1 Timothy 6:17 – Conformed in Order to Command
Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty…
Spurgeon's word picture is harrowing enough to be preserved and presented at length: "The man has come to the edge of Jordan; the time has arrived for him to die. He is a believer-just a believer; but his life has not been what he could wish; not all that he now desires that it had been. And now stern death is at him, and he has to take his first step into the Jordan. Judge of his horror, when the flames surround his foot. He treads upon the hot sand of the stream; and the next step he takes, with his hair well nigh on end, with his eye fixed on heaven on the other side of the shore, his face is yet marked with horror. He takes another step, and he is all bathing in fire. Another step, and he is up to his very loins in flames-"saved, so as by fire." A strong hand has grasped him, that drags him onward through the stream. But how dreadful must be the death even of the Christian, when he is saved "so as by fire!"
Spurgeon, even as a young man here, is a man who has spent time thinking about the conforming pressures and distractions of this world. So is Timothy, as Paul has led him through that gauntlet in the versus leaving up to 1 Timothy 6:17. He has spent time thinking about the cost of worldliness to his own ministry and motivation. So has Paul on behalf of Timothy, and we are privileged to hear the old apostle's coaching. Now, as Spurgeon unveils a scene designed to capture the attention of his potentially wayward listeners, in such a direction Paul charges Timothy.
Paul elsewhere speaks Timothy's youth and timidity, but here he nevertheless charges him those likely to be beholden to wealth and pride. Command those who are rich, he says, not to be hardy. Intervene, young minister, between the positions you are charges have and the resulting attitude which can so easily have them.
How, and how would we do likewise? By how we see the origin of this world's goods as they come into our possession? Do we speak of them as God's to create and disperse? Are we humbled by our opportunity to give up what He has given us? If we look back at God's authority over creation, His giving man dominion in Eden, and at our present as His specific gift and opportunity mental and spoken imagery of the future much like Spurgeon's will result.
We will see the day of accountability for what we have had, and what we have wasted, and a haughty attitude will melt away in advance. We will see ourselves as equally dependent on God's grace as our brother, even though we may have more months' provision in reserve. We cannot, after all, buy our next heartbeat. We cannot, after all, buy our name's place in the Lamb's Book of Life. We can buy a poverty of spirit only by Christ's metaphor to Laodicea,, re-valuing this world's goods as He does and utilizing them as He directs. The difficulty in doing so, in itself, is an analgesic to the haughty spirit. Our command, in so far as He gives us any influence over others, will have the quiet weight of our own hard-disciplined experience.
Spurgeon's word picture is harrowing enough to be preserved and presented at length: "The man has come to the edge of Jordan; the time has arrived for him to die. He is a believer-just a believer; but his life has not been what he could wish; not all that he now desires that it had been. And now stern death is at him, and he has to take his first step into the Jordan. Judge of his horror, when the flames surround his foot. He treads upon the hot sand of the stream; and the next step he takes, with his hair well nigh on end, with his eye fixed on heaven on the other side of the shore, his face is yet marked with horror. He takes another step, and he is all bathing in fire. Another step, and he is up to his very loins in flames-"saved, so as by fire." A strong hand has grasped him, that drags him onward through the stream. But how dreadful must be the death even of the Christian, when he is saved "so as by fire!"
Spurgeon, even as a young man here, is a man who has spent time thinking about the conforming pressures and distractions of this world. So is Timothy, as Paul has led him through that gauntlet in the versus leaving up to 1 Timothy 6:17. He has spent time thinking about the cost of worldliness to his own ministry and motivation. So has Paul on behalf of Timothy, and we are privileged to hear the old apostle's coaching. Now, as Spurgeon unveils a scene designed to capture the attention of his potentially wayward listeners, in such a direction Paul charges Timothy.
Paul elsewhere speaks Timothy's youth and timidity, but here he nevertheless charges him those likely to be beholden to wealth and pride. Command those who are rich, he says, not to be hardy. Intervene, young minister, between the positions you are charges have and the resulting attitude which can so easily have them.
How, and how would we do likewise? By how we see the origin of this world's goods as they come into our possession? Do we speak of them as God's to create and disperse? Are we humbled by our opportunity to give up what He has given us? If we look back at God's authority over creation, His giving man dominion in Eden, and at our present as His specific gift and opportunity mental and spoken imagery of the future much like Spurgeon's will result.
We will see the day of accountability for what we have had, and what we have wasted, and a haughty attitude will melt away in advance. We will see ourselves as equally dependent on God's grace as our brother, even though we may have more months' provision in reserve. We cannot, after all, buy our next heartbeat. We cannot, after all, buy our name's place in the Lamb's Book of Life. We can buy a poverty of spirit only by Christ's metaphor to Laodicea,, re-valuing this world's goods as He does and utilizing them as He directs. The difficulty in doing so, in itself, is an analgesic to the haughty spirit. Our command, in so far as He gives us any influence over others, will have the quiet weight of our own hard-disciplined experience.
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