Fatherly Advice

Fatherly Advice

February 10th, 2015, Kichijouji Bible Study

Gotthold Beck

1 Timothy

6:1 All who are under the yoke of slavery should regard their own masters as deserving of the highest respect, so that the name of God and our teaching may not be discredited.

6:2 Moreover, those who have believing masters should be respectful to them, because they are fellow believers. In fact, they must serve them even better, because those who benefit from their service are believers and dear to them. These are the things you must teach and exhort.

6:3 If anyone teaches false doctrine and refuses to agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, and godly teaching,

6:4 he is a conceited person and does not understand anything. He has an unhealthy craving for arguments and debates. This produces jealousy, rivalry, slander, evil suspicions,

6:5 and incessant conflict between people who are depraved in mind and deprived of truth. They think that godliness is a way to make a profit.

6:6 Of course, godliness with contentment does bring a great profit.

6:7 Nothing to this world we bring; from it take we nothing.

6:8 With food to eat and clothes to wear; content we are in everything.

6:9 But people who want to get rich keep toppling into temptation and are trapped by many stupid and harmful desires that plunge them into destruction and ruin.

6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, in their eagerness to get rich, have wandered away from the faith and caused themselves a lot of pain.

6:11 But you, man of God, must flee from all these things. Instead, you must pursue righteousness, godliness, faithfulness, love, endurance, and gentleness.

6:12 Fight the good fight for the faith. Keep holding on to eternal life, to which you were called and about which you gave a good testimony in front of many witnesses.

6:13 Since you are in the presence of God, who gives life to everything, and in the presence of the Messiah Jesus, who gave a good testimony before Pontius Pilate, I solemnly charge you

6:14 to keep these commands stainlessly and blamelessly until the appearance of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah.

6:15 At the right time, he will make him known. God is the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of Lords.

6:16 He alone has endless life and lives in inaccessible light. No one has ever seen him, nor can anyone see him. Honor and eternal power belong to him! Amen.

6:17 Tell those who are rich in this age not to be arrogant and not to place their confidence in anything as uncertain as riches. Instead, let them place their confidence in God, who lavishly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.

6:18 They are to do good, to be rich in good actions, to be generous, and to share.

6:19 By doing this they store up a treasure for themselves that is a good foundation for the future, so that they can keep their hold on the life that is real.

6:20 Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you. Avoid the pointless discussions and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge.

6:21 Although some claim to have it, they have abandoned the faith. May grace be with all of you.

[International Standard Version]

I came up with a title for these verses we just read, which is “Fatherly Advice”, or it could be “They Were Like Father and Son.”

The calling of Jesus is simply, “Come. Come to me.” When we do, we will come to know the true joy, be liberated from all worries and obtain the eternal life. This will let us move forward to the future with an easy mind. We are all allowed to come to Jesus just the way we are now.

However, it is not acceptable for us to remain as we are now forever. The most important thing is to come to Jesus no matter what. It is to come to Jesus to understand him. Needless to say, it does not mean to come to Jesus as part of religious rituals of Christianity, but to accept him as our savior.

Those who have accepted Jesus have their savior and those who have their savior have an eternal life. And those who have an eternal life are of course, saved forever. Jesus will absolutely accept all who come to him even if they are sinners if they are prepared to repent. When they are accepted by Jesus, their sins are forgiven and they are called the children of God.

Why are we having this gathering today? It is, after all, to proclaim the gospel and urge people to come to Jesus, isn't it? I used to sing this very simple song for children in Germany, which goes, “Come to Jesus. Come to Jesus. Come to Jesus, Now, at this very moment, come to Jesus.” It is the solution to all problems.

Jesus gives us freedom. Jesus provides us with the forgiveness of sins. Jesus gives us lively hope. It is only through Jesus that we can live a fruitful and significant life where a clear objective is established. To come to Jesus is to be saved.

In the beginning of our life of faith, we take a strong interest in what we can receive from it. Some examples are the forgiveness of sins, true peace of mind, true joy or lively hope. However, we must take a new step from there because it is not acceptable for us to remain in the same state. Well, all that we have received from Jesus are wonderful things indeed. However, we have to step forward and make ourselves useful to him. That is to say, we should ask ourselves what Jesus wants from us and what we are supposed to do to make Jesus rejoice.

Paul wrote to Timothy. Timothy was called by Paul, “my dear child.”

2 Timothy

1:2 To: Timothy, my dear child.

1 Timothy

1:2 To: Timothy, my genuine child in the faith.

This implies that Timothy was a spiritual son of Paul. He heard about the gospel from Paul, who eventually led him to Jesus. Paul and Timothy were like father and son.

Philippians

2:22 But you know his proven worth―how like a son with his father he served with me in the gospel.

How was this wonderful relationship born? Timothy was born in the town called Lystra. His father was not Jewish, but Greek. Being a gentile, he was apparently raised in a family of idolaters. However, Timothy heard the words of Jesus in youth. He learned the teachings of Jesus through his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice.

2 Timothy

1:5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first existed in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am convinced that this faith also exists in you.

During his first mission trip, Paul visited the town of Lystra. It is doubtless that young Timothy was converted to Christianity in this period. Seven years later, when Paul came back to Lystra, he saw that the faith of Timothy had greatly grown. Not only had he accepted Jesus as his savior of heart, but he accepted Jesus as the Lord to govern his whole life. After all, Timothy had come to desire desperately to obey the Lord alone.

Acts

16:2 Timothy was highly regarded by the brothers in Lystra and Iconium.

Later, Timothy became a co-worker of Paul. He left his hometown and accompanied Paul on his trip to proclaim the gospel. The spiritual son of Paul was turned into his co-worker. Their internal fellowship grew more and more intimate. Paul considered Timothy trustworthy. Thus, after working with Timothy for a certain period of time, Paul dispatched Timothy to Ephesus to be engaged in the ministry of the Lord. In his Epistle, he wrote to Timothy;

1 Timothy

6:11 But you, man of God, must flee from all these things. Instead, you must pursue righteousness, godliness, faithfulness, love, endurance, and gentleness.

6:12 Fight the good fight for the faith. Keep holding on to eternal life, to which you were called and about which you gave a good testimony in front of many witnesses.

Paul gave this advice to Timothy like his father. It was also an expression of his love. Needless to say, these words do not apply to Timothy alone but are true in our lives today too. I would like to discuss his advice with you this morning.

Firstly, we are commanded to avoid certain things. This epistle repeatedly used an expression, “flee from something.” Secondly, Paul called for obedience. Timothy was urged to pursue a lot of things. And the third piece of advice was to participate in the battle. He was commanded to fight the good fight.

Among all this advice, I would like to focus on the “command to avoid” today. This epistle tells us to flee from “all these things.”

James

4:7 Therefore, submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will run away from you.

According to this verse, one aspect of obedience to the Lord is to resist, or to refuse to compromise. However, there is another aspect to it, which is to flee. In the above verse, the expression “flee from” is used.

In some cases, we are told to resist while in others, we are told to flee according to the circumstances. For the internal growth of Timothy and for his security, Paul gave fatherly advice to 'flee' in these verses. He listed five things between verse 4 and 10, in which Timothy was advised to flee.

The first one is pride. We have to avoid pride, vanity, insolence, haughtiness and arrogance. Pride is the opposite of humility. In the very famous verses 7 and 8 of the Philippians, chapter 2, our Lord was described as;

Philippians

2:7 Instead, poured out in emptiness, a servant’s form did he possess, a mortal man becoming. In human form he chose to be,

8 and lived in all humility, death on a cross obeying.

As we can see from these verses, instead of acting as a ruler, Jesus took the form of a servant and poured himself out into emptiness. The devil, the enemy of the Lord, was described as acting in a totally opposite manner to Jesus. We can see what was in his mind from these verses from Isaiah;

Isaiah

14:13 You said in your heart, ‘I’ll ascend to heaven, above the stars of God. I’ll erect my throne; I’ll sit on the Mount of Assembly in the far reaches of the north;

14:14 I’ll ascend above the tops of the clouds; I’ll make myself like the Most High.’

The devil, the one who used to be called the Day Star, son of the Dawn, was lifted up high by the Lord. And he tried to move up even higher. The devil came to be proud of himself. This is implied in the word 'I' that appears five times in these verses.

The devil, who was once called the light bringer, became arrogant. He no longer wanted to humble himself. It is those who humble themselves who will have their seats in heaven. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled. They have no place to hide because the Lord God despises arrogance. James wrote;

James

4:6 God opposes the arrogant but gives grace to the humble.

This is what the entire Bible wants to tell us. “God opposes the arrogant but gives grace to the humble.” For those who refuse to humble themselves and thus cannot receive the blessing of the Lord God, nothing but eternal destruction is left. Paul ordered Timothy to avoid becoming proud of himself.

1 Timothy

6:4 he is a conceited person and does not understand anything. He has an unhealthy craving for arguments and debates.

He is described as being conceited, not understanding anything and being unhealthy. Indeed, three aspects of this person are included in this one sentence. Why is that? Arrogance makes a person blind and thus leaves him unhealthy. Such a person has no chance to be used by the Lord, which makes the devil happy.

The second quality he mentioned was that of “uncleanness.” He used this strong expression, “people who are depraved in mind.” In Genesis, chapter 39, verses 7 to 13, we can read a story about the wife of Potiphar, who served the king of Egypt. This lady was depraved in mind. She was preoccupied with lust and uncleanness.

When Joseph realized that he could not protect himself from her lustful temptation, he fled. To stand back was the best protection at this time. Lot, a nephew of Abraham, tried to resist the temptation of Sodom. However, his soul was distressed because of what he saw and heard daily.

2 Peter

2:8 for as long as that righteous man lived among them, day after day he was being tortured in his righteous soul by what he saw and heard in their lawless actions.

Lot first thought that he was strong enough to resist the temptation of Sodom, but he failed to do so. He suffered from unspeakable agony until the Lord told him to flee for his life and that it was the only way for him to stay safe.

Genesis

19:17 Then one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back or stop anywhere on the plain. Escape to the hills, or you’ll be swept away!”

19:18 “No! Please, my Lords!” Lot pleaded with them.

19:19 “Your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me your gracious love in how you have dealt with me by keeping me alive. I cannot escape to the hills, because I’m afraid the disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die.

Avoid all kinds of impure thoughts, all kinds of impure words and all kinds of impure deeds. By the grace of the Lord, we were washed and cleansed by the blood of the lamb, the Lord Jesus. However, we still absolutely need to stay watchful. The devil makes every attempt to tempt us in order to spoil our faith.

Genesis

39:12 so she grabbed Joseph by his outer garment and demanded “Let’s have some sex!” Instead, Joseph ran outside, leaving his outer garment still in her hand.

Joseph refused to compromise and ran outside. He lost his outer garment but he protected his conscience. From a human being’s perspective, he lost so much. That is to say, he lost his status and was imprisoned.

Thirdly, discontent. As we read previously in the verse 8, “With food to eat and clothes to wear; content we are in everything.” This verse from the Numbers describes what the people of Israel did;

Numbers

11:1 Eventually, the people began complaining about their distress, and the Lord heard them. When the Lord heard, his anger flared up and the Lord’s fire incinerated some of them within the outskirts of the camp.

It is written that the people began complaining about their distress. The people of Israel had just obtained freedom through the miraculous work of the Lord. They were liberated from slavery in Egypt and followed the pillar of cloud, the pillar of fire.

However, these believers and saved ones began to complain about their hardships, according to the Bible. They were unhappy. When we complain to the Lord, we lose sight of the Lord. Those who complain about their hardships would begin to blame the Lord regardless of whether they are conscious of it or not. We should have an adamant attitude.

Paul wrote to avoid having complaints. In Philippians 4:11, he could say that “I have learned to be content in whatever situation I am in.” Why did Paul use the word 'learned' in here? It was because nobody knows it by nature. We learn it through many hardships.

Fourthly, it is written that we ought to stay away from stupid and harmful desires.

1 Timothy

6:9 But people who want to get rich keep toppling into temptation and are trapped by many stupid and harmful desires that plunge them into destruction and ruin.

Not all desires are bad. There are some good desires too but still, some desires are harmful. Here, Paul mentioned the possibility of possessing stupid desires within ourselves. When we are dominated by such desires, we will suffer from their damage. The Holy Spirit dwells inside all believers.

What is most important for us is to have the Holy Spirit dominate us and make all the decisions of our lives. All desires which are not under the control of the Holy Spirit are possibly harmful to us. Thus, we need to avoid such desires and flee from them.

Fifthly, it is the love of money.

1 Timothy

6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.

In some case, money could possibly be a blessing in our lives but it could also work as a curse. Our attitude toward money is decisively important, isn't it? We cannot spend all things we possess at will. All our properties are just temporarily assigned to us. Some people still believe that one tenth of all incomes have to be dedicated.

It was actually true in the era of the Old Testament. Contrarily, in the New Testament, our Lord has clearly stated that he is not satisfied with the tithe but he desires to control all things. “Lord, what am I supposed to do?” We ought to stand before the Lord each moment of our lives.

The Bible does not prohibit in any chapter of any book, for believers to have a lot of money. Joseph of Arimathea was a rich man and he could help to entomb Jesus' body respectfully. He offered the burial which was prepared for himself for Jesus. A man named Barnabas was also wealthy. He sold his land so that there were no needy persons among his fellow believers.

Acts

4:34 For none of them needed anything, because everyone who had land or houses would sell them and bring the money received for the things sold.

Abraham was called a friend of the Lord God. The Bible describes that he was quite wealthy.

Genesis

13:2 Now Abram had become quite wealthy in livestock, silver, and gold.

The Lord God has never said anywhere in the Bible that his believers should not be rich. However, he has definitely stated that love of money should absolutely be avoided.

2 Kings

5:20 Gehazi, the attendant to Elisha, the man of God, told himself, “Look how my master has spared this Aramean, Naaman! He declined to take from him what he brought. As the Lord lives, I’m going to run after him and get something from him.”

5:27 “Naaman’s leprosy will plague you and your descendants forever!” As he left Elisha’s presence, he was infected with leprosy that looked like white snow.

The prophet Elisha adamantly refused the gift from Naaman. However, his servant Gehazi could not resist the temptation. He loved wealth. The Bible indicates how Gehazi lied and dishonestly obtained wealth.

However, as a result, Gehazi became leprous. He had to experience what was written in the verse 10; which was, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” Those who love money more than the Lord will be driven away from faith.

They are no longer connected with the Lord. Love of money is an extremely great danger. For this reason, we are clearly commanded to avoid the love of money and this command has to be taken seriously. This exactly is the “command to avoid.” We are seriously advised to flee from these failings.