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Look at 1 Timothy chapter 6, we're up to our last chapter in the book of 1 Timothy, but 1 Timothy chapter 6 in verse number 10, one of the most misquoted verses in the Bible, but it says, for the love of money is the root of all evil, the title for the sermon. This even is the love of money, the love of money. In fact, 1 Timothy chapter 6 is much about money and handling finances. You'll notice it as a major theme throughout this chapter. Now it is misquoted many times instead of it being, you know, quoted as for the love of money is the root of all evil. Many times people will quote it as money is the root of all evil. Now money is not sinful, Reverend. Money in of itself is just a tool. It's just a way to exchange your goods and services. There's nothing sinful within money in of itself. But what we need to be careful about is the love of money, of course, okay? So let's start there in verse number 1. And of course, what's the primary place that we're going to earn an income? What's the primary place that we earn money? Well, it's in our employment. You know, men would go out to work. We don't work for free. We don't work just because, you know, we think it's a wonderful thing to do. We work so we can have an income, so we can have money to take care of our needs, take care of our families, pay our bills, etc. And so we start off in verse number 1 with the workplace. Verse number 1, it says, let as many servants. Now, when we read the Bible and the Bible uses the term servants, just think of the word employee, okay? And when you read about the masters here, just think of the employer, okay? So it's about your employee-employer relationship here. Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed. And so if you're a servant, if you're an employee, you need to look at your employer and give them view of them as worthy of all honor. Can you do that, brethren? You know, many times employees don't even like their employers. Now, we're meant to look at our employer, whoever has employed us into that job, who's willing to give us that opportunity to work for them and give them all honor. Now, that word honor has come up recently in the previous chapter. We saw that widows were to be honored. We saw that pastors were to receive double honor. And when we're looking at that term honor, we're basically looking at ensuring that the needs were being met, right? And so if an employee is to count their own masters worthy of all honor, you need to as an employee understand that my role is to ensure the needs of my employer are met. Say, what are those needs? Well, they should be in your employment contract. All the time, you know, when you've agreed to work your hours, you've agreed to work for that pay, you know, you've agreed to work for a certain positions. And at some point, I'm sure you've been given training, you've been given some document outlining your roles and responsibilities. Well, if you're meeting those roles and responsibilities, then you are counting your master or your employer with all honor. You're fulfilling your side of the bargain, you know, fulfilling the needs that he had for you as an employee. And that's what we're commanded to do. Now, I've been teaching a lot about this. You know, it just seems to be one of the topics that comes up. And maybe it's because, you know, I've both been employee and employer. Maybe that's why. You know, in some ways, I've been servant and master in different businesses that I work. And I realized just how important this relationship is in the view of God. We can see here that God is very interested in your workplace. Okay, you know, the workplace God is looking down as an employee and saying, are you working hard? Are you fulfilling the needs? Are you meeting up to the agreement that was put forward by your employer? Now, why is it so important that we do this? Because at the end of verse number one, it says that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed. And so we go by the title Christian. We have the name of God, the anointed one, Christ, who's Jesus Christ, of course. And we, you know, we say that we're believers. And many times within your workplace, they're going to be able to identify you as a Christian. They're going to see that you're different from the world. And you know what, if you're just slacking off on the job, you know, you're just like the worst employee. You're so unproductive. You know, you come in late, you leave early. And, you know, you don't, you don't fulfill, you know, you don't give your employee all honor. Then the name of Christ will be blasphemed. The name of God will be blasphemed because of your actions. And his doctrine be not blasphemed. What's the doctrine? The teaching. The teaching is employees work hard for your employers. You know, meet up to your agreement. If you're not doing that, you're going to even cause a doctrine, a teaching of working hard and being productive to be blasphemed. Now, how can we, you know, view this? And how can we apply this today? You know, count your own masters worthy of all honor. Well, you know, most of us, we work a full-time job, and, you know, generally speaking, a full-time job requires you to work eight hours. You might get half an hour lunch there. You might work seven and a half hours, for example, with a half an hour lunch. You know what I'm talking about, okay? That's just the general hours that we all work. Now, let's say, you know, you're doing your job and you find that within your workplace, you know, you've got your day's work to do. You might find, you know what? I don't need all eight hours to do my job. You might say, I get it all done within five hours, you know, because I'm productive, because I'm efficient, you know, and I'm doing the best I can. Praise God for you, if you get all your work done within five hours, okay? That could be a reality in a lot of people's lives. So now you've got three hours left in a day. What are you gonna do with those three hours, you know? And you've got a few options. You've got a few options. Number one, you could say, well, maybe I should just slow down because I don't want my boss to give me extra work. You know, yeah, I finish everything in five hours, but I realized, boy, everyone else has taken eight hours to do what I do in five hours. As long as you're not rushing and making mistakes, because correcting mistakes is actually, takes longer than actually doing the proper job. You know, double checking, triple checking that the job you're doing is right in the first place. But you get it all done, Reverend. Last thing you wanna do is, well, I'll just slow down and, you know, I'll make sure, you know, I just take it easy on my job. Well, the problem with that, Reverend, is you're training yourself to become a slugger. You're slowing yourself down. You're slowing down your productivity. You're slowing down your efficiency just to make up the whole eight hours. You know, you're just training yourself to be slugging. You're training yourself how to be lazy. You know what? You don't have to be like every other employee. I hope you shine in your workplace. I hope people look at you and say, man, this is a model employee. You know, he honors his employer. You know, the name of God is not blasphemed. You know, in fact, maybe they look at you as a Christian and they glorify God for the kind of worker you are. I hope that's the case. So don't take the view, well, just slow down like everybody else and get my job done within eight hours. The other point would be, well, I get it all done in five hours and the next three hours, I'll just pretend I'm working. I'll just like, your boss walks past. I'll just, you know, pretend I'm doing something on the computer, whatever it is, right? I'll pretend I'm writing something. I'll pretend I'm working during these three hours. And you know what you'd be doing there? You'd be robbing your employer. You'd be taking those three hours away that they've hired you for. You know what the right thing would be for you to do as an employee? If you find you're getting everything done within five hours, you know what you should do? Go to employer and say, boss, I've done all my work. You got anything else for me? And that's going to be unpopular to you guys probably. I don't know, but honestly, this is what I've applied in my life. If I get my work done, boss, what do you need me to do next? Cause I want to sit there twiddling my thumbs. I don't want to sit there and just check Facebook for the rest of the day. You know, I want to be productive. Why? Why? Because God is looking down on me. That's why. Because ultimately what we do is we do everything unto the Lord Jesus Christ. And he's looking down and seeing what kind of worker are you, okay? And what you'll find is a couple of things. Number one, you know, your employees will love you. They'll think, boy, look at this guy, right? And you know what? They might say, hey, you know what? The job you're doing, it's too little for you. We might have to give you a promotion. We may very well have to give you a pay rise and praise God for that. You know, promotion comes from the Lord. We saw that on Sunday. You know, even if you don't get the promotion there and then the employee goes, hey, thanks for that. Here's some other work you can do. Okay. Don't wind that you're doing maybe more work than the others. Don't worry about everyone else, right? Don't look at other people. You'd be a hardworking employee. And then when it comes time for a pay increase, you have more leverage now to say, well, you know what? When I signed up for my job, I was doing this many hours. I was doing this kind of work. I've added all this work that you've given me because I'm efficient, I'm productive. How about a higher pay increase than what you're willing to give me right now? And usually if you're just a good employee, a hardworking employee, your employee will look down and say, absolutely. Okay. Cause you're worth it. You've shown yourself to be worth it. You know what else might happen? And it's happened before. They might say to you, well, you get everything done within five hours. I'm giving you eight hours to do your work. You get it done within five hours. Just go home early then. You know what? They might say to you, you know what? I'll pay you the whole eight hours, but you got the job done. Good on you. You can go home early now. You know, you've got an extra three hours on your hand now, right? You've got an extra three hours to spend time with your family. Hey, why don't you take one of those hours and go soloing in? All right. Be productive. Be a service to the Lord God and his kingdom. And don't be a slack employee. Don't think about, oh, I'll just get through the minimum. You know what? If you become a minimal employee, you'll just be the minimum man for the rest of your life. You'll just do the least you could possibly do just to earn a paycheck and go home and make sure your, you know, your bills are paid for. You know what? God wants us to be productive. God wants us to do well. You know, God wants us to be as Christians, the best employees that we can be in our workplace. Let's keep going to number two. And they, they have believing masters. Maybe your master, maybe your employer is a believer. Maybe he saved. Let them not despise him because they are brethren, but rather do them service because they are faithful and beloved partakers of the benefit. These things teach and exhort. You know, you might find yourself with a, maybe even someone within your church, and you might end up working for someone in your church. The Bible says don't despise them. What does that mean? Well, at church, you know, this goes hand in hand with my sermon on Sunday about knowing your station. Yeah, at church, we're brothers and sisters in the Lord. At church, we're on the same, same level. Hey, but if you go and work for one of the brethren, he's now your boss. You now say, yes, boss. Hey boss, what do you need me to do? You now are subject under that authority in the workplace. And you may, you know, you may feel like, well, he's just my brother in law. Why should I honor him? Why should I respect him? Because he's your boss now. That's why. And so you don't want to despise them. In fact, rather do them service. In fact, rather, you should be working even harder for your brother who's saved then the unbeliever. Okay. You should be doing more service for your brother in the Lord who has employed you. Why? Because they, your employer, your Christian employer, because they are faithful and beloved because God loves them. That's why. Partakers of the benefits. So if God is looking down at your employer who's a Christian and God says that, you know, they are faithful in my eyes, that they're beloved in my eyes, I love them. And then they take you on as an employee from the same church or just a brother in the Lord and you're slack. Okay. How is God going to deal with you when he says about your manager? He's my beloved. He's one of my sons and you're treating him by robbing him of his hours and being a slack employee. You know, God may very well judge you more severely for being slack with a believing brother who's your employer versus an unbelieving person who is your employer. Now let's keep going. Oh yeah, by the way, end of verse number two. Why is it that I preach so much about working hard and being productive and being efficient? Why is this a passion of mine? One of my hobby horses, maybe as a pastor, is because I'm commanded to teach these things. What did it say at the end of verse number two? These things teach and exhort. If I'm teaching you to be a lazy employee, to do the minimum and don't respect your employer, you know what, I would be doing contrary to what God's requirement is from me as a pastor. You know, I want you all to be hard workers. You know, I wish, you know, that if you guys were my employees, I would wish that you guys would be the hardest working ones, that you guys would be getting the promotions, that you guys would be leading the company in a righteous manner. That would be the ideal situation. But you see, pastors are here to teach employees to honor their masters, okay? To work hard. And of course, to honor all kinds of authority, okay? And again, knowing your station, the sermon that I preached on Sunday was all about this. Knowing your authority, whichever place you are in society and honoring the head that is over you. Because look at verse number three. If any man teach otherwise. If I teach you to be a slack employee, if I teach you to not honor your authorities, not to be obedient to your authorities, what happens to the man that teaches otherwise? Well, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and to the doctrine which is according to godliness. So what is he saying? That if I teach you to be a hard worker, if I teach you to respect your authorities, that these are wholesome words. We saw that, right? That these are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. That this is the doctrine according to godliness. Again, I just recently preached about godliness. How this is something we should be aiming for in our lives, right? To be more godly. Well, that's part of being godly is to honor your authorities and to work hard as an employee, okay? But what if someone doesn't teach this? What if they teach otherwise? What does the Bible have to say about this person? What if someone comes up to you and says, you know what, we're not happy with the pay that we've got in our workplace, let's strike, okay? Let's rise up against our employers and strike against them, even though you agreed to the terms and conditions of pay, even though you agreed to the terms and conditions of the hours. And someone comes up to you, let's strike, let's rebel against the authorities. If someone comes to you in church, hey, let's rebel against the pastor, okay? What are you to do? What does God think about these people? These people that what? Rise above their station, as I covered on Sunday. Well, verse number four, it says, he is proud. We saw that, right? When someone rises above the station, what did we say? That it's a proud person, right? It's that person full of pride. Look at this, knowing nothing. This guy knows nothing. God says, he's an idiot. He's stupid. He's base. You know, if you're an employee and you're in your workplace, and all your employees are going, hey, you know, all your co-workers, let's strike. We've got to strike. I want you to remember, these people know nothing. They got, you know, they're acting out of stupidity and you should have nothing to do with them. In fact, this is what gets taught here as we keep going through this chapter. Look at this, but doting about questions and stripes of words, stripes of words, whereof cometh envy. You may recall when we're looking at knowing your station. I said, if you start looking at other people's lives and other people's position, you become envious. And that's when you start to be discontent in your station. So here it goes. Wherever cometh envy, strife, railings, railings, of course, is slander, false accusations, evil surmisings. What is it to surmise? To surmise is basically to develop an opinion without conclusive evidence, okay? You suspect, you've heard something and you put a story together and this is evil surmisings. You know, you start saying about an individual, this person must have done X, Y, and Z. This person must hate me. Even though you've got no evidence, you've got no substantial evidence there, no conclusive evidence, but you've just surmised, evil surmising. These are the kinds of people that are rebellious against authority. Let's keep going to number five. Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds. So these people are constantly in dispute. They're constantly arguing. But perverse arguments, perverse disputings. Now brethren, we are called, you know, as soldiers for the Lord, we are called to dispute sometimes, you know, to fight the fight of faith. In fact, if you drop down to verse number 12 in the same chapter, verse number 12, it says, fight the good fight of faith. But you know what? You rebelling against authority is not a good fight of faith. What is it? It's in verse number five, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth. These people don't have the truth. Supposing that gain is godliness. Look at this, from such withdrawal by self. Okay. So they think gain is godliness. They think if we rebel against authority, if we just slack off on the job, whatever it is, whatever authority you may have, brethren, they do it for gain. They do it for their own personal gain. Okay. And these people are of corrupt minds. You know, if you know people, if people come up to you, and they want to rebel, they want to rebel against the employer. They want to rebel against the church pastor. Hey, even if they want to go and rebel against the government. Okay. Let me tell you, from such withdrawal by self, have nothing to do with these people that do not respect the authorities that God puts over you. Okay. During the whole COVID mess, you know, the whole COVID world, you know, there's been several people that have, you know, suggested or basically said, hey, you know, let's just, let's just rebel against the government. You know, let's just, let's just do what we want to do and forget what they're saying, even though they're an authority that God has put in place, you know. And I'm just thinking, boy, how, you know, why would you reveal yourself to be someone that knows nothing? Why would you reveal yourself to be someone of perverse disputing of men, of corrupt minds? Why would you reveal yourself to be someone destitute of the truth? Now, we all need to be taught, though. We all need to learn and grow and understand that's not what God requires from us. Rebellion, you know, hating authority, not being obedient. That's not what God has called us to do, brethren. We're commanded to fight the good fight of faith. We're not commanded to fight carnal battles, though. Okay. You know, fighting the carnal battles, fighting the battles of this world is just going to distract you from the kingdom of God. Okay. You're going to be distracted with carnal earthly things, which God does not want you focused upon. You know, you guys are going to be tested. Obviously, many in your life at this church are unvaccinated. Maybe all of you are. I'm not sure, you know. I'm never going to ask you. I'm not going to come up to you and ask you if you've been vaccinated or not. You know, that's for you to decide. But you guys know what's happening, right? I think, is it sometime in December? You know, the unvaccinated are basically going to be locked out of society. And this is, you know, essentially, you guys are going to be dealing with the issues that we've been dealing with since, what, late June? Mid June, right? And the struggles that, you know, I can't, you know what, I can't just walk into a big W, Brevin. I can't just walk into a Target or something like that. Okay. You know, we can't. You must be vaccinated right now. Okay. And they'll ask you, you know, some places don't care, but you know, most places will ask you, show me your vaccination status, you know. And I can't get angry at these people. You know, they're just following the instructions that they were laid out by the government. And so there are many things that are just outside of our scope right now. Thank God we can meet in church. Thank God, you know, we can still do our most essential business, you know, grocery shopping, going to the bank and going to the post office, things like that. But there are many places here in Sydney that we cannot, I cannot go to a restaurant, you know, we cannot go to a cafe. And you guys are about to face that soon, you know, come December. For many of you have decided to be unvaccinated. That's what you're going to be dealing with. And so you're going to be tested. You know, you're going to have the feelings and the emotions to rebel against authority, to rebel against government. And I'm going to just tell you now, don't do it. Please don't do it. All right. If people are trying to draw you into some type of protest or some type of rebellion, Reverend, what do we read in verse number five? From such withdraw thyself. From these people that are trying to turn you against authorities. It's going to end up worse for you. Okay. Rather, this is what your test is going to be. Look at verse number six. But godliness with contentment is great gain. Amen. You know what? I want you to be godly. I want you to be content. Even if you can't walk into, what, Target. Okay. Even if you can't walk into Big W or Kmart or whatever shop it is, Reverend, I won't say, you know what, I'm going to be content. I'm going to be godly. I'm going to be content. And this is great gain. Praise God for these opportunities we have right now. Where our freedoms and liberties are going to be taken away or are being taken away or have been taken away, Reverend. Because now you can be tested whether you truly are someone that is content in godliness. Okay. This world's going to burn, Reverend. This world's going to hell, basically. You know what? Where the few that are going to escape this, the raft that's going to fall upon this world, you know, where the few that God is entrusting with the gospel as well to preach the gospel and to see others come into the kingdom of God. But remember what it says here in verse number seven, but we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out. You know what? Our job isn't to fix this world. You know, some people have just, you know, they're sincere. They've got good intentions and they want to rebel and they want to fight against the system. They want to fight against this spiritual Babylon that's taken over the world. You know, they want to fix the world. And I understand many times I'm even in agreement with what they're trying to accomplish. Okay. Many times I understand even, oh, they succeed, Reverend. But you know what? If you're just trying to fix this world, you're going to spend your whole life and you're never going to fix it. You're never going to get the world to the point that you get to say, well, this is finally a world that I'm happy to live in. It's not going to happen. And brethren, let's say it did happen, hypothetically. Let's say you were able to fix everything in the whole world exactly the way you'd want. What did we read in verse number seven? For we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out. So you get this world exactly how you want it, brethren. You're not going to be able to take it with you to heaven. Like you're going to spend all this time on carnal things that do not matter for eternity. Okay. And then you just want to take it to heaven. Okay. So we want to prioritize the things that have eternal values in our life. Look at verse number eight. This is challenging, verse number eight. And having food and raiment, let us be therewith content. Can you do that, brethren? With food and raiment. Okay. Let's say that's it. You know what? Queensland gets that bad. The only thing you can do is eat and clothe yourself. Boy, I tell you now, you guys are going to be whining and complaining. I tell you now. I tell you why I know that. Because so would I. Like if that's all we could do is feed ourselves and clothe ourselves and we're locked out. We've got everything else in life. We are going to complain. Okay. This and you might say, nah, not me. Yes, you will. Okay. Because it's such a change to the system. This is why we're complainers right now. Because we're not used to this new normal. And I don't know if this new normal is ever going to go away, brethren. So what are you gonna do? Complain for the rest of your life? You know? Or are you going to, with food and raiment, let us there with be content? Is that where your heart is? You know what? If that's what God gives you, food and raiment, you need to be content. You need to be happy. You need to be satisfied. Okay. And look, living on the surface might not be enjoyable. But if you find contentment in just the little things that God can give. Okay. Not for the love of money. Not for wealth and possessions that your heart might desire. You may be given very little in life. I want you to be content. I want you to thank God. Thank you, Lord, that this is all I have. And you know what? My life on this earth is short anyway. I can't wait to be in heaven with you. Okay. So as I said, what's going to happen from the 17th of December? Just announced today, I think it was. Or was it yesterday? Anyway, if you're unvaccinated, you won't be able to visit aged care hospitals. You can go to hospital if you need a medical issue, right? Yourself. But you can't go as a visitor. You can't go to prisons. Well, I don't know you're in prison right now. Disability services. You won't be able to visit hotels, pubs, clubs. Actually, that's good. I'm glad you can't visit pubs and clubs. Amen. Taverns, bars. Amen. Don't visit those places. Thank you, Australian government, for putting a restriction on those wicked places. You won't be able to visit restaurants, cafes. Man, I don't know what you're doing for your Monday. Sorry, for your Thursday morning Bible study at a cafe. As I said, you've got to look for one of those hippie cafes. I don't care if you're vaccinated or not. What else can't you visit? You can't visit nightclubs. Praise God. You can't go to indoor live music venues. Most of them are wicked anyway. Karaoke bars, concerts, theaters, and cinemas. Well, I mean, there's nothing good that Hollywood is pumping out anyway. Hey, this might save us a little bit of money. Praise God. It might force us to keep a bit of, you know, some dollars in our wallets. Praise God for something that is better suited. We can't attend sports stadiums or theme parks. Festivals, indoor or outdoor. And you won't be able to visit government, Queensland government owned galleries, museums, and libraries. I find museums and galleries kind of boring anyway. So we're not missing out on too much. Okay. But listen, you're going to lose. For those of you that are unvaccinated, if you're vaccinated, you know, that's your business. Okay. But yeah, if you're unvaccinated, you're going to miss out on these things for a while anyway. So what are you going to do? You know what you say? I'm going to be content with food and rain. Praise God. You know what? You do that and God's going to look down on you. He's going to bless you. He's going to have shiny face upon you. Just make sure you've got the right attitude. Please don't listen to those that are commanding you, pushing you, pressuring you to rebuild against authority. You know, I truly believe we have a wicked government, but I truly believe God is allowing this weak government to pass judgment on Australia. You know, it's high time for Australia to be judged. You know, we're such a wicked nation. And you know, if this is how God is doing it, well, so be it. Okay, let's keep going. Verse number nine. 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. Now verse number nine is not talking about those that are rich. Okay. It's talking about those that will be rich. So they desire that their personal will is to become rich. And so we, you know, we often hear about the rich. We often hear about the billionaires, whatever. In society, the rich and famous. What we often don't hear about, though, in society, are people that are trying to become wealthy, people that are trying to become rich. And ultimately, in that search, in that desire, they end up destroying their lives. You know, they end up, you know, because of money, they end up, you know, destroying families, their own families, or even their financial positions as they seek great wealth. You know, for example, these are people that are spending their time gambling and, you know, partaking in the lottery, which is geared against you. You know, I mean, it's so obvious that these casinos and these places, the lotto, you don't win. Okay. The house always wins. They always, they're always going to win. It's always going to leave people without, you know, a cashless. And if you happen to win in a casino or gambling, you've basically taken it from someone else's lost, you know, greatly in order for you to win in this way. Okay. And so people that get into gambling, they think they're going to make money. They end up losing everything. They end up getting addicted and they end up destroying their families. You know, we also know of people, people I've heard of people that obviously borrow large sums of money and they put it in some type of investment and, you know, they borrow it, but should their investment collapse, then they borrowed money, which they can't even afford to repay. And then they're having to sell their homes and sell all the things, all the possessions, basically to pay it back somewhat. And these people end up destroying their lives as well. They end up in divorce and all kinds of problems. You know, one of the main reasons, I think the number one reason for divorce in Australia is because of money. People desiring to be rich. Now again, there's nothing wrong with being rich in of itself. There's nothing wrong with money in of itself, but we should not be seeking that. It's not something that is part of our will and desire to make ourselves something great and to be, to wealthy and great possessions and a lot of money in our bank account. That ought not to be the heart of a Christian. It certainly should not be the heart of a pastor because it says in verse number 10, for the love of money. So it's not money. The love of money is the root of all evil, which while some covet it after, they have erred from the faith. So these are Christians, okay? They've erred from the faith and pierce themselves through with many sorrows. Yes, even Christians can get to the point when they covet after money, when they have a love for money and they just desire to become as wealthy as they possibly can. Well, you know what? The love of money here is the roots of all evil. Now, what does that mean? It's not saying that every evil that exists in the world is because of the love of money. That's not what it's saying. It's not saying that every sin that exists, every sin that's committed is due from our love of money. I mean, that's obviously not the case. I mean, think about the very first sin between Adam and Eve, right? They went and ate of that tree from the knowledge of good and evil, which God commanded them not to eat of. It had nothing to do with money. It had nothing to do with love and money that they went and sinned. No, that's not what it's saying. What is it saying though? It's saying that if you love money, if you're seeking welfare and possessions on this earth, that that's the roots or the beginning of all kinds of evil that you might end up doing, okay? And, you know, people backstab one another for money. You know, you often hear stories about, you know, someone that has passed away and they've got the inheritance that they want to pass on to their children and then families are fighting about that, you know, inheritance. It breaks up families because no one's willing to, you know, just go equal shares. Everyone wants more than what I guess they're entitled to. And I just did a quick research and there was an American poll in 2016. What would people do for money? This is a poll that ran in 2016 in America. And I'm not going to name everything that was in this list because it's pretty disgusting. But let me just quote some things to you. What are people willing to do for money? Well, 6% of people would commit murder for $1 billion. Someone offers you $1 billion if you go and murder someone, 6% of people would do it. And look, these are 6% of people that are actually honest. To admit they're willing to do it. Put it in that perspective, okay? 10% would enter into a sham marriage for $100,000. 15% of people would shoplift for $1,000. 10% would fornicate with a stranger. I'm using the word fornicate there. Would fornicate with a stranger for $100,000. 15% would fake their own death for $100 million. That's a big number. 15% of people would fake their death for $100 million. 25%, this is one quarter, one quarter of those polled, okay, would give their reproductive cells, okay, so the man's seed or the woman's eggs, without their partner's knowledge for $100 million. 10% would punch a stranger in the face for $1 million. I guess that's a bit tempting. Punching a stranger, I'm just kidding. Punching a 10% would do it for $1 million. And 10% would commit treason for $1 billion. The point of this is, you know, the love of money is the root of all evil. When you're seeking after money, when you're seeking after great possessions, you could go and do things that you would otherwise not do if you weren't after the pursuit of money. You know, some people would go as far as murdering if it gave them a financial edge, you know? And so the love of money definitely is the root of all evil. Brethren, I don't want you to be like these people in verse number 10 where they've erred from the faith, okay, where they walked away from the faith, they walked away from serving God and walked away from the kingdom of God and walked away from eternity just because they want some pleasures on this earth. Just because they want some money, some work on this earth. Don't do it, brethren. Don't do it, you know. You know, Jesus Christ says in Matthew 6 24, no man can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. And the word mammon, of course, are riches, wealth, okay? You cannot serve God and mammon. If you have a heart for money, a love for money, and you seek that with all your heart, brethren, the Bible tells me you hate God. You say, no, no, I love, no, you hate God. If you love money, you hate God, okay? Let's keep going. Verse number 11, 1 Timothy 6, verse number 11. It says, but thou, O man of God, flee these things and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Some of these are the fruit of the spirit. And so we got Paul here right into Timothy. And he says to Timothy, but thou, O man of God. Now this title, the man of God comes up twice in New Testament. First time here in 1 Timothy, the second time in 2 Timothy. And of course, this is referencing pastor Timothy. You know, this is a title that is given to pastors, the man of God. And you know, I don't like, you know, I'm not saying that trying to boast of myself or anything like that. You often see of this title as well in the Old Testament. The man of God is given to preachers or prophets of old. The prophets of the Old Testament are labeled the man of God. Pastors in the New Testament are given the title, the man of God. And so as Timothy is servicing and ministering his church, he's been reminded as a pastor, you are not to seek after these things, right? Flee these things. Run away from these things, Timothy. When you start setting your heart on money and wealth and possessions, flee from it. Get out of there, Timothy. You've got a lot to lose. You know, you're here to serve God and to serve God's house, serve God's church. Instead, instead of loving money, follow up the righteousness, Godness, faith, love, patience, meekness. And so I, as the pastor of New Life Baptist Church, you know, you ought to look at me and say, you know what? That pastor, Kevin, all right, he's not perfect. He's not the greatest guy around, but you know what? He's a man of God. Amen. I hope you can say that. I hope you can see within me that I have a love for God. I have a love for his kingdom, a love for his church. I want to be known as a man of God, not as a man of wealth. Not as a man who loves money. No, that ought not to be who I am, brethren. Okay. And I hope when you look at me, you can see, no, our pastor is a man of God. He loves his church. He loves the brethren. He loves God. He loves the kingdom. He loves the Bible over any kind of material wealth that he could have on this earth. And that ought to be the call of the men of God. Unfortunately, there are many on this earth that go by the title, the man of God or pastors. And it's very clear they are not men of God. In fact, it's very clear they lovers of money. They love money. And again, I look this up. I just wanted to look up. What are the top 10 richest pastors in the world? Who are the richest pastors in the world? The top 10. Are these men of God or are they lovers of money? Are they men of wealth? Coming in at number 10 is Joyce Meyer. Okay. And she's got a net worth of $8 million. Joyce Meyer. Well, she can't be a man of God, can she? So she's out of the equation already. But, you know, she's the highest earning female pastor, pastor, you know, in inverted commas. So when you look at someone like that, you know, earning $8 million through her ministry, that's not a woman. That's that's not forget about it. She's not a man of God. Let's just move on. Coming in at number nine. Number nine is Franklin Graham. Franklin Graham's net worth is $10 million. That's the son of Billy Graham. You know, a lot of Baptist still uphold Billy Graham and Franklin Graham. You know, these guys preach a false gospel. These guys teach you got to repent of your sins and, you know, clean up your life in order to be saved, contrary to God's word, which salvation is by grace through faith. This is not a man of God. I don't care what you think about the Grahams. Okay. These are not men of God. These are lovers of money. His net worth is $10 million. Coming in at number eight is T.D. Jakes. His net worth is $20 million. T.D. Jakes. Number seven. Rick Warren is all familiar names. I'm sure too many. Rick Warren with $25 million as his net worth. Coming at number six is Franklin Graham's father, Billy Graham. $25 million. Is that a man of God? You know, when God says flee these things, it doesn't sound like God's just now going to give Billy Graham $25 million. Or is this man after money? It was the after he's passed away. Now I think, isn't it? I think it just happened recently. I can't remember. I lose track of these things. You know, I don't really follow the false prophets. And yes, Billy Graham is a false prophet. Okay. He again taught, he taught a false gospel. And even if you'll say to me, no pastor Kevin, you don't understand. He just meant it differently. You know, he didn't mean to actually turn from his sins. You know, he truly does believe you have to put your faith on Christ. Okay. But that doesn't excuse him for saying that, you know, God has believers in the Muslim world and God has believers that are atheists and God has his children amongst the Buddhists. And yes, Billy Graham taught that whatever religion you're part of, even if you've never heard of Christ, even if you're part of a religion that has nothing to do with the son of God, that you can still be saved if they just follow the light and they follow the truth that God gave them. You can find those clips on YouTube if you want. Billy Graham was a false prophet. It's unfortunate that many Baptists still uphold this man. They think he's a man of God. No, he's a lover of money. Coming in at number five is Creflo Dollar. Of course, with that surname Creflo Dollar, man, if I was a pastor, I'd change my surname. Okay, well, this guy's net worth is $27 million. Coming in at number four is a lot of people's favorite, Benny Hinn with $60 million, right? Mr. You know, taking off the jacket and causing people to fall and stumble and all those crazy practices he does. He's definitely not a man of God. I mean, I don't know how any Christian can look at that guy and think he's a man of God that Benny Hinn is definitely out for money. Coming in at number three, Mr. Smiley. Yes, he smiles more than I do, brethren. Joe Osteen at $100 million, Joe Osteen. I wonder if you can pick next to. Number two is Pat Robertson. He's a former Southern Baptist that became a charismatic, basically. And his net worth is $100 million. $100 million. And number one, who would it be? You know, it's Kenneth Copeland. Kenneth Copeland with $300 million to his name and his net worth. Well, this is his network. We're not talking about the cost of his ministry. I mean, this guy, these many of these guys have their own private jets. They've got all kinds of resorts and things they are part of. But it's not part of the network. This is part of the ministry riches. So that's not even counted. This is basically what they take home. And so, man, if you're earning $300 million, how can anyone think that you're a man of God? You're a lover of money. You know, you're being blessed by the devil is what's happening to these people. So as pastors, you know, any of us brethren, we should not be lovers of money. We should desire to be the people of God. Okay, let's keep going. Verse number 12, fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life. Now, when the Bible says lay hold on eternal life, it doesn't mean, you know, try to earn your way, your eternal life or something. Let's just lay hold. We already have eternal life. What it means is put your focus on eternal life. Instead of looking, putting your focus on this temporary life and the love of money. Now, put your focus and take hold of eternal life. Have your eyes upon eternity. Do things that matter for eternity sake, rather than that for the temple sake. It says where where unto thou art also called and has professed a good profession before many witnesses. Okay, so when we consider a pastor, a pastor should have a good profession before many witnesses. I mean, many people should be able to look at me as a pastor. You know, my life should be open to some extent. Obviously, I'm not going to share every personal issue, every private detail about my life. Okay, but my life should be on show enough where you guys can say, hey, you know what, this guy has a good profession of his faith. And there are many witnesses that can look at my life and assess whether I'm someone that loves God, that is seeking the issue, the things of eternity, or whether my heart is on earthly desires and financial gain. Okay, verse number 13, I give the charge in the sight of God who quickeneth all things. And before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession, that thou keep this commandment without spots, unrebucable until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. So Paul is telling Timothy, look, I need you to keep this commandment. I'm charging you before God and before Christ. Okay, to keep the commandment. What is the commandment? To set your eyes on eternity, focus on the kingdom of God. You know, don't focus on this earth, don't live for money, don't have a love for money, but be content in what God has given you. This should be what a pastor is like. You know, I should not be spending my time, you know, trying to make as much money as I possibly can. Again, is there anything wrong with money? No, we all need it. We need it to provide. Okay, in fact, we'll soon see later in this chapter, God has made some people rich. Okay, and again, I don't believe a pastor who might be rich is necessarily in sin. Like not all rich people are wicked people. Okay, God does, in fact, give riches to people as he pleases. All right, we'll soon see this. Let's keep going. Verse number 15, which in his times he shall show. Now, let's break this down a little bit. So which in his time, so there is a time coming that he shall show. There's a time coming when Christ is going to reveal himself. That he's going to show himself. What does that tie into? Of course, what we just read there in verse number 14, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. Okay, so this is talking about Christ coming back. Okay, because basically, you know, in Titus 2 13, it says, looking for that blessed hope, talking about the rapture and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ. So God's going to reveal himself when he comes again. It's not some secret hidden rapture when nobody knows about it and just clothes are left laying around. Okay, no, no, no, when Christ comes back, he's going to put on the show. Okay, there's going to be a glorious appearing. Revelation 1 7 says, behold, he cometh with clouds and every eye shall see him and every eye shall see him. So when we go back to verse number 15, in which in his times he shall show, that's his coming, he's going to show himself who is the blessed. He's going to show himself to be the blessed and only potentates the king of kings and Lord of Lords. The word potentate basically means the one who rules with great power and great authority. Okay, that's the one that we serve, you know, the king of kings and the Lord of Lords. Now, again, I don't like our politicians very much, brethren. Okay, and you've got the Queensland government. It's going to make your life pretty hard soon. All right, but you know who's above Anastasia Palijay? You say, well, the Prime Minister. Oh, yeah, okay, I guess so, to some extent. Okay, you know, so you got Australian, you know, governments as well. All right, you know who's above the Australian governments? You know who's got power over the governments? You know who's the king of Scott Morrison? It's the king of kings and the Lord of Lords. It's our Lord Jesus Christ, and he's coming back one day for us. He's coming back one day for us. I want you to remember this because Australia is going down the toilet. I hope it stops. It's gone far enough, far enough, I think, but I don't know, it seems like it's just going worse. This is, this country is going down the drain, brethren, that the God that rules over this nation is the Lord God Jesus Christ. Please remember that. Please remember that the authorities where we held our heads come from Christ. Okay, he's allowed them to, either he's put them in place, sometimes he does that, or they're just, God's allowed it anyway. Okay, for whatever purpose he sees fits. And just remember that, right? When you start to get frustrated and annoyed at how wicked this world is, just remember God's on the throne, God's the king of kings, Jesus Christ is the Lord of Lords, and you know what, if I don't like the way these politicians are going, I'm just going to go to their boss, Jesus Christ, and tell them how disappointed I am with the politicians we have, and if God can judge them very quickly and severely. Okay, we leave it in God's hands. Let's keep going, verse number 16, who only have immortality, again, speaking of Jesus, Jesus has immortality, dwelling in the light, so Christ dwells in a light. What is this light? Which no man can approach unto. So this light is a light that no man can approach. Now, can we approach Christ? Of course, he walked this earth 2000 years ago, men could approach Christ. Okay, Christ is coming back in the clouds, every eye shall see him. So he is someone that can be seen. But let's keep going, he Christ dwells in the light, which no man can approach unto, whom no man have seen, nor can see, to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen. This light that Jesus Christ dwells in is, of course, God the Father, you know. And let me just quickly read to you from 1 John 1 5. 1 John 1 5 says, this then is the message which we have heard of him and declare unto you that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. You know, we know that Jesus Christ spoke about him being in the bosom of his Father, you know, and Christ dwells. Christ is able to dwell in the light, in the glory of God the Father. No man has seen God the Father, you know, and if we would see him with these eyes right now, if we were to approach him in these bodies, we would be destroyed. We would not even be able to just even glance at God the Father. Okay, this is why we need to wait till we have the new resurrected body of the coming of Christ. A body that is immortal, a body that is sinless, okay, that can stand before God finally, and we can finally see him face to face as we read about in the book of Revelation. Okay, let's keep going. Verse number 17. Charge them, look at this, that are rich in this world. So Timothy is to give a charge. Timothy is to give direction. And I'm the Timothy of New Life Baptist Church. I'm the pastor of New Life Baptist Church. So if there's anyone in our church that's rich, I don't know if any of you guys are. I mean, look, if you're Australian, you're rich. I have said that before, okay. But if you're rich for Australian standards, then this is a charge that I'm going to give you. Okay, this is what God wants you to hear. If you've got money that you don't know what to do with, all right, charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high minded. What does that mean? You know, not to look down on others, not to think, well, look how wealthy I am. And look at all these other poor people that are, you know, I'm above these people. That would be being high minded. Okay, because there might very well be rich people in our church. All right. Again, there's nothing wrong with being rich in of itself. As long as you take the riches that God has given you, and you apply it how God wants you to apply it. Number one, don't be high minded. What else? No trust in uncertain riches. Don't put your trust and security in thinking, I've got so much money, I can take care of myself. No, you need to put your trust in God. Okay, and thank God for the riches that you have. It says here, but in the living God. Don't put your trust in uncertain riches. But in the living God, look at this, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. You know why you're rich, you know why you have wealth. And even if you're just a standard Australian with standard paycheck, Reverend, you're rich compared to the rest of the world. God has given you those riches, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. God wants us to enjoy if he gives us riches, if he gives us wealth. You know, if it's not out of the love of money, but he gives it to us simply because we work hard, because we're good employees, because we're good students, we've got God's money that he's given us, brethren. You know, you made some smart decisions and made some money on the side. Praise God for you. As long as your love is not for those things, brethren, you can say God has given us these things that we can enjoy. And yes, God wants us to enjoy our time on this earth. There's nothing wrong with going out on a holiday. There's nothing wrong with enjoying and spending a little bit of money in some hobbies or, you know, things that will give you some level of enjoyment, brethren. But make sure that your heart, that your love is not for riches. You know, one of the most famous, one of the richest men in the Bible was Abraham. I'll just quickly read to you in Genesis 13 verse 2. It says that Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. You know, and these riches that Abraham had, they were given to him by God. Abraham was not a lover of money. He wasn't trying to build himself mansions. Abraham was happy to be a sojourner, to just live in tents. You know? And he wasn't concerned about, you know, making something great about himself in this world. His heart, his eyes was an eternity, yeah? He was looking for the city. His builder and maker was God, Abraham was. And yet he was rich on this earth. God gave him those riches. As I said, being rich, having money in of itself is not a sin. God may very well have given it to you so you can then be of service to him. Let's keep going. Verse number 18. That they do good. So if you're rich, hey, do good with the money God has for you. All right? Don't take your money and splurge it on wicked pleasures of this world. Okay? Do good with the money God has given you. That they be rich in good works. Hey, that's what you do, right? You take your riches and use it to do some good works for God. To further his kingdom. What's it say? Ready to distribute. You know, if you've been given riches, you should be ready to give when someone has a financial need, okay? A brother or sister-in-law to get themselves in a bad financial situation. You know, something unfortunate happens for them. Those that are rich should be willing to distribute. Or you know what? You see a need to further the work of God. You should be able to say, you know what? I'm going to take some of my riches and put it toward a church. I'm going to put it toward some missions. I'm going to put it toward, you know, something that can be used by the church to further the gospel of God's kingdom. Praise God. Be willing to distribute. Not just ready to distribute, willing to communicate. Willing to be basically generous. Not just ready to do it, but be willing to be generous. You know, don't become disgruntled. Oh man, I don't want to give toward this project. I want to give toward this work. Oh, this brother who's in a bad state, well serves him right. You should have saved up for that rainy day. You know what? No, be willing to do and say, you know what? God, you've given me great wealth. You know, I don't need all this stuff. Let me see how I can serve the brethren. Let me see how I can serve my local church. Let me see how I can serve others that are doing great works for you or just brethren that find themselves in a difficult financial position. All right. So is it wrong to be rich? No. Okay. No. But if you are rich, you are charger commanded to set your eyes upon doing good works with the riches you've been given. Okay. To help those. You know, the reason God has given you those riches is so you can be a help to others. Okay. Not to just to be selfish and to consume it upon your own lusts. You'll destroy yourself. Okay. No, rather look out for the needs of others and see where you can be a service to them. Look at verse number 19. Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation. So you should be saving up. Okay. But not your earthly riches. You want to save up and store for yourself a good foundation. Look at this. Against the time to come to about the future that they may lay hold. There it is again. They may lay hold on eternal life. You know what? If you're rich, God wants you to lay up your treasures in heaven. God wants you to lay hold of eternal life. God wants you to focus eternity. Use your riches on this earth to further God's kingdom to set it for things that matter for all eternity. You can transfer the wealth you have now and put it all into heaven. If you put it toward good works for God's kingdom to serve the brethren. All right. You know, someone said to me, hope I'm not embarrassed. I won't name who it is. Someone said to me, not even that long ago. He goes, you know, if I had 20 million, I don't know if you have 20 million. I can't remember exactly. He goes, if I had 20 million dollars, I'd give it to you, pastor Kevin. You know, I'm like, why? He goes, because I know, you know, I know you, you know where to put it. I know where you know where to spend it. I know, you know, you would make sure it would do the best it can to further God's kingdom. And I was like, well, I don't know that. All right. Maybe the reason I don't have 20 million dollars is because God knows it's going to corrupt my heart. Maybe that's why. Okay. I don't want them to 20 million dollars brethren. It could very well corrupt my heart. I don't know. I hope it doesn't. I don't think it will, but it could, you know what? And as a pastor, I don't want to risk that kind of wealth, you know? And so if God gives you 20 million dollars, if God gives you great riches, then maybe God knows you're someone that can be trusted with this money. Maybe God knows you're the type of person that's got the pure heart, the pure motives with such a great wealth that you can put it toward God's kingdom. Okay. As a pastor, I never want to even look at that kind of wealth because it may very well turn my heart against the Lord. I don't know. I don't think it will, but it could. You know, we see great men of God like a Solomon with great wealth and great riches, you know? And it happens, you know, people's hearts get turned against, you know, against the Lord and they seek their own selfish pleasures, you know? So, you know, if you have great riches, you're not in sin, you know what? If you have a nice car, you got a nice house, you're not in sin. As long as you've worked hard for it, it wasn't done by some illegal methods. You know, God may very well have given it to you. You know, you may have received the good inheritance from your forefathers, whatever it is. You know what? Whoever's given it to you, however you received it, thank God, praise God. And now I think lay hold of eternal life. Think about eternity and say, how can I use this wealth to further God's kingdom? Look at verse number 20. Oh Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust. Avoid profane and vain babblings and oppositions of science falsely so-called. And so, as a pastor, Timothy has been asked to be, you know, to keep that which is committed to his trust. And the only thing I can think about, of course, is his ministry. The church that he's pastoring over. That this church has been committed to Timothy, to his trust. And, you know, pastors are to care for the churches, are to care for the sheep. And again, it breaks my heart that I can't be there with you physically, brethren. You know what? If I could be in Queensland tomorrow, I'll be there. You know, but I can't do anything about it. You know, I can't even plan ahead. You know, even if Anastasia Palaje sets a time, a date, or this is when unvaccinated people can enter, it's still hard to trust that date because there's been so many changes. There's been so many, you know, fixes, you know, even in Sydney, you know. Initially, the 1st of December was the time when the unvaccinated could re-enter society. But then that got pushed back to the 15th of December. You know, times and these dates, they change. You know, I want to be up there. As soon as I know that I can be in Queensland, you know, New Life Baptist Church has been committed to my trust. But so has Blessed Our Baptist Church. You know, I never became a pastor thinking I'd be passed from two churches in two states. I never thought I'd even go back to Sydney. Honestly, I thought I'd Sydney. I could kiss a goodbye. I wasn't going to go back to that place. But God has other plans, okay. And I want you to know that even though I've been stuck here in Sydney and I do love Blessed Our Baptist Church. I love New Life Baptist Church as well. These churches, these ministries have been committed to my trust. I know that our attendance is less than what it was when I left. There's not much I can do about it, Reverend, okay. The Lord knows. The Lord is the one that builds his church. We just be faithful to God. We lay hold of eternal life. We don't seek after riches and the love of money and wealth. We just seek the Lord God and his will in our lives. You know what? We take care of what God has given us. And it's all going to be well, okay. It's all going to be good, you know. I can't wait to be up there. And I really love you guys. I really love the church. And I really miss you guys. I really miss you guys. But what else, Pastors Timothy? Keep that which is committed to thy trust. Avoiding profane and vain badlings. We've looked at that in previous chapters. And oppositions of science, falsely so-called. In other words, science is the word for knowledge, okay. And so if you read it like that, in oppositions of knowledge, falsely so-called, there is false knowledge. There is false information in the world today. You know, these days we term it fake news. Fake news, there is so much fake news. You know, as a pastor, a pastor should not get caught up in fake news. You know, this is why I'm very critical when people pass on information to me. So what is it saying? Is it really saying what you believe it's saying or not? You know, we don't want to get involved in science, falsely so-called. You know, waste our time on knowledge that is earthly. Knowledge that is, you know, fake. Knowledge that is false, okay. Pastors need to be spending their time on doctrines that are true, that come from God's word. Verse number 21, which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee. Amen. And so that's how we end the book of 1 Timothy chapter 6. I hope it's been a good study for you. And once again, I feel challenged as a pastor, as I read through these things. But one thing I want you to stop and think about, everything that we've seen about the pastor's responsibilities. You notice that not once so far have we seen that the pastor has to be a personal counselor, one-on-one with people or families. Now people ring me all the time. I talk to people, I meet with people all the time. People have Bible questions for me. Sometimes they're seeking my advice. I don't mind giving people advice. But one thing that I definitely won't do, and I knew this going into being a pastor. I don't want to spend hours and hours and hours talking to people, trying to fix people's marriages, trying to just give you every single direction in life. Because that's not my calling. That's not my job, brethren. My job is to preach the truth, to feed people God's word. To ensure that our churches don't get filled up with profane and vain badlands. You know that we mark out the false prophets and the false brethren, and that they lead our church. That we keep ourselves chaste and pure in doctrine, but also in the works that God has given us to do. You know, if you're looking for a counselor, I'm not the guy, okay? You know, Jesus Christ, he's the counselor. If you're looking for a comforter, I'm not necessarily the guy, okay? Because sometimes I just have to tell you the truth. And the truth won't necessarily counsel you, okay? But the Holy Spirit is the counselor. You know what? You're looking for counsel. You're looking for comfort. You're not necessarily going to... I hope I can provide it to some extent. But if you look at the instructions for a pastor, that's not the job. You know, going and getting involved in everybody's personal life, sort out conflicts, you know, sort out marriage relationship problems, to help people raise their kids. That's not a pastor's job. And I've said it before, I've seen too many pastors get involved in other people's lives, and then their own family falls apart. And as I said, I'm not willing to sacrifice my family for any ministry, especially when God says or doesn't give instruction. That's the role of the pastor. All right, brethren. 1 Timothy. And from next week, we're going to be going through three Psalms. And then once we finish those three Psalms, we'll continue in the book of 2 Timothy. All right, let's pray.