Are you Content?

If you have a bible open it up to 1 Timothy 6. I have titled the message today Are you Content?

The passage we are in today is about False Teachers. And as we have seen in this book, and in all of his letters Paul is not shy about dealing with those who go against the truth. And we have seen for in this letter Paul address the issues going on in this church. If you remember back in chapter 1. False teachers were promoting these myths, and genealogies that were promoting speculations rather than stewardship. These teachers were failing to understand the law, and how it applies this side of the cross. They were people who had no character who indulged in sexual sin, and bad doctrine.

Now Paul is going to tell us today that the issue that is going on with these false teachers is they ultimately lack contentment. And what I am going to argue as our main idea this morning is this…

Those who lack godly contentment sway away from the truth of God’s word.

Let me read you the text this morning…

1 Timothy 6:2b–10 (ESV)

2b Teach and urge these things. 3 If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, 4 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, 5 and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. 6 But godliness with contentment is great gain, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 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. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

Several points this morning to point out to you today the first is this…

A lack of contentment leads one away from godliness.

Paul does not fail to pull out the punches again in this verse urging Timothy to understand false teachers who are twisting the words of God dividing the people of God. Leading others and themselves away from Godliness.

False teachers are usually if not always about themselves, and there own motives, they may appear to be about God but really they use God for their own gain, Paul says these people are not godly, he has expressed over and over again in this book the need for Godly men as teachers, and as we saw that is a character thing, and a theological thing. Paul has made is clear to Timothy and us to have both things if you are going to be a Godly leader.

We have learned in our study of this book that there is no doubt that false teaching impacted this church, it impacts the world we live in today.

False doctrine contrary to the word of God it leads one away from Godliness. I have emphasized this before our knowledge of God should impact the way we live. We should be content with how the word of God teaches us how to live.

The greek word for sound here means health. Scholars have argued that sound words are healthy words if you want to be godly you have to have the pure words of God from the scriptures.

and one even said False teaching produces worldliness and sound teaching produces godliness. Paul makes it clear to timothy that if the people are going to be content they are going to need to know what Godliness is, and what it is not.

The problem these false teachers of Pauls day and our day is they fail to live out godly lives because they are truly not content they want to go their own way. Paul may be talking about false teachers here but you better believe this applies to everyone.

He goes so far to say that people who teach false doctrine are puffed up with conceit and they understand nothing. That my friends is some serious language here.

One man said. IF there is any false teachers trying to deceive the flock in Ephesus and there are, then you should know what motivates their error. And Paul says theses people’s character is marked with conceit. And this isn’t one of those things where you tell someone hey you are pretty or hey you are smart and they say I know these are people who are deceived.

These are people who say you know what I know what God’s word says but I say this… Paul says these people know nothing… He is not saying these people can’t answer a basic math question he is saying these teachers are people who do not agree with the Holy Word of God. They know nothing about being content or his word.

I watched a tik-tok the other day and this guy is talking to a girl and she says she is a Christian and he just asked her do you believe the bible and she no. This is the kind of people Paul is talking about, people who are their own standard. Yet claim Jesus. I meet people like this everyday, and the sad reality is they are not godly, nor are they content. To many self proclaimed Christians are in this spot as well where they don’t believe the sound the healthy words of God. And we wonder why we have the issues in our walk with God.

Paul tells Timothy what flows from these people’s hearts, an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words. Paul says it the opposite of sound. This word in its originally language means to be ill or infected with disease. Powerful. The reality is this you have to be sick to not believe the words of God. So sick. Paul says these false teachers would rather fight over things get into arguments than pursue godliness. They want to be the authority on all things not God and his word.

and in turn all that produces Paul says envy which really is a lack of contentment. Envy desires what it does not have and chases it until it becomes a reality. Enviest people are never satisfied.

A lack of godliness also produces dissension- disagreement, these false teachers disagree with so many people because they don’t believe the sound words of scripture. It’s amazing to me how many arguments Christians get into with another with they have the truth at there very finger tips.

A lack of godliness produces slander false teachers were no doubt going after Paul and timothy for teaching and preaching the very word. a lack of godliness produces evil suspicions which divide the body of Christ. And it produces constant friction because there is no standard of truth.

One man said.. all of these dysfunctional attitudes occur among people who have three characteristics: a “corrupt mind,” “robbed of the truth,” and driven by a perverted concept of “godliness.” The false concept is that godliness (here perhaps in a more ordinary sense of “religion”) is a way to make money.

A lack of contentment leads one away from godliness. But second point this morning is this…

Godliness with contentment is great gain.

this is not the kind of gain the false teachers had in mind.

I read some really good stuff this week, and one man said. Believers should not act as if material possessions were the key to a good life, because they are not. The good life is in godly contentment , not in the acquisition of more possessions and wealth.

So what does it mean godliness with contentment is great gain. I love what John Piper says and it sets us up for the rest of the passage. Paul could have responded to this effort to turn godliness into gain by saying, “Timothy, don’t follow them, because Christians don’t live for gain. Christians do what’s right for its own sake. Christians aren’t motivated by profit.” But that’s not what Paul did in verse 6. He said, “There is great gain in godliness with contentment.” Instead of saying Christians don’t live for gain, he says Christians ought to live for greater gain than the slick money lovers live for.

Godliness is the way to get this great gain, but only if we are content with simplicity, rather that greedy for riches. “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” If your godliness has freed you from the desire to be rich, and has helped you be content with what you have, then your godliness is tremendously profitable Godliness that overcomes the craving for material wealth produces great spiritual wealth. So what verse 6 is saying is that it is very profitable not to pursue wealth.

My own commentary of what Piper said is this… In the hustle and the bustle of this world where money talks as the greatest way to gain stuff pursuing Christ is the real gain. Knowing him more personally, loving him serving him seeking him is the key to grow in contentment and gain something that will last forever unlike financial gain.

Paul makes it clear to us we bring nothing into this world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. You may have heard of the rich man craving to bring his gold into heaven, and God said let it be so, when he got to heaven God gave it to the angels to pave the streets of gold making the man a little upset, but God said to the man you came into the world with nothing you leave with nothing, but the man who leaves the world knowing me that is the true treasure.

Paul says if we have food and clothing with these we will be content. Ouch. Right? I hit my pinky toe on Olivia’s bouncer this week bruised up my toe good kind of ouch.

Philippians 4:11 ESV

11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.

Read a fantastic story all the ex Methodist in the room will enjoy.. In 1781 Wesley began to limit his expenses so he would have more money to give to the poor. One year his income was 30 pounds, and his living expenses were 28 pounds, thus leaving him with two pounds to give away. The next year his income doubled, but he still lived on 28 pounds, which allowed him to give away the remaining 32 pounds For the next two years his income continued to increase so that in the fourth year he was able to give away 92 pounds to the poor. To put this into present-day figures, Wesley was making about $160,000 a year, but he lived like he was making $20,000 a year. 1 Wesley believed a Christian's increase in income should result not in an increased standard of living but in an increased standard of giving. He taught that Christians should not merely tithe but give away all extra income after the family and creditors were taken care of. Wesley continued this practice throughout his life, and even when his income rose slightly over 1,400 pounds, he gave away all but 30 pounds. He was afraid of laying up treasure on earth, so money went out to charity as quickly as it came in. When he died in 1791, the only money mentioned in his will was the miscellaneous coins found in his pockets and dresser drawers. Most of the 30,000 pounds he had earned in his lifetime had been given away.

I If we took this same attitude toward money today, the kind of attitude Paul exhorts us to take in 1 Timothy 6:3-10, then we would see Christian and churches breaking free from the deadly danger of possessions. Instead, they would be using their resources to inundate the lost and poor for the glory of Christ. Some people might call this extreme. even being irresponsible toward our own families, but I don't think me Christians in our culture are in any danger of giving away to much bad seriousness, do we really believe we're going to stand before Chis day and hear Him say, "I have this against you you gave too much Jesus never called someone a fool for giving too much and keeping little: He did just the opposite. Not being towards God is the foolish option. May we be those who give lavishly and willingly because we treasure God above our money.

I read that story about Wesley to drive home this point. Materialism is not the way to find true commitment. Its not the way to be truly satisfied, like most of you in this room, I have had times where I have had excess and times were I had little, but for me the greatest treasure I have is Christ, and it should be yours as well.

Godliness with contentment is great gain. Next point is this..

Materialism is not the way to find true commitment.

I Want you to know something am I am sure most of you already know this, but God does not say being rich is evil. He says the love of money is.

During that time there were pastors who were going around making more money than they should have. In fact I was reading this week about how false prophets figured out how generous Christians could be so they would pray on them from the time of Paul and that has not stoped into todays time. During Luthers time the Pope was saying you give this you are going to receive a great reward. While he was building his own kingdom. Guys today are buying private jets saying it brings them closer to God, and selling towels and books, and using things that are not in the Holy Bible so they can have more bucks in their pockets. I watched one pastor just this week say that he had the biggest house in the county bragging about it. As if all these material things were worth more than the God they were suppose to serve. Its sickening to me.

One rap sound explains it well. I have quoted this before but its so powerful. Pump the brakes, stop sign You saw the sign now you Ace Of Base Preacher saw them dollar signs He on that paper chase Stuffing profits in his pockets A wolf with a sheep's appearance And the reason he's making that scratch huh Is cause those ears itch Pimping out the Gospel (watch out) A prostitution of false doctrine Lies whistle in the wind But we listen If there's a little truth mixed in Find a pastor that suits you On your TV with a suit and tie Hitch a ride in his private jet And you'll be lookin' stupid fly Listen to this part applies to the message.

Materialism And selfish ambition Is a foolish religion The riches of God's mercy Is worth more than your superstition Tell me how does a Christian begin To develop discernment and wisdom First we submit every symbol and sign To the authority of the scriptures

The word of God teaches us that contentment does not come from materialism it comes from knowing the God of the Scriptures.

Paul says that people who are false teachers fall into temptation. I am sure that some of this teachers start out well, but when they see how good of a life they can have from being a pastor at a big church with big influence they say this is nice but a little more would be better, how can I get just a little more, and desires outweigh the call they have on their life. and then they plunge into ruin and destruction. Idk you, but I like stuff. I say I can overdo somethings, but somethings i dont, but i always give my first to God the reality is its hard to be a Christian in America sometimes because of this. Its nice when your bank account has more than 3 numbers in it, and you you have more than one pair of shoes to wear.

John Piper said this.. in the September 1983 UNITED a full page ad for LA-Z-BOY chairs shows a man in a plush office with these words at the top: “His suits are custom tailored. His watch is solid gold. His office chair is LA-Z-Boy.” Below the quote,

I’ve worked hard and had my share of luck: My business is a success. I wanted my office to reflect this and I think it does. For my chair I chose a LA-Z-Boy Executive Recliner. It fits the image I wanted. . . . If you can’t say this about your office chair, isn’t it about time you sat in a LA-Z- BOY? After all, haven’t you been without one long enough?

For those who have ears to hear there is a philosophy of wealth in those lines which goes like this: If you’ve earned it, only a fool would deny himself the images of wealth. If verse 9 is true, and the desire to be rich brings us into the trap of Satan and the destruction of hell, then this advertisement which exploits and promotes that desire is demonic, and is just as destructive to a biblical lifestyle as anything you might read in the sex ads of the Minnesota Daily.

“No matter which way the market is moving, God is always better than gold.”

Are you awake and free from the clean economic wickedness of American merchandising? Or has the omnipresent, economic lie deceived you so that the only sin you can imagine in relation to money is stealing? I believe in free speech and free enterprise because I have no faith whatsoever in the moral capacity of sinful civil governments to improve upon the institutions created by sinful citizens. But, for God’s sake, let us use our freedom as Christians to say no to the desire for riches and yes to the truth:

There is great gain in godliness when we are content with the simple necessities of life.

I want you to go home today and notice how many things show up on the tv getting you to buy something, and ask yourself what truly has my heart. Material things or God.

Paul says ultimately evil comes from the love of money and most notably the love of money causes some of walk away from the faith.

Matthew 6:24 ESV

24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

The reality is this my friends nothing is going to bring you to contentment like a realationship with Jesus Christ. A realationship that is founded and rooted in the truth, that has been changed by Jesus who unlike you and I never sinned and left all the riches heaven those golden streets the glory of God everything one could ever imagine and more to become poor for us becoming the God man so that we could be rich just by knowing him, so we could pursue him in godliness not holding on to our bank accounts, or our possessions but holding on to him seeking the greatest possession Christ. Do you have that kind of contentment. God may have blessed you with a great wealth and if he did I want you to know that what you have is because of him, and what you give is between you and him, but don’t serve the master of money serve the Lord. Work hard enjoy what the Lord has given you, but be content with what you have knowing that he is the greatest treasure. Are you content? Let us pray.