Sermon Tone Analysis
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Intro
Start with
How does ; tie to this?
Philippians
The Apostle Paul values contentment because it indicates Christ’s sufficiency.
6:6 godliness with contentment is great gain.
Moralists sometimes used “gain” figuratively, contrasting it with material wealth.
Jewish teachers sometimes portrayed present wealth as paltry compared with the true wealth of the world to come.
Many philosophers and those influenced by them emphasized contentment; by this philosophers normally meant that people should be self-sufficient, recognizing that they need nothing other than what Nature has given them.
How then should we view individual success and prosperity?
6:6 The Greek word used here, autarkeia, refers to satisfaction with one’s circumstances.
Stoic philosophers valued contentment because it indicated self-sufficiency.
The Apostle Paul, however, values contentment because it indicates Christ’s sufficiency (see Phil 4:11, 13).
6:6.
Paul had just shown how the false teachers equated gain, success, and personal well-being with money.
They promoted a form of outer godliness and intricate academic systems in order to draw people into their influence and so secure their financial support.
Religion brought them prestige and profits.
But … This little qualifier is an important word.
Paul negated the premise and goal of the false teachers.
Success and personal well-being have nothing to do with rules, crowd adoration, or material prosperity: it is godliness with contentment [that] is great gain.
Material possessions are irrelevant.
The human soul was not created to find contentment in the accumulation of stuff.
This is a phantom that too many people chase.
Personal peace is found in intimate relationship with God—this is great gain.
6:7 Paul cautions the believers in Ephesus against prioritizing material wealth over godliness (see 1 Tim 6:17; compare Job 1:21).
Is Paul saying the material world is evil?
So in the interim, if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.
For Christians, God’s “divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness” (2 Pet.
1:3).
Add clothing, given man’s need for covering and protection; then add food, given the human need for physical development and health.
Now we are set.
Paul was not developing a philosophy that equates the material word with evil.
He was not advocating a Christian culture that requires poverty.
He was drawing a definite line between possessions and true contentment.
The former has no bearing on the latter.
Move to
Who gives us our riches?
Look at
What does the Bible say about riches?
Look at ; ;
6:9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation.
Ancient writers who warned against seeking to become rich normally addressed those seeking to accumulate wealth (cf.
Pr 28:20) rather than those who had already become wealthy through inheritance or industry (v. 17).
rich.
A relative term; the highest elite displayed extravagant opulence, but even artisans would have been astonished at the lifestyle of middle-class Westerners who own their own lot, home and car.
RICHES CANNOT SATISFY:
RICHES CAN PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES FOR GOOD WORKS:
6:9 This is not a pronouncement of judgment on all wealthy people.
Paul’s point is that the pursuit of riches is spiritually hazardous and does not contribute to contentment and godliness (compare 1 Tim 6:6–7).
Paul warns the rich about the dangers of self-sufficiency (vv.
17–19).
The Bible presents God as the giver of riches (Eccl 5:19); while riches cannot satisfy (Eccl 5:10; Luke 12:18), they can provide opportunity for good works (Luke 12:33).
Tie to this discussion
Once we become vulnerable to temptation, it is easier to fall into many foolish and harmful desires.
Compromise leads to participation.
These “things” can be kept in balance, but it requires a constant critique of our daily living and choices.
Balance demands an objective understanding of our culture’s values and the ways money can entice us.
If extreme care is not taken, the temptations that money can buy can entrap us into the values and pleasures which Satan peddles.
Many people have lost their integrity or abandoned their faith for fifteen minutes in the spotlight or for a little sensual pleasure.
Once we become vulnerable to temptation, it is easier to fall into many foolish and harmful desires.
Compromise leads to participation.
James outlined this same process: “Each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.
Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin” (Jas.
1:14–15).
Many people have lost their integrity or abandoned their faith for fifteen minutes in the spotlight or for a little sensual pleasure.
Such things plunge men into ruin and destruction.
Just as true gain is spiritual in nature, true ruin and destruction are spiritual as well.
Jesus said he came that we might have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10).
He was not talking about houses and lands, bank accounts or cars.
Though he is the giver of all good gifts (Jas.
1:17), his dearest gifts are of the soul.
6:10 the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.
Paul draws here on a widely cited principle in antiquity that had even become proverbial, with similar wording.
6:10 Love of money (not money itself) is the root of all kinds of evil.
Paul here describes a deep desire and commitment to possess money over and against loyalty and love for God.
Like the young widows who put their desire to remarry before Christ (see 1 Tim 5:11 and note), those who love money allow their allegiance to Christ to be compromised because of selfish desires.
Jesus also spoke on the idolatrous pursuit of riches (Matt 6:24).
6:10.
This verse begins with some first-century folk wisdom, a saying common in Paul’s day: the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.
Money is not the only cause of misfortune and evil, but it is a powerful one.
Love of money is the root, the life support for a variety of wrongs and destructive behaviors.
What are some ways we can wander from the faith?
• The businessman determines to secure advancements and higher salaries, neglects his family, and loses their love and affection.
• The dreamer thinks he can gamble and make a fortune, hoping never to work again.
He keeps trying, wasting his resources in hopes of a big win, losing friends and dignity instead.
• The housewife habitually buys new furniture and redecorates her home, neglecting to tithe or give to others because her comforts have made her insensitive to those in need.
• The pimp sells drugs or sex for the sake of money, fancy cars, expensive clothes.
• The guy down the street steals from others, his desire for things ruining his sense of personal worth.
• The mercenary kills for the sake of cash.
• A woman complains, gossips about a neighbor, snaps at her children and husband, making herself and those around her miserable because she is envious, bitter over what she does not have, always wanting more.
In order to end the evil behavior, each person must dig out its root—the love of money.
The drive for money can destroy relationships, resulting in immoral decisions and compromise.
It can also bring spiritual ruin.
Paul noted that some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith.
It is easy to put Christian ministry, personal godliness, acts of justice and charity, and sacrificial giving on the peripheries of life—to see no connection between these Christian “ideals” and life as we experience it.
The truth is that there is no compatibility.
Are we much different than the rich young ruler?
Paul’s warning should not be minimized.
Those who love money and wander from the faith have pierced themselves with many griefs.
Where do we place our trust?
God allows us to make the choice.
The young ruler decided to keep his riches.
He walked away a wealthy man … but sad ().
There is always a price to be paid.
Paul was not against the drive to accomplish or the ambition to make a difference in the world or on the job.
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