[0:00] Take your Bibles, go into the book of 1 Timothy. 1 Timothy chapter 6, 1 Timothy chapter 6. We're going to be looking at the first 10 verses. 1 Timothy chapter 6, verses 1 through 10 will be our text this morning.
[0:13] And again, I want to express my appreciation to the church because I have the grand privilege of being the guy who calls the pastor and says, hey, we want to come beside you.
[0:24] And I get to hear the appreciation and the response from whatever individual that I'm talking to at that time. Happened to be Brother Keith Malone when I was speaking to him.
[0:36] But I just want to express my appreciation and thankfulness to you guys because it is your support of the church that allows us to do that, to be able to do that. That's not the only place we're supporting.
[0:46] That's one of the places that we're supporting end of this year. We're continuing to walk beside a church that is a new church plant.
[0:56] I say new in general terms. It's about a five-year-old church plant in Springville, Utah. So we're still walking beside the church there that is reaching the most unreached population, the most unreached county in the United States.
[1:13] And we're walking beside that church, supporting them. We also this year began support in a mission in Taiwan. It's working in the red light districts of Taiwan, rescuing women and girls.
[1:24] So it is just a joy to be able to be the pastor of a church that has a concern. And we don't do any of this. We don't do any of this to the neglect or the disregard for our own community.
[1:38] These are things we start, as the Bible tells us, in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth. And it has been a joy just to see how the Lord opens that door.
[1:48] I know this isn't my sermon, but I shared with some, and I looked back. I don't do this all the time, but I'm pretty good at the end of every year and the beginning of every year of writing down kind of what I think the Lord is laying upon my heart.
[2:06] And I looked back four years ago. I had laid out a number of things that I wanted to see happen each year. And it was things that I knew that in my own power I couldn't persuade anybody to do it, but it was just things I don't, I think I might have shared it one time.
[2:21] I think I shared it at the January 2021 business meeting is when I shared it. These are the things I'd like to see happen in the next five years.
[2:34] But the reality is, is that everything I had written down for the next five years, the Lord gave us the opportunity to do it within four. And so we were doing every one of them within four years.
[2:45] And it is a joy just to see, again, your faithfulness, your willingness. I don't speak about giving much because that's not my place. My place is to preach the gospel.
[2:57] When the gospel moves the heart, it always moves the wallet. And so we do give appreciation for that as well. And not just the wallet. I mean, we've had people, because in that five-year thing, we wanted to see people that were on the mission field locally, nationally, and internationally.
[3:14] All that took place within three years. And it was just astounding. It was just time to rejoice. So, again, thank you, church, for being the church. When I first came here, this is now my ninth year, actually starting next month, the first Sunday, next Sunday, because my first official Sunday as pastor here was the first Sunday in February of 2016.
[3:39] That was my very first Sunday as pastor. Because the only way I can really remember that is because my second Sunday was Valentine's Day. So it was February 7, 2016. And I know it was Valentine's Day because Carrie and I understood that if you want to reach the church, you reach the kids.
[3:55] So we brought candy with us. And that was the very first time we ever gave out candy to the kids here at the congregation. The kids have loved us ever since. So we gave out chocolate. So we want to minister to the families. And so we started giving out chocolate.
[4:07] And so it was astounding to see that. This Sunday actually was the Sunday in which I preached in view of a call. So if you were here nine years ago, this Sunday was actually the Sunday.
[4:20] The last Sunday in January was the Sunday I was with a pastor without a church. I had resigned. I preached this Sunday in view of a call. You guys had a vote. And I came back that night and preached.
[4:31] I had preached the second time and you had a vote. So I do not count it as, even though I hadn't really thought about it, ironic that this is also the Sunday in which we will have ordination service tonight.
[4:42] So what a joy. It is to see that happening. And you remember, if you were here, that I shared with you that I really felt like the mission that God had given me was to call the church to be the church.
[4:53] It was to call the church to be the church. That simple. And I cannot express how wonderful it is to be a pastor when you start seeing the church be the church. It is such a joy.
[5:03] So that's kind of my one little side note I wanted to give you. So let's take the word of God. You have it open to the book of 1 Timothy chapter 6, verses 1 through 10. And if you are physically able to desire to do so, let's stand together as we read the word of God before us here again.
[5:19] Timothy is left behind at Ephesus to raise up elders in the church, to be a pastor of the church. And the book of 1 Timothy is all about being the church.
[5:30] So here we continue that theme that is recorded for us in the third chapter. Paul writes,
[7:06] Father, we thank you for your word. Father, more than that, we thank you for your presence. We thank you that we gather together and you are here as well.
[7:18] So, Father, we rejoice in that. What an opportunity to read the word of God, to hear what it is you have to say to us. So, Father, may our eyes be opened and our ears be attentive to what it is you have to say to us as your people.
[7:32] Lord Jesus, be glorified and honored through it. We ask it all in your name. Amen. You may be seated. As we've been making our way through the letter of 1 Timothy, we have seen that Paul's ambition and his desire was to call the church to be the church.
[7:52] He tells us there in the third chapter, But I have written these things in case I am delayed, so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church.
[8:02] And it is the pillar and support of the truth. So, Paul wrote for the intended purpose of allowing the people of God to know how it is they were to behave along with one another.
[8:15] How they should live out their calling of being the pillar and support of the truth in the community in which the Lord had placed them. That is, he had written so that they would know how to be the church.
[8:28] We've looked at a number of things. We've looked at the church's leaders. We've looked at the church's leading servants. We've looked at the church's admonition and doctrine. And we've now gotten into some very practical ideas.
[8:40] I want you to see this morning the church in the marketplace. The church in the marketplace. Because the reality is, is that this morning, and I know we've said this before, This morning, you did not come to church.
[8:56] If you are a believer in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, if you have accepted him as your Redeemer, then you came as the church, not to the church.
[9:08] In scripture, the church simply means ecclesia. That is a word for being the called out ones. To be chosen. Your pastor's wife, this week actually, has the opportunity to be a part of the ecclesia.
[9:24] Because she received a letter in the mail from the county courts that told her she was summoned to jury duty. And this Thursday, she gets to go serve on an ecclesia. She has been called out from among the commonality of people to serve on jury duty.
[9:40] She's not really excited about it, by the way, so I'm trying to encourage her from the pulpit. But she gets the reality of being an ecclesia. You say, well, no, that's not the church. See, it's a common word in the culture. It just means to be set apart from the general populace for a specific reason.
[9:54] That's all the word church means. It means to be the ecclesia, those who were set apart for a special purpose from the common body of society.
[10:05] Nowhere in scripture does church refer to a building. They had temples and synagogues, and they had buildings. But church never refers to a building.
[10:16] That is why the word that was common to their day was used to describe the people of God to be the ones set apart. Because once you were set apart, you did not blend back in.
[10:29] Many of you know that when she received that letter in the mail, it set her apart for a specific point in time. You have been summoned to jury duty for this amount of time.
[10:39] And for this amount of time, you will be set apart from the rest of everyone else in the county until we need you. Well, when God calls you to himself through Jesus Christ, and you accept him as your redeemer, you are set apart.
[10:52] But he does not say you're set apart on Sunday. He does not say you're set apart on Sundays and Wednesdays. He does not say you're set apart for a month. He doesn't say you're set apart for a year.
[11:02] As a matter of fact, he says you are the ecclesia from now on. You have been set apart from society from now until I call you into my presence, and we will be the church forever and ever and ever.
[11:15] See, the church exists in glory as well. The church is present around the throne room in heaven. My brother this morning said he finished up Revelations 19.
[11:26] And y'all been making your way through Revelations into Sunday school class. You've been meeting the church all through the book of Revelations. The church is there around the throne of the Lamb, throwing their crowns down, singing the songs of praise to the Lamb.
[11:39] The church is there in heaven. And when the church is in heaven, it's no longer on earth. But as long as the church is on earth, it is set apart. You know what happens when the church is called into glory.
[11:51] I told you, that's one of my favorite words. When it's called into the presence of the Lamb, the buildings remain present on earth. And the shell of the building is still there.
[12:03] So, now I caution you. I know we get a little legalistic here, but this has application to my message. This building can be referred to as being a sanctified space that is set apart for holy service.
[12:18] But it cannot literally be called the church. Because the building has never been called out for any other purpose. Technically.
[12:30] Now, I still say, when I call my wife, I say, I made it to the church all right. It's the church building. So, I know I'm doing the same thing. But if we want to speak with technicalities, and we want to speak accurately.
[12:45] Now, this has application here. It's because the church goes to the marketplace when you go there. You do not leave the church. You are the church.
[12:58] And this is where the weight of the passage speaks truth to us. Because when Paul was writing, and he says, Again, we've said this before.
[13:12] Paul wasn't saying, these are the list of rules of do's and don'ts inside the church building. Right? Don't run in the hallway. Don't run in the sanctuary. Don't bring food and drinks in here.
[13:23] Though we don't really want you to do that. I know I have a bottle of water right there. But, you know, we don't want you to do certain things. But he wasn't given that because they didn't have those buildings. He was talking about how they ought to live in society as the church.
[13:41] And since they were set apart, it would directly impact how they lived in the marketplace of the world. This is where scripture gets personal.
[13:52] This is where, because it's easy, because see, the tendency is to say, well, that's how we behave at church. We don't have to behave at church the way we behave in the world.
[14:04] Well, you do when you realize you are the church. No longer can you segment or segregate certain aspects of your life.
[14:15] When you come to the biblical understanding of I am the church. In Christ, since he is my redeemer and savior.
[14:27] Since he will someday call me into his presence. He has set me apart. He wrote me a letter. He sent it to you in the word of God. He has set me apart for his service.
[14:39] And that being set aside means it dictates and determines how I live the entirety of my life. Even how we work. Look at what the word of God says.
[14:50] Number one, I want you to see the regard of the worker. The regard of the worker. All who are under the yoke as slaves. Now, first of all, let's make certain that we understand what the passage does and does not teach.
[15:05] Okay? Because, admittedly so, in our own land, most portions or some portions of scripture were used to do things which we know are anti-scriptural.
[15:15] They are things which should not have never been done in the name of Christianity. And they were done in our own land. But we need to understand correctly what the word of God does teach. First, this is not an endorsement of slavery as we know it.
[15:29] Neither is it an approval of slavery as we know it. Okay? It is not claiming to speak of either one of those. It is claiming to speak to the individual who may be living under the circumstances of slavery.
[15:45] Paul neither says, well, it's right or it's wrong. Actually, he declares elsewhere that if you are a slave and you have the opportunity to get free, then by all means get free. But also, the slavery of the Roman society was so much different than slavery of American colonies.
[16:00] And we need to accept that and understand that as well. Why? Because in Roman society, so many people, we would refer to them as indentured servants. And it was actually of some benefit at times to be a slave.
[16:12] It's not saying that every one of them were. But at least when you were a slave, you knew where your food was coming from. You knew where your clothing was coming from. And you knew where your shelter was coming from. And you dedicated your life to them.
[16:22] And just in case, most people would say that the common day interpretation or the more accurate interpretation of this or application, not interpretation. Application is a better word.
[16:33] That the equivalent application would be the worker at his job. But just in case we want to ease it up a little bit. We want to say, well, that doesn't have the application to me.
[16:45] Look at what it says. All those who are under the yoke as slaves. Now, if you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then my friend, you are under the yoke. Because what does Jesus say?
[16:56] Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden with burdens. And what does he say? Finish the rest of that. And I will place my yoke upon you. Right? I will place my yoke upon you.
[17:07] So if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, then you are under the yoke as a slave of your master. This is why Paul refers to himself as the slave of Christ. Some of your translations say bond servant, bond slave.
[17:21] But the literal word there is doulos in the Greek. And doulos only means one thing. That means slave. Okay? I'm not trying to get into biblical interpretation right now. Some translations have softened that a little bit because of who commanded them to make that translation of Scripture.
[17:36] All right? If the king says, I want you to make an English translation for me, then you soften a little bit. If the common man wants you to make a translation, then you soften a little bit. But the word is slave. That's exactly what it means.
[17:47] And Paul refers to himself as the slave of Christ. Why? Because we are under the yoke of Jesus Christ. He is our master as our Lord and Savior.
[17:58] But look at what it says. The regard here. All those who are under the yoke as slaves are to regard their own masters as worthy of all honor. Now, it does not say if your master is good or if your boss or your supervisor does what you think is right.
[18:14] Or you put this stipulation upon him. It says all masters. Right? It is dealing with the individual. And if we keep this consistent in Scripture, Jesus himself tells us not to curse those who curse us, but to bless those who curse us.
[18:32] Listen, I have not always been vocational pastor. I've worked under some good supervisors. I've worked under some not so good supervisors. I've worked under some that blessed me.
[18:44] I've worked under some that cursed me. I worked under some before I was a believer. And I had my way with them back. I worked under some when I was a believer. And I had to change. Because, see, the Word of God says all masters.
[18:59] You ought to regard them, he says, as worthy of honor. You say, oh, they're not worthy of honor. Well, in Christ, I have news for you. Neither are you. Neither are you.
[19:12] All of us are desperately wicked. We're not worthy of the honor which we have received in Christ. But look at what it says. Why? So that the name of God and our doctrine will not be spoken against.
[19:27] So that the name of our God and doctrine will not be spoken against. When you read the Old Testament, you open up the pages of Scripture. The greatest offense of the nation of Israel was not their idolatry.
[19:42] It was not their fornications. It was not their failure to keep the law. The greatest offense of the nation of Israel in the Old Testament was that they brought disregard and shame to the name of God.
[19:56] They were to be living for the glory of his name and rather began to live for the shame of his name. He said, you have defamed my name. Friend, listen to me.
[20:07] It is very becoming of us to understand that how we behave as employees and employers dictates what people acknowledge about our profession.
[20:21] Some of you say, well, I'm retired. I don't have to worry about that. But you still hang out in the marketplace, right? The habits and the behaviors which we display are the testimonies to our profession.
[20:35] It is very easy to say one thing and to live another way. We go back to the book of Acts. People will come in to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. What does it say? Because of what they saw and heard.
[20:49] I've shared this statistic with you more than once. And it's something that I had to learn as a pastor. It's something that I had to learn as an individual.
[21:01] In communication, that is, if I'm trying to tell you something and you're telling me something, in communication, you receive communication a full 85% based upon what you see and only 15% of what you hear.
[21:16] So how you see me dictates much more than what I say. And you're the same way.
[21:29] When you want to share the gospel with someone and you want to share the truth, friend, listen to me. 85% of that communication is based upon their perception of you. A full 85%.
[21:42] And that's a conservative number. That's why people came to Christ and you say, well, I don't believe in statistics. Well, do you believe in the scripture? It says, based upon what they saw and heard.
[21:53] It is always in scripture what they see of the people before what they hear of the people. How we behave really dictates what others receive.
[22:05] Coming to Christ should make you a better worker. Coming to Christ should make you work harder. Coming to Christ should change the full behavior.
[22:17] It doesn't mean that you're going to not try to, as Paul says, set yourself free if you need to. It doesn't mean you say, well, this is miserable and I have an opportunity to better myself, but I'm not going to. It does not mean that.
[22:28] It just means that whatever you do, do as unto the Lord. Not for your glory, not for your recognition, but for his. It is the regard of the worker.
[22:41] Because, friend, by the way, your job and your occupation, even the life you live, these are gifts that God is getting you to do. It is something that we understand.
[22:56] He says, then, those who have believers as masters must not be disrespectful of them because they are brethren. See, there was the temptation to say, well, if you're a believer and I'm a believer, then in Christ we're equal, so I can treat you however I want to.
[23:09] He says, no, all the more. Labor for them all the more. Why? Because they are believers and beloved of the Lord. And teach and preach these principles. It is the regard of the worker. Number two, notice the reproach of the false teachers.
[23:25] The regard of the worker and the reproach of the false teachers. If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus.
[23:40] Friend, listen to me. False teachers always have a doctrine problem. The greatest test of the teaching is doctrine.
[23:51] This is why in church and as an individual Christian, you need to know doctrine. You say, well, I'm not going to concern myself very much with doctrine. I'm just going to leave that to the theologians.
[24:05] Well, doctrine matters. You say, well, I don't think it's very important. I read a quote one time some time ago of a pastor saying, well, here at our church, we don't concern ourselves more with doctrine.
[24:16] We just want to help out with how people live their lives. Well, if you don't know doctrine, then you don't know how to live. I mean, it's just the truth of it. Doctrine absolutely matters.
[24:27] And how are you going to determine if someone is a false teacher if you do not know doctrine? The greatest encouragement that I could ever have was to stand in front of people who knew their scripture and their doctrine so much that it held me accountable that I had to be right.
[24:43] And I'll thank God for that. People say, I don't know, pastor. This is how I see it. How do you understand? It says doctrine matters. That is the responsibility of the congregation. It's the responsibility and the calling of the pulpit.
[24:55] But it says that these who do not conform with this proper doctrine, he says, and he goes on, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness. So true doctrine conforms the individual to godliness.
[25:12] All true doctrine has as its final aim and its final ambition the godliness of the individual. It will make you godliness.
[25:23] It goes on. Here is the reproach. But the false teachers don't do that. Look at what it says. He is conceited and understands nothing. But he is a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy and strife, abusive language, evil suspicion, and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth.
[25:44] People who want to twist and distort and say all these different things. People who get caught up and hung up on these things. Look at what he says. Look at how he describes him.
[25:55] Morbid interest. Controversial. Look at what he says. Finally there he says, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.
[26:07] Here is the reproach. Now godliness here literally means religion. These are those, it says, who suppose that religion is a means of gain.
[26:19] They are using religion as a springboard for profit. I remember many years ago, probably nearly 18 years ago now, I was taking the class to Clear Creek Baptist Bible College.
[26:33] If you ever want to see the smallest Bible college you can find, that's it. Pineville, Kentucky. Clear Creek Baptist Bible College up in the hills of the mining country there. Coal mining country. And I was listening to the professor speak and he said one time he had a classroom of students, prospective pastors.
[26:48] Now their so-called aim in that day was to train mountaintop preachers. That's all they were trying to do, train mountaintop preachers. Kind of like you saw our brother here from East Tennessee, right?
[27:00] That's the preachers. They were training mountaintop preachers. Simple folks. And somebody in that class raised their hand, asked the professor, said, Professor, what's the highest salary of any Southern Baptist pastor today?
[27:12] And the professor happened to know, he said, well, today, and this was some years ago, he said, today, the highest salary of any Southern Baptist pastor is $650,000 a year.
[27:23] He said, that student went, glory, hallelujah, there's hope. He said, but you ain't getting there. Okay? Now, you say, well, that's a lot of money. Right?
[27:33] It's a lot of money. And that was 20 years ago. And he wasn't casting judgment or anything of that nature. But what he was trying to do was correct the perspective of the students. Religion is not a means of gain.
[27:50] Anybody that's ever been in vocational ministry will know, and it's hard for a pastor to talk about this. And some of the pastors I know that have made more money. Listen, Adrian Rogers, when he was alive and well, preaching over 30,000 people in one setting.
[28:04] He was preaching the second largest church in the Southern Baptist world. The first would be Second Baptist Church of Houston, Texas. I've attended Second Baptist Houston. I've never attended Bel Air, but I know some of them have.
[28:17] Adrian Rogers stood upon the heels of great preachers as R.G. Lee. He was paid well. I know he was. But Adrian used to tell, he said, listen, I have been paid to preach. I have preached for free.
[28:31] And I have paid others to be able to preach. It was never his ambition to get rich in religion. And you understand that if you are committed to it honestly, that it quite often will cost you more than it will gain you.
[28:50] I've done the numbers in my own head as it applies to my own life. And there are times you have to sacrifice. You have to give up. But it's okay.
[29:00] Look at what it says. But not so with the false teachers. Their desire is religion as a means of gain.
[29:11] Do you know, and then some of them are going to tell you this, and you're going to go look it up. And I hate to even do it, but I'm going to do it anyway. Do you know that there are channels dedicated to breaking down how expensive some quote-unquote pastor's shoes and clothing is?
[29:29] That you can go watch certain channels where individuals are telling you how much these shoes cost, how much this shirt cost, how much that suit cost. And you say, oh, they shouldn't do that to that man.
[29:40] Well, first of all, that man shouldn't reflect that either. And it's just an honest reporting of this is what they're standing before you. And you say, well, pastor, you're a kettle calling a pot black up there in that nice jacket.
[29:55] I am. And you meet me afterwards at the back door, and I tell you where it came from. I'll tell you how much I gave for it. $5.99. $5.99 at the Goodwill. Ain't nothing wrong with that. Okay?
[30:07] Nothing wrong with that. I love this jacket. There's nothing wrong with that. I'll take every jacket I wear before you came from Goodwill. Every one of them. You say, well, pastor, you ain't that broke. No, I'm not blessed. The Lord has somebody at the Goodwill that wears my size, and I'm so thankful for it.
[30:21] I rejoice in that. And golfers, their pants are so comfortable, man. Praise God for them golfers who outgrow their pants and send them to Goodwill. Ain't nothing wrong with that.
[30:32] It is my ambition to be comfortable before you. I ain't got to be, you know, I want to look right, but I ain't got to pay extra for nothing either, right? I got to be smart. Be gentle as doves and wise as serpents, so I understand these things.
[30:45] But anyway, we digress. Here's the false teachers. And there's the admonition there. But friend, listen to me. In case you think it only applies to the teachers, look at the realization of the godly.
[30:57] Look at the realization of the godly. Verse 6. But godliness actually is a means of great gain. In case you ever feel like you've given up a lot to come to Christ, godliness actually is a means.
[31:08] See, the false teachers think that godliness is a means of gain. Paul says godliness is a means of great gain. But read the rest of the verse. When coupled with contentment.
[31:22] But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. He says the realization of the godly is that when I gave up what the world had to offer me, everything I gained far surpasses it.
[31:40] Godliness and gain is not measured by bank accounts nor cash flow. Look at what it says. The gain of godliness is measured by the attitude of the heart and the mind.
[31:51] It is the peace. It is the joy. It is all these things that surpass the world's understanding. It captures things the world cannot do. If your peace and your joy is wrapped up in your bank account, all it takes is one great tragedy to all of a sudden remove that away from you.
[32:09] It is the understanding that your sins have been forgiven, that you stand redeemed and accepted before a holy god. As my brother shared this morning, not only do you get to call him father, you are reminded of our father who art in heaven, right?
[32:22] He is not only your father, but he's also the one who has the omnipresent ability to do anything he wants to do. And he says that contentment is this, for we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either.
[32:39] The gain of godliness and the realization of the godly is this understanding, that everything that I have has been given to me. Oh, you say, oh, no, no, no, no, no. Pastor, you don't understand.
[32:50] I worked, I labored, I did all this. I went to this amount of school and I did all that. Who gave you the energy to do that? You say, well, I had so many sleepless nights. Who gave you the oxygen in your lungs? The Bible says in the book of Job that if God was to call his spirit back to himself, all a man would perish, every one of us.
[33:06] Who gave you the mind to focus on these things? Who gave you the ability to work? To work is a gift of God, but he gives you the strength to do it. See, everything that you have when you came into this world, you had nothing.
[33:17] Everything that you have now and everything that you ever will have is given to you for temporary use in a temporary place. He does not say your possessions are wrong, but it says the realization of the godly is that all that is in my hand, oh, Lord, you have placed there.
[33:38] And I keep my hands open because, Lord, there may be something else you want to place there. There may be something there that you want to take out. But, Lord, I realize with open hands I stand before you.
[33:50] You are the provider and the sustainer. What you leave, I enjoy. What you take away, I praise you for it. He says, oh, yeah, that's easier said than done. It is. Listen, I've praised him when I lost the jobs and I've praised him when I've gotten them.
[34:06] I've been there. I know. Paul says, I've learned to rejoice in abundance and I've learned to rejoice in need. It is the realization that everything you have, you came with nothing, so whatever you possess had to be given to you from someone.
[34:23] Oh, well, my parents did it or my grandparents did it. Well, who do you think gave it to them? I don't care how far back you want to take it, we can take it all the way to Adam if you want to. It all comes from the provider.
[34:36] And you rejoice because you have been given provisions. But you also realize that there will be a day where you lay those provisions down and you stand before him just as you came with nothing.
[34:49] Here's the realization of the godly. All that I have has been entrusted to me for a time. But there will be a day when I will no longer need them.
[35:01] And I will lay them aside. Listen, everything in this world will perish. Nothing in this world is eternal save mankind.
[35:13] Peter says all of this earth will be shaken. So that anything that can be shaken will be shaken. And the only things that will remain were those things that are unshakable. And that is mankind. You live with the reality that someday you will stand before him as an eternal being taking nothing with you.
[35:31] Presenting nothing before him because you came here with nothing and you leave with nothing. So he says if we have food and covering with these we shall be content. You know what content means?
[35:41] In its original language I told you what Ecclesia Church means. You know what content means? The philosophers of that day, of the day when Paul was writing this, used that word to mean self-sufficient.
[35:53] It was something that was applied to someone who was unshakable in society. That what happened in society didn't shake them, didn't move them, didn't change them. Because everything they needed they found within themselves.
[36:05] It was to be self-sufficient. That the ups and downs of the world had no effect upon them for they were steady eddies. You know what I mean? They would just keep on going. Shake us.
[36:24] That we're content with the necessities. That doesn't mean we have to stay there, but it means we're content there. It is the realization of the godly. Fourth and finally, look at the reminder of great danger and I'll be through.
[36:37] But those who want to get rich. Notice what it says. It doesn't say those who are rich. It says those who want to get rich. Now we're focusing on the desire.
[36:48] Now we're just not talking about false teachers. Those who have it as their ambition and their desire to get rich. I sat in pre-marriage counseling many, many years ago. Had a couple sitting in front of me saying, oh, well, we were waiting until we get married.
[37:01] We're going to wait until we have kids until we're making X amount of money per year. And I started laughing. And they kind of looked at me. They were a young couple. And I just, I started, I know it's not very professional of me, but I was laughing out loud.
[37:12] And I was laughing right in front of me. They said, what are you doing? And I said, I don't care how much money you make. You can never afford kids. It's not going to happen. It's just not, it's just not possible. And if you wait till then, then you'll be waiting for eternity.
[37:27] But they had this desire, right? They had this ambition. He says, but those who want to get rich, who make that their chief ambition, fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge men into ruin and destruction.
[37:44] Oh, the snares that are set before us, that the wires are tripped because of our desires. And one of the things that trips those wires is a desire to get rich. This is how the church behaves in the marketplace.
[37:59] Look at verse 10. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil. It doesn't say money. I know you've heard that before. It's the love of money. Loving and serving money more than you do the provider.
[38:12] It is loving the provisions over the provider, which is the root of all sorts of evil. Not of every evil, but of all kinds and various kinds of evil. But don't, we know that part, but look at the rest of it.
[38:23] And some, by longing for it, have wandered away from the faith. And some, by longing for it, have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
[38:36] Oh, I wish I had time to tell you. I know brothers from the pulpit, and I know brothers and sisters, those who were given, and it was hard, and it was difficult. In vocational ministry, these brothers would try to make it work this way and make it work that way.
[38:50] And little by little, they would wonder and wonder and wonder away. You know the thing that scares me the most? It's not the walking away from the faith, for I can realize that. It's the wondering. It's getting off course just a little bit.
[39:02] And just a little bit more. And just a little bit more. And just a little bit more. Friend, if you're not careful, you'll wander away. And before you know it, you'll look up, and you're much further than you ever wanted to be.
[39:17] Why? Because you're longing for the wrong thing. Those who long for it have wandered away from the faith. What we say is, Lord, we need you.
[39:31] Whatever you provide, we thank you for. But we need you. It's not the walking away that's the greatest danger. For if you turn your back and walk away, I can see it. Anyone can see it.
[39:42] You'll even know it. It's a little deviation off course. It's a little wondering. So we set before us every day. Lord, is this drawing me away?
[39:54] Or is this pushing me closer? Lord, how do I behave in the marketplace the world has put me in? Because it absolutely matters. For the glory of the King.
[40:05] And the sake of His people. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this day. I thank you for the opportunity we have to be together.
[40:19] Lord, how challenging it is to walk in fellowship with you. But how rewarding. So, Lord Jesus, we pray that our hearts and minds be fixed upon you. You'd give us clarity and certainty of leading.
[40:33] That we would stand as people with open hands. Saying we would rejoice what you put there. We would even celebrate what you take out. But, Lord, all that we ask is that you be in control.
[40:45] May we live our lives for your glory and honor. We ask it all in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.
[41:12] Amen. Amen.
[42:11] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[42:23] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[42:38] Amen.