Using Wealth for God’s Kingdom

doctrines. Basically reject those who are teaching what is not truth. These men have strayed from the truth and one of the evidences of that is that they seek to use the ministry for financial gain. Misuse of the ministry for personal gain is is a temptation. And so Paul encourages Timothy to uh be content, be content with godliness. For the greatest strength of a of a minister is not his training. It's not his personal appeal. It's not even his preaching skills. The greatest strength of a minister is his godly character. And and uh Paul calls on Timothy to pursue to pursue that. He tells Timothy in verse 12 of chapter 6 to fight the good fight.

flee from the lust of financial gain and instead chase after righteousness and godliness and faith, love, patience and and meekness. Now for Timothy, this is a a strong charge coming from his father in the faith. And Timothy like like the rest of us as we get this direction might be thinking that or might come to the wrong thinking I guess of of that we just need to try harder to follow after these commands that we've been given. We hear the call to flee and to pursue and we think, well, we'll just try a little bit harder. We'll get a program in place to help guide us. Maybe a computer program to direct us on how we're going to go.

And and yet Paul has nothing of that in mind. For Paul, trying hard is not the motivating force for his driving aspect of his drive within his ministry. What what drives him is ultimately found in the greatness of God. It is found in the greatness of God and in the truth that this great God who is king of kings and lord of lords has has called him to himself. That this great God of ours has given his son to uh redeem us the his son Jesus Christ to uh be our savior to forgive our sins and to set an example of godliness of how we are to live on this earth. And what you see in this is you see that the gospel message, the gospel message that leads us to original repentance is actually the same message that then motivates us in how we live towards godliness for the rest of our lives.

Our pursuit is motivated by the same good news that brought us to faith. And this is a wonderful point that Paul ends on and and to a certain degree we would think, okay, this is a great place to end the letter, Paul, where you've you've given us this great motivating aspect of this great God that is ours and and and you know, land on this high point, Paul, and and wrap up. But but he doesn't because I think Paul understands that coming quickly behind them are going to be false teachers. He's been dealing with them his whole ministry. He knows that they uh take his message out of context, that they twist his words, that they impose things onto his logic that aren't actually there.

And and Paul, as he's guided by the Holy Spirit, clarify his teaching about financial gain, about wealth. While discontentment and seeking to use the ministry for gain is truly wicked, wealth in and of itself is not inherently wicked. In fact, there's a proper way to handle wealth. That brings us to our passage tonight which is 1 Timothy chap 6 17-19. Let me read that starting at 17. It says, "Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy, that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, ready to communicate, laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life."

So Paul gives direction here and really the first thing we need to ask ourselves as we come to this passage is is who are the rich? Most of us when we contemplate that question we think of somebody richer than we are and really wealth and how we look at it has a we look at it subjectively based on where we are at. I did this in a number of years ago um we had a client who's a new client of ours. I'm an engineer by trade. a [snorts] client that was uh wanted to do some development in Kauaii and they flew me and another one of our engineers out to Kauaii to look at the property and to discuss the project and it was a it was a beautiful parcel of land.

It's five acres um in Kilawea. Absolutely stunning by the water and he had this plan. He wanted to take the five acres and divide them into into individual acres and then put a mansion on each acre and then one of the one of the acres he was going to keep for himself and sell the other ones. and he's going to keep the one with the greatest view of the ocean. And and he tells me, he says, you know, he goes, "We want you to do the work. We're we're sold on your company. We want you guys to do the work. Don't worry about that." And he goes, "So, don't try to give me a price to try to win the project.

Give me a price that you're comfortable with that you can make a good profit on." He goes, "Cuz I am a rich man." But then he looks at me and he tells me, "But just don't overcharge me cuz I'm not Russian oligarch rich." And that kind of made me laugh when he said that. But at the same time, as I'm sitting there in my position looking at him, I'm thinking, "Well, you say that, but to me, you kind of are rich, oligarch, rich. He comes from a different country. He's coming to Hawaii to do this development just basically for fun. It interests him, and he has the money to be able to do it. And so, he's going to do it."

And and I'm like, "This is like out of my world of understanding of wealth. You are rich." But my last month when Pearl and I went to the Philippines, as we went into the province, the reality is is Pearl and me who are working to uh purchase home here in Hawaii, uh we are rich Russian or um or get my words tied up, but we are the wealthy ones and that's how they would see us. And so wealth is subjective, but the reality is the the poor uh wealth idea that Paul has in mind in this in this passage, the ancient standard of what was poor at the time uh means that in America, all of us are wealthy.

And Paul's thinking, all of us here are wealthy. The poorest American has more access to resources than any a poor person of Paul's day. We live at a standard that far exceeds what they would have known. And the reality is is that we live at a standard that's higher than than most of the other world. Most of the world we have social services that are there to catch us if we fall or we we we have a lack ability to be able to make money. In fact, I know folks that survive perfectly fine and they don't even work by just making use of the social services that we have. And so we are a rich nation. And and that means that this passage is is not for somebody else.

It's for you and me. This applies to us directly because we can fall into the issues of each one of the things that are laid out here. And we can also carry out each one of the commands that are given in this passage as well too. So let's look at this. And the first thing we need to understand is that wealth in and of itself is not inherently evil. Paul notes here that rightly enjoyed or rightly applied wealth is actually something to be enjoyed. Wealth like all things Paul says in second part of verse 17 there um are given by the Lord to enjoy and the Greek word for enjoy there actually has the idea of pleasure.

It's not something that simply makes you happy. It's something that has that aspect of pleasure uh within it. wealth and the work that it takes to gain it is that is that pleasurable gift that God's been given to us. Ecclesiastes understood this aspect in Ecclesiastes 5 18-19 it says behold that which I have seen it is good and comely for one to eat and drink and to enjoy the good of all his labor that he taketh unto the son all the days of his life which God hath given him for it is his portion. every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth and hath given him power to eat thereof and to take his portion and to rejoice in his labor.

This is the gift of God. You know, sometimes in the news or with our politicians, we uh see them wanting to demonize wealth and they always have a unique idea of what wealth actually is. But for the man and woman of God, uh wealth is actually a gift for your labors. It's a it's a gift from God. And God actually calls on you to en to enjoy that gift that you've been given, but there's a special way that it needs to be enjoyed. And there's also some things that we need to watch out for because like all gifts, the gift of wealth can also be misused. And so Paul gives warnings there in verse 17. And the first one that he notes is that we are not to be high-minded or or prideful.

You see, wealth can create an attitude that that we are just better than somebody else because we have an extra wealth. We're better than somebody else. You get this often times with Americans that go out of country that haven't been to a lot of places and they go to some place that's poorer than where they're at and there's immediate sense of pride. Not pride. I'm America. I'm better than you because I'm wealthier than you. No, you're not. It brings up an attitude of of pride and and that pride can go all over. Many years ago, I was working in uh at my engineering firm and and uh we were working for a church and uh they gave me a stack of documents to review and I started going through the documents and and what they had done is by accident is they had actually slipped a letter to the pastor within those stack of documents and it was it was a short letter and no names were on it so I didn't know who it came from even who it was addressed to.

It's only about four sentences long, but but within that letter, it was kind of surprising because there was a rich man in their church who had donated a lot to the church. And and he was writing to the the leaders uh at that church saying how things should be done in the church. And what he was basing on it was not anything biblical, not anything uh of of even right, but he was basically basing it simply on his opinion and felt that it had weight because he was a heavy giver to to the church. his wealth had made him proud. And I think this idea is also playing out in the church of Ephesus. We know that there was wealth there.

And and I think there was an issue with it. And I think we get a a a kind of hint to it in in chapter 3 of 1 Timothy. There in first Timothy, Paul uh told Timothy not to have the women to teach. Now, to us, we hear that and we kind of we kind of get offended right away because culturally, you know, that goes against what we're we're we're led to think culturally. So there's that issue there. But but in the ancient time that's not the issue that was actually shocking. The issue that was shocking was Paul also said to let the women learn because the reality of the ancient times is that they didn't often educate the women.

In fact, I was reading something a couple weeks ago uh some were some ancient documents from the time and and they were saying that that that it's improper to educate a woman because if she gets smarter, she might actually sin more. Therefore, it's proper to keep her dumb and keep her more holy that way. And that's the kind of thinking that was going on of holding women down in that sense. And yet yet scripture comes along God and and um the Holy Spirit teaches through Paul that no they they are to learn. And that's a shocking aspect. But what it points to is a is a society where the women weren't taught and the only women that were really taught were the ones that were wealthy because they could afford to get that education.

Now think of what happens here. You have a church with a wealthy group of women that are able to obtain the education for themselves. Well, among the other women, there's an opportunity to be prideful. But in this situation at Ephesus, the women wanted to teach in the main congregation. The reality is they had probably gained enough um uh training uh that they were superior in their knowledge to many of the men. But you could see the the the the pride that can come up from that. Think about that. How they they in that society where it's like, well, women can't learn. and now you're a woman and you you've been able to gain this knowledge and now you're able to explain aspects of scripture and the pride that could come with that.

Now, I'm not saying it actually happened, but you can I'm just bringing it up to bring up how easy that could come where even where they have a a good desire in the use of the wealth, there's still that temptation where pride could sneak in. And so, no matter what, we need to watch because even within good pursuits, that pride can sneak in. And so we are to not be proudful, but we are to remember where our wealth came from. Our wealth comes from God. In fact, the gifts that God gives us to gain wealth, gain wealth also come from God. Hard work, intelligence, good connections, education, those are all gifts from God.

Consider Deuteronomy 8. There it says, "But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God, for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth." Thou shalt remember the Lord thy God. Why? Because he is the one who actually is the one who gives us the ability to gain wealth. Our wealth is not obtained by our works or no wealth are not attained by anything that we have. Anything that we have that allows us to get wealth is ultimately that gift from God. And as Americans, we we should be able to recognize this better than anybody else. Because for many of us, we were born into a wealthy country. We were born into a country that has these social services that can keep us to a certain degree of wealth that allows us to be able to put money in the banks even if we don't necessarily have a super highpaying job.

We are American not because of anything that we have done. We are Americans because we were simply born here. It was not a work of ourselves that got us this privilege. And so the privilege that we have, the opportunity for wealth to gain that we have, the wealth that we have, all come from the Lord. And Paul says not to trust in it. In verse 17, not trust in uncertain riches. Wealth is wealth is uncertain. It can be removed just as easily as it can be gained. And you know, it can be removed from as a form of punishment, but it can also be removed simply because it's part of God's greater plan.

And what this means then is is it could it could it could go and there's actually no planning you can lay out there to secure it that to make sure it's not actually going to be lost. This happened to Job in Job 1 21. Job says, "Naked I came out of my mother's womb and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. The book of Job tells us that Job didn't sin and yet he lost everything. Such a testimony to the uncertainty of wealth. It can come and it can go. But but the one thing that does not come and go is the one who gives the wealth.

And so put the trust in him. Put the trust in the one who gives all things. This aspect is commanded of us actually because you realize to trust in wealth is to reject God. Let that sit in for a second. To trust in wealth is to reject God. How many times do you think of the bank account to be able to make it through the week and think, well, I got enough money in the bank. I should be okay. And the mind goes there all the time. Are you trusting in the wealth? Well, well, scripture teaches us to say you can't do that and love God at the same time. Jesus taught in Matthew 6:4, "No man can serve two masters, for he will either hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to one and despise the other.

You cannot serve God and mammon." So, we got to be careful what we think of wealth. even even somebody who doesn't have a whole lot can still get wrapped up into this and be thinking I need to uh have so much money for whatever reason to be able to secure some sort of of of um some sort of um forget losing the word I'm thinking of but basically to to secure their position but but the reality is is God is the only reliable object for hope he is the God of the previous two verses there that he is the sovereign that he is the king of kings and that he is the Lord of lords. Who else better to put our hope in?

He was Paul's hope. In chapter 4 verse 10 of 1 Timothy, it says, "For therefore both labor, we both labor and suffer reproach because we trust in the living God who is the savior of all men, especially of those that believe." Paul was working hard and suffering while he ministered and all putting his hope not in the fact that he had money to be able to to buy food for the next day, but he putting his hope in the fact that he is is serving the God, the sovereign God of all things, the King of King and the Lord of Lords. And not only Paul is doing this, but the widow does this according to Paul in chapter 5:5.

He says, "Now she that is a widow indeed and desolate trusteth in God and continueth in supplication and prayers night and day." For the widow that has lost her husband, you would think that that she would be looking towards the 401k or to the life insurance policy to be able to have that security. But no, Paul says that's not the case. The woman of God who has lost her husband trusteth in the Lord for he is the one that can supply. And so from Paul, the greatest apostle, down to down to a lowly widow, all across the spectrum, oh, we can all trust in the Lord as the one who supplies and not put our faith or our hope in wealth.

And so wealth is to be enjoyed, but it is not to turn our trust away from God to the wealth. And it is not to turn us from a a position of humility to boastful pride. But how do we enjoy it? Paul gave warnings there. How do we actually enjoy wealth properly? Then he describes that in verse 18. There he says that they do good that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate. The right way to enjoy wealth that God has given to us is to do good and be rich in works. And how do you do that? where you're ready to distribute and you're willing to communicate. Ready to distribute is a uh holds the idea of a spontaneous uh willful giving away.

John the Baptist pictured this in chapter 3 of Luke verses 10-11 where he says and and people ask him saying what shall we do then? John responds and answers and say unto them, he that has two coats, let him impart to him that hath none, and he that hath meat, let him do likewise. The one who has the extra coat can spontaneously give it away to that person in need because he has an extra. To be ready to distribute is that idea of being prepared to be able to give when the need arises. This means that when we look at what we make, not everything that we make, we need to see as our own. We need to put stuff aside, not simply for a rainy day, but put stuff aside so that we can be ready to give away when the opportunity arises.

One of the hindrances to this is often debt. Credit card debt can be a huge hindrance in this. purchasing a house that's beyond your means, purchasing a car that's beyond your means can can you to be doing this. So that everything you have goes into these debts and you can't save because you have the debts and you have to keep hitting the debts month after month after month. And and these are things that rob us from the ability to be able to put this away so that we we can live the way we should be so that we can distribute. So that we can willingly give away when there's that need. Now, maybe I hit a touchy spot with you.

Maybe you are in debt and you don't like it and that's good and that's a good place to start. And I just wanted to note that there are some resources at the church should you be in that position. Um, I don't see Don Nordstrom tonight, but but look for Don Nordstrom and Don Nordstrom helps a a program that's by Dave Ramsey to help work through some of those issues with debt. And that program is actually very good in helping a person get out of debt and get up on their feet and getting some money aside of coming up with an actual budget. So if you're you're in that situation, don't don't fret. There is ways to get out of it and just look to doing the work that you need to do to get out of that situation.

So put that put aside so that you can give away when the need arises. And then the second thing is is to be willing to communicate. The the core of this this the Greek word in this is is to be ready to partner and fellowship with somebody. It has the idea here in this command of a wealthy wealthy person coming up and partnering with somebody in need so that that the partnership is so tight that that person's needs are seen as needs for the wealthy person. so that he then goes meets those needs. And it's a wonderful idea of this this coming together and it's not a simple one-time offer of help, but it's an ongoing help.

You're looking at this person and say, "Whatever this need is, I'm partnering with you until this need is ultimately satisfied because you and me are together in in in satisfying this need is the idea." And so as as believers here in America where the where we have the opportunity to to give, we can give to the church and in that we are a partner with the fellowship at the church and we are concerned about its progress and we give accordingly to the church. We can give according to ministry leaders as we're concerned for their ministry and we want them to grow in their ministry and we want to lighten their load so that they they can be more focused on their study and more focused on ministry and so we can partner with them in that manner.

We can give to missions as partners concerned about the spread of the gospel. And we can also simply look to those that are in greater need from us than us in the church and come alongside them and make their concerns our concerns and partner with them as well. Though I mentioned earlier that we are rich in this nation, there are still those that are close to us that struggle. And those that are close to us, we can partner with them and work with them to help them get through times of struggle. And so enjoying wealth really is to make use of that wealth for the kingdom of God. to make use of that wealth by being ready to help when a need arises and and and partnering, long-term partnering with those who need support.

And the wonderful thing out of this is that there's results that come if we would live in that manner that Paul promises. And the first result that comes out of that if we would live in this manner is that we lay up a good foundation for the time to come. We got to be careful that this not be the purpose of our giving. We don't give to lay up a foundation. If we did, that's a worksbased salvation. And we we reject that, right? That's not true. But we lay up treasures in heaven by giving here. Matthew 6 19-20. I'm sure you're familiar with this passage. It says, "Lay up not for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where sea and where thieves do not break through nor steal.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." You see, the giving of your wealth, the giving of your money at this time can be a joyful act that then God rewards with an eternal reward. And the reality is at some period of time, most of us are going to lose wealth. We're going to get old. The the medical bills are going to stack up and we're going to be with less. But if we should lose what we have, if we used it properly when we had it, we'll have eternal rewards that we won't ever lose. And so we lay up a foundation for us in the time to come. But but it also has this aspect where if we enjoy wealth correctly, as Paul has described here, we lay hold of eternal life.

Such an interesting idea. I enjoyed the study of this aspect probably more than anything else in this passage. Because what Paul is saying here obviously is not that the proper use of wealth gains eternal life. That we recognize that's not the issue. But what he's pointing to is that the rightly enjoying of wealth in this present age lays hold of or if you want to think of it as experiencing eternal life. Now think about what eternal life is. It's it's not simply uh going on forever and ever. It's a fullness of life that goes on forever and ever. And what Paul is saying here is is that if we use the wealth that we've been given, if we enjoy it in the manner that builds up the kingdom as he's described here, we will then experience within this life the fullness of life, a picture of the fullness of life that we're going to experience for all of eternity in heaven.

The reality is we will live or truly live as we will for all of eternity. We get a little we get a little taste of the eternal life. And so all of us have to some ability to live out this passage. And we need to recognize that while sometimes in the culture it teaches that wealth is evil, wealth is not inherently evil. It is a gift from God that is gained by the gift of God. But we are not to trust in it. We are to trust in the giver of it and we are to find joy in using it for the kingdom of God. As I close tonight, I don't know where you guys are with your finances, but if you haven't developed a heart of giving, look to develop that heart.

One of the things I've I've noticed is that God also supplies. We talked about wealth not coming from us. It comes from God, right? with whatever we have. I've noticed that if we live it out in the proper manner, saving it, not spending it all on ourselves, using it for others, using it for the kingdom, being ready to uh secure that need as it comes up because we saved. The Lord blesses that. And we seem to have the ability to do that more and more as if as we live that out. And so, think on this as we we close. But I'm going to close in prayer here [snorts] and then after I close, we're not going to break up into discussion groups like we usually do.

We'll go ahead and dismiss. But but think of that as you leave and grab somebody as you're going out and talk about that for a second is how how are you planning if you are if you are already planning or how do you uh need to plan so that you can live out the blessing that you have by being born here to have the extra resources that we do have. And so speak with one another like that before we break for tonight. Let me close in prayer.