Temptation - Anger

And why this is so ungodly is because it goes against the very centerpiece of the Christian faith.

! And if I ask you what is life about? What is a Christian life about?

It's the glory of God. Like, everything is centered around the glory of God.

And He is the focus. And this ideology makes us the focus.

We're in the center, and we deserve to be in the center.

So, I should really just... This is kind of a long intro. Sorry, before we get into 1 John here.

You might ask the question like, what is it that corrupts us, you know, as people?

A lot of people like to blame their sin on something.

Like to say, the devil made me do it.

Or, you know, I'm just a victim of a bad environment.

But people in society just push me too hard.

They know how to push my buttons and make me angry and go nuts.

Even some people, on a more theological level, they want to blame their sin on Adam.

You know, as if they don't commit their own sin every day.

And their own hearts are corrupted.

So, but the reality is, and I'll read you this really fast out of Mark 7.

And Jesus said, do you not see that whatever goes into a person from the outside cannot defile him?

And he says, a little later, right after that, all these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.

We sin because we're sinners.

So, he lists this long list of sins, descriptions of sins, like sexual immorality, adultery, murder, theft.

And he says, they all come from within us.

They don't, we're not corrupted by the outside, we're corrupted inside.

So, when we sin, it's our deal.

We, you know, he made me mad.

No, he didn't.

I chose to get mad.

Like he, I can't blame it on him.

You're responsible for your own sin.

And so, another idea people have is if I can just remove myself from the world, I'll be a perfect Christian.

Not true.

And the reason why is because your sin will follow you wherever you go.

A lot of people who go on, you know, mission trips, whatever you want to call it, like overseas, including people in history,

they think that by going to some exotic place and getting involved and pointing their life out, none of their sin will follow them there.

You know?

And all of it does, they have to write, they write out the same things.

Hudson Taylor, who went to China, wrote the very same thing.

My sin has basically followed me here.

Every insecurity I had and every problem I had is here with me right now in China.

It didn't get better.

So, has anybody ever seen the movie The Village?

Anybody?

Some people don't like scary movies, but that's a very interesting movie.

If you could handle it, I would watch it.

I think it's pretty clean.

Here's why.

It's got like some, you can learn a lot about the way humans are in that movie.

They're this group of people that move out in the middle of nowhere and basically live like they did back in the 1800s or 1700s.

And their goal is to, like, remove themselves from an evil and sinful society.

That's, like, what they want to do.

They think that by moving away, they can do that.

But evil pops back up in the movie because humans sin against each other and great evil is committed.

And they think, like, what happened?

We tried to build this perfect world and it just fell apart.

So, our sin will follow us.

We can be alone in the middle of nowhere and it will be there with us.

So, we can't blame the world for our sin is where I'm trying to go with this.

We can't say it's too rough.

I mean, it affects how I live.

So, now getting into our text.

We're not going to necessarily focus on verse 16 because John kind of, he explained that a few weeks ago.

So, and like I said, this is going to warrant more, maybe a Q&A later.

But I think I have three points out of this text and then we're going to spend some time on application.

So, the first one is, we see in verse 15, it says,

Do not love the world or the things in the world.

If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

So, the first point is, the world pushes away love for God.

The world pushes away love for God.

It reveals our identity.

You are what you love.

You are what you take delight in.

The most, I think, one of the chief ways you can get to know somebody or say, I know that person well.

You can't really say that unless you know what they desire and what they delight in and what they take joy in.

So, you are what you love and you're controlled by what you love.

And love for God and love for the world are at odds.

They can't coexist.

It would be like, it would be like saying, I love justice and innocence,

but I'm glad that that serial killer or that child rapist was set free, even when they openly admitted it.

You'd be contributing yourself.

You can't say, I love freedom and liberty, but at the same time, I'm glad that I have some slaves that serve me.

It's just a contradiction.

So, God, you can't love him and the world at the same time.

It doesn't work that way.

You can't serve two masters, as Jesus would say.

In Matthew 6, 24, I'll read this to you.

He says,

No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other.

You cannot serve God and money.

He uses money in this context.

So, it reveals who we are based on what we love.

And, as I said last week, the world will try to befriend you.

It will try to bring you in and make you comfortable.

And, we read in James 4, 4,

You adulterous people, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?

Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

So, it's important that you understand, like, you can't be all about the world,

and where all your time and energy and money is just going into it,

and, at the same time, love God.

It just doesn't work that way.

Love for the world diminishes your love for God.

So, what I want to do here is,

the first place I want to turn is Philippians 3, verse 6.

Philippians 3:6

I think I have five places for you to look tonight.

Philippians 3, 6 through 8.

Philippians 3, 6 through 8.

And, I ask you the question,

we've said this a lot here, but I think it's really, really good.

It would be good to remind yourself.

If you could go to heaven right now, like this very instant,

and go and be in heaven,

and you could have all the worldly pleasures that you enjoy here to the max,

and it would be not simple, and it would be okay, not evil.

You know, all the food, all the sex, whatever you could enjoy here,

you could have there.

Like, in the greatest way possible.

You could go right now.

Like, would you do it?

There's just one catch to it.

Christ is not going to be there.

You still want to go.

And, a lot of people make heaven not to be that way.

I want to go and visit my dead relatives.

I want to go and, you know,

just play that golf course I think is going to be up there.

It doesn't exist.

Christ is heaven.

And, the glory of God is what is in heaven.

And, so, if you can answer that, and you say,

I don't know if I really want to,

then you need to take a close look at yourself,

examine yourself,

to see if you are a true believer.

Because, Christ didn't save you so that you could marry the world,

and marry sin again.

He saved you for himself.

And, true faith in him produces love for him.

So, getting back to this,

Philippians 3, 6 and 8.

But, whatever gain I had,

this is Paul talking,

whatever gain I had,

I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

Indeed, I count everything as loss

because of the surpassing worth

of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things

and count them as rubbish,

in order that I might gain Christ.

And, in this text, he's basically saying,

whatever I thought was so valuable and so awesome,

whatever I devoted my life to,

I now consider refuge,

dung,

in comparison to knowing Christ.

And, that's really the heartbeat of a Christian,

if you are one.

Now, we obviously have to struggle with,

we definitely can get lured by the world,

but we can't stay in it.

We have to come out of it.

We can't love the world like we love Christ.

It's just a different kind of thing.

So, we're to use all things for the glory of God

and things we come in contact with

and not allow us to consume us.

So, if you identify yourself with the world,

you're basically saying and identifying yourself

as a God-hater,

someone who is not a part of who God is at all.

They can't coexist.

And, this leads into our next point,

number two,

is found in verse 17.

Go back to 1 John, sorry.

Keep your hand there.

I'll be flipping back.

1 John 2, verse 17,

1 John 2:17

says this,

And the world is passing away along with its desires.

Okay?

So, the second point is,

not only will the world try to push away your love for God,

but it will,

the world is passing away.

That's the second point.

The world is passing away.

It's fleeting.

It's going away right now as we speak, even.

So, from this,

what do we take out?

We need to have a,

a believer needs to have a great concept

and meditate on this daily.

an eternal perspective

that you're going to last forever.

And,

that,

if you invest in this world,

it's a waste of time.

Because this world is passing away,

no one buys stock in a company

they know is going to get bankrupt.

Right?

You don't go and build a house

on a ship that you know is going to sink.

You don't take all your riches

and your money

and possessions

and put them in a place

that you know is going to go get robbed

and broken into

and all your stuff is going to be taken away.

It's foolishness.

You don't do that.

So,

in the same way,

if this world

and things in it

are the most valuable things to you,

you're going to lose them

because the world is passing away.

And if you hold on to it,

if you hold on to the,

the world so tightly,

you're going to perish with it.

It's like the idea.

Anybody ever read

Mubby Dick?

Getting way back

in our literature.

This one,

the captain of that ship

was obsessed

with killing the whale.

That was his goal.

And eventually,

he did it.

Or he tried to do it.

And eventually,

the whale destroyed him.

He was obsessed with that.

That was his life goal.

And he perished with it.

You know,

so this is

a picture of us

if we try to hold on to the world,

we'll perish with it.

So,

so basically,

if anyone loves the world,

love for the Father

will not be in him

because all that is in the world

is not of God.

That's a summation of this.

And,

I'll throw this out there at you.

In my parents' neighborhood

a few weeks ago,

there was a

really,

really,

really expensive

big house

that was built

in their neighborhood.

And it burnt to the ground

a few weeks ago.

And,

my mom and dad

had a chance to go over

and try to minister

to these people.

And they,

they were like,

man,

our whole life has been there.

You know,

like it's all gone now.

And you can just see

like how

terrible it is for them

because that was their life.

You know,

it would hurt

a lot of people,

but not,

but particularly people

who don't have

Christ as their ultimate treasure.

And,

it's,

it's devastating.

And,

so,

I want to read this out of

first,

our Colossians

3,

1 through 2 to you.

It says,

If then you have been

raised with Christ,

seek the things

that are above

where Christ is.

Seated at the right hand

of God.

Set your minds

on things above

and not on things

on the earth.

So,

a believer needs to have

an eternal perspective

that will help you

battle against

the things in the world.

Third point,

we're kind of moving

through this,

is,

only love for God

gives eternal life.

Only love for God

gives eternal life.

This is in verse 17.

Whoever does the will

of God

abides forever.

So,

loving God

and obeying God

and doing His will

are not

separate things.

They,

they coexist.

They're together.

You can't separate

one from the other.

You can't say,

I love God,

but I'm not going to

do what He's commanded

me to do.

Jesus said

in John 14,

if you love me,

you will keep

my commandments.

You will.

It's an evidence

of someone

who truly knows

who God is.

and it's a lie

to say,

I love God

and I'm going to

disobey every

commandment He's

ever made.

1 John says

that you're a liar.

It's like blatantly

said,

you are a liar

and the truth

is not in you.

So a paraphrase

of all this

is,

if you love

the world,

you will perish

with the world.

But if you don't

love the world,

but love God

and you do His will,

you'll live with Him

forever.

That's basically

a summation

of what we just

talked about.

So,

now,

kind of getting

to the harder part.

And this was

very hard,

y'all.

Like,

we're going to get

into some application

here about

what a lot of

this means.

you know,

I want to do

my best to try

to tread the line

between law

and grace will.

And,

so,

this will warrant

further conversation.

So we can talk

about it later.

Maybe we can have

a Q&A later.

But,

I actually,

again,

kind of,

one book I've read

that has helped me

the most,

learning on how

to deal with

possessions

and things in the world,

an old school book.

It's a section

out of John Calvin's

Institutes.

And,

it's called

The Golden Book

of the True Christian Life.

They just made this

part of the Christian life.

And,

one of these last chapters

is called

The Right Use

of the Present World.

And,

this is really,

really good.

I would recommend,

if you've ever read

anything from Calvin before,

this is a great place

to start.

But,

he kind of talks about

how to deal

with the things

we have in this life.

We're going to

unpack it a little bit.

Then,

I have some scripture.

Then,

I have some quotes.

But,

I'm going to use,

like,

this book,

just kind of as a guide

to walk through

some things.

And,

first of all,

in The Right Use

of the Present World,

this is what we're

talking about,

application,

he says that

we must avoid

two extremes.

Okay?

Two extremes.

The first one

is legalism.

And,

that means basically

adding extra

biblical rules

to things

that aren't there.

Your rules of conduct.

You're being overly

rigid on this.

You know,

adding to the commandments

of God.

And,

God has not said,

you can't do this.

And,

he said that's the first

extreme.

And,

this is what he wrote.

In their desire

to correct

such a pernicious evil,

they have adopted

the only method

which they saw fit.

Namely,

to permit

earthly blessings

only in so far

as their absolute necessity.

You ever heard

anybody say that?

Like,

if you don't need it,

you don't,

if it's not a necessity,

you don't need that.

You've heard

that extreme camp before.

He says,

this advice

showed the best

of intentions,

but was far too rigid.

For they committed

the very,

excuse me,

I have my papers mixed up.

They committed

the very dangerous error

of imposing

on the conscience

of others

stricter rules

than those already

laid down for us

in the word of the Lord.

Okay?

Then he said,

according to that camp,

or according to them,

it would be scarcely

permissible

to eat and drink

anything but

bread and water.

Others saw

even greater

extremes

of being rigid,

like the man

from Thebes

is a historical story,

who had said

he threw all his

treasures into the sea

out of fear

that unless they

were destroyed,

he himself

would be destroyed

by them.

So he's like,

he just renounced

all his riches

because he was afraid

they were just going

to destroy him.

So he said,

that's the first camp

to avoid.

If you were just like,

stay away from it,

it's going to mess you up.

Don't even get near it.

You know?

So that's the first camp,

legalism.

The second extreme

is licentiousness.

That's a big word.

That's a scriptural word.

And it basically means this,

lacking or regarding

for legal or moral

restrictions.

You know?

It means like,

hey,

God made it for us,

let's just enjoy it.

You know?

And you kind of go

the other extreme,

the other side

of the pendulum.

And this is what he said.

On the other hand,

there are many others

nowadays who seek

to prevent,

to excuse

and temperament,

you know,

keeping things under control

in the use of external things

and who desire

to indulge

in the lust of the flesh.

So you've got

the other camp.

You've got the one

Christian group

that's like,

don't even go near beer.

Like,

don't even look at it.

Don't even look at it.

The other camp is like,

hey,

God made it for us to enjoy.

And they let go

and just get totally wasted.

That's like the two camps

you can't be in.

Neither one of those

are the correct biblical view.

So,

that's the two extremes

he says to avoid

that I think are very,

very wise and shrewd.

Another point he makes,

so that's the first one,

the point he makes,

and these are going to be guidelines

for the right use

of things in the world.

The second one is

hindered or assisted.

Okay?

Hindered or assisted.

And he pulls out this

from scripture.

Christians are pilgrims,

are travelers.

That's the way scripture

identifies Christians.

Traveling through this world

on the way to

Mount Zion,

you know,

the city of God,

the eternal realm of God.

Pilgrim's progress

is a great picture of this.

So,

what do you do?

How do you view the things

that you,

a lot of pilgrimages

were going that way

and there's so many things

we're surrounded with?

How do we like,

keep going that way

and not get like,

oh,

get over here

and get totally distracted?

And in Pilgrim's progress,

he's going towards,

you know,

Zion,

you know,

the kingdom of God,

basically.

And there's a place

on the side of the road

called Vanity Fair.

and it basically has

everything you can want.

Like,

all the allurements

of the flesh,

like it's all there.

Wherever he wants,

he could have it.

And it says that it was

placed there by,

basically by Satan

to distract pilgrims

on their way

to going to the city.

So,

this is what he says.

This is what Calvin says

about this.

He says,

the Lord prescribes to us

in his word

when he teaches us

that his servants

for the present life

are pilgrims

in which they are traveling

towards the heavenly kingdom.

And here's the application.

We ought undoubtedly

to make such use

of its blessings

that we are assisted

rather than delayed

in our journey.

So,

if there's something

that's not going to be

beneficial to you

to partake in,

shake it loose.

Get rid of it.

You want to like

have things in your life,

possessions,

relationships,

whatever,

that are going to enable you

and encourage you

in your journey,

not like putting a weight

on your leg

and distracting you

from your ultimate goal.

So,

that's a really important,

you know,

point to make.

Turn to

1 Corinthians chapter 7.

1 Corinthians 7 · chapter mention

1 Corinthians chapter 7.

1 Corinthians 7 · chapter mention

verse 29.

Verse 29.

This is a really interesting verse,

kind of tucked away

in the New Testament.

A lot of people

just breeze over.

Verse 29 says this,

This is what I mean,

brothers.

The appointed time

has grown very short.

From now on,

let those who have lives

live as though they had none.

and those who mourn

as though they were not mourning.

And those who rejoice

as though they were not rejoicing.

And those who buy

as though they had no goods.

And those who deal with the world

as though they had not,

no dealings with it.

For the present form of this world

is passing away.

So,

it's this idea that we

can't engage the things around us.

We can,

you know,

we can enjoy the stuff

that God has around us.

But,

God is like saying,

cultivate such a

eternal perspective,

you know,

like a right understanding

of what the Christian life is.

And have such a satisfaction

in Christ

that you can involve yourself

with suffering in this world.

And you can lose it

and you're like,

okay,

I'll move on.

That's kind of the goal.

Like,

you don't want to be like,

man,

I lost that.

I lost that.

You're going to be able to

engage with things

in such a way

as though

you are not engaging with them.

You can just let them go.

Like,

if that was the point.

And,

it's a very interesting passage

to look at.

Something that's not going to

keep you where you are

and weigh you down.

Next point he makes in the book

is that

earthly things

are gifts from God.

Earthly things

are gifts from God.

So,

the using of temple blessings

cannot be wrong.

If,

if,

they're directed

to the same purposes

for which God created them.

Okay?

Because,

everything that God made

was good.

Everything.

I had a friend of mine

in seminary

a while back.

He said he had to

write a paper.

It basically was like

having to correct

false teaching

and that was the kind of goal

of what this paper was about.

It was,

what he had to address

was somebody who said like,

well,

everything God made

was good

and therefore

like we can do

you know,

marijuana and drugs

and like thinking

about it and saying

like,

well,

because it's good.

And he had to basically

kind of explain

like that's not what's being said.

Um,

that's not what we're trying

to deal with here.

Like,

God gave us things

to enjoy.

They're gifts from God

and it's not wrong

to use them

if we use them

for the purposes

that God intended

for us to use them in.

Not taking them

beyond the border,

so to say,

from what he intended.

This is what Calvin said.

He said,

if we study,

for instance,

while he has created

the various kinds of food,

we shall find

that it was his intention

not only

to provide for our needs

but likewise

for our pleasure

and our delight

in herbs

and trees

and fruit.

Besides being useful

in various ways,

he planted to please us

by their gracious wines

and pleasant odors.

So everything around us

was meant

to like elevate us

to worship the creator.

See that?

Like,

we can delight in these things

but not taking them

beyond what he intended,

obviously.

While you're in 1 Corinthians,

flip back to chapter 6

real fast.

A very, very helpful verse.

Verse 12,

chapter 6.

Great verse.

He says in verse 12,

Paul talking,

All things are lawful for me,

but not all things are helpful.

All things are lawful for me,

but I will not be enslaved

by anything.

See that?

There's like,

there's things that are good

in this world

that we could enjoy

and partake in.

But he says,

there's some things

that are just not

of any benefit to me

to engage in.

So I'm going to stay away

from those things.

At the same time,

the things that I do enjoy,

I cannot allow

to enslave me

and control me.

You see that?

And like,

I have some buddies in here,

they love to smoke

cigars and pipes.

I love the smell.

I wish I could do it.

But that would not

be beneficial for me

because I've had

a lung transplant

and my daughters

would shoot me.

See,

like you can't,

I can't engage

in certain activities

because like,

it would be okay,

it wouldn't be illegal

for me to do that,

but it would not be

a benefit to me,

obviously.

And so there's,

might not be the best analogy,

but this is one

that came to mind.

So,

don't be enslaved

by any good thing.

Don't take good things

beyond what God

intended them to be.

And don't reject them either

because earthly things

are gifts from God.

So,

next point,

I don't know what number

we're on,

I don't have numbers,

is that true gratitude

will restrain us

from abuse.

A true gratitude

will restrain us

from abuse.

So,

a right understanding

of God

and His gifts

leads us to thankfulness

and gratitude for them.

And it allows us

to be like,

wow,

He made this for me,

I'm going to use it

for the reason He made it.

And,

I'm going to give Him glory

for allowing me to do this.

Calvin said,

we should praise His kindness

towards us

in heavenly,

or earthly matters

by giving Him thanks.

You know,

so,

He's given us good things,

but if we abuse them,

they will backfire on us.

There's a verse

in Proverbs 25

that says,

if you have found honey,

eat only enough for you,

lest you will have your fill

and you will vomit.

Like,

some things taken too far

are going to,

like,

backfire on you.

So,

but,

a right understanding

of these gifts

don't hinder you

from enjoying them.

You can give glory

to God

because of what He's made,

and it all goes back

to Him.

Everything is from Him,

through Him,

and to Him.

It's that idea.

So,

here's the rule.

I think this is like

the,

you know,

the last one that I have

from Him in this book.

Basically,

He says,

let us live

in moderation.

Let us live

in moderation.

And,

that means

you're not going to be

one extreme or the other

in those camps.

You're not going to,

like,

throw away the gifts

and say,

they'll corrupt me.

I don't want to get near them.

And then you're not going

to,

like,

indulge in them

to the point of

sin,

gluttony,

and licentiousness.

You're going to be

kind of,

like,

in the middle.

The proper balance

of the right use

of the things

in this life.

And,

you're going to use,

but not abuse,

idea,

the things in this life.

And,

so,

the gifts that He gives us

are parameters

for His glory.

So,

sorry,

turn to

Proverbs 30,

real fast.

Proverbs 30.

This is another

really cool passage.

It's kind of tucked away.

Proverbs 30,

Proverbs 30:7

verse 7.

Proverbs 30,

Proverbs 30:7

verse 7.

It says,

sorry,

two things I ask of you,

talking to the Lord.

Deny them not to me

before I die.

Remove far from me

falsehood and lying.

Give me neither

poverty

nor riches.

Feed me with the food

that is needful for me.

Lest I be full

and deny you

and say,

who is the Lord?

Or lest I be poor

and steal

and profane

the name of my God.

Pretty cool.

It's this idea of,

like,

Lord,

please help me have

just enough

to not make it

an idol.

But also,

don't leave me

in poverty

and want to provide

for what I need.

It's a good way

of looking at things.

So moderation

is the goal

of the right use

of things in this life.

Not to abuse them

and not to neglect them,

but in the middle.

So,

I know people

think about alcohol.

A lot of other things

are coming to mind

right now.

This might be

a conversation

for later.

But,

quickly,

some more application.

Two random things.

I feel like I got

kind of rocky

here at the end.

Sorry.

We'll talk just briefly

about wealth,

money,

and possessions.

And,

key text

we'll look at.

And we'll have,

like,

maybe two other

places where you

look at.

1 Timothy,

1 Timothy 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6.

This will be a good

text to look at.

1 Timothy,

1 Timothy 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6.

And we're going to

read this,

6 through 10.

This is where

it really gets picky

because,

you know,

we're picking on

certain things now.

1 Timothy,

1 Timothy 6:6

chapter 6,

verse 6.

Now there is

great gain

in godliness

with contentment.

For we brought

nothing into this

world,

and we can take

nothing out of it.

But if we have

food and clothing,

with these we will

be content.

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.

For the love of money

is the root of

all kinds of evil.

It is through this

craving that some

have wandered away

from the faith

and pierced

themselves with

many pains.

There's a lot

in that.

But notice his

language.

He's not saying

that money in and

of itself is evil.

He's saying the

love of money,

the abuse of money,

that one side we

were talking about,

that one extreme

camp.

I've got to have

money.

Because with money

you can have

anything you want.

You can have any

kind of pleasure.

You can buy

exactly what your

flesh wants.

So,

we're talking about

this specifically

in the confines

of a believer's

life.

Okay?

There is a

half-truth

that I believe

we live with

here in the

American church.

And it is this.

It sounds

something like

this.

We glorify God

with our wealth

by being thankful

and enjoying

all the luxuries

he allows us

to buy.

Like,

thank you,

Lord,

forgive me

this,

and now I'm

going to go

and spend it

any way I

want to spend

it.

Because he gave

it to me

as long as

I'm thankful,

right?

I'm going to

go and spend

it however

I want to.

The true part

of that statement

is that we

should be

thankful because

God gives us

every good thing,

including money

and possessions.

He gives us

those things,

so that's the

right part.

The false part

is that we

can glorify God

by every purchase

we make.

Not true.

It's not true.

And,

let me read

you this quote

by John

Piper.

He says,

God is not

glorified when

we keep for

ourselves,

no matter how

thankfully,

we ought to be

using to

alleviate the

misery of the

un-evangelized,

un-educated,

un-medicated,

and unfed

millions.

We should be

using our

wealth for

the advancement

of the

kingdom for

the most part.

That's what he's

trying to say.

There are so

many people that

need help,

and I'm

convinced that

now,

more than

ever,

Christians in

America,

particularly in

the West,

they're going to

be held to a

higher standard

by God

than people in

the past.

And the

reason why

is because we

don't have to

get on a boat

and go months

and months to

somewhere and

help somebody in

need,

we can do

it by

clicking and

sending things

and helping

people in that

regard.

And so,

don't say,

well,

because I don't

see these

people,

I don't have

to help them.

We know

they exist.

We know

they're there.

We know

there's misery

out there.

And this is

the rest of

it,

what he said.

This evidence

that many

professional

Christians have

been deceived

by this

doctrine is

how little

they give

and how much

they own.

That's what

identifies this.

He says,

God has

prospered them

and by almost

an irresistible

law of consumer

culture,

baptized by a

doctrine of

health,

wealth,

and prosperity,

we have

bought bigger

than more

houses,

newer and

more cars,

fancier and

more clothes,

better and

more meat,

in all matter

of trinkets,

gadgets,

containers,

devices,

equipment,

to make

life more

fun.

That's

very

convicting.

He definitely

is not saying

you can't

buy some

possession like

something you

take to

light in,

like a

fishing pole

or go

fishing.

That's not

what he's

trying to

say.

He's

trying to

say that

when we

look at

most

Christians,

particularly

here in

America,

you look at

what they

own,

and then

you look,

well,

you're not

really supposed

to do this,

but if

you could

see how

much they

give,

it's like

nowhere in

comparison.

Nowhere.

They don't

even touch

it at

all.

We give

so little

to the

cause of

Christ.

He can

say this

because I

know that

Piper lives

in a very

poor

neighborhood

in

Minneapolis.

I know

pastors get

paid far

more than

he does

personally.

He really

wants to

be clear

that all

the money

that I

earn from

my books

and all

that is

not going

to me.

It's going

to

expand

the

kingdom

of

God.

He lives

on a

very low

paycheck.

He's not

doing that

to glorify

himself.

He's trying

to show

that money

and possessions

is not my

treasure.

Christ is

and I

don't need

those things.

That's really

kind of what

the point is.

He wants

to glorify

Christ.

I really

think that's

it.

God is

not

pleasing

us going

out and

making

any

purses.

Thank you

for that.

We need

to be

deliberate

about how

we are

spending

our

money

to

alleviate

the

unevangelized

uneducated

and unmedicated.

So,

here's the

other side

of this.

Here's another

right use of

our money,

right use.

The problem

is not with

earning a lot

of money.

the problem

is living a

lifestyle that

is maintained

by that

amount of

money.

So,

you can go

out and

make $200,000

a year,

but you

can't be

justified

living a

$200,000

lifestyle.

There's just

no way.

And,

God didn't

enlarge your

deposit or

your bank

account for

you to go

out and

buy and

build bigger

barns like

the parable

Jesus gives

about the

rich ruler.

The fool

who built

bigger barns

so that he

could eat,

drink,

and be

merry.

So,

God increases

our yield,

not so that

we'll indulge

in it,

but we'll

take that

yield and

give it to

God.

And,

in this

text,

in verse 6,

we read that

with godliness

there is

great contentment.

So,

the goal in

life is not

to have more.

The goal in

life is to

have less.

And,

I read a

book a long

time ago

by this

Puritan guy

named

Jeremiah

Burroughs.

And,

this is

one of

his texts

he used,

but he

said this,

very profound.

He said,

contentment

comes by way

of subtraction

and not

addition.

The more

things you

think you

need,

the less

content you

are.

But,

the less

you need,

particularly if

you have

Christ,

you realize

you don't

need all

those things.

You have

everything

in him.

So,

the verse

in Luke

12,

I read it

to you.

Sell your

positions,

Jesus says,

sell your

possessions

and give

to the

needy.

Provide

yourselves

with money

bags that

do not

grow old,

with a

treasure in

heaven that

does not

fail,

where no

thief approaches

and no

moth destroys,

for there

your treasure

is,

your heart

will be

also.

That's

Luke 12,

33-34.

I thought

I would

just give

you some

examples of

this.

Okay,

guys,

just really

fast.

It's hot

in here,

and I

definitely

feel some

heat.

I'm hot.

I'm starting

to sweat.

But,

it's too late

to turn the

air on now.

It'll be too

late.

I was,

a while back,

or a year

ago,

I was talking

to my

grandmother,

who lives

in North

Carolina,

and my

grandmother

and my

step-grandfather,

they're awesome.

People who

really love the

Lord,

and give

a lot of

their life

away to

the kingdom,

and she

was saying,

look,

I'm kind

of like

semi-investigated

by the IRS

and I'm

like,

what?

And I

said,

Grandma,

what are

you talking

about?

And she

said,

well,

they

couldn't

really

understand

why 60%

of our

income

was going

to

missionaries

and ministries

and churches.

And I

was like,

Grandma,

that is

awesome.

She was

like,

oh,

no.

I'm

like,

Grandma,

that's

awesome.

You need

to take

that

and dive

in it

and frame

it and put

it on

your wall.

That is

amazing.

And that's

really,

yeah,

they were

cool.

They were

like,

all right,

that's

just weird.

Why don't

you guys

do that?

It was

their

response.

But the

goal,

they know

they're

wanting to

invest in

eternity.

It's

something that

matters,

not just

live up to

high life in

retirement,

but to

give their

lives away.

A guy

that I

would

encourage you

to look

into,

he was a

Christian

musician

named

Keith

Green.

Back in

the hippie

days,

basically.

Early

Christian

music

pioneer

guy.

He had

a huge

pro and

a big

beer,

and he

played the

piano and

went to

town.

Awesome

guy,

though.

He,

pretty

dramatic

conversion,

but eventually

he rolled

around this

idea of

like,

why in the

world do

we charge

so much

for our

concerts?

Why in

the world

do we

sell

people

our

music?

He

basically

said the

gospel

cannot be

sold.

You can't

buy the

gospel.

So he

rebelled

against the

Christian

music system.

He was

like,

I'm going

to have

offering

concerts.

People

can come

and give

me

whatever

they

want.

He

started

his own

record

company

called

Pretty

Good

Records.

He had

a sign

that said,

would you

like to

buy Keith

Green's

new

album?

You

can't

!

It's not

for sale.

So he