And why this is so ungodly is because it goes against the very centerpiece of the Christian faith.
! And if I ask you what is life about? What is a Christian life about?
It's the glory of God. Like, everything is centered around the glory of God.
And He is the focus. And this ideology makes us the focus.
We're in the center, and we deserve to be in the center.
So, I should really just... This is kind of a long intro. Sorry, before we get into 1 John here.
You might ask the question like, what is it that corrupts us, you know, as people?
A lot of people like to blame their sin on something.
Like to say, the devil made me do it.
Or, you know, I'm just a victim of a bad environment.
But people in society just push me too hard.
They know how to push my buttons and make me angry and go nuts.
Even some people, on a more theological level, they want to blame their sin on Adam.
You know, as if they don't commit their own sin every day.
And their own hearts are corrupted.
So, but the reality is, and I'll read you this really fast out of Mark 7.
And Jesus said, do you not see that whatever goes into a person from the outside cannot defile him?
And he says, a little later, right after that, all these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.
We sin because we're sinners.
So, he lists this long list of sins, descriptions of sins, like sexual immorality, adultery, murder, theft.
And he says, they all come from within us.
They don't, we're not corrupted by the outside, we're corrupted inside.
So, when we sin, it's our deal.
We, you know, he made me mad.
No, he didn't.
I chose to get mad.
Like he, I can't blame it on him.
You're responsible for your own sin.
And so, another idea people have is if I can just remove myself from the world, I'll be a perfect Christian.
Not true.
And the reason why is because your sin will follow you wherever you go.
A lot of people who go on, you know, mission trips, whatever you want to call it, like overseas, including people in history,
they think that by going to some exotic place and getting involved and pointing their life out, none of their sin will follow them there.
You know?
And all of it does, they have to write, they write out the same things.
Hudson Taylor, who went to China, wrote the very same thing.
My sin has basically followed me here.
Every insecurity I had and every problem I had is here with me right now in China.
It didn't get better.
So, has anybody ever seen the movie The Village?
Anybody?
Some people don't like scary movies, but that's a very interesting movie.
If you could handle it, I would watch it.
I think it's pretty clean.
Here's why.
It's got like some, you can learn a lot about the way humans are in that movie.
They're this group of people that move out in the middle of nowhere and basically live like they did back in the 1800s or 1700s.
And their goal is to, like, remove themselves from an evil and sinful society.
That's, like, what they want to do.
They think that by moving away, they can do that.
But evil pops back up in the movie because humans sin against each other and great evil is committed.
And they think, like, what happened?
We tried to build this perfect world and it just fell apart.
So, our sin will follow us.
We can be alone in the middle of nowhere and it will be there with us.
So, we can't blame the world for our sin is where I'm trying to go with this.
We can't say it's too rough.
I mean, it affects how I live.
So, now getting into our text.
We're not going to necessarily focus on verse 16 because John kind of, he explained that a few weeks ago.
So, and like I said, this is going to warrant more, maybe a Q&A later.
But I think I have three points out of this text and then we're going to spend some time on application.
So, the first one is, we see in verse 15, it says,
Do not love the world or the things in the world.
If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
So, the first point is, the world pushes away love for God.
The world pushes away love for God.
It reveals our identity.
You are what you love.
You are what you take delight in.
The most, I think, one of the chief ways you can get to know somebody or say, I know that person well.
You can't really say that unless you know what they desire and what they delight in and what they take joy in.
So, you are what you love and you're controlled by what you love.
And love for God and love for the world are at odds.
They can't coexist.
It would be like, it would be like saying, I love justice and innocence,
but I'm glad that that serial killer or that child rapist was set free, even when they openly admitted it.
You'd be contributing yourself.
You can't say, I love freedom and liberty, but at the same time, I'm glad that I have some slaves that serve me.
It's just a contradiction.
So, God, you can't love him and the world at the same time.
It doesn't work that way.
You can't serve two masters, as Jesus would say.
In Matthew 6, 24, I'll read this to you.
He says,
No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and money.
He uses money in this context.
So, it reveals who we are based on what we love.
And, as I said last week, the world will try to befriend you.
It will try to bring you in and make you comfortable.
And, we read in James 4, 4,
You adulterous people, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?
Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
So, it's important that you understand, like, you can't be all about the world,
and where all your time and energy and money is just going into it,
and, at the same time, love God.
It just doesn't work that way.
Love for the world diminishes your love for God.
So, what I want to do here is,
the first place I want to turn is Philippians 3, verse 6.
I think I have five places for you to look tonight.
Philippians 3, 6 through 8.
And, I ask you the question,
we've said this a lot here, but I think it's really, really good.
It would be good to remind yourself.
If you could go to heaven right now, like this very instant,
and go and be in heaven,
and you could have all the worldly pleasures that you enjoy here to the max,
and it would be not simple, and it would be okay, not evil.
You know, all the food, all the sex, whatever you could enjoy here,
you could have there.
Like, in the greatest way possible.
You could go right now.
Like, would you do it?
There's just one catch to it.
Christ is not going to be there.
You still want to go.
And, a lot of people make heaven not to be that way.
I want to go and visit my dead relatives.
I want to go and, you know,
just play that golf course I think is going to be up there.
It doesn't exist.
Christ is heaven.
And, the glory of God is what is in heaven.
And, so, if you can answer that, and you say,
I don't know if I really want to,
then you need to take a close look at yourself,
examine yourself,
to see if you are a true believer.
Because, Christ didn't save you so that you could marry the world,
and marry sin again.
He saved you for himself.
And, true faith in him produces love for him.
So, getting back to this,
Philippians 3, 6 and 8.
But, whatever gain I had,
this is Paul talking,
whatever gain I had,
I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
Indeed, I count everything as loss
because of the surpassing worth
of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things
and count them as rubbish,
in order that I might gain Christ.
And, in this text, he's basically saying,
whatever I thought was so valuable and so awesome,
whatever I devoted my life to,
I now consider refuge,
dung,
in comparison to knowing Christ.
And, that's really the heartbeat of a Christian,
if you are one.
Now, we obviously have to struggle with,
we definitely can get lured by the world,
but we can't stay in it.
We have to come out of it.
We can't love the world like we love Christ.
It's just a different kind of thing.
So, we're to use all things for the glory of God
and things we come in contact with
and not allow us to consume us.
So, if you identify yourself with the world,
you're basically saying and identifying yourself
as a God-hater,
someone who is not a part of who God is at all.
They can't coexist.
And, this leads into our next point,
number two,
is found in verse 17.
Go back to 1 John, sorry.
Keep your hand there.
I'll be flipping back.
1 John 2, verse 17,
says this,
And the world is passing away along with its desires.
Okay?
So, the second point is,
not only will the world try to push away your love for God,
but it will,
the world is passing away.
That's the second point.
The world is passing away.
It's fleeting.
It's going away right now as we speak, even.
So, from this,
what do we take out?
We need to have a,
a believer needs to have a great concept
and meditate on this daily.
an eternal perspective
that you're going to last forever.
And,
that,
if you invest in this world,
it's a waste of time.
Because this world is passing away,
no one buys stock in a company
they know is going to get bankrupt.
Right?
You don't go and build a house
on a ship that you know is going to sink.
You don't take all your riches
and your money
and possessions
and put them in a place
that you know is going to go get robbed
and broken into
and all your stuff is going to be taken away.
It's foolishness.
You don't do that.
So,
in the same way,
if this world
and things in it
are the most valuable things to you,
you're going to lose them
because the world is passing away.
And if you hold on to it,
if you hold on to the,
the world so tightly,
you're going to perish with it.
It's like the idea.
Anybody ever read
Mubby Dick?
Getting way back
in our literature.
This one,
the captain of that ship
was obsessed
with killing the whale.
That was his goal.
And eventually,
he did it.
Or he tried to do it.
And eventually,
the whale destroyed him.
He was obsessed with that.
That was his life goal.
And he perished with it.
You know,
so this is
a picture of us
if we try to hold on to the world,
we'll perish with it.
So,
so basically,
if anyone loves the world,
love for the Father
will not be in him
because all that is in the world
is not of God.
That's a summation of this.
And,
I'll throw this out there at you.
In my parents' neighborhood
a few weeks ago,
there was a
really,
really expensive
big house
that was built
in their neighborhood.
And it burnt to the ground
a few weeks ago.
And,
my mom and dad
had a chance to go over
and try to minister
to these people.
And they,
they were like,
man,
our whole life has been there.
You know,
like it's all gone now.
And you can just see
like how
terrible it is for them
because that was their life.
You know,
it would hurt
a lot of people,
but not,
but particularly people
who don't have
Christ as their ultimate treasure.
And,
it's,
it's devastating.
And,
so,
I want to read this out of
first,
our Colossians
3,
1 through 2 to you.
It says,
If then you have been
raised with Christ,
seek the things
that are above
where Christ is.
Seated at the right hand
of God.
Set your minds
on things above
and not on things
on the earth.
So,
a believer needs to have
an eternal perspective
that will help you
battle against
the things in the world.
Third point,
we're kind of moving
through this,
is,
only love for God
gives eternal life.
Only love for God
gives eternal life.
This is in verse 17.
Whoever does the will
of God
abides forever.
So,
loving God
and obeying God
and doing His will
are not
separate things.
They,
they coexist.
They're together.
You can't separate
one from the other.
You can't say,
I love God,
but I'm not going to
do what He's commanded
me to do.
Jesus said
in John 14,
if you love me,
you will keep
my commandments.
You will.
It's an evidence
of someone
who truly knows
who God is.
and it's a lie
to say,
I love God
and I'm going to
disobey every
commandment He's
ever made.
1 John says
that you're a liar.
It's like blatantly
said,
you are a liar
and the truth
is not in you.
So a paraphrase
of all this
is,
if you love
the world,
you will perish
with the world.
But if you don't
love the world,
but love God
and you do His will,
you'll live with Him
forever.
That's basically
a summation
of what we just
talked about.
So,
now,
kind of getting
to the harder part.
And this was
very hard,
y'all.
Like,
we're going to get
into some application
here about
what a lot of
this means.
you know,
I want to do
my best to try
to tread the line
between law
and grace will.
And,
so,
this will warrant
further conversation.
So we can talk
about it later.
Maybe we can have
a Q&A later.
But,
I actually,
again,
kind of,
one book I've read
that has helped me
the most,
learning on how
to deal with
possessions
and things in the world,
an old school book.
It's a section
out of John Calvin's
Institutes.
And,
it's called
The Golden Book
of the True Christian Life.
They just made this
part of the Christian life.
And,
one of these last chapters
is called
The Right Use
of the Present World.
And,
this is really,
really good.
I would recommend,
if you've ever read
anything from Calvin before,
this is a great place
to start.
But,
he kind of talks about
how to deal
with the things
we have in this life.
We're going to
unpack it a little bit.
Then,
I have some scripture.
Then,
I have some quotes.
But,
I'm going to use,
like,
this book,
just kind of as a guide
to walk through
some things.
And,
first of all,
in The Right Use
of the Present World,
this is what we're
talking about,
application,
he says that
we must avoid
two extremes.
Okay?
Two extremes.
The first one
is legalism.
And,
that means basically
adding extra
biblical rules
to things
that aren't there.
Your rules of conduct.
You're being overly
rigid on this.
You know,
adding to the commandments
of God.
And,
God has not said,
you can't do this.
And,
he said that's the first
extreme.
And,
this is what he wrote.
In their desire
to correct
such a pernicious evil,
they have adopted
the only method
which they saw fit.
Namely,
to permit
earthly blessings
only in so far
as their absolute necessity.
You ever heard
anybody say that?
Like,
if you don't need it,
you don't,
if it's not a necessity,
you don't need that.
You've heard
that extreme camp before.
He says,
this advice
showed the best
of intentions,
but was far too rigid.
For they committed
the very,
excuse me,
I have my papers mixed up.
They committed
the very dangerous error
of imposing
on the conscience
of others
stricter rules
than those already
laid down for us
in the word of the Lord.
Okay?
Then he said,
according to that camp,
or according to them,
it would be scarcely
permissible
to eat and drink
anything but
bread and water.
Others saw
even greater
extremes
of being rigid,
like the man
from Thebes
is a historical story,
who had said
he threw all his
treasures into the sea
out of fear
that unless they
were destroyed,
he himself
would be destroyed
by them.
So he's like,
he just renounced
all his riches
because he was afraid
they were just going
to destroy him.
So he said,
that's the first camp
to avoid.
If you were just like,
stay away from it,
it's going to mess you up.
Don't even get near it.
You know?
So that's the first camp,
legalism.
The second extreme
is licentiousness.
That's a big word.
That's a scriptural word.
And it basically means this,
lacking or regarding
for legal or moral
restrictions.
You know?
It means like,
hey,
God made it for us,
let's just enjoy it.
You know?
And you kind of go
the other extreme,
the other side
of the pendulum.
And this is what he said.
On the other hand,
there are many others
nowadays who seek
to prevent,
to excuse
and temperament,
you know,
keeping things under control
in the use of external things
and who desire
to indulge
in the lust of the flesh.
So you've got
the other camp.
You've got the one
Christian group
that's like,
don't even go near beer.
Like,
don't even look at it.
Don't even look at it.
The other camp is like,
hey,
God made it for us to enjoy.
And they let go
and just get totally wasted.
That's like the two camps
you can't be in.
Neither one of those
are the correct biblical view.
So,
that's the two extremes
he says to avoid
that I think are very,
very wise and shrewd.
Another point he makes,
so that's the first one,
the point he makes,
and these are going to be guidelines
for the right use
of things in the world.
The second one is
hindered or assisted.
Okay?
Hindered or assisted.
And he pulls out this
from scripture.
Christians are pilgrims,
are travelers.
That's the way scripture
identifies Christians.
Traveling through this world
on the way to
Mount Zion,
you know,
the city of God,
the eternal realm of God.
Pilgrim's progress
is a great picture of this.
So,
what do you do?
How do you view the things
that you,
a lot of pilgrimages
were going that way
and there's so many things
we're surrounded with?
How do we like,
keep going that way
and not get like,
oh,
get over here
and get totally distracted?
And in Pilgrim's progress,
he's going towards,
you know,
Zion,
you know,
the kingdom of God,
basically.
And there's a place
on the side of the road
called Vanity Fair.
and it basically has
everything you can want.
Like,
all the allurements
of the flesh,
like it's all there.
Wherever he wants,
he could have it.
And it says that it was
placed there by,
basically by Satan
to distract pilgrims
on their way
to going to the city.
So,
this is what he says.
This is what Calvin says
about this.
He says,
the Lord prescribes to us
in his word
when he teaches us
that his servants
for the present life
are pilgrims
in which they are traveling
towards the heavenly kingdom.
And here's the application.
We ought undoubtedly
to make such use
of its blessings
that we are assisted
rather than delayed
in our journey.
So,
if there's something
that's not going to be
beneficial to you
to partake in,
shake it loose.
Get rid of it.
You want to like
have things in your life,
possessions,
relationships,
whatever,
that are going to enable you
and encourage you
in your journey,
not like putting a weight
on your leg
and distracting you
from your ultimate goal.
So,
that's a really important,
you know,
point to make.
Turn to
1 Corinthians chapter 7.
verse 29.
Verse 29.
This is a really interesting verse,
kind of tucked away
in the New Testament.
A lot of people
just breeze over.
Verse 29 says this,
This is what I mean,
brothers.
The appointed time
has grown very short.
From now on,
let those who have lives
live as though they had none.
and those who mourn
as though they were not mourning.
And those who rejoice
as though they were not rejoicing.
And those who buy
as though they had no goods.
And those who deal with the world
as though they had not,
no dealings with it.
For the present form of this world
is passing away.
So,
it's this idea that we
can't engage the things around us.
We can,
you know,
we can enjoy the stuff
that God has around us.
But,
God is like saying,
cultivate such a
eternal perspective,
you know,
like a right understanding
of what the Christian life is.
And have such a satisfaction
in Christ
that you can involve yourself
with suffering in this world.
And you can lose it
and you're like,
okay,
I'll move on.
That's kind of the goal.
Like,
you don't want to be like,
man,
I lost that.
You're going to be able to
engage with things
in such a way
as though
you are not engaging with them.
You can just let them go.
Like,
if that was the point.
And,
it's a very interesting passage
to look at.
Something that's not going to
keep you where you are
and weigh you down.
Next point he makes in the book
is that
earthly things
are gifts from God.
Earthly things
are gifts from God.
So,
the using of temple blessings
cannot be wrong.
If,
if,
they're directed
to the same purposes
for which God created them.
Okay?
Because,
everything that God made
was good.
Everything.
I had a friend of mine
in seminary
a while back.
He said he had to
write a paper.
It basically was like
having to correct
false teaching
and that was the kind of goal
of what this paper was about.
It was,
what he had to address
was somebody who said like,
well,
everything God made
was good
and therefore
like we can do
you know,
marijuana and drugs
and like thinking
about it and saying
like,
well,
because it's good.
And he had to basically
kind of explain
like that's not what's being said.
Um,
that's not what we're trying
to deal with here.
Like,
God gave us things
to enjoy.
They're gifts from God
and it's not wrong
to use them
if we use them
for the purposes
that God intended
for us to use them in.
Not taking them
beyond the border,
so to say,
from what he intended.
This is what Calvin said.
He said,
if we study,
for instance,
while he has created
the various kinds of food,
we shall find
that it was his intention
not only
to provide for our needs
but likewise
for our pleasure
and our delight
in herbs
and trees
and fruit.
Besides being useful
in various ways,
he planted to please us
by their gracious wines
and pleasant odors.
So everything around us
was meant
to like elevate us
to worship the creator.
See that?
Like,
we can delight in these things
but not taking them
beyond what he intended,
obviously.
While you're in 1 Corinthians,
flip back to chapter 6
real fast.
A very, very helpful verse.
Verse 12,
chapter 6.
Great verse.
He says in verse 12,
Paul talking,
All things are lawful for me,
but not all things are helpful.
All things are lawful for me,
but I will not be enslaved
by anything.
See that?
There's like,
there's things that are good
in this world
that we could enjoy
and partake in.
But he says,
there's some things
that are just not
of any benefit to me
to engage in.
So I'm going to stay away
from those things.
At the same time,
the things that I do enjoy,
I cannot allow
to enslave me
and control me.
You see that?
And like,
I have some buddies in here,
they love to smoke
cigars and pipes.
I love the smell.
I wish I could do it.
But that would not
be beneficial for me
because I've had
a lung transplant
and my daughters
would shoot me.
See,
like you can't,
I can't engage
in certain activities
because like,
it would be okay,
it wouldn't be illegal
for me to do that,
but it would not be
a benefit to me,
obviously.
And so there's,
might not be the best analogy,
but this is one
that came to mind.
So,
don't be enslaved
by any good thing.
Don't take good things
beyond what God
intended them to be.
And don't reject them either
because earthly things
are gifts from God.
So,
next point,
I don't know what number
we're on,
I don't have numbers,
is that true gratitude
will restrain us
from abuse.
A true gratitude
will restrain us
from abuse.
So,
a right understanding
of God
and His gifts
leads us to thankfulness
and gratitude for them.
And it allows us
to be like,
wow,
He made this for me,
I'm going to use it
for the reason He made it.
And,
I'm going to give Him glory
for allowing me to do this.
Calvin said,
we should praise His kindness
towards us
in heavenly,
or earthly matters
by giving Him thanks.
You know,
so,
He's given us good things,
but if we abuse them,
they will backfire on us.
There's a verse
in Proverbs 25
that says,
if you have found honey,
eat only enough for you,
lest you will have your fill
and you will vomit.
Like,
some things taken too far
are going to,
like,
backfire on you.
So,
but,
a right understanding
of these gifts
don't hinder you
from enjoying them.
You can give glory
to God
because of what He's made,
and it all goes back
to Him.
Everything is from Him,
through Him,
and to Him.
It's that idea.
So,
here's the rule.
I think this is like
the,
you know,
the last one that I have
from Him in this book.
Basically,
He says,
let us live
in moderation.
Let us live
in moderation.
And,
that means
you're not going to be
one extreme or the other
in those camps.
You're not going to,
like,
throw away the gifts
and say,
they'll corrupt me.
I don't want to get near them.
And then you're not going
to,
like,
indulge in them
to the point of
sin,
gluttony,
and licentiousness.
You're going to be
kind of,
like,
in the middle.
The proper balance
of the right use
of the things
in this life.
And,
you're going to use,
but not abuse,
idea,
the things in this life.
And,
so,
the gifts that He gives us
are parameters
for His glory.
So,
sorry,
turn to
Proverbs 30,
real fast.
Proverbs 30.
This is another
really cool passage.
It's kind of tucked away.
Proverbs 30,
verse 7.
Proverbs 30,
verse 7.
It says,
sorry,
two things I ask of you,
talking to the Lord.
Deny them not to me
before I die.
Remove far from me
falsehood and lying.
Give me neither
poverty
nor riches.
Feed me with the food
that is needful for me.
Lest I be full
and deny you
and say,
who is the Lord?
Or lest I be poor
and steal
and profane
the name of my God.
Pretty cool.
It's this idea of,
like,
Lord,
please help me have
just enough
to not make it
an idol.
But also,
don't leave me
in poverty
and want to provide
for what I need.
It's a good way
of looking at things.
So moderation
is the goal
of the right use
of things in this life.
Not to abuse them
and not to neglect them,
but in the middle.
So,
I know people
think about alcohol.
A lot of other things
are coming to mind
right now.
This might be
a conversation
for later.
But,
quickly,
some more application.
Two random things.
I feel like I got
kind of rocky
here at the end.
Sorry.
We'll talk just briefly
about wealth,
money,
and possessions.
And,
key text
we'll look at.
And we'll have,
like,
maybe two other
places where you
look at.
1 Timothy,
chapter 6.
This will be a good
text to look at.
1 Timothy,
chapter 6.
And we're going to
read this,
6 through 10.
This is where
it really gets picky
because,
you know,
we're picking on
certain things now.
1 Timothy,
chapter 6,
verse 6.
Now there is
great gain
in godliness
with contentment.
For we brought
nothing into this
world,
and we can take
nothing out of it.
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 the root of
all kinds of evil.
It is through this
craving that some
have wandered away
from the faith
and pierced
themselves with
many pains.
There's a lot
in that.
But notice his
language.
He's not saying
that money in and
of itself is evil.
He's saying the
love of money,
the abuse of money,
that one side we
were talking about,
that one extreme
camp.
I've got to have
money.
Because with money
you can have
anything you want.
You can have any
kind of pleasure.
You can buy
exactly what your
flesh wants.
So,
we're talking about
this specifically
in the confines
of a believer's
life.
Okay?
There is a
half-truth
that I believe
we live with
here in the
American church.
And it is this.
It sounds
something like
this.
We glorify God
with our wealth
by being thankful
and enjoying
all the luxuries
he allows us
to buy.
Like,
thank you,
Lord,
forgive me
this,
and now I'm
going to go
and spend it
any way I
want to spend
it.
Because he gave
it to me
as long as
I'm thankful,
right?
I'm going to
go and spend
it however
I want to.
The true part
of that statement
is that we
should be
thankful because
God gives us
every good thing,
including money
and possessions.
He gives us
those things,
so that's the
right part.
The false part
is that we
can glorify God
by every purchase
we make.
Not true.
It's not true.
And,
let me read
you this quote
by John
Piper.
He says,
God is not
glorified when
we keep for
ourselves,
no matter how
thankfully,
we ought to be
using to
alleviate the
misery of the
un-evangelized,
un-educated,
un-medicated,
and unfed
millions.
We should be
using our
wealth for
the advancement
of the
kingdom for
the most part.
That's what he's
trying to say.
There are so
many people that
need help,
and I'm
convinced that
now,
more than
ever,
Christians in
America,
particularly in
the West,
they're going to
be held to a
higher standard
by God
than people in
the past.
And the
reason why
is because we
don't have to
get on a boat
and go months
and months to
somewhere and
help somebody in
need,
we can do
it by
clicking and
sending things
and helping
people in that
regard.
And so,
don't say,
well,
because I don't
see these
people,
I don't have
to help them.
We know
they exist.
We know
they're there.
We know
there's misery
out there.
And this is
the rest of
it,
what he said.
This evidence
that many
professional
Christians have
been deceived
by this
doctrine is
how little
they give
and how much
they own.
That's what
identifies this.
He says,
God has
prospered them
and by almost
an irresistible
law of consumer
culture,
baptized by a
doctrine of
health,
wealth,
and prosperity,
we have
bought bigger
than more
houses,
newer and
more cars,
fancier and
more clothes,
better and
more meat,
in all matter
of trinkets,
gadgets,
containers,
devices,
equipment,
to make
life more
fun.
That's
very
convicting.
He definitely
is not saying
you can't
buy some
possession like
something you
take to
light in,
like a
fishing pole
or go
fishing.
That's not
what he's
trying to
say.
He's
trying to
say that
when we
look at
most
Christians,
particularly
here in
America,
you look at
what they
own,
and then
you look,
well,
you're not
really supposed
to do this,
but if
you could
see how
much they
give,
it's like
nowhere in
comparison.
Nowhere.
They don't
even touch
it at
all.
We give
so little
to the
cause of
Christ.
He can
say this
because I
know that
Piper lives
in a very
poor
neighborhood
in
Minneapolis.
I know
pastors get
paid far
more than
he does
personally.
He really
wants to
be clear
that all
the money
that I
earn from
my books
and all
that is
not going
to me.
It's going
to
expand
the
kingdom
of
God.
He lives
on a
very low
paycheck.
He's not
doing that
to glorify
himself.
He's trying
to show
that money
and possessions
is not my
treasure.
Christ is
and I
don't need
those things.
That's really
kind of what
the point is.
He wants
to glorify
Christ.
I really
think that's
it.
God is
not
pleasing
us going
out and
making
any
purses.
Thank you
for that.
We need
to be
deliberate
about how
we are
spending
our
money
to
alleviate
the
unevangelized
uneducated
and unmedicated.
So,
here's the
other side
of this.
Here's another
right use of
our money,
right use.
The problem
is not with
earning a lot
of money.
the problem
is living a
lifestyle that
is maintained
by that
amount of
money.
So,
you can go
out and
make $200,000
a year,
but you
can't be
justified
living a
$200,000
lifestyle.
There's just
no way.
And,
God didn't
enlarge your
deposit or
your bank
account for
you to go
out and
buy and
build bigger
barns like
the parable
Jesus gives
about the
rich ruler.
The fool
who built
bigger barns
so that he
could eat,
drink,
and be
merry.
So,
God increases
our yield,
not so that
we'll indulge
in it,
but we'll
take that
yield and
give it to
God.
And,
in this
text,
in verse 6,
we read that
with godliness
there is
great contentment.
So,
the goal in
life is not
to have more.
The goal in
life is to
have less.
And,
I read a
book a long
time ago
by this
Puritan guy
named
Jeremiah
Burroughs.
And,
this is
one of
his texts
he used,
but he
said this,
very profound.
He said,
contentment
comes by way
of subtraction
and not
addition.
The more
things you
think you
need,
the less
content you
are.
But,
the less
you need,
particularly if
you have
Christ,
you realize
you don't
need all
those things.
You have
everything
in him.
So,
the verse
in Luke
12,
I read it
to you.
Sell your
positions,
Jesus says,
sell your
possessions
and give
to the
needy.
Provide
yourselves
with money
bags that
do not
grow old,
with a
treasure in
heaven that
does not
fail,
where no
thief approaches
and no
moth destroys,
for there
your treasure
is,
your heart
will be
also.
That's
Luke 12,
33-34.
I thought
I would
just give
you some
examples of
this.
Okay,
guys,
just really
fast.
It's hot
in here,
and I
definitely
feel some
heat.
I'm hot.
I'm starting
to sweat.
But,
it's too late
to turn the
air on now.
It'll be too
late.
I was,
a while back,
or a year
ago,
I was talking
to my
grandmother,
who lives
in North
Carolina,
and my
grandmother
and my
step-grandfather,
they're awesome.
People who
really love the
Lord,
and give
a lot of
their life
away to
the kingdom,
and she
was saying,
look,
I'm kind
of like
semi-investigated
by the IRS
and I'm
like,
what?
And I
said,
Grandma,
what are
you talking
about?
And she
said,
well,
they
couldn't
really
understand
why 60%
of our
income
was going
to
missionaries
and ministries
and churches.
And I
was like,
Grandma,
that is
awesome.
She was
like,
oh,
no.
I'm
like,
Grandma,
that's
awesome.
You need
to take
that
and dive
in it
and frame
it and put
it on
your wall.
That is
amazing.
And that's
really,
yeah,
they were
cool.
They were
like,
all right,
that's
just weird.
Why don't
you guys
do that?
It was
their
response.
But the
goal,
they know
they're
wanting to
invest in
eternity.
It's
something that
matters,
not just
live up to
high life in
retirement,
but to
give their
lives away.
A guy
that I
would
encourage you
to look
into,
he was a
Christian
musician
named
Keith
Green.
Back in
the hippie
days,
basically.
Early
Christian
music
pioneer
guy.
He had
a huge
pro and
a big
beer,
and he
played the
piano and
went to
town.
Awesome
guy,
though.
He,
pretty
dramatic
conversion,
but eventually
he rolled
around this
idea of
like,
why in the
world do
we charge
so much
for our
concerts?
Why in
the world
do we
sell
people
our
music?
He
basically
said the
gospel
cannot be
sold.
You can't
buy the
gospel.
So he
rebelled
against the
Christian
music system.
He was
like,
I'm going
to have
offering
concerts.
People
can come
and give
me
whatever
they
want.
He
started
his own
record
company
called
Pretty
Good
Records.
He had
a sign
that said,
would you
like to
buy Keith
Green's
new
album?
You
can't
!
It's not
for sale.
So he
would just
rely on the
Lord to
provide.
Sometimes
people would
send in
money for
one album.
It might
have been
just a few
dollars,
but they
would send
him $1,000
for one
album.
What you're
doing is
awesome.
We want
to support
you.
Somebody
else would
say,
we can't
afford it
at all.
That's
cool.
You can
have it.
So what
it shows
is money
and success
was not
his God.
He knew
there was
something
more
important
with
that.
So we
need to
be just
tactful
on how
we spend
our money
and how
we use
it.
And so
two pastors
that do
this,
one is
John
Piper,
but the
other one
is John
MacArthur.
They both
don't take
any money
from the
hundreds of
books that
they write.
They don't
do that.
They don't
charge
out the
wazoo just
to show
this isn't
why we're
doing this.
And the
guy who
wrote that,
Randy Alcorn,
wrote that
book I had
over here.
A while
back,
someone accused
him of
trying to
make a lot
of money
off the
books he
was selling.
He was
like,
really?
Okay.
I was
giving all
of this.
So all
his money
also goes
to other
ministries
and things.
He doesn't
get one
dime for
his books.
So those
are just,
we just
need to be
deliberate and
clear about
why we're
spending money.
And here's
an analogy
I had about
possessions that
I read from
Randy Alcorn.
Imagine that
you were from
another country,
Rispick,
England,
and you
came to
America on
a visa to
work here.
And you're
just going to
be a temporary
residence,
right?
Like America
is really
not your
homeland.
And you're
going to work
for this
company.
You really
don't know
how long
they're going
to have you
there.
It's just
a question
mark.
So,
when I
tell you,
if you
spend your
money here,
you can't
take anything
you bought
back to
England with
you.
You only
can wire
money to
England.
So,
if that
was true,
you would
be absolutely
foolish to
spend all
your money
here.
Because you
couldn't send
any of it
back to your
wife and
family that
was there,
back in
England.
You would
just waste
your money.
But you
would constantly.
You would
probably live
in a very
low-income
place,
just kind
of just get
by,
you're
going to
live it
up.
Because you'd
want to
wire all
your money
back to
England where
it would
last.
That's a
great analogy
of our
spiritual lives.
It's stupid.
We're not
going to
stay here.
This isn't
our home.
It's like,
let's invest
in eternity.
So,
scripture gives
us principles
in which we
can evaluate
decisions like
that.
So,
okay,
that's money
and possessions.
And that's
such a huge
conversation.
So you might
ask,
what do I
do with my
two homes?
I've got
one here and
I've got
one in the
lake.
What do I
do?
Is that
evil for
me to have
that?
And the
right question
is not
that.
It's to
ask,
do I
really need
both homes
or how
am I going
to use
that lake
house for
the kingdom
of God?
How can I
glorify God
with that
house that
I have?
And it's
funny to see
how simple
we really
are.
We can
really
trick
ourselves.
I'll invite
the youth
ministry
once a
year to
swim.
What do
you think?
Yeah,
great job.
That doesn't
justify your
house.
I'm sorry.
You need to
be able to
use it for
the kingdom.
And so
that's the
question you
need to
ask.
How can I
glorify God
with this
purchase or
what I
have?
How can I
do that?
And if
you're really
being sensitive
to the
spirit,
he'll tell
you like
yes or
no,
but someone
else can
come up
and say
that's evil
for you
to have
that.
I actually
have a
friend that
a few
people here
know.
He supports
me in
ministry.
His name
is Jason
and he's
a dentist
from
Pauwassee
up in the
mountains.
He actually
went here.
He was in
the Corps.
I think he
was in
Sigma Chi.
He actually
married a
KD.
They both
support me
here.
It's pretty
funny.
But for a
while,
I could tell
when I first
met him years
ago,
this guy
loves the
Lord,
but he
just has
some
pumped up
theology
on finances
and wealth.
He's more
like,
I'm going to
build a big
barn and
just enjoy it
and God's
going to
give it to
me.
I knew
that his
heart was
right.
So eventually
he read a
book by
Randy Alcorn
and he was
like,
man,
this is stupid.
I don't
want to build
up my
kingdom here.
I want to
invest in
eternity.
He sold
his lake
house.
He sold
one or two
crazy cars
he had.
He just
wants to
give to the
kingdom now.
He has such
a giving
heart.
He even
tells me,
anybody you
know that's
living on
Denise
support,
let me
know.
I want to
support him.
He supports
a lot of
people other
than me,
but we don't
need that
stuff.
I don't
need two
houses.
That's just
the way he
manifested the
gospel in
that reality.
moving on
really fast.
Sorry,
this end is
just kind
of rocky,
but media,
music,
television.
Let's talk
about that
just for a
minute before
we kind
of close.
We are
surrounded
with so
many things
that we
can just
pretty much
amuse
ourselves to
death.
C.S.
Lewis argued
that our
capacity for
real joy has
been shriveled
to nothing.
he said
this,
if we
see that
our Lord
finds our
desires too
strong,
it is not
said that,
that God
does not
find our
desires too
strong,
but too
weak.
And he
talks about
how,
I mean,
this is a
famous quote,
we are
half-hearted
creatures
fooling
about
with
drink
and
sex
and
ambition
when
infinite
joy
is
offered
us
like
an
ignorant
child
who
just
goes on
making
mud pies
in the
slum
because
they
cannot
imagine
what is
meant by
an offer
at a
holiday
at the
sea.
We are
far too
easily
pleased.
So,
we have
so many
little
things
on our
phones
and
internet
and TV
that we
can just
pretty much
amuse
ourselves
to death.
And those
are really,
really puny
joys,
to be honest.
They're there
for a minute
and they're
gone.
And if we
didn't have
this mass
media around
us,
we would
be bored
to death.
We would
just hate
life.
But the
thing is,
there's so
many new
things out
there,
you can
go from
one new
thing
to the
other.
Pretty
much
for the
rest
of your
life,
probably,
and just
be amused.
So,
begin praying
against this
idea that I
want life
to be fun
and cool.
What you
really want
is for life
to be
meaningful
and rich
and purposeful
in what you
do in life
and what
you give
your life
to and
live for
those things
and life
changing
type things.
So,
here's
something that
I'm not ashamed
to say this
I guess now,
but that
Mark Driscoll
kind of does
to kind of
deal with.
media
and things
like that
and a lot
of things.
He says
that you
either receive,
reject,
or redeem
things
that you
come in
contact
with.
Number one,
receive.
There's many
things in
culture
and around
us that
we can
enjoy
through the
glory of
God.
It's clean,
it's not
simple,
and we
can delight
in those
things
and see
the beauty
of God
and what
we use
and delight
in those
things.
To his
glory,
that's
what
Calvin
said
a minute
ago.
The second
thing is
reject
things.
There's
many
things
that
are
blatantly
simple
that you
cannot
do to
the glory
of God
no matter
what.
and media
intended
to glorify
sin
and the
worldly
way of
thinking
is not
something
you can
redeem
or fix.
There's
some
of every
kind of
genre
of music.
There's
rock,
there's
country,
there's
rap,
there's
some
lyrics in
those that
some of
you guys
just need
to throw
away.
There's
nothing
you can
redeem
about
them.
They're
very
blatantly
sinful
about
sex
and
unmarital
sex,
sleeping
around,
drugs,
partying,
loose life.
And that's
what you
don't need
to...
Music
is powerful.
If you
listen to
that stuff
long enough,
it'll affect
your mind.
I promise.
It's been
proven.
And there's
just some
things that
you can't
watch on
TV.
I don't
care what
you say.
You can't
watch the
hangover
of the
glory of
God.
It's just
like that.
You can't
make movies
like that,
like a
God
glorifying
king.
Apart from
just learning
how lost
and sinful
man is,
which you
just got to
look into
yourself to
see that.
You don't
need to
watch a
movie.
So some
of us
need to
go home
and kind
of cleanse
some of
the stuff
out of
our DVD
and music
collection.
This is
not glorifying
to God.
So Paul
said in
1 Corinthians
10,
whether you
eat or
drink or
whatever you
do,
do it
all for
the glory
of God.
Do it
all,
even the
smallest
things.
And,
you know,
when it
comes to
TV,
it's just
a choice
of yours,
okay?
This is just
something that
we kind of
do at our
house,
me and
Josh and
John.
We don't
have cable,
we don't
have satellite,
because I've
found in my
personal life
that it
sucks me
in.
Like,
I will spend
so much
time watching
things,
and I
won't be
spending my
life on
what really
matters at
all.
I'll just
be,
you know,
clearing my
time away.
And I'll
just be
obsessed,
just amusing
myself to
the grave.
So I've
chosen not to
have that.
I don't
ever want
that.
I have a
DVD player,
and I do
watch movies,
but occasionally
there's something
you want to
watch,
a game,
you can go
somewhere else
and watch it,
or you can
watch it on
the internet.
But I just
know that I
can't handle it.
I know that
it's too much
for me.
Like Paul said,
things are
lawful,
but not all
things are
going to be
beneficial to
me.
I can't
handle it.
And it's
proven.
When I go
home to my
parents'
house,
like,
turn on
TV and
watch Walker
Texas Ranger
or something,
and I'm
like,
I threw
this out.
I thought
I'd
throw that
out there.
I love
it when he
gets surrounded
by like 10
dudes,
and I'm
like,
so we
got receive,
reject,
or redeem.
Okay?
Redeem is the
last one.
So there
are a lot
of things in
fallen culture
that they
have stolen
and perverted
that were not
bad things
at all.
So believers
need to take
those things
and show
them the
world and
what was
their intended
purpose,
what God
created them
for just
the other
day.
Like,
I like
rock,
you know,
different kinds
of rock.
There's a lot
of it I have
to trash
because it's
not beneficial
at all.
But Nickelback,
the rock band
Nickelback,
has a song
called
It's the
Damage Your
Last Day.
I listened to
it the other
day and it
was like
solid.
I couldn't
believe it.
These guys
probably aren't
believers,
I'm pretty sure.
And they're
like singing
a song that
is exactly
a perspective
of what a
believer should
have.
And so,
you know,
you can redeem
them.
That's what
this really
means.
This is what
these lyrics
really mean.
So,
there's all
kind of
questions I
know,
but if it's
controlling you
and infiltrating
your mind
and making
you think
worldly and
sinful and
pulling you
away from
God,
like,
move away
from it.
It's really,
really tricky.
It takes time
to learn how
to do.
And none
of us
do it
perfectly.
But,
last thing
we'll look
at,
look at
1 John
chapter 5
real fast.
Let's read
this.
It's a good
summation of
what we've
been talking
about.
1 John
chapter 5
verse 3.
This sums
up all
we've been
talking about.
For this
is the love
of God
that we
keep His
commandments,
like we
just said.
And His
commandments
are not
burdensome.
And why
are they not
burdensome?
It's because
we love
Him.
It's our
joy to
follow Him.
For
everyone who
has been
born of
God
overcomes
the world.
And this
is the
victory that
has overcome
the world,
our faith.
Who is it
that overcomes
the world
except the
one who
believes that
Jesus is the
Son of God?
So,
because of
Christ,
we can,
like,
walk through
this world
and be
in it
and not
of it,
not reject
it or not
become like
it,
but we can
actually live
here for
the glory
of God
and make
an impact
for His
kingdom
here.
And if we
are born
of God,
we will
overcome.
There's a
promise there.
So,
let it be
said that
we went
through this
life and
weren't
lured and
we don't
become like
the water
around us,
but we
impact it
for the
glory of
God.
I know
it's kind
of late,
guys.
We'll kind
of,
I think we
should respond
in song.
We started
late tonight,
but this
definitely warrants
more conversation
on now,
so we just
kind of pop
the lid and
kind of give it
to you tonight.
But talk to
John,
talk to me,
Dan,
anybody else
that's here,
but let's just
kind of close in
prayer and then
we'll have Alex
come up and
lead us in
song.
Father,
I'm overwhelmed
at this topic
and I know
there's so
many things
in my life
that I need
to make war
on and
take out
of my
life.
Lord,
may I never
be so
comfortable
to think
that everything
that I have
or ways
that I spend
my money
that I'm
beyond
reproach.
I want
to live a
life that does
reflect that my
treasure is in
you and not in
things I have
or things
that I
delight in
every day
but in
you and
everything is
a springboard
to worship
and leads me
to thanksgiving
for what
you've done
and,
Lord,
may Christ
be our
ultimate
treasure.
He's the
only thing
worth living
for.
He's completely
worthy.
He can
satisfy our
soul and
He's the
one thing
that can't
be taken
away from
us.
Everything
else that
we live
for will
be taken
away from
us,
but Christ
cannot be
and I
pray that
we would
live for
Him and
die for
Him.
We would
be satisfied
in Him and
He would
allow us to
navigate this
world and
not be
pulled into
its sinful
ideologies and
ways of
thinking,
that we
would be
strangers and
pilgrims and
travelers here
heading towards
eternity and
glorify you
in our
decisions and
what we
do.
Lord, I
pray that
this has
been a
honoring to
you and
if I've
erred, I
pray that
you would
show me.
I'm pretty
convinced of
what your
word says.
Lord, we
love you to
help us to
apply to
this.
If we
leave here
and don't
take anything,
we are in
sin.
We're to
be not
just hearers
of the
word, but
doers and
to be
obedient.
May we
help each
other in
this process,
Lord.
In Christ's
name, amen.
Amen.