Godliness and Greed

1 Timothy 6:6-10

Immanuel – 1/25/26

          We return to the concluding chapter of 1 Timothy as Paul continues his final descent, ready to land the plane. As the final descent began last week, we heard Paul lambasting false teachers, decrying them as conceited and foolish. The false teachers in Ephesus, and any others like them, trample underfoot the temple of God. The church is the household of God, the pillar and buttress of the truth; as such, Paul and Timothy are fighting for the church!

          Yet even as they do, false teachers accuse them of being in it for the money. In verse 5, Paul says they imagine that godliness is a means of gain. Consider that again: false teachers look at true teachers, and they think the true teachers are in it for the money! Do you know what that’s called? Projection! The false teachers are the ones in it for the money (as we will soon see), and they project their intentions on everyone else, including those who are truly godly.

          The false teachers say godly teachers are in it for gain, and the Paul says, “We are in it for gain – great gain!”

          Read vs 6

          Remember my definition of godliness? God-centeredness: meaning our whole life is oriented around God. Our thoughts are towards him, our feet follow him, our hands serve him, our mouths speak his name. And let’s add to that definition, our hearts are content in him.

          Or, as we see in Deuteronomy 6, and then repeated by Jesus, someone who is godly is someone who yearns to love the Lord their God with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength.

          But this isn’t about centering our lives around any god. So many false gods fill the pantheons of human imagination and demonic deception. There is only one God: Creator, Sustainer, the Judge and Justifier, Yahweh – the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And Jesus has come from God, is one with God, and is the greatest revelation of God to humanity.

          [Jesus] is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.               -Hebrews 1:3

          Jesus is God and reveals God. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. He is the God we are to love. To be godly is to orient all of life around Jesus! To be godly is to be Christ-centered!

          And here’s what is most astonishing: God promises that when we desire Jesus like this, he gives us Jesus!

          God chose to make known how great…are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.                                  -Colossians 1:27

          Can you fathom the greatness of the riches of the glory of God? How could we? They are immeasurable, dumbfoundingly beautiful! Certainly, the glorious riches of God are enough to fill the desires of our desperately needy hearts.

Oh listen you needy hearts! The greatest of all God’s treasures is his one and only Son. He sent his beloved Son to live the perfect life we cannot, for we are sinners. Our sins are rebellion against our Creator, and the wages of those sins is death. But Christ took a sinners cross, and died the death we deserve. But praise God, Jesus did not remain dead, but three days later he rose from the grave, defeating our death and securing eternal life for all who believe. But if we trust Jesus gave us his life, and we give him our lives, God promises that our sins are forgiven and we shall inherit eternal life!

And if you trust in Jesus for forgiveness and life, God says he will take his Son and plant him in your heart. God’s greatest treasure dwelling in human hearts!

          If we want Jesus, if we desire to be near God through faith in Jesus, we get it all!

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

                                                                             -Psalm 37:4

          If godliness is treasuring Christ, and Christ is the reward of godliness, then godly people have already been given their heart’s greatest treasure.

          And now we arrive at the fullest meaning of Paul’s words “godliness with contentment is great gain.” Contentment is virtually the same thing as satisfaction. So let’s wrap Paul’s idea in synonymous words: Satisfaction found in a life oriented around Christ is great gain.

If it’s not obvious, it is great gain because you have been given your heart’s desire: Christ. And with him comes all things! As Paul writes to the Corinthians:

          So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether…the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.                                                                           -1 Corinthians 3:21-23

          Great gain indeed! By faith we have been given Christ, and with him we have been given all things! The world is yours, and you shall inherit it! Death is yours, for you will overcome it! Life is yours, and you shall have it without end! The present is yours, so soak in every drop with joy and peace before it passes! The future is yours, secured by our Almighty God, so be fearless as you face the days to come!

And if these things are truly our reality, like the Bible says, how can we not be content? If we a not content with Jesus, and the treasures of heaven that come with him, then what could possibly satisfy us!?

          It’s so ridiculously ironic. The false teachers accused good teachers of being godly for gain, but they have no idea how much gain the godly receive! It is more than any of us can ask or imagine!

          Foolish false teachers! They are thinking only of material gains. They are thinking of money, and the things money can buy – the possessions that you can’t take with you. So Paul makes crystal clear how silly these desires are for the godly.

          Read vs 7

          My Dad had two phrases he would repeat often: “Naked I came into the world, naked I will go.” When I was a kid, I didn’t realize he was referencing Scripture.

          And [Job] said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

                                                                                      -Job 1:21

          The other phrase my dad would repeat, especially in his latter years was, “You can’t take it with you.” Why cling to things? Why think they bring meaning, or happiness, or significance? You can’t even take it with you. I always loved that my dad had this kind of eternal perspective.

          And that’s exactly what Paul is espousing: that we too hold an eternal perspective. In light of eternity, material possessions are as nothing. The value they add to your life is an illusion – better yet, a delusion. Accumulation of stuff is utter meaninglessness. It’s chasing the wind. In and of themselves, riches and material possessions add nothing to what’s next.

          Be not afraid when a man becomes rich, when the glory of his house increases. For when he dies he will carry nothing away; his glory will not go down after him.     

                                                                                      -Psalm 49:16-17

          Taylor Swift, Jeff Bezos, Tom Cruz, all that wealth and power and fame and status, when he dies he will carry nothing away; his glory will not go down after him.

          Read vs 8

          Food and clothing is all we need to be content in life. Paul is talking about the basics of life, the things that sustain human life, things like food and clothing. He’s not trying to be exhaustive; he’s communicating a principle. I believe it’s a principle Jesus spoke of first.

Read Matthew 6:25-34

          Doubting God will provide causes anxiety. But anxiety also is born when we think God isn’t providing enough. He provides enough for the birds of the air. The lilies of the field have the richest adornments. Why do you need more than what God provides? Who are you that think you know better than he? O you of little faith!

Everything you have has been given by the hand of the Lord. If we are dissatisfied with what we have, we are dissatisfied with what he has given – like a ungrateful child unhappy with the life his parents have provided.

But you might think, “I have chronic pain. I can’t pay my bills. I have lost my love. I am so completely broken.” Paul has something to say about that too.

Read Philippians 4:11-13

We find the strength to be content in our suffering by treasuring Christ. That’s what “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” means! Because of the strength of Christ I can be content with suffering, content with poverty, content with illness, content with less.

Christ is the hope of glory, living in my heart. And I know that he will make all things new. Every pain, every fear, every impoverishment, he will one day resolve.

I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”

                                                                             -Revelation 21:3-5

So if we have food and clothing, and the things that sustain life, let us be content with these. For there is danger in craving more.

Read vs 9

“Those who desire to be rich” is not just about money, it also about possessions. Like I said last week, our culture is materialistic. It’s the air we breathe and we hardly recognize it. But make no mistake, materialism is greed. Thinking you need more money to be happy is greed. Thinking you need more stuff to be happy is greed. Another upgraded set of skis, the latest kitchen item the Instagram moms are raving about, the newly released Apple product, a lottery ticket with fresh numbers – greed, greed, greed. Give me more, more, more. Materialism is greed.

Things in and of themselves are not bad like money in and of itself is not bad. It’s the discontent with what God has given you that’s bad. It’s the desire for more that’s evil. It’s the continual searching for a dopamine hit in an Amazon shopping cart.

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”                                                                              -Matthew 6:19-21,24

Hear how Jesus links materialism and greed? So read 1 Timothy 6:9 like this: Those who desire to be rich and those who desire more stuff fall into temptation.

Hear the progression of verse 9. Desiring more money and more stuff has three calamitous falls.

1.      Fall into temptation. In this case, the temptation is wanting more. You get more, you’re tempted to want more. You’ve acquired, you’re tempted to think it’s not enough.

2.      Fall into a snare. A snare is a trap. Give into the temptation and fall into a trap. And when you are trapped you cannot get yourself out. You keep shopping. You keep wanting. You keep chasing the wind. You keep coming up short. The trap of greed and materialism is much like an inescapable hamster wheel; around and around you go, never actually able to find rest.

3.      You fall into many senseless and harmful desires. It’s amazing how one corrupted desire spiderwebs into others. You’re trapped in greed and can’t get out, so you step on other people to get ahead. You’re snared by materialism, so you start lying about how much you shop. And on and on it goes. One sinful desire births other foolish and damaging desires.

And if you fall all the way down, hitting all three of these calamitous branches, Paul says what happens in the end: You will be plunged into ruin and destruction.

“Plunged” carries the image of a ship sinking into ink depths. Being unsatisfied with what you have, wishing you were rich, constantly looking or more stuff, will plunge you into ruin and destruction. You cannot serve God and money!

Read vs 10

It’s not money that is evil, it’s the love for money. And in verse 10 Paul uses the word craving – it’s the craving for more that is wicked. Again, if you want more than what God has given you – discontent with his provision – then you are saying God has got it wrong. Who are you, O man, placing yourself above the Infinite One?!

That kind of mentality is exactly how people wander away from the faith. Thinking you know better than God’s provision is faithlessness, godlessness, conceited foolishness – just like the false teachers of verse 4.

And the “some” that have wandered away from the faith, well that’s Paul polemic way of referring to the false teachers in Ephesus and elsewhere. Just like when he says in 1:19-20, By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander.

We could add more names to that list in our day: Kenneth Copeland, Benny Hinn, Steven Furtick, Joyce Meyer, and more. They live fabulously wealthy lives; getting rich by feeding on the gullible in the church. Their appearance of “godliness” is entirely for gain. They have wandered away from the faith and pierce themselves with many pangs.

Imagine taking a spiked broomstick in your hand, sharp end pointed inward, and thrusting it into your gut so it bursts out of your back. Think of the mess and the pain and the death. And then think of doing that repeatedly. That’s the image Paul uses for the materialistic and greedy, for with their desires they pierce themselves with many pangs. In other words, they spear themselves repeatedly. Hear it loud and clear, you are killing yourself with materialistic and greedy desires! They will be your ruin and destruction!

Paul is ultimately referring to Judgment Day! If you have chosen to love money – or possessions – over God (since you cannot serve both) then you will be condemned to eternal death. Choosing temporary things over the Eternal God will earn you endless emptiness.

But listen, today is the day of salvation. There is still hope. Repent, and believe the gospel! You were killing yourself with your desires, running yourself through with greet and materialism. Such sins were your destruction.

But Jesus went to the cross and he ran himself through with your sins and mine. Nails were driven through his hands and feet. A spear was thrust into his side.

He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

                                                                             -Isaiah 53:5

That hole you’ve been trying to fill, that happiness you keep chasing with more stuff, Christ will fill it. He is enough. He will change the desires of your heart: He will give you a new heart – a heart that is whole. Come to him for forgiveness and life. Come to him for the first time in your life. Come again to him for the thousandth time, and let him rescue you once more from your sinful selfishness. Turn away from your deadly desires to the one who was pierced for you, who lived and died and lives again!

Let your desire for treasure be satisfied in the treasure of heaven. He beckons to you, and he awaits!

Let me supply a final caveat. It is good to want suffering to end, and to try to make things better. Working for more is not bad. The Proverbs continually encourage building wealth. It is good to work hard for more, to be diligent, to cause there to be growth. There is such a thing as godly ambition. But what is dangerous – deadly dangerous – is to be ungrateful for what you have, or to think you deserve more than what God had given you.

          What should we know? Godliness is not about getting more stuff and increasing your standard of living. Godliness is an active life of faith, following Jesus in obedience, content with wherever he leads regardless of the outward circumstances. Godliness with contentment will lead to everlasting gains!

          What should we believe? Jesus is heaven’s greatest treasure. He is yours by faith! Trust him and get everything!

          What should we do? Live simply. Be content with what God has given you. Build for the kingdom of God and not for yourself.

          Instead of seeking after more for your barns and bank accounts and bureaus, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.