SPEAKER_01: Hello everyone, I'm Dr.
SPEAKER_01: Steve Holt.
SPEAKER_01: I want to welcome you to the Road Church podcast.
SPEAKER_01: Each week we go into God's Word.
SPEAKER_01: We teach chapter by chapter and verse by verse.
SPEAKER_01: And we are here to build the Kingdom of God revolution through empowering people to change the world.
SPEAKER_01: So we pray this will minister to you at your heart level and change your life.
SPEAKER_01: Today, be encouraged by our guest speaker.
SPEAKER_00: Alright, 1 Timothy chapter 6.
SPEAKER_00: This morning we're going to read the full chapter, but we are not going to be unpacking the full chapter because it is a lot to unpack, and we only have so many minutes this morning.
SPEAKER_00: I do want to give some historical context to this letter.
SPEAKER_00: 1 Timothy is considered a pastoral epistle.
SPEAKER_00: There's only three pastoral epistles in the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: You have 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus, all written by Paul.
SPEAKER_00: And a pastoral epistle is a letter written to a spiritual leader or clergy on how to navigate church setup or how to give advice on matters of church governance.
SPEAKER_00: Again, they are written by the Apostle Paul, and 1 Timothy is written to his young disciple named Timothy.
SPEAKER_00: That's where we get the name for it.
SPEAKER_00: And Timothy was a pastor of the church in Ephesus.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul wrote this letter to shape the health of the church by forming the heart of the pastor.
SPEAKER_00: It is a letter from a seasoned apostle to a young leader calling him to courage, clarity, and Christ-centered shepherding, and a culture full of spiritual confusion, because at that time there was a lot of false teachings, and there was a lot of false teachers who were coming into the church that Timothy was trying to navigate.
SPEAKER_00: So Paul wrote this letter to encourage him, to empower him, and to challenge him to shepherd well.
SPEAKER_00: So 1 Timothy chapter 6, picking up in verse 1, it says this Let all who are under the yoke as a bondservant regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled.
SPEAKER_00: Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the grounds that they are brothers, rather, they must serve all the better, since those who benefit by their good service are believers and beloved.
SPEAKER_00: Teach and urge these things.
SPEAKER_00: If any one teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing.
SPEAKER_00: He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.
SPEAKER_00: But godliness with contentment is great gain.
SPEAKER_00: For we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.
SPEAKER_00: But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.
SPEAKER_00: But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.
SPEAKER_00: For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evils.
SPEAKER_00: It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pangs.
SPEAKER_00: But as for you, O man of God, flee these things.
SPEAKER_00: Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.
SPEAKER_00: Fight the good fight of faith, take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
SPEAKER_00: I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from approach, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time.
SPEAKER_00: He who is the blessed and only sovereign, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see, to him be honor and eternal dominion forever.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So Paul begins here by addressing people who are in positions of submission, those under authority, even those who are under authority unjustly.
SPEAKER_00: But notice his concern is not about cultural reform first, it's about the witnessing of the church.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, the way you live under authority reflects on the God you claim to serve.
SPEAKER_00: Then Paul adds a second layer.
SPEAKER_00: You see, in today's language, familiarity does not cancel responsibility.
SPEAKER_00: Even if your boss or your authority figure is a fellow believer, do not get lazy.
SPEAKER_00: Do not get lazy.
SPEAKER_00: Do not expect to be able to uh slack off because you know that this person believes in grace just like you.
SPEAKER_00: Instead, let your work honor and reflect Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: So that the name of Christ may not be reviled, so that the gospel will not be reviled.
SPEAKER_00: You see, revile is a verb and it means to criticize in an abusive or angerly manner.
SPEAKER_00: Meaning this: if you have friends or coworkers who do not have a good opinion of Christ, who are slandering the name of Jesus, who look at the gospel as a manipulative manuscript, these people can usually, not always, but usually, trace back to seeing a poor representation of Christ from a believer.
SPEAKER_00: And here's the crazy thing.
SPEAKER_00: I can say that, and there will still be some people who say this.
SPEAKER_00: Well, Jesus said that the world will hate you, but remember it hated me first.
SPEAKER_00: Well, Marcus, Jesus said he didn't come to bring peace but a sword.
SPEAKER_00: Don't you read your Bible?
SPEAKER_00: I say this with love.
SPEAKER_00: These verses are not a license to be a ruthless jerk.
SPEAKER_00: These verses are not a license to be burning every bridge you come across, offending every passerby.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, but the gospel's supposed to be offensive.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you're right.
SPEAKER_00: The gospel is supposed to be offensive, but you're not.
SPEAKER_00: So live your life in such a way that brings honor to the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Live your life in such a way that that brings honor to the testament of the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Live your life in such a way that brings proof that the gospel does indeed transform.
SPEAKER_00: Serve people and serve them well.
SPEAKER_00: Whether it be your boss, your neighbor, whoever has authority over you, and even those who don't have any authority over you, serve them well also.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because the world is watching.
SPEAKER_00: That's what Paul is saying here.
SPEAKER_00: You see, our job as believers is to be a representation of who Christ is.
SPEAKER_00: Our job as believers is to be a representation and a proof that the gospel actually has the transformative power that we say it does.
SPEAKER_00: We as Christians and we as believers are supposed to be a representation of a people who serve a God who loves the world.
SPEAKER_00: We talk about the grace of God forgiving us of our sins.
SPEAKER_00: We should be a people forgiving people.
SPEAKER_00: We talk about Jesus serving even the least of these, and that means that we should be a people serving the least of these.
SPEAKER_00: I grew up hearing from my parents and my teachers this age-old saying.
SPEAKER_00: It's a super theological saying, and I'm gonna give it to you.
SPEAKER_00: Are you ready?
SPEAKER_00: You can talk the talk, but can you walk the walk?
SPEAKER_00: Have you guys ever heard that, or is that just a 90s baby saying?
SPEAKER_00: You can talk the talk, but can you walk the walk?
SPEAKER_00: Guess what?
SPEAKER_00: That's not just a cheesy idiom or some mystic parental advice.
SPEAKER_00: You see, the world is watching, they are wanting to see if you actually live out what you say you do.
SPEAKER_00: If we are truly set apart and if we are truly transformed.
SPEAKER_00: So serve them well because the world is watching.
SPEAKER_00: And get this, are you ready?
SPEAKER_00: Serve them well because the next generation is watching.
SPEAKER_00: For those of you who have kids, I'm sure, I'm sure it's been said in your house.
SPEAKER_00: Would you just love your brother, please?
SPEAKER_00: Dang it, stop hitting each other.
SPEAKER_00: Just love one another.
SPEAKER_00: No?
SPEAKER_00: Just my house, that's fine.
SPEAKER_00: I have wild kids, and I get that.
SPEAKER_00: They might be feral, but I love them.
SPEAKER_00: But being honest, like if you have kids, you know in your house, would you just love one another, please?
SPEAKER_00: Well, if you're saying that to your kids, I want you to know, parents, your kids are looking and being like, Are mom and dad loving each other?
SPEAKER_00: Are they loving our neighbors?
SPEAKER_00: Or does the door close?
SPEAKER_00: You're like, I can't believe what Betty's wearing outside.
SPEAKER_00: Did you see what she's wearing?
SPEAKER_00: Did you see what she picked up the newspaper?
SPEAKER_00: They don't have newspapers anymore.
SPEAKER_00: Did you see what she came out with her coffee on the iPad?
SPEAKER_00: Hey, get along.
SPEAKER_00: Stop fighting.
SPEAKER_00: Yet dad comes home and dad's like, I can't believe Jerry did this.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, he's such an idiot.
SPEAKER_00: Well, dad's not loving people.
SPEAKER_00: Mom's not loving people.
SPEAKER_00: Why do they keep telling us to love each other?
SPEAKER_00: Parents, the next generation is watching.
SPEAKER_00: Pick it up in verse 3.
SPEAKER_00: Teach and urge these things.
SPEAKER_00: If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing.
SPEAKER_00: He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, so on and so forth.
SPEAKER_00: Paul is talking about false teachers.
SPEAKER_00: You see, there were several false teachings trying to infiltrate the church in Paul's day.
SPEAKER_00: They were bringing a message that was the gospel plus something else.
SPEAKER_00: They were bringing a message that wasn't gospel, and I like to call it you guys ever heard of Disney Plus?
SPEAKER_00: I'm not knocking Disney, but you think of it like gospel plus.
SPEAKER_00: They were bringing gospel plus, so it was gospel plus everything that wasn't the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: So the gospel plus works equals salvation would be one of those.
SPEAKER_00: Or maybe the gospel plus mysticism brings better sanctification, or the gospel plus only perfect theology equals better Christianity.
SPEAKER_00: They would bring something like that.
SPEAKER_00: And that was what Paul was addressing back then, but he could have easily just been speaking to some of the biggest Christian platforms today.
SPEAKER_00: See, they've turned sermons into self-help, they've turned pulpits into TED Talks, and godliness into a commodity that could be bought and sold.
SPEAKER_00: They confused gain with greed, and they think the gospel is a product, and that people are customers, and that you as the congregation across the marriage are consumers.
SPEAKER_00: See, that's what Western Christianity has done.
SPEAKER_00: Western Christianity has taken the gospel, has taken the word of God, and it said, hey, what kind of price tag can we put on this?
SPEAKER_00: What kind of lifestyle can we market with this?
SPEAKER_00: What kind of parenting can we market with this?
SPEAKER_00: Can I be honest with you?
SPEAKER_00: And please don't I say this out of love.
SPEAKER_00: That's not the gospel, that's law without grace.
SPEAKER_00: That's truth without covenant, and that is people using the name of Jesus to build a brand and not a kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: And let me say this plainly: if the gospel you're preaching works just as well without the cross, that is not the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: If the message that you're preaching works just as well without the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, that is not the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: If the gospel you're preaching talks about, like if it's not talking about the sin of man and how God, the Son, had to come down and live a perfect life on our behalf because we couldn't do it, that is not the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: If your message is give people motivation but not regeneration, it might sell, but it cannot save.
SPEAKER_00: If your ministry model only works when people are desperate, if your ministry model only works when people are guilty, if your ministry model only works when people are uninformed, then it is not ministry, it is manipulation.
SPEAKER_00: Let me be very clear and speak from the heart here before I go too far.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not here this morning to call out any famous preacher, I'm not here to attack any specific pastor or church, I'm not here to get you to subscribe to any specific camp of theological understanding.
SPEAKER_00: That is not my role, and if I were to do that, that would be inappropriate.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because I am not the senior pastor.
SPEAKER_00: When Pastor Steve gets back, if he wants to, he can do that.
SPEAKER_00: He is way wiser, he is way more qualified, and he can say it in a way in a way that's way more eloquent than I ever could, and then he can also sort through the emails that are gonna come with that.
SPEAKER_00: But I will say this part clearly the true gospel is not about manipulation, it is about transformation.
SPEAKER_00: The true gospel is not about manipulation, it is about transformation.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So we don't preach the gospel to get rich, we don't preach the gospel to become famous, and we don't preach the gospel to prove people wrong.
SPEAKER_00: We preach the gospel because Jesus died.
SPEAKER_00: He rose again and he's coming back.
SPEAKER_00: We preach because people are dead in sin and need the life of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: You see, the gospel is food for the spiritually poor, it is water for the spiritually thirsty, and the price has already been paid.
SPEAKER_00: When Jesus said it is finished on the cross, that price of the gospel has already been paid.
SPEAKER_00: You don't need to keep trying to purchase it.
SPEAKER_00: You don't need to keep trying to pay it.
SPEAKER_00: You don't need to keep telling yourself, man, if I can just do more, then maybe I can have more.
SPEAKER_00: You don't need to keep telling yourself, man, if I could just believe more, then maybe I can see more signs and wonders.
SPEAKER_00: You don't need to do that.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because Jesus paid the price.
SPEAKER_00: It's paid, it's full, it's signed, it's sealed, it's delivered.
SPEAKER_00: He said it was enough and it is.
SPEAKER_00: Pick up in verse 6.
SPEAKER_00: But godliness with contentment is great gain.
SPEAKER_00: For we brought nothing into the world and we cannot take anything out of the world.
SPEAKER_00: But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.
SPEAKER_00: But godliness with contentment.
SPEAKER_00: You see, the word with in this statement is key here.
SPEAKER_00: That little word with is what separates what Paul is saying about people using the gospel as a means of gain, and what he is saying as the gospel is gain.
SPEAKER_00: Let me explain.
SPEAKER_00: You see, Paul isn't saying godliness and contentment are separate things.
SPEAKER_00: He isn't saying you can have one without the other.
SPEAKER_00: You see, that that word with means in union with or the way of, sorry, in union or the way of.
SPEAKER_00: And so what he's saying is this godliness in the way of contentment.
SPEAKER_00: You see, where there is real godliness, there will be real contentment.
SPEAKER_00: Because the two are married.
SPEAKER_00: You cannot separate them.
SPEAKER_00: True godliness breeds true contentment.
SPEAKER_00: This is what Paul calls great gain.
SPEAKER_00: Because being content in and with God and being changed from glory to glory is priceless.
SPEAKER_00: So in that time, you would have people that would peddle a version of the gospel, not the true gospel, they would pedal a version of the gospel to try to get rich, to try to get some type of gain.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul is saying, no, no, no, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: True godliness, when you are seeking God truly, when you are content in who he is, that is way more, that that is worth way more than any of this uh of this temporary gain you get.
SPEAKER_00: This is a priceless, eternal gain that the world cannot take away.
SPEAKER_00: That is what true godliness with contentment is.
SPEAKER_00: When you are so content in God, when you are so content knowing that he will be your provider, knowing that he will be your protector, knowing that he will be your portion, when you are content in that, then you will see true contentment and godliness in your life.
SPEAKER_00: When you are content with godliness, or when you were, well, Paul said, when you are godliness with contentment, and that being a great gain, you will finally be able to understand the words, I once was lost, but now I am found.
SPEAKER_00: I just want to say that again because that is so refreshing to my soul.
SPEAKER_00: I once was lost, but now I am found.
SPEAKER_00: And lost I was.
SPEAKER_00: Hopeless I was.
SPEAKER_00: In pain I was.
SPEAKER_00: I was wayward, I was hopeless, and Christ found me.
SPEAKER_00: In the midst of my mess, he found me.
SPEAKER_00: In the middle of my sin, he found me.
SPEAKER_00: In the middle of my pain and my turmoil, he found me, and he alone saved me.
SPEAKER_00: And I am so content with my savior, I am so complete with my Jesus that without him, nothing else matters.
SPEAKER_00: Without him, the all the gain of this world doesn't matter.
SPEAKER_00: Without him, all all the friends or all the family, none of that matters.
SPEAKER_00: And I've ran this by my wife, and I can't say this.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, and she and she knows I hope she agrees with it.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, but but but here's here's what it is.
SPEAKER_00: Are you ready?
SPEAKER_00: My family without Jesus does not matter.
SPEAKER_00: Me without Jesus, I am no good to my family.
SPEAKER_00: If I am not willing to fast and pray and seek godliness with contentment, then I am no good to my family.
SPEAKER_00: Because Jesus is enough, because Jesus is my great gain.
SPEAKER_00: I would give up everything just to have him.
SPEAKER_00: I am his and he is mine.
SPEAKER_00: Friends, this testimony is as much yours as it is mine, and maybe, just maybe we've lost sight of that.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe we have chased the riches and the promises of this world without knowing our heart has grown hard again.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe we've become so focused on chasing what the world calls gain that we haven't noticed that our heart has become hardened toward the things of God again.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe we've become so focused on what American church calls gain that our hearts have become hardened again.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe we've become so focused on chasing everything other than the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe we've focused on chasing on everything that's gospel plus, that our hearts have become hardened again.
SPEAKER_00: But fear not.
SPEAKER_00: The gain has not been withheld from you, it has not been taken away.
SPEAKER_00: You see, there is uh it is still offered to you because it has been paid in full, not by you, not by me, but by the man Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: What is this gain I am speaking of?
SPEAKER_00: This gain I'm speaking of, it's it's peace, it's joy, it's hope, it's justification, it's fellowship with God.
SPEAKER_00: I'm speaking of the full inheritance of the new covenant.
SPEAKER_00: Have you ever heard of the new covenant?
SPEAKER_00: Do you know what the new covenant is?
SPEAKER_00: That's a rhetorical question.
SPEAKER_00: Don't answer, because if you all do, then this whole thing, like it's fine.
SPEAKER_00: If you don't know what the new covenant is, I'm gonna give you a crash course for the sake of time.
SPEAKER_00: This is a crash course, and here's the simple version.
SPEAKER_00: I mentioned the new covenant.
SPEAKER_00: Well, if you have uh if you have a new covenant, then one might suggest that there is a thing as the old covenant, right?
SPEAKER_00: If you have new, then that means something is old.
SPEAKER_00: So you have the new covenant and you have the old covenant.
SPEAKER_00: Well, what is the old covenant?
SPEAKER_00: The old covenant was a covenant made between a perfect and holy God that he made with sinful man.
SPEAKER_00: Now, just so you know, a covenant means contract, it's a legally binding agreement.
SPEAKER_00: And so the holy God would make covenant with men, and where we first see this is actually in the book of Genesis when God created all of creation and he put Adam and Eve in the midst of the garden, and he told them to work the garden, and he made a covenant with them, which is you can enjoy everything in the garden, you can have everything in the garden, I will walk with you in the cool of the day, but do not touch or do not eat from the tree of knowledge.
SPEAKER_00: Adam and Eve broke that covenant, they ate from the tree of knowledge, and because of that, a veil was put between God and man, and there was a separation that took place, and man fell out of covenant with God.
SPEAKER_00: Now, why is that important?
SPEAKER_00: Well, here's the thing: God is so holy.
SPEAKER_00: God is so holy that when he gave us the law through Moses, which is another covenant, it's called the Mosaic covenant.
SPEAKER_00: God said, Here's everything you have to do to be holy, to be so that way you and I could be together again.
SPEAKER_00: Now, God isn't saying that because he's disgusted with us.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the thing, God is so holy that anything that is not holy cannot exist around him.
SPEAKER_00: God is so holy that anything that is not holy cannot cease, it will cease to exist around him.
SPEAKER_00: And so God in his mercy has allowed a veil to come between man and him, so that way we can continue living and we can, and God is saying, Hey, I'll make a covenant with you through Moses with the law, and here's everything you have to do to be holy.
SPEAKER_00: Here's how you can come back in covenant with me, here's how you can come back into relationship with me, here's everything you have to do.
SPEAKER_00: Guess what?
SPEAKER_00: Man could not keep the law.
SPEAKER_00: God was still doing everything on his end, but man could not keep the law.
SPEAKER_00: So God made a covenant with David.
SPEAKER_00: He said, Hey, your your throne will last forever.
SPEAKER_00: David, you were a man after my own heart, your throne will last forever.
SPEAKER_00: Guess what?
SPEAKER_00: David could not keep the covenant he had with God.
SPEAKER_00: God is still faithful, and David's throne still lasts forever because of Jesus, but David could not keep his end of the covenant, the covenant.
SPEAKER_00: Friends, you and I cannot keep that end of a covenant.
SPEAKER_00: So the old covenant exposed our need for something greater in walks the new covenant.
SPEAKER_00: You see, the new covenant is this Jesus Christ lived that life that you and I could not live.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus was holy because you and I could not be holy.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus came, and when God struck a covenant with Jesus, he took man out of the equation.
SPEAKER_00: And so now it was a covenant between a perfect God the Father and perfect God the Son.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus lived that perfect life that you and I could not live.
SPEAKER_00: And he and not only that, he died that death that was meant for you and me.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you guys knew this, but the cross was meant for us.
SPEAKER_00: And not only that, he he was laid in a grave that should have had your and my names etched on top.
SPEAKER_00: But being so perfect, being so holy, he rose to life again on the third day, and now he sits at the right hand of the Father.
SPEAKER_00: Interceding on our behalf, and Jesus is the guaranteer of the new covenant.
SPEAKER_00: So that means this everything that God has done for Jesus, everything that the Lord has done for Adam, walking with him in the cool of the day, having relationship with him, being his protector, being his provider, being his portion, being his God, everything that God did for Jesus, we now get to be beneficiaries of.
SPEAKER_00: Because Jesus is so good.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't this crazy?
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't this crazy?
SPEAKER_00: Jesus lived this perfect life that you and I could not live, and yet we're treated the exact same as Christ.
SPEAKER_00: We were treated as more than conquerors, as Romans says.
SPEAKER_00: That means that every inheritance that Jesus got, we get.
SPEAKER_00: That means that every that every blessing Jesus got, we get.
SPEAKER_00: That means that every single, like when Jesus was baptized and came in and came back up and it said that the Holy Spirit ascended like a or descended like a dove, and the Lord said, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.
SPEAKER_00: That was meant for Jesus, but guess what?
SPEAKER_00: That is now meant for you, and that is now meant for me.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord is pleased with us, not because of anything we have done, but because everything Christ has done.
SPEAKER_00: That is the good news of the new covenant.
SPEAKER_00: You see, the old covenant, the old covenant said, Do this and live.
SPEAKER_00: The new covenant says Jesus did it, now live in him.
SPEAKER_00: The old covenant was about rules written on tablets of stone.
SPEAKER_00: The new covenant says that the Lord will take away your heart of stone, give you a heart of flesh, and write his rules, write his law upon your heart.
SPEAKER_00: Can I share something a little bit crazy?
SPEAKER_00: I still, it's it's theologically sound still, but it's crazy.
SPEAKER_00: Have you guys, I mean, have you guys ever tried to like like scrape something in stone?
SPEAKER_00: It's hard.
SPEAKER_00: It gets messy.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes that that stone will break, right?
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it'll shatter, sometimes it'll break up into pieces.
SPEAKER_00: You want to know what's crazy about writing the law on st on our hearts instead of stone?
SPEAKER_00: That is a mercy of God because if you if you if so if like your skin, this is gonna sound weird, children.
SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_00: If your skin is like carved, like if you have like a uh a mark on your on your uh hand or or anywhere, like it scars over and it's stronger.
SPEAKER_00: So like what's crazy about this is is the Lord is taking out our heart of stone, giving us a heart of flesh, and then writing his law upon that.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because now it is sealed.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you guys ever try to get a scar off, but you ain't getting that sucker off.
SPEAKER_00: Like you can't.
SPEAKER_00: Like you could throw a stone away, but you ain't getting that scar off.
SPEAKER_00: And if you don't believe me, then just have a baby boy and know that that scar is not coming off.
SPEAKER_00: So the old covenant, again, the old covenant was about rules written on tablets of stone.
SPEAKER_00: The new covenant is about God writing his law on our hearts.
SPEAKER_00: The old covenant told us to obey, but it didn't give us the power to do it.
SPEAKER_00: The new covenant gives us the Holy Spirit who changes our hearts and then empowers us into obedience.
SPEAKER_00: Now, watch how this ties into 1 Timothy 6.
SPEAKER_00: Going back to verse 6.
SPEAKER_00: Godliness with contentment is great gain.
SPEAKER_00: To recap that real quick, Paul isn't saying be godly and try to be content.
SPEAKER_00: He's saying real godliness will always lead to contentment because, again, they're not separate things, they go together.
SPEAKER_00: So, how does this happen?
SPEAKER_00: Because the new covenant, because the fact that we are in the new covenant, we aren't working for approval, we're living in approval.
SPEAKER_00: Because of the new covenant, you're not seeking, you're not trying to work for approval from God.
SPEAKER_00: It's already been given to you because of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: So now you're living in approval.
SPEAKER_00: Even on your worst Monday, you're living in approval.
SPEAKER_00: We're not grinding to earn peace.
SPEAKER_00: We've already been given peace by the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: That's why we can be content, not because life is easy, but because Jesus is enough.
SPEAKER_00: And the gain that Paul's talking about, he's not talking about money.
SPEAKER_00: He's not talking about status, he's not talking about success.
SPEAKER_00: What he's talking about is the promises of the new covenant.
SPEAKER_00: The gain that you're getting is a peace that doesn't make any sense.
SPEAKER_00: It is a peace that the world cannot take away.
SPEAKER_00: You're getting joy.
SPEAKER_00: The joy that you're getting, it's a joy that doesn't shake in suffering.
SPEAKER_00: It's a joy that the world can't take away.
SPEAKER_00: The intimacy that you have with the Father, that means that the veil that was there because of the garden is now removed.
SPEAKER_00: And now you can have, now you can walk into the Holy of Holies, you can walk into the presence of God without needing a high priest because Jesus, who is God, is interceding on our behalf.
SPEAKER_00: Now we can enter into covenant with God.
SPEAKER_00: Now we can enter into relationship with God.
SPEAKER_00: That means we can have an intimacy with God without having to be a high priest.
SPEAKER_00: You have the spirit of the living God living inside of you.
SPEAKER_00: And you have eternal life that starts now.
SPEAKER_00: Do you understand the importance of the new covenant?
SPEAKER_00: We are called new covenant believers.
SPEAKER_00: That means that we are not, we are no longer bound by the law.
SPEAKER_00: We don't have to sacrifice an animal at the end of every year for God to absolve our sins and forgive us.
SPEAKER_00: We are forgiven.
SPEAKER_00: You are now considered holy because of what Jesus has done.
SPEAKER_00: That means that when you drive down I-25 on Friday trying to go on vacation, and that frustration comes because you know that New York license plate just cuts you off, cut cut you off, and those words maybe came out of your mouth, you're still considered holy because of what Jesus has done.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you had a moment where you're like, man, like I did not parent right.
SPEAKER_00: I I yelled out in anger.
SPEAKER_00: I I grounded them way longer than they should have been grounded.
SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm becoming my father or I'm becoming my mother.
SPEAKER_00: Guess what?
SPEAKER_00: You're still holy because of who Jesus is.
SPEAKER_00: When Paul says in verse 12, fight the good fight of faith, he's not saying try harder.
SPEAKER_00: He's saying fight to stay grounded in what Jesus already finished.
SPEAKER_00: You're not fighting for victory.
SPEAKER_00: Guess what, church?
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna say something crazy.
SPEAKER_00: You're not fighting for victory.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus already received victory on the cross.
SPEAKER_00: When Jesus died and said it was finished and rose again, you have victory.
SPEAKER_00: So you're not fighting for victory, you're fighting in victory.
SPEAKER_00: You are a Christian walking in victory, not because of some great battle you won, but because of the greatest battle that Christ has won.
SPEAKER_00: And so you can wake up in the morning and you can look yourself in the mirror and you can say, you know what?
SPEAKER_00: I am victorious because of who Jesus is.
SPEAKER_00: That means that even maybe you know, you wake up and you're like, Man, like I keep struggling with this sin.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know, I don't know how to move on from this sin.
SPEAKER_00: I keep falling back into it time and time and time again.
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to look at yourself as man, I'm just I'm such a loser.
SPEAKER_00: You can say, No, I am victorious because of what Jesus has done.
SPEAKER_00: He said that I am free from this.
SPEAKER_00: No, Lord, I'm gonna believe in this new covenant.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna believe that I am victorious, I'm gonna believe that I am free, I'm gonna believe that I am holy because you said it was true.
SPEAKER_00: This sin has no power over me anymore.
SPEAKER_00: This sin has no grasp over me anymore.
SPEAKER_00: This anger, this frustration, whatever it is that you're struggling with, it has no hold over you anymore because you are a victorious Christian because of what Jesus has done.
SPEAKER_00: You're not climbing a ladder to reach God, you're finally understanding you're walking with the one who came down to you.
SPEAKER_00: And look what he says next.
SPEAKER_00: Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called.
SPEAKER_00: That's new covenant language.
SPEAKER_00: You were called, you were chosen, you were sealed.
SPEAKER_00: And this isn't about you trying to hold on to God.
SPEAKER_00: The new covenant is realizing that God has always been holding on to you.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna say that again.
SPEAKER_00: And I want you to listen because if that doesn't get you excited, then we're missing the entire thing.
SPEAKER_00: The new covenant isn't about you trying to hold on to God, it's realizing that He's already holding on to you.
SPEAKER_00: That means that on those moments where you're like, man, I don't feel like a good Christian.
SPEAKER_00: I I haven't had devotions in like a month because I've been so busy.
SPEAKER_00: My mouth has become so vulgar, and I don't know how to stop it.
SPEAKER_00: I'm at work and people don't even know I'm saved.
SPEAKER_00: Like I'm becoming a bad Christian.
SPEAKER_00: Like I need to just hold on tighter to Jesus and get this fixed.
SPEAKER_00: No, New Covenant is realizing, hey, God hasn't let go of you at all, He hasn't even loosened His grip on you.
SPEAKER_00: You are walking side by side with Him still.
SPEAKER_00: And what sin does the reason why sin is so dangerous is because it's putting blinders on you, thinking that God is so far away when He's so very near.
SPEAKER_00: See, the only thing sin can do, and I put it in quotes because it's still silly to say it, but the only thing that sin can really do to you as a Christian is it can make you believe that God is further off than he even is.
SPEAKER_00: It can make you believe that God doesn't want to talk to you anymore because of what you've done.
SPEAKER_00: It can, you know, it's trying to get you to believe that that Jesus is everything he said or that Jesus is everything that he said he's not.
SPEAKER_00: That's what sin does.
SPEAKER_00: But but sin to the Christian, that's where it stops.
SPEAKER_00: All sin can do is try to get you to believe something that's not true.
SPEAKER_00: Alright, it's time to land the plane.
SPEAKER_00: Paul wasn't giving Timothy a checklist or the ABCs to be holy.
SPEAKER_00: Paul was warning Timothy of the teachings that were distracting from the new covenant gospel message.
SPEAKER_00: And reminding him why it is so important and so vital to keep that message at the forefront of his mind and to meditate on it day and night.
SPEAKER_00: That's why this letter was written to Timothy, and that's why it's written for us today.
SPEAKER_00: You see, God through Paul is calling us to live in what Christ already finished.
SPEAKER_00: He's calling us to walk out in contentment that comes from true godliness.
SPEAKER_00: And that godliness only comes from being born again, it only comes from being spirit-filled, and it only comes from being grounded in the grace of the new covenant.
SPEAKER_00: But you don't have to chase the world, you don't have to hustle for God's approval, you don't have to fake peace or pretend to have joy.
SPEAKER_00: You can have it right now in Him.
SPEAKER_00: Because godliness with contentment is not just great gain, it is evidence that Christ really has your heart.
SPEAKER_00: It's what happens when the Holy Spirit takes what is dead inside you and breathes new life in it.
SPEAKER_00: It's what happens when the Holy Spirit comes and takes that faith that may be just but an ember and breathes, breathes life in it until it becomes a flame that is engulfing everything inside of you to you so you look more and more like Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: So there is still hope, friends.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe you've lost sight of that.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe the gospel got cloudy, maybe church became performance-based, maybe your heart got distracted chasing what the world called gain, and you didn't even realize how far it pulled you.
SPEAKER_00: But there is good news.
SPEAKER_00: The gain is still yours, the peace is still promised, the grace is still flowing, and here's the best news: you haven't outsinned the covenant, you haven't outfailed the blood.
SPEAKER_00: In the upper room on the eve of his suffering, our Lord did not offer his disciples strategies of self-help or paths of worldly gain, he offered them the secret to the new covenant.
SPEAKER_00: Friends, we have spoken so much this morning of contentment, of godliness, and of the great gain that belongs to those in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: But can we talk about the secret of the new covenant?
SPEAKER_00: How do you obtain the new covenant?
SPEAKER_00: Let's not forget that the riches of this new covenant were not purchased by silver or gold, nor were they purchased by the striving of human hands, but it was bought with the blood of Christ Himself.
SPEAKER_00: He offered them Himself.
SPEAKER_00: The secret of the new covenant is this.
SPEAKER_00: Secret of the new covenant is Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And I know that sounds like a Sunday school answer.
SPEAKER_00: Would you learn about what'd you learn in Sunday school today?
SPEAKER_00: Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: I know I know that sounds like a Sunday school answer, but the secret of the new covenant is Christ.
SPEAKER_00: The secret of the new covenant is knowing that it's already fulfilled, that the contract is already signed, and it's signed with the blood of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You just have to reach out and accept it.
SPEAKER_02: Thank you for listening to the Road Church podcast.
SPEAKER_02: We pray today's message has empowered you to make a difference in your world.
SPEAKER_02: For more information about the Road Church and to find more content like this, go to theroad.org.
SPEAKER_02: That's therode.org.