability to take care of our lives.

antidote for anxiety and free

worry and greed - forms of looking to possessions for security (M. Hancock, 68)

2. 1 Tim 6:6-8 Godliness with Contentment

Contentment - based on 2 things

Proper understanding of the temporal nature of money

All we need for this life is daily sustenance which God is able to provide.

2. 1 Tim 6:6-8 Godliness with Contentment

Contentment -

Food

Clothing

Shelter

2. 1 Tim 6:6-8 Godliness with Contentment

Jesus’ teaching in Matt 6:25-34

“Do not worry” 3x

2. 1 Tim 6:6-8 Godliness with Contentment

Elizabeth Cheney

“Overheard in

an Orchard”

2. 1 Tim 6:6-8 Godliness with Contentment

Clement of Alexandria (150-215 AD)Consider how beneficial it is when a man, though possessing sufficient income, is able both to avoid financial difficulty and to give assistance to those in need…Thus, riches that benefit our neighbours as well are not to be thrown away. They lie at hand, ready to be employed as material and instruments for good use – to those who recognize them as such.

2. 1 Tim 6:6-8 Godliness with Contentment

Clement of Alexandria (150-215 AD)

If you use an instrument skilfully, it is of benefit. If you use it incompetently, the instrument itself is not to blame – the deficiency is your own. Such an instrument is wealth. Are you able to make a right use of it? Then it is serving the cause of righteousness. Do you make a wrong use of it? It is, on the other hand, a minister of wrong.

2. 1 Tim 6:6-8 Godliness with Contentment

Andrew Murray (1828-1917 AD)

Christianity “takes money, the very embodiment of

power of sense of this world, with its self-interest, its

covetousness, and its pride, and changes it into an

instrument for God’s service and glory” (Murray 16).

2. 1 Tim 6:6-8 Godliness with Contentment

Bringing money under the Lordship of Jesus:

Contentment

Stewardship

Generosity

3. 1 Tim 6:9-10 The danger of loving money.

Person who wants to be rich - Trapped

The desire for more is like a cracked Jug (K. Bockmuehl)

3. 1 Tim 6:9-10 The danger of loving money.

Money demands our attention and seeks our devotion

Matthew 6:24 24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Mammon - syrian god of wealth

3. 1 Tim 6:9-10 The danger of loving money.

Earning money - preoccupation of our times

Transactional relationships - treating people as commodities

Opposite of “Love God and love neighbour” (Matthew 22:36-40)

10 commandments (Exodus 20)

No other gods…you shall not covet

Conclusion - 3 Applications

We should not use religion as a mean to get rich. As someone said “God is not a slot machine.”

Our life should be marked by contentment, stewardship and generosity.

Are you a content person - or are you an anxious human being who rushes about and worries so? and the birds laugh at us!

Think of the Generosity of God - His giving of Himself through His Son Jesus - the cross, his death, resurrection and the sending of His Spirit upon His people.

Find your security in God alone.