1Timothy 6:17 - The Double-dip Downer

”To the rich [ones] in the now age be commanding not to being conceited nor to have hoped upon uncertainty of riches but rather upon God the [One] providing to us all things richly unto enjoyment.”

-What gives me hope for the future?  Where is my hope?  Wealth?  Material prosperity, while affording the ability to afford greater quantities of temporal enjoyment (as it were), brings with it two native downsides.  A double-dip downer.  Two pitfalls, if you will.  Conceit, and misplaced hope.

-This word for conceit in the Greek refers to a mind which has been exalted to a height above were it should be.  Self-exalted, really.  I am more important, I am better somehow, I am more deserving (whether because I managed to acquire said wealth or because I simply now possess more than the poor chap next to me).  It elevates the ego, to where I am thinking more of myself than I ought.  I can lose sight of reality, who/what I really am apart from the grace of God.  Because God Himself shows no partiality.  Not an ounce.  Wealth does not commend me to Him, neither does it offend Him.  It can be useful, and it can be destructive, but with the Lord mostly it is a non-starter.  He doesn’t care how much wealth I have - He cares about what I do with all however much He has entrusted to me, whether much or a mite.  But this is precisely what I am prone to forget when my proverbial cup doth runneth over.  I forget who I really am.  When I am in a place of having no physical needs (or fewer of them), and feeling less needy, I forget my need for Him.  And I forget Him.  Not always, of course.  But the danger exists, lurking in the shadows, tucked away somewhere in my fat, bloated wallet.  The destruction of my soul lurks, frequenting that dark back alley right around the corner of Wall St and Madison Ave.

-The other pitfall which can accompany material prosperity is misplaced hope.  And in the end, hope is about joy.  That on which I set my hope is what I have decided will make me happy and ultimately satisfied.  I am willing to wait for it - but hopefully not too long.  Hope deferred makes the heart sick.  But hope realized is totally what makes my heart happy.  So the question then becomes, what is promising to make me happy?  Fame and fortune?  Truly, are not they not fleeting at best?  They are fickle masters - and they will never satisfy.  They will never provide lasting happiness.  Riches allow me greater access to the stuff of this world, to those things which are nicer.  And we begin to think, I enjoy this.  And gosh-darn-it, I deserve this.  Happiness and high-mindedness.  I could get used to this - and we do.  We feel less needy - and we like it that way.  We don’t want to feel needy - not in our flesh.  No one likes to feel needy - UNLESS that neediness is a direct re-direct to the Source.  THE Source.  God - the One Who richly supplies with all things to enjoy.  Beginning (and ending) with Himself.  All these things we think we want, all these things we think we need in order to make us happy - He is the Source.  They come from the Source, and (should) point us back to the Source.  Which of course points out that He is both the Source and the Destination.  We come back to Him in gratitude, certainly.  But also in dependence.  And in perspective.  When I am keeping in mind that God is the Source, it keeps my mind at the proper height.  Keeps me in my place.  It levels the playing field.  We’re all what we are by the grace of God, and whatever we have He has freely given to us to be enjoyed with grateful - and humble - hearts.  But wait - there’s more.  Next verse...

1Timothy 6:16 - Death gone, darkness gone.

”...the [One] only having immortality, light inhabiting unapproachable, Who no man saw nor is able to see, to Whom [be] honor and eternal power, amen.”

-Immortality.  It is the lifelong wish of every soul, isn’t it?  The quest for immortality.  The fountain of youth.  And as we age, as our own mortality encroaches, the relentless creep of death, we long for the days of our youth.  When our vigor and our faculties were at their zenith.  But oh, to be able to bottle that, a precious elixir which would somehow release us from the cold grip of death.  That would be divine.  But no, there is only One Who is truly divine, Who has immortality.  Just One.  Just One over Whom death has no power - because truly, what is death but the absence of life?  The power of life - to give life and to destroy life (truly destroy it forever) - as well as to RE-store it - that is the purview of blessed and only Sovereign God, the King of the universe.  He is the Author of life, the one and only Life-Giver - and the life He gives through Jesus is life forever.  Death - gone.  But this Living Water is sourced from just one place.  Him.

-And you can just walk up to Him and get some.  Well, sort of.  It’s not like stopping by the nearest Dollar General, or walking over to the neighbor to get a cup of sugar.  He doesn’t live next door per se.  He inhabits what Paul describes as inapproachable light.  Now let’s think about that - what would make light inapproachable?  This would have to be light so bright, so blazingly blindingly bright that we couldn’t stand to look at it, much less come close to it.  It would blind us for sure - or worse.  Isn’t this what God has told us about Himself?  God is light.  Think of how He appears to His people - a burning bush, a pillar of fire, flashes of lightning (with attendant thunder), luminous glory which no man can look at and live (not the front side at least) - we ARE talking about a source of light (THE Source) so bright and hot and blazingly intense as to consume any and all who would come near.  Isn’t that just what the Scriptures say?  Our God is an all-consuming fire.  So technically we can’t just walk up to Him.  You can’t see Him or look at Him, even if you knew where to look.  At least not this side of glory.  For one day His blazing inapproachable light will actually replace the need for the sun itself.  The people walking in darkness will see a Great Light, incomparable, inapproachable, yet sublimely-so through Jesus.  Through Jesus, and with the eyes of faith, we actually can see and approach, right now, right on up to His throne of grace.  And then in that day, we will see Him as He truly is, this One Who alone possesses (and is worthy of) all honor and eternal power.  Darkness gone.  Death gone.  Life forever.  With Him.  From Him and through Him and for Him.  Let it be so!

1Timothy 6:15 - Two Times: All In Good Time, My Pretties...

”...which in its own appointed time He will show, the [One] blessed and only Sovereign, the [One] King of kings and Lord of lords...”

-Jesus Christ is Lord, yes, and He is coming back.  He said so Himself, repeatedly (Matthew 24.27, 24.46, 25.31; Mark 8.38; Luke 12.43, 18.8; John 14.3, 14.18, 14.28)!  Paul talked about it a ton (cf 2Timothy 1.10, 4.1, 8; Titus 2.13).  He is coming back!  There are myriad ways this return is understood, so many interpretations of the various Scriptures, prophecies, mentions of our Savior coming back for His church - His bride - not to mention to inaugurate and consummate His righteous rule, the kingdom of God, on earth.  So many questions - questions of when, questions of how, what will it look like, what will be the events leading up to His return (if any).  And with all these questions, there are suggestions.  Positions staked out.  Differing interpretations and conjectures about all these things - sincere Christ-followers who disagree and even divide from one another over all these questions.  And at the end of the day, not one of these questions (or answers) are necessary in order for a person to be saved, to make it to heaven.  They are not salvific in the least.  They do not change the message of the Gospel one bit.  Jesus Christ died for your sins - make sure you are trusting in Him.  Oh, and He rose from the dead, and He is coming back.  Some day soon.  Soon-ish.  That’s what we know for sure.  This much is fairly clear.  Not much disagreement on these points, not among true evangelical Christ-followers.  He IS coming back!  To the praise of His glory!

-When is He coming back?  When will He appear?  That is the question.  That’s what we all want to know.  This is precisely what the disciples were asking at the Ascension?  Lord, when are You coming back?  When are you going to restore the kingdom of Israel?  And Jesus’ answer to them was pretty much the same thing that Paul says here: It is not for you to know (Acts 1.6-8).  In fact, no one knows (Matthew 24.36)!  Not even Jesus, apparently.  The timing is all up to the One Who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King eternal, King of kings and Lord of Lords.  He's the One and only One Who is in charge of ALL this stuff.  He is the One Who has determined all these times.  And this is a kairos time as opposed to a chronos time, so we are dealing not really with a clock time but rather a divinely appointed time of opportunity.  Which means we are really talking about two times here - the proper time, and the meantime.  Jesus will return at the Proper Time, THE appointed time, just in time and on time, just the right time - a time which the almighty all-knowing Sovereign Father Himself has determined, which you DO NOT know, and with which you do not need to excessively concern yourselves.  But in the Meantime - concern yourselves with this.  In the meantime, be My witnesses.  My Holy-Spirit empowered martyrs!  In the meantime, keep the commandment.  Love the Lord.  Run the race, with your eyes fixed on Jesus, and the finish line will get here soon enough... All in good time, my pretties, all in good time.  God’s good time, the proper time... And His timing is perfect!  

1Timothy 6:14 - The One Thing

”...[I am commanding] you to keep the commandment spotless [and] blameless until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ...”

-A serious charge, a sober command to keep the command, the commandment.  Just one, you ask?  We’re technically looking at at least two, since this is also a command.  Not to mention, Paul has just dropped a busload of commands in these last few verses alone - flee all those bad things, pursue these good things, fight the good fight, take hold of eternal life.  Obviously, Paul’s vision is that of a unified whole.  Our is not a massive hodgepodge of disparate commands, a jumbled assortment of divine imperatives.  Nope - it all actually does boil down to one command.  Just one.  Love the Lord with all your heart.  One Lord, one love, one heart.  It all goes back to Him.  It’s all about Him.  We were created and designed to bear His image, to be like Him, to show off His breathtaking goodness, to celebrate that and to increase the celebration of His goodness to the ends of the earth.  In all that we do, whatever we do, we do this one thing - we love Him.  We glorify Him by loving Him fully and unreservedly.  We show off His goodness by enjoying and spreading the knowledge of His goodness.

-And we do this without spot or blame.  We endeavor to do this in such a way that inasmuch as our Savior has clothed us in His white robes of righteousness that there is not even one spot of dirt, not even a single stain anywhere to be seen.  Not even a single thing which anyone could say against us - apart from our devotion to our Savior.  It’s like Daniel - the only thing his would-be detractors could find against him was in relation to his relationship with God [Daniel 6.5].  Spotless.  Blameless.  But not perfection, this.  We are not talking about some rosy-eyed delusion of being perfect in everything we do or say.  Chasing some phantom of religious performance which is nothing more than an exhausting pipedream.  Nope.  Nobody is perfect.  Not this side of heaven.  But we can do two things as we pursue the One Thing - we can always (according to His power which mightily works within us) strive to do it right, and when we mess up (not if, but when), we can own it and make it right.  A walk of honesty and humility.  We’re not better than anyone else, we’re not perfect - but our Savior is, and by golly and by His grace and power we wanna be like Him.  We’re gonna give it our all.  Bar set high, aiming high, running to win, the best race we know how.  And when we fall, when we try and don’t succeed, we will try try again.  Until He comes again.  Until He appears (He is coming back!).  Until the end, in other words.  We will finish.  Finish!  Finish the race!  We will keep on running to win...

-But Jesus IS coming back as Lord - next verse...!

1Timothy 6:13 - The Supreme Life-Giver and the Beautiful Life-Liver

”I am commanding [you] in the face of the God the [One] giving life to all things, and of Jesus Christ the [One] witnessing upon Pontius Pilate the beautiful confession...”

-Paul is about to leave Timothy with a sober charge, and extremely serious command.  He couldn’t be more serious about it.  And so he invokes the presence of two witnesses.  In the face of God and Jesus.  They are watching.  They see the whole thing.  The very fact that these two are witness to the giving of this command, and will also be watching its implementation, should be sobering enough.  But what Paul reminds us about who they are, summarizes their palmarès for us, their notable achievements and qualifications as expert witnesses - this ratchets up the seriousness with which Timothy (and we) should respond to this command a hundred-fold.

-God is the One giving life to all things.  Including me and you and Timothy.  He is the Source, the Source of life.  Formed out of dust and breathed into each one of us the breath of life.  The breath of life.  My every next breath comes from Him.  My very last breath will come from Him, until He takes me home.  The Giver of life - all things owe their very existence to Him.  All of us are indebted to Him - He has given us life.  This life we live, these breaths we breathe - they are gifts.  Time is indeed life measured out to us.  We owe God a debt of gratitude - but more than that.  This life, this precious gift, ought to be stewarded.  Taken care of.  These are the Care Instructions that came in the box.  There are very specific instructions for how to take proper care of our life, that which our Life-Giver has made and given to us.  He has explicit ideas about how He wants us to steward the life He has given to us - and He is watching.  In the face of God.  The Supreme Life-Giver.  He is one of the ones who is watching.  But there is Another...

-Jesus Christ.  Jesus of Nazareth - the One Who stood before Pontius Pilate and of Whom Pilate declared, “What evil has He done?  I find no guilt in this man.”  Repeatedly (Matthew 27.23, Luke 23.4, 14, 22, John 18.38, 19.4).  In Him there was found no sin.  Not even a hint.  Not one stain or blemish.  His was a beautiful confession, an exemplary witness, a life well-lived, to the max.  He was tempted in all things, yet without sin (Hebrews 4.15).  Never once slipped up.  Never once missed the mark.  Our bestest big Brother.  He did it.  Whatever it is that God is asking us to do (or not do), Jesus did it.  He went before us, a shining example, the Author and Perfector of our faith - and the One Who now lives inside us to carry us through whatever it is we are facing (cf Hebrews 2.18).  The Beautiful Life-Liver.  He is also watching us now - He sees.  He knows what we know, knows that we know what is right.  He has finished His race - and now He is helping us finish as well (cf Hebrews 12.1-2)!

-On to the command itself.  Next verse...!

1Timothy 6:12 - Of course you realize, this means war...

”Be fighting the beautiful fight of the faith, seize the eternal life, unto which you were called and you confessed the good confession in the face of many witnesses.”

-Put ‘em up, put ‘em up!  Who wants to fight?!  The beautiful fight of the faith.  Be fighting.  Seize the eternal life.  This is very active language on Paul’s part.  Extremely aggressive even.  No easy believe-ism here.  No $3-worth-of-Jesus-please here.  No pray-a-prayer and 18-inches-of-pew-once-a-week going on here.  That is not what it looks like to truly follow Christ.  Sure, there is a call and a confession - that’s the beginning (and Paul doesn’t seem to care if you prefer more the call side of that or the confession side of that, and if you do have a preference you might want to note that Paul here validates both the passive call and the active confession).  But what Paul is urging is, don’t bring it in weak!  Don’t stop short.  It’s not about how you begin the race, it’s how you finish!  Finish!  Finish the race.  Fight all the way to the finish!  Fight for the forward progress of the Gospel in your life and in the lives of those around you!  This is not some lazy Sunday stroll along the shores of the sea of tranquility (altho there is surpassing peace in the offing, to be sure).  This is not a little dollop of Jesus on my plate, some little-dab’ll-do-ya.  This is all-in, all-out, full-on, full-out pursuit of the One Who goes before us, pursuit of that which He has laid up for us in heaven, and pursuit of those around us who He so loves, to bring them along with us.  And in the words of Bugs Bunny, of course you realize, this means war.

-What does it look like then to fight beautifully?  To win the prize?  It begins with surrender.  Yes, winning here begins with surrender.  I can’t win.  I can’t run.  I can’t fight - not in my own strength.  Not by my own devices.  Not on my terms, using my own impotent weapons (whatever I may think they are).  This battle is unseen.  It’s fought on the inside, and in the heavenlies.  It is a battle of the soul, and for souls, spiritual battle, best waged using heavenly power and heavenly tech.  No, this is not Stark tech.  This is not SHIELD tech derived from some infinity stone.  It’s not Wakanda vibranium tech either.  All that stuff is the stuff of hopeful Hollywood fiction, the creative fruit of Stan Lee’s imagination.  No, this stuff is real.  The battle is real.  The struggle is real.  The enemy is real (as is his defiant rebellion against the God of heaven and his desperate attempt to destroy the beautiful world and souls He created).  The weapons are real (Paul unpacks them in Ephesians 6.10-18).  The stakes could be no higher.  The eternal destiny of precious priceless souls is what hangs in the balance - beginning with my own.  And my own impotence is real.  Apart from Him there is nothing, not one thing I can do (John 15.5).  So I must fight according to the power of Christ which mightily works in me.  I can (and do) do all things through His strength.  And as we follow and depend on Him, He leads us on to victory!  And a triumphal procession, a victory celebration, a ticker-tape parade to end all ticker-tape parades!

-And in this context, the seizing of the prize is not a question of if.  Paul is not questioning the veracity of Timothy’s faith.  There is no questioning his call or his confession.  The prize is indeed laid up for him in heaven, on reserve.  He has a reservation - that is not in question.  No, it is not so much a question of if as it is a question of how.  How is it that you will disembark on that heavenly shore?  Will you be crawling across the finish?  Head down, as you finally glimpse our God and Savior and contemplate a life of missed opportunities and tepid devotion?  Or will you be sprinting down the finishing chute, leaping for joy and into His arms in a victory embrace, celebrating a race well run, a fight fought beautifully?  Will you hear the words, well done?  Well done - what does that look like?

-Well, all these things about which Paul has been exhorting Timothy in this letter, holding on to the truth of the Gospel of Christ, pursuing love, keeping a good conscience, diligent in prayer, living above reproach and training up servant-leaders who do the same, respecting elders and caring for widows - all of these things must be pursued with the same diligence as that of an elite marathon runner, or some top rank boxer, of the drill sergeant leading his troops (and himself) into the fray.  It doesn’t mean there is no place for fun, or that there is no time for rest and relaxation - these are all important for the health and well-being of any ardent athlete.  Or soldier.  But we've got our marching orders.  Fight now.  Celebrate later.

1Timothy 6:11 - How To Counteract Kryptonite

”But you, o man of God, these be fleeing!  But be pursuing righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, gentleness.”

-Flee!  Fly, you fools!  Run with the quickness!  That’s right - Paul’s advice to Timothy is to flee.  Be fleeing these things.  Run away!  Run away as fast as you can.  Get out.  Get out of there as quickly as possible.  Don’t get caught in the vicinity, and as soon as you are aware that you are in the vicinity, run away.  This is not the time to cowboy up and hunker down and muster up your best grimace as you grin and bear it and try to withstand the temptation.  Nope.  Paul says flee from these things.  Cuz there are some things which are too dangerous.  Too powerful to resist, at least on a consistent basis.  It is the proverbial Achilles Heel, the chink in your armor, where you are vulnerable and the precise point where the enemy will try to take you down.  Spiritual kryptonite.  And do you know that there are two ways for citizens of Krypton to counteract the effects of kryptonite - avoid it altogether, OR, exposure to the sun.  Apparently, the sun has qualities that mitigate the effects of kryptonite.  And in a spiritual sense, that's exactly what Paul has in mind for those who follow Christ: avoiding the spiritual kryptonite, and maximizing exposure to the beneficial qualities imparted by the Son of God to the citizens of heaven.

-So, as it relates to fleeing, we must speculate somewhat as to what Paul is actually referring, but it likely includes fleeing from things like advocating different doctrine, disputes, constant friction, and then wanting to get rich and the love of money.  So be on the lookout at it relates to your doctrine (and arguing over that), and then for greed in all its pernicious forms.  Wanting what you don’t have, obsessed with more.

-Instead, the qualities which should be ours and increasing - because as we are fleeing those other things we are pursuing these, acquiring these, cultivating these - are righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.

-Righteousness.  Pursuing and maintaining that right relationship with God, where in His eyes I’ve done everything right.  This comes first and foremost by faith, by fully trusting in Christ and His sacrifice.  But then doing it right also involves making it right when I do mess up, cuz this side of heaven even the most godly righteous mature believer is going to mess up.  So there is a commitment to keeping short accounts, apologizing, confessing, making things right when they came out wrong somehow.

-Godliness.  We saw this in 1Timothy 6.5-6.  This is not about how God sees me - it’s how others see Him in me (or not).  When they look at me, what/Who do they see?  Do they see the image of God - that’s the original intent.  Like Jesus.  Christ in me.  Forming Christ in me, no longer I who live.  That’s the plan.  As I live in surrender to the power and plan of Christ in me, He is increasingly formed in my heart and I come to more and more resemble Him.  His attributes more and more are on display in and through my life.

-Faith.  Trust.  Assurance of things hoped for, conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11.1).   It is where we begin in our relationship with God, and it’s how we continue (John 3.16).  It is trust in God - in Who He is, His attributes, and in His promises.  It is being willing to wait on those promises, even when we have yet to receive them (this of course ties to the perseverance).  It is a heart and a life which takes hold of these things, which does indeed take God at His Word and which trusts Him to show up and show off His wonderful impossibles.  Exceedingly greater than anything we can ask or even imagine.  Which certainly means that there is asking - and then believing.  He said it, I believe it.  A heart and mind which are not racked by doubts and questions and skepticism and cynicism.  Faith.  Which is most likely paired with a whole lot of hope.  And love...

-Love.  Pursue love.  This is the goal of all our instruction, all of our much-ado-about-something (1Timothy 1.5).  If I don’t have love, I am nothing.  Because love is what confirms that God (Who is love) is at work in me, that He is present in my life.  A heart that is at the ready to give itself away for the sake of the beloved.  Pursuing the good of another, of others.  Others-first (and others-better of course).  Willingness to give, to sacrifice.  It is what parents (most of them) do for their kids.  It is not about me.  It is quite literally the gift which keeps on giving.  Love keeps on giving.  Next word....

-Perseverance.  A long obedience, this.  Not some brief sprint, but aptly described as more of a marathon.  A long obedience in the same direction.  Towards Jesus, eyes fixed on Him.  We run with endurance.  We keep going.  We get up each morning and put one foot in front of the other (in the strength which He supplies of course), jogging/running towards Jesus, running to win the prize for which He has called us heavenward.  And tomorrow we get up and do it again.  And if life knocks us down, we channel our inner Eric Liddell and get back up (in the strength which He supplies) and keep going.  Come what may.  There are no off-ramps, no short-cuts in this race.  Nothing, not ever anything which is too much for us to endure (in His strength).  Yes, there is abundant attendant brokenness, your brokenness and my brokenness and that of our neighbor(s) as well as that of the world to contend with.  Everybody has a story.  But in the strength which He so richly supplies, each of us can do all things through Christ (Philippians 4.13).  I can keep going - all the way to the finish.  Look at Him - He’s standing there at the finish - waiting for us...

-Gentleness.  This is how Jesus described Himself in fact.  Gentle (Matthew 11.29).  Our coming King is, in fact, gentle (Matthew 21.5).  Not some ruthless tyrant, given to fits of violence and anger.  He is not some fairy tale beast who can’t even handle a bruised reed or a dimly burning candle (Isaiah 42.3).  His strength is indeed well under control.  He is a good-but-not-safe lion.  Power channeled in appropriate amounts at the appropriate times in the appropriate direction.  It is the forbearing and easygoing friendliness you display to a friend (as opposed to the stern harshness of an enemy or a stranger).  Benevolence, the benevolence of a king - THE King in fact, on display and manifested in my life.

-Each of these qualities which I am to pursue are of course divinely-sourced.  They will be produced in me as I pursue the Lord with a dependent and surrendered heart, as I look to Him for the strength to live into these things.  God is the One Who is working all these things in us.  And we can be sure that He is faithful and will indeed continue the good work which He has begun in us and will bring it to completion...!