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Ahem.

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Let's begin with a word of prayer.

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Our gracious Father in heaven, we bow before your throne, grateful for the day that you've
granted to us, the life that you have granted us.

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We're grateful for all that you do each and every day.

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We ask that you forgive us when we sin and fall short of your glory.

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We pray for this nation and we pray for its leaders.

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We pray for the nations throughout the world and their leaders.

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We pray that they make decisions that will lead to open doors of opportunity for the
gospel to be preached throughout the world.

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Lord, we pray for peace, for the furtherance of the gospel.

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We also pray for boldness that we might speak the truth no matter what comes.

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Lord, we pray that your hand will be with those who are serving in mission fields
throughout the world, who stand firm in the truth and are sound in the faith and who are

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working diligently in difficult places throughout the world.

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Especially, we pray for those who are under threat for their life as a result of the
message that they preach.

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We pray that you will be with them and grant them protection and pray that you will also
grant them opportunity.

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Lord, we pray that you be with us as we go through this morning.

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We pray that we might focus our minds and our attention on your Word and on your will and
how we can apply those things to our lives.

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And may we grow closer to you each and every day.

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All this we pray and ask in Jesus' name, amen.

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In 1 Timothy chapter 6, has provided a...

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final admonition to Timothy as to how he is to live, how he is to the things he is to
pursue, the things he is to flee.

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He has spoken concerning the confession of Christ, that is the confession that Christ made
before Pontius Pilate, that he was the Son of God, that his kingdom was not of this world,

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that he was a king, and that his authority surpassed the authority of Pilate.

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But he also has described

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the nature of deity as the one who dwells in unapproachable light whom no man has seen or
can see to whom be honor and everlasting power.

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Now, some would suggest, well, this must be talking about God the Father because

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uh no man has seen the Father.

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Well, except who then did Moses see?

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Do you remember when Moses was on the mountain?

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Moses desired to see God and God said, you'll see the backside of me, but not the front.

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So.

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How do we understand this statement?

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I don't want to go too deep into it or spend too much time on it, but how do we understand
this idea of God who no man can see?

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What are we to understand from that?

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All right, so like very, very first step, number one, God is the spirit.

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God is not flesh and blood.

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He is not of the nature that we have, okay?

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That's number one.

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And as such, His,

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eternal nature, because that's exactly what John has, or what Paul has in focus here, the
eternal nature of God and Christ are so significantly beyond our physical world.

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that when we see a manifestation of God in the sense of when the apostles or the prophets
or the Old Testament uh leaders or prophets in their days saw a manifestation of God, it

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was

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so much in view of the glory, it was so significant that it either brought them to their
knees, it was, you know, Moses, when he appeared before the burning bush, fell on his

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face.

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You had uh Joshua, when he sees the soldier and realizes who it is, he falls on his face.

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You have examples of individuals when they see God or they see a manifestation of God or
even sometimes when they see an angel, they're so afraid that they immediately bow.

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down or they immediately fall in their faces though dead.

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All of these examples that we see.

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are still a limited experience of the nature of God.

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They are, and I think this is where Paul's point is and where the other passages points
are where Jesus says no man has seen God, is that they have seen a manifestation of God's

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glory

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They have seen a manifestation of God's presence, but they have not and cannot stand and
see God in His full unmitigated glory.

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We talked last Sunday about the fact that when John writes Revelation, he writes
concerning the throne room of God there in Revelation chapter 4, and he writes the

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description of the one who sits on the throne, yet he doesn't describe the one who sits on
the throne at all.

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He describes the glory emanating from the throne.

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He describes the beasts that are around the throne.

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He describes the elders that are around, but he doesn't describe the one who's on the
throne.

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Just his glory.

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Just the manifest power that is there.

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Now, that whole picture is also derived from Ezekiel, where Ezekiel describes God and his
throne.

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And yet again Ezekiel does not describe the one who sits on the throne other than his
glory, his power.

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But all of this is still just a manifestation, a glimpse to the true nature of God.

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to which Paul says, when you're discussing the true nature and full nature of God in His
dwelling place, he says, no man's seen that.

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No man has been that, been able to endure and experience that.

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So you have here,

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just one of those slight phrases that gives us an explanation of the limited glory that
man had experienced in all of these interactions that we have described to this point.

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And it's telling us that, have you ever thought about, um

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Maybe this would be a good way to think about it.

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You've seen uh some of the visuals or some of the footage from years ago when they used to
test nuclear bombs, right?

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And the light streaming, you know, they'd have the little view ports that they could see
out into where things are being tested and sometimes you'd have the photographer capture a

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view of the people and this very bright light coming in through those view ports to the
people who are inside.

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But the viewport they're looking through is so minimal for their own protection.

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If you could almost think about us in relationship to God that we're, every glimpse, every
picture that we have of God is like looking through the little viewport, because that's

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all we can stand.

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That's all we can experience while in the flesh of the nature of God,

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is the slightest sliver, the slightest experience, the slightest knowledge of His true
glory.

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Now watch this, 1 John chapter 3.

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If you were to think, no, wait a minute, surely someone like the Apostle John would have
experienced, I mean, he walked with Christ, he was present when God spoke from heaven, he

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was present when God spoke from heaven on the Mount of Transfiguration, he was there when
Jesus was transfigured, he was there when Christ died, he was there when Christ was

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resurrected, he was there when Christ descended, surely oh

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in the visions he was drawn up into heaven.

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If there's anyone who could describe the nature of God, it would be John.

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except in 1 John chapter 3, John writes, verse 1, behold what manner of love the Father
has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God.

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Therefore the world does not know us because it did not know him.

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Beloved, now we are children of God and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be.

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He's talking about in eternity.

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He's talking about our existence in eternity.

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He says, has not yet been revealed what we shall be.

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John is writing, 1 John, 80, 70, 80, 68, if you give an early date to it, or a later date,
80, 80, 80, 88, somewhere around there.

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He's writing this decades after Jesus ascended back into heaven.

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and he's writing to the early church and he says we still don't know what we will be like
in eternity.

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You're nearing the end of all miraculous revelation and all writing from the New
Testament.

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And John says clearly, still don't know what we will be like.

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But, he says, we know that when he is revealed, we shall be like him, for we shall see him
as

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He is.

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John is telling us.

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as an elder, as an old man, as one of the aged apostles who was still alive, I don't have
a clue what we will be like in eternity.

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But I know this, we will finally see God as He is.

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we will finally see the true nature of Christ.

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and we'll be like him.

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John is making it clear, as Paul is making it clear in these words, in these small
statements, that our suppositions about what eternity are like, our ideas about what

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spiritual beings are like, our concepts of the nature of God are slivers of knowledge.

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and that what we long for and what we hope for and what we anticipate and what is promised
to us is experiencing God as He is.

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We need to remember that while we're surrounded by people who through the centuries have
brought forward their own visuals and concepts of eternity, that none of them are close.

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None of them are close.

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for the individual who writes Revelation and paints the only spiritual, divinely delivered
picture of the very throne room of God says, I'll have a clue.

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what we're going to be like.

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That tells us that all the language there in Revelation is accommodative to our
understanding.

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It's a picture to communicate to us because if it were described in true spiritual terms
in the spiritual nature of the existence in heaven, we wouldn't understand it.

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We'd have no relationship to it.

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So it's given in our terms.

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when the four beasts are around the throne.

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I wouldn't expect when we get to heaven we're going to find a beast sitting there that's
got a head of an eagle and a head of a lion.

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I don't think lions are in heaven.

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By the way, sorry for disappointment, but dogs aren't in heaven either.

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Cats aren't either.

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Horses aren't either.

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The point that we should be getting from this is not a disposition, well, and who knows
what it'll be like, rather an anticipation of the vast glory yet unexperienced by

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humanity.

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Oftentimes people.

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think about eternity.

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And they think about the few passages that give us pictures into eternity, like when Jesus
describes the events of the rich man in Lazarus.

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And yet, all those pictures that we have are accommodative to us.

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They're accommodative to our understanding.

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But they're also painting a understanding that there is a waiting period.

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until Christ's before those who are in eternity, even now, will experience the very
presence of God.

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There's reason why all the pictures are consistent indicating that there's a waiting place
for those who have already passed away.

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Where Paul describes that those who have died in advance of Christ's return will wait.

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They will not proceed or prevent the rest of us into eternity.

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Okay?

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So Paul is...

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reminding Timothy a couple of things.

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Number one, that our experience and our knowledge of God is miniscule.

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But when you understand that, and then you look at all the powers and mights and
principalities and people who have such power that they can cause your life to be taken,

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and it means nothing to them, just a word, and your life is gone.

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we're to be reminded that that doesn't even begin to compare to the power of God.

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There's a reason why Jesus in Matthew chapter 10 says, not fear Him who can destroy the
body.

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but rather fear Him who can destroy both body and soul in hell.

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Jesus is saying all those people, all those authorities, all those kings, all those
individuals of great power, their power is so limited it does not even begin to compare.

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to the power of God.

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And so, Paul is encouraging Timothy to continue making that good confession.

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All of this statement, all of this is in view of pursue righteousness, pursue godliness,
make that continual confession that Christ is Lord and never waver from it.

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Because there is a king

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in eternity.

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who not only reigns, who not only has all authority in heaven and earth, who not only
dwells in unapproachable light.

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but who specifically cares for you.

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You see, it's one thing to have a picture and an image of a great and an awesome God.

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But if that great and awesome God is not also personal, loving, caring, full of tender
mercy and grace...

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then all you've created is a picture of a very, very dangerous presence.

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And yet that's not the picture of God.

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It's the picture of God when the psalmist writer says, is man that you are mindful of him?

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As the psalmist writer there in the psalm paints that picture of look at all of the things
that God has created and done and all the things just in this physical universe that we

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experience and in view of that man is so inconsequential.

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So God, why do you care about man?

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And yet it is asked with the knowledge and the assumption that God does care.

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So when we view God, we are not to view him as the God who is separated from man.

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We are not to view God as the God who is so powerful that man

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could not possibly matter, rather we are to view God as the God who so loved the world
that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but

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have everlasting life.

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That's the picture of God that we are to hold on to.

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Now, he says,

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command, verse 17, those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty.

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In chapter 6, his discussion has been on wealth, money, and riches, and warnings
concerning them, and in this process of giving this admonition to Timothy about what

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Timothy's focus is to be on, he hasn't changed topics.

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He just described God who is so glorious and is so amazing that we have never even seen
Him.

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Now he reverts back to, all right, now these people who have money.

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He says, command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty.

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Why is it important?

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Well, first of all, what does haughty mean?

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Prideful?

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Puffed up.

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It is the visual that I get with it is the strutting around of the rooster when he's in
with the hens.

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He is the one.

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Look at me.

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Everybody look at me.

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And that's how too often the rich behave.

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There's a reason why there's a red carpet event for this thing and that thing and that.

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It's to where the rich can strut down the red carpet and be seen.

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Paul says, no, no, no, no.

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Not Christians who are rich.

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He says, you command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty nor to trust
in uncertain riches, but in the living God who gives us richly all things to enjoy.

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Paul, as he writes to Timothy, gives authority over the lives of rich people to a simple
preacher.

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Have you ever thought about the fact that when Paul says command

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He is taking all those Christians who have wealth and he's actually making them
subservient to the instructions of the minister.

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about their attitude toward their riches.

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Now he's not telling Timothy, Timothy all these people's riches are at your disposal, you
tell them what to do with it.

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No, no, no, that's not what he told them to command.

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He told them to command them about how they are to behave towards it.

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He says, you command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty nor to trust
in uncertain riches.

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So what's the difference between riches that are certain and riches that are uncertain?

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Okay.

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Okay, all physical riches are uncertain.

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How do we know?

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Matthew chapter 6.

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Turn back there.

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Matthew chapter 6.

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Paul is not bringing this point up out of nowhere.

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This is exactly what Jesus taught.

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Matthew chapter 6, beginning of verse 19, do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth
where moth and rust destroy, where thieves break in and steal.

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What's that a description of?

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Uncertain, uncertain, uncertain, uncertain.

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says, not put your treasures there, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where
neither moth nor rust destroy, where thieves do not break in and steal, for where your

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treasure is, there your heart will be also.

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If they are not to place their trust in uncertain riches, then they are to place their
trust in certain riches, and the difference between the two is the uncertain riches are

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earthly, the certain riches are eternal.

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to her faults.

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Gold is earthly.

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True or false?

208
00:25:58,087 --> 00:26:00,250
Therefore gold is not eternal.

209
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True!

210
00:26:07,182 --> 00:26:22,228
Paul is teaching Timothy to be forceful in his command toward those who are wealthy.

211
00:26:24,078 --> 00:26:33,605
Now usually by nature of circumstances in life and positions in life, you find that
reversed.

212
00:26:34,346 --> 00:26:43,372
You find that those who should be the spiritual leaders start deferring to the thoughts
and the opinions of those who are wealthy.

213
00:26:44,173 --> 00:26:51,168
They start humbling themselves to do whatever the wealthy person wants done, right?

214
00:26:51,978 --> 00:26:54,520
Hey, ah you're the big wig around here.

215
00:26:54,520 --> 00:26:56,321
You're the one with all the money.

216
00:26:56,342 --> 00:26:58,513
You're the one who makes sure the bills get paid.

217
00:26:58,513 --> 00:27:02,986
So since you're the rich person, whatever you say goes.

218
00:27:03,627 --> 00:27:06,309
Paul says, uh-uh, not happening.

219
00:27:07,110 --> 00:27:17,858
Rather, he tells Timothy, the young, to a degree inexperienced, just by nature of time of
living,

220
00:27:19,790 --> 00:27:20,878
Preacher

221
00:27:23,350 --> 00:27:24,731
You command.

222
00:27:25,714 --> 00:27:27,336
You instruct.

223
00:27:28,119 --> 00:27:34,940
You set the mentality toward riches that these individuals are to have.

224
00:27:36,492 --> 00:27:44,090
And it's all about what do they put their trust in.

225
00:27:46,606 --> 00:27:53,371
When you go back over to Matthew chapter 6, what's the question that Jesus is continually
putting forward?

226
00:27:53,371 --> 00:27:58,944
Why are you worried about what you shall eat, what you shall drink, what you shall wear?

227
00:28:01,430 --> 00:28:11,592
And his point is, when you look at the grass that grows, the flowers that are in the
grass, when you look at the birds of the air, who takes care of them?

228
00:28:13,487 --> 00:28:14,689
Father does.

229
00:28:16,155 --> 00:28:20,027
Jesus even emphasizes that not one sparrow falls from the sky.

230
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God doesn't notice.

231
00:28:23,862 --> 00:28:38,427
So if you are concerned about all these worldly things, if your focus, your attention, and
your trust is, you know what, when I have a certain dollar amount in the retirement

232
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account, then I know that my life will be secure.

233
00:28:45,390 --> 00:28:50,896
Paul says, uh you've put your focus in the wrong spot.

234
00:28:51,498 --> 00:29:05,204
Now, Paul is neither condemning the rich, nor is he condemning their planning for the
future, nor is he condemning any attribute of making sure that people are provided for.

235
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He is condemning a trust in riches.

236
00:29:13,151 --> 00:29:23,686
He is commanding Timothy to command the rich to trust in God and not their wealth.

237
00:29:26,476 --> 00:29:47,864
When we get our focus on God, not on possessions, when we get our focus on, as Paul puts
it, the living God and not this earth, then all of the things that we have become a

238
00:29:47,864 --> 00:29:49,184
resource for God.

239
00:30:13,388 --> 00:30:29,381
When you look at this back and forth between Christ and those who listen to him on a
continual basis, you have, for instance, the man who comes to Jesus and says, tell my

240
00:30:29,381 --> 00:30:31,913
brother to split the inheritance with me.

241
00:30:33,115 --> 00:30:37,438
And Jesus said, who made me a judge in these matters?

242
00:30:38,940 --> 00:30:42,142
Jesus focuses

243
00:30:42,144 --> 00:30:46,716
his attention on a covetous heart.

244
00:30:48,019 --> 00:31:00,788
His attention on the fact that he is focused on physical matters, yet he is standing in
front of the teacher who could deliver him spiritual riches.

245
00:31:01,749 --> 00:31:03,650
And all he's worried about is the money.

246
00:31:05,612 --> 00:31:11,773
you find the rich young ruler comes to Jesus, what do I need to do in order to obtain
eternal life?

247
00:31:12,556 --> 00:31:16,352
And Jesus gives him the answer, but what's it going to cost him?

248
00:31:18,634 --> 00:31:28,181
every physical possession he has because he had great possessions.

249
00:31:28,201 --> 00:31:40,650
Now, Paul throughout this has warned over and over and over again about the love of riches
and the desire for riches.

250
00:31:43,426 --> 00:31:52,136
Paul is making it clear to Timothy that this is a trouble area in the church.

251
00:31:52,136 --> 00:31:54,166
Turn to James chapter 2.

252
00:32:05,580 --> 00:32:12,452
James chapter 2 verse 1, My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Lord of glory, with partiality.

253
00:32:12,752 --> 00:32:22,895
For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings and fine apparel, and
there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, and you pay attention to the one

254
00:32:22,895 --> 00:32:31,478
wearing the fine clothes and say to him, You sit here in a good place, and say to the poor
man, You stand there or sit here at my footstool.

255
00:32:31,734 --> 00:32:37,816
Have you not shown partiality among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

256
00:32:37,897 --> 00:32:48,041
Listen, my beloved brethren, has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith
and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?

257
00:32:48,061 --> 00:32:50,902
But you have dishonored the poor man.

258
00:32:51,063 --> 00:32:58,604
Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts?

259
00:32:58,604 --> 00:33:03,358
Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called?

260
00:33:03,819 --> 00:33:10,905
If you really fulfill the royal law according to the scriptures, you shall love your
neighbor as yourself, you do well.

261
00:33:11,386 --> 00:33:19,674
But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

262
00:33:21,706 --> 00:33:37,150
James, as he writes to the church, knows the struggle that exists within even the body of
Christ, that they would be willing to show deference to a rich person and dishonor a poor

263
00:33:37,150 --> 00:33:39,732
person just because they both walked through the door.

264
00:33:44,606 --> 00:34:00,063
Is James saying that there is not an appropriate way to act towards dignitaries and to
those who are in authority and that we shouldn't act appropriately towards them, we should

265
00:34:00,063 --> 00:34:02,594
be dismissive of their position?

266
00:34:03,234 --> 00:34:04,134
No.

267
00:34:05,015 --> 00:34:12,218
When Paul appeared before Agrippa and Festus and others, did Paul

268
00:34:13,134 --> 00:34:16,716
poo-poo their positions, ah you're not important.

269
00:34:17,297 --> 00:34:18,598
Did he do that?

270
00:34:18,918 --> 00:34:24,022
No, he called him most noble festus.

271
00:34:25,582 --> 00:34:30,322
He gave them the honor that their position warranted.

272
00:34:30,782 --> 00:34:33,222
That's not what's being talked about here.

273
00:34:34,062 --> 00:34:41,642
This is a disposition of individuals to say, wow, did you see that car that that guy just
drove up in?

274
00:34:42,222 --> 00:34:48,522
And he comes out and he's wearing a $4,000 suit and ring on every finger.

275
00:34:49,242 --> 00:34:50,102
This guy's got some money.

276
00:34:50,102 --> 00:34:51,962
We need to get him in this congregation.

277
00:34:56,812 --> 00:35:02,676
And here comes the guy from down the street walking because he doesn't have a car.

278
00:35:05,944 --> 00:35:09,556
And when he gets to the door, he didn't smell all that good either.

279
00:35:10,717 --> 00:35:12,118
And he's unkept.

280
00:35:12,118 --> 00:35:18,772
Because, well, you you walk outside in the wind today and you walk for a foot or two and
you're gonna be unkept.

281
00:35:20,524 --> 00:35:26,004
And he walks in the door and everybody kind of, sit over there.

282
00:35:29,474 --> 00:35:31,037
James says, no, you don't.

283
00:35:32,082 --> 00:35:35,649
James says the very act of doing that is sin.

284
00:35:37,229 --> 00:35:38,641
you've committed since.

285
00:35:40,512 --> 00:35:46,764
Why is the very act of acting towards and behaving towards people that way sin?

286
00:35:52,568 --> 00:35:53,532
That's right.

287
00:36:14,882 --> 00:36:21,636
We have become, as James puts it, judges of evil.

288
00:36:24,694 --> 00:36:33,497
We have judged with a judgment that is the antithesis of the very nature and character of
God.

289
00:36:34,258 --> 00:36:38,039
That is to judge without partiality.

290
00:36:38,620 --> 00:36:52,185
Now what if one man had come in and you said, now I know the reputation of that guy and he
opposes Christians everywhere they go.

291
00:36:53,426 --> 00:36:54,764
He beats them?

292
00:36:54,764 --> 00:36:58,760
he imprisons them, he brings them before judges.

293
00:37:02,729 --> 00:37:06,324
I'm staying as far away from that guy as possible.

294
00:37:08,268 --> 00:37:10,900
because I know his reputation of his actions.

295
00:37:12,122 --> 00:37:18,908
And here comes another guy and he's not reacted towards Christians that way.

296
00:37:19,229 --> 00:37:22,513
And you show deference to that individual versus that one.

297
00:37:22,513 --> 00:37:24,384
Have you judged evil thoughts?

298
00:37:26,156 --> 00:37:27,027
No.

299
00:37:27,228 --> 00:37:39,880
Which is, by the way, the reason why we don't have a harsh condemnation of the apostles or
those in Jerusalem when Saul of Tarsus shows up claiming to be a Christian.

300
00:37:42,862 --> 00:37:44,616
Because they knew what he had done.

301
00:37:44,616 --> 00:37:52,300
And they weren't altogether certain about this guy, except there was one individual who
judged differently.

302
00:37:52,321 --> 00:37:53,482
Who was it?

303
00:37:54,025 --> 00:37:55,136
Part of us.

304
00:37:57,122 --> 00:38:00,487
Barnabas said, I'll put my reputation on the line for this man.

305
00:38:01,189 --> 00:38:04,924
And he brought him into the presence of the apostles.

306
00:38:07,863 --> 00:38:14,089
One is characterized by uncertainty but people's actions.

307
00:38:15,471 --> 00:38:25,222
One is described by you see them and you attribute their physical riches to be an
indication of their character.

308
00:38:26,870 --> 00:38:28,779
and physical riches are not.

309
00:38:29,508 --> 00:38:30,389
Yes.

310
00:39:00,376 --> 00:39:01,223
Did not.

311
00:39:07,338 --> 00:39:08,079
Absolutely.

312
00:39:08,079 --> 00:39:19,695
So that picture comes from Revelation chapter 2 concerning Laodicea, this very wealthy
city, this very wealthy church, that they thought of themselves as they had everything.

313
00:39:19,695 --> 00:39:21,336
And God says, you have nothing.

314
00:39:21,336 --> 00:39:23,506
You're destitute, you're poor, you're blind, you're naked.

315
00:39:23,506 --> 00:39:28,490
You're all those things you think you're not, because spiritually that's what you are.

316
00:39:28,780 --> 00:39:38,856
And then you have Philadelphia, Smyrna, which is a very poor, it was a very poor location,
it was a very poor city in first century Roman culture.

317
00:39:38,856 --> 00:39:45,479
It was one that had nothing really going for it and a church that was there that was
already struggling.

318
00:39:46,160 --> 00:39:49,802
Yet John writes to them that they are rich.

319
00:39:49,838 --> 00:39:52,698
because they are rich in spiritual matters.

320
00:39:52,958 --> 00:40:02,138
So, Paul says here in verse 17, command those who are rich in this present age not to be
haughty nor to trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God who gives us richly all

321
00:40:02,138 --> 00:40:03,438
things to enjoy.

322
00:40:03,438 --> 00:40:10,338
Let them do good that they be rich in good works.

323
00:40:10,438 --> 00:40:15,558
The idea of let here is not a allow.

324
00:40:16,078 --> 00:40:19,218
This is a continuation of the command.

325
00:40:19,584 --> 00:40:25,639
He's instructing them first, here's their disposition that they are to have towards their
riches.

326
00:40:25,639 --> 00:40:30,863
Second, here are their actions that they are to have with their riches.

327
00:40:30,863 --> 00:40:46,726
He says, you are to have them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give,
willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come that

328
00:40:46,726 --> 00:40:49,708
they may lay hold on eternal life.

329
00:40:51,224 --> 00:40:52,435
True or false?

330
00:40:53,837 --> 00:40:57,619
We will all be judged for what we do in this life.

331
00:40:58,681 --> 00:40:59,641
True.

332
00:41:00,343 --> 00:41:01,224
True or false?

333
00:41:01,224 --> 00:41:15,176
Those who have great resources and abundance and benefits in this life will be judged
based upon whether they use those things for God.

334
00:41:16,058 --> 00:41:17,018
True.

335
00:41:18,818 --> 00:41:21,669
Does the person who has nothing get judged the same way?

336
00:41:24,493 --> 00:41:31,149
They get judged the same way, but they don't have the same responsibility.

337
00:41:33,852 --> 00:41:40,297
It is important for us to realize that with everything God blesses us with comes
responsibility.

338
00:41:41,279 --> 00:41:45,822
The more blessings, the more responsibility.

339
00:41:46,603 --> 00:41:49,846
The greater the weight of the responsibility.

340
00:41:50,638 --> 00:42:00,678
And so it is important for us to realize that those who God says, here, use the example
from the talents.

341
00:42:00,778 --> 00:42:05,818
Here's the man, the servant who the king puts five talents in his hands.

342
00:42:05,818 --> 00:42:11,738
Is he going to hold him to a different level of accountability than the one with one
talent?

343
00:42:12,578 --> 00:42:14,638
Are they both accountable for their talents?

344
00:42:14,638 --> 00:42:17,538
Yes, but the king has placed more in his hand.

345
00:42:17,538 --> 00:42:20,838
What happens when he now doubles it and now he has 10 talents?

346
00:42:20,940 --> 00:42:22,432
and then he has 11 talents.

347
00:42:22,432 --> 00:42:27,310
Is he going to have the same responsibility with five that he now has with 11?

348
00:42:27,700 --> 00:42:30,003
No, he's going be held to greater responsibility.

349
00:42:30,003 --> 00:42:30,363
Why?

350
00:42:30,363 --> 00:42:32,736
Because he has more entrusted into his hand.

351
00:42:34,612 --> 00:42:41,488
Are elders judged the same way that a person who's just become a Christian a month ago is
judged?

352
00:42:42,389 --> 00:42:44,270
We know that's not the case.

353
00:42:44,531 --> 00:42:45,092
Why?

354
00:42:45,092 --> 00:42:52,198
Because one group has a greater responsibility that has been placed in their hands.

355
00:42:52,959 --> 00:42:56,241
Now at the end of the day, we're all going to be judged for what we do.

356
00:42:56,622 --> 00:43:01,216
So Paul is telling Timothy, you're there in Ephesus.

357
00:43:01,452 --> 00:43:05,483
By the way, that indicates to us that there were rich people in the church in Ephesus.

358
00:43:06,164 --> 00:43:09,045
There were wealthy people in the church in Ephesus.

359
00:43:09,065 --> 00:43:25,152
And Paul is telling Timothy, you there in Ephesus, you command those in that church who
are rich to be active in good works, to be benefiting those who are in need.

360
00:43:25,152 --> 00:43:28,593
He says they are to be ready to give.

361
00:43:28,653 --> 00:43:30,552
They are to be willing.

362
00:43:30,552 --> 00:43:41,278
to share, which also indicates that likely there at Ephesus they had those who were very
rich and there were those who were destitute.

363
00:43:44,056 --> 00:43:50,574
Paul tells Timothy, you command them to first have the right attitude.

364
00:43:51,496 --> 00:43:55,120
Then you command them to do the right thing.

365
00:43:56,443 --> 00:44:01,870
And then he says, when they do that, they will have transferred.

366
00:44:04,268 --> 00:44:10,882
They're uncertain riches to assure foundation in eternity.

367
00:44:12,164 --> 00:44:20,980
There is an exchange rate that exists in this world between physical riches and eternal
riches.

368
00:44:22,636 --> 00:44:23,955
and it's called giving.

369
00:44:26,434 --> 00:44:40,254
that when we give out of a benevolent spirit, out of a trust for God, not to be seen of
men, because Jesus makes it clear, if you give to be seen of you have what reward?

370
00:44:42,774 --> 00:44:45,054
what you just experienced, right there, that's it.

371
00:44:45,054 --> 00:44:51,882
That's all you're But rather when you give to not be seen of men.

372
00:44:54,156 --> 00:44:57,195
You're storing up riches.

373
00:44:59,054 --> 00:45:19,954
We were talking just a few weeks ago, a conversation there in the back, and I read in a
biography of a preacher in, I think, the early 1900s, maybe the early 1900s, and rather

374
00:45:19,954 --> 00:45:24,754
well-known, but always poor.

375
00:45:26,438 --> 00:45:37,320
And uh it was said concerning him that one of the struggles that his family had is he was
willing to give away anything to anybody who needed it.

376
00:45:39,596 --> 00:45:54,552
But it was also said of him that he had set a goal, now bear in mind, early 1900s, that he
had set a goal to store up in eternity $50,000.

377
00:45:56,128 --> 00:46:01,260
In other words, he had a goal in his life to give away $50,000 as a poor preacher.

378
00:46:02,401 --> 00:46:06,822
And so when he had access to money, he'd find somebody who needed it.

379
00:46:07,603 --> 00:46:19,027
But the way that he thought about it is, I'm going to put these treasures where they're
actually going to matter, and that's in eternity.

380
00:46:19,608 --> 00:46:26,090
And there's times in our lives where we need to be thinking that way.

381
00:46:26,700 --> 00:46:44,803
We need to be moving out of the abstract idea of we need to be benevolent or we need to be
giving and into a real question of how are we planning for eternity?

382
00:46:45,544 --> 00:46:52,328
How are we acting now to set plans for eternity?

383
00:46:52,589 --> 00:46:54,270
We're going to close the book.

384
00:46:55,000 --> 00:47:08,320
Paul writes, Timothy, guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and
idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge.

385
00:47:08,841 --> 00:47:13,845
By professing it, some have strayed concerning the faith.

386
00:47:14,166 --> 00:47:15,826
Grace be with you.

387
00:47:15,927 --> 00:47:16,967
Amen.

388
00:47:17,088 --> 00:47:24,884
As Paul closes this letter to Timothy, he reminds him this battle's not going to be easy.

389
00:47:25,706 --> 00:47:33,939
your actions as a teacher, as an instructor, as one who's put, as one who has had these
things put in your hands.

390
00:47:33,939 --> 00:47:35,950
It's gonna be easy.

391
00:47:35,950 --> 00:47:37,511
It's not gonna be easy.

392
00:47:37,671 --> 00:47:42,313
It's going to be one you're going to have to guard against these pitfalls.

393
00:47:42,513 --> 00:47:46,375
All of these are things which previously we've already discussed in the book.

394
00:47:46,375 --> 00:47:48,115
He just brings them back up.

395
00:47:48,816 --> 00:47:50,956
Don't forget the warning.

396
00:47:50,956 --> 00:47:53,698
Don't forget, people will try and sidetrack you.

397
00:47:53,698 --> 00:47:54,956
Don't forget.

398
00:47:54,956 --> 00:48:00,350
people will claim to have knowledge didn't originate with God.

399
00:48:01,031 --> 00:48:11,399
If it didn't originate with God, it's false knowledge because it does not accord with the
word of God.

400
00:48:11,499 --> 00:48:16,043
Thank you for your attention and that will be a conclusion of First Timothy.