1 Timothy 6:6-10 - There Is Great Gain!

Preached on June 18, 2006, by Eric Schumacher.

Topics: 1 Timothy From The Archives

©Eric Schumacher - Preached June 18, 2006 - Northbrook Baptist Church, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

I want you to picture in your minds this morning a young boy who day after day sits in the alley behind his house in the slums playing in the filth making mud pies. One day, his rich uncle visits and offers to take the boy with him on a trip to the coast. He tells the boy that if he comes with him that he will be able to make sandcastles on the beach and swim in the ocean. The boy, however, does not have any understanding of what is meant by the ocean or a beach or a sandcastle. So, because he does not understand what is really offered to him, he refuses the offer of a vacation at the shore and is content to play in the mud of the slums.

That boy is not being called to give up something. He was being called to gain. He was being called to give up a lesser pleasure for a far superior one. That is what our passage is about this morning. It is not about money. This passage is about giving up the lesser, temporary, fleeting pleasures of this world for great gain.

In last week’s passage, Paul states that the false teachers were “imagining that godliness is a means of gain.” The false teachers evidently pursued “godliness” as a means of making money or gaining a reputation or power. This is evil and has no place in pastors or in the Christian life.

The next sentence begins with “but,” which indicates a contrast. However, the contrast that Paul makes is different than we might expect. We might expect Paul to write, “But we do not pursue godliness for the sake of gain” or “there is no gain in godliness.”

However, Paul immediately stresses that godliness is a means of gain—not only gain, but great gain—if it is accompanied by contentment.

What is “godliness with contentment”?“Godliness with contentment” is a life of love for God and neighbor (as defined by his word) that has a proper perspective on material things.

“Godliness” could be defined from Jesus’ words (Mark 12:30-31) as loving the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength, and loving your neighbor as yourself.

“Contentment” here is a word that originally seems to have meant “self-sufficiency.” It communicated the idea of finding what you have in yourself as sufficient; you do not need anything else. Paul seems to use the word to communicate the idea of finding sufficient what God has given you and not craving after something more.

Godliness with contentment is ultimately trusting in and resting in what God has given us in Christ. It is loving and obeying God regardless of what he gives or takes away in this life. It is submitting to and delighting in a loving Father’s wise and perfect will.

Where does “godliness with contentment” come from?
“Godliness with contentment” flows from a proper understanding of:
1) the limits of our life in the present age,
Paul states, “we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.” We are to consider that material gain makes no difference in terms of existence. We did not bring anything with us into this world when we were born. Moreover, we are incapable of bringing anything out of this world when we die. Therefore, if we have the necessities of life--sustenance and covering--then we will be content.

Notice that Paul recognizes that we do need some things to live—these can be pursued and desired. It is the craving for something beyond the simple necessities with which Paul is concerned.

Question: How does understanding the limits of our present life produce godliness with contentment? There are millions of people who will freely admit, “You can’t take it with you when you go.” However, this does not cause them to be godly and content with life’s necessities. Instead, it propels them to the greed, to selfishness, to indulgence in any and every sinful pleasure that offers to satisfy the desires of their flesh. They say, “You only live once, so if it feels good, do it!”

There must be something more going on here so that Paul’s understanding of the limits of our present state do not become a motivation to indulge in sinful pleasures. This is where it is helpful to remember that when we interpret a passage of Scripture, we do so within the context of a chapter, a book, a Bible. We must allow the worldview of the Bible to inform our understanding as we read.

The reason that the limits of our present state do not become for Paul a motivation to sin is that the Apostle believes that our souls will exist for eternity.

2) the nature of our life in the coming age,
Later in this chapter, Paul encourages godly behavior by emphasizing the effect that present godly behavior has on our future existence. In 1 Timothy 6:18-19 he writes, “[The rich in this present age] are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they make take hold of that which is truly life.”

We will look at this more in depth in a few weeks, but for now, notice that Paul sees a connection between how we view and handle riches now and what reward we have in our future eternal life. This is why Paul urges in 4:7-8: “...train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”

Paul lives with an eternal perspective. He understands that this present life is terribly short compared to eternity. He understands that we cannot take with us what we accumulate here. He also understands that how we think and act with regards to riches now has a direct impact on the life we will enjoy or not enjoy in the future.

Paul finds and encourages godliness with contentment now by focusing his heart on the age to come.

This leads to another question. How exactly does this produce contentment? Again, there are plenty of “spiritual” people, even those who claim to be Christians, who freely admit that there is a heaven and a hell and still desire to be rich in this present world and do not want to go to heaven. Some believe that God, Jesus, and heaven exist, but say, “Why would I want to go to heaven! It sounds boring! I’d rather be in hell with my friends and the famous people of the world than be in heaven with Jesus and his people.” It comes down to the fact that they see what the world has to offer as being better than what Jesus has to offer.

This is where Jesus enters the picture with regard to Paul’s understanding of this life and the life to come in the future. Paul sees the worth Jesus Christ as greater than the wealth offered in the world.

3) and the superior worth of Christ.
No passage better illustrates Paul’s understanding of contentment than Philippians 4:11-13: “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger; abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

Contentment is learned (Philippians 4:11). Just as Paul said, “train yourself for godliness...” (1 Tim 4:7-8). Here is what Paul learned that made him content:

Philippians 1:21, 23 - “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. ... I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.”
Philippians 3:8 - “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ...”

Paul compares what the world is and can offer with Christ and finds Christ to be of surpassing worth. Christ’s value is supreme over that of the world. Therefore, Paul views being with Christ as something that is much better than being in this world. Compared to Christ, everything else is rubbish. Therefore, he counts dying (losing everything in this world) as gain, if death brings Christ. The value of Christ is sufficient to satisfy us in and of itself. Paul is content because he has glimpsed the supremacy of Christ over the world and found Christ to be sufficient to satisfy the deepest longings of his soul.

Here is one application so far: Train yourself for godliness. Learn to be content. Do this like Paul did. Meditate on the limitations of our present life, the eternal nature of the age to come and the superior worth of Jesus. This will free you from sin and slavery to this world.

The End of Those Who Want to Be Rich
In verse nine, Paul pictures those who desire to be rich as animals that fall prey to a hunter’s trap. The process begins with the appetite. They hunger after begin rich. Therefore, Satan, the lion who is always prowling about seeking someone to devour, tempts them with the prospect of wealth. Their appetite propels them to go after the tempting bait, which, unbeknownst to them, is lying in the midst of a snare. Once caught in the snare, they are led into a host of senseless and harmful desires.

These desires are foolish because they are not smart to follow. These desires are harmful because they will not bring us happiness and life, but pain and death.

They desires that come with the desire to be rich will only drown us in destruction. Once we are caught in the snare, we are plunged down under the waters of sin until all life is finally drowned from our souls.

The reason that this happens is because “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.” All kinds of evils are produced by loving money. The craving for money leads people to wander away from the faith and to pierce themselves with many pangs.

This is also why the false teachers “imagine” that godliness is a means of gain. They desire power but gain defeat. They seek joy but get sorrow. They desire pleasure but find pain. They seek satisfaction but only gain destruction. They do not pursue godliness to gain Christ, but to have their “best life now.”

There is a spiritual battle that takes place at the level of desires.
Paul does not say that being rich is the problem. Money is not the problem. Notice the words he uses: “desire,” “love,” and “craving.” The problem is the heart. Paul is speaking of, not those who are rich, but of those who desire to be rich. He is not speaking of money, but of the love of money, the craving for wealth.

The root of sin is our desires, our love, our cravings. Therefore, the battle begins with the heart.

A root is what provides nourishment to the rest of the plant. The plant finds its life from its root. In the same way, evil behavior draws its nourishment not from money, but from the love of it.

It is what is on the inside that corrupts us, not what is on the outside. It is a matter of our desires, not our possessions.

The battle is to be fought, not on the worldly level of trying to distance ourselves from the world and it riches, but on the level of killing the evil desires of our hearts and bringing to life holy desires.

If you by weed-killer, the bottle will often say, “Kills the root.” The most effective way to kill a plant is to sever its root. If a plant has no root, it cannot draw nourishment. If a plant has no root, it dies.

The same is true of evil behaviors. You do not kill evil behaviors by attacking the behaviors with rules and regulations. You kill evils by severing the root. So, if we want to kill “all kinds of evils” in our lives, then we must learn how to sever the root of them, which is “the love of money.”

There is a two-fold method then to kill sin. We sever the root of sin by:
1) seeing its promises as false
The root of all kinds of evils is the “love of money.” What is money? No one loves money, in and of itself (except perhaps for currency-collectors). We value money because of what money promises. Money is what we use to get us what we think will satisfy us.

If we have money stored up, we have security for the future. If we have money, we can buy ourselves status, friends, comfort, entertainment. Ultimately, money appears to offer us happiness. Therefore, people desire to be rich because being rich appears to promise us the end of sorrows.

Paul exposes that these promises are false by showing that rather than finding the end of their sorrows, those who desire to be rich bring themselves terrible sorrows.

The desire to be rich leads people to be “plunged into ruin and destruction.” These two words, “ruin” and “destruction,” are words that basically seem to mean the same thing. What I think Paul is communicating is the idea of utter destruction, complete and total destruction. Those who desire to be rich end up utterly ruined and destroyed.

The craving for money evidently had led some in the church to “wander away from the faith.” Their love of money will exceed their love for God, whom we are commanded to fear, love and trust above all things. Their pursuit of their own wealth will cause them to be greedy and stingy, to be unwilling to share with those in need, and thus to neglect to love their neighbor as themselves.

You will not remain in the faith if you love money. You cannot trust in money and trust in Christ. You cannot crave this world and desire God. You must choose between the two. Jesus said in Matthew 6:24, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” If you love money, you will hate God. If you are devoted to money, then you will despise God. You cannot serve both God and money. Therefore, those who crave money and riches in this world will ultimately wander away from the faith.

The most foolish part of this is that these people are doing this to themselves. They are “piercing themselves with many pangs.” This is self-inflicted destruction. In pursuing their own pleasure outside of Christ, they will bring upon themselves their own destruction.

Whether you are a teen-ager considering what occupation to pursue in life or a retired person considering how to spend a lifetime of income, realize this: the desire to be rich and the love of money will only bring you great pain. Be content with the necessities of life and godliness, and there you will find great gain.

So, if you are filled with greed, covetousness, and the desire to find your happiness in wealth this morning, preach to yourself that these desires will only lead to intense pain and destruction. Be motivated by the fear of great loss (Verses 9-10). Remind yourself of the utter destruction and agony that comes on those who set there affections on something (or someone) other than Jesus Christ.

2) and by finding a superior satisfaction in Jesus.
It is not enough, however, to expose the false promises of sin. We must replace our desire for wealth with a stronger desire for Christ.

That craving riches brings destruction is not all that Paul says. He begins this section of verses by stating clearly, “There is great gain in godliness with contentment.” We are to be motivated by the promise of greater gain (Verse 6).

The motivation for gain is a weapon against sin that far too many Christian overlook and sometimes reject. C. S. Lewis understood that holiness is not a matter of rejecting happiness, but of seeking the greatest happiness in the right place. In his essay, The Weight of Glory, Lewis wrote:

“…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 too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered to 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.”

Lewis was right. The reason that we struggle with sin, the reason that we struggle with sexual impurity, drunkenness, pride, materialism, lying, and the like is not because we desire pleasure and satisfaction. The reason that we struggle with all sin is that we do not desire pleasure strongly enough. We settle for the temporary, fleeting pleasures of this world. We believe that sin is more satisfying that Christ, and so we settle for the temporary, fleeting, soul-killing pleasures of sin instead of temporarily denying ourselves to pursue the eternal pleasure of life with God in Christ. The reason we sin is because believe the promises of sin and doubt the promises of God (such as, “there is great gain in godliness with contentment”).

So the way to fight sin and free ourselves from the love of money is to first see that money and wealth do not bring what they appear to promise. Secondly, we see that true and lasting gain comes in being content to possess Christ.

Applications
Realize the failure of duty and legalism.
While rules are sometimes important and good, they are ultimately useless to save us. This was the problem with the Old Covenant and the Mosaic Law. The law in and of itself was good, but the hearts of the Israelites were wicked; they continued to be hard-hearted, stubborn and stiff-necked people who did not desire God but the world. They desired what the other nations had and not what God had promised. The law was able to describe what sin and holiness were. However, the law was powerless to make a person hate sin and desire to be holy. Therefore, Israel, possessing the law, continued on in sin.

Find the victory of the New Covenant in Christ’s blood.
In Jeremiah 31, the Lord promised that the day was coming when he would make a “New Covenant” with his people. He said (Jeremiah 31:33), “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

The day was coming when God’s law would no longer be written on tablets of stone, but on the hearts of his people. With new, reborn hearts would come new, reborn desires. This is why Jesus said, “You must be born again.” In order to enter God’s kingdom, one must receive new desires by receiving a new heart.

The last night Jesus spent with his disciples, as he ate the Passover meal, he picked up the cup and said (Luke 22:20), “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” The new heart of the New Covenant is found in the shed blood of Jesus Christ. On the cross, he bore our sins. He suffered the penalty for our evil desires. He removed our sins. He removed God’s wrath. As our sins are removed, his perfect righteousness is given to us. Through the victory of his resurrection, the risen Christ pours out on his people his Holy Spirit who regenerates our hearts and gives them holy desires that produce holy pursuits.

If you are a person is does not know Jesus Christ, or if you are a person struggling with sin this morning, do not go home today and determine to try harder. Do not go home and determine to find a strict regiment of rules that will keep you following Jesus. The first thing you should do is confess to Christ the fact that you have pursued your pleasure in sin rather than in him. Then, plead with him to forgive your sin through his death and resurrection and to pour out his Spirit of holiness upon you, changing your heart, sanctifying your desires, and freeing you to treasure and pursue Christ above all things.

Pursue and motivate godliness in all areas of life through the promises of the Gospel.
Godliness is won and lost at the level of desires, not at the level of duty. Godliness comes from godly desires. Godly desires come from changed hearts. Duty does not change the heart. This has great implications for multiple areas of ministry.

We will not be a church that seeks to produce obedience and increased giving and service and evangelism through browbeating and shame-based appeals to duty and gimmicky fads. We will be a church that unashamedly holds forth the glorious truth of Psalm 16:11, “In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” We will call people to find their satisfaction in Jesus and not in this world.

We will not be parents that seek to produce holy children by telling for 18 years, “Don’t get drunk! Don’t have sex before marriage! Don’t do drugs! Don’t make mud pies in the slum!” We must take them by the hand and teach them what is meant by offer of life in Christ. We will teach them to think in terms of “wisdom” and “foolishness,” training them to understand that trusting God is the wise path that bring “great gain” and that wickedness and the pursuit of riches is a foolish path that brings destruction and pain. We must train our children to desire Jesus over the riches of the world.

May God give us grace—in our church, in our homes, in our hearts—to be a people who would rather have Jesus than anything offered by this world.