If you'll open your Bibles with
me to the book of 1 Timothy chapter 6. 1 Timothy chapter 6. First Timothy chapter six, and
look with me at verse 17. Here Paul is writing to Timothy
and he said, 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. I've been thinking a lot lately
about riches. That rich young ruler, he departed
from the presence of the Lord sorrowful, for he had great possessions. He was a rich man. He was rich
in this world. And he trusted in his riches. He trusted in his uncertain riches. For our Bible study, I want us
to briefly consider this subject, trust not in uncertain riches. Trust not in uncertain riches.
What are uncertain riches? What are they? They are the temporary,
sure-to-perish riches of this world. They are things that we
all naturally desire and covet. But they are things that are
not safe for us to trust, for us to hope in. Now perhaps the
most common of these uncertain riches is money. But you know,
money is not the one thing needful. I feel like we often think it
is, don't we? Well, it's not. It's not the one thing needful.
Money is just a means that God has given us by which we buy
and pay for things that we need. That's all it is. It's just a
means and some things that we want. Money can't save us. Money can't save us. Now, if
I'm honest with you, then this is what I'll say. I'd like some
more money. I'd be happy if the Lord gives
me more money. But I don't need anymore. I have everything I
need right now. I have everything I need. Look
at verse 7 of our text here. It says, for we brought nothing
into this world. And it is certain we can carry
nothing out. You know, when we were born into
this world, we didn't choose to be born into a wealthy family
or a poor family, did we? We don't choose what kind of
inheritance we receive. Some people receive a vast inheritance,
a lot of money. Some people receive a vast debt.
Some people receive nothing. We don't make that decision.
We didn't bring anything here, and we can't take anything with
us. Look at verse 8, it says, having food and raiment, let
us be there with content. I just said I have everything
I need. Our Heavenly Father knows everything that we need, and
He provides everything we need. Does He not? Does anybody here
not have food and raiment? Gabe just told us next week for
our dinner he said the church is gonna provide this and if
y'all will bring this the Lord gives us everything we need always
always let us be content with such things as we have and look
at verse 9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation
and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown
men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the
root of all evil, which while some coveted after, they have
erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many
sorrows. I hope that shows us money's
not everything. Money is not everything. The
love of money is dangerous. The love of money kills. Just
consider Judas, one of the Lord's disciples. You know what? The love of money
destroyed him. It drowned him in destruction
and perdition. Scriptures say he was the son
of perdition. He betrayed innocent blood for 30 pieces of silver.
I hope we see the danger here. Money is perhaps the most prominent
of uncertain riches, and some others are fame. Don't we all
naturally want to be famous? We want people to know our name,
don't we? Fame and popularity, fame and power. We want to be
in a position of power. We don't want to be the servant.
We'd want to be the king. Right now, I'm in an entry-level
position at my job. And you know what? I hope to
work hard, and I hope to get promoted. I want to be in charge. I don't need to be in charge.
I don't need it. I don't need it. All these things
that we naturally want, they're uncertain. At the end of the
day, they're uncertain. Can't put our trust in these
things. They're unnecessary. They're unsafe. All of this is
nothing more than the lust of this flesh, which God hates. I'm not saying it's bad to get
promoted. Absolutely not. I'm saying let's not trust in
these things. Let's not rest our hope of our eternal soul
on these things. It's all temporary. Health, wealth, and prosperity. You know, that seems to be what
we all naturally want. We don't need it. We don't need
it. Fame and fortune sound nice.
But Paul is urging us to not trust or hope in these things. Why? Why is he charging us, urging
us, warning us to not trust in these things? Here's why. Because
they can't save us. They can't save us. But they
sure can hurt us. Oh, they sure can hurt us. Turn
with me to Mark chapter 10. Mark chapter 10, verse 23. This is the account of the rich
young ruler. Mark 10, 23. This young man had just gone
away grieved and sorrowful, for he had great possessions. And
Jesus looked round about and saith unto his disciples, how
hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God. Now I didn't show us this when
I brought a message on this a few weeks ago, but look at verse
24. And the disciples were astonished at his words, but Jesus answereth
again and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that
trust in riches? to enter into the kingdom of
God. You see, the danger of uncertain
riches is not the riches. The danger is that we will trust
in them. That's the danger. Our Lord said
it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than
for someone who's trusting in uncertain riches to enter into
the kingdom of God. That means with us it's impossible.
because we're going to trust in our uncertain riches, all
of us. We all do, naturally. It's natural to us. We cannot
love our uncertain riches and God. It's one or the other. Our
Lord himself said, you cannot serve God and mammon. Mammon means money, uncertain
riches, the things of this world. We're either bound by our love
of this world and the things in it, which we're told not to
love, or we're bound, constrained, moved by the love of God in Christ. It's one or the other. In Luke
chapter 12, the Lord said, take heed and beware of covetousness,
for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things
which he possesseth. Our life is not about the things
we possess. If it is, the things we possess actually possess us.
I rejoice to know that my life is hid with Christ in God. There's
our life. There's our life in him. In that
account, our Lord went on to give the parable of the rich
fool, another man who trusted in his uncertain riches, and
he perished with his riches. This not thy soul. Then who shall
those things be? He could not carry them out with
him. I hope we see the danger. Look
back at our text. 1 Timothy 6.17. Charge them that are rich in
this world that they be not high-minded nor trust in uncertain riches. You see that word high-minded?
says that before he tells us to not trust in uncertain riches.
That word means proud, arrogant, lofty, self-righteous. The danger of being rich in this
world is that we will be high-minded, that we will trust in ourselves
and in our riches. That's the danger. Like I said,
it's not the riches. The problem's us. The problem's
always us. You know, I'm kind of scared
to be trusted with earthly riches because I'm afraid of what I'll
do with them. I'm afraid of what I'll do with them. The danger
of being rich in this world is that we won't be poor in spirit. The Lord said, blessed are the
poor in spirit. Theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The Apostle
Paul, he's the one writing this here, warning us. You consider
him for just a moment. He was a self-righteous Pharisee,
but God broke him. God laid him low. God made him
poor in spirit. You know, that's the sacrifice
God will accept, a broken spirit. A broken and a contrite heart
God will not despise. That's what he'll accept. If
we're rich in this world, we may not be poor in spirit. And
the danger is also that we won't hunger and thirst after righteousness.
You know, a rich man doesn't hunger and thirst. They fare
sumptuously every day. Spiritually, we must hunger. Spiritually, we must be thirsty.
Only those who hunger and thirst are going to come to Christ.
They're the only ones who are going to need to, and they're the only
ones who will. The greatest danger of being
rich in this world is that we won't need God. No need of God. And we will glory
in ourselves. We'll worship ourselves, and
we'll trust in ourselves. No need of God. In Psalm 14,
remember what the fool has said in his heart. No God. There is no God. I don't need
God. No God for me. You know what the fool says is,
I'm God. I'm self-sufficient. Look at all my goods. Look at
all that I've done. It's all mine. The fool glories
in himself, not in God. Turn with me to Jeremiah chapter
9. And again, by nature, we're all
the fool. Apart from God's grace, that's all we are, fools. Jeremiah
9, verse 23. Thus saith the Lord, let not
the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory
in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches. But
let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and
knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness,
judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things
I delight, saith the Lord. There's just one place where
we ought to glory. Whatever we have, I pray God
will not let us glory in ourselves. May we only glory in the Lord. He is wisdom. He is might. He is the true riches. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians
1. 2 Corinthians 1. Verse 9, again Paul writes, but we had
the sentence of death in ourselves, trusting in ourselves, which
again is all of us by nature. We all trust in ourselves. But trusting in ourselves, here's
what we have, a death sentence. What that means is, if we die
trusting in ourselves, we will die in our sins. But we had the
sentence of death in ourselves that we should not trust in ourselves,
but in God. Which raiseth the dead, who delivered
us from so great a death, and doth deliver, in whom we trust
that he will yet deliver us. You know what God has delivered
us from? The death that we've earned trusting in ourselves. He delivered us. I love this
verse. It says, who delivered us? He
doth deliver in whom we trust that he will yet deliver. He
delivered us, he's delivering us, and he will deliver us. Don't
you love that? You know what? We did trust in
ourselves. We're still prone to trust in ourselves. And tomorrow,
I'm probably going to find a reason to trust in myself. But praise
God, he's going to deliver me. Oh, that's good news. Good news. We must not trust in our riches.
We must not trust in ourselves. We must trust in God who raises
the dead. Now I want to spend a few minutes
closing out this message looking at why we are to trust in God. It's been pretty gloomy up to
this point, ain't it? Well, time to get to the good
news. Back at our text. 1 Timothy 6,
17. 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." Now again, we are all rich in
this world in one way or another. Ultimately, we all have some
riches that we trust in, but may we trust in God. He said,
trust in the living God. You know, our God is the God
of the living. He's made the dead to live. He's
the God of the living. And our God alone is worthy of
our trust. He alone is worthy of our trust.
This world is not worthy of our trust. This world is not to be
trusted. Our hope better not be in this world. If it is, we
have a sorry hope. We have a false hope, if that's
where our trust lies. Hope thou in God, the psalmist
said. Our God is the sovereign God. Our God is in the heavens
on his throne. Why would we put our trust anywhere
else? Why live this life, hoping and
trusting in things we can see and touch? It's all temporal. It's all gonna perish with the
wind. If we hope for that, we see not.
That's what we're hoping in, isn't it? We're hoping in something
we see not, then do we with patience, wait for it, patiently wait. It's good that a man should both
wait for the Lord, patiently, patiently hope and wait in Him.
What a blessing and what a privilege it is to live this life by faith. Every day when we wake up, whatever
we see, however we feel, just to know this is the day which
the Lord hath made. All I have to do is rejoice and
be glad in it. What a blessing. What a privilege. Our God is
working all things together for good to accomplish his eternal purpose.
Our God is working salvation in the midst of the earth. Oh,
may we trust him. May we trust him. God alone is worthy of our trust.
And he's given us all things. That's what it said at the end
of our verse. It says, but in the living God who giveth us
richly, all things to enjoy. When I was a kid, I wanted to
grow up and be rich and famous. If you could have told me, Cody,
you're going to grow up and be a famous baseball player, I'd have said,
man, that's all I could ask for. I would have all things. That's
what I thought. But I was mistaken. I was sorely
mistaken. I'm glad that did not happen.
I'm dead serious. I'm just tickled that God did
not give me what I wanted. Here's why. By the grace of God,
I stand here today with something far greater than fortune and
fame could have ever given me. Far greater. Let me show you
this in 2 Corinthians chapter 6. 2 Corinthians chapter 6. Here the Apostle Paul gives us
a little bit of insight into his life as a result of God's
grace. In 2 Corinthians 6 verse 10,
he said, as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing. as poor yet making
many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things." You
know, the life of a believer is going to involve some sorrow.
Every single service our pastor mentions brethren going through
great sorrow. We're going to endure sorrow,
much tribulation. It's been appointed. But here
Paul says, I'm sorrowful, yet always rejoicing. Why? Because God has given us a good
hope through grace. He went on, he said, as poor.
Believe what that means here is poor in spirit. As poor yet
making many rich. Mentioned it earlier, blessed
are the poor in spirit. We must be poor in spirit. We
must be beggars before God. We must fall down at his feet
and beg him to save us. Now how, how did Paul make many
rich? By preaching Christ crucified.
You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was
rich, He became poor. He made himself
to be poor. He emptied himself of everything. Why? That you through his poverty
might be rich. That's how the poor in spirit
are made rich in Christ. In Christ, as poor yet making
many rich as having nothing, yet possessing all things. Paul
was a rich man. He was a rich young ruler. He was a wealthy man. He had
this world's good. And Christ took it all away from
him. He gave him nothing. Paul went from city to city,
just trusting that the Lord would provide for him. He didn't take
purse or script. Nothing. And yet, he possessed
all things. Now he thought before, he thought
before God saved him, he possessed all things, didn't he? He thought
he had great possessions. He had the worldly possessions.
He had uncertain riches, but now he had certain riches. He
said, now I count it all done. That's all lost. I've won Christ. I've won Christ and I have everything
in him. God has given us richly or abundantly
all things. Everything that is anything in
Christ. Turn back a few pages to 1 Corinthians
chapter 8. 1 Corinthians 8 verse 2. And if any man think that he
knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing, yet as he ought to know. But if any man love God, the
same is known of him. As concerning, therefore, the
eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols,
we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there
is none other God but one. For though there be that are
called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, as there be gods
many and lords many, but to us there is but one God, the Father,
of whom are all things, and we in Him, and one Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom are all things, and we by Him. All things are in the
Lord Jesus Christ. All things. And you know how we have all
things? By Him. By eternal union with Him. We're one in Him. One with Him. That means whatever Christ has,
we have. He's the fullness of God. We're one with Him. One with
Him. Turn back a few pages to Romans
chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. Verse 32. He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? all things. Not only has God
given us this life that we live, He's given us everything we need
in this life. He's given us eternal life. He
said we will never perish. This eternal life in Christ can
never be taken away from us. He gave us His Son, His only
begotten Son in whom He's well pleased. That's everything. Christ is everything to God,
and I pray He's everything to us. If we have Him, we have all
things. The Lord Jesus Christ, He is
our God. We bow to Him. Every knee shall
bow to Him. He is our Savior. Call His name
Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. He's
our kinsman and Redeemer. He redeemed us from the curse
of the law, being made a curse for us. He is our lamb, our sacrificial
lamb. He is our sacrifice for sin,
our sin atonement, our propitiation. And God is well-pleased. When
Christ gave up the ghost, the Father smelled a sweet-smelling
savor. He said, I'm satisfied. It's
finished. You're complete in Him. The Lord
Jesus Christ is our salvation. From start to finish, He is our
salvation. He is our light. We walk by faith
in Him. He's our vision, our guidance,
our direction. He is our life. He is our life. When He shall appear, He's gonna
appear. We shall see him, and we'll be like him. We'll
see him as he is. He is our life. He is our joy. Therefore is my joy fulfilled
in him. He is our all. Christ is all
in all. Psalm 34, verse 8 says, oh, taste
and see that the Lord is good. Have we tasted that the Lord
is gracious? Have our eyes been opened to see, to behold the
unsearchable riches of Christ? Oh, I pray that they have. Oh,
I pray that they have. Oh, taste and see that the Lord
is good. Blessed is the man that trusteth
in him. The man that God has given faith
to trust in Christ, that's a blessed man. That's a blessed woman. I pray that God would give us
faith to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and him alone for all
things. Amen.