I would like you to turn in your Bibles this morning to 1 Timothy chapter 6.
! By way of solicitation, that means begging, I am going to be preaching at Madison Christian's Chapel.
What day is that? Sometime this coming week. A week from tomorrow.
Okay, I can ask you ahead of time, because it's on my heart.
I know at this time the passage that, Lord willing, I will be preaching.
And if there is anything you know about Tim Knoyer, it is that he is a beggar when it comes to prayer.
And I look forward to the privilege and the blessing of being able to open the Word of God with those students.
And I am going to be studying and preaching from Ephesians chapter 3.
The passage in which the Apostle prays that those dear beloved people in the church of Ephesus would understand how much Christ loves him.
And that is going to be the passage that I preach.
And I am dependent upon your prayer.
And I am dependent upon the enabling of the Spirit of God as I open that passage to young men and women that need that encouragement in their lives.
Having said that, I want you to join me now in prayer as we ask for God's help as we open the Scriptures.
Our Father God, this morning it is our joy to gather together and to gather in your presence to sing your praises.
As we sing to make a connection between the words of the songs that we have sung to you.
And the clear instructions that Scripture give us.
I'm so thankful that as I sing with your people that I am prompted once and again of different passages of Scripture that weave together to remind me of the supremacy of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And the blessing I have of salvation.
And the need I have of growing in my affection for Him.
And so this morning as I open this book, I am thankful that this is not my task alone, but it is one that you have called your people to partner with me in prayer.
Asking for the work of the Holy Spirit.
Both in governing the things that I say.
And in the hearts upon which these words fall.
Lord, I confess this morning that we deal with a very difficult topic.
One that while we may give lip service to, there will be a great deal of fleshly interference with holy conviction.
I speak for my own soul.
As well as for those who are part of this dear fellowship.
Children of the living God.
Joint heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Fellow companions in the gospel.
And so we confess we need your help that we might be more than forgetful hearers.
But doers of the law.
We ask this in your precious name.
And for your glory.
Amen.
Well, last week I began the sermon with a very unusual announcement.
How many of you remember that?
Pastor Saul, do you remember that seminar that we were at where Alistair Begg said,
Never underestimate your people's ability to forget the important things you've said.
Well, here it is again.
I announced last week at the opening of the service that our fellowship finds ourselves in a rather unusual situation.
For which we are very thankful to God.
And God alone.
Our fellowship is in a situation where the generosity of you as God's people have put us in a situation together as a fellowship.
That we're going to think in the weeks and months to come of how we are good stewards of a surplus that God has given us.
That's a blessing.
So I say that at the beginning because in teaching about stewardship,
my intention is not to kind of wheedle and cajole and kind of plead with you down on one knee or offer you kind of an idea that,
Hey, listen, if you give ten bucks to God, he's going to give you a hundred and manipulate the situation
because I'm apoplectic this morning of what's going to happen with our giving.
The truth of the matter is, is I don't know what's going to happen with our giving other than the prompting of the Spirit of God and you as God's people.
It really is between you and God.
However, it is my responsibility as a preacher of righteousness to hold up the glory of Christ
and draw your attention to understand that really behind Christian giving is our view of God.
And that was what we looked at last week in 2 Corinthians chapter 8 and 9.
Now, if you were listening in the prayer, you remember that I made reference to the fact that this morning we are going to touch
on what is a very challenging subject for believers.
Did you hear me pray that?
How many of you thought to yourself, I know, I know.
Or how many of you thought to yourself, I wonder what he's talking about.
Well, I want you to turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 6
and we are going to pick up on the lesson that the Apostle Paul had for the church at Corinth or at Ephesus
in relationship to the matter of covetousness.
I remember reading a number of years ago something that I have cited on more than one occasion
that in all of his years of pastoral ministry, Charles Spurgeon referenced that he had never ever had anyone come into his office
or share with him personally that he was struggling with the sin of covetousness.
And I have to tell you that as a pastor and actually in the process of talking with an individual, potential candidate,
early stages of working those things through so you can do what?
Pray, pray, pray.
Anyway, early stages.
And in our conversation, dealing with the subject of stewardship
and what we're going to be actually talking about this morning.
And I related that it's a very difficult passage because it touches on something we battle with.
We battle in our culture.
We, you, me, battle with covetousness.
Let's try it a different way.
Contentment.
And so I want us to allow Paul's lesson in 1 Timothy chapter 6 to touch our hearts and affect us deeply.
Let me explain kind of a little bit of the background.
If you look there in chapter 6 verse 2, the last part, it says,
Teach and urge these things.
Then in verse 3, if anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing,
he has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions,
and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and depraved of truth,
imagining, now we come to a little kicker here,
imagining that godliness is a means of gain.
You see, what had happened there in Ephesus is that the church was striving or suffering under individuals who were teaching
that actually growing in godliness had a comparative and connected growing in prosperity.
In fact, if you wanted to grow to be wealthy,
you just needed to kind of play along and do the spiritual things that went with it.
Now, these false teachers were the earlier version of the silk suit Rolex watch jet setters that you can watch on TV today.
In fact, if you were to stay home sick, I trust that would be the only reason you would do it,
but if you would stay home sick, one of the things you could kind of do is tune in to people like Benny Hinn
or Joel Osteen or Joyce Meyer or just a host of people.
What is his name? Joseph Prince, another one.
They're all over there. It's wonderful.
The false teachers of that day
were specialists that's suggesting that
the key to prosperity actually was learning how to be religious.
You look ahead there in verse 5.
It says that these people imagine that godliness is a means.
It's the way.
It's the way
of gain.
And so when Paul summarizes this matter of false teaching,
he says it this way.
Godliness is the way.
It's the means of false teaching.
In other words,
if you do godly things,
you will prosper.
Of course, when you think about what the godly things were
that were being recommended back in Paul's day,
for all practical purposes,
they are really no different
or they were no different than they are today.
The suggestion is this,
is that, hey,
kind of the superficial issues are the name it, claim it,
you know,
you can talk to God and tell Him what you need
and if you believe, you will receive.
How many of you have heard those words before?
If you believe, you will receive.
Name it, claim it, and all that kind of stuff.
And if you invest in God's work,
and by the way, here's how you spell my name,
you can be certain that the god of this universe
who kind of operates on this law of the harvest,
have you ever heard the law of the harvest?
It is common, common, common teaching.
In other words,
you plant this kind of seed,
which is cash in my pocket,
and then God's going to open up the doors of heaven
and He's just going to flood you with money
in proportion to your faith.
Interestingly,
and by the way,
we always want to make comparison with Scripture,
don't we?
Don't we?
Everybody said yes?
You know, I'm thinking to myself,
did anybody hear Jesus say
when the widow dropped in two mites,
cha-ching,
it's coming back to her in big time?
How many of you remember that story,
the widow and the mite, right?
Or let's go another one.
I mean, Zacchaeus,
remember he climbed out of the tree,
and he says,
you know,
those people that I've cheated,
I'm paying them back fourfold,
and all that I have,
I'm giving to the poor.
And Jesus says,
whoa,
wait till you see your tax return.
Is that what happened?
No.
It took some of you a while
to figure out that Zacchaeus was a,
I know, I know,
I was just a little off page with that humor,
but let it go.
I try not to tell jokes
for very obvious reasons.
Okay,
so we're looking at 1 Timothy chapter 6,
and I'm going to push it together for you
so if you lose your way or I get lost,
you know where we're supposed to be at the end.
For one,
we're going to see Paul address the issue
that contentment is critical.
I want you to fix that in your mind.
Contentment is critical.
Secondly,
money can be dangerous.
And third,
a two-fold defense.
Well,
I want you to look now,
if you will,
at how Paul opens up this lesson,
there in verse 5,
he deals with the fact that godliness,
the idea of the false teachers
that godliness is a means of gain.
Now then,
in verse 6,
he says,
now there is great gain in godliness
with what?
Contentment.
In other words,
godliness with contentment
is great gain.
And he immediately,
he's already dealt with the issue
of this is the way the false teachers talk
and think,
but let me correct that for you.
And the immediate thing he says is,
you need to understand this,
godliness with contentment
is where the gain is.
Put your finger there,
if you will,
on verse 6,
and just mark the fact
that great gain in godliness
is connected to this issue
of contentment.
And so I want you to understand this,
that spiritual growth,
I want everybody to hear this,
spiritual growth and contentment
go together.
In fact,
the two cannot be separated.
Now,
we should be interested
in how we are doing spiritually.
Would you agree with that?
Are there consequences
to not doing well spiritually?
And the answer is,
for everyone.
For everyone.
Now,
you may not recognize it,
but when you are struggling spiritually,
you're not the only one
who is affected by it.
Everybody else in the sphere
of connection with you
begins to suffer as well.
When you are not content,
when you are not joyful in Christ,
when you are not a humble
and a contrite spirit,
your wife is one
who says to you little things like,
how come you are so,
fill in the blank,
or your children find out
that they,
when you walk in the house
after you've been away for work,
they kind of scamper
for the periphery
because they know
that,
you know,
there's something going on
in your heart.
They don't know the details,
but they know to avoid you.
How many of you are parents
and have said to your children
because you saw things playing out,
my dad would say things like this,
you're cruising for a bruising.
What he was trying to,
and I wouldn't say exactly
the same thing
to my,
I think probably I did.
You know,
kind of,
it worked for me.
I thought I'd try it on my kids,
but it's like,
I could tell when my kids
were going downhill.
Anybody else's parents
know that?
So when you're not doing well
spiritually,
you begin giving off signals.
Well,
spiritual growth
and contentment
go together.
Yeah,
we like that.
That's kind of that
superficial little statement,
but let me step it up
a little bit
and have you think with me.
What are signs
that you're not content?
Just sit here.
Reach over and nudge your wife
and say something like,
if you see me on
Pinterest,
I got that one,
didn't I?
Say to your wife,
you can say this safely
in the car while you're driving.
I wouldn't try it later on,
but just say,
honey,
if you see me on Pinterest,
you know I'm having a trouble
with contentment.
Or you could say
to your wife,
if you see me obsessing
about the Cabela's catalog,
then you know I'm struggling
with contentment.
Or if I'm on Amazon,
more than I'm in the Word,
do you follow that?
It's amazing.
I mean,
since when
did the internet
become the chief end of man
in relationship
to pursuing
the matter of self-gratification
and contentment?
You know you're in trouble
when you are desperately waiting
for a kidney foundation
to show up
to make room
for the other things
that you've bought or ordered
that you're not sure
where you're going to put.
And don't think
that the hoarder's show
is only limited to TV.
So,
when you spend more time
on Craigslist
and Amazon
and Facebook
posting all about things
than you do
in the Word of God,
there is a,
what?
A spiritual problem.
I was struck last week
when I was studying this verse
and kind of doing
a little bit of
personal
indictment
that in our culture,
in America,
and let's be a little
more practical,
in Maranatha,
we are
righteously
troubled
when someone
tells a dirty joke.
I mean,
isn't that right?
Everybody listen to me.
If you post,
and I happen to be
your Facebook friend
and you post something
that is off color,
one of the things
you can expect from me
as your shepherd
is I'm probably going to,
I'm going to send you,
this is my soft touch.
Did you get hacked?
I mean,
I'm making an assumption
that you wouldn't post
such kind of junk.
You follow that?
Okay.
And if I don't get
a response
pretty quickly about,
oh yes,
I got hacked
and I am so sorry
and I've changed my password
and I'm cleaning
all this stuff up,
then you're going to get
a more personal call
from me saying,
by the way,
we probably need
to talk a little bit.
I mean,
hey,
we're indignant
about junk.
we're indignant
about pornography.
Your wife comes down
and finds that you are
sitting there
at 2.30 in the morning
looking at something
that is absolutely
God forsaken
and she has a right
to be lit up.
We're indignant
about immorality,
but you know what?
Nobody thinks
the first thing
about the person
who spends hours
on end
kind of trolling
through the internet
trying to figure out
what they'd like
to have.
And seldom
do we actually
say to ourselves,
I've spent
too much time there
and I need
to trim it out
because it's not
good for my soul.
Well,
what follows
in verse 7 and 8
is a reminder
that we are
just traveling through.
This world
is not the believer's home.
Let me have a look
with you here.
It says,
for we brought nothing
into the world
and we cannot
take anything
out of the world
for if we have
food and clothing
with these
we will be content.
I think some of us
are in the bigger
barns mode.
Do you know
what I mean
by the bigger barns?
Remember the story
of the rich man
that just had to
keep on building
bigger barns
because he just
kept on having
more stuff?
I mean,
when you decide
that renting
a storage space
in perpetuity
is a reasonable
means of caring
for your stuff,
there's a problem.
when your kids
are saying to themselves
when dad and mom
are gone,
I'm going to go
get a roll off
and that's the end of it,
guess what they're
telling you?
If it didn't fit
in that little
three by six plot
that they will spend
from now
until the day
of resurrection
and they're thinking
when mom and dad
are gone,
I know what's
happening with the stuff.
There's a problem
that needs to be dealt with.
And Paul goes on there
in verse 9,
he says,
in verse 8,
he says,
hey,
we need food
and shelter
or clothing
and with these
we will be content.
The characteristic
is we are content
and godly people.
We're happy
with what we have.
I was looking
for the passages,
I was sitting down here
and I didn't find it.
I'm going to count
on one of our deacons.
I didn't mention
that we have 10 deacons
by name here this morning
and they're probably
going to ding me
next month so
I'm going to give
the deacons
an opportunity
to find the Shulamite woman.
Would you do that?
Go ahead and use your phone
at this moment
and just raise your hand
and wave at me later
because I love
the Shulamite woman.
I really do.
When she has an opportunity
to receive an extra bonus
or a benefit
from the prophet,
I think it's Elijah,
not it's Elisha.
Forget it.
We'll figure it out.
But she says something
that is incredibly sweet.
She says,
I dwell among my people.
And what she was saying
is the relationships
God has blessed me with
is all I need.
We're traveling through.
We don't need as much
as we thought we did.
And Paul reminds us
that we ought not
to get caught up
in this religious idea
that you can play
a spiritual game
and actually prosper
in the process.
Can I tell you something?
And this is kind of
off the cuff
so got to be careful
with it.
But ancient religions
would take people's
favorite pastimes
and sins
and make them spiritual.
Do you follow that?
Case in point,
the Canaanite religions
made actual
sexual misbehavior
to be part
of their religious behavior.
And by the way,
Greek goddesses
and gods
remember that
the temple
to Diana
in Ephesus,
great as Diana,
et cetera,
or wherever it was,
they had a thousand
temple prostitutes.
It was a religious experience
to be involved
with a temple prostitute.
Now,
in our culture,
in America,
the prosperity gospel
makes it religious
to be covetous
and kind of wrap it
with a Bible verse
of,
hey,
God wants you
to be incredibly
filthy rich
and so all you have
to do is give to me
and he's going to give
to you
and it works out.
I don't like that stuff
in case you didn't know.
Let's go to the second
part of the text
because it's important
for us to understand
that discontentment
is very dangerous.
First Timothy,
Paul says this,
verse 9,
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.
discontentment.
Discontentment
is far more dangerous
than we might think
and here's Paul
who says something
pretty pointed.
He says,
those who desire
to be rich
fall into temptation.
Let's pick through
the thoughts here
because they're important.
To desire to be rich
is more than just
a passing thought.
The Greek word
that is used
is one that refers
to having a longing
for something
and kind of reaching
out to get it.
An illustration
of someone
who is longing
for something
and reaching out
to get it
would be someone
who makes a decision
on a job
based strictly
on the income.
Does that make sense?
Hey,
do you know
why I'm here?
Do you know
why Tim Knoyer
is pastor here?
Because by divine appointment
I was sent here
to be your pastor
and before I came,
before I said yes,
I did not know
what you would pay me.
I don't think
it's wrong
for a pastor to ask
but just Tim Knoyer
struggles
and I have to work at
being content
and so one of the ways
in which I protected
my little perverse brain
was I said,
I will not talk
about salary
until after I've said
I do.
Incidentally,
my wife married me
without talking
about salary.
My daughter
married Todd
without talking
about salary
and my daughter-in-law
married my son
without talking
about salary.
So here I am.
Why I'm here?
It's because Jesus
sent me
to try to do my best
to love you
and teach you.
Yeah.
So,
how do I know
that I'm striving?
It's when money
is the big issue.
Well,
why would I take
this job?
Because it pays
$100,000
and this one
only pays $70,000
and I can't believe
God would want me
to short myself
$30,000.
I'm just using numbers.
You know,
somebody go home
and say,
I'd settle for $70,000.
Okay,
forget it.
We know we're in trouble
when our desire
for things
lead us to plan
and willingly count
the things
that we will value
and gain
over the cost
and risk
and harm
that comes
with the position
we may accept.
Can I say that slowly
so you understand that?
Okay,
if I get this job,
I can have
a bigger home
and more grass
to mow
and then I get
to buy a mower
that actually
has me anchored
to the seat
for seven hours.
I mean,
what's the logic
of that?
Amen.
Right.
Now,
does God want
some of you
to mow lots of grass?
I am not here
to tell you
one way or the other
but I got to tell you
you're struggling
when your ambition
is all reflective
about,
say it with me,
things.
Let me illustrate.
When you got caught up
in thinking about
a toy or a phone
or a house
or a car
and those things
lead to a loss
of your testimony
or your ministry
or your free time
or your joy,
there's something
that's wrong.
I shared with you before
and I'll share it again.
I've had a lifelong battle
with covetousness.
Everybody,
did you hear me say that?
It's been one of those things
that Tim Kenoyer
has had to work on
all his life.
I have to work at it.
God helped me enough
in dealing with it
on a number
of different occasions
and I'll just tell you
the last one.
about a year and a half ago,
Judith and I began
kind of pondering
about one of these days
eventually,
eventually we're going
to retire.
I felt like I should tell you
I'm not planning to retire.
When we're praying
about an associate
coming in,
it's not because
I'm leaving tomorrow,
I hope.
But I remember
beginning to think
about my retirement state
and I was thinking,
you know what,
I'd really like
to have 10 acres
where I could raise
chickens and raise cows
and I could live out
in the country
and I wouldn't have
to put up
with all the people
around you
and blah,
blah, blah.
I could be out there
by myself
and I didn't have
to deal with,
and I began
to thinking about myself,
so what happens
when you have chickens?
Well,
then you chase
those dumb things around.
And what happens
if you have 10 acres?
God help me,
I don't like
to mow that much.
And so I began
thinking about
if I had all these things,
cows and chickens,
and I did run away
as goats too,
that's part of being
in India,
and the goats
are right up there
next to,
you know,
the apostles
and I thought,
I would like
to have goats.
They really are,
stop.
But I remember
thinking to myself,
so when I spend
my time with goats
and cows
and chickens
and grass,
there will be
no time for people.
And Tim Knoyer
began thinking,
actually it wasn't
me who was thinking,
I was thinking,
and the Holy Spirit
came in and he used
that little silver hammer
and tapped me
on the head,
he said,
pow.
He said,
you know what,
I did not invest
all this energy
in dragging you
out of the swamp
to let you be
a self-centered boor
in the last couple
years you live.
And I said,
yes,
you're right.
I don't know
how my story ends,
but it's not going
to be on a farm.
Now,
there's nothing wrong
with farmers.
I want to be a farmer
when I go to heaven,
you know,
but I'm telling you,
God made me
to serve people.
He saved me
to serve people
and I want to do it.
Discontentment
is dangerous.
Well,
let's kind of
play forward here
and understand
that Paul is talking
about the fact
that discontentment
really is harmful
to us
because covetousness
is really a trap.
Hey,
when you want
to catch mice
or,
help me here,
I know that you
have experience,
when you want
to catch mice
or even rats,
what do you bait
the trap with?
Well,
some of us
do cheese,
but the rest of us
do peanut butter.
And not only
do you smear
peanut butter
liberally on top,
but when you're
devious,
you smooth it
on the bottom
as well
so that when they,
and some of these
little critters
are pretty sharp,
they can get
the peanut butter
on the top,
but when they've
got to kind of
reach over
like that,
it's like,
pow,
you know,
and they're dead.
And you come out
in the morning
and their rigor
morse is set in
and you can think,
yes!
And you scamper
back in and you
tell your wife,
I caught five
today.
Okay,
see,
God,
God warns us.
This business
of being discontent
just means that
Satan is putting
peanut butter
on things
to nail you.
Hey,
how many of you
remember
longer burger
baskets?
My wife came home
the other day,
she'd found
something that,
and you know,
to me it's like,
I don't care,
but she came home,
God,
you know,
I understand that,
and she came home
and said,
honey,
I found this,
it was like $3,
it used to sell
for $120.
Do you understand
that?
How many of you
understand,
cabbage patch dolls,
precious moments.
Am I doing okay?
How many of you
can relate
to some of these
things?
I mean,
you began to think
about building an
addition,
not because you
had more kids,
but because you
had more junk.
Well,
you see,
covetousness is
actually irrational
and harmful.
The person who
is caught in
their discontentment
makes the irrational
and harmful decisions.
That's what the Bible
says right here
in this verse.
Tell you,
is it rational
to become a hoarder?
The answer is no.
Can you all say that?
Hoarding is a no,
it's not smart.
Okay?
But the truth of the
matter is,
as compared to the
rest of the world,
probably 97% of us,
and that's just an
arbitrary number,
but about 95% of us
are hoarders.
We got more than we
need.
Covetousness drowns
people in ruin.
I just play on this
word and then move
on.
The word drowned
there is not the
word that just talks
about you just
suddenly gone.
Any of you that
remember old
westerns,
black and white
movies,
remember that there
was something that
was very,
very visceral.
It just kind of ate
you up to watch
somebody drown in
sand.
Remember?
Quick sand.
And you know,
Kimo Sabe was the
one who had to be
warned about these
kind of things because
he was scampering
around and step out
on that and it was
down for the count.
I mean, and how do
you die in quicksand?
Do you know how it
is?
Slowly wiggle your way
down into oblivion until
you are just dead.
And so the word that
Paul is using is about
kind of drowning
slowly.
I want you to
understand that
actually discontentment
and covetousness was
the first thing that
caught Adam and Eve.
Do you follow that?
I mean, nothing but a
little piece of fruit.
I wouldn't fall for
that.
Go into your computer
settings if you can.
It's beyond my skill
set.
And just find out how
much time you've spent
on Amazon, Pinterest,
and various catalogs
about things that you
have no need for.
Well, let's go to the
prescription.
Verse 11 through 19,
broad flow of the
prescription.
I want you to
understand and break it
down into two simple
statements.
One is run from
covetousness.
1 Timothy chapter 6,
verse 11, put your
finger on it.
It says, but you, but
as for you, O man of
God, flee these things.
For the most part,
evangelical Christians
today do fairly well at
protecting themselves from
the moral challenges of
our culture.
men will avert their eyes
in Walmart.
Men will probably not go
to Zumbese Bay to protect
themselves from the
challenge.
We're generally fairly
careful in the area of
moral purity.
And it's interesting that
Paul uses this same
concept, flee, in dealing
with our natural battle
with covetousness as he
does in dealing with our
natural battle with
impurity.
And my plea with you is that
we ought to exercise the
same discerning desire to
protect ourselves by
fleeing the battle of
discontentment and
covetousness by getting
away from the source that
is going to cause you
problems.
In the old days, we used
to get catalogs.
And one of the things that
Tim Knoyer would do is I
would throw away a fair
number of the catalogs that
I knew if I kept them
around the house in my
reading room, I would end
up thinking that the
things they proposed were
actually very reasonable
expenses.
Do you follow what I'm
saying?
I just, when they came in,
it would go.
And I have to remind
myself with the internet,
you can go anywhere.
You don't have to get a
catalog now.
Guess what?
If you can fantasize it,
you can Google it and you
can find it.
And then you can go on the
website and discover.
By the time you read up the
reviews on these products,
you think to yourself, I'm
not sure I can live without
this.
So my suggestion to you is,
hold it.
Only if you take the word of
God seriously, you ought to
decide, well, maybe what I
ought to do is kind of put
myself on a fast.
flee from covetousness.
Now, here's a little
practical thing.
As you're driving home, you
can say to your wife or you
can say to your husband, and
by the way, do it out of
your shot at the kids because
they have a tendency of
remembering these things and
bringing them up.
You know, it's just like,
how am I doing at
covetousness?
Do you see any struggle in my
life with discontentment?
You know, do you follow what
I'm saying?
And if she's truly honest
with you, she'll tell you what
she thinks.
Or she may say, well, I don't
want to tell him because if I
tell him, then guess what he's
going to do?
Anybody doing the math here?
I don't mind him being convicted
privately, but I really don't
want this bleeding over into my
life.
So as we're driving home, we
thought, well, that was a little
edgy, pastor's sermon.
You know, but next week will be
in John, and that's a lot
safer.
Okay?
Well, flee from covetousness,
run towards godliness.
We find that again in verse 11.
It says, flee, and then verse
11, the latter part, pursue
godliness, righteousness, faith,
love, steadfastness, and
gentleness.
These are things that you have a
conscious responsibility to go
after.
How do you do that?
Your devotional life is one
thing.
Your devotional life is really an
indication of what you're
nurturing because of what you
value.
When I have people that tell me,
well, I just can't find the time
to do devotions, I always ask
myself privately, so do they
brush their teeth?
I've actually asked that question
on occasion.
I've had some people say, well,
not every day, and it's like,
ah!
You know, it's like, I can't deal
with that.
But I've learned not to ask that
question.
I think it.
But here's the deal.
If you can't find the time to be
with God, no wonder you're awash in
the battle with covetousness.
Well, let's kind of work our way
through now.
We come back just for a minute or
two with the last part of Paul's
advice.
Remember, he says, pursue godly
things.
And so now what he does in verse
17 to 19 is he gives us kind of a
little illustration of what to do
since we're rich.
How many of you feel rich?
I mean, really, honestly rich?
Remember a couple years ago when
there was all that hoopla about the
1%?
Do you remember the 1%?
The 1% are the people in America
who make, I think as I was doing
research, about $500,000.
$500,000 puts you in the 1%.
And the attitude of some is that,
you know, since the 1% owes a whole
lot more to the rest of us.
Well, everybody, here's good news.
In comparison to the rest of the
world, anybody here who only gets a
single Social Security check is
actually in the world 1%.
How many of you understood what I
just said?
It was kind of a story problem,
kind of strung together, and I know
that I went off page a little bit,
but here's the deal.
Annual salary in the world,
average, is $1,200.
And I Googled it.
I checked it out from a very reliable,
whatever you read on the computer or
on the Internet, it's entirely true,
right?
You know that story.
But what I Googled was, okay, so
what's the average Social Security
payment?
It said about $1,200 per person per
month.
Now, the person on Social Security
with no other benefits coming in
makes 12 times what the average person
makes in the world.
Are we the rich people?
And the answer is, you bet.
You bet.
And so to those who are rich, Paul says
this, we are not to be haughty or
trust in what we have.
When you think to yourself,
I'm good, is there a number to that
or a relationship to that?
We are not to be haughty or trust in
what we have.
Secondly, we are to be rich in good
works and generous.
Generosity is one of the things that
protects the soul from the natural
pull of the gravitational weight
of covetousness.
And so there is a sense in which,
going back to what we found there in
2 Corinthians, our giving and our
attitude towards things should just
shout out, thank you, Jesus.
I am, above all other things,
thankful for the Lord Jesus Christ.
Do you know why?
Because there was a time in my life
where I was an absolute slave to sin
and I stood justly condemned before a
holy God.
I had no certainty of my eternal destiny.
And I had every reason to be afraid that
when the day of judgment came, that
Tim Knoyer would stand condemned before
God for his sin.
And I remember coming to the place of
being broken for that sin and crying
out and saying, Jesus, will you save me?
And so let me tell you this morning,
as I talk about the subject of generosity
and giving and dealing with the natural
tug of covetousness, I want to tell you
that if you're here and you don't know
Christ, it's not about your wallet,
it's about your heart.
And if you're here and you do not know
the Lord Jesus Christ, and as you walk
out this door, you would step into eternity,
you would face God who would judge you
for your sin.
And there's no need to have that happen.
Because what Jesus did when he came to
this earth, he lived our life, he died
for our sins, and he offers salvation to
whosoever will.
And so what you do is you confess, I am a
sinner who stands justly condemned before a
holy God.
And I know I'm a sinner, and I need
salvation, and I want Jesus to be my
Savior.
And do you know what he'll do?
He'll save you.
He'll forgive you for all of your sins,
and he's going to make you a different
person.
Guess what one of the proofs of that
difference will be?
If he gets your heart, he gets your
wallet.
Let's close in prayer.
Our Father, we're thankful for the
clarity with which Scripture brings us
to the point of saying yes or no to God.
And the most important thing that we have
to deal with this morning is do we know
the Lord Jesus Christ personally as our
Savior?
And Lord, if there are those here today
that do not know him, it would be my
plea, and it has been my prayer.
And I know others are praying with me
right now that today would be the day of
salvation, the hour of conviction.
I would plead with you that you do not
let individuals who do not know Christ
go out of this place without a conscious
and deliberate decision.
Yes, I need Christ to save me for my sins,
or no, I refuse his free and kind and
generous offer.
And for believers, Lord, it has been my
prayer that you would work among us to
help us to grow in our quiet contentment,
our joyful liberality, and our thankfulness
of being part of what you're doing around
the world.
We ask this in your precious name.
Amen.
Let's stand together as John leads us in our
closing song.
And as we are singing, if the...