Turn with me, if you would, to
1 Timothy 6. 1 Timothy 6, we have been here
quite a bit, finishing out this book. I've enjoyed going through
this book so much, and I have just felt led to stay in it for
the last couple of weeks. There is so much to learn in
this. There's so much teaching in this
book. And I pray the Lord will teach
us something today. Wednesday night, we looked at
verse 17, and verse 17 is part of a sentence. If you look at
it, verse 17, 18, and 19, they are all one sentence. And I want us to look at the
sentence this morning. I'm going to focus on 18 and
19, but let's read from verse 17
to verse 19. It says, charge them that are
rich in this world, that they be not high minded, nor trust
in uncertain riches. but in the living God who giveth
us richly all things to enjoy, that they, charge them, that
they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute,
willing to communicate, laying up in store for themselves a
good foundation against the time to come that they may lay hold
on eternal life. You want me to read that to you
again? I love going verse by verse through the scripture,
otherwise there are some verses you'd never read, you'd never
deal with. And these are wonderful verses
right here. He said, charge them that are rich in this world. And that includes us. All right. He's talking to us. He said, charge them, and that
means exhort them, compel them, command them. Paul is talking to Timothy here.
Timothy is to be the pastor. And he said, this is your responsibility. Command them, Timothy. Stand
up in front of our brethren and command them to do good. Command them, charge them to
do good works. Charge them to be ready and willing
to distribute and to communicate. That means to give of their riches. Those that are rich in this world,
command them to give of their riches and give of their good
works. That in doing so, they might lay up in store for
themselves. A good foundation so that in
the time to come, they might lay hold on eternal life. That's an interesting way for
Paul to end his letter, isn't it? That's an interesting way
for Paul to end his letter. Charge them to do good works
so they can lay a good foundation for themselves and lay hold on
eternal life. Got a little question for us.
Is salvation by works or grace? Which one is it? Is salvation
by works or by grace? Now, according to what we just
read, that kind of makes it sound like it's by works, doesn't it? It is. Salvation is by works, just not our works. Salvation is most definitely
by works. If the Lord will let us really
get a hold of this, I believe it'll be a blessing to us. Salvation
is most definitely by works, just not our works. Salvation is by the works of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace, the ultimate answer is
salvation is by grace. Why do we say that? It's because
this is what grace is. Grace is God Almighty, the Godhead,
freely giving to us the works of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
what grace is. God giving us Christ's works. Here you go. Free gift. It's
a free gift to you. He earned it. He worked it. He worked out your salvation
and gave it to you. There it is. He applied his works
to you. He counted his works That's what
grace is. It took a great work to save
God's wicked, sinful, evil people we just heard about. For that
peace to be made, it took a great war. It took a great war to make
that much peace. It took a great work to create
that much rest. I have three points for this
message, and the first point is this, and I believe, I pray
the Lord will cause us to really see this, okay? Three points,
here's the first one. The commandment of God will always
be, it will forever be, do good works. It will forever be. Don't be
shocked when you hear God Almighty say to us, here's my commandment
to you, do good. Do good works. God is not the author of confusion. He will not tolerate sin. The Lord will and we're going
to find out tonight that he's the same. He's still the same.
He didn't tolerate sin in Genesis. He doesn't tolerate sin now. He will forever command us to
obey his word. Here's the commandment of God
to us. Obey that word. Do good. Turn with me to Romans
three. Verse 24 says, Romans 3, 24,
it says, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus, whom God had set forth to be a propitiation. That means a bloody victim. That
means a covering, a sacrifice, an atonement. whom God hath set forth to be
a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his
righteousness. That means good works, that's
what it means. For the remission of sins that
are passed through the forbearance of God, to declare, I say at
this time, his righteousness, that he might be just and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Where is boasting then? On our part, it's excluded. By what law? Of works? Nay, but
by the law of faith. Therefore, we conclude that a
man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Is he the God of the Jews only?
Is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also. Seeing
it is one God which shall justify the circumcision by faith and
the uncircumcision through faith. Do we then make void the law
through faith? And this is, this verse right
here is the reason we turned here. Do we make void the law
through faith? Here's the answer. God forbid.
Yea, we establish the law. We establish the law. God's law is not the enemy. It's not. It's not. That's his heart's
desire. That's his will. God's law is
good. God's law is holy. It is just. It is right. David said, and
all of God's people say, I love thy law. I love thy law. I cannot wait. In glory, we are
going to live and experience the law. That will be our character. Look at John 14. Turn with me
over to John 14. Our Lord said to His disciples,
And what I'm trying to get across right now is our Lord does not
use idle words. He does not just say words that
he does not mean. John 14 verse 15, our Lord said
to his disciples, if you love me, keep my commandments. That's what he said. If you love
me, Keep my commandments. I'll tell all of us this, starting
with me. All of us ought to strive to
do good. We ought to desire to do good. We should not just give in to
sin. We just read in Romans three,
we're not justified by the law. We shouldn't just, do we just
throw out the law? No. We shouldn't just give in
to sin. We shouldn't just be okay with
lewdness and wickedness, which is all that the world is anymore.
We shouldn't be okay with this world. We shouldn't do things
that, that will cause us to in the end, be in the gutter or
jail. Shouldn't do it. I don't believe we ought to act
like this wicked world. I don't believe we ought to be
okay with the things this wicked world is okay with, the things
everybody's doing with the bodies that God has given to us. Don't we know that our bodies
are the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in us, which we have
been given of God? That's 1 Corinthians 6, 19 and
20. We are not our own, we are bought
with a price. Paul said, you are bought with
a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit,
which are God's, they belong to God. We will forever be convicted
by the word of God to us. In what I just said, every person
here who knows something of his or her sin was just convicted. I was. And we will forever be
convicted by God's word to us because it will forever command
us to do good. To be rich in good works. To lay up a good foundation worthy
of glory itself. That will forever be the commandment
to us because that will forever be what God demands. That's the first point. According to His holiness, God
is holy. And according to His holiness
and His justice and His righteousness, God will forever command and
demand good works. That's the first point. Here's
the second point. We can't do them. That's the second point. We can't
do them. We never have done them. And
in this flesh, we never will. We never will. Turn over to Romans
8 with me. This is critical information,
critical to know. Romans 8, verse 6. It says, for to be carnally minded
is death. Minding of the flesh, having
a mind of the flesh is death. But to be spiritually minded
is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity
against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed
can be. So then, they that are in the
flesh, Cannot please God. Do we see that? All of us who
are in the flesh? The law tells us what good and
perfect things we ought to do. But here's the problem for us.
We can't do them. Cannot. Cannot please God. Cannot please God. Look at Romans
7 verse 14. Don't you love Romans 7? Don't you connect with Romans
7? Verse 14, we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal,
sold under sin. For that which I do, I allow
not. I know not. What I would, What
I wish I did, that do I not. But what I hate, that's what
I do. If then I do that which I would
not, I consent unto the law that it is good. What he's saying
is I condemn myself. I condemn myself. The law is
good, I'm not. Verse 17, now then it is no more
I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. That's the new man speaking
of that old man that he just cannot get rid of. For I know
that in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. For to
will is present with me, but how to perform that which is
good, I find not. For the good that I would, I
do not. but the evil which I would not,
that I do. Now if I do that I would not,
it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find
then a law that when I would do good, evil is present with
me. Even when we strive to do good,
even our good efforts are drowning in sin against God. I did a good
deed not too long ago. I did. I gave something to somebody
and I didn't tell them who it came from. And it tore me up
thinking they're never gonna know. I'm never gonna get credit
for that. I wonder if there's a way they could find out I'm
the one who gave it to them. I'm being serious with you. Do we see this? Even our good efforts are drowning
in sin against God. Whatever it is that we do, we
ruin it with pride and we ruin it with self. We can make something
to be a sin against God, even when we're not sinning against
God and doing good. The moment pride says in our
heart, you know, well, says don't do that, I haven't done that. Sin against God. That good deed I did, I ruined
it. I ruined it. The moment we say in our heart,
look what I've done for my neighbor. Look how kind I've been. Look
how generous. Look how willing I am to communicate
my riches. That's what Paul was saying in
our text. Charge them that are rich to be generous with it. Don't hoard it all up for a big
pile at the end. Give to God. Our Lord said, will
a man rob God? Give to God, give to your brethren,
be generous with it. That's what Paul was saying in
1 Timothy 6. Charge them that are rich in
this world to be generous with it and give and give. I'm gonna
tell you something here and I'm gonna go ahead and tell you this.
I've thought this a long time. I'm gonna tell it to you. I believe
we ought to give more than 10% in our giving. Some amount more
than 10%. That is not my opinion. That's coming from Matthew 23,
23 and Luke 11, 4, I believe it is. And I'll explain to you
why I believe that if you ever want me to show it to you. But
based on what our Lord said there, I believe we ought to give more
than 10%. Horatius Bonar said, if you give 10%, you're under
the law. You know, people say, well, now
10%, you know, whatever it is, you got to give 10%. He said,
if you give 10%, you are under the bondage of what the law said
you had to do. You're under the law. And that's
no good. He said, if you give less than
10%, you're an outlaw. You have broken what God told
you to do. You've sinned against God. He said, the only thing to do
is give more. Be gracious, be cheerful. The Lord loves a cheerful
giver. I agree with him. I believe we ought to give more
than 10%. Hold up. I make a lot of money. Nope. God has given us a lot
of money and he has. And if we can't say thank you
in the way that he said thank you, he can take it away from
us just as fast as he gave it to us. We get this mindset, that's
mine now. I did that. I earned that. No. God has given it to us. And he
says, you better be generous with it. I believe we ought to
give more than 10% no matter how large that number is. But I will tell you this. And I mean this with all of my
heart. If you do end up giving more than 10%, you are going to be proud of
yourself for that. You're going to be. And you will sin against God
in your giving. You will. And you will ruin the whole thing. Now, I still think we ought to
give more than 10% because at least the ministry will be supported
and the gospel will go out generously. But honestly, I don't know. I
honestly don't know if it's better to live with the guilt of robbing
God over the pride of feeling like
I'm actually doing what he told me to do. I don't know. Either way, we're ruined. Do
you see the point? Either way, we're ruined. Romans
7 right here, verse 21, I find then a law that when I would
do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law
of God after the inward man, but I see another law in my members
warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity
to the law of sin, which is in my members. Oh, wretched man
that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
I thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord." That's the only thing
you can fall back on. I thank God through Jesus Christ,
our Lord. So then with the mind, I serve
the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin. With my flesh, Paul said, all
I can do is serve the law of sin. Three points. Number one,
the commandment of God will forever be do good works. Number two,
we can't do them. We never have in the fullness
and in the purity that God demands. And in this sinful flesh, we
never will. Number three, our only hope is to look to Christ. Our only hope is to fall on Christ. Our only hope of fulfilling the
commands of this scripture to us is Christ our substitute. That's our only hope. Christ
our substitute. Verse 25, Paul said, I thank
God through Jesus Christ, our Lord. I fall on him. That's what he's
saying. Go with me back to first Timothy six. Our Lord said that He did not
come to destroy the law for us, He came to fulfill it for us. He came to fulfill it for us,
and that's exactly what He did. Verse 18, charge them that they
do good. Do you know what the scripture
says concerning Christ, the substitute of His people? You know what
the scripture says about Him? It says, he went about doing
good. I like that. Why? Two reasons. Number one, that's all that he
is. None good but God. But number two, he was earning
something for me. Everything that the Lord Jesus
Christ did while he was on this earth, he did it for his people. Every good work that he accomplished,
he gave that good work to his people. He applied that good
work to their account. This is where our record of good
works before God came from. This is the only way that it
can be said that we obeyed and accomplished what God commanded
us. By the death of Christ on the
cross of Calvary, he removed every sinful work, every discrepancy
against the law, every transgression against the holy law. He removed
every one of them from his people, every one of them from the record
of his people. And by his death, his burial,
and his resurrection, By the resurrection of Christ from that
death, he applied, he charged every righteous work that he
committed to the record of his people. We get Christ's record. Why did he die on the cross?
It's because he got our record. And now we get his record. Every
time you see a scripture like this, you realize that's Jesus
Christ who did that, and I get the credit for it. The scripture says, Abraham believed
God and it was counted unto him for righteousness. By faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ, Abraham received the record of all of
Christ's good deeds. And that's how all of God's people
received the record of Christ's good deeds, by faith in him.
Verse 18 says, Charge them that they do good, that they be rich
in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate. You know
what the scripture says concerning the substitute of God's people,
Christ Jesus the Lord. You know what it says about him?
It says, you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though
he was rich, yet for your sakes, He became poor that you through
his poverty might be rich. He willingly communicated and
distributed all that he was and had all of it. Not just his wealth,
but his all. He gave himself, he gave his
body, his blood, his life. He did not just enter poverty,
he entered death for his people. He gave all for his people. Galatians
2.21 says, I do not frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness
comes by the law, if my good deeds before God come by me obeying
the law, then Christ died in vain. We do not earn the righteousness
of salvation. Christ gave it to us. And He
did that by giving Himself for us. He gave everything to us
by giving Himself for us. Verse 18, charge them that they
do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute,
willing to communicate, laying up in store for themselves a
good foundation against the time to come. I'm done, okay? but you have to turn with me
here. Hold your place and turn over to 1 Corinthians 3. Lay up for yourselves. This is
what God says to his people. You tell them they need to lay
up for themselves a good foundation. 1 Corinthians 3, verse 11. It says, for other foundation
can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. There is no other foundation
that can be laid than the one that God Almighty has already
laid. Jesus Christ, our Lord and our Savior, He is the foundation
of His people. Our hope is built on nothing
less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. We dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock
we stand, all of the ground is sinking sand. Christ laid that
foundation for us. He applied the work of laying
that foundation to us. Christ did it, but we get the
credit for it by faith in Him. His work applied to us. Back in our text, I'm done. Verse
19 says, laying up in store for themselves a good foundation
against the time to come that they may lay hold on eternal
life. Christ our substitute, when he
laid hold on our death, we laid hold on eternal life. Our fulfillment of this scripture
is completely due to Christ our substitute. God's commandment to us will
forever be, do the good works of God. We can't do them. Not in this sinful flesh, we
never have, we never will. Our only hope is to look to Jesus
Christ. Christ is the ending fulfillment
of all righteousness for his people. To him be glory forever
and ever, amen.