17 Those rich in the present age charge thou not to be high-minded, nor to hope in the uncertainty of riches, but in the living God, who is giving to us all things richly for enjoyment; --
by unbelief they were broken off, and thou hast stood by faith; be not high-minded, but be fearing;
And the disciples were astonished at his words, and Jesus again answering saith to them, `Children, how hard is it to those trusting on the riches to enter into the reign of God!
though, indeed, without witness He did not leave himself, doing good -- from heaven giving rains to us, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness;'
For wealth maketh to itself wings, As an eagle it flieth to the heavens.
for this ye know, that every whoremonger, or unclean, or covetous person, who is an idolater, hath no inheritance in the reign of the Christ and God.
Each of them with a hook he hath brought up, He doth catch it in his net, and gathereth it in his drag, Therefore he doth joy and rejoice. Therefore he doth sacrifice to his net, And doth make perfume to his drag, For by them `is' his portion fertile, and his food fat.
and having come and gathered together the assembly, they declared as many things as God did with them, and that He did open to the nations a door of faith;
And Jesus said unto him -- `To-day salvation did come to this house, inasmuch as he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.'
And he said unto them, `Observe, and beware of the covetousness, because not in the abundance of one's goods is his life.' And he spake a simile unto them, saying, `Of a certain rich man the field brought forth well; and he was reasoning within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have not where I shall gather together my fruits? and he said, This I will do, I will take down my storehouses, and greater ones I will build, and I will gather together there all my products and my good things, and I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast many good things laid up for many years, be resting, eat, drink, be merry. `And God said to him, Unthinking one! this night thy soul they shall require from thee, and what things thou didst prepare -- to whom shall they be? so `is' he who is treasuring up to himself, and is not rich toward God.'
And evening having come, there came a rich man, from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also himself was discipled to Jesus,
for all these do the nations seek for, for your heavenly Father doth know that ye have need of all these;
According to their feedings they are satiated, They have been satiated, And their heart is lifted up, Therefore they have forgotten Me,
for they themselves concerning us do declare what entrance we had unto you, and how ye did turn unto God from the idols, to serve a living and true God,
according as I did exhort thee to remain in Ephesus -- I going on to Macedonia -- that thou mightest charge certain not to teach any other thing,
I testify fully, before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the choice messengers, that these things thou mayest keep, without forejudging, doing nothing by partiality.
I charge thee, before God, who is making all things alive, and of Christ Jesus, who did testify before Pontius Pilate the right profession,
teaching us, that denying the impiety and the worldly desires, soberly and righteously and piously we may live in the present age,
which He poured upon us richly, through Jesus Christ our Saviour,
Render to her as also she did render to you, and double to her doubles according to her works; in the cup that she did mingle mingle to her double. `As much as she did glorify herself and did revel, so much torment and sorrow give to her, because in her heart she saith, I sit a queen, and a widow I am not, and sorrow I shall not see;
Better to take refuge in Jehovah than to trust in man, Better to take refuge in Jehovah, Than to trust in princes.
`And it hath been, when Jehovah thy God doth bring thee in unto the land which He hath sworn to thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to thee -- cities great and good, which thou hast not built, and houses full of all good things which thou hast not filled, and wells digged which thou hast not digged, vineyards and olive-yards which thou hast not planted, and thou hast eaten, and been satisfied; `Take heed to thyself lest thou forget Jehovah who hath brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of a house of servants;
and thou hast said in thy heart, My power, and the might of my hand, hath made for me this wealth:
And by chief things -- of the ancient mountains, And by precious things -- of the age-during heights,
and Hezekiah hath not returned according to the deed `done' unto him, for his heart hath been lofty, and there is wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem; and Hezekiah is humbled for the loftiness of his heart, he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the wrath of Jehovah hath not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah.
A man there hath been in the land of Uz -- Job his name -- and that man hath been perfect and upright -- both fearing God, and turning aside from evil. And there are borne to him seven sons and three daughters, and his substance is seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred pairs of oxen, and five hundred she-asses, and a service very abundant; and that man is greater than any of the sons of the east.
Because the wicked hath boasted Of the desire of his soul, And a dishonest gainer he hath blessed, He hath despised Jehovah. The wicked according to the height of his face, inquireth not. `God is not!' `are' all his devices.
`Lo, the man who maketh not God his strong place, And trusteth in the abundance of his riches, He is strong in his mischiefs.'
In the misery of mortals they are not, And with common men they are not plagued. Therefore hath pride encircled them, Violence covereth them as a dress. Their eye hath come out from fat. The imaginations of the heart transgressed; They do corruptly, And they speak in the wickedness of oppression, From on high they speak. They have set in the heavens their mouth, And their tongue walketh in the earth.
For a sun and a shield `is' Jehovah God, Grace and honour doth Jehovah give. He withholdeth not good To those walking in uprightness. Jehovah of Hosts! O the happiness of a man trusting in Thee.
and Abram `is' exceedingly wealthy in cattle, in silver, and in gold.
Whoso is confident in his wealth he falleth, And as a leaf, the righteous flourish.
Lest I become satiated, and have denied, And have said, `Who `is' Jehovah?' And lest I be poor, and have stolen, And have laid hold of the name of my God.
There is a painful evil I have seen under the sun: wealth kept for its possessor, for his evil. And that wealth hath been lost in an evil business, and he hath begotten a son and there is nothing in his hand!
Lo, that which I have seen: `It is' good, because beautiful, to eat, and to drink, and to see good in all one's labour that he laboureth at under the sun, the number of the days of his life that God hath given to him, for it `is' his portion. Every man also to whom God hath given wealth and riches, and hath given him power to eat of it, and to accept his portion, and to rejoice in his labour, this is a gift of God.
O generation, see ye the word of Jehovah: A wilderness have I been to Israel? A land of thick darkness? Wherefore have My people said, `We mourned, We come not in again unto Thee.'
Thus said Jehovah: Let not the wise boast himself in his wisdom, Nor let the mighty boast himself in his might, Let not the rich boast himself in his riches, But -- in this let the boaster boast himself, In understanding and knowing Me, For I `am' Jehovah, doing kindness, Judgment, and righteousness, in the earth, For in these I have delighted, An affirmation of Jehovah.
Blessed `is' the man who trusteth in Jehovah, And whose confidence hath been Jehovah. And hath been as a tree planted by waters, And by a rivulet he sendeth forth his roots, And he doth not see when heat cometh, And his leaf hath been green, And in a year of dearth he is not sorrowful, Nor doth he cease from making fruit.
Lo, this hath been the iniquity of Sodom thy sister, Arrogancy, fulness of bread, and quiet ease, Have been to her and to her daughters, And the hand of the afflicted and needy She hath not strengthened. And they are haughty and do abomination before Me, And I turn them aside when I have seen.
And thy sister Sodom hath not been for a report in thy mouth, In the day of thine arrogancy,
and because of the greatness that He gave to him, all peoples, nations, and languages were trembling and fearing before him: whom he willed he was slaying, and whom he willed he was keeping alive, and whom he willed he was raising up, and whom he willed he was making low; and when his heart was high, and his spirit was strong to act proudly, he hath been caused to come down from the throne of his kingdom, and his glory they have caused to pass away from him, and from the sons of men he is driven, and his heart with the beasts hath been like, and with the wild asses `is' his dwelling; the herb like oxen they cause him to eat, and by the dew of the heavens is his body wet, till that he hath known that God Most High is ruler in the kingdom of men, and whom He willeth He raiseth up over it. `And thou, his son, Belshazzar, hast not humbled thy heart, though all this thou hast known; and against the Lord of the heavens thou hast lifted up thyself; and the vessels of His house they have brought in before thee, and thou, and thy great men, thy wives, and thy concubines, are drinking wine with them, and gods of silver, and of gold, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone, that are not seeing, nor hearing, nor knowing, thou hast praised: and the God in whose hand `is' thy breath, and all thy ways, Him thou hast not honoured.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on 1 Timothy 6
Commentary on 1 Timothy 6 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 6
1Ti 6:1-5
1Ti 6:6-12
From the mention of the abuse which some put upon religion, making it to serve their secular advantages, the apostle,
1Ti 6:13-21
The apostle here charges Timothy to keep this commandment (that is, the whole work of his ministry, all the trust reposed in him, all the service expected from him) without spot, unrebukable; he must conduct himself so in his ministry that he might not lay himself open to any blame nor incur any blemish. What are the motives to move him to this?