Text: 1 Timothy 6:17-19

Title:Command the Rich

Truth:Rich people are to trust God and do good.

Date/Location: November 25, 2012 at FBC

Introduction

Like every faithful believer, pastors want to be faithful to the Lord. For them this means obeying certain responsibilities given to them specifically in the Bible. This passage gives one of those charges: the pastor is to direct wealthy believers toward spirituality and away from greed. In the next passage, we read that to be a faithful minister, he is to carefully guard the truth that he has learned and avoid useless wrangling.

I. Command the Rich

A. The Nature of the Command

1. This is a command to Timothy to command the rich.

2. If we get right down to it, most of us do not like to be told what to do. Wealthy peoplegenerally do not like to be told off. Maybe it is because they are in a place where they run their own business, or they are in charge of a lot of people, or don’t have to listen to anyone but themselves.

3. You may have heard of a church where the pastor caters to the big donors. For any pastor, there arises that question of “what will happen?” when the rich family moves away, or doesn’t like the ministry, or wants to influence me in his favor? Sin within the pastor’s heartmight push back against this command. “What do you mean, command the rich? I don’t tell the rich, I talk nicely to them, I don’t make them mad, I can’t lose their offerings…” If so, the desire for money has laid a trap. Irrespective of the person’s social position, they are under the authority of God’s word and God’s messenger, so the pastor must command the rich. The wealthy do not run the church; they do not command the pastor. Rather, the pastor teaches them.

B. The Recipients of the Command

1. Rich means having a lot of material things; having an abundance that exceeds the normal (above average wealth); being plentifully supplied.

2. Rich does not mean necessarily a big bank account. It might be that you have real estate holdings – a large house, for example, or an extra cottage on the lake. Or, it might be the lifestyle you live where you have everything you want in addition to everything you need.

a. According to the BBC ( the UN International Labor Organization studied the question of what the average world yearly income is, and they came up with a number of around $18,000 in terms of our dollars. The number is far from accurate, however, because they know they have missed some countries; because they excluded those who are not making income, like pensioners, children, and stay-at-home parents; they excluded the self-employed, which make up a huge portion of those in under-developed countries.

b. I think it is safe to conclude from this data that if you make $18,000 per year, you are at least average, and probably above average. To justify that conclusion, consider the further data point that this number amounts to about $75 per day, while more than a third of the world’s population actually lives on $2 per day. So, $18,000 may even be way above the median point.

c. So, who is rich? Not just Bill Gates!It is YOU who are reading this. I know, not all of you are rich according to this definition, but let us consider who is and who isn’t for a moment to put the question into perspective. It’s easy to look at your doctor neighbor or businessman friend and say to yourself, “I’m not rich…they are!” But if you compare yourself to that $18,000 number, things look different. Graduate students on a slim stipend are making way more than that amount in terms of stipend plus educational perks. Pensioners on a small social security check are making not far off that number. So, if you make $30,000 or $50,000, you have to be considered rich. If you are making $100k, you are clearly rich, despite your protests to the contrary.

3. The bottom line is that these commands apply to you listening today.Most of you are well above world average income. Even if you are not rich, you could be someday, or you might lust after riches now. The text applies just as well. No one really escapes the applicability of the message because all of us have some connection to money, and none of us are permitted to be arrogant or to trust in things other than God. See Phil. 3:8ff, Gal. 6:7-8.

4. Some things the passage is silent on: The rich are not told to sell everything, as if Matthew 19:16-26 were a general principle for all rich people. They are not told that they cannot own private property.It is assumed that the wealth was gained by ethical means, and it is not ill-gotten gain.

II.What the Rich are Commanded, v. 17-18

These commands are keys to the strategy for a wealthy person to face the dangerous effects of money. Money has an ability to take away humility, to dampen or eliminate trust in God, to cause foolish stewardship decisions, and a lack of focus on heaven. Here is the Word of God for us who are in that state:

A. To not be Haughty. Pride or arrogance is prohibited for the rich person. No Christian is to think of himself more highly than he ought (Rom. 12:3); all are to be of a humble mind (Rom. 12:16). The rich are not higher than their average-wage pastor; they are not more favored by God. If anything, upon them is laid more responsibility than their neighbors with lesser means.

B. To not trust in Uncertain Riches. The fact is that the duration of riches is limited. It is limited by your lifespan for one thing, which itself is uncertain. For another thing, riches are uncertain because they may evaporate due to rapidly decaying economic conditions, war, legal action, and government seizure. Many people happily keep their head in the sand and think this will not happen, but in fact it can happen, even in the space of a single day.

C. To trust in the living God. The certainty of inanimate, temporal riches is nothing compared to the trustworthiness of the eternally living God.Our trust needs to get “behind” the things to the One Who gives us the things.

1. God gives all things richly to enjoy.We are permitted to enjoy the fruit of our labor. We can be content after a good days’ work and after we receive remuneration that permits us to have other things or do other things.

2. Do not think that enjoyment has even a whiff of sin in it. You cannot legitimately enjoy any of God’s gifts outside of the proper bounds for them.

3. The Bible commends neither a communist approach nor an ascetic approach as the solution to the “problem of the rich.” Neither confiscatory taxation nor outright seizure are valid approaches to bring the rich down. In fact, there will always be rich people, and there will always be poor people (Matthew 26:11, Mark 14:7, John 12:8). The Christian approach is for the rich to trust in the God who is a generous giver, and to reflect that same giving heart in your life. For the non-rich, the Christian approach is to not be covetous and to flee from the love of money!

D. To do Good and to be Rich in Good WorksNow some practical outworking!

1. God has planned for each and every believer to do good works (Ephesians 2:10). Good works are an evidence of saving faith (James 2:17). Good works flow out of salvation and do not obtain salvation (Titus 3:5). Good works are things done in faithful obedience to Scripture out of love for God.

2. The rich have a particular responsibility in this regard because they have extra ability to do good that the poor do not have. If you read 2 Cor. 9:7-15, you will see that God gives grace to sow, and to reap, and gives an increase for more generosity. See also Psalm 112, esp. verse 9.

3. Your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God—from the recipients.

E. To be Generous and Willing to Share

1. This point is really an extension of the previous, but it gets into the heart of the rich person and says that they must not give in a grumpy manner, but in a generous way. They must be liberal in sharing and not stingy.

2. God gave you all of your stuff in the first place. You might argue that your hard work has something to do with it. True, except that behind that hard work is the health, brain, and diligence that God gave you to do the work.

3. The wealthy person can obtain a lot of joy by sharing his wealth.

III. Results of Proper Handling of Wealth, v. 19

A. Storing up treasure for the future.

1. The idea of a ‘foundation’ is not to be understood in an architectural way, but in a metaphorical way as “something fine to build on for the future” (BDAG). The fact is that doing good and sharing wealth correctly will result in reward in heaven. See Matthew 6:19-21. We may not understand the exact nature of the reward and how it affects our blessed state as we dwell with God and with the believers of all ages. Nonetheless, it will be a factor in our heavenly life.

2. Instead of a building foundation, think of a fund that forms a starting point for heavenly life. Diversify your present wealth not just into various asset classes like stocks and bonds and real estate and precious metals, but into heavenly accounts. The interest and dividends are out of this world!

B. Laying hold on eternal life. See 6:12 for same phrase.

1. Instead of having money loosen your grip on the things of God, if you recognize the fleetingness of riches and rather use them to benefit others while you have them, then money can be used as a means of advancing your Christian life and reward instead of retarding them. You would rather lay hold on eternal life than to try to hold onto wealth that is uncertain and fleeting.

2. This is not a passive idea of just receiving, but grasping, holding onto, really taking charge of walking with Christ. No one else is going to do it for you! Imagine the tenacity that you would hold on to riches if you were an unbeliever. Take that same tenacity and turn it to holding onto eternal life instead of uncertain riches.

Conclusion

What must we do after learning this passage of Scripture?

  • Do not be arrogant.
  • Do not trust in money.
  • Trust in God with all your heart.
  • Remember we can enjoy the gifts that God gives us.
  • We ought to do good works so as to diversify our wealth.
  • We must plan to do good works.
  • We must budget for good works.

You budget for a vacation, right?Do the same for benevolence on your own or through the church.

You budget for the next car? Do so for regular offerings and missions.

You budget for retirement? Do so in your will for the church.

  • Have a life that not only gives and shares, but a heart that does so willingly and joyfully. MAP

1