1 Timothy 6:11 – The Higher Standard (2021) – Bible study

1 Timothy 6:11 The Higher Standard 1Tim 6:11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. I am interested in the three words toward the beginning of that verse: Man of God. Several thoughts just in the introduction. 1. Paul was speaking to a preacher but the book is not limited to preachers. a. Timothy was a godly preacher. b. So here, in this Scripture, the term does mean a godly preacher. c. However, every man should aspire to be a man of God. (1) That does not mean every man should aspire to preach. (2) By that I mean you should have the character and testimony of a godly man. 2. Paul was speaking to a man but the book is not limited to men. a. There is certainly enough confusion in our world today about men and women. b. With each passing day, new ignorance abounds. (1) I have seen several articles where some want to ban "biologically-born males" from competing in female sports. (a) They say my generation is old and stupid but we nailed that problem with two doorplates. (b) One read "Woman only" and the other "Men Only." (2) Do you know the reason is it is not fair for surgically-altered men to participate in womens sports? (3) It is because they are MEN and men and women are DIFFERENT. c. Yet this text, although addressed to the man of God, most certainly has application to the woman of God as well. I. Name the Imposters A. Even before we had surgically-altered women pretending to be males, we had males pretending to be men of God. B. Paul had talked about them in this book. 1. The name that I like to refer to them by is found in \#1Tim 1:6\. 1Ti 1:6 From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling; a. I call them the "vain janglers." (1) "To jangle" means to make a noise. (2) "Vain" means worthless or without meaning. b. The imposters of men of God make worthless noise. c. They may stand in pulpits or behind podiums. d. They may be called by titles such as Reverend, Pastor, Brother, Bishop, Apostle, or by their first name, but all they do is make a worthless noise. 2. Paul was fairly thorough in describing them. (I will be brief as I want to spend more time noting the genuine instead of the counterfeit.) 1Tim 6:4 He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, 5 Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself. a. Their naturePROUD. b. Their knowledgeKNOWS NOTHING. c. Their strategyTO DOTE ABOUT QUESTIONS AND STRIFES OF (OVER) WORDS. d. Their resultsThey produce ENVY, STRIFE, RAILINGS, EVIL SURMISINGS, PERVERSE DISPUTINGS. e. Their followers are described as DESTITUTE OF THE TRUTH, SUPPOSING THAT GAIN IS GODLINESS. f. \#5\ Paul even told Timothy how to deal with these vain janglers-WITHDRAW THYSELF. C. However, Paul had much the opposite in mind for Timothy and his ministry. 1. He pointed Timothy in a different direction with three BUTs 2. We dont have the time to look at all of them, but lets II. Note the Participants A. Beginning in \#1Tim 6:6\, Paul spoke to the man of God. B. As He began this conversation, he used the contrasting conjunction "BUT," not one time but three times in six verses \#1Tim 6:6, 9, 11\. 1. By separating what he said about the vain janglers from what Paul had to say to the man of God with the word BUT, Paul was declaring the man of God to be the opposite of everything the vain janglers were. 2. If we had no specific description of the man of god, the context along would argue that the true man of God is humble, knowledgeable, teaches the Word of God to produce like servants of Christ who have the truth and power of God! C. However, we do have a descriptionin wordsof what the man of God should like. 1Tim 6:11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. 12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. 1. The man of God FOLLOWS righteous. a. Righteousness deals with our behaviors, our actions. b. To be righteous is to have the right kind of actions. c. There are three areas where a Christian needs to maintain a right relationship. (1) We must the right actions before God. (a) It is Gods desire that we have the very highest standard, i.e. that we "sin not." (b) Thankfully, God sets a high mark but is gracious to forgive. (c) Even so, to be right with God means to have no sin currently on our accounts. (2) As much as possible, we have the right actions with our fellow man. (a) I add "as much as possible" because to be right with some people would make you wrong with God. i. That is because mankinds values are so corrupt that they actually think wrong is right. ii. In cases like these, we are just destined to be wrong with mankind. (b) Our fellow men are the exact reverse of God in nature. i. They set much lower standards. ii. But they are more stingy with forgiveness. (c) So again, we have a high standard to maintain. (3) We have the right actions when no one else is around. (a) I guess you say we must have the right actions with ourselves. (b) We have all heard the expression that character is what you are in the dark, and that is a true statement. 2. The man of God MODELS godliness. a. To be godly is to be god-like. b. This deals less with our behavior and more with our nature. c. Instead of explaining in great detail the many characteristics that godliness IS, Paul instead just listed one thing that godliness IS NOT. 1Tim 6:5 supposing that gain is godliness. (1) Godliness is NOT gain. (2) Apparently, there have always been preachers who preach that message. (3) It is interesting that Paul in this section teaches just the opposite! 1Tim 6:6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. 9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is the root of all evil d. While Paul did not elaborate on what godliness is, based on what he said, I would guess to be godlike is to be more on the giving end than the getting. 3. The man of God USES faith. a. Faith is not the opposite of knowledge nor is it in competition with (true) knowledge. b. Faith is the compass and completer for knowledge. (1) Knowledge is limited. (2) It can tell us where we are right now on our journey into the unknown. (3) Knowledge cannot finish the journey or even tell us the route to get there. (4) By faith, I am going to walk the God route. (a) I believe that will always be the right direction and (b) I believe it will always take me to the correct destination. 4. The man of God GIVES love. a. Love is only good when it is given to people. (1) Love kept is worthless. (2) And love bestowed upon objects is wasted. b. A true man of God knows to love the people that God brings into his life. 5. The man of God HAS patience. a. Some years back, Kathy gave a book by Charles Stanley, Surviving in an Angry World. b. The world has gotten a lot angrier since then. c. Christians being angry at angry people wont help. d. We need patience. (1) Having patience does not mean we will not get angry. (2) But having patience does mean we pick the time, place, and cause of our anger. 6. The man of God IS meek. a. Being meek is having rights that you do not demand. b. A true man (or woman) of God cannot live for what is rightfully theirs. c. They are busying living for what is right. In this book, Paul presented a contrast between those who are "vain janglers" and the true men and women of God. You cannot be both. The question is, "Which are you?"