Living Waters of Grace - 01.08.26

This is Living Waters of Grace, the teaching ministry of Lewis

Harold, assistant pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland

County in Greensburg, PA. Now here's Pastor Lewis as he

continues teaching through God's Word.

Paul was called to communicate the heart of God.

So Paul wasn't there to protest against slaves.

And we see the word slaves. This is not slaves the way that,

you know, certain groups of people had to endure.

Obviously I'm African American, so my experience and

understanding about slaves is much different.

He's not talking about a group of people who's being oppressed.

Slaves are actually people who serve other people, and some of

them give themselves to do it. What does it look like to speak

God's heart instead of just protesting the world's wrongs?

In today's message, Pastor Lewis explains that Paul was sent to

reveal the heart of God, not to March against every injustice.

When Scripture speaks of slaves, it's not describing the brutal

oppression some groups have endured.

It refers to servants who willingly bound themselves to

another. Paul's calling was bigger than

political reform. How do you focus on sharing

God's heart above every other 'cause now?

Here's Pastor Lewis in the Book of First Timothy, chapter 6,

1 Timothy 6 · chapter mention

with today's edition of Living Waters of Grace.

First Timothy Chapter 6. Now as we go into First Timothy

1 Timothy 6 · chapter mention 1 Timothy 6 · chapter mention

Chapter 6, this is going to be more about instruction, more

instruction that Paul is giving to his young son, Timothy.

And as I asked you, what helps me because I'm kind of my wife

and myself are kind of visual people.

And I like to envision Paul not just handing Timothy a letter,

but I like to envision Paul sitting before Timothy and

instructing him. Much like the way that you have

mentors that you sit in front of or people that you spend time

with. And I like to envision Timothy

sitting before his father in the Spirit and receiving all these

truths and receiving these instructions and how personal

Paul is about giving those instructions, both corporately

for the church. Because Paul knew that this

would be read. It was intended to be read

before the church, just like it was intended in God's

foreknowledge that it would be read before this church.

Amen. But I'd like to imagine the fact

that Timothy is getting this first hand instruction, these

things that can have serious impact on his life and also on

the life of the church. So as we read through this,

we'll begin to see how God in his foreknowledge and in his

sovereignty, how he speaks to very important situations,

specifically giving instruction to his young pastor Timothy.

So we start with verse one, and he says, let as many bond

servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy

of all honor, so that the name of God and his doctrine may not

be blasphemed. And those who have believing

masters, let them not despise them because they are brethren,

but rather serve them because those who are benefited are

believers. And beloved, teach, teach and

exhort these things. Timothy.

So basically what we're seeing here is that Paul is now

speaking to those who are in the church or about those who are in

the church who are slaves. Now when we see the word slaves

and now a lot of people, you know, feel like, well, wait a

minute. Why is Paul giving him

instructions about how to act as slaves and not being a little

harder about the fact that there are slaves?

And it's a very simple explanation for that.

Paul wasn't called to do that. He wasn't called to protest

against being slaves or not being slaves.

Paul was called to preach the gospel.

Paul was called to teach doctrine.

Paul was called to communicate the heart of God.

So Paul wasn't there to protest against slaves.

And we see the word slaves. This is not slaves the way that,

you know, certain groups of people had to endure.

Obviously, I'm African American, so my experience and

understanding about slaves is much different.

He's not talking about a group of people who was being

oppressed. Slaves are actually people who

serve other people, and some of them give themselves to do it

because they can't pay debts or they can't feed their families

or or they can't take care of themselves.

Or maybe they owed something and because they couldn't pay it,

they were sold into this. So Paul is saying it doesn't

matter about the fact that you're a slave.

What matter is that you are demonstrating godliness in the

fact that you are being a slave. So as we look at this today, how

will we communicate this today? We all have employers and we are

employees, so it would be the same thing.

How do we act on our job? How do we treat our bosses?

How do we respond to things on the job?

Now, this is particularly personal for me because just to

give you a little quick illustration of how wrong we can

do this thing, there was a time many years ago when I worked for

a company and I was one of the only salespeople in that company

and I had a boss. She was a little younger than

me, but she was ambitious. She wanted to work her way up.

So as we were going through different things, there were

some misfilings, there were some sales that got dropped.

And it wasn't me that did it, it was her who did it.

But she was the one who met with the Home Office and she blamed

it on me. And when I found out about this,

I confronted her and I was saved at the time.

And I confronted her and I wanted to know why.

And she admitted that she panicked.

And then she threw me under the bus because it was convenient.

She admitted that. So I had to do a lot of praying

because at that particular time, my heart went cold.

It went very cold. And I said I will no longer go

above and beyond again. I'll only do the bare minimum.

I won't even speak to her anymore.

I'll just come in, go in my office and do what I'm supposed

to do. And at that particular time, I

had a friend that I was in very close contact with and we would

get together from time to time and get into the word of God.

And he called me out on that. He said, brother, you are wrong.

You are wrong and God is not going to do anything to move you

out of that situation until your heart changes hit me right

between the eyes. So I had to repent.

So Paul is saying here, look, it doesn't matter whether they're

believing or unbelieving. You are to honor them.

That means respect them. You're to respect your bosses or

your owners or your masters. You respect them.

Why? So that the name of God and his

doctrine is not blasphemy. I was not being a very good

witness for Christ. Why would this woman ever even

consider being a Christian or giving her life to Christ if

this is how a Christian acts? I was called on that.

So Paul is saying to you just like he's saying to me, we got

to be a witness no matter what situation we're in.

We got to be a witness for Christ.

We have to be an example of testimony so that the name of

God is not blasphemed, so that the doctrine of God, the gospel

is not blasphemed. So then he goes on in verse 2

and he says, and those who have believing masters, let them not

despise them because they are brethren, but rather serve them

because those who are being benefited are believers and

beloved. You know, sometimes we can think

that if we're, if we're working for somebody who's a Christian,

you know, we think that we can slide a little bit, then we can

get some privileges that other people can't get.

You know, I can push things a little further to the to the

line. You know, I can push the

envelope a little further because hey, he's a Christian

just like me. You know, he ain't going to tell

on me or he's not going to come down hard on me or he's not

going to hold me accountable. Paula said no, no, we should

honor them and respect them as well.

In fact even more so, we should serve them even more because

they benefit. They benefit from our service of

them and they are brothers or sisters in the faith.

Why we wouldn't want to do anything that would bring or put

them in a position that they would have to make a tough

decision. Why put them in that position?

Why put them in a position where they may have to consider firing

you because you come in late all the time or because you're doing

things that you shouldn't be doing on company time, or

because you're disrespecting them or because your work is

half of what it could be? That's not a good testimony and

you're believing boss doesn't benefit.

So Paul deals with that right from the beginning and then he

goes into verse 3 and he says if anyone teaches otherwise and

does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our

Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with

godliness, in other words of the doctrine which conforms with

godliness or the doctrine that teaches godliness.

He is proud verse 4, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with

disputes and arguments over words from which come envy,

strife, revelings, evil suspicions, useless wranglings

of men, of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who

suppose that godliness is a means of gain.

Paul says from such, withdraw yourself.

So he says if anyone teaches otherwise, that means if anyone

teaches against the gospel, against the doctrine, against

the words of Jesus Christ, if anyone teaches against that, as

Christians we should not ever put ourselves in a position to

even listen to or to be persuaded by any doctrine or any

word that is contrary to the word of Jesus Christ, should not

even put ourselves in that position.

But Paul says if anyone teaches that way, you know, they're not

consenting to hold some words. So we shouldn't listen to them

if they're not consenting to hold some words, which are the

words of Jesus Christ and the things that he teaches and to

the doctrine which conforms with godliness.

We know what godliness is. Anything that someone would

teach that's contrary to godliness or God likeness should

not even be listening to that. We should not even be listening

at all. He says that.

Now this is the character of a person that does that.

Verse 4, He's proud. This is a person that's puffed

up with pride. They're teaching because they

want to just spell out their knowledge.

I'm deep, I'm deep. Listen, how deep this is, I'm

going to take another vantage point.

Look at this from another vantage point.

No, we only need to see it from 1 vantage point.

That's from the point of Jesus Christ.

So they start to talk about all these deep words and they get

obsessed. And this is a person who gets

obsessed over disputes. And really, when you study it

out, it's, it's really like a, a very sick desire to argue, a

very morbid desire to get into arguments.

And this is a person who's spilling out false doctrine, but

then they want to argue about it.

They want to create division about it.

They want to dispute with you about it.

You're sharing the word of God. They're talking about their

doctrine and trying to argue, to try to justify it.

And Paul says it's an obsession, it's a evil desire.

It's a sick desire to dispute and argue over words, over words

that they take in A twist to mean what it is that they want

the word to say. Paul said be careful with that.

Now, from this, from someone who teaches that the only things

that come out of that, the result of that kind of teaching

is what follows envy, strife, revelings, which is basically

abusive language, evil suspicions or evil surmisings,

useless wrangling. That's constant friction,

constant friction. People constantly opposing you,

constantly opposing you. You're teaching the gospel and

they're constantly opposing it with their own thoughts, their

own ways, their own words, their own theories, he said.

These are men of corrupt minds. That means their minds are

corrupt. They're defiled corrupt minds

and destitute of the truth, robbed of the truth.

They're robbed of the truth because they've abandoned the

truth for so long. So they're robbed of the truth.

Who suppose that godliness is a means of gain?

This is nothing more than the bad teaching of prosperity

gospel, nothing more than that. To see godliness as a means of

gain. It's a way to get money for

them. It's not about building up

lives. It's not about building people

up spiritually. It's not about for them.

It's not about edifying people or bringing in souls.

It's not about that for them. It's about let's teach this

prosperity message because it entices people and they make

money from it and they're using the gospel as a means, a means

of gain. That is not what the gospel.

That's a covetous attitude. It's a covetous attitude.

And then he says here in verse 6, now godliness with

contentment is great gain. And I just want to talk about

contentment just for a second. Contentment is basically an

inner sufficiency that keeps us at peace despite outward

circumstances. Some people can only be content

if they have enough money. Some people can only be content

if they're with the person that they want to be with.

Some people can only be content if the circumstances are in

their favor. That's the only way they can be

content. Paul is saying contentment is an

inner sufficiency, not based on anything outside of me.

It's not based on my bank account.

It's not based on the size of my house.

It's not based on me driving the car I want to drive.

It's not based on me being with this person.

Not because I like what's inside of them, because I like the way

they look on the outside. Paul is saying that's not what

contentment is. Godliness in the heart is true

contentment. Wealth can't even purchase that

wealth. Can't purchase that kind of

contentment wealth can't purchase it no matter how much

money you get, you still won't ever achieve contentment because

you're going to always want more.

These who depend on your wealth and your riches for peace and

contentment will never be satisfied, will never be

satisfied. But Job looked at it from a

different way back in Job chapter 1 and verse 21, he had a

Job 1 · chapter mention

very healthy perspective of contentment and money.

He says, listen, naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked

I shall return there in the Ecclesiastes 5 and 15, Solomon

said as he came from his mother's womb, naked shall he

return to go as he came, and he shall take nothing from his

labor which he may carry away in his hand.

So contentment has got to be our godliness, because it's our

godliness that goes beyond this world.

Riches only go as far as this world goes.

But once we leave this world, riches does us no more good.

It only goes as far as this world goes.

And Paul says from such people, people who have that attitude,

people who preach those things, he said withdraw yourself.

And he said godliness with contentment is great game for

seven. We brought nothing into this

world and it is certain we will carry nothing out of it.

And having now this is what Paul is saying is that shows

contentment. He says having food and clothing

with fees, we shall be content having food and clothing.

Those are the particulars. Those are the necessary things

that we have. Even Jesus himself said, look,

you know foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but

the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his own head.

He has nowhere to lay his own head.

Matthew 633 said, But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his

righteousness, and these things, these necessary things will be

added to you. Contentment is being satisfied

with the situation ordained by God.

So then we go into verse 9, which begins to talk about two

types of people as it relates to wealth, Two types of people.

The first one is those who desire to be rich.

Now these are people here in the church.

We're talking about the church. We're not talking about the

world. The first group of people that

he's talking about are those who desire to be rich.

And he says, so those who desire to be rich fall into temptation,

in a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which

drown men in destruction and perdition.

That's a very interesting picture when you think about

that, being a pitcher person. It says that those who desire to

be rich, they fall into temptation and a snare.

And we know that those things all have to do with what's going

on the inside of us. And the snare are pitfalls that

we fall into. And it says and have fallen to

many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction.

Now it's the picture of a man being taken down underwater,

being taken down and held down, weighted down by destruction by

their lusts and by perdition by their lusts.

They got so many things that they're lusting for.

It's like a weight on them because they can never attain it

all. So it's just constant, constant

worrying and constant striving for something that they can

never really achieve and be satisfied with.

And it's like a weight that takes them down and holds them

and drowns them in it. And then it says here in verse

10. And this is a very well used

scripture, but probably one of the most quoted scriptures.

That we have in the New Testament, it says for the love

of money is a root of all kinds of evil.

Now, money is not evil. God created money, Money is not

evil, he said. The love of it is what's evil.

Because once we develop a love for money, it becomes an idol

and we put it in a position that's even higher than we put

God, and we begin to do all the kind of things in order to

obtain money because of our love for money.

And it said it is not the root of all kinds of evil.

The Bible says it is a root of all kinds of evil.

There are many different paths and ways to end up on an evil

path. Money is just one of them, money

is just one of them. But it is indeed a way to end up

on an evil path. The love of money for which some

have strayed from the faith in their greediness and pierced

themselves through with many sorrows, The love of money.

And what is so sad about that? Because the love of money leads

men into many, many ways of air, many ways of air, the desire of

riches are traps. It leads us into bondages and it

causes the word of God to become unfruitful.

It being choked out the cares of this world and the deceitfulness

of riches and the desires of other things.

That's the word speaks about in Mark chapter 4, verse 18, which

Mark 4:18

in the parable, the sober, it chokes out the truth of the word

and instead people focus on the cares of this world and the

deceitfulness of riches and riches are deceitful and the

desire for other things. These foolish and harmful lusts

will take us down. And it has destroyed many of

people. It's the love of money that has

destroyed marriages. It's destroyed companies, it's

destroyed relationships. It destroys families.

Someone gets a trust or something and and you know,

someone passes and when it's time to go read the will, Oh my

goodness, people begin. I mean, they stop speaking

because they got more than they got.

It breaks up families. People stop speaking for years

over money and the bad thing about it and I've watched this

happen before when it says here for some have strayed from the

faith in their greediness and pierced themselves through with

many sorrows. There's so many people that I've

seen I've witnessed myself that has a gift given by God to

either sing. There are great musicians or

very gifted communicators of the word of God, and they may start

out using that gift to serve the Lord.

They start out using that gift to serve the Lord.

But as the love of money creeps into their hearts, because

somebody said to them, you could be making so much more money.

You could be driving so much of A better car.

You could be living in such a bigger house, You could be

having so many more things at your disposure, and they begin

to leave the faith and begin to sing for the world.

And I've watched people as their lives crumble as a result of

that. This has been another

encouraging edition of Living Waters of Grace.

Pastor Louis Harrell has shared some good reminders for us to

learn and walk in today as he's teaching through the books of

First and Second Timothy. There are useful practices and

advice that the apostle Paul offers to Timothy in these books

from a fellow pastor, Paul imparts some wisdom to Timothy

about solid leadership and what some of the criteria should be

for leadership. There are specific passages

directed toward men and women, respectively, and All in all,

there's much to gain in coming to an awareness of God's heart

for each person and God's purposes for each one.

We're happy that you've taken the time today to listen.

We invite you to come here the next edition.

In the meantime, when you have some time to spare today, go

check out our website, calvarychapelonline.com.

There you'll find additional messages as well as a variety of

resources and information about how to meet with us in person.

We're also on Facebook, so you can be a part of what we share

there as well. You can stay plugged in with

this ministry via YouTube to watch previous teachings or tune

into our live stream. Living Waters of Grace is a

ministry of Calvary Chapel Westmoreland.

Before we go today, we ask that you share this program with

others and invite them to listen on Grace FM at 91.7.

That's all we have for today, but we're so glad that you've

been with us. There's more to dig into here in

First and Second Timothy, so let's gear up for some more

great teachings from Pastor Lewis next time here on Living

Waters of Grace.