The Secrets to True Contentment - Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Meet me in the book of first Timothy chapter six, please, as we continue the last chapter of our study in this book together. And as you arrive there, put your finger in verse six. Here's what the word of God reads, but godliness with contentment is great gain. We brought nothing into the 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 pangs. Let's pray. Father, we admit our weakness in this moment and we admit that we need your help to understand your word.

Lord, protect us from misinterpreting what you are about to share with us. Protect us from falling into condemnation and allowing your word to crush us when it should heal us. Protect us also from making light of your word and not letting it pierce our hearts to cut the things that need to come out. Bring us into perfect alignment with your will according to these verses that we just read. And Lord, as practical as it may seem, we ask that it would help us worship Jesus.

To love him and adore him for he is the author of these words. And so Lord, we ask that the same Spirit that breathe these words into these pages would be the same spirit that would breathe them into our hearts and would change us. Lord, in this moment, like on the mount of transfiguration, let all men disappear and let Christ be the only one that is seen. And let us hear the the word that was spoken by the father in that moment. Here is my son.

Listen to him. We wanna listen to you now. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. For many in this world, the simple equation to contentment is this, gain.

In their minds, the more that they acquire, the more joy they will know. Acquirement is the servant to a growing and lasting sense of satisfaction. And so desperate are some to know lasting contentment that they are willing to step into the arena of faith and assume leadership and teach twisted truths and manipulate naive souls in order to gain personal profit. One of the strongest examples of that today is the modern prosperity preacher. The man who dares come to the pulpit, who dares sits on TV and uses the name of Christ to capitalize his lavish lifestyle.

And not only that, he dares to teach the people who are willing to listen to him, that his way of life is a worthy goal that they should all aspire to and pursue for themselves. This type of false teacher is what Paul mentions here in verse five at the last part, imagining that godliness is a means, is a way, is a method of gain. Now while the theme of gain is still in view here, Paul wants to now take advantage of this subject to teach what true gain is. And not just teach what true gain is, but to teach what greater gain looks like. Why is he doing this?

Because although there are many people who would not dare to come to the word of God and twist it as a means of financial advancement, there are professing Christians who unfortunately have their contentment greatly connected to it. They may confess that they have sound conviction to the bible, but their joys are influenced by the fluctuations of this world. Some time ago, we looked at what godliness offers in our lives. Right? First Timothy four eight.

But today, I want us to look at what true contentment looks like. When When I use the word contentment, I mean a state of happiness, a holy happiness, and fulfillment that is real and sensed in the soul. God has in mind for his children to be content. There's a famous saying that you've probably heard and you've probably even said at one point in your life. Jesus Christ died to make us holy.

He did not die to make us happy. Have you ever heard of that? Have you ever used that? It sounds noble, but I think it could be phrased better. Because yes, Jesus Christ did die to make us holy, but who says holiness does not make us happy?

He died so that we could be holy, and in holiness we would know a true and lasting happiness. I think that's a better thing to share with people. As though holiness and happiness stand in contrast to one another, and you better choose the right one because you can't have both and. And this is important for us to understand. You know why?

Understanding God's means of fulfillment is more than just enhancing your quality of life. For some people, perhaps even in this room, it will be the determiner of spiritual life and death. I'm not exaggerating. Paul says it. And if we learn to submit to God's mind, his will about true contentment, we can have confidence.

According to the authority of the Bible, I can say I promise you that you will know and you will tap into a holy satisfaction that will never leave you wanting. So from these verses, I want us to at least pull out four truths, four secrets, four insights into walking in contentment. But before we go there, I think we have to start somewhere and that's in Philippians four. I want you to see something quite amazing about contentment. Contentment.

Look what Paul says about his own life in Philippians four verse 11. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I've learned in whatever situation I am to be content. We have to read our Bibles slowly. He says here, for I have learned. I have learned to be content.

I've arrived at the state of the soul periodically, throughout time, throughout a school period, throughout classes in the school of God. What we see here is that humanity's disposition is not to be content in all circumstances. That is not a default posture. You and I have to learn that. That's something that God has to teach us and we have to preach to ourselves.

It will not come to us naturally. It is not automatic because the idea of contender for us is that I will only know it when life is favorable towards me. And we are so corrupt that even when we arrive to the place that we believe we'll be content, we will still find a reason to not be content. And so Paul says here, because the Holy Spirit is being realistic with us, We should be realistic with ourselves. Experiencing a deep, settled, solid satisfaction is not something that comes naturally.

It will require us to feed and rehearse certain truths in our minds until those truths become determiners of our joys. It will require us to actively protect our affections from the lies of the world that would try to convince us that we can achieve contentment in other ways, While actively engaging with the word of God until we are convinced in every verse that we read, we can say amen to. It will require us to not feel condemned. When you go through life and you're not content, when you know you ought to be. But to just pick yourself up, strive to learn, to teach and to rehearse the truths about contentment until it becomes second nature to you.

And so that's what we're gonna learn today. We're gonna learn how to be content. The word of God is gonna offer you tools for you to work with so that your heart can be tuned to receive the signal of God's heavenly joy in your earthly journey. How do we take these truths from these verses? Well, verse six of first Timothy chapter six gives us the first insight.

True contentment. True contentment is found in godliness. Notice what he says, godliness with contentment. The non negotiable entry into a lasting sense of fulfillment, satisfaction, joy and happiness is an immovable concrete sense that your life is set on the path of godliness. They're inseparable.

You can't have contentment without godliness. If any man sets himself on the quest for happiness, he must first embrace godliness. And what is godliness? It's very simple. You want a definition?

A life that is centered around God. God being the center, the core, the reason, the very thing that everything else gravitates around. Only then do you enter into the possibility of contentment. The more I know God, the more I choose to serve God, the more I long and ache to be in the perfect will of God, the more I will inherit a contentment along the way. And if that's true, then the opposite is true.

The more I ignore God, the more I veer off into my own agenda, the more I become selfish and ignore his commands and his will for my life, the more contentment evaporates from the inner man and I am replacing it with other ugly vices. The psalmist said many things about this and we better get it quick. He said in chapter four verse seven of the book of Psalms, listen to these words. He says to God himself, you you you have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. Can you say that?

It's more than just to fit on your coffee mug by the way. It's supposed to be something that you can echo in your own life. You have put more joy. This this verse is pregnant with practical implications. Number one, God is the one who's able to supply a joy.

You ready for this? That can be felt. Let's break out of this idea that we have to kind of present a plastic happiness to the world because we as Christians dare not tell people that we can't know true joy. That there is a true satisfaction in Christianity, but we don't feel it. We just know it.

It's theological. It's our way of being a more effective witness. How dare us? To limit it to some kind of theory and not experiencing it. The psalmist says, you put it in my heart.

The very center that determines my passions and emotions. The very thing that the Bible says flows out of it. The springs of life. What he's saying here is that God can reach into that very place and rewire me and change me and cause things to erupt within me that I can actually experience a real joy. And it's not just a joy that affects my attitude, it's a joy that exceeds the jolts that people experience when they succeed or prosper in one way or another.

You've probably been there. You've experienced in some sense when you've graduated from school, when you received that job, when you when you grew in that promotion, you you knew these jolts of of some kind of fulfillment. And the psalmist says, your joy that you've placed in me exceeds that. It exceeds it because there's a superior sensation to life delivered by someone outside of this world and uses means that are not bound to this world. God himself is able to do a work in my heart.

My stubborn heart, my sporadic heart, my often dissatisfied heart, he can deal with it once and for all. And that's what the Psalm teaches us. It's a work much loftier than all the adrenaline rushes that you can acquire in this life. But how does this joy how does this joy become a reality? Well, you gotta look in the same Psalm for clues.

And I argue that one of those clues is in verse five of Psalm four. The psalmist says before this joy being a reality in his heart, offer right sacrifices. Offer right sacrifices and put your trust in the Lord. Worship. An active trust in God.

You know what that involves? That involves you pursuing a knowledge of God, because how can you trust somebody you don't know? And that involves you offering sacrifices means an engagement with God. In the way that he is prescribed in his word, the way he's determined for you to be intimate with him. It is in these things that you and I enter into joy.

Listen, godliness is not a decision that you just make at one point in your life. It's a practice. It's something that you invest in daily. It's something that you discipline yourself for. It's something that you train yourself into.

And the more investment you make into godliness, I can guarantee you the more investment that you're making into your contentment. And this joy is so real. It is so powerful. Not only does it exceed what this world can offer. Listen, it's a work of God that's so real that it provides a smile to your soul even when things are not existing in your life or removed from your life.

You know what Paul says here is not very unique to Paul because Job expands on it. Go to Job chapter one, I want you to see it for yourself. And as you turn there, I want you to realize the second point. A true contentment is not only just found in godliness, but true contentment is found with an eternal perspective. As you're in Job, let me read the verse here that follows verse six of first Timothy six.

But godliness with contentment is great gain. Verse seven, for we brought nothing into the world and we cannot take anything out of the world. Listen. What Paul just shared there is not unique to the Christian faith. Do you realize that?

It's not some profound truth that is exclusive to the Bible. The reality and the rule of you entering into this world penniless and you exiting this world without a thing that you invested in throughout your life is a universal experience. Everybody agrees to that, unless you're just totally deceived and twisted. Everybody realizes that there is an end to my life and I cannot bring these things with me into that place. But for him to be inspired to write this to Christians, teaches us something.

We all know that. We all acknowledge that whether you're an atheist, a Buddhist, a Muslim, a Mormon. You know that I came in this world with nothing and I'm leaving with nothing. So why tell us? Why tell us as Christians, because even as Christians we can fail to remember it.

And you might be saying, no that that's that's written on the statement of my faith. I realize that, I realize that that's true. But the reality of you actually acknowledging it is the testimony based on your relationship with the material world. No matter what you claim, no matter if you say, yes, I agree with that, it's ultimately determined with how you relate with the material world. And if we wanna know true contentment in all circumstances, we have to preach what Paul says here in verse seven over our souls.

We need to be reminded all the time, especially being a Christian in the West. It's coming to an end, And you better take God's word and hammer your perception until you're able to put the things of this world in its rightful place. Job did that. Job did that in the old covenant. And realized what he said that, if you count and you time the moments where he lost everything, it was just a few breaths where his whole world was changed.

And then we read his response in verse 20 of chapter one. Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. Worshiped. Worshiped. We have trouble worshiping with a full tank of gas coming in after you had a nice breakfast.

This man worshiped when everything was stripped from him in a moment. Everything. Even his offspring. One Sunday morning, it all changed for him. And he didn't even get into the car to get to church.

And you're wondering how? And the answer is very simple because you look at the next verse and you realize that there was a revelation that anchored him. It was so real. It was so down deep. It was so embedded that when tragedy hit, when you squeeze the man, what came out naturally?

Worship. Worship came out. This wasn't fake. This wasn't plastic. This wasn't insincere.

This wasn't a show. You squeeze the man and what came out? Adoration, praise, acknowledgement, humility. You know, it's amazing what pressure does in life. It really shows what's inside of us.

Get crushed by life and you'll see what's really the substance in your heart. That's true for all of us. And I look at a man like Job and I say, I want it Lord by your grace. If by your sovereignty and providence, you allow the world to crush me from the crown of my head down to the soles of my feet, I want the fragrance of praise to come out. What was it that he believed for him to do this?

Let's look at the next verse, verse 21. And he said, naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. The first thing that he says echoes what Paul says in the New Testament, in a more poetic fashion.

I came into this world with nothing, and I'm leaving this world with nothing. You read about Job's life and he was a successful businessman, very successful businessman. But he knew the fleeting nature of his possessions, even his own children, even his own offspring. And because of that, his worship was not altered by their apparent early departure. See whether you wanna believe it or not, your life will be stripped of everything that you have.

And it might happen in your lifetime, but it will definitely happen when you move on to the next life. And the first revelation that Job had was, all of this is temporal. All of this is just for a season, it's just for my earthly journey. And he he realized even in the midst of success, this is all going to fly away one day. I'm gonna be separated from all these things and I'm gonna be separated from my loved ones if I go before them.

He knew that. He really believed that and because of that, he wasn't frustrated. He wasn't frustrated because he knew that there was an expiration date on it. The only reason why we would be frustrated at loss is because we have put an unrealistic expectation on those things. And so we're disappointed.

And we're not disappointed for any other reason other than for us misunderstanding how and why they're there in the first place. I remember as a child my brother and I, for some reason, conjured up the idea to purchase a parrot. We were young and we had to split on it. Do you remember this Peter? I don't know, I think you spent more money than I did, but we invested into it.

And when we did, it was just something at home and it became just a family thing, and we would often let it go out and fly around the house and put it back into into its cage. And one day in the summertime, we decided to have our barbecue, my mother left the door open. And when the mother, when my mother, the mother, my mother left the door open, would you know it, that cute green bird that would sing in the morning and sing at night finally saw its opportunity. And it did not hesitate to say, see you later. It doesn't matter how much we spent it, it doesn't matter how young we were, and how limited our resources was.

It took off like nothing and there was nothing that we can do about it. Didn't faze my mother by the way, she was actually happy. But my brother and I looked at the bird and we thought, there it goes. Never to return again. And we knew it had something that we didn't, wings.

It never returned to us. The scripture says something amazing about riches. Proverbs 23 verse four and five. Do not toil to acquire wealth. Be discerning enough to desist.

When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven. All the investment that you make, all the toil, all the energy, and one day whether you like it or not, it's gonna grow wings and and it's gonna fly away and you can't do anything about it. See, the problem is we don't believe those things have wings. We believe that they're gonna stay with us forever. We really do.

And wisdom says, you better not put too much effort and thought and energy into something that you can't keep. That's what Job understood. So when it left, he was still able to worship. Even in loss, there is something he did not lose and that was his praise. But notice something else that Job says.

He adds something that Paul doesn't mention in first Timothy. He says, the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. So, his worship was sincere, yes, because he knew the fleeting nature of his possessions, but because he was a God fearing man, he also realized this. Everything between my humble beginnings and my humble end, all the experiences, all that I own, all that I have, has been granted by God's perfect wisdom and care in my personal life. He knew it.

And if you want to acquire contentment, brother or sister, you better learn how to include God in everything that you have. And not just include him, but acknowledge him. Acknowledge him. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Now you when you look at the next verse, we are told that Job did not sin in his mouth by saying these things.

So Job was right theologically. Job understood although this was tragedy that God was ultimately sovereign over the affairs of his life. And it does you and I real good for us to really believe that and to rehearse that truth. You wanna learn this. God is the one who ultimately extends and removes.

This man believed it. And most of us in this place are really good at worshiping God when he gives. We're not so good when he takes. When he gives, we're quick to acknowledge him as the giver. Right?

God has blessed me. God has provided for me. God has extended to me. God has supplied to me. Amen.

But then when he takes, this is when we become flustered and discombobulated and confused and wondering, how can this be? But let me give you the secret to knowing how to worship God even when he takes. You ready? It's not just an understanding that he takes, it's an understanding who he is. Because when you comprehend his nature and his character, then you understand that when he takes, that he's perfectly good in doing so.

It's when you rehearse the nature of God, the attributes of God, the character of God, that you can then praise him in his dealings with you in this life. And so the best thing for you and I to do to learn contentment with the affairs that we experience in this life is to first understand who your God is. The reason for the lack of joy in Christendom today is because there's a lack of understanding of the knowledge of God. Plain and simple. We don't know who God is.

We have a limited knowledge and we're not encouraged to pursue the knowledge of him. When we don't realize that it has practical implications to how you interpret life. Never mind you having a theological understanding, so that when people ask you questions you know how to answer. Let's talk about how you face life. And here we are giving people pep talks just to give them a dose of encouragement, a superficial encouragement week after week.

When the very thing that will keep you lasting when you're not even in church and tragedy hits, is what Job had in knowledge of God. For himself. For himself. He was a God fearing man, the scriptures tell us. And it was proven because he understood who God was.

May God give us the grace and the ability to worship not just when he gives but when he takes. I love the scripture in Habakkuk. In Habakkuk three seventeen. You know it and I can read it, you can turn there if you'd like. The prophet says, though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, The produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food.

The flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls. Verse 18, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will take joy in the God of my salvation. You know what he's telling me? He's telling me that my joy and happiness is not in the vine, it's not in the field, it's not in the flock, it's not in the property.

So you can strip it all away, but there's something you can't take from me and that's the unchanging understanding of God. The nature of God and the goodness of God in my life. And so we can worship God when he takes, but we first have to understand who God is. True contentment is found with an eternal perspective. And we are generally understanding those things.

Right? We we we have a we have an agreement. Yes. True contentment comes from godliness, true contentment comes with an eternal perspective, but it's the third point where you have some Christians that would disagree. And this is where those who have trouble with mammon may not like what the preacher has to say today.

In verse eight of first Timothy chapter six, we read, but if we have food and clothing with these, we will be content. But if we have food and clothing with these, we will be content. Point number three. True contentment is found in simplicity. True contentment is found in a simple life.

Paul here is not encouraging Christians to make a vow to poverty, by the way. That's also another dangerous heresy. Because we always talk about the prosperity gospel and we should because it is a greater threat than anything else, but we can't forget about another gospel and that's called the poverty gospel. You know what the poverty gospel is? If you don't just eat drink water and eat bread and wear one outfit all year round, then you're not really spiritual.

That's not true either. So there is no call here to make a commitment to being poor for the sake of showing that we are truly in the will of God. But what he is saying is this, that because God has so overflowed our cups with a fulfillment that stems from walking in his will, there is no need to complicate our lives by seeking and pursuing more than what we need. If you have God, this is what Paul is saying. If you have God and the basic necessities of life, you have no reason to be discontent.

I wonder how many of us can honestly say that though. Let's be real with us this morning. Let's not let's not pretend. How many of us can put our hands in our hearts and say, I can agree that if you just give me the basic necessities of life and my relationship with God, I will know great gain. And the reason why perhaps we can't agree with that so quickly is because we have not tapped into a relationship with God that actually satisfies our souls.

So this is a check to our spirit. For Paul to say that should cause us to self reflect. Can I agree with that? It's a beautiful point really because it is the opposite to messages that we are bombarded with on a daily basis. I was in advertising.

I know what it's like. We persuade people to to realize that they won't be happy unless they have what we have to offer. And you have different brands and different agencies convincing you of that day by day, from morning till evening. Now what Paul is not saying is that if you're a Christian and rich that you're in sin, because that wouldn't make sense in light of the last few verses of this chapter where he gives instructions to Christians who are prosperous materially. But what is he saying then?

Listen very carefully lest you fall in either wayside here. The call here is to learn how to accept what God has allowed in your life. To prayfully trust God's providential guidance in our financial pursuits and to cancel all invitations to covetousness along the way. That's what it means. That you acknowledge and you praise God for the lot that he has determined for your life And that as you pursue and plan and strategize and calculate how you can grow in finances, you prayfully submit to the will of God and trust him to open and close the doors, and you are satisfied with his leading.

And as you walk in this thing called life where we do need something called money to survive, you fight off every temptation that tells you that contentment is found in something that you can purchase. Adam and Eve were completely satisfied when they lived under one simple rule. Of every tree of the garden, you shall eat, but of this one tree, you shall not eat. Translation, you will experience paradise as long as you are satisfied with what I have allowed you to have. But the moment you begin to yearn for the things that God has not allowed you to have, you will destroy any edenic pleasure in your earthly journey.

You understand what I'm saying? They were not content. Though they had the lushness of so many other options, they focused on the one thing that God did not allow them to have and that was the beginning to their disaster. Covetousness was found in the garden, brothers and sisters. And it rotted what was so beautiful and simple and wonderful, and it will do the same in your life.

It will do the same in your life. When you constantly crave and want, and you fluctuate in your joy based on the addition or subtraction of things, you're miserable and you will be miserable. Contentment is achieved when a person does not limits God's blessings to excess. See, this is the dangerous thing when we do not understand the depths of God's blessings. We only interpret God's blessings and it's provisions.

Can I tell you that is old covenant thinking? Many Christians who profess to be in the new covenant are operating under the old covenant. Because the old covenant equated God's blessing with provision. With many children, with many fields, with many flock. And then we have a new and better covenant that opens the doors for many other experiences but we're so stuck on that.

And so we have this limit, we put a ceiling on the way God can extend his wonderful goodness towards us. Though it includes that, it's not limited to that. I remember having a conversation with somebody who was entertaining the thought that perhaps their business did not take off the way they had anticipated because perhaps in God allowing me to go that far, I would endanger my soul. I thought people don't think like that anymore. Do you see what he was saying?

Perhaps God did not allow me to flourish like I wished, because he was protecting me from something in that, that can harm me more than bless me. And I said, that could very well be true. Whether that's true or not to you, what is certain is that, though there are advantages to riches, you cannot deny that having more makes life more complex. Proverbs teaches that, sprinkled throughout that book. Riches have the potential of complicating our schedules, our priorities, our limited time and energy, our relationships, and get this, even your walk with God.

I'm telling you that some of the worst things that have happened to Christians is that they got a new job. They got a new promotion. It starts with them stop seeking God in private, then it continues with them stop coming to church regularly, and then they buy this and they buy that, and then they have a family and kids and so they take off for a few months out of the year and they don't go to church because they're in some vacation home. And then their kids wander off and they wonder how did this all happen? Do you see?

God's blessing is not limited to excess. Be careful. And you you and I need an eternal perspective. The best way to handle material wealth in this world is to see it from heaven's point of view. And let me read you something.

You want a description of heaven? Here's Revelation twenty one twenty one. Don't turn there, just listen. And the 12 gates were 12 pearls. Each of the gates made of a single pearl, And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

I love that. The streets were pure gold. The very thing that we put in safes, and we pull out in special occasions, and we make investments into and we read the stocks on is the very thing that you're gonna walk on in heaven. It's gonna be the pavement in glory. It's gonna be the very thing that's under your feet.

And here we are, our heart flutters when we acquire this, and when we grow in this, and when it's given to us as gifts. And there's nothing necessarily wrong with that, but remember, those things are gonna be translated to pavement in heaven. There is a simplicity that we have a responsibility to honor, and it doesn't mean that you're not strategic in life. It doesn't mean that you don't make investments. What it does mean is that you know how to interpret them properly.

We come to our fourth and final point here. True contentment is not only found in the simplicity of interpreting how God determines what you have or don't have in life. And for some Christians, listen, God will give them more because he knows that they can be responsible. He knows how they can handle it. He knows how they can manage it.

And there are some, the worst thing that God can do for you is give you more digits to your income. True contentment is not just found in simplicity. True contentment, point number four, is found by avoiding unnecessary temptations. Verse nine, but those who desire to be rich fall into temptation. One of the aches of the Christian, the true spirit inspired born again believer is that you want to be delivered from not just the power of sin, but from the presence of sin.

And that is the glory of our salvation. It's the final phase of our salvation. In past, Christ dealt with the penalty of sin. In present, Christ is dealing with the power of sin. In future glory, Christ will remove the presence of sin.

And I can't wait for that. I can't wait not to be bothered by temptation. I can't wait for my thoughts not to be bombarded with temptation. And so there's a cry for us to be clothed with our glorified bodies. But what's amazing is that that cry is not just experienced in heaven, it's something that we know today and it is such a real ache for the genuine believer that they translate it in prayer, lead us not into what?

Temptation. Never mind sin itself. Don't let me even face the allurement into sin. Save me from that experience alone. That is truly the cry of the child of God.

But if you want to cancel that prayer from becoming a reality in your life, and as a result, incurring a grief instead of a contentment, then let me just tell you one thing you need to do. Desire to be rich. Desire to be rich. There is the danger of hammering people with this kind of verse, but there is an equal danger of downplaying the seriousness of it. Now, we all understand, I hope that Paul here is not by the spirit condemning riches, because again, that's not consistent with the bible, but he is clear that it is the desire, it's the lust, it's the craving, it's the longing, it's the dreaming and the fantasizing about it.

If your thrill in life is only triggered by your fantasies, or your realizations of a more luxurious and enjoyable future, you're in trouble. There's no way of downplaying this. I'm sorry. Because the only reason why we would downplay the seriousness of such a verse is so that we can calm our consciences, and that we can remain in our pursuit of the American nightmare. We can discuss how the love of money can be the very inspiration to a variety of evils in the world, but let us consider the greatest danger that this craving can bring somebody who professes Christ into.

And that is what he says in verse 10, that some have wandered away from the faith. That's how real and dangerous this is. Interpret that how you would want, and how you understand how God saves a soul. But it is clear here that there is a detrimental effect of not the riches, listen, of the desire for riches. This is just as dangerous for the beggar who has this desire, than it is for the person who has riches and wants more.

In fact, this could not apply to the billionaire who's a believer because he doesn't have the desire for riches. He just walked into what God has favorably bestowed upon him and continue to keep God as his utmost treasure in life. It's the desire. It's the lust. It's the affections that are wrapped around stuff.

It's the adrenaline rush that you cannot testify you've known in your spirituality, but you can always testify when you purchase something for yourself. It can destroy your soul. It can destroy your testimony. It can destroy the call of God on your life. And I can't help but think of an example of a man that is just lightly mentioned in the bible, but if we look at his life long enough, we'll realize the implications of his mention.

Go to Colossians chapter four with me in verse 14. Paul begins to greet the believers in this letter, and he names some of his close associates. These were fellow ministers, and we read here in Colossians four fourteen, Luke the beloved physician greets you as does Demas. Demas. Demas is mentioned in Philemon as well.

And we don't know much about this man except one thing. For Paul to mention him, is to mean that this man was a close a close man to him. He was in close proximity to his personal teaching and discipleship. He was a man that was worn by Paul's zeal as an apostle and servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was a man who perhaps even witnessed the miraculous being expressed through this human vessel.

But unfortunately, the last time Demas is mentioned is in the last letter that Paul penned in the bible. And what do you hear about Paul concerning Demas? Well, it's not in first Timothy, but in second Timothy. In chapter four verse 10, for Demas, Paul says, with a a broken heart, for Demas in love with this present world, In love with this present world has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. You read of him in Philemon, you read him in Colossians, and he is mentioned as a servant alongside with Paul.

A minister. A traveling missionary, perhaps. A prayer warrior. Who knows? But one thing we learn about Themis that down deep inside, he loved this present world.

He enjoyed this present world. He desired the things of this world. If you were to open up the cavity of his heart, if you were to see what was really in, you would see that there was no difference between his pleasures and his passions in the world. And for a season, he was able to perhaps see the noble cause of serving Jesus and the gospel and this great man Paul. But once Paul was thrown into prison, perhaps at this time and he realized that the fate of this man was over, he said, see you later.

I'm going back to what I really loved in the first place. In love with this present world. And I read this man's life and I think to myself, Demas, was it worth it? You deserted not just Paul, you deserved you deserted the call of God on your own life. And I couldn't help but compare Demas to another man of God in the scriptures and you know him very well and his name was Peter.

And there's something that Peter said early on in his Christian ministry in the book of acts that is quite revealing of who he was as a person. You know what Peter said with his friend John? When they came to the temple to pray and they saw a man who was at the gate called Beautiful, who was asking for money? They looked at him and Peter the Apostle said something about himself. And we've always heard this as of like some poetic, very powerful way of delivering truth, but no, he really meant it about himself.

In acts three verse six, Peter said, I have no silver and gold. I have no silver and gold. I have nothing to give you. I don't even have coins to give you in this moment. What I do have, I give to you.

In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. I have no silver or gold. And you might think, well, Peter was always poor, he didn't know any better, he didn't he didn't tap into a different way of life. That was just something he was familiar with with his whole life. Oh, really?

In two separate occurrences, Jesus Christ miraculously filled the man's boat to the point where he was sinking. Jesus Christ allowed this man to flourish by the blink of an eye and to experience instant prosperity. That he could have made much money from from selling or distributing. But what I love about those two miracles were, he allowed Peter to taste a peak of gain. Peter was not phased by it at all.

He was so mesmerized by Christ. He was so spellbound by his authority and his nature and his holiness. He was so caught up with the call of God in that moment that I'm not here to make you a fisher a fish, but a fisher of men. He just left it all behind. He says, you guys take care of it.

I'm following this man. I'm following this man. I want to be near him. I want to be close to him. It doesn't matter.

And I just love that scene in my mind's eye. We have boats helping with this fish in Luke chapter five that's just been sucked into his net supernaturally. And there's Peter on his knees worshiping Christ. Unfortunately, what you have is many people struggling to worship Christ because they're trying to look both ways. And we might look at Peter in this verse and say, oh, poor Peter.

He had no silver or gold. And I read this verse and I say, poor Christians in America, all they have is silver or gold. I read a verse like this and I have no pity for the man's financial situation. I, in a holy way, covet him. Why?

Because he has something that we should all strive for, the power of God in his life. Such an influence of the Holy Spirit upon him that it was able to transform the lives of those around him. I don't have silver or gold. I don't have the latest car. I don't have the best house in the best condition.

I don't have the latest fashion trend. But what I do have is the power of God in my life. Read what Peter's life looked like in the book of Acts and you won't really care that he had lack of silver or gold. That's the last thing you're gonna think about when you read this man's life and his journey with Christ in the early church. And I read Peter's life and then I compare it to Demas' departure to Thessalonica, and I have no doubt in my heart that there is no rivalry here.

Demas' pursuit of this present world does not even come close to the joys, to the gladness of heart, and to the experiences of following Jesus wholeheartedly. And so what Paul is saying as a as a spiritual father, but as a conduit of the Holy Spirit to believers of all ages, be careful where your affections are targeted towards. Because in the very thing that you think will bring you so much joy and pleasure will be the means of your own destruction. And God will give you the wisdom, Christian and corporate America, to know how to to grow in your success in that kind of a world, but also still be a flaming servant of Jesus Christ. He will give you the wisdom.

This is not again a message to hit you over the head to saying that if you make investments and you consider this and you consider that, that you're not truly spiritual. Hear me out very carefully. I know believers that have much and they have not fallen into these traps because they have learned to set Christ ever before him. And again, I have known Christians that don't have very much and because their desires are warped, so are their souls. It's a matter of the seat of your affections.

That's what Christ is after. True contentment is your portion, believer, but you have to learn it. I have to learn it. We have to rehearse it. We have to preach to ourselves not just these truths this morning, but the totality of truths about what it means to be satisfied in life.

This is yours today, and let's pray it into reality for us as we close. Lord, we can collectively say, and if not, then please change us, that you have put more joy in our hearts than they when their wine and grain abound. Lord, if that's not true in our sentiments, if that's not true in our spiritual journey, change it today. Lord, only you can put that joy in our hearts. We can't make it up.

We can't fabricate it. It has to come from heaven. It has to be inspired by your spirit. And Lord, it is very possible that at one point we knew that joy and then our our joy was hijacked by lies. And now we've lost our sense of fulfillment.

We are hollow and the only thing that we're surviving on is cheap thrills. It's temporal gain, limited experiences, advancement and possessions. Lord, we're asking that you deliver us from such a shallow life and to know the abundant life that is found when we drink of the well of Christ and allow those rivers to flow out of us because they overflow from us. God, we pray that in a very difficult country where everything is trying to win our affections, that you give us a supernatural ability to discipline ourselves, to teach and learn contentment in Christ. Until it becomes second nature, we're like Job when we are squeezed by disappointment and tragedy.

Out comes worship. Out comes praise and devotion to you, God. Lord, that is more attractive to us than anything else. And so Lord, whether you give your people this morning more silver or gold than the other, and the next person less silver or gold. May we have one thing in common, a relationship with you that's so strong, that's so obvious, that's so powerful that it touches those around us.

This is our desire this morning, Lord. And we trust that, God, you will give successful people in this room wisdom and the fear of God to know how to be protected from the dangers of the delicacy that comes from your blessings. Help us realize that this thing is so delicate that even when it comes from you, that blessing can turn into a curse. Protect us from that, God, and keep us in your perfect will. Lord, we worship you to tell you that no matter what we have, you are our supreme joy.

You are our supreme delight. In Jesus' name, we pray these things. Amen and amen and amen.