The Treasure that Makes You Poor

Good morning, Watermark Church. So this morning, we will look at Ecclesiastes chapters 5 and 6.

Ecclesiastes 5 · chapter mention

So it's going to talk about possession and also contentment. Starting in chapter 5, verse 8, we read,

The oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and righteousness.

Do not be amazed at the matter, for the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them.

But this is gain for a land in every way, a king committed to cultivated fields.

He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income.

This also is vanity. When goods increase, they increase who eat them.

And what advantage has their owner but to see them with your eyes?

Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich would not let him sleep.

There is a grievous evil that I have sinned under the sun.

Riches were kept by their owner to his hurt, and those riches were lost in a bad venture.

And he is father of a son, but he has nothing in his hand.

And he came from his mother's womb, he shall go again, naked as he came,

and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand.

This also is a grievous evil.

Just as he came, so shall he go.

And what gain is there to him who toils for the win?

Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness, in much vexation and sickness and anger.

Behold, what I have sinned to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil,

with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him.

For this is his lot.

Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them,

and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil.

This is the gift of God.

For he will not much remember the days of his life,

because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.

There is an evil that I have sinned under the sun,

and it lies heavy on mankind.

A man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor,

so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires,

yet God does not give him power to enjoy them,

but a stranger enjoys them.

This is vanity.

It is a grievous evil

if a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years,

so that the days of his years are many,

but his soul is not satisfied with life's good things,

and he also has no burial.

I say that a stillborn child is better off than he,

for it comes in vanity and goes in darkness,

and in darkness its name is covered.

Moreover, it has not sent the sun or known anything,

yet it finds rest rather than he,

even though he should live a thousand years twice over,

yet enjoy no good.

Do not all go to the one place?

All the toil of man is for his mouth,

yet his appetite is not satisfied.

For what advantage has the wise man over the fool?

And what does the poor man have

who knows how to conduct himself before the living?

Better is the sight of the eyes

than the wondering of the appetite.

This also is vanity

and the striving after wind.

This is the word of God.

Thank you, Iris.

Let's pray together as we come to this passage.

Heavenly Father,

a sovereign Lord of all creation,

as we sang earlier,

all glory to you, God.

May you be glorified, God,

with the words of our mouths,

the attitude of our hearts,

the work of our hands.

God, we long to see you glorified.

And I pray, God,

even in the next 30 minutes,

as we look at your word,

may you be honored and glorified.

May we see you, Jesus.

God, as we pray,

we just consider some of the things in our world,

and as we consider our new chief executive

coming in to office this week,

we pray for John Lee.

Pray for your favor on him.

We pray that you give him

both wisdom and a heart of justice,

that he will serve the great people of this city.

God, we pray for a fear of God in him,

that he will make decisions

that are honest and just

and for the good of the people.

We really bring him before you.

We bring the ceremony on Friday before you.

And we ask for your blessing on his life, God.

Won't you protect him

and protect him from wickedness?

God, we pray, Lord, also for Amelia,

who's with us today,

but soon going back to Taiwan

and just her work with the Hakka people there.

God, we're so thankful for her life

and her faithfulness to you

and the way she serves you

and serves your people.

God, we pray today for your blessing

to rest upon her.

Strengthen her, God,

when it's tough.

God, encourage her with,

may she see some of the fruits of her labors.

God, we pray for your blessing

to rest on Amelia and her work in Taiwan.

God, we pray for those in our own community,

those that maybe are sick.

We know many of us have had COVID

or are currently struggling with it.

God, we pray just for your grace

and those that are at home and sick,

those that are distant from family

and are unable to see them soon.

Lord, we pray for those that are traveling

in the coming weeks and months.

Won't you be with our community

and keep us safe?

Lord, we bring all these things before you

in your great and your precious name.

Amen.

Well, I should have introduced myself earlier.

If you're new to Watermark,

my name's Kevin

and it's great to have you with us.

Welcome if you're new for the first time.

We are working through the book of Ecclesiastes

and today we come to chapter five and chapter six.

Now, Boris Becker was a star tennis player

at the very top of the tennis world.

He, in his lifetime,

won around 50 million US dollars of earnings.

He had houses all over the world

and was the star of the tennis world.

He, and yet he was on the brink of suicide.

He writes, he says,

I had won Wimbledon twice over,

once as the youngest player ever to do so.

I had all the material possessions I needed,

yet it's the old song of movie stars and pop stars.

They had everything and yet they are so unhappy.

I had no inner peace.

I was a puppet on a string.

Well, as we,

the Bible has lots to say about wealth and money.

Jesus talks about it in almost a third of his parables,

reference money,

and over 2,000 verses in the scripture

talk about the concept of wealth.

And so it's not surprising when our teacher

in the book of Ecclesiastes,

Kohelet,

the one who,

his words encompass most of the book of Ecclesiastes,

he's considering the world around him.

He's trying to make sense of life around him.

And he considers toil,

and he considers pleasure,

and he considers wisdom and education.

And so it's not surprising that as he looks at the world around him,

he considers the role of wealth and money

in the pursuit of meaningness and happiness.

And he considers the subject of wealth.

And many of us in this room are very financially savvy.

Some of us have made a career out of wealth,

whether wealth creation or wealth preservation.

And the Bible says that,

never says that money or wealth or being wealthy is a bad thing,

or a wrong thing,

or a morally wrong thing,

or an unspiritual thing.

The Bible never says that wealth is a bad thing,

but what it does say is that it's a treacherous thing.

It's a dangerous thing in some ways.

And that's what our passage today is going to look at.

The teacher, Kohelet,

he's reflecting and grappling on the subject of wealth and money.

And as he does so,

he's grappling with the paradox of wealth.

And he comes to the conclusion,

he says,

wealth or money can be a great blessing in your life.

And you can thank God for it.

But it can also be a great curse in your life,

depending on how you relate to it.

The author says that wealth has the ability to control you or to serve you.

And so look to wealth to give you meaning or purpose,

sign over the power of attorney to wealth,

to the treasures of your heart.

And oh, it can be so disappointing.

It can embitter you.

It can rob you of joy.

Because wealth is the one treasure that has the power to make you poor.

But, he says,

on the other hand,

if you will master the love of money,

if you will regain over it so that it doesn't control your emotions and your affections,

your love and your joys,

your anxieties and your fears,

money can actually be a great blessing,

a great sense of joy.

Wealth, says the teacher,

is a terrible master,

but a great servant.

That's what we're going to look at today.

And so let's see how the teacher arrives at this point.

Firstly, consider, he says,

those who look to money or financial success for meaning and purpose in life,

he says,

consider how wealth has the ability to be a source of pain.

Look at how he says this in verse 13.

If you've got your bulletin,

you'll need to look at it.

He says,

chapter 5,

verse 13,

there is a grievous evil that I've seen.

Another translation says,

a sickening tragedy.

There's a tragedy that I've seen under the sun.

Riches were kept by their owner to his own hurt.

He says,

the gaining of wealth,

the increases of riches,

the growing portfolio,

rather than being a blessing,

in some instances,

has actually been a curse.

It's actually caused disappointment and pain.

Rather than enriching its owner,

it's ended up impoverishing them.

Well, how so?

Well, he gives us three examples of what he means.

Look at verse 13 and 14.

He says,

a man comes into some wealth.

Maybe he inherits something from his parents.

Maybe he pulls off a great deal at work

and gets paid a massive bonus.

However it is,

he comes into some great wealth.

And he's thinking what to do with this wealth.

And he's thinking,

if I invest this well,

this can work out for me.

He's got a son.

Recent,

he and his wife have just had a son.

And he hears about this thing called,

let's just say,

cryptocurrency, right?

And he hears it's on this massive rise.

And he thinks,

I've got to get in there quickly.

You know,

everyone,

I'm getting left behind.

All my friends are making tons of money.

And so he dives in

and he lies awake at night

and he's thinking,

if I played this thing right,

my son can go to the best school.

In fact,

he can go to the best Ivy League university.

And no one else in my family has gone there.

My son will be the first one in my family

to study abroad

and go to this Ivy League university.

I will be the envy of my family.

And as he lies awake at night,

he starts to think,

if this really works out,

actually maybe we can buy a holiday home

in the Maldives as well.

And he's thinking and speculating

and so he dives in.

And every day he's watching the price

and he's going up

and he's getting excited

until one day,

what happens?

The market crashes.

The Fed pulls some levers.

The shipment sinks off the Pacific.

His Arabian camels get hijacked

in the Arabian desert.

Something happens

and he loses it all.

And now not only is the son

not going to go to Ivy League university,

he's not going to go anywhere.

All is lost.

Look at verse 13 and 14.

There is a great evil I've seen under the sun.

Riches kept by the owner,

two is hurt.

And those riches were lost in a bad venture.

Though he is the father of a son,

he has nothing in his hand.

The love of money, he says,

has a way of getting into our hearts

and actually rather than enriching us,

impoverishing us.

But look at also, he says,

the love of money can destroy relationships.

Look at verse 11.

It says,

when goods increase,

they increase also who eat them.

And what advantage has the owner

but to see them with his eyes?

The teacher here is commenting on the fact

that those who get rich quickly

suddenly find themselves

with a whole lot of friends

that they didn't know that they had.

I'm sure you've read the stories online.

Somebody wins the lottery,

$50 million,

the Mark VI,

or somebody inherits a whole pile of money

from some long lost relative

they didn't know about.

And suddenly they are the talk of the town.

Right?

And they've got all these friends

that they didn't know

that they had before.

All these estranged family members

suddenly contact them

and want to get in touch

and rebuild the relationship.

Right?

You know that feeling?

You know what I'm talking about?

Or maybe their colleagues

and their neighbors

suddenly now recognize

how wealthy they are

and want to get in.

And they talk to them

and say,

oh, you know,

I've got some debt

and I wonder if you can help me.

And so they run into

all these friends and family members.

But what happens?

Invariably a year or two later,

the friends are gone.

The money's gone.

The relationships are broken down.

The family's a mess

and they're in more debt

than they ever had before.

I remember talking to a friend of mine

who pastored a church

in upstate New York

many years ago.

And the place where he pastored

was extremely, extremely wealthy people.

And he said to me,

he said,

one of the things

with extremely wealthy people

is they never know

who their real friends are.

Because they're always wondering,

the people in my life,

are you just here

because you want to be friends with me

because I've got money?

Or maybe because we move

in the same social circles.

But if I lost everything,

would you still be my friend?

And the problem

that the teacher notices there,

that thing,

he says,

when goods increase,

so do those who eat them.

Suddenly you've got

all these people around,

these hangers-on

that want to be friends with you

and get in your life

because of your wealth.

But the other problem

that the teacher notices,

he says that

when people's wealth increases,

so do their lifestyles.

He says,

when wealth increases,

so do the bills

who eat them up.

You're generally

very content

with what you have.

You get a nice bonus

and suddenly you drive

past the showroom

of the car that you drive

and you start recognizing

all the little things

in your car

that previously

you're very content with.

But now suddenly

an upgrade seems appropriate.

Or maybe you're very happy

with your laptop

and you get a bonus at work

and you walk past

the iStore

and suddenly there's a special.

And you realize,

oh yeah,

I think it would be

a good investment

to my career

for me to upgrade

my laptop, right?

When goods increase,

he says,

so do those bills

that eat them up.

Suddenly when wealth

masters you,

it has a life of its own.

You get a big check,

you make a big deal,

you get paid handsomely

and suddenly a few weeks

or months later

it's all gone.

Because either you find

you have new friends

that you didn't know

that you had before

or you find

you have new bills

and things in your house

that you find new things

that you need

that you didn't know

that you needed beforehand.

But here's another way

he says that

the money can hurt us.

He says it steals your peace.

Look at verse 12.

It says,

The sweet is the sleep

of the laborer,

whether he eats much

or little,

but the full stomach

of the rich

will not let him sleep.

The teacher's commenting

on what we all know

so well, right?

He says,

financial wealth

promises freedom,

but it so easily

ends up enslaving you.

It actually,

it's a peace thief.

It steals your rest.

He's saying,

who sleeps better

at night?

The laborer

that's worked hard,

had a good day's work,

and crashes on his bed,

or the person

that checks the opening

of the New York Stock Exchange

just before going to bed

and seeing that investment crash,

right?

Who's going to sleep better?

We all know.

Now,

some people say,

okay,

I know that money

doesn't buy you wealth,

but I'd rather be unhappy

in a Lamborghini

than unhappy on the streets,

right?

You ever heard somebody

say that?

If you're a high schooler here,

a youth,

maybe you've thought about that.

Look,

I know it doesn't buy me

happiness,

but rather let me be unhappy

with money

than unhappy without it.

But,

but look at what

the writer's saying.

He's saying,

it's true that

money and wealth

is not a bad thing.

It's not wrong

or immoral.

If God has blessed you

with wealth,

that's not a bad thing.

But it's also not

a neutral thing.

It has an ability

to get into your heart

and to change you.

Wealth has an ability

to take on a life

of its own

and to enslave you.

He says,

it's not bad,

but oh,

you need to be careful.

It has a unique power

to it.

It's not just that

it can make you happy.

It has a way

of owning you.

Unless you master it,

it will master you.

He says,

the apostle Paul

in the New Testament

writes this.

He says,

those who desire

to be rich

fall into a temptation,

into a snare,

a trap,

into many senseless

and harmful desires

that plunge people

into ruin

and destruction.

The teacher looks

at those around him

and he says,

here is a grievous evil,

a sickening tragedy.

I have seen

under the sun

riches kept

by the owner

to their own hurt,

to their own demise.

Look what else

he says here.

He says,

the desire to get rich

has the ability

to perpetuate injustice.

Look at verse 8 and 9.

It says,

if you see in a province

the oppression of the poor

and the violation

of justice and righteousness,

don't be amazed,

don't be surprised,

for the high official

is watched by a higher one

and there are yet higher ones

over them.

So what's he saying?

He's saying somebody

in the land,

they want to try

and get some money quickly

and so they cut some corners,

but there's someone

watching them

so they need to pay them off.

But that person

is being watched

by someone else

so maybe they need to pay off

the person above them.

And that person

needs to cover their tracks

so the person above them

doesn't get in trouble.

And the whole system

of oppression

and injustice

continues.

He's warning us here

saying,

it's very easy

for us to say,

it's just a little shortcut.

Nobody will notice.

It won't make any difference.

They're saying,

oh,

you get into a system

and the system

gets hold of you.

You think you've got

a control of it,

but actually,

it can soon

control you.

I don't know

if this is inappropriate

to say this,

but coming from South Africa,

I could tell you

lots of stories

of bribery

and corruption

and how it gets hold

of the system.

One quick story,

a few years ago,

the deputy finance minister

got called into

the private house

of a private citizen.

And this private citizen

says,

I happen to know

that the finance minister

is going to get fired

from his job

in a few weeks' time

and we have selected you

to take his place.

Here is a briefcase

with 50 million Hong Kong dollars.

It's the first

of five installments

as an introductory gift

just to help you

on your way.

The gift wasn't

an act of generosity.

It was the first installment

of bribery and corruption.

And thankfully,

that man turned around

and said,

no thank you,

I don't do business

with private citizens

like that.

And he lost his job

very soon after that.

The point is that,

maybe you say this,

one of the things

as a pastor

that I've been very interested

in by in recent years

is the multiple falls

that pastors

and people in ministry have.

You have these pastors

that have affairs

or steal money

or are controlling

and manipulative

or abusive

and pretty soon

they lose their job.

And one of the things

that's interesting

is almost no pastor

goes into ministry

with that goal in mind.

They always start off

with the best of intentions.

Everyone goes into ministry

saying,

I want to serve people

and love and serve God.

Right?

But somewhere along the line,

the power

and the authority

gets to the head

and changes you.

And the author is saying

the same thing

with money here.

The love of money

has a power,

it has an ability

to change you.

Nobody starts off

in their 20

and says,

I want to be corrupt

and steal

and I want to,

you know,

be a corrupt person.

But when you get to 60

and you find yourself

like there,

how did you get there?

It started with small decisions.

Okay, look at,

look at another thing

he says here.

Ultimately,

he says,

wealth gives no guarantee

of the satisfied soul.

It doesn't satisfy.

Now,

last week I mentioned

the song by the birds,

Turn, Turn, Turn.

And I asked if anyone knew it

and much to my disappointment,

very few of you knew it.

Henry knew it

and Ayush knew it.

There we go.

Ayush, thank you.

And Oscar nodded his head.

Well,

let's see if anyone's heard

of the Rolling Stones.

Anyone heard of them?

Okay,

still nobody.

Ed?

Okay,

thank you.

Florence?

Great.

Well,

they came up with a song.

I think we should come up

with a song each week,

right,

in Ecclesiastes.

Last week was the birds.

This week the Rolling Stones.

You know this song?

You can't get no satisfaction.

I can't get no satisfaction.

Well,

that's what he's saying here.

Look at verse 10.

He says,

He who loves money

will not be satisfied with money,

nor he who loves wealth

with his income.

This also is a vanity,

a tragedy,

he says.

Someone makes all sorts

of sacrifices.

They sacrifice relationships.

They sacrifice community.

They sacrifice their spiritual disciplines,

their Bible reading

and their prayer.

They pass by

on some of the most powerful moments

in their children's lives.

Maybe they miss

their children's birth.

They miss birthday parties.

They miss their children's plays

at school

in the pursuit of that goal

to get that career advancement,

to gain a treasure.

And when they get there,

what do they find?

It doesn't satisfy.

Two weeks ago,

Neils gave you that quote

by Jim Carrey.

He says,

I think everybody

should get rich and famous

and do everything

they ever wanted

just to see

that that is not the answer.

There are many stories like this.

Jack Higgins,

one of the most successful authors

of all time,

1970s,

he wrote that book,

The Eagle Has Landed,

sold 50 million copies alone.

All his books have sold

a quarter of a billion copies.

That's a lot of books to sell.

One of the wealthiest,

richest men,

authors of all time.

He lived in Jersey,

tax haven,

so even his wealth

wasn't taxed.

He died earlier this year.

In the interview,

someone asked him,

what do you wish

that you had known

as a boy?

And without skipping a beat,

he straight away answered,

I wish somebody had told me

that when you get to the top,

there's nothing there.

There's nothing there.

And this is what the teacher,

Kohelet,

is trying to tell us.

That when we think that

wealth and money

and possessions

are the key to our happiness,

the key to meaning,

the key to satisfaction in life,

when you hand over

the keys of your life,

when you sign over

the power of attorney,

to possessions

to give you meaning

and satisfaction,

you allow that thing

to master you,

to own you,

to control you.

But the problem is

that when you master it,

you become its slave.

And ultimately,

it does not satisfy.

And so look at chapter 6,

verse 2 with me.

This is,

he summarizes his point here.

He says,

there is an evil

that I've seen under the sun.

It's like a burden

that's heavy

on mankind's hearts.

A man to whom God

gives great wealth

and possessions

and honor

so that he lacks

nothing of all he desires.

He sees that Lamborghini

and he says,

I'll take one.

Sees that house

in the Maldives,

I'll have one of those.

He lacks nothing

of all he desires.

Yet God does not give him

the ability

to enjoy it.

Man has everything

he could possibly want,

but he is not happy.

He is not content.

This is futile,

a sickening tragedy,

says the teacher.

Money is a terrible master.

But did you notice

when Iris read to us

this morning,

there is one place

in this passage

where he talks about

what is positive.

He says,

behold,

I've seen what is good

and fitting.

Four times he says to us,

there is a grievous evil,

a sickening tragedy.

But one time he says,

behold,

there's something good

and fitting in this world.

He says,

behold,

verse 18,

I have seen,

what I have seen

to be good and fitting

is to eat and drink

to find enjoyment

in all the toil

with which one toils

under the sun

these few days

of his life

that God has given him.

For this is his lot.

But there's something else

going on here

because compare

chapter 5,

verse 19

with chapter 6,

verse 2.

These two sentences

are almost identical,

almost word for word

the same,

except one is positive,

one is negative.

Look at chapter 5,

verse 19.

He says,

everyone to whom God

has given wealth

and possessions

and power to enjoy them

and to accept his lot

and to rejoice in his toil,

this is the gift of God.

But then in 6,

verse 2,

he says almost the same thing.

A man to whom God

gives wealth

and possessions

and honor

so that he lacks

nothing of all

that he desires,

but God does not

give him the power

to enjoy them,

but a stranger

enjoys them.

So here are two sentences,

almost identical,

one positive,

one negative.

So what's going on here?

If you,

by the way,

if you're new to church

and new to the Bible,

the biblical authors

want us to take note

of things like this.

This is no coincidence.

It's the way

the Bible writers

want us to sit up

and to ask questions.

And their point in doing this

is to ask,

what's going on here?

So what is going on here?

What does the author

want to tell us?

Well,

there's two things.

The first thing

is he's telling us

that our lives

are under the hands

of the sovereign God.

We tend to think

that we are the captains

of our faith,

the masters

of our own happiness,

right?

But he says,

don't you believe it?

One person

builds their dream house

and fills it

with children

and grandchildren.

Another couple

builds their dream house

and dies in a car accident

before they get

to possess it.

One person

has everything,

they get to enjoy it.

One person

has everything,

they don't enjoy it.

And notice,

he doesn't attribute this

to fate

or to chance

or to karma.

Who does he attribute it to?

The hand

of the sovereign God.

God.

The author here

says,

God gives

and God takes away.

Now the point

of Ecclesiastes

is not to make us

pessimistic cynics,

right?

The point is to

lift your eyes

off of what you can see.

See God,

consider God,

consider the sovereign God.

Your life is in his hands.

You are not the captain

of your faith,

the master of your destiny,

the sovereign God is.

But there's something else

he wants us to see here.

He's wanting to contrast

wealth

and possessions

with contentment.

He's comparing

and contrasting

possessions

with contentment.

Look at what he says here.

He says in effect,

have much money

doesn't mean anything.

Be very wealthy

doesn't mean

you're going to be satisfied.

Wealth and contentment

says the author

are not synonymous

nor are they causally linked.

having one

doesn't mean

you have the other.

Wealth is not

the determinant

of a contented life.

One person gets rich

and enjoys wealth.

Another person gets rich

and loses the ability

to enjoy it.

And the lesson

for both is this.

Don't set your heart

on riches.

Don't set your heart

on wealth.

It is a fragile

and an unstable base

for your contentment,

your joy

or your satisfaction

in life.

That's his point

in verse 6-3.

He says,

okay,

let's consider something else.

Let's park money

for a while.

Let's consider

the blessed life.

In the ancient world,

how was somebody

considered blessed?

Well,

what is the signs

of a blessed life?

You lived a long life.

You had many children.

You had a good

and decent burial.

Right?

Three signs

of a prosperous life.

Well,

look at what he says.

He says,

you can have all three

of those things.

You can live a thousand years.

You can live twice

a thousand years.

You can have a hundred children.

Doesn't mean anything.

If you don't find

contentment and satisfaction

in all those things,

what's the point?

Meaningless,

meaningless.

A vanity,

a grasping

after the wind.

Look at verse 9.

He says,

better is the sight

of the eyes

than the wondering

of the appetite.

What does he mean?

He says,

better to be content

with what you have

in your hands

than always lying awake

in bed thinking

about the next thing

to buy and consume.

If only I can get

that upgraded laptop.

If only I can get

the new iPhone.

If only I can

get a new house.

If only this.

Better to be content

with what you have

than always longing

and lusting

for the next

greatest thing.

This too

is a vanity,

a striving

after the wind.

And this is the point

that the teacher

wants to come to.

He's got this long passage

and in the middle

of his passage

he says,

vanity, vanity, vanity, vanity.

But in the middle

he says this,

here is something good.

Here is something worthwhile.

The climax

of his passage

is this,

seek contentment,

not possessions.

If your goal

is possessions,

your possessions

will possess you.

They will own you.

Wealth is a terrible

master

but a decent

servant.

Look at how

the Apostle Paul

writes it in the New Testament.

He says,

those who desire

to be rich

easily fall

into a temptation,

a snare,

a trap

into many senseless

and harmful desires

that plunge people

into ruin

and destruction.

For the love

of money

is a root

of all kinds

of evil

and it is through

this craving

that some

have even

shipwrecked

their faith,

wandered from

their faith

and pierced

themselves

with many

pangs.

This is what

the teacher

sees and observes,

a futility

and meaninglessness,

wealth and possessions

and honor,

so that he has

it all that

but he lacks

contentment,

a vanity,

a chasing

after the wind.

Now,

the message

of Ecclesiastes

is pretty clear

and straightforward.

You don't need

to be a rocket

scientist

or a nuclear physicist

to work it out,

right?

He says,

make sure

that money

is your servant,

not your master.

But the challenge

is,

how do we do

that?

The challenge

is not understanding

the message,

it's actually

applying it

or obeying it.

Ask any addict,

it is one thing

to know that

something is dangerous,

it's another thing

to walk away

from it.

And so the question

is,

how do you keep

yourself from being

mastered by the

love of money?

And that could look

like either being

incessant spending

or incessant saving,

right?

How do we keep

ourselves from being

mastered by the

love of money?

That's a great

question.

200 years ago,

there was a

Scottish pastor

by the name

of Thomas

Chalmers,

and he preached

an amazing sermon

called,

The Expulsive

Power of a

New Affection.

Listen to

what he says.

He says,

A man's desire

is not to be

gotten rid of

simply by

destroying it.

It must be

gotten rid of

by substituting it

with another desire

in its place.

The most effective

way of withdrawing

the heart

from one object

of desire

is not by

turning it to

nothingness,

but by presenting

to it

another object

which is more

alluring.

The heart

is so

constituted,

so built,

that the only

way to

dispossess it

of an old

affection

is by the

expulsive

power

of a new

one.

You see what

Chalmers is

saying?

He's saying,

if you want to

be free

from being

mastered by

the love

of something,

you can't

just tell

yourself,

don't love

it,

don't love

it,

don't love

it.

Your heart

has to

form more

in love

with something

else.

You can't

just turn

away from

what you

love to

nothingness,

you've got

to fall

more in

love with

something

else.

And so

the question

is,

something

else has

to become

more precious,

more beautiful,

more reassuring,

more delightful

to you,

otherwise you'll

always be

enslaved by

the thing

that you

love the

most.

And so

the question

is this,

where do

you find

something

to master

you without

destroying

you?

Where do

you find

a master

that you

can hand

over the

controls of

your life

to,

and yet

that master

won't enslave

you,

won't oppress

you,

won't commit

injustice

against you,

but will

actually set

you free?

Where are we

going to find

a master,

a Lord,

that will

own us

and control

us,

but also

love us?

Where will

we find a

master who

will capture

our hearts

attention,

that we can

so love,

that we can

be free

from false

masters in

love?

Friends,

where will

we find a

master whose

promises are

not illusionary,

but will keep

his promises

even at the

cost of

his own

life?

Where will

we find a

master who

will set

us free

from the

mastery of

wealth so

that we

can enjoy

it and be

content with

it without

being controlled

by it?

On one

Thursday night,

2,000 years

ago, it was

Passover weekend,

and Jesus

Christ is

celebrating

Passover with

his disciples,

and that

night he's

going to be

betrayed,

he's going

to go to

the cross

and die

on the

cross,

but while

he's

celebrating

Passover,

at the end

of the

Passover

meal,

he gets

up and

he takes

off his

cloak and

he puts

on the

attire of

a servant,

and he

gets a

bowl of

water and

he puts

a towel

around his

hand,

and he

does the

one thing

that no

respectable

rabbi,

no respectable

human being

would do in

the ancient

world.

He does

the one

thing that

even servants

in the

ancient

world were

not required

to do.

He washes

the feet

of his

disciples,

and Peter,

the one

disciple,

says,

no,

no,

no,

Lord,

you can't

do this,

this is

inappropriate,

and Jesus

says,

if I don't

wash you,

you'll never

be clean.

Jesus is

talking about

the fact that

the next day

he's going

to go to

the cross

and shed

his blood,

and then

at the end

of washing

his disciples

feet,

he says,

you call

me Lord

and Master,

and you

write,

for that

is what

I am.

See what

Jesus is

saying?

Jesus is

saying,

I am the

Lord and

the Master

of the

universe.

I am the

King of

all creation.

I am the

sovereign God.

I am Lord

and Master.

But what

kind of

Master is

he?

He's not

the kind

of Master

that's going

to control

you and

oppress

you and

commit

injustice

against

you.

He's not

the kind

of Master

that's going

to impoverish

you.

He's the

one Master

who will

get on

his knees

and serve

you and

set you

free.

Jesus

Christ says,

you call

me Lord

and Master

and you're

right,

for that

is what

I am.

But look

at what

kind of

Master

I am.

I'm the

Master

that will

set you

free.

Later on,

Jesus says,

if you want

true rest,

if you want

true grace,

if you want

to experience

my rest,

you've got

to come

to me as

Master.

You've got

to let

me control.

You've got

to hand

over the

controls of

your life

to me.

But if

you come

to me,

I won't

oppress

you.

I'll

truly set

you free.

Do you

remember

Jesus'

famous words

in Matthew

11?

Come to

me,

all you

who are

weary

and heavy

laden,

and I

will give

you rest.

Take

my yoke

upon me.

Do you

know what

that means?

In the

first century,

to take

someone's

yoke upon

you means

to come

under the

authority,

to submit

your life

to them,

to surrender

to them.

Jesus

says,

take my

authority

upon you.

Take my

lordship,

come under

me.

Take my

yoke

upon me.

Learn from

me,

for I am

gentle and

lowly of

heart,

and you

will find

rest for

your souls.

Come to

me,

you who

are frantic

and anxious,

worried and

frustrated

about life.

Those of

you who

are frigidly

and heavily

burdened,

come to

me and

submit to

me,

and I

will give

you rest.

Jesus

Christ says

he's the

one lord

and master.

He says

he's the

sovereign

God.

Remember

how Colossians

says he

is the

one by

whom and

through

whom and

for whom

all things

are made.

Jesus

Christ is

the one

who sits

on the

thrones of

the heaven.

He's the

one before

whom angels

will bow

down and

cry,

worthy,

worthy are

you,

our lord

and king,

to receive

glory and

honor and

praise.

Jesus

Christ is

the one

person before

whom every

knee is

going to

bow down

and every

tongue is

one day

going to

confess,

it is

true,

you are

God.

He's

lord and

master.

master,

but he's

the lord and

master who

did not

come to

be served,

but to

serve and

to lay

down his

life as

a ransom

to save

us from

our sins.

Do you

remember how the

apostle Paul

writes it?

He's writing in

prison.

Paul is in

Rome, he's

got a collar

around his

neck, he's

got chains

on his

hands, he's

suffering in a

Roman prison,

and he

writes a

letter to

some

Christians in

the city of

Philippi and

this is what

he says,

I have

learned to

be content

in whatever

circumstances I

am.

I have

learned to

be content

whether I

have little

or content

whether I

have much.

In all and

any circumstances

I have

learned the

secret of

contentment,

whether I'm

well fed or

whether I'm

hungry,

whether I'm

in abundance

or whether I

am in need.

Well what is

the secret?

How did

Paul learn

that?

Do you

remember what

he writes

earlier in

Philippians?

For to me

to live is

Christ and

to die is

gain.

What did he

write in

chapter 3?

He says,

All my life

I've pursued

these certain

things,

credentials.

Now I

consider them

rubbish, I

consider them

loss compared

to the all

surpassing worth

of knowing

Christ Jesus

my Lord.

Friend, do you

want to know

the secret to

contentment?

It's knowing

Christ Jesus

is Lord.

To live is

Christ and

to die is

gain because

you get to

be with him.

That's the

secret to

contentment.

Remember the

words of that

old hymn?

Were the

whole realm

of nature

mine that

were an

offering far

too small.

Love so

amazing, so

divine, demands

my life, my

soul, my

all.

Robert Murray

McShane was

a disciple of

Thomas

Chalmers.

I don't

know why I

love these

old Scottish

guys, but

there's

something nice

about them.

Robert Murray

McShane was a

disciple of

Thomas Chalmers

and he

famously wrote

this.

For every

one look at

yourself, take

ten looks at

the person of

Christ.

He is

altogether

lovely, such

infinite majesty,

and yet such