Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, and to be generous and ready to share,that they do good, that they be rich in good works, that they be ready to distribute, willing to share;That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate;that they do good, that they be rich in good works, that they be ready to distribute, willing to communicate;
3 sermons cite this verse
… but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. Paul, in this letter, is providing practical instructions for the conduct of God's people within the framework of the church. It is therefore no surprise to us that very quickly he addresses the matter of money, because money is inevitably one of the barometers by which we might be able to gauge the temperature and strength of our own Christian experience. He addresses it in relationship to those who are called to leadership in the church, when in the third verse of the third chapter, he makes it clear that the person who is going to be an elder must not be someone who loves money. Deacons, in verse 8 of the same chapter, are to be individuals who are not pursuing dishonest gain. In the matter of family care, in the fifth chapter and in verse 8, an individual who does not provide for his relatives has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. A quite staggering statement. …
… They are, listen to this, they are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous and ready to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future so that they may take hold of the life that really is life. Don't you wanna take hold of the life that really is life? All right, instead of all this stuff that we've thought maybe might make us happy and then never really does and leads us to the next thing we gotta acquire. But here's what he says. We have to do good to be rich in good works, generous and ready to share. And in that way, we take hold of the life that really is life. All right, I wanna mention, so if you're tuning in for the very first time, once a year, I preach a sermon where we're asking you to fill out a pledge card if this is your church family. If this is not your church family, this doesn't have anything to do with you. …
… but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way, they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life, the best of both worlds, laying up treasure for the coming age, but taking hold of life that is truly life here and now. He says, Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and in so doing have departed from the faith. Now I read probably more than I needed to, but I love just the collection and the wholeness of all those verses together, speaking of contentment, being content with what you have. And Paul was telling Timothy, hey, don't get caught up in what everyone around you is getting caught up in and pursuing riches and making their name great so that their name is great and pursuing money and the love of money. …