From Ephesus to America: A Warning About False Teaching | Building a Gospel-Shaped Church | Week 9

I'll meet you in First Timothy chapter 6.

Today, we start our final approach uh in landing this plane. Timothy is uh

giving I'm sorry, Paul is giving Timothy some final instructions

as he concludes his letter. that he's written to them.

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago or I mentioned last week

that uh a few weeks ago, Katherine and I had an opportunity to travel with Tom and Anna King, my younger sister, and

also my older sister from Texas. We had an opportunity to travel to the other side of the world. And one of the places

that we went to was Ephesus. Uh, I got to tell you, man, it was uh it

was a meaningful experience for me to walk and stand in places that the

Apostle Paul and Timothy stood. I didn't I didn't think that it would

have an impact on me, but I found it to be very uh a special time for me. You

know that I was looking for a particular symbol as I walked around this ancient

city. I have a picture here of me finally finding it. It is in the

courtyard right in front of the library in Ephesus. Uh in fact, when we started

walking around, uh we found several of these and in a minute he'll you can go ahead and show them that we found

several of those. But when our tour guide, he knew I was looking for it. And

and so when he called our tour group over, he said this this symbol was uh it

was basically marketing for the Christian church, the persecuted

Christian church there in Ephesus. It was their uh way of communicating with

other Christians. Here we're here and you can meet us here. We gather here to

pray. But this was their marketing technique. And this little pizza design

has Greek letters hidden within it. God,

Jesus, Christ. That was very special for me to

encounter that, that I was walking where Christians

who were having to hide. He even said, the tour guide said that they probably carve these in the stones at night when

the Roman guards weren't around. And so it was not a popular thing to be

a Christian in Ephesus in that day. You may find that to be true in our society

today as well. We may not be facing the persecution that they were facing. But

being Christian is decreasing constantly in its popularity and

acceptance in our society. So, I was encouraged to stand there in

that courtyard. If you The next picture you'll see is us walking down this

marble uh street that was lined on both sides with what would have been shops,

people's shops, and uh the marketplace type setting. And there's the library down at the bottom. You can see in this

picture on the left side of the picture some rubble. It looks like a building. There it is right there that's falling

down. That was the synagogue, the Jewish synagogue where Paul, as it was his custom to go there first and to talk

with the Jews about Jesus Christ. And I I just it was it was a very cool moment

for me to think that Paul and Timothy, man, they talked about things. They drank their Starbucks in that courtyard

and they, you know, just interacting back and forth

with those Jews. That picture you saw of me squatting down next to that symbol, if you look on the right side of the

screen, right right below that arch are those white marble stones where the

carving was made. Paul is writing to Timothy who is the

pastor or he's looking after the church in Ephesus.

So I I mean this really came to life for me. I was like, he's talking to this church that was there

in that time. And it it was just a special special time for me. Again, I thank the church for allowing uh us to

to go on vacation and to be renewed and refreshed. So, I want to point out today that um in

Paul's final teachings here in this in this letter,

he points out a blind spot. I mean, even if you look back at verses 1 and two of

chapter 6, he's talking about slavery. Now, I don't know if you've ever had a a

blind spot. I don't know if you've ever been driving down the road and and you go to change lanes and all of a sudden

somebody lays on their horn to tell you you're messing up and oh, you come back

into your lane. Has that ever happened to anybody besides me? Okay, I'm not

alone. uh you know the once they let you know that you're messing up and then they drive by you and they tell you you're

number one and all that kind of stuff. U

I would suggest that today the church has

a blind spot. And I I bring that up because

it's in our text. a blind spot.

And as I mentioned, as he he talked in verse one and two about slavery, our the

church of in the south in America had a blind spot when it came to slavery. I

don't know if they were ignoring it or they just didn't want to see it.

They were coming to church each week. They were singing their hymns. I don't

know if they had a youth movement on their praise team like we got going on. And I love it. David, three teenagers up

here, man. It's it's awesome. But they were coming to church. They

were singing their hymns, and they were they were listening to the preaching. They were going to their life groups.

And at the very same time, they were mistreating and torturing and treating

horribly men, women, and children in slavery. It's a blind spot. They They

missed it. They're either ignoring it or just closing their eyes to it. And today

we're going to look at something similar. And I want to call

us all to open our eyes to something that in my opinion, and I I claim it,

this is my opinion. You can disagree with me if you'd like. It's caused the American or the Western

church to miss people all around us, to miss some needs that are right in front

of us. And I don't want this church, I don't want to lead this church to either close our eyes

or ignore the needs that are right around us. One of them is spiritual needs.

There are roughly 8 billion people living on this planet today.

Onethird of them, roughly onethird of them, call themselves Christians.

That leaves around 5.3 billion people that are in the fast lane of heading to

a Christless eternity that we call hell.

There are spiritual needs all around us. the IMB, International Mission Board

that I had the privilege of being on their trustee board rotated off last year. They started right as I was about

to rotate off. They started what the what they call project 3000. And their goal in project 3000 was to

get rid of the zeros. They have they have identified 3,47

unengaged, unreached people groups around the globe. Now, they could have called it 30 thou

project 30047, but 3000 has a better ring. So, anyway,

people groups that are unreached, meaning they've never heard the name of

Jesus. Unengaged, meaning there is no gospel presence in that community, that

village, that tribe. They've identified 3,047

of those people groups around the world and they're trying to eliminate they're they're being strategic. They've got a

project planned. In fact, they are recruiting young Jason Bournes to go out to these most dangerous places around

the planet. Now, this isn't they're not being sexist. There's nothing theological about their decision to be

recruiting young men to come and do this. They're unengaged and unreached for a reason.

They're very dangerous places. Now, I need to tell you that there are some some young ladies that have signed up

and they have been trained and they're going as well to go and find these places because

there are spiritual needs all around the world. People that don't know Jesus that need to know Jesus. But church, listen.

They're all around us as well. Right here in our community, there are homes that are broken. There are marriages

that are that are on life support. There are children that have gone weward.

They've gone off the rails and parents don't know what to do. Kids don't know what to do. There are things being

taught in schools that that parents are going, "What do I do? I can't afford to send them to another school, but what do

I do with this stuff being taught to them?" There are spiritual needs all around us.

And I do not want to lead this church to close our eyes

or to ignore those spiritual needs. They're all around us. The other need,

oh, before I go on, uh, one of the reasons that we do what we

call fall festival, one of the reasons we do our pumpkin patch or our extravaganza around the

east Easter time is is so that people in our community know that there's a church

here on the corner of Quincy and Flanders. That when tragedy or when crisis hits

their home, they would be able to go, "Oh, yeah. Remember, there's a church up there on the hill that cares.

It's just our way of keeping our name, keeping our people in front of our

community. We want them to know we are here for when crisis hits that we may

have the opportunity to meet some of these spiritual needs. Another need that

is right in front of us is physical needs. I wish I had good numbers for our

community as to how many people are living in poverty around us. Now, we

know that around the world, poverty is everywhere. It's everywhere you go. And

it's here as well. People that are trying to figure out how to put food on the table for their kids. But as I

looked looked into some numbers, and I know some of you are numbers people, you

know that I'm not. But according to Union Bank of Switzerland's 2025 global wealth report,

approximately 380 million adults of which is around 10% of the world's 3.8

billion adults have wealth over $100,000 a year.

So, if your home, if your household makes $100,000 a year, you are in the top 10%

of wealthiest people on the planet. Top 10.

If we were to do a triangle, a pyramid of of that wealth distribution, those

that make under $10,000 a year, that's less than $1,000 a month. That your house payment's probably two or three

times that. people that make less than $10,000 a year, which is 40.7% of global adults.

That's a big chunk of the folks on the planet. 10,000 to $100,000 a year,

41.3%.$100,000 to a million dollars. We're getting up

in the top of the pyramid, 16% of the population. And households above $1 million a year

is 1.6% of the global adult population.

We most of us are in that top 10%. In fact, the United States and global China

dominate the top of the pyramid. Now,

I bring these to our attention today because I want us to see the great opportunity that's right in front of us.

Compared to the rest of the world, we are extravagantly rich.

And I'm simply asking us today to make sure that our eyes are open to the needs that are all around us.

I'm asking us to see how the Lord can use how he has

blessed us to further his kingdom. What would happen if if the American

church, if if the Western church truly recognized that God has blessed us with

wealth so that we can so not so we can accumulate more stuff, but so that we can

help further his kingdom. I want to lead our church that way.

Before you think that I'm asking the church to give more money to the church,

that's not what I'm asking at all. I'm not asking for more money. I'm

simply asking us to look at what God has given us and how can we use it to

further his kingdom. Personally, what can I what can I do?

I want to lead us this way for a couple of reasons. First is this. I believe that God's word teaches that when we

give our lives, when we give of our lives, we give of our possessions for God's purposes, then we're not only

going to help people with their physical needs and their spiritual needs, but you and I will find something deep within

ourselves that brings joy. It's as if we are we are in tune with

what God is wanting to accomplish on the earth. and that is to spread the good news of

Jesus. When we help people, there's just something right about that. But I also believe that the Bible

teaches when we're not living that way, that we're not helping people with their

physical needs and their spiritual needs, that not only will we see more people not hear the name of Jesus,

but that you and I can be on a road, be going down a path that leads to ruin and

destruction. Now, somebody's surely somebody right

now is going, "Co, come on, man. If I don't live that way, you're telling me that I'm on a road to destruction and

I'm on a I'm on a road to ruin. If you think I'm being too strong, then

I want you to look with me at our passage in First Timothy. Let's look at it together. I'm going to start reading

in verse three

through verse 10. If you're able, will you stand with me as I read God's word?

Paul says to Timothy, "Teach and urge these things.

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's puffed up.

He's puffed up with conceit and understands nothing.

He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words which produce envy, dissension, slander,

evil sus evil suspicions and and constant friction among people who are depraved of mind and deprived of the

truth. imagining that godliness is a means of gain,

but godliness with contentment is great gain.

For we brought nothing into this world, and we cannot take anything out of the

world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.

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.

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.

It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.

Father, we ask that today you would teach us from your word. Lord, that people wouldn't listen to my

words, but they would listen to yours. That we would take these to heart and apply them to our lives. I pray this in

your name. Amen.

First thing we notice, Paul's coming back and he's addressing those false teachers. You remember chapter one, Paul or

Timothy, watch out for those false teachers, man. and you protect that gospel.

You make sure that they're getting sound doctrine.

I'm wondering how often they stood in that courtyard in front of the library talking about sound doctrine.

He says, "Man, these guys that are teaching this false stuff that's contrary to godliness, contrary

to the teachings of Jesus, they're puffed up. that literally they're in a haze. They understand nothing and they

have an unhealthy craving for division. What does it say in verse four? Look at

it with me. He is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing.

The false teachers were swollen with arrogance and ignorance. And friends, that is a bad combination

to be ignorant and arrogant at the same time. And you can see the list of their

cravings, what this what these cravings caused and what they brought about. I mean envy, dissension, slanders, evil

suspicions and and constant friction among people. You can see that. But listen, this is the fruit that grows

among people who are depraved of mind and deprived of the truth. Paul or

Paul's telling Timothy, man, you watch out for those false teachers.

You watch out for those people that are telling you that that that religion that if you just will sus sub submit to

godliness, you're going to get wealthy. You thought prosperity gospel was

something new today that we had to watch out for. Guys, it's as old as

ever. They were using religion. They were using these false

teachers were using the church to get rich. I love how the message paraphrase

reads in this passage. Let me read it to you. The message paraphrase is it this

way. These are the things I want you to teach and preach. If you have leaders there who are who teach otherwise who

refuse the solid words of our master Jesus and this godly instruction, tag

them for what they are. ignorant windbags who infect the air with germs of envy,

controversy, badmouth, suspicious rumors. Eventually, there's an epidemic of backstabbing and the truth is but a

distant memory. They think religion is a way to make a

fast buck. Now, it's been prosperity gospel's been

going on for a long time. And Paul tells Timothy,"I want I urge you to teach these things. You watch out for those

false teachers. Watch out for them." So Paul's first warning that I want to

point out on your outline is that Paul Paul says, "Man, don't crave

spiritual division." And within that warning, he gives us an

encouragement, and that is to be content within the gospel. with the gospel.

Be content with the gospel, man. Don't you protect the gospel. Don't let people knock it off course. You stay true to

the gospel and make sure the church knows the gospel truth. He gives a

second warning and that that warning says don't crave material things or

wealth. Now, I want to be clear here. Having things, having possessions, those are

not bad in themselves. Having money is not bad in itself. What does scripture

say? It's the love of it. It is the

craving of it. I want more. But guys, listen. That is the theme

of America. Get more. Get more. More. More. You deserve a bigger house. You

know what? You need a house with another car garage.

Hey, that car that you're driving is four years old now. You need

a nicer car. I mean it's it's a real temptation in our society which means it

will uh eventually and ultimately try to bleed into the church

that we feel that guys. We see it in churches all around us, don't we? We got

to have the nicest sound system. We got to have the nicest lighting system. We got to have fog machines. And we got to

have lasers. We

We got to be the flashiest church in town because you look at what concerts our kids are going to, man, it's the

coolest show you've ever seen. And so if we're going to reach those people, we we we got to have the coolest

church that they've ever seen. Friends, I'm telling you, I don't believe that the world needs I don't

believe our kids need the flashiest show when they come to church. You know what they need? They need Jesus.

And man, if our message to the world is that we've got the flashiest church in the corn on the corner, that's the wrong

message to send. But what we have is the lifegiving Jesus

Christ who died for our sins, who rose from the dead, and anyone who

will call upon his name will be saved. The one who is able to forgive of all

the things that you've ever done and all the things you'll ever do. He paid the price on the cross. He's done it for

you. That is what our world needs.

The day that we at Community of Grace have a fog machine on this stage.

I will have retired.

I don't have any desire to lead our community of grace to be the flashiest church in the town in the city.

I want us to be the most effective church for the kingdom of God in our city. I want us to be the biggest little

church in Centennial Aurora. Making a difference, man. when tragedy

hits homes, when broken people's lives are are are in crisis, that they would know that there's a church here on this

corner that's not concerned with being flashy, but they're concerned with

giving people the lifegiving truth of Jesus. That's who we are. That's who we want to

be. this whole this whole craving for material things. Jesus taught it, you know, in Matthew chapter 6. He says, "Do

not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and

where thieves break in and steal, but lay up your for yourselves treasures

in heaven where neither not moth nor rust destroy and thieves break in and

steal. For where your treasure is, say it, there your heart will be also." So

the question for you and I to stop and do self-examination is where is my heart today?

Where's my heart? Am I pursuing I I want stuff? Because

listen church, I face the same temptations that you do. I love having the newest gadget. Just ask Katherine.

I I man Amazon

sends me emails. We found things that you will like and it's gadget after gadget.

I face the same temptations. But guys, listen.

I want to lead us and I want to start with myself to not chase after the next gadget, but

chase after helping people with their spiritual and physical needs. I'm not

asking for more money to come to the church. You guys have been so generous. In fact, our foreign missions offering

that we did over the Christmas holidays, we set a goal. We came up a little short. We set a goal of 16,000 and last

week we sent a check to the IMB for 14,350.

Give give or take. Yeah. Praise the Lord. So, listen, you y'all are already

generous. I'm not talking about bringing more checks to the church house. I'm talking about in my day in and dayout

life, are my eyes open? How can I help that person? How can I help that person in the cubicle next to me?

Are they hurting spiritually? Is there a word of encouragement that I can give to them? I just want our eyes to be open

and I don't want us to ignore the needs around us.

Paul gives us some cautions. You'll see on your outline there in verse 9. Look at it with me.

First caution he gives us is that materialism is cunning. Look at verse 9.

But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare. You guys

know what a trap is? There there are trappers. Colorado's got tons of trappers. And and they'll they'll take

these traps out into the woods or wilderness, wherever they are. They'll camouflage it. They'll put enticing

things upon this these traps. The animal comes close, doesn't see that it's a

trap, but boy does that look good. I want some of that. And before you know it, they step on it and they're caught.

Paul's telling us, "Be careful, guys. Listen. Those who desire to be rich, to

get more and more and more, I'm telling you, it looks good, but I'm telling you, it's a trap,

man. Be satisfied with God. be satisfied because there's something that's better.

There's someone that's better and his name is Jesus. Another thing he

tells us in that same verse that materialism is harmful. Keep going with me in verse 9. He says, "If they fall

into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires,

our desires can become focused on having more stuff, having more money, more, more, more."

And I'm afraid that the American church has a blind spot.

And I don't want it to be a blind spot of ours as a church or as individuals.

The third caution he gives us is that it can sink the ship.

Some of you thought I was being hard a while ago when we don't live in a way

that helps other people and help meet their needs. Look at the end of verse 9.

These desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.

Jesus said it himself. It's easier for a camel to go through an eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the

kingdom of heaven. Having more should should not be our focus.

Our focus should be on picking up our cross and following Jesus daily.

If it's dangerous for our soul, if materialism is dangerous for our

soul, then let it let me conclude by telling you that we should flee from the

love of money and run to the love of God. So in in light of this, his warning is

to encourage us to be content in God.

As the false teachers were using religion or godliness to get material gain, Paul says in verse 6 that

godliness with contentment is great gain.

There's someone who is great gain.

Don't settle for the love of money, church. Don't settle for that. There's something better. Something better.

Whether he had a lot or had a little, Paul knew what it was, and he knew how

to be content. You know the passage in Philippians, he says, "I've I know what it is to

hurt. I know what it is to be well. I know what it is to have and have not.

But I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength."

I want to finish today with uh some application that I learned from my

parents. They modeled this my whole life.

First thing that I learned from them was to live frugally. I don't know if that's how you spell

frugally or not, but that's how this old coach spelled it. Their little red lines

didn't come up underneath it. So, thought I was close.

Don't chase after having everything. And then then they have that, so I want that. And and Chris and I have this

little joke back and forth that we always do. He said, "I got a 6 in uh

planer." Oh, really? I got a 6.1. Mine's a little better. and then it's

just back and I got to have more live frugally.

But the second part of that application is to give generously.

To give generously. This lesson came to life for me

the week before Christmas this year. Katherine and I were

grocery shopping at King Supers getting ready for the kids coming over

and the big meal. You guys did the same thing. We're standing in line at King Supers

and in front of us was a young family. The dad was holding a little baby. The baby was coughing and a little fussy

and it was taking a long time. Dad had the baby in this arm and a coke

in this hand and it was taking a long time.

It was taking a long time. Katherine turns around. She says, "Joel,

you need to go pay." I was like, "Oh, all right." So, I sneak

around the basket and I get up there and and I go to pull my card out and put it

on the little card thing. And this dad turns around. He says, "No

way. No way." I was like, "Dude, I can

buy you a Coke. Come on, man. No way." And he was using some language

that was I'm not going to use. get out of here. I was like, "Come on,

man. Back up." So, I tap my card. The next thing I know, I turn I turn around

and Katherine is hugging the mom. This dude is coming towards me to he's

coming in and he's going to give me a hug and he there's Katherine and the mom are crying

over here. I'm like, it's a coke. My goodness, what's going on? And I Oh,

do you want cash back? No, I don't want cash back. Pin number. I put my pin

and this receipt machine. [Laughter]

I said, "How much was it?" She said, "343.

Come give me another hug, man. Now listen, I I don't tell you that so

you go, "Oh, that was so nice of you, Joel." I tell you that because I wonder

if I would have done it had I known that it was that much.

Would I have been willing to help someone with physical needs had I known that it was that much?

Praise God that we were able to do it and we were able to buy our groceries and and we're everything's okay. But

listen, if you know if you and I know the kind of need that people have all

around us, are we willing to do as much as we can.

I'll never see those people again. I don't think I will.

But God taught me a lesson that day. He reinforced the lesson that I've been

taught my whole life. Joel, focus on living frugally and

giving generously. Man, you look out for those needs of the people around you. There are spiritual

needs and there are physical needs all around you. Keep your eyes peeled for that. I am

your provider, Joel. Community of grace ain't your provider.

I'm your provider. trust me. And that's what I want to call and I believe that

Paul is calling Timothy. Man, listen, you watch out for those false teachers. And I want to urge you to teach and

preach these things, not to fall in for the cravings of of division or wealth.

You trust in me. There's something better than wealth.

And his name is Jesus. And that's what we need to pursue.