Biblical Manhood & Womanhood - 1 Timothy 6:1-10 - Foundations of Biblical Leadership - Pt.1

All right. Morning, family. Oh, thank you very

much. We're going to go through 1 Timothy chapter

1 Timothy 6:1–10

6, verse 1 through 10. Are you guys ready for

a journey? All right. Father, I want to thank

you so much for your word. Thank you that your

word is living and active, that you... have accomplished

all things, that the plan that you have set in

place before time is fulfilled and completed

in Christ and that will ultimately come to its

pinnacle moment. But Lord, until then, may we

be a people that are content in godliness. Godliness

with contentment is great gain. Help us to honor

and glorify you in all that we do, that you are

loved supremely, that we love your word, love

your ways, love your things. And Lord, help us

to walk with intentionality as your people. As

we go through this next chapter, help us to understand

the importance of what it means to lead as men

and to really understand. what true contentment

truly is. We praise you and thank you for your

faithfulness and goodness. In Jesus' name, amen.

I'm going to start off in chapter 5, verse 24,

1 Timothy chapter 5, verse 24, and then we'll

1 Timothy 5:24

go right into chapter 6, 1 through 10. It says,

the sins of some people are conspicuous, going

before them to judgment. but the sins of others

appear later. So also good works are conspicuous,

even those that are not cannot remain hidden.

Let all who are under a yoke as a bondservant

regard their own masters as worthy of all honor,

so that the name of God and the teaching may

not be reviled. Those who have believing masters

must not. Be disrespectful on the ground that

they are brothers. Rather, they must serve all

the better since those who benefit by their good

service are believers and beloved. Teach and

urge these things. If anyone teaches a doctrine,

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. But godliness with contentment

is great gain, for we brought nothing into the

world, and we can take nothing out of the world.

But if we have food and clothing, 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 the

root of all kinds of evil. It is through this

craving that some have wandered away from the

faith and pierced themselves with many. pangs.

So when we think about this, there's a lot here.

There's no possible way I could possibly even

get this whole chapter done in one day, and I'll

be, by the Lord's grace, be able to get through

these 10 verses. First principle, if you work

and have someone whom you answer to, you must,

like a slave, honor all, especially those who

are brothers, so that no one reviles the faith.

Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo

one another in showing honor. Romans 12, 10.

So what we see here is some very important things

when it talks about the slave or the bond servant.

How many of you guys work? That's okay. Don't

be ashamed. How many of you guys have a boss?

You're a slave. Yeah, mom. Okay. You're a slave.

That's what you are. You get paid to do a job.

But you cannot do anything you want at the job

you have. You can't go into the job and say,

you know what? I want to do whatever I want because

it's my free will. This is what I want to do.

You know what the boss is going to do? You're

fired. So you are a slave. We just call it employment.

Think about it. You get paid to do a job that

I tell you you will do if you're a boss. That's

what it means to be a bondservant. One who is

rewarded, who is given something for the services

that he has to do. They owe a debt, and so as

a result of owing a debt, they have to work that

debt off. Now, slavery in the scripture is a

very good thing. Slavery means that the person,

the master who is taking care of you, if he is

godly, takes very good care of you. provides

all your needs, gives you food, a home in some

cases. Those who are bond servants, those who

have to pay off a debt, at least they're not

stoned to death or put to death because they're

allowed to work off the debt they owe. That's

the point. We have a debt we owe, don't we? That's

why we are slaves to Christ. We can't pay off

a debt that he's already paid. But as a slave

of Jesus, I give him my life. The very breath

I have for his glory. The least I can do after

what he's done for me. That being said, notice

what it says in verse 1 and 2. Let all, all people,

if you don't own the business, if you're not

Elon Musk, then you're a slave. But you know

what the crazy part is? Even Elon Musk is a slave.

Because everybody has a boss. And the boss is

Jesus. He controls all things. Everyone answers

to someone. Let all who are under a yoke of bondservant

regard their own master as worthy of all honor.

This is where one of the major issues, and I

apologize for all of our friends who are union.

It's not to offend you. This is where unions

fail. You see, because the scripture doesn't

say, let all who are under the yoke of bondservant,

an employee, regard their union as master. You

get that? The boss has a right. The owner has

a right to tell you how he wants to run his business.

You owe me the debt. You will do what I respectfully

ask of you. Now, in this particular situation,

there's some bad masters. Not all masters are

good. But God here doesn't give you the option

of whether you should honor the bad boss or the

good boss. He says honor all of them. Why? Because

they are worthy of all honor. Why are they worthy

of all honor? Because God has placed them in

authority. All authority is given by God. All.

Not the ones you like. Not the ones you dislike.

Every last one of those authorities are given

by God. Can you imagine if I said, Lord, you

know, I don't think you're running your church

real well. I want to do it my way. You know what

he would say? You're fired. So, let all honor

their masters. So that, here's why. Here's why

you need to honor your masters, whether good

or bad. So that the name of God and the teaching

may not be reviled. The word teaching here, the

logos, the truth of Christ. What kind of name

do you present when your boss does something

you don't like because he's not a good boss?

Do you go to the lunchroom with other employees

and complain and slander and gossip and murmur?

Well, that's really godly. Scripture talks against

that, doesn't it? There should be no gossip,

no slander should be named among you as believers.

It's not an option as a believer, whether good

or bad boss, for me to talk down about the person

which God has told me I must give all honor because

he is worthy of that honor. Not because of his

behavior, but because of his position. Why is

this important? One of the things I think is

important in our society today, and it's one

of the things I really love about our elders.

is even though we are equal as elders, okay,

we are equal in authority, different in responsibility,

they still respect pastor. They understand the

office. They understand the greater responsibility.

They don't call me pastor because they're under

me. They call me pastor as respect. How many

times do we look at our president of the United

States and respect the office of president? I

may not like Joe Biden. I know him. Not like

really good, but he was my senator. He was not

a good man, but he was the president. Remember

the office in which our president sits, the man

that God has placed in that position. He is president.

The office demands worthy of all honor, whether

you like it or not. Same thing with your boss.

Who sits at a desk and runs and manages a particular

department or the owner of the company. They're

worthy of all honor. God has placed them there.

Remember whose name you carry when you sit and

start to murmur and complain and slander. You

must understand that when people see us behave

in that way, it brings revile against the teaching.

of the Word of God. It makes the Word of God

look worthless. Is it worthless to you? Or is

the law of God sweet honey, precious, more precious

than gold? It's a question you need to ask. Verse

2, those slaves who have believing masters, these

are slaves whose masters are believers in Christ,

must not be disrespectful. on the ground that

they are brothers. Just because you have a brother

who is a boss doesn't mean that you should take

advantage of them. As a matter of fact, it says

the opposite. You should work so hard to outwork

your boss, to show honor to your boss in such

a way that you are willing to outdo him in service

to him so that others may see the name of God

and the teaching be exalted. Look what it says.

Those who have believing masters must not be

disrespectful on the ground that they are brothers.

Rather, the slaves, they must serve all the better

since those who benefit by their good service

are believers and beloved. What he means is that

if you have a boss who is a believer, You should

be working to the point to outdo him, to show

him honor and glory, to make him look good in

front of the one who owns the business in such

a way that you are seen because he takes good

care of you. One of the things I've, and for

those who worked for me, my wife sitting over

there at one time, this was one of the principles

that as a manager, as a boss, was very important

to me. One, I would purpose to outwork the employees.

The boss cleans toilets. You'll see that here.

The same principles that I did when I was working

in the secular world, I do here. I get dirty.

And the importance of that is that those who

are under me see the slave mentality, the servant

mentality that a master should have, that one

who is an overseer should have. Jesus says that,

does he not? If you want to be a leader, you

must be a servant of all. And this is the idea

here, in that my employees would work really

hard for me, so much so that I would go the extra

mile for them. I would want to give them more

money. I would go before the owner and say, listen,

they're killing it. They deserve so much better.

And the boss would go, well, you're the ones

looking good. I'm only as good as the employees

are. That was the idea. And so they must serve

all the better since those who benefit by their

good service are believers and beloved. Notice

what Paul says here. Teach and urge these things.

Are you willing to outdo your boss to bring him

honor and glory? Second principle. Godly men,

do what we do not for our sake but for yours

that you may grow in the full knowledge of our

Savior King. For we are not like so many, peddlers

of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned

by God in the sight of God, we speak in Christ.

2 Corinthians 2 .17. We don't do what we do for

money, for gain. We do what we do for the kingdom

and for our God. That's the problem with some

of these men I see, especially on TV. We will

talk about a couple of those in a minute. I don't

know why I have to continue to do this, but it

says expose them. And here is one of those examples.

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 buffed up with conceit and understands

nothing. This word, anyone, same word, tis. A

certain one. Those who are not of the family.

That's the idea here. They act like they're the

family. They're in the group with the family,

but they're really not part of the family. They

teach different. They bring about heresy. And

so this idea, if anyone teaches a different doctrine

and does not agree with the sound words. This

word, sound words, is the same word where we

get hygiene from. Hygieno is the word here. Hygieno,

can you imagine? It means to be clean. It means

to be without dirt. So hygienologos, the true

and incorrupt doctrine. So if anyone does not

agree with the true and incorrupt doctrine of

our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords

with godliness, this word godliness means doctrines

that promote Christ -likeness, he is puffed up

with conceit, meaning this. He thinks he knows

better. What's interesting about this word conceit

is tufao. It means to render foolish or stupid.

Now think about that. If someone teaches a different

doctrine, doesn't agree with the true and incorrupt

doctrine of Christ, and does not teach in accordance

with the doctrines that promote Christlikeness,

he is foolish and stupid. That's the word. I

know. That's from the city. You can hear that

in me. That's just the way it is. It's not stupid.

It's stupid. Okay? Now think about that. They

think they know so much that they actually look

dumb. And they understand absolutely nothing.

Give me some examples. Creflo Dollar? Stupid.

Kenneth Copeland? Stupid. Stephen Furtick? Stupid.

Why? The reason why you can say that without

coming off slanderous, is because they're not

teaching in accordance with sound doctrine. That's

the point. The point is their teaching is foolish

and stupid. They're leading you astray. Can a

blind man lead a blind man and not fall into

a hole? That's the foolishness of bad teaching.

And we need to start to understand this as we're

living in the days we live in, because there

are a lot of teachers out there. As a matter

of fact, they teach such foolish and stupid things.

They have no understanding whatsoever that they

actually convince other people to give them $1

,000 for a jet. And then they promise that if

they get the $1 ,000, that God will give them

a hundredfold what they give. Now think about

that. They go to the poor people, convince them

to give $1 ,000, and the poor people just became

more poor. That's called peddling the gospel

for profit. And what do they keep doing? Feeding

these people. What do they keep doing? They keep

funding these TV programs, TBN. They're not godly

TV programs. They're not teaching the truth.

They're not teaching what it means to be content.

They're doing the opposite. They're telling them,

you can't be content in your poverty. What they're

saying without even saying it is that Jesus is

not sufficient for you. In order for you to be

favored with God, you've got to give me more

stuff so that God will bless you like he's been

blessing me. As I've been convincing you stupidly

to give me your money. Why? Because I'm giving

you a stupid lie and you believe it. That's the

idea here. Think about that. So he is puffed

up with and rendered foolish and stupid. And

he understands nothing. This is what it says.

He, this false teacher, has an unhealthy craving.

Nasao is the word here. An ailment of the mind.

He has a morbid fondness for controversy. Like

think about this is what God is saying here.

God looks at these men and said, you are morbid.

Your mind is so bent and broken that you will

contrive ways to convince people to give you

more. Jesse Duplantis is an example of this.

So he has an unhealthy craving, a nasao, an ailment

of the mind, a morbid fondness for controversy

and for quarrels about words, the trivial and

empty things. They say stupid stuff. What happens

to these kind of people? Think about it. This

is what it says. These people produce, which

produces envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions.

and constant frictions among the people who are

depraved in mind and deprived of the truth. Isn't

that what happens in their churches? Now think

about that. So when you look at T .D. Jakes and

you see the complete and total destruction of

his quote -unquote ministry because he was doing

things in secret. You know. Why? Because he envies.

He has dissension. He slanders. He has evil suspicions.

He's in constant friction among the people. He's

deprived of the truth, and they are. Imagining

that godliness is a means of gain, like you could

pay for it. No, you suffer for godliness. You

want to be godly? Suffer well, is the idea. Third

principle. We come into this world with nothing,

we will leave it the same way. The lack of contentment

breeds failure in a Christian's life. Here's

a principle I talk about a lot with you guys

about Christian victory. You want to be victorious

in your Christian life? Be content in your suffering.

You want to be victorious in your Christian life?

Be thankful for the little you got. Because you

know who gave you that little? God Almighty.

And the reason why he gave it to you is because

he loves you. Well, I want more. That's the problem

in America. You know what real privilege is?

Is expecting something greater than you deserve.

You want more? Be faithful with the little. That's

the story we learn about the men with the talents

in chapter 25 of Matthew. Not that I am speaking

of being in need, for I have learned in whatever

situation I am to be content. I know how to be

brought low, and I know how to abound in any

and every circumstance. I have learned the secret

of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.

I can do all things through him who strengthens

me. I want you to understand this something.

This is one of the most understood verses. We

plaster this everywhere. It's not that I can

be the greatest this or the greatest that because

in Christ I can do all things. It's not what

he means here. When it says I can do all things

through Christ that strengthens me is I can suffer

because Christ gives me the strength to suffer.

I can live in abundance and be a steward of the

things that God has given me because Christ has

given me the strength to do that. I also can

learn to live with very little. only have food

and clothes on my back. And I can do it with

joy. Why? Because Christ has strengthened me

to do so. So let me give you a little story.

When I first started ministry, and I have my

family as a testimony of this truth, I made $400

a month. Four kids, married, lived in a house

with two acres of land, which my dad owned, and

didn't make me pay rent because I couldn't. And

I will tell you, in that one year, God had blessed

us beyond measure to the point we never needed

for a thing. Why? Here's why. The principle.

You guys ready? Right? Seek first his kingdom

and his righteousness and he will add all these

things unto you. You see, here's the reality.

Contentment and provision has a condition. The

condition is him and his kingdom. You seek his

righteousness and his kingdom and he will take

care of you. We lived greater in that one year,

two years almost. than we ever have. Have we

not, honey? It was amazing. Why? Because we understood

it meant to suffer well. We're okay with whatever

God provides. And he taught us stewardship. And

it's still a practice that we work hard at all

the time. It's not easy. Now, that being said,

verse 6 through 10, but godliness with contentment.

I'll talk as the word here. Sufficiency of Christ

in life. Godliness with contentment. Sufficiency

of Christ in life is great gain. You want to

have victorious living? Let Christ be your everything.

That is your victory. For we brought nothing

into the world, and we cannot take anything out

of the world. You were born with nothing, literally

not even clothes on your back. You're going to

leave the same way, though they bury you with

one and stick you in a box. Guess what gets left

behind? The clothes. Our body is a temporary

place of dwelling. Our spirit will leave the

same way it came, with nothing but the source

of life, Jesus Christ. And if you don't know

Christ, you leave with absolutely nothing, not

even Christ. So don't walk away today without

knowing if he is calling you and has elected

you into his family. Don't walk away without

surrendering to that call. And I will give you

the gospel. I have to now. Christ died on the

cross, was buried, and rose again on the third

day to give you life. We are sinners. There is

no one who comes to God, no not one. No one desires

him. No one seeks him. If the spirit of God is

placed upon your heart today and he is present

in you, you better respond. And you will. The

scripture says, repent and believe the gospel

which I just gave you. Come to him now. Confess

him as Lord now. And you will. That being said,

Verse 8, but if we have food and clothing, with

these we will be content. How many of you guys

got food and clothing? Is that enough for you?

If you didn't have a house, would that be enough

for you? Would Jesus be sufficient for you? If

you didn't have a car, is Jesus sufficient for

you? If the kids didn't have all the toys they

want, would Jesus be sufficient for them? If

the only thing that you ever had was food and

clothing, would that be sufficient for you? Because

Christ is sufficient. I'll tell you this. I'd

rather have Jesus than the very breath that I

have today. It's only by God's grace that I'm

here. It's only by his mercy that he keeps me

here. It's only by the very work that he is accomplishing

through us as his people that we are here. We

have one purpose and one purpose only. That is

to live for him and him alone. He is sufficient.

He is more sufficient than the very food, than

the very clothing, and the very breath. that

we have. He does it because He loves us. But

those who desire, those who have an affection

to be rich fall into temptation and into a snare.

Pagis is the word here. Allurements and seductions

of sin. You want to be rich? I'm going to tell

you right now. That very desire to be rich will

pull you into temptation. It will seduce you

and allure you to sin. Very few men who are millionaires

are godly. Very, very few. And when you find

the godly ones, you wouldn't even know that they're

millionaires. They live as paupers, but they

give everything away. Think about that. They

are good stewards of the things that God has

given them. Why are there rich people in the

world? There are rich people in the world because

they have understood the principle of stewardship.

All of them. It doesn't matter which one it is.

Do you know why Elon Musk is the richest man

in the world? It's because he has stewarded his

stuff. So much so that now he has to come to

the government and force us to steward it. Basic

biblical principles of stewardship he has to

bring into our government because our government

can't steward the money that God has provided.

And this is what he says, and it's true. If we

don't take care of the money that the taxpayers

pay, there will be no country. I want you to

get that. What better person to be able to do

that than someone who has stewarded it so well

that he's the richest man on the planet, and

he's doing it at zero cost. He doesn't even get

paid to do this. He volunteered it. That doesn't

mean he's godly. It's far from that. But there's

some things we can learn from the rich, and that

is the understanding of stewardship. There are

those who spend it a lot and spend it foolishly,

but there are those who do take very good care

of their money. Why are they poor? Why does God

allow the poor to be here? Why can't all the

rich in the world, I mean, we have like 20 -some

billionaires, I think, or more than that. How

come they can't make everybody come out of poverty?

I mean, they have enough money to do it. Between

all the billionaires, I mean, them alone, just

them alone is more than any country's GDP. Why

are they poor? I'm going to make it clear for

you. Because Jesus said so. Jesus said there

will be poor because he says they're going to

be poor. Think about that. There's something

about the poor that most people don't understand.

They don't understand the principle of stewardship.

One, they're poor because they haven't learned.

Two, they're poor because the conditions and

the environment in which they live, that's part

of where they live. You would go into some of

the poorest countries and you would walk into

some of those poorest tribes and you would go

in and you would have a conversation with...

the leader of that tribe, and you would assume

he's poor because he has a dirt floor, but he's

the richest man in the village. What you conceive

as poverty is not poverty. Just because he doesn't

have a three -bedroom house with two bathrooms

and a half a bath, a dining room and a kitchen,

doesn't have heat and air conditioning, doesn't

drive around in a car like we do in America,

doesn't make him an impoverished man. But we

as Americans think we can go in and take care

of their issues and fix their problems because

their problem's poverty. This is what Jesus said.

You will not always have me, but you will always

have the poor. You know why I think God leaves

the poor in the world? As a trust to you. To

teach you how to serve, care, give, surrender

your lives to the service of others. Because

without the poor, who do you serve? Yourself.

It's a reminder of where God kept us from and

a reminder of the work that we must do. You will

always have the poor, but you will not always

have me, Jesus says. So let's stop trying to

fight to cure poverty. And how about if we deal

with ourselves in our own heart and start learning

to give and serve and love in the needs of that

community? Learning to adopt or adapt ourselves

to the community in which we go. Don't go to

try to fix something that don't need to be fixed.

Kind of the idea here. That being said, when

we desire to be rich, we end up going into these

allurements and seductions of sin, into many

senseless and harmful desires that plunge, the

word plunger means to sink into the deep, like

a ship sinking. Remember that? Remember in chapter

one, it talks about the shipwreck? They plunge

people into ruin, into death and destruction.

The word destruction means to perish with misery.

People like that, people who desire to be rich,

bring death and perish with misery. Why? Because

for the love of money is the root, the reason,

the cause, the origin, the source of all kinds

of evil. The love of money makes you think you

are God. What does this all kinds of evil mean?

It means crime, breaking of divine and human

law. It is through this craving that some have

wandered away from the faith. Now I want you

to think about that. The love of money, the kinds

of evil, the crime and the breaking of divine

and human law. Doesn't that sound familiar? Doesn't

that sound familiar? Just a little bit? And we

defend certain people, certain politics. Certain

ways when the very thing that they're doing and

practicing is crime. It's evil, as the scripture

says. When is the church going to start calling

all of them out for their evils? The breaking

of divine and human law. Why? For the sake of

money. I want you to think about that. You're

30 -something years old, 40 maybe. and you seek

a position on the House of Representatives, and

your average salary is about $125 ,000 a year,

but by the time you get done your second year

of $125 ,000, which is $250 ,000, providing that

you saved all that money and didn't invest it

all, because you can't, you got bills, two years

later, you're worth $5, $6, $7 million. I wonder

how they got that money. They wrote a book. Corruption

runs rampant. where money is the desire of all

things. It is through this craving that some

have wandered away from the faith and pierced

themselves with many pangs, the scripture says,

and all -consuming pain and sorrow. What they

realize when it's all done and they're at the

end of their life and they're about to take their

last breath, all of this was for nothing. Nothing.

Why? Because when you come into the world, you

come into the world with nothing, and you leave

the world with nothing. So what was the point

for the future of your grandchildren? What kind

of legacy did you leave? They shipwrecked their

life. This is what Paul says to Timothy in chapter

1, verse 18 and 19. This charge I entrust to

you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the

prophecies previously made about you, that by

them you may wage the good. warfare, holding

faith and a good conscience. But, he doesn't

use the word but, but I'm putting it there just

so you understand. By rejecting this, some have

made shipwreck of their faith. Some have plunged

into the deep. Isn't that interesting? So the

men who do not seek godliness with contentment,

the men who just want to be rich, the men and

women who teach a different doctrine and do not

agree with the true and incorrupt doctrine of

Christ, they refuse to teach what is in accord

with the doctrines that promote Christlikeness,

they shipwreck their lives, and they live defeated

lives every single day. I don't want that for

you. Contentment is the answer. When we are content,

when we know that our sufficiency in Christ is

enough, you need nothing else. You'll want nothing

else. You'll desire nothing else. That everything

else that we get is a gift. My wife is a gift.

My kids are a gift. My home is a gift. It is

a temporary moment for me to have enjoyment in

the life which God has given me. And it's a short

moment. I'm 54. I'm really trying to be 104.

I talked to John about that. I said, John, I

want to be 104. And he says, I don't know about

that. That was a good joke, John. I liked it.

You never know. I don't know my day. So the question

for me is, and the question for you is, do I

want to live life with contentment and live a

life without undue suffering, suffering I put

on myself? because I'm not taking good care of

myself? Or do I want to live with contentment

and godliness with a reduced amount of self -suffering?

Because Lord knows, I am totally in the mood

for a twist ice cream in a waffle cone. I can

have one. It's been four years. And plus, it's

at Rita's, which makes it custard. No, it's not

custard. It's frozen yogurt. It's better. Oh,

come on. You guys are killing me. I'm going to

go get one. So I hope you guys get the understanding

of why contentment, godliness with contentment

is great gain. Be thankful of what you got. Live

for him now. The Lord knows when he comes back,

what we get as a reward because we have an inheritance

is far greater than any of this stuff we could

ever desire. Father, I want to thank you so much

for your goodness. Thank you, Lord, for your

word. Thank you that godliness with contempt

is great gain. To you be honor and glory, power

and might. And may your people find all of their

sufficiency in you and you alone. We praise you

and thank you. You are enough, Lord Jesus. Amen.