The Love of Riches (1 TImothy 6:9-10)

Pastor Jonathan and Miss Brandy are celebrating twenty five years

of marriage, and so they are not here this morning,

but can we praise the Lord for that? And Pastor

Tanner is on his second vacation of the summer, so

he's doing good too. I'm in charge. I guess I

want the Lord to be in charge. That would be

the best plan. You never know what you'll get out

of me if you'll turn in your Bibles to One

Timothy chapter six. We're continuing on where Pastor Jonathan left

off in our study of First Timothy, and Paul is

teaching here how the false teachers are puffed up with

can seat only desire gain for themselves. And so we're

gonna be in One Timothy chapter six. We're gonna read

verses three through ten, and then we're gonna focus in

on verses eight or not through ten, Yes, it is

nine and ten is where we're gonna focus. So in

these in those two verses today, Paul returns to describe

the motive of the false teachers and where their path

leads them. We're gonna read the whole paragraph and to

get that context, and then hone in on those two

verses so if you'll stay with me and we'll read

first Timothy chapter six, verses three through ten. If anyone

teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the

sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching

that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit

and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy

and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander,

evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved

in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness

is a means of gain. Now there is great gain

in godliness with contentment. For we brought nothing into the world,

and we cannot take anything out of the world. But

if we have food and clothing, with these we will

be content. But those who desire to be rich fall

into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful

desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the

love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.

It is through this craving that some have wandered away

from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. Let's pray, Father, God,

we come before you this morning because because we know

that you are the teacher, you are our teacher, and

so we study your word this morning, and we asked

that you would speak to our hearts. Lord, I pray

that your holy spirit would interpret these words to us,

help us understand what they mean and how to use

them and apply them in our lives. Lord, I pray

that you would open our eyes to behold wonderful things

out of your word, and Lord, help us to behold

your glory. Lord, I pray that you would guard me

from error as I teach. I pray that every word

of my mouth would be honoring to you. And so Father,

we pray in the sweet name of Jesus, Amen, you

can be seated. So have you ever wanted something so

much that you didn't stop thinking about it for maybe

days or weeks. Right, Maybe it was a material item

that you really wanted, and so you did research on

it to find out what's the best. I don't know

how many women do research on these things. Probably it's

a man thing, but you research. You know, if it's

a car, you know, I really want I'm interested in

this car, and so I research it to make sure

it has good reviews, it's reliable, it's safe, right, And

so you do that, whatever it is. You just continue

learning about this item, and then before you know it,

it occupies your mind too much and you start setting

your sights on acquiring it, and it becomes a huge

part of your life because you're determined to do anything

necessary to make sure you have it. But you must

admit along the way that it becomes an idol at times,

like you weren't going to be happy or satisfied until

you got what your heart desired. And so that's a

little bit what we're going to see today in this passage.

We're going to see about the desire to be rich,

or what Paul calls the love of money. And so

while money is helpful and can be a tool, what

I want you to see today is that believers must

resist the desire to be rich because it leads to

spiritual ruin. So we start seeing this meaning. In verse nine,

Paul says, but those who desire to be rich fall

into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires.

And just previously Paul was exposing the character of the

false teachers. Right, they're prideful, and they like to cause

fights with others. Now, he highlights this other defining mark

of their lives. They desire to be rich. And when

I want to point out, first of all, you might

be wondering, but wealth isn't bad, right, And you're right.

Paul doesn't say these men are rich, and he's not

criticized hard work or saving money, or investing or providing

for one's family. That's not what he's talking about here.

In fact, in verses seventeen and nineteen of this same chapter,

Paul talks to people who are rich, and he explains

to them how to use their wealth wisely and for

the lord. And so the wealth isn't the issue here.

It's the people he addresses here are those who want

to be rich. Their ambition, their aim, their drive in

life is the pursuit of wealth rather than godliness. They

pursue riches. And so we are going to see today

that the desire to be rich doesn't begin with your

bank account. It begins with your heart. This is the

desire of the heart, and it doesn't remain harmless to us.

Notice how Paul traces out where it leads. He says,

those who desire to be rich will eventually what fall,

and then he lists three areas where they will fall.

He says they will fall first into temptations. When becoming

rich is the controlling ambition of our lives, we become

much more susceptible to other opportunities to sin. Temptations that

once seemed unthinkable might be justified or seem reasonable. If

there's financial gain in the picture. Then temptation becomes a snare,

and that picture of a snare is a trap. Sin

no longer merely is inviting us, but we get caught

in its web. Scripture sells elsewhere, that sin entangles us, right,

And we all know what it's like to have to lie,

you know, if the first temptation is to lie to

cover up where this money came from, or what we're

doing with our time instead of what we're supposed to

be doing. We're working, we're trying to amass wealth. We

all remember what it's like when we've told lies to

keep up those lies, right, and so those lies create

a web of deeper deceit and a trap, right, a

snare that we have trouble getting out of. Once what

once seemed like financial freedom that we were looking for,

and maybe success at work has now become a trap

and it's difficult to get out of. And then finally,

Paul says that they fall into many senseless and harmful desires.

Another translation says that they are foolish and dangerous or

evil desires. One sinful desire in the heart for riches

gives birth to others, drawing a deeper into patterns of

thinking and living one's life that dishonor God and harm

ourselves and harm others. So Paul says, this desire of

the heart, this desire for wealth and riches, is only

the beginning of this slippery slope or this downward spiral

that leads to more and more sin. So my first

point this morning is the desire to be rich leads

to further sin, Paul says. He explains next that these

desires plunge people into ruin and destruction. And the word

plunge paints that picture. I'm sure you are aware of

going underwater, right When you plunge into water, You're jumping

full force into the water and you go underneath the water.

And so Paul says, what begins as this heart desire

of building wealth ends up making a person fall into

temptation and traps and unhelped and harmless, foolish desires. That

this person gets almost taken under water under a flood

and is suffocating by what their life has turned out

to be because of this love of money. There's a

progression from that simple desire to the person being drowned.

If there's that love of money that's not controlled in

the heart, a simple desire that leads to devastation of

one's life, there's lots of pressure to keep up that life.

Doesn't this remind you a little bit of James Chapter one.

He says about sin. Each person is tempted when they

are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.

Notice that's the first tempted. Then after desire has conceived,

it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is

full grown, gives birth to death. Right, there's that same progression,

that downward spiral when one thing seems innocent or maybe

just you know, this is what I would like to

do for my life, and it leads down to devastation

and ultimately, James says death, because that's where sin leads us.

In verse ten, Paul now gives the reason behind everything

he has just said. Why do people fall into temptation?

Why do they become trapped? Why do they have many

harmless desire or harmful desires and sinful desires? Because Paul

says at verse ten, the love of money is a

root of all kinds of evil. That's why this desire

in the heart leads to devastation and destruction of one's life.

That love of money has taken root in someone's life,

and as they feed it and give it life, it

begins to grow and branch out. And it has many

other symptoms, many other circumstances in their lives that continue

to root it deeper in their hearts. When the desire

to be rich controls us, we can justify many other

sins to make it happen. Right. Like I said, lying

begins to not feel so bad. Cheating feels like just negotiating.

Exploiting people feels like a business decision. Neglecting time with

family is excused because I'm providing for them. One heart

desire gives birth to many other evils. Before someone ever

loves wealth in their hands, they first loved wealth in

their heart. Think about Judas. Judas is one of the

prime biblical examples of this happening. We read in John

twelve that he criticized the expensive ointment that was placed

on Jesus. Right, this woman comes in and she comes

to annoint him with an alabaster jar of ointment, And

as she is anointing Jesus, which is a worshipful experience

for her, Judas criticizes it and says, could this not

have been sold for a lot of money and given

to the poor. But John gives us a little bit

of insight into Judas's heart and says that Judas wasn't

concerned about the poor. He used to take from the

ministry's money. He used to steal from the purse. And

so Judas himself had a heart that desired to be

rich or desired to be financially successful, and so he

became a hypocrite. He was calling other people, how can

we do this with this money? We should be giving

it to the poor, when in reality he was hiding

in his heart a sin that was leading him right.

He was tempted to lie to others, and then eventually

he was trapped so much in his desire for wealth

that he offered to give over and betray the son

of God for silver, and he did that, and then

he realized at one moment that he had made a

mess of his life. He tried to give the money

back and they wouldn't take it because it was blood money.

Now he was devastated by this desire to be rich

in his own life, that his end was to take

his own life because of the mess he had created.

And so that's exactly what Paul is mentioning here. The

love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.

It plunges people into ruin and destruction. Man, That's what

we see in the life of Judas. So how do

we know if this warning applies to us? I think

we have to ask ourselves what is driving my life?

A desire for godliness or the pursuit of more things,

more wealth? What occupies your thoughts throughout the day. What

are you constantly planning for, or dreaming about or worrying over?

What shapes our decisions? And what are we willing to

sacrifice our time, our family, or maybe even our integrity

to obtain In this life? The issue is not whether

you have money, but whether money has your heart. Maybe

your goal isn't to become a millionaire, because that would

be extravagant, right, But maybe you find yourself constantly wanting more.

A bigger house, a boat, a newer vehicle, the latest phone,

another vacation, more land, more toys, more comforts, more nice things.

Our culture constantly tells us that contentment is found in

giving your heart what it desires. If you can't afford it,

now take out a loan, put it on the credit card.

Dead is nothing but a tool. That's what our culture

wants us to believe. But Paul says the opposite, a

heart consumed with getting more is a heart in danger.

So when the pursuit of wealth becomes our greatest ambition,

we stop pursuing godliness. We begin making decisions based on

what provides the most profit. And this could definitely boil

down to time. What do we spend most of our

time doing and thinking about? Right? I mean, in my

own life this summer, my Bible study and my Bible

reading daily has kind of been ruined. I do it often,

but at the same time, my schedule. I've not kept

good control of my schedule, and so my daily Bible

reading has suffered. And I think it's because it's summer,

and our schedule is just a little bit more relaxed

at home. But that's where it begins, right, This slippery

slope begins by, well, I don't have time to read

my Bible yet. I'm gonna like do this and that

and take care of this first and then I'll get

to it. Right. It's this daily struggle that if you

if we don't put the first things first wherever it

is in your schedule. Right. I'm a big fan of

scheduling our Bible reading because if you don't schedule it,

if it doesn't have a place in the same place

every day in your life, it's soon it's going to

be forgotten or ignored or pushed back. Right. So for me,

it's the first thing in the morning. I need to

be in the Word before I eat breakfast, and before

anybody eats breakfast in my house, right, And if that

doesn't happen, it gets pushed back, and it gets put off,

and now like I'm a whole chapter behind in what

I'm supposed to be. Right, but in my own life,

that's where these heart desires begin to grow. It's that

that point where we leave our Bible reading, our time

with the Lord our prayer, life aside and other priorities

become great right. Sooner or later, maybe we have to

skip church on a Sunday because I've got this job

to do or this task to take care of right,

and it's not in the immediate you know, I'm gonna

depart from the church and pursue money. Does it happened

like that? It happens slowly and gradually, decision by scision.

The question isn't whether we have money. The question is

whether we are pursuing contentment in Christ or contentment in riches.

And one leads to godliness and the other leads to destruction,

which is what Paul teaches in the In the rest

of the verse ten, Paul also says the desire to

be rich leads to spiritual Ruin in verse nine, Paul

showed us the progression of sin. Now in the rest

of verse ten, he shows us where that progression leads.

It ends with a heart that has wandered away from

the faith because the love of money has replaced Christ

as its greatest desire. He calls the love of money

a craving. It's a desire that we either control or

we feed. We either deny the craving, or we give

in to it so that it grows. Now. I don't

know about you, so, I mean you might have cravings

for you know, Mexican food and pizza and things like that.

Can I tell you the worst one? For me? It's

late in the evening before bed, this little, this little

desire for a cookie begins or a brownie. I really

like cake, So I've made a few mugcakes in my life.

Those are easy, you just pop them in the microwave.

But there's that I know what it's like, that that

little if I here's what it is. I get out

of the shower. If I don't brush my teeth quickly,

it starts. But I've found that if I just brush

my teeth quickly, I'm it doesn't come. So there's a

little hint for y'all out there. Go with me. But

it's a little craving that I'm like, man, I could

use something sweet right now, and sometimes I give into it.

And sometimes a few times a week I give into it,

and then sooner or later the scale is going up.

And I'm honestly, I don't sleep that great when I

have sugar in my veins. I don't know if you've

noticed that. So there's a couple things. One of them

immediately I don't sleep well, and then another one happens

over a period of time that I start gaining weight,

and I'm like, oh, oh, I got a problem, right,

And so that craving there, that desire needs to be controlled.

And Paul is saying, the desire to be rich, the

desire to be wealthy is a craving, right, It's a

craving that some have wandered away from the faith and

pierced themselves with many pangs. I think that those cravings.

Controlling those cravings, that's what Paul's describing as as wandering

away from the faith. It happens that one small decision

at a time, we begin working a little more. We

neglect God's word, Prayer comes less, frequent time with family

is replaced by planning the next deal. Little by little,

our hearts drift until wealth occupies the place that Christ

wants held in our hearts. That craving for riches leads

us away from the faith. What is the first commandment?

You all remember what it is? You shall have no

other gods before me? Right? And so do you think

when our hearts have started to give in to that

desire for riches. And this our schedule changes, our habits change,

and slowly there's an exchange that's made. Where Christ once

took first place in our heart, maybe our schedule, our priorities,

our mind, our words from our mouth have slowly transitioned,

taken God off the throne and put the desire for

riches on top. It's really difficult to control that desire

once it's there. The love of money replaces the worship

of God. But Jesus said, we can't serve two masters.

We can't serve God and money. And so since money

can never give us enough security or hope or satisfaction,

we are left empty. We are left with having been

pierced with many pangs. The New American Standard Bible uses

the word griefs. We've been pierced with many griefs. I

really like that word there. And this idea of being

pierced is like a sword piercing through one's body. But

instead lots of scholars think that this pierced is more

like a piercing of the soul, that the soul has

been given up out of the worship from God now

to the worship of money. And so what ends up

Paul says, you're pierced themselves with many pangs, many sorrows,

many many really misery. Right, And so this one commentator,

George Knight, he says, he says, what's left after a

life that has been given over to money is a

life of guilt and broken relationships, spiritual emptiness, isolation and regret.

And so listen, sin in our lives, left uncontrolled and unchecked,

leads us to a life of misery. Its sin's own consequences,

that sin that controls our lives so much. It leads

us to seek what seems like pleasure and what seems

like joy and happiness, but it leads us to misery

and death, spiritual death, as if being pierced by a sword.

Money is a powerful tool, but it's a terrible savior.

What was originally a small desire in our hearts for

money has ended in a life of misery, far from

the Lord. I feel like it happens similar to how

you start scratching a mosquito bite, you know, like the

mosquito bites you, and it takes a little bit for

it to get red and puffy, and all this sudden

it's going to itch, and you've got a decision to make.

When it starts itching, Am I gonna scratch it? Or

am I gonna ignore it? Right? Once you start scratching, man,

it feels good, but it keeps on itching, and it

gets worse, and sooner or later you have scratched so

much that you have an open sore on your skin,

and it's not getting better until you give it the

right medicine. The heart's desire is for sin and contentment

apart from God. But if we give it what the

heart wants, we're going to be far from the Lord,

with an open wound in our soul, filling it with

the many pleasures and experiences of the world all that

it can offer, and we will never be satisfied, will

never be at peace. So instead we know that our

hearts truly need Jesus. The solution for Adam and Eve

was not creating fake coverings out of fig leaves or

hiding from God behind a bush to get out of

his sight or out of his judgment. The healing came

from God searching for them to provide salvation from the serpent.

God sought them and wanted to deliver them by his

grace and mercy through giving his son to them. What

we must do is realize that our hearts are serving

another God, repent before our Lord, and trust that Jesus

paid the penalty for our sin and forgives us no

amount of money. Investing success providing for our family will

ever satisfy our hearts like Jesus will. The answer to

the love of money isn't trying harder to love money less.

As Pastor Jonathan said a few weeks ago, The answer

is loving Christ more. Right. So, as we go throughout

our lives, if we are not fostering a love and

a desire for the Lord, that love for him is

going to decrease, and whatever else we're spending time and

energy on is going to increase. Where we exchange that

love of God for love of things right Romans one,

Paul says they knew that I was a creator and

the all powerful God, but they exchanged worship of the

Creator for created things right, And then we see that

downward spiral in Romans chapter one where God gives them

up to a debased mind to do what ought not

to be done. But we can be saved and prevented

from that if we will repent of our sin and

turn and say, Jesus, my heart loves everything else but you.

But I know that you are the only savior that

will ever satisfy me. You are the good God who

loves me so much that you gave your son as

a sacrifice for me. And I need help to worship

you for my entire life. Help me to make my

mind to think upon your goodness and your grace and

your love every single day, because my heart is prone

to wander, because my heart wants to be satisfied with

lesser pleasures created things that are only meant to point

me to you. So where are you searching for contentment today?

Is it in Christ alone? Or is it in something else?

That's the question here that Paul's message wants to point

us to. What are the desires of our hearts? Where

is our worship? So I'll ask the band they can

go ahead and come on up, And I want you

to spend this time during this next song, to consider

where are my priorities in my life? Where is my time?

Where is my energy? What are the desires of my

heart that lead me each day? Right? Are they for

God and his glory and to honor him? With my

whole life. Maybe your struggle is not for riches, maybe

your struggle is different, but I think it still starts

with the desire of the heart. Paul's talking about the

love of money here being a root of all kinds

of evil. But there's desires for other things that take

us away from worship of our Lord. And whatever that

desire is in your life, that's the desire that must

be identified and controlled. When we have those cravings for

something other than our Lord, will you buy your heads

with me? Father, God, we come to this passage today,

and Lord, I'm convicted. I'm convicted because there has been

times in my life and Father, I know in these

heroers' lives where we just choose other things they take

priority over you. And so Father, I pray that this scripture,

Lord will pull out where our priorities are, what our

hearts desire, what our loves are, Father, and that we

would point them all back to you. Father, during this song,

I pray that you would convict us and lead us

to the cross, that you would tell us all you

have to do is see me, your need for me,

repent of your wrongs, and I will save you. Father,

help us to see our sin, our error, and lead

us back to our good savior. In Jesus name, we

pray Amen Jesus pain and all to him.