(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Alright, we are in 1 Timothy chapter number 6 and we're going to conclude the book this morning and so let me just give you a brief overview of what we've taught on over the last couple of weeks in regards to the book of 1 Timothy. Chapter 1 really, or if we were to just summarize the book of 1 Timothy, it can be summarized in chapter number 3 where it tells us that thou oughtest to know how to behave thyself in the house of God. So a lot of what the book of 1 Timothy is really hitting on is the behavior of the saints within the local New Testament church. And the Apostle Paul is simply giving practical instructions to the pastor, to the evangelist, to the congregants on how they should behave in the house of God. And chapter 1, he's telling Timothy, he's giving him instruction and charging him that others should not teach any other doctrine. So basically he's saying, hey, you need to make sure you have your ear to the ground in regards to the doctrine that's being taught within these churches. You know, don't just, you know, flippantly have an attitude about what's being taught. Don't be light-footed about the teaching and preaching of God's word within the churches. You need to take this thing seriously, okay? And make sure that you prove all things, hold fast that which is good. Make sure that no one is teaching any other doctrine than that which was given unto him. Chapter 2, he instructs Timothy on who is permitted to teach in the church. Now he specifically says that women are not allowed to teach. Now that's not popular in 2020, that wasn't popular in 2019, 2018, 2017. You know, apparently it wasn't even popular back then because this is the reason why he had to teach this, okay? And he instructs as to why, okay? So Joyce Meyers shouldn't be behind the pulpit, you know? Oh, I can't believe you just said that. Well, read 1 Timothy chapter 2 and you try to debunk that. Well, that's the culture of those days. Well, we have a biblical culture here, okay? And we're going to stick to that. Chapter 3 gives the qualifications of the pastors and deacons. So along with who is permitted to teach, he specifically instructs them on who is to be ordained, okay? Not just any regular Joe Schmo can be a pastor of a church. They can't be self-ordained, self-willed, you know? They have to have specific qualifications in order to lead this congregation and preach the word of God. So he gives those qualifications there in chapter 3. Chapter 4 is basically how to have a doctrinally sound church. You see, church is a place of fellowship, right? It's a place where we gather together, we fellowship, you know, we spend time with one another, we talk about doctrine, we talk about what's happened throughout our lives, throughout the week, and it's a time to really, you know, have friendships and fellowship, but the most important aspect of a church service is the preaching of God's word. It's not the singing. You know, the singing is important too, you know, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts and to the Lord, yes, that's important, but the centerpiece of the service is the preaching of God's word. Why? Because the Bible tells us that when we give heed to ourselves and to those whom we're teaching, we're able to save them and save ourselves also. From what? From seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. This is what 1 Timothy chapter 4 teaches us. You know, doctrine is important. It's not something to be taken lightly. It's not something that we need to make sure that we are constantly doing and affirming the right type of doctrine, especially when it comes to this matter of salvation. You know, salvation is not something that we can muddy up. We need to speak clearly about, you know, talk about what salvation is and how to be saved, okay? You know, that it's by faith alone and not use words or terms or examples that will confuse people, all right? Chapter 5 gives instructions on dealing with those who are widows in deed and honoring the pastor. And then chapter 6 really concludes with the proper attitude between employees, employers. It talks about reprobates, men of corrupt minds, as chapter 6 would put it, and then having just the right perspective on monetary resources, okay? And this is important, so we're going to talk a little bit about that this morning. So let's talk about the proper attitude towards employers. Look at verse number 1. It says here in verse number 1, let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor, that the name of God and His doctrine be not blasphemed. So let me point out a couple things from this very verse, first and foremost. The phrase under the yoke is referring to being employed, okay? It's not something we would use today. You know, we would say, yeah, I just got under the yoke, you know? Last week I got hired and now I'm under the yoke. The thought there is that a yoke is an instrument to join together beasts of burden, okay? And the implication there is work. So what it's referring to is that when a servant is under the yoke, it's referring to the fact that he is employed, okay? He has a job. And the instruction that the apostle Paul is giving is that employees should honor their employers. They should honor their bosses. Now, in chapter 5, we saw that honoring, according to chapter 5, is referring to giving of, you know, monetary resources when you honor the pastor, for example. But here, this is not what it's referring to, okay? Honoring here means to respect and obey your employer. And look, folks, this is an instruction that God gives and this is how you can guarantee your success in your position at your job when you respect and you obey your boss. Not disrespect him, not steal from him, not steal resources or time, but rather honor him, respect him, obey him. And this is a common theme when it comes to being employed. God says we are to obey them who are our masters according to the flesh, okay? And we'll get into that in just a bit. So the Bible doesn't use the term employer or employee. It often uses the phrases servants and masters. Now, this is referring to work. Now, you may think to yourself, well, what about when Matthew 23, when Jesus says, you know, neither be called masters, for one is your master, even Christ. Well, when Jesus said that, he's speaking in a spiritual context. This is referring to spiritual leadership. So we should never refer to spiritual leaders as masters, okay? You know, oh, they got their masters in divinity, okay? You know, they got their masters in theology. This person is a master of Israel. Well, we've learned from John chapter three that the masters of Israel don't know much, okay? But more specifically, you know, the Bible tells us that we're not to call pastors masters or lords or rabbi or any of these terms because of the fact that one is our master, even Christ. Now there are biblical terms to call spiritual leaders, right? Pastor, preacher, you know, calling them bishop. Now that's not a term that we would typically use today. Pastors more a term fitting in 2024, someone who, you know, leads a congregation is pastoring a church as a bishop. So Paul isn't overstepping his boundaries and teaching something that's contrary to what Jesus is teaching because of the fact that this is not a religious context that Paul the apostle is referring to. He's referring to a secular context. Now obviously we're to approach it with spiritual perspective, right? In other words, you know, when you're out there in the physical realm or excuse me, secular realm, you're working for someone. Yes, that's the secular realm, but we are to work as Christians within that secular realm. So in other words, apply Christian principles no matter where you're at, okay? Don't compartmentalize God, act like a Christian when you're here in church, but you act like a heathen when you're out there, right? You know, you should work hard when you're out soul winning. You should work hard when you're laboring for the Lord in spiritual matters, but you're also supposed to labor hard for the Lord when you're out in the secular realm as well, working for your unsaved boss, okay? So he isn't telling them to call them that, he's basically a third party referring to an employer as a master and an employee as a servant, okay? He does this in chapter six of Ephesians as well, where he refers to, he says, husbands love your wives as Christ also loved the church. Now those of you who are husbands, you don't call your wife, wife, hey wife, you know? Or you know, wives, you don't call your, I mean, if you do, don't tell me because you're going to ruin this illustration, okay? You don't call it, hey husband, you know? You call them by their name. This is the title that's given unto, you know, these two parties that are joined together in marriage, okay? So he's using these labels to describe a position of employment. He's not telling them to call them masters or call them servants. These are, you know, specific titles, a description given to those who are under the yoke. So he says in verse number one, let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor that the name of God be not blasphemed. So the honor is referring to obedience. You know, when the Bible tells us that children ought to honor their parents, it's referring to also obeying them, right? Now this is definitely not popular today. Today, you know, and it's the parents' fault, obviously, you know, you have children who disobey their parents or disrespect their parents, even to the point where they raise their hands and their fists against their parents to physically try to harm them. This is wicked, okay? You know, children, teenagers ought to reverence and obey, respect and fear their parents. Now parents, do your due diligence to make sure that happens, amen? You know, I grew up in a single-parent home with my mom and, you know, she said, oh yeah, were you just a troublemaker? I wasn't allowed to be a troublemaker, you know, because she would me. She instilled, before I was even saved, she instilled the fear of God in my life because I knew I was going to get whooped. You know, how many of you grew up in a home where your mom just had to give you the look? You know, you're at a grocery store and she just gives you that raised eyebrow and you know what I mean? It means you're going to get it when we get home. Or, you know, if you're in close proximity, they would do the pinch, right? How many know what I'm talking about? Apparently we have someone who experienced that to its fullest extent, okay? You know, I just opened up past wounds for Brother Moses, apparently. You know, you have the mom and she just like pinches you and is like, don't act up. And if you're acting up, it's like, you're going to get it when you get home. And then, you know, don't cry either. Put a smile on your face and it's just like, you're just like, oh, man. Okay, so I'm not saying employers should do that to their employees, by the way, okay? What I'm saying is obedience, okay? And look, servants should fear their masters, right? Because they hold the paycheck in their hands, right? The Bible tells us in Ephesians 6, verse 5, servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh with fear and trembling in singleness of your heart. Look what it says, as unto Christ. So how do we obey a boss that's floored? How do we obey a boss that's potentially wicked, unsaved, not Christian? Well, we obey him as unto Christ. We view him as an authority figure that Christ has placed there and we recognize we're serving Christ, okay? So if you have a boss that cusses you out, you know, and gets on you and maybe he's just, you know, just rude and he's belligerent sometimes or whatever, you know, he gets on your case, well, you know, as unto Christ, okay? And look, the Bible doesn't say that Christians should only work for Christian bosses. Now if you have a Christian boss, you should do it like a spiritual backflip and thank God for that, okay? That's a blessing, right? But that's not always gonna happen. It says, not with eye service as men pleasers, but as the servants of Christ do in the will of God from your hearts. With good will doing service as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. So here is the benefit of being a Christian working for a boss who's not saved. We not only get rewarded immediately by getting a paycheck, but according to the Bible, because we're serving Christ, we will get rewarded by God as well, okay? We will receive an eternal reward because we're doing it for Christ, not unto men and singleness of our hearts. It says, and ye masters, do the same thing unto them forbearing threatening, knowing that your master also is in heaven, neither is there respect of persons with him. Now he said, well, my boss threatens me all the time. Well, you know, if he's unsaved, this doesn't necessarily apply to him, okay? This is referring to Christians who are saved, you know, bosses who are saved, they're Christians, they're Bible believers, you know, this is the instruction that he's given to them. Colossians 3, 22 says, servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service as men pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God. Titus 2, 9 says, exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters and to please them well in all things, not answering again. So what happens when you don't have that? What happens when you have a saved employee just not obeying this command, not reverencing, not respecting, not obeying, just doing the complete opposite, disrespecting his employer, okay? What happens to that Christian? Well, they run the risk, first and foremost, of being fired, okay? But they also run the risk, a greater risk, of causing the word of God to be blasphemed, which is actually worse, okay? What does that mean? Well, verse 1 of 1 Timothy 6 says, let as many servants that are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed. You know, worse than losing your job is just being a bad testimony to the unsaved. It's worse because you could get a job somewhere else, right? But you know what? You've just left a bad testimony, a bad taste in the mouth of your unsaved boss, okay? And you're causing him to blaspheme the word of God and God himself. Now what does it mean to blaspheme? Well, to blaspheme means to speak impiously or irreverently of God, okay? So how would we apply that to a situation like this? Well, you have a Christian who comes in his job, he's like, I'm a Bible-believing Christian, I'm saved, I go to First Works Baptist Church. By the way, if this is you, don't say the name of the church that you go to, please, okay? You know, but you're a bad employee, you're disobedient, you're lazy, you come late, you leave early, you're just a bad employee. You know, your unsaved boss is going to be like, man, this guy claims to be a Christian? This guy claims to believe the word of God? And what is he going to do? He's going to speak irreverently of God because of you. This is a bad thing, okay? Not a good thing at all. First Peter 2, 12 says, go with me if you would to, go to First Peter chapter 4. I'm going to read to you from chapter 2, verse 12 says, having your conversation honest among the Gentiles that whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works which they shall behold glorify God in the day of visitation. If you remember, you know, by the way, this is not referring to blaspheming the Holy Ghost. That's something else, okay? When you claim that the Holy Ghost is an unclean spirit, that Jesus has an unclean spirit, that's blaspheming the Holy Ghost. That actually seals your deal as far as, you know, being saved if you're not saved, okay? And no saved person will ever blaspheme the Holy Ghost. Just let you know that. When we talk about blaspheming, it's also just referring to being irreverent towards God's name or His word or His word because of your bad testimony. If you remember, David, King David, who's the king of Israel, he committed adultery. And what happened when he committed adultery with Bathsheba? Samuel told him, how be it because by this deed, thou has given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. The child also that is born unto thee shall surely die. Hey, aren't you the sweet psalmist of Israel? Aren't you part of the nation that God is blessing and, you know, you serve the God of this universe, but yet you're out there committing adultery, you're out there doing wicked things? What are they doing? Blaspheming the name of God because of David's bad testimony, okay? The Bible says in Titus 2, 4, you're still in 1 Peter 4, it says in Titus 2, 4, that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. So when a woman does not fulfill her biblical role, what does she do? She causes the word of God to be blasphemed, to be spoken of irreverently, okay? Look at 1 Peter chapter 4, verse 14, well, you don't know my boss, you know, he just like, he's so hard on me and he yells at me, he gets mad at me when I come late, he gets mad at me when I leave early, he says I don't do my job well, you know, he's just a wicked person, pastor, he's so wicked, he doesn't even believe in the posture pre-wrath rapture, he doesn't believe in replacement theology, you know, I think he's a reprobate, pastor, reprobate, you know, they throw that card out there, look at verse 14, if you be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye, for the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you, on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified, so you know, when you're persecuted for righteousness sake, for the name of Christ, guess what, you should be happy, you know, people are like, man, aren't you, don't you hate it when people say things, bad things about you and all these wicked people say all these manner of evil against you, no, I'm happy, because it confirms that I'm doing something right, it confirms that I'm doing my job as a Christian, but hold on a second, look at verse 15, but let none of you suffer as a murderer or as a thief or as an evildoer or as a busybody in other men's matters, yet if any man suffers a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on this behalf, so what is he saying, look, if you're persecuted, if you're fired for being an idiot, that's your fault, if you're fired because you just, you are milking the clock, you're stealing from your boss, you're just doing things that your boss is not pleased with, that's your fault, it's not because you're a Christian, I remember years ago I used to work at this telemarketing company and I remember I was walking by and I heard this guy and he was kind of using Christian lingo, he was using Christianese as I like to say, and I'm like, oh man, this guy sounds like a Christian, so I talked to him on break and he's like, yeah, I'm an independent fundamental Baptist, I was like, oh man, he didn't just say Baptist, I mean, he's an independent fundamental Baptist, right, oh they're cool, you know, awesome, me too, I was like, I go to this church and I got saved, when did you get saved and he gave me his testimony or whatever and later on, I don't know if it was that day or that week, he came to my desk and he's like, hey man, pray for me, man, they're getting me hard here, you know, person getting me hard here, I'm like, who, he's like the boss, supervisor, I'm like why, he goes, because I'm a Christian, you know, it's like they're getting me, they know I'm a Christian and by the way, that job knew that I was a Christian as well and I'm like, what do you mean, like they're just getting on you, like what are they doing and he's like, yeah, they're just, they're just mad because, you know, I was on the phone and I was talking to this, you know, one of the customers and I started giving them the gospel and they got mad at them, you know, I was like, I'm being persecuted and I'm like, what are you doing preaching the gospel on the job? So after he was done on the phone, you know, and they record the conversations and you have supervisors that basically listen in on the calls, so you have like a pod for example, I think it was called a pod and, you know, the supervisor sits right in the middle, you have like 10 callers on each side and the supervisor's responsibility is to listen in on the calls to make sure that they're, you know, speaking properly and giving the right information. So this, you know, they were tapping into his phone call and the person, I mean, this guy just starts witnessing to the person on the other, on the phone and so he gets mad and the person doesn't even get saved and he gets mad because the supervisor comes in and says, hey, you can't do that, he didn't like fire him, he didn't even write him up, he just said, hey, you can't do that while you're here, I'm just giving you a warning and the guy was like, all right, so he tells me this, I'm like, yeah, he's right though, he can't, what are you doing? So later on that week, does the same thing, he's like, man, it's coming down hard on me, man, he's like, they're getting me, I'm just trying to preach the gospel, man and they're not letting me preach the gospel, I'm like, you're not supposed to do that, we're working here, they're paying us to do a specific job, you're not allowed to do that, I don't even do that. I said, I'm a preacher boy, I love soul winning and I don't even do that while I'm here because this is a different arena than what we're doing out there, we're not going door to door here, okay, well, he gets fired, thankfully and he comes to me, he's like, man, I got fired, I'm like, well, I mean, what do you expect, he's like, yeah, they're persecuting me hard here, man, I'm like, no, they're not, I'm like, you got yourself fired, you know, you're being a bad testimony and unfortunately, he left, he told him the church that he was going to and he was an independent fundamental Baptist, so unfortunately, it kind of fell upon me because they were like, don't you, aren't you also a Baptist? You know, don't you also, didn't you say you're like an independent fundamental Baptist too? And they're like, do you know this guy? I'm like, I know not the man, I know not the man, I'm like, they're like, thy speech be rayathy though, I'm like, yeah, but I don't know this guy and you know, thankfully, I got promoted at that job, I got raises at that job and you know what, my boss even called me into their office so I can witness to them, so it came to the point where they said, they brought me in, they said, they sat me down and they're like, tell me how to go to heaven because I know you know how, you bring your Bible here, you read your Bible on break, you're doing, you know, you're a Christian obviously, so what must I do to be saved? And I'm like, am I allowed to tell you like on the clock, they're like, I'm your boss, you can do that, take as long as you want, I got them saved, amen? That's the way to do it, but you know, oh no, they're just, they're just persecuting me because I'm just like a Christian, you know, because I don't like reprobates, what are you doing talking about them anyways? Well they asked me, then tell them to shut up and get to work. Like hey, I'm working here, if you want to talk about this, let's talk about this after work, I'm trying to do my job here, okay? A lot of times people bring that upon themselves, okay? And so we don't want to do that because we don't want the word of God to be blasphemed and there's a lot of Christians at that job who had a good testimony, there's others who did not, you know, and it was because of this very reason here, okay? Go back to 1 Timothy 6, 1 Timothy 6, now obviously there's bosses out there that are really wicked, you know, they don't pay their employees right and sometimes they're really froward or they find out that their employee is a Christian and they give them a harder time, I've seen that before, you know, I knew of a supervisor at that job who wanted to reign over me because of the fact that she was a dyke, she was a homosexual, a sodomite and she wanted to just get on my case and, you know, I asked the Lord, deliver me from the hands of this beast, you know, just like, and she never became my supervisor, she never became my boss and I literally remember because she was in charge of basically, what was it called, training the callers on specific projects, so we would meet in a room and they would basically go over the details of a specific project and she was in charge of that, I went in there one time and she's teaching us or whatever and then she just starts going off on God, right, she starts going off on God and Christians and she's like, if anybody wants to debate me on this, I'm open to it and I raised my hand and I was like, are we done? She said, we're done, I was like, alright and I walked out. Why didn't you rip her face off? Because I'm working, she can meet me outside if she wants to, you know, I'm working, I'm trying to get a paycheck, I'm trying to, you know, pay my bills, I'm not there to preach the word of God or to battle people, okay? So, and look, you know, on break, I got a lot of people saved. In fact, I brought a lot of people to church from that job, you know, because they recognized I was a Christian and they wanted to, and look, I would try to put my best foot forward, like I would try to dress as nice as possible, carry my Bible, and people would come to me on break and say, hey, you know, what church do you go to? And I'd get them saved and I'd bring them to church, they would get baptized, it was great, okay? I wasn't a perfect employee, but you know, I took advantage of what the Bible teaches in regards to being a good employee in order for us to succeed. Look at verse number two, it says, and they that have believing masters, let them not despise them because they are brethren, but rather do them service because they are faithful and beloved, partakers of the benefit, these things teach and exhort. Hey, if you have a Christian boss, man, thank God for that, you know, thank God for that because, you know, that's not the case with every Christian and, you know, if you have a Christian boss, they can help you out or, you know, the relationship is a lot better because of that, right? So, notice it doesn't say they that have, or notice that it states they that have believing masters, so they don't have to be saved in order for you to work there, okay? Verse three says, if any man teach otherwise and consent not to wholesome words, wholesome means conducive to health, you know, words that benefit, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and to the doctrine which is according to godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and stripes of words, wherefore cometh envy, strife, railing, evil surmisings, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness from such withdrawal thyself. So, he's saying, look, if there's people who are not teaching what I'm teaching right now, don't listen to those people, you need to withdraw yourselves from them. Now, why is that? Well, because the context of what we're looking at here in 1 Timothy chapter six is obedience to your leaders, whether it's your boss, whatever it may be, more specifically your bosses, so it's teaching that we should be in subjection to our employers, right? Well, what's the opposite? What would a man of corrupt mind want you to do to buck that authority? To not obey them, okay? To not, well, you know, you should just disobey them, disregard them, they're not saved, that's not wholesome, okay? And in fact, this is a character quality of people who have corrupt minds, because men of corrupt minds, also known as reprobates, what do they do? They despise governments, they despise rulers and authorities, they cannot be subject to anybody because they despise leaders, that's why they despise their parents, that's why they disobedient to parents, this is why they despise spiritual leaders, that's why they can't say anything good about any type of leader because they despise them, and this is what they seek to teach, they're proud, knowing nothing, doting about questions and strives of words, wherefore cometh envy, strife, railing, evil surmising, what are evil surmising? Well surmising is when someone believes something as true with no evidence to back it up, okay? Evil surmising. And the Bible tells us we ought to separate ourselves from these. Now, what is the message of the men of corrupt minds according to 1 Timothy 6? Gain is godliness. Gain is godliness. Now, what is this referring to? Gain is referring to money, right? And they're saying hey, gain, if you're godly, you'll get gains. If you're godly, you'll make money. This is what's known as the prosperity gospel. This comes from false prophets who seek to make merchandise off of people. People who become leaders, pastors, bishops, reverends, for the sake of making money off of the flock of God. They literally take that position in order to get a paycheck so they can buy a boat, they can buy airplanes. This is the Copelands of this world, okay? Kenneth Copeland, who just looks like a false prophet. I mean that guy just looks like, he just looks demon possessed. And if you disagree with me, Google Kenneth Copeland and I guarantee you one of the first pictures that comes up is his evil face where he's just like, want your money? These are these faith healers, right? Where you got to send in money and they'll send you a handkerchief that he sneezed on that will heal whatever sicknesses you have. Hey Kenneth, where you at? With this whole coronavirus, you know, why don't you go to all these hospitals out here and lay your hands on them and just help them to do away with the coronavirus because you're a phony. You can't do it. Faith healing does not exist, folks. Now, healing does exist, but it comes from God, right? Healing exists. We can pray the fervent prayer of a righteous man, a bailiff, much the Bible says. We can pray for healing, but at the end of the day, there is not a person, there are no leaders or church or pastors that can lay hands on somebody and just completely take away the sickness from your body, okay? If you believe that, you got rocks in your head. It's fake, okay? This is the prosperity, your classic prosperity gospel where they say, well, you know, if you serve God, if you love God, you're going to make money. False. It's not true. And let me prove that to you, okay? Jesus was not rich. He didn't have a lot of money. The son of man have not where to lay his head, the Bible says, okay? Now I'm not saying that he was poor either because I've not seen the righteous forsaken or seed-begging bread. I'm sure he ate, he had a place to sleep, whether it was outside in the wilderness or I'm sure he had meals because he was preaching the gospel, he lived off the gospel, so to speak, and so his disciples, but you know what? You don't see him with horse and buggy, with a chariot of horses, rocking the purple robe, looking rich. That's not what he did. He didn't have a golden crown of thorns, folks, okay? The apostle Paul was not rich. In fact, you know, there's times when he was fasting often. There's times when he didn't have anything. He was a tent maker by trade, the Bible says, but you don't see him, you know, buying ships and boats and stuff like that. That's not, that wasn't his prerogative. He wasn't rich. God doesn't want Christians or should I say pastors to be rich. Why? Because of the fact that we are to be eternally minded. And the title of the sermon is lay hold on eternal life. And I'm not referring to salvation, referring to our resources laying hold on eternal life. And we'll get into that just a bit. This prosperity gospel nonsense is just that, it's nonsense. It's what the Pharisees taught, right? Matthew 23, 16, Jesus said, woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing, but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor. So it's like, oh, you swear by the temple? No biggie. We were all sinners. We all make mistakes. Oh, but if you swear by the gold, oh yeah, you're a debtor. You owe the temple some money. And it's not because they really believe that, it's because they wanted the money, they were covetous. That was the leaven of the Pharisees, okay? Second Peter 2, 3 says, and through covetousness, shall they with faint words make merchandise of you, whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. Now, this is what I'm not saying. I'm not saying that if you don't apply the principles of the Bible in regards to working hard, being diligent, you know, being diligent in your business, that you're not going to make money, okay? That's not what I'm saying at all, because the Bible teaches that to have an abundance, there are certain principles that you can follow where you can have an abundance of money. But here's the thing, make sure you have the money, make sure that the money doesn't have you, you understand? But the goal should never be, I want to be rich. They that will be rich, the Bible says, fall into hurtful lusts, okay? So Jesus didn't have monetary riches. The apostle Paul said this, not that I speak in respect of want, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things, I am instructed to be full and to be hungry. Both to abound and to suffer need. This doesn't sound like the apostle Paul's living like Kenneth Copeland. When he's suffering need basically means there's things that he is in need of that he does not have. And you know what? He was content then. Look at verse 6 of 1 Timothy 6, it says, but godliness with contentment is great gain. Now, why is godliness with contentment great gain? Well, because if you are just content with what you have, regardless of how much money is in the bank, if you're just content with wherever state you're in, you're never going to be unhappy. You're never going to be dissatisfied because you're satisfied with whatever God gives you. You're satisfied in whatever situation you may be in. You know, the person who has that will to be rich, you know, once they get that raise and they get the other raise, it's just like, well, I got my boat, but you know what? I want a bigger boat or I got this vehicle, but I want a better vehicle now. You know, they just, the constant want for more, bigger, more things. This is what destroys a person, okay? And covetousness. But God says, look, if you're, if you have godliness, you're reading the Bible, you love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and you have contentment, that's the gain that you want. The gain should not be monetary resources, money, finances. The gain that you should seek to strive for is godliness with contentment. Those two elements put together makes for a great life, okay? Why? Look at verse seven. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. You know, Tutankhamun was buried with like millions of dollars worth of gold and rubies, and because they believed that he was going to have that in the afterlife, boy, did he have a rude awakening when he lifted up his eyes in hell while being in torment, okay? He's like, where's my gold? Thy money perish with thee, sir. We brought nothing into this world. We can carry nothing out. So if you're accumulating monetary riches and resources, you better be using it to invest into the kingdom of God. Because guess what? If he died today, you know, it's all, it's going to go to the government. You know, that's the worst hands that it can fall into, right? We brought nothing into this world. It's certain that we can carry nothing out. Having food and raiment, let us therewith be content. Hey, if you're clothed upon, if you are, you know, warm when you're cold, when it's cold outside, you're cool when it's hot outside, and you have meals for you and your family, this is contentment. This is happiness. Don't listen to the American nightmare that says, well, happiness comes when I, when the bank is just filled with money and I'm just going to tear down barns and build greater, you know, I'm just going to buy all the toys that I've ever wanted and then I'll be happy. Not true. You're not going to be happy. Happiness comes when you are content and you're living a godly life. Look at verse nine, but they that will be rich. It doesn't say they that are rich. Because let me just make that very clear. I don't want people to think that we go to the other extreme and say, well, if a Christian has a lot of money, then they're just bad people. You shouldn't be rich. You know, you should live an aesthetic life, aesthetic life where, you know, just as minimal as possible, just be miserable, you know, just don't enjoy life at all. That's not, that's not, that's false. He's given us all things richly to enjoy, the Bible says. And let me say this, some people, folks, let me just say this. Some people come from money. You understand that? I'm talking about prior to salvation. Some of us, most of us did not. Okay, so it's just like, what do you mean by that? There's people who just come from money. There's people who've had parents, you know, that have a lot of money and that's what they're used to. And look, to you, that's rich. To that person, there's another person who's richer than them. See what I'm saying? So don't get mad at me. And the reason I say it is because sometimes people will even criticize pastors. Okay. You know, because they have a certain amount of money or whatever and they think, well, that person must be stealing from the church. Well, what if, isn't there other ways to get money that's a righteous way? Like maybe someone like gives them that money or what if their parents buy them a house or what if just someone else just does that for them? Does it only have to be that a pastor like steals from the church? And I'm not saying that's not out there. That's out there. You know, there's pastors out there that do wicked stuff with money and they steal and they do all these things. That's why at our church we have checks and balances, amen? So, and look, you say, well, I want to see the records. You're not going to see any records. Just talk to the ushers. I have a group of men in this church who hold me accountable to the money. They take the offering, seal it in the bag. I mean, it's sealed. Okay. And it goes straight to the bank like that. If it goes open, then there's a problem. You know, pastor, he is in trouble if that happens. We have a system here that we make sure that we are being good stewards of the finances that God brings to this church. But what I'm saying is this, is that, you know, there's other ways that people get money, you know, other than stealing. I mean, and the people who accuse pastors of that, they're probably the ones who are responsible for doing things like that. They're judging other people according to what they would do, you know. But they're, you know, sometimes people just come for money. Sometimes people get gifts. Okay. So it's not bad to be rich. Here's what's bad. They that will be rich. That means they have the will to make a lot of money. So what does that show us? That shows us that a person who has the will to be rich does not have their affection set above on things above, but rather on the things of this earth. Their prerogative, their purpose is just to make money. Okay. They're not filtering it through the lens of godliness, Bible, etc. It says they that will be rich fall into temptation and ensnare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Folks, if you make money your focus, you're going to pierce yourself through with many sorrows. You're going to be a miserable Christian because happiness is not found in finances or money or riches. It's found in serving the Lord. It's found in having a godly family. You know, and look, if you, you could be a person who has riches, you have both. But just make sure you have the right perspective on the riches that you have. Okay. Labor not to be rich, cease from thine own wisdom. The Bible says he that trusteth in riches shall fall, but the righteous shall flourish as a branch. Now why is it that a person who covets after riches errs from the faith? Ecclesiastes 5 says, the sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much, but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep. Well, if I just had this, I would just rest easy at night. Not really. If you had some yacht out there or some expensive vehicle out there that you've just been coveting this whole time, you're going to wonder if people are trying to steal it. What helps you to sleep is when you work hard, when you're so exhausted, you can't even, you don't have time to think about anything. You just hit the sack. Okay. He that loveth silver, the Bible says, shall not be satisfied with silver nor he that loveth abundance with increase. This also is vanity. Look at verse number 11, but thou, so the people who will to be rich don't be like them, but thou, O man of God, flee these things and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Look, Jesus said it this way, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and these things shall be added unto you. In other words, focus on the spiritual things. God will take care of the physical realm, so to speak. He'll take care of your food. He'll take care of your rent. He'll take care of your bills. He'll take care of all that as long as you focus on these things, which is righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Okay. Look at verse 12, fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life wherein to thou art also called and has professed a good profession before many witnesses. Now what does it mean to lay hold on eternal life? This is not an instruction on how to get saved. It's like, yeah, you got to fight the good fight of faith in order to be saved. You know, that's not what it's saying at all. The instruction is to be eternally minded. That's what it's stating. Okay. So what is this telling us? If we're going to be heavenly minded, you know, we got our minds on heaven, on Christ, on the eternal, on that which is to come, on things that are not seen. If we're going to be heavenly minded, what is the prerequisite to that? We have to fight the good fight of faith. What does that mean? You have to be on the offense. So being eternally minded doesn't just come by accident, by osmosis. You have to like find something to fight for. Because when you're fighting, you're not sitting. When you're fighting, you're not just being defensive. When you're fighting, you're thinking about Jesus. You're thinking about church. You're thinking about souls. You're fighting the good fight of faith. You're thinking about doctrine. This is how you lay hold on eternal life. How can you become an eternally minded Christian is by getting in the fight. Look folks, this is why pastors in their latter years, they become very carnal, covetous, lukewarm, weak, lame, whack. Why? Because they stop fighting. So when you stop fighting, you're no longer thinking about the millennial reign. It's good when we go through trials. It's good when we fight against false doctrine. It's good when we fight the good fight of faith, when we earnestly contend for the faith that was once delivered unto the saints. Why? Because it makes us think about the millennial reign one day. We have something to look forward to. But the pastor who does not fight the good fight of faith, he's thinking about the He's thinking about the weekend. He's thinking about Friday. He's thinking about the next meal. He's thinking about the next paycheck. He's thinking about his next race. He's thinking about things that just don't matter in this world. But the Christian who is thinking about fighting, he's fighting the good fight of faith. He's learning doctrine. He's heavily minded. You know, he's going to live differently than that other pastor, that other Christian. He's laying hold on eternal life. You know, every morning, every day, we need to wake up and reach forth into those things which are before. We need to lay hold on eternal life. And remember, yeah, you know, we're body, but we're also spirit. We're going through a trial, but it's not going to last forever. You know, it's time to get up and fight the spiritual battle, the spiritual warfare that we're going through. It's time to teach doctrine. It's time to win someone to Christ. It's time to focus on those things which are important. And this is how you lay hold on eternal life. If you then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affections on things above, not on the things on the earth. I was asked, I've been asked multiple times, you know, why is it that pastors in their old age, they just kind of get watered down and they just kind of like don't want to fight anymore because they stop reaching forth, that's why. You know, they get tired. I hope I never get tired, you know. And don't worry, I'll re-listen to this 10 years from now. I'll have some of you here reminding me of that, you know. I hope that I fight to the bitter end, okay, because I never want to be like an Eli. Eli, man, he was a guy who did not lay hold on eternal life. He was just kind of living day to day, just kind of doing the average, lost his children, you know, just living a carnal life. You know, I want to be, I want to be like the Apostle Paul. I want to be like the disciples. I want to be like King David, just laying hold on eternal life. If God permits for me to live, you know, 80 years, 90 years on keto, you know, if he permits me to live this long, may I be like Caleb and Joshua, like Moses, where his strength was not abated. His eyes were not dim. Caleb said, I want that mountain. Even at the age of 80, it's like, man, you got some vinegar in you. Like, you still want, you still got ambition. That's how I want to be. But you know what, if we don't fight the good fight of faith, if we're not in the fight, we're not going to be those types of Christians, okay. Let's finish up here. Look at verse 13. I give thee charge in the sight of God who quickeneth all things before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession, that thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebucible, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which in his times shall show who is the blessed and only potent the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto, whom no man had seen nor can see, to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen. Look what it says in verse 17. This shows you that Christians can be rich. Charge them that are rich in this world. Refer to Christians that they be not high minded. Don't be proud, nor trust in uncertain riches. Don't place your faith in the money. Well, I'll be fine because, you know, I got this much money in the bank. But in the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy, so better than being rich in monetary gains is being rich in faith, right? That they do good, that they be rich in what? In the bank? In money? No, in good works. So this is showing us that the money that we have should be used to serve the Lord. So we can be rich in good works. Amen. Rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate. They both mean the same thing, distribute and communicate. Why? Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come that they may lay hold on eternal life. Who's they? The money. See, God is not for wasting money. He's for investing money. He doesn't want you to waste money on things that just don't matter in this world. He wants you to invest it so that you can see those resources and the dividends thereof later on. He wants you to invest it so that your resources can lay hold on eternal life. Don't bury yourself with your resources. You're never going to see it. I literally heard about a guy who got buried one time. He had some old classic car, like a low rider type car, beautiful paint and all these things. And he loved this car so much that literally his request when he got buried is that he wanted to get buried in the front seat of his vehicle. And to have the vehicle buried with him. I mean, it sounds ridiculous, but it's a true story. True story, okay? They literally put him on the front seat. The guy's dead. He's dead. This is morbid. Like the people are like, all right, open the door. Do you put the seat belt on him? Do you put his hands on the steering wheel? Rick Immortus has already set in, folks. They put the shades on him and literally lowered him down into the ground and buried him. Okay. You know, I'm almost, I'm like 99% sure he was not saved. Okay. And I'm just telling you, when he died, he can care less about that car. The car is the furthest thing from his mind. Okay. You know what he wants? A drop of water to cool his tongue, for he was tormented in that flame. You know, instead we should use our resources, our possessions for the furtherance of the kingdom, right? To see more people saved, to give glory to God so we can see those investments and the dividends thereof later on. It says, verse 20, oh Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings and oppositions of science falsely so-called, which some professing have erred from concerning the faith. Grace be with thee. Amen. So what is 1 Timothy 6? What have we learned from 1 Timothy chapter 6? You know, just to have the right perspective. Okay. And when we think about money, it's not just money, it's possessions. You know, things that we deemed as being valuable. We need to recognize that as Christians, we have these things, if God gives them to us, to invest, you know, so that we can see these things one day again. Not the literal cash. Talk about the rewards that we're gonna receive because of it. So if you get anything from the sermon, get this, just a reminder to be eternally minded. Okay. You know, if you're stressing, if you're depressed, if you're going through a hard time where you feel like your person is being, you know, threatened or, you know, you no longer have possessions. You're like, I'm just broke. Like I have no choice but to like even be grateful because I don't have anything in the bank. Well, good for you. Amen. Because that makes it easier for you to be eternally minded. But if you're not going through those things, if you do have money in the bank, then you have to work twice as hard at making sure that you're not trusting in uncertain riches. Okay. But do you get those riches and invest them so they can lay hold on eternal life. Amen. Spire heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word. And thank you for the book of 1 Timothy. Great book and great teaching, helping us to know how to behave ourselves in the house of God. And the book basically finishes with this, is that the way we ought to behave ourselves is basically as a people who are eternally minded. We're thinking about heaven. We're thinking about the kingdom of God. We're thinking about the millennial reign. We're thinking about the judgment seat of Christ. These should be on the forefront of our minds on a daily basis because they determine our literal behavior down here, whether it's preaching the gospel, it's having the right perspective on monetary resources, Lord. I pray, God, that you'd help us to continue to do so. And each and every morning when we wake up, may we think on those things which are above. Set our affections on things above, not on the things of this earth. Bless us, Lord. And I pray, Father God, that you'd protect us. Keep a hedge of protection about us, Lord, and continue to use us to see more.