Giving to Glorify God

I would like you to turn in your Bibles this morning to 1 Timothy chapter 6.

1 Timothy 6 · chapter mention

! 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.

Ephesians 3 · chapter mention

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.

2 Corinthians 8 · chapter mention

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

1 Corinthians 6 · chapter mention

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.

1 Timothy 6 · chapter mention

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,

1 Timothy 6 · chapter mention

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,

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,

1 Timothy 6:11

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...