"Instructions for the Local Church: A Final Call for Godliness" - 1 Timothy 6:1-10, 17-19

Well, church, we are once again privileged to sit under the preaching of the Word of God.

If you would stand with me in reverence and honor of the Word of God, I will read to you the passage Brian's going to preach from.

Today he's taken as his text 1 Timothy chapter 6, 1 through 10, and 17 through 19.

1 Timothy 6 · chapter mention

Remind you, this is the Word of God.

All who are under the yoke as slaves are to regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and our doctrine will not be spoken against.

Those who have believers as their masters must not be disrespectful to them because they are brethren, but must serve them all the more, because those who partake of the benefit are believers and beloved, teach and preach these principles.

If any one advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing.

But he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of depraved mind, deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.

But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment.

For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either.

If we have food and covering with these we shall be content.

But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men to ruin and destruction.

For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Over to verse 17.

Instruct those who are rich in this present world, not to be conceited or fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.

Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves a treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold, so they may take hold of that which is life indeed.

This is the word of God.

Maybe seated, Brian, would you please come.

Heavenly Father, we are desperately needy for your grace, your mercy, your leadership, your counsel, your guidance, your providential care for us as we dive into the word.

Father, we ask you that by the power of your spirit you would guard us, that we would only see the truth.

Father, I ask you that you would force me, cause me to only speak that which is true in accord to your word, that which you would have for us to hear, that you would guard my heart and my mouth.

And that you would guard us all.

And that we would be a people who not only hear, not only listen, not only agree, but take action and do what your word calls us to.

So give us grace in this in this labor and this work.

We pray in Christ's name.

Amen.

Well, how many times when thinking of coming to church on a Sunday morning, uh, do you think to yourselves, man, I sure hope that we get to hear a sermon on how to be a godlier Christian?

Probably not all that often.

Maybe.

If you were to assess all the times you've gone to church to hear the Word of God preached, how many times you said to yourself, I just really hope he talks about godliness and I just need it.

I hope he pokes and prods me.

Hope he's good today.

It might be for some of us that we want the preacher to speak of godliness so that we can do one of these.

You know, to our spouse or our kids, those sitting next to us.

Did you hear?

Maybe it's that neighbor that's coming, and we're like, oh good, he's talking about godliness.

They need it.

How many times have you thought to yourself, I just need a good dose of how to live a life that would be considered by the scriptures a godly life?

Most of the time I would say, probably, if you're like me, when we look forward to coming to church, it's because we want to hear of God's grace.

We want to hear of pardon, we want to hear of mercy.

And rightly so.

If we preach and don't preach on the grace of God and we haven't preached the gospel, it's essential, it's vital.

But we also need to be encouraged and challenged to live lives that are in line with the grace that we have received and that we cherish.

It is essential that we as blood-bought, saved, eternally secure Christians live out our calling and our salvation.

As the Lord would so sovereignly superintend, our Sunday school was basically this and has been in 1 John.

It's a glorious thing that God is connecting it in such a way.

And it's because our lives matter to God and how we live them, and they matter to the world.

The Bible is just chocked full of calls for us to live godly lives, Old and New Testaments alike.

While at the core, of course, at the same time, just hammering away the central theme of the scriptures, Jesus Christ and Him crucified, which, of course, perfectly informs and coincides with our calling to godliness.

It works together.

Listen to what the book of Titus has to say about godliness for the Christian.

Titus chapter 2 tells us something I just say is huge when thinking of the importance of living godly lives.

Titus 2 · chapter mention

It says that the grace of God actually instructs us to deny godliness and instead to live, he says, sensibly, righteously, and godly.

Isn't that neat?

The grace of God, God's grace instructs or teaches us to live out a life of godliness.

His grace then causes and urges and molds us to be thankful Christians, to be encouraging Christians, to be witnessing Christians, to be always transforming Christians.

But all of that just comes from the Spirit of God working in us, who is making us into godly people.

Godly Christians.

I love what Jerry Bridges has to say about the need for godliness in the life of all Christians.

He says this quote No higher compliment can be paid to a Christian than to call him a godly person.

He might be a conscientious parent, a zealous church worker, a dynamic spokesman for Christ, or a talented Christian leader.

But none of these things matter if at the same time he's not a godly person.

It's a great quote.

So with that on your minds, with that being said, I really hope that our time in these passages will be encouraging and challenging as we look at how the gospel informs our lives in multiple areas of godliness.

As was just read by Brother Joel, we're now in the last chapter of the book of 1 Timothy.

It's been a wonderful journey.

I have broken up the last chapter, as you saw, in a kind of an unorthodox way.

Today we're going to be looking at what is discussed within verses 1 to 10 and 17 to 19 and then next week.

Don't worry, I didn't skip over 11 to 16 and not going back to it.

I'm not skipping something.

We're going to hit that next week, along with the last two verses of the text, with really an admonition to win the battle.

And so I hope this helps us to finish the book well together.

It's been a great study so far to see what Paul has to say about how the church is to worship, function, and thrive in the glory of Christ.

Right off the bat, if you remember, we saw Paul's giving Timothy his mission, and as he does this, he reminds him of who God is and where his calling and his mission really came from.

Paul is concerned right off the bat about the faithfulness of that church, you know, pushing out those false doctrines.

And he's concerned because it's a church that is bought and paid for by the blood of Christ.

And so Paul, under the inspiration of the Spirit, challenges Timothy.

And therefore he challenges the church in Ephesus.

And of course, as we look into it, he's challenging us today.

But one of the things that Paul drills down on in the second half of the letter is what we saw in the fourth chapter.

And as I've said, it's the same thing we see today: godliness.

Godliness.

That's why I'm calling this message that deals with the instructions for the local church that we've seen all throughout.

But this one is a final call for godliness from Paul.

And so that's how we're going to focus.

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

How to live godly in the workplace is the application we're going to use.

How to live godly when faced with false doctrines.

The need for godliness to be accompanied by, as Paul says here, contentment.

Ooh, that's the word.

And then we'll also look at how to be godly with our finances.

So we're going to divide this up into three parts.

For any of you take notes, this may be helpful.

Three parts of godly living that Paul gives us.

First, we're going to look at what I'm calling working Christians.

The second part will be false Christians, so not Christians at all.

And then third, we want to land on content Christians.

Well, let's look at that first piece, working Christians.

And I think as we dive into this piece, as we look at godliness and what it looks like, a little bit of historical context will be helpful.

In the ancient Roman world, it is believed that the number of slaves rivaled that of free men.

Around half of all the people in the empire were enslaved to some degree or another.

This is why Paul frequently speaks of slaves and masters and how they're to interact with one another in Christ, especially.

In Christians, in the first century or in the 21st century, if we're going to live godly lives, it must be carried over into what we do day by day.

For the slave, it was being obedient and following after the master.

For us, our modern-day application would be the workplace.

We spend a good chunk of hours at work, don't we?

Our Christian lives, therefore, cannot just be set aside and put on hold while we're in that environment.

We have to thrive in those, no matter the conditions.

So we'll dive into that.

But a quick note on why Paul doesn't really spend a lot of time here or anywhere else in the scriptures really speaking out on the issue of slavery.

I think it's important.

People have asked this question.

For one, as with any of the laws of society, it's always good to work hard as citizens to change the laws that are evil or unfair.

But you see, without changing the hearts of the people, it's just going to be this all-consuming and uphill battle that's not really hitting the core or the need.

For example, I think we should vote and even advocate for laws that fully and federally ban abortion, finally, which is the greatest scourge of our day.

But our first goal is to seek to change the hearts of the people with the gospel.

That's how to change things.

And so that's Paul's primary concern.

Same thing, not slavery.

Paul's main concern was to be a gospel announcer and not just a mere protester.

He wanted the gospel to spread so that eternal lives would be saved.

That's his mission, that's his goal, that's where he's at.

And also because another reason that what we don't understand here in America is that slavery that exists in the Roman Empire wasn't always the same as what we think of.

In the Roman world, the slave was many times treated as a part of the family and loved.

Many people sold themselves into slavery because it was just easier to provide.

Or maybe to pay off a debt.

Well, at the same time, yes, there were people forced into slavery, but it wasn't the same as, like, for example, if you've read the Book of Roots and what happened there.

For the most part, it wasn't that.

Of course, there were evil men who forced slavery and treated slaves harshly, but by and large, the slaves in that culture looked kind of like employees of our day, and less like the slavery that absolutely plagued America for many years.

Again, by and large, not all encompassing.

And even the Old Testament speaks of slavery, and believe it or not, it's not forbidden by the law.

There were just some tight parameters on what was permissible.

What happened with the Hebrew people in Egypt was totally sinful.

But the Bible, instead of outright condemning it, says that, for example, if the Jewish man is a slave, then after six years he must be freed from that bondage, and then he can even take his family with him when he goes.

Exodus 21 gives us those parameters.

You see, we're so used to freedom that we don't really have a frame of reference for this kind of structure.

So when we read the word slavery in the Bible, we just automatically go to, oh, horrible, terrible, dreadful.

But this is what the world has done, and even people of God have done this and have done it according to the biblical parameters.

Again, most of the slavery we see today are in America's past, completely evil, perpetrated by evil people who disobey the commands of God, force people into slavery, treat them harshly, and sin.

And we should work hard to alleviate this kind of sinful behavior, to get rid of it in our world.

But our first and primary job, but my point here is our goal is to be a witness for the gospel of Christ so that people can believe, so that people can be saved eternally.

That's true freedom.

Now, is having a society of slaves and masters the best model for biblical governing?

I don't think so.

I think the Bible points us to see that freedom in society is the best way to live and be faithful.

But as we see, the Bible's foremost concern isn't with our earthly freedom.

It's concerned much more with our eternal freedom.

And so here, Paul doesn't really get into that.

He just goes on to talk about the furtherance of the gospel and the need for godly Christians in our world.

Being faithful.

And as we're going to seek to apply it, faithful as a worker in Christ.

Just like we see in the book of Colossians.

That's why we can use it principally in this way.

And so employees today, just as slaves in the Roman world, are to live as Christ, no matter who they work for.

And so I'll say this, brothers and sisters, when we're at work, whatever that is, we are to be seen as little Christs.

That was the term for Christian where it came from, originally meant to kind of be a slam on believers, you may have heard.

But those who are called Christians quickly accepted this as a complimentary term to be identified in such a way.

And so to be called a Christian, what it means is that you are Christ.

You're in Christ.

You follow Christ.

You're his.

It means that you are then seeking to be like him in all things that you do and how you act and in how you serve.

And this has to be done in the workplace as well.

Paul here in the first two verses tells slaves to work hard whether or not you're working for a believer.

He tells them the non-believing master or boss, verse 1, is to be seen as worthy of all honor.

And that Christian masters were to be seen as the same.

Apparently, at this time, Christian slaves were treating those believing masters in a disrespectful way.

They thought that since they're both in Christ, they should be equal in every way.

Not just the eternal placement.

Of course, they're right that they're equally saved and important in Christ, but that doesn't mean they're on equal footing in society, does it?

It's kind of this, I get the impression that Paul's speaking to this kind of wink-wink, you know, hey, brother, as a fellow Christian, you don't really expect me to do that, do you?

We're both equal in God's side.

Why do I have to work so hard for you?

Make that non-believer guy do that.

Paul says, no.

No.

You are to work hard all the more, he says.

Serve them all the more as an example of Christ.

No matter who we work for, no matter what that looks like, they are to be treated as worthy of all honor.

Not because they deserve it, but because the name of Christ commands it.

Such an importance of living out your godly life in the workplace.

It's huge, it's immensely convicting.

When I worked as a garbage man for many years in the secular environment, this truth was painful and difficult to live out in a lot of ways.

But oh, what joy when it is.

It was difficult because of my tendency toward pride.

But more importantly, it's painful because of what it says here.

Look at the end of verse 1 again.

This is painful.

He says, so that the name of God in our doctrine will not be spoken against.

Oh, that's tough.

Did you know that your ability to live out your calling of godliness in the workplace has implications so great that the name of your God and the truth of the doctrine of Christ and all the doctrines that we hold to are at stake?

Whether or not you're giving honor to your boss and showing yourself as a Christian by how you work and how you obey, it has direct implications on your co-workers and your bosses for Christ, good or bad.

You want someone to look at God and what we believe as Christians is worthy of their attention and their reflection, then your faithful witness of the message of the gospel needs to be backed up by a posture of obedience and gratitude and service and thankfulness.

Working hard with an attitude of servant humility and joyful countenance toward that employer.

Our attitude in the workplace should be the same as that as when we gather as Christians.

Or when another Christian is in need.

Where did Johnny on the spot, right?

Gladly desiring to serve and to be helpful.

That's how we are to be at work as well.

When the boss's request is quickly attended to with honor, the name of God and his word and his son are magnified.

You see, when we go to be with the Lord, our position on earth really has no eternal bearing.

Whether master or slave, employee, employer, those titles don't mean anything eternally.

What matters is how you treated others and how you represented Christ within those relationships?

So I ask you, do the people that you work with or work for, including your boss, do they look at your life and and just thank God that you're their employee?

Whoops, sorry.

And that you are in Christ, and man, God is great.

Look at how great this person is.

Or do they curse God because of who you are and what your attitude reflects.

So that's the first piece.

Second call for godliness here in this passage is found verses 3 to 5.

This is our second point.

We won't spend a ton of time here because Paul spent a ton of time on this.

False Christianity or false teachings.

This is just more of a call, once again, to be godly in the way that you are aware of those false teachers and teachings as we remain faithful to the Lord and his word alone.

And that godliness will become evident as we do that.

Our faithfulness and right doctrine will lead to faithfulness and obedience in our lives as we apply it.

The person who advocates something for other than the revealed word of God is someone that Paul says here in verse 4, who is conceited, who understands nothing, has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, and he says, which leads to envy, strife, abusive language, and evil suspicions.

Not a great category to be in.

He goes on to say in verse 5, they are men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth.

They think godliness is a means of gain.

What he's pointing out is a gain of favor or the hopeful gain of earning favor with God through how wonderful you are.

And so what Paul is telling us is the same thing he's been saying, and I'll just summarize it like this: do not recognize anybody or any teaching or any thought coming from a source that is not in line with the written and revealed word of God.

If someone wants to continually squabble over words and myths and fables, or what ifs, if they want to tell you their visions and impressions, if they want you to be taught and swayed by these visions, or their words from the Lord and not the actual word of the Lord, then they are to be dismissed if it contradicts his word.

They're dangerous.

The doctrine that is in any way contrary to the words of our Lord Jesus Christ are not words that leads us to conform to godliness.

It's the opposite, wickedness.

And so the true Christian preacher and teacher will always be known for what Paul calls sound words.

Sound words, words that are in line with the scriptures, not in addition to, and especially not in contrast to.

I mentioned weeks ago a guy by the name of Rob Bell who does the same thing.

Is that really what that means?

Did God really mean hell is eternal?

Did God really say that?

What does the Bible say?

What does the Bible teach?

That's our answer.

It's only in Christ and His Word that we can know sound words, and that causes us to cling tightly to this good news.

The one who teaches something other than the fact that we're saved by grace through faith, that we are created for good works from before the foundations of the world, that the only way to true godliness is through the merits of Christ Jesus.

The one who teaches something different than that is teaching something evil.

Arrogant, Paul says, thinking that godliness can be achieved by human effort.

Paul says he understands nothing.

He's of a depraved mind and deprived of the truth.

And so we know and are thankful to know that if we are to live in any godly way, it is by the power of the gospel and the strength of the Spirit within us working and calling us to work hard at this righteous endeavor.

It's not us.

And that leads us to the third point.

A godly Christian is a content Christian.

I think sometimes, in our day and age, especially, this word content hits hard.

It hits us squarely between the eyes.

So Paul tells us in verse 6 what great gain is.

He says it is to live out your calling of godliness with contentment.

That's great gain.

And he goes on to show that stuff and material wealth will never bring this kind of godliness in and of itself, because it can never bring contentment.

Just one more.

And so this passage right here is a comfort to the Christian who is taking pains to live out his faith.

And it is at the same time a striking and violent rebuke to those prosperity teachers that we see on the television that have blasphemous teachings and heretical books.

Great gain listed here is gain that it comes in the form of temporal peace and contentment as well as eternal gain.

But what those prosperity teachers would have you believe is that God wants us to prosper in earthly ways above all.

The thing is, is that way of thinking condemns the righteous and godly martyr, doesn't it?

It condemns the poor and sick Christian, the hurting Christian.

And it instead elevates money and possessions over and above the glorious gospel of Christ.

But the message that tells us that great gain is worldly possessions in this life that we hear from these people that call themselves Christians, that's not a message of sound words.

That's what Paul says is a doctrine of demons.

Because money has a place in society.

For example, when thinking of contentment, as he goes on to talk about, money has a place in society, it has a place in the life of every Christian.

But it has no place in our hearts.

And so great gain may be considered to just go to work day after day, honoring your boss by working hard and being obedient in that godly life, knowing that Jesus' name and the truth will be exalted.

Even if that means you have to live paycheck to paycheck.

But if not, praise God.

May his name be honored by your life either way.

Great gain is to live a godly life that is content in following the Bible's commands in light of his grace.

Godliness is seeking great gain in Christ.

It is to pray, for example, like what we see in Proverbs 30.

I love this prayer.

Where he says, O Lord, give me neither poverty nor riches.

Feed me with the food that is my portion, that I not be full and deny you and say, Who is the Lord?

or that I would not be in want and steal and profane the name of my God.

Just give me what I need.

That's all.

You see, we are to be so concerned with our godliness that our prayers in terms of stuff or houses or cars or money or anything material are prayers that are focused on the honor of the name of God and not the thrill of stuff.

Oh great God, I just want your name to be honored with every single one of my possessions.

I want to enjoy them as far as you allow, but only as long as they don't distract me from you.

And so what that means is that our contentment and our desire for godliness can only be found in Jesus Christ.

Nothing else will suffice.

Nothing else can take that place.

We soon realize that our godly lives in Christ will go with our soul to be with Christ in heaven, but our stuff, our food, our cars, our houses, our property, our retirement, it's the same as when we came into the world.

Naked we come, naked we go.

We go without anything other than Christ.

Ah, the folly.

The folly of loving money.

The folly of trying to be content in anything other than Christ alone.

You see, when we live with a disposition toward godliness, what begins to happen is that anything beyond our basic needs becomes appreciated, but seen as, and maybe seen as nice, but never vital.

Food and covering are what Paul says are basic needs.

To have money, to have riches, not bad, of course.

Many times God works through those who have excess, and he himself, of course, is given the abundance, especially to us in here in America.

But there's a great danger to riches.

As Paul says here, the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.

So we've got to be content.

We've got to pursue godliness.

You see, when communist China, the persecuted country that's just growing rapidly for Christ, is sending missionaries to America because of the difficulties we endure, what comes to your mind?

Terrible government.

Our Supreme Court decisions, our riots, our protests in the cities, all of those things, right?

No.

It's not for those reasons at all.

They are seeing our comfort and our material wealth as conditions that are not conducive for most to gospel fruit and gospel living.

They think we have it difficult.

Put yourself in their shoes.

Underground churches.

Persecution.

But they think we have it difficult because of this great wealth and excess, because of our ease.

They've seen it.

And we should too, that godliness can go out the window when we have all the temporary possessions we can gather.

We're collecting up.

May we as a church in America start enjoying and just relishing in the divine provision of our basic needs.

Christ and the things we have to have here.

In verses 17 to 19, Timothy is instructed by Paul to teach those who are rich to never fix their hope on those things.

You know, this wouldn't be taught over and over again in the Bible if it wasn't a problem for humans, right?

To say that a Christian has fixed their hope on riches kind of sounds absurd.

But when those riches are threatened by robbers or maybe economic instability, you quickly see where the hope lies, don't you?

I love Paul's use of words in verse 18.

He says, instruct them to be rich in good works.

He wants them to be godly, to be generous, and to be ready to share, which is storing up for themselves a treasure, a treasure of a good foundation for the future.

And in doing this, he says they take hold of real life, that which is eternal, life indeed.

In our culture, what do we say when somebody is living it up?

It's because they're going on vacation all the time, right?

They have money to spend on anything and everything.

They don't have to worry about money.

They've traveled the world, seen all the amazing things, the wonders.

They're living it up.

But the Bible says that you are living it up if you have riches and you're blessing others with it.

If you're doing good works, generous with your life and everything else, then you will have a good and sure foundation for the future.

The joys of godly living, living for Christ, the joy of being content with what God has given you in everything.

And to know that if he has given me his son, will he not give me everything I need till he returns?

And so to live godly means that you will see money for what it is and what God has given it to you for.

Whatever that ministry is, in the home.

A lot of us, in the church, in your neighborhood.

But to desire wealth for wealth's sake, that's to just fall into a snare, he says.

Think of a snare.

Can you live a godly life if you're trapped in a snare that comes from the desire for riches?

Someone in a snare, a snare typically will catch its victim around the leg or maybe clamping down on the foot, but oftentimes it's a noose around the neck.

That is so true with anything that takes us away from a pursuit of godliness, therefore a pursuit of Christ.

Money, power, lack of contentment with God and where he has you, other doctrines and teachings that are not of Christ, lies that say that we can slouch at work or be a bad example.

Those things are like a snare, like a noose around the neck of the follower of Christ.

Verse 11 says we've got to flee from those types of things.

To be content with living out a godly life that seeks the glory of God is a life that looks like Christ's.

Christ didn't have a place to call his own, did he?

In fact, he said, I don't even have a place to lay my head.

His entire purpose on earth was to glorify God with his obedient life that would lead to his violent death on the cross, where he would endure the wrath of that Father.

And yet he was never discontent, was he?

He was never discontent in living a life that pleases the Father.

It was his honor to bring glory to his precious Father in heaven.

It's worth it.

He never said it's not fair.

If he did, what would have happened in the wilderness when he was tempted by Satan?

I give you all these things.

He would have jumped on it.

No, he is always content in his father.

And we should be too.

I want to end our time here this morning with just this thought.

Verse 10 says that some have wandered away from the faith.

It says that some who have longed for money have wandered away.

Same could be said of those who are working for someone, believe it or not, and they think they're entitled because they're a Christian.

Same could be said by someone who says that God's word isn't enough.

It's this picture of someone being so disillusioned with God and God the living by the snares and traps of the world and the devil that they're wandering with veiled eyes and hard hearts.

They've heard the gospel.

Maybe they initially responded by wanting to know more, wanting to be a part of the church, but they've wandered away because other things are more important.

Because they weren't content in living for and with Christ in a godly pursuit.

And they come to think that the church just didn't provide for me what I wanted.

Again, showing us that Christ isn't enough.

I'm not talking about somebody who leaves and goes on to join a different church because maybe it lines up with their doctrinal convictions better, but the one who ceases to be a part of the bride of Christ because it didn't please their worldly desires and selfish interests.

Picture the scene of somebody just wandering, lost, directionless, seeking something other than Christ that, oh, that'll provide me happiness and contentment.

And it's just an illusion.

It's like a mirage in the desert or a tropical paradise in the mind's eye, but ends up being just a thousand-foot cliff, wandering away.

You see, the difference is in that living the godly life gives the Christian direction, contentment, and joy.

You ever thought about that?

That pursuing godliness is directly connected to your ability to be content and have joy.

That your pursuit of godliness is directly tied to joy.

You struggle with depression, anxiety, fear, the things of this world.

How's your pursuit of godly living?

Your direction in life will always be in the wrong direction, unless you are pursuing the godliness that grace provides and mercy points to.

And so, in light of this passage and all it has to say, I want to say something to each this morning, and that is this.

Please don't ever make the error of thinking that your life is your own.

Because if you do, then each of these temptations, including greedy gain, will creep in.

If you are Christ, then your life is his.

Your stuff is even his.

It's from him and for him.

If you're in Christ, the call is then to die to self and to live for him.

And so godliness ends up coming to the one who submits to God out of a knowledge of their identity.

If you know you're his and that your life is his, then you will live for him.

And what that means is that you are going to end up living a godly life.

Not perfect.

You're not Jesus.

But that's the trajectory, that's the goal.

In light of that truth, and in light of pursuit of satisfaction from things of this world, I want to close with this.

Years ago, in front of a large crowd of people, some of you may have already heard this story.

Pastor John Piper stood in front of them and challenged the hundreds seated before him by simply just asking where their affections lie.

Where's your heart?

What do you love?

And he began to tell them the story of a retired couple that traveled the world.

They enjoyed all their travels immensely and dedicated the rest of their lives to those travels.

They traveled the world, and what they did, what they love to do, is collect seashells.

The fruit of their lives in the end was really a beautiful collection of gathered seashells, unlike any other.

The other was a retired nurse that the moment she retired saw it as an opportunity to spend the rest of her life in service for her savior.

One day, as those two ladies are driving in that poor foreign country in vehicles that aren't up to par, they came around a corner and for whatever reason the brakes didn't work, they couldn't stop, they went right over the cliff and sailed off into eternity.

They both died, spending their last years in a poor country using whatever they had to proclaim Christ.

Piper concludes this part of his message by pointing to each, hypothetically speaking, to what each of these people had to show the Lord as they stood before him.

Look at our seashells, the retired couple says.

Just look at them, God, aren't they neat?

Piper goes on to say, that's a travesty and a waste of life.

What did the two ladies show as they stood before Christ?

Trust, godliness, faithfulness, concern for the lost, Christ-likeness.

Jesus gave of himself in every way because he realized that his life on earth wasn't for him to simply enjoy and pursue gain.

If it was, he never would have fought the temptations, as I said.

His life was for others.

It's for the glory of his Father, the salvation of his people.

Can we enjoy the things that God has given us?

Of course.

Can we vacation?

Yeah.

But what does our life consist of?

What is our heart's desire?

As you pursue Christ, you are pursuing a life of godliness.

A life that will be content no matter.

Think of those things in your life that are frustrating.

Think of those things in your life that you, oh, you wish they could change.

Can you be content in the cares and concerns of Christ?

Is his yoke enough?

A life that cares for the glory of God and the sound words of Jesus Christ being lived out?

That's a life that finds its fulfillment and hope in the Savior, never in wealth, never in stuff, never in relationship in the earth.

And so as you pursue Christ in a life of godliness, you may be pierced by this world.

You will be.

But you will never be pierced by those oh so many griefs that will come from a love of what this world has to offer.

As you pursue godliness, you're storing up treasure.

Don't think of the pirate's chest, okay?

You're storing up real treasure.

That's a good foundation for the future, and in doing this, the result will be that you will take hold of what is real life, life eternal.

As we looked at the fourth chapter, the promises of God will become all the more vibrant and real day by day, and things like the love of money will become more and more fleeting and just unappealing.

Shells will never do it for you.

But his grace will.

Christ and his glory becomes your aim, your goal, and your life will be just one that sings daily.

Hallelujah! What a savior! Oh, what a joy and blessing to be called and equipped to live that godly life that's not your own.

Let us do this together as a church.

Father, we thank you for your word.

We thank you for your truth.

We thank you for the encouragement, the admonition, and the warning to be a godly Christian.

What a beautiful, beautiful thing it is to walk with Christ.

Father, give us a desire for you, your word, and what you would have for us each day in light of your grace.

Never for the things of this world.

Father, draw our affections day by day by day to your son.

So that we can take hold of life, eternal life.

That we would live that even now.

It is in the name of Christ we pray.

Amen.