1 Timothy

“A story is told of a man who, resisting the cost of oats he fed his mule, decided to gradually substitute sawdust in its diet. Everything went fine for a while but by the time the mule was satisfied with sawdust, he died. The same is true spiritually. The changeover from truth to error is sometimes a slow process, and the people don’t always know the difference. But, before you know it, they are dead.” 1

We live in a society where truth has been watered down and even abandoned in many cases. You may have heard the term postmodernism used in conversation in recent years. One of the basic beliefs of postmodernism as I see it-and I say that because no one can seem to define postmodernism-is that there are no absolute truths. In a culture that increasingly believes there is no absolute truth it is essential that followers of Christ guard and protect the truth.

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I’d like to return for a moment to a question I’ve asked you already in our study of 1 Timothy. Have you ever wondered what you would do if you suddenly became very wealthy and had more money than you knew what to do with? I think a good indicator of what any one of us would do if we were suddenly to come into a vast sum of money is to look at our checkbook register. Where we spend our money and the kinds of things we spend money on are a good indicator of where our heart is. I’m not talking as much about where you buy your groceries our where you choose to fill your gas tank. But I am talking about the kinds of things you spend your money on for entertainment purposes. The kind of money you spend to maintain a certain lifestyle. Chances are if you hang on tightly to a small amount money, you’ll do the same if given a larger amount and if you’re careless with what you have you’d be careless with a lot of money.

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Kevin A. Pierpont
Higgins Lake Baptist Church
2/29/04

17 Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.

When you think of wealthy people, who comes to mind? Bill Gates? Warren Buffett? Maybe Mel Gibson?—who’s movie the Passion of the Christ took in $23.6M¹ on opening day and is selling out in theaters everywhere this week.

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Can there be such a thing as a good fight? Have you ever been in an argument with someone and you walked away saying to yourself, “That was a good fight!”?

I remember being picked on a lot when I was a youngster in grade school. I was in a fight or two as a result of those confrontations – I guess you couldn’t really call them fights, they were kind of one sided. I was too scrawny to defend myself and even though I was quiet and shy my mouth still got me into trouble – you could say my mouth would write checks my body couldn’t cash. They usually started and ended with one punch to my stomach with me doubled over gasping for air. Once, I remember my “friends” convinced me before school one morning that I should try on a pair of boxing gloves and go for a round with another kid my age. That fight consisted of one punch to my nose, which immediately bled. I don’t ever remember walking away from those clashes saying, “Now that was a good fight.” I suppose the other guy may have—but not me!

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A country preacher decided to skip services one Sunday and head to the hills to do some bear hunting. As he rounded the corner on a perilous twist in the trail, he and a bear collided, sending him and his rifle tumbling down the mountainside. Before he knew it, his rifle went one way and he went the other, landing on a rock and breaking both legs. That was the good news. The bad news was the ferocious bear charging at him from a distance, and he couldn’t move. “Oh, Lord,” the preacher prayed, “I’m so sorry for skipping services today to come out here and hunt. Please forgive me and grant me just one wish … please make a Christian out of that bear that’s coming at me. Please, Lord!” That very instant, the bear skidded to a halt, fell to its knees, clasped its paws together and began to pray aloud right at the preacher’s feet. “Dear God, bless this food I am about to receive …” (Author Unkown)

That’s a humorous look at a perilous situation. Imagine for a moment yourself hiking on a trail on a warm and sunny day. You are enjoying the beauty of God's creation that surrounds you when suddenly a bear crosses your path. What is your first instinct? Are you going to just stand there and face the danger that awaits? Or are you going to run as fast as you can, making every effort to get away from the danger the bear poses for you? The boys tell me if you come across a mountain lion you look it straight in the eyes and open your jacket to look as big as possible and yell at it as loud as possible. If you come across a bear you make yourself as small as possible and try to ignore it. Whatever you think you would do your natural instinct is probably going to be to flee.

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Last week we talked about the importance of being content with what we have. Today we’re going to continue this thought as we see the danger with a desire to be rich.

It's easy to think that if only we had a little more money it would solve all sorts of problems. As we will see in our study today, longing to be rich and loving money can instead bring us a great deal of grief.

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Higgins Lake Baptist Church
Kevin A. Pierpont
1/18/04

A man became envious of his friends because they had larger and more luxurious homes. So he listed his house with a real estate firm, planning to sell it and to purchase a more impressive home. Shortly afterward, as he was reading the classified section of the newspaper, he saw an ad for a house that seemed just right. He promptly called the Realtor and said, “A house described in today’s paper is exactly what I’m looking for. I would like to go through it as soon as possible!” The agent asked him several questions about it and then replied, “But sir, that’s your house you’re describing.” (Source unknown)

Have you ever gone out a bought something you really wanted and maybe you really couldn’t afford it? I mean you had yourself convinced that you really needed this thing. So you go out and buy this thing. And a strange thing happens a week or two later. You find you are hardly using it. Or soon afterwards you find you have regrets about buying this thing.

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The past couple of weeks we have examined the proper treatment of widows in the church. This week we will be looking at 1 Timothy 5:17-25 and considering Paul’s instruction to Timothy concerning those who lead the church – the NKJV calls those leaders the elders – we call them pastors.

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