Title: The Great Gain of Godliness
Scripture: 1 Timothy 6:6-10
Speaker: Nate Pickowicz
Well, this morning we are going to be talking about a challenging topic for most Westerners, and that is the topic of contentment. I say that it's challenging for us because, by and large, our culture is built on the drive for success and for the attainment of wealth. We tend to buy into the myth that if we were rich, most of our problems would disappear.
Of course, no one says that outwardly, but we do tend to live our lives as though that were true. In our quest for happiness and a comfortable life, I think that's what most people desire, is simply to have a comfortable life. It drives us ultimately to chase money, the thing which we think will help attain such a thing.
Perhaps one of the richest men in American history was Henry Ford. He was the man responsible for streamlining the industrialization process and really producing the basis of what we know to be the American automobile. For his inventions and business savvy, Henry Ford was extremely wealthy.
To just have a sense of how wealthy he was, at the time of his death in 1947, it's estimated he was worth about $200 million. That's in 1947. Equate that to today's dollars, that was about $2.5 billion.
That's not his company, that's him. He was a billionaire by our standards even today. And yet, despite all of Ford's success, problems followed him.
He did not find joy. In fact, it was in his dying breath that he told those around him, I was happier as a mechanic. But I would venture a guess that most of us in the room don't desire to be billionaires.
Yet, that's not ultimately what we want. We do desire to have more than we have, again, most people. Well, how much more? How much more? I remember reading the results of a survey one time that said that most people, when asked, most people said that if they only had 20 percent more, they would be happy.
And the question then is, well, 20 percent of what? Right? 20 percent of what? Because again, the truth is that as your standard of living begins to change, your desires also tend to begin to change as well. And when your desire changes, so does your want for more. I believe the Scripture teaches that it is not our circumstances that drive our quest for more.
Rather, it is the desires of our heart. And when our desire is one of greed, discontentment always rears its ugly head. But what is the antidote to that kind of desire, a greedy desire, a discontented desire? What does God want for Christians? That's what we're going to explore this morning.
And so, if you have your copy of Scripture with you, turn to 1 Timothy chapter 6, 1 Timothy chapter 6. Again, Paul and his letter here, we're reaching the end of his letter. He is sort of coming in for a landing. There are quite a few, there's a diversity of instructions toward the end of the letter.
He seems to be sort of hitting lots of different kinds of things all wrapping up here. But now he's going to talk about something that's very near and dear, certainly to our hearts. Chapter 6 began with a corrective for how servants must regard their masters, followed by a final warning here on the nature and motive of false teachers, something he's been talking about all throughout the letter, that those who lead the churches astray are teaching based on, he says in verse 4, conceit.
They're prideful and they understand nothing. He says the basis for that, the conceitedness, the pridefulness, the lack of knowledge is because they're both depraved and deprived. But in his examination, he presents their ultimate motive.
The false teacher's ultimate motive for why they do what they do is greed. They're greedy for gain. And they suppose that by engaging in a pious looking ministry, they call it godliness, a so-called godliness, that ultimately if they can manifest or project a sense of godliness to other people, that that will be some kind of gain to them, that they will earn financially, it will give them lots of money and status and wealth and whatever else that they're desiring.
And so they fleece the flock for money, which is detestable. And that idea, that notion of the false teachers in Ephesus fleecing the flock for financial gain, it opens the door for Paul then to turn around and then begin to instruct the church about the true blessing of godliness. Not the false godliness that false teachers were espousing, but a genuine, earnest godliness.
So he talks about the gain of godliness, and also he warns against the dangers of greed. And so building on this notion of the false teacher's desire for financial gain, Paul writes this exhortation to the church, chapter 6 verses 6 through 10. Paul says, 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 into 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. And so Paul begins with a general maxim, a general statement of truth. He says here that godliness is a means of great gain when it is accompanied by contentment.
Now again, it's important to distinguish between the gain that the false teachers were seeking. They wanted to be wealthy and rich and prosperous off the backs of the church, that kind of gain, versus the gain that Paul is talking about that believers are promised. On some level we are promised gain, but we're going to talk about what that is.
Now the word that Paul uses here for gain is the word that comes from the Greek is parismus. It's the only place it's used in the New Testament is in this passage. But it's clear that it's referring to some kind of provision, some kind of provision.
Of course, again, the Bible does promise God's provision for us. For example, in Philippians 4.19 says, God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. God will supply all your needs.
That's not prosperity gospel. That's the Word of God telling us that God will supply for our needs. Now we know when we think about verses like that, we know that that is true about us for spiritual things, for eternal things, but what about materially? Does God provide for His people materially? Of course He does.
James 1.17 tells us that every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights. So whatever we have in this world, in our lives, around us, whatever blessing we have, whatever gain we have, every good thing, every perfect gift is from the Lord. I'll tell you, a lot of people in their hearts accuse God of being stingy, but when you really look at everything that God has given and bestowed and blessed us with, you could sit down with a pad of paper and just list one thing after another.
And so not only is God the Creator, He's also the provider and the sustainer of His people. But here, Paul, he links this great gain to two things here. He links great gain to godliness and contentment.
But now we might pose a hypothetical question. Do you need godliness and contentment to receive great gain? I mean, is that a prerequisite for great gain? After all, there's a lot of really wealthy people in the world who have gained much without reverencing God or being content. I mean, think about that.
There's a lot of really, really rich people in the world who care nothing about God. And they seem to have been blessed abundantly in the providence of God through His blessing. We call that common grace.
But here's the thing. Greed drives most of the industry in the Western culture. And yet what is missing is any kind of transcendent purpose or eternal perspective.
In fact, Solomon, Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, apart from Jesus Christ Himself, Solomon addresses the futility of chasing wealth simply for the sake of gaining riches. Let me just read to you from Ecclesiastes chapter 5. Solomon writes, He who loves money will not be satisfied with money. Richest man in the world as well.
He who loves money will not be satisfied by money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity. When good things increase, those who consume them increase.
So what is the advantage to their owners except to look on? The sleep of the working man is pleasant, whether he eats little or much. But the full stomach of the rich man does not allow him to sleep. There is a grievous evil, which I have seen under the sun, riches being hoarded by their owner to his hurt.
When those riches were lost through a bad investment, or he had fathered a son, then there was nothing to support him. And he had come naked from his mother's womb, so he will return as he came. He will take nothing from the fruit of his labor that he can carry in his hand.
This also is a grievous evil. Exactly as a man is born, thus will he die. So what is the advantage to him who toils for the wind? Throughout his life, he also eats in darkness with great vexation, sickness, and anger.
And yet it's possible to obtain great gain apart from god, and yet the Bible says it never satisfies. It never satisfies. If you follow Solomon's logic in that passage, money doesn't make you happy.
Money attracts people who want your money. Ever notice that? The more that you seem to have, people start coming around. I remember watching those old megabucks commercials when I was a kid.
You probably saw those as well. And there was this scene where this husband and wife, they've been working their entire lives and they win the lottery. And their attorney shows up at their house and sits down and says, congratulations, you have more money than you'll ever want or need.
And then the attorney in the commercial says, the first thing you should do is change your phone number. Ha ha ha. And then it fades to megabucks, right? Because there's an inherent reality that as soon as you obtain a lot of money, people want that money.
Money attracts people who want your money. Wealth causes anxiety and sleepless nights. And ultimately, wealth is lost when you're gone.
That's Solomon's argument. This is certainly not the kind of gain that Paul is commending. He's not saying that that is the ultimate reality, the ultimate desire for believers is to have that kind of gain.
Instead, Paul is advocating a different kind of gain, one that centers around godliness, the great gain of godliness. This word godliness is eusebia. We've seen this several times in Paul's letter here.
It's already been referenced quite a few times. It refers to the eusebia, godliness, refers to piety. It refers to godly devotion.
Some have translated it as right religion. The Puritan Thomas Watson writing in his classic book, The Godly Man's Picture, he defines godliness as the sacred impression and workmanship of God in the man whereby from being carnal, he is made spiritual. It's the progress of Christian devotion within the life of the believer.
It's when you're growing, it's where through sanctification, growth in Christ's likeness, we become more and more like God in practice. Again, it's one thing to know things about God. It's one thing to learn Bible verses and doctrine.
It's another thing to go and then appropriate that and live it out in your life. The practice of living out what you know is true from Scripture is the practice of godliness. Elsewhere, Watson says, godliness is godlikeness.
Godliness is godlikeness. And as we saw back in 1 Timothy 3.16 that Christ, Christ Himself is called the mystery of godliness. He is the embodiment of all that we are seeking in God because He is God incarnate.
He doesn't have to learn how to appropriate godly wisdom into His life. He does that innately. It's who He is.
And we are called to be like Him. In fact, chapter 4 verse 7 says that we are to discipline ourselves for the purpose of godliness, that as we're living our life and we're growing and we're weeding out the wicked practices and sinful practices and useless practices in our life, we're conforming more and more to the standard of godliness that God desires in us. And so to put all this together, as we grow to become more devoted to godlikeness, godliness in practice, we begin to experience great gain.
We experience great gain. After all, Paul expresses in chapter 4 verse 8, godliness is profitable for all things. Our godly character is profitable, he says, for all things.
And then he adds, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. He has His feet in two different pools here, the present life and the life to come. Now, of course, we pause and say, well, yeah, we know that godliness is profitable for spiritual things and for eternal things, and yeah, we understand that as Christians, but what about for now? What about the present life? What about for us materially or financially or in our relationships? What about the present life? Is that also true as well? And the answer is yes, but how? That's where Paul brings in the second component here, godliness when accompanied with contentment.
The Greek word that Paul uses here is relatively unique. The word that's translated in our Bibles as content in English, there are several different words in the Greek that render themselves out as content or contentment. But here, the unique word is autarkia, autarkia.
It's only used one other place in the New Testament, but this word that we translate contentment, the ancient Stoic philosophers in Paul's time, when they used this word in their writings, they were using this word to refer to self-sufficiency, self-sufficiency. One scholar defined it as a perfect condition of life in which no aid or support is needed. In other words, you're totally happy in your situation and you need nothing.
And in the Greek Stoic philosophers' minds, that was basically that you're self-contained, self-sufficient, you need nothing. You're totally happy because you have arrived at the place where you are in a good place. You're content with where you are.
But Paul is using this word, he grabs this word, and he actually uses it in a different way. In fact, the other usage of this word elsewhere, it comes in 2 Corinthians 9, 8, the other use of this word autarkia comes where Paul says, God is able to make all grace abound to you so that always having all sufficiency, that's that word, sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed. So what Paul is describing here is not a self-sufficiency where you're good independently in and of yourself, you're happy in your circumstances because you have arrived.
It's not self-sufficiency. Rather, Paul is teaching and advocating for a God-sufficiency where he is the one providing for all of your needs. This distinction actually between the self-sufficiency and God-sufficiency has actually caused one scholar, William Hendrickson, to define this word autarkia not as self-sufficiency but soul-sufficiency, where your soul is at rest in God.
But let's consider contentment a little bit more here. Perhaps the greatest book ever written in the English language about this topic is a book by Jeremiah Burroughs called The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment. I know many of you have read this book, a wonderful book.
I can't think of a better one on the issue of contentment. But Burroughs defines contentment as this, and I love these long puritanical definitions. Make my heart sing, right? So he defines contentment as this, that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit which freely submits to and delights in God's wise and fatherly disposal in every condition.
Let's break this down here. There's a lot in the definition. You could boil it down to a lot of different things, but if you had to really distill it, I would say it's this.
Contentment is being satisfied with God's provision. Being satisfied with God's provision. Of course, Burroughs in his book, he delves into every possible aspect of Christian contentment.
It's really, it's masterful. And if you've never read this book, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, I would highly commend it to you. But I believe at the core of Scripture's teaching, it is that regardless of the circumstances, I'm going to repeat that, regardless of the circumstances, you can find joy, satisfaction, and rest in what God gives.
You can find joy. You can find satisfaction. You can find rest in the provision of God.
In fact, the Apostle Paul had to learn this. He had to learn how to do this. In Philippians chapter 4, verses 10 through 13, just listen to this.
Paul says, But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have been revived in your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned before, but now you will act opportunity. Then he says this, not that I speak from want, he says, I don't really need anything.
I'm not coming to you with this request because I'm needy. He says, I'm not speaking from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity.
In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. Here's the secret, verse 13, I can do all things through him, through Christ, who strengthens me. I want to focus on something that Paul says here, and keep it in your mind, lock it in your mind.
Paul says, I have learned to be content. I've learned this, implying that there was a time in Paul's life that he didn't know this, that he had a lot of prosperity at one point in his life. He had suffering, he had trials, he had need, but whatever the situation, Paul got to a place where he is learning and had learned to be content, and here's the implication that learning contentment, this is all about a mindset.
This is about a decision to be made. Rather than chasing and longing for more, the contented Christian, the satisfied Christian, brings their desires down to their level of possessions. They no longer desire and want and lust for something beyond themselves.
They take that desire and they rest it and seat it at what they currently have from God. That's what Paul's teaching us here. Now, we must not confuse contentment with laziness, because that's the other ditch to fall into as well.
Scripture rebukes the sluggard for laziness that masquerades as contentment. To be clear, the Bible calls on especially men, but He calls on all people to work hard to provide for our situation, husbands, fathers especially. You are to work hard to provide for your family.
We saw back in chapter 5, verse 8, that if a man does not provide for his own family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. So you can't not work a job if you're able to work. You can't just work and sit on your hands and say, oh, I'm just being content with what I have, because now you're just being lazy and you're being disobedient.
So that's not the issue. The issue is not a matter of, you know, the work or the money or the whatever. The real issue here that we're talking about is the heart attitude.
The heart attitude that is greedy for gain and dissatisfied with God's provision. It's quite the opposite. It's when a person is a workaholic and they're chasing.
They're chasing the money. They're chasing the success. They're chasing creature comforts.
And so we find Paul's encouragement again here, godliness, godliness, a right devotion to God, practice of who he is in your daily life, godliness with contentment, soul sufficiency, satisfaction in God's provision, godliness with contentment is great gain. He doesn't just say gain. He says, megas, great gain, a lot of gain.
But then we wrestle with, okay, I like the sound of that. That's good, pastor, thank you. How do we obtain such contentment? How do I get that? And remember, this is something that Paul says can be learned, right? I want to learn this, and I'll just speak autobiographically.
I really want to learn this. I mean, don't you? It's very easy to slide, and I'll tell you, we can read the verse and say, yeah, I'm content with God's provision. And then as soon as we experience that feeling of need or that desire, as soon as something in your home or in your driveway breaks and you start seeing everything out there, oh, I want that.
As soon as you're on Facebook and you're scrolling to see everybody else's life, you say, oh, I want that. I want to go on vacation. I want to buy this.
I want to do that. It exists in our hearts. How do we fight that, and how do we learn to be content with what God gives us? I think Paul here, in the next couple of verses, he delineates some help for us, some helps.
I don't believe that Paul includes everything that could be said about contentment. There's other places in Scripture that talk about it, certainly. But in this passage alone, he does delineate for us, I believe, at least three lines of arguments or three reasons for contentment, okay? So three reasons for contentment, three lines of argumentation for how and why we are to be content.
The first one comes at the beginning of verse 7. Look at verse 7 here. Paul reasons, for we have brought nothing into the world. That's a general maxim.
That's a self-evident truth, isn't it? No baby comes into the world with a suitcase. They come in with nothing, right? Less than nothing. All of us come into the world naked, without anything to our name.
You possess nothing when you come into the world. We own nothing, and furthermore, we're entitled to nothing. Now, you might say, well, yeah, but what about families and generational wealth? And put all that aside, because you could have that come into you and never receive it.
There's nothing spiritually, there's nothing biblically, there's nothing that says that you're owed anything. And so what does that teach us? It tells us that everything we have then has been given to us at some point in our life. You're born with nothing, everything's been given, and if every good and perfect gift comes from God, then everything you have, beloved, has been given to you by the Lord.
Everything you possess, or as 1 Corinthians 4, 7 says, what do you have that you did not receive? I love those kind of probing questions. What do you have? And you rattle things off, and you receive that. Yeah, well, I bought that with the job that God allowed you to have, right? With the orchestration of events that brought you to this point.
So what do you have that you did not receive? The answer is nothing. We received everything by the providence and goodness of God. That's helpful, I think.
And if we keep this in our mindset, that everything that we have is a gift from God, then it leads us to the result that we ought to be thankful for everything and all things that we do have. Everything we have is a gift, which leads us to the second reason, or the second line of argument here, Paul's second reason for contentment is that just as we have brought nothing into the world, he adds, so we cannot take anything out of it either. Now Paul shifts the focus just a little bit here, and he focuses on the inevitability of death and departure.
He kind of has eternity in mind. He has the end of life in mind, kind of like what Solomon does. And so if we spend our lives accumulating things, at a certain point when you pass on, none of those things can go with you when you die.
And we have lots of these maxims and old sayings and old wives' tales that we have lots of ways to talk about it. No U-Hauls behind hearses and stuff like that, but we understand the sentiment that you can't take anything with you. I just think it's, I always think it's funny when a preacher will be buried with his Bible.
It's a great idea, but you can't even take that with you beyond. That's why you have to hide God's Word in your heart, but that's a different sermon, right? But we can't take anything with us. We can spend our lives accumulating, and we can't take anything with us.
We can't even take our clothes. We can't even take our bodies into the next life. Think about that.
The thing that you come into the world with, you can't take with you. I think this is a startling reality that really speaks to two key realizations that, number one, our future is provided for by God regardless of what we do here. It doesn't matter if you're the wealthiest person in existence or if you have absolutely nothing.
If you're impoverished, you end up in the same place when you see God. Lazarus and the rich man, that whole concept, right? Wealthy person, impoverished person, when you meet God face-to-face, you're in the same position, the same condition. And so our future is provided for by God regardless of what we do here.
And then a second thing is ultimately the acquisition of earthly gain is futile. That's again Solomon's conclusion in Ecclesiastes 5 and 6. You can spend your life accumulating earthly treasure, and it is meaningless and futile, which is why Jesus says in Matthew 6, 19, We are to spend our lives accumulating heavenly treasure, Jesus says. Furthermore, in light of eternity, Jesus also tells us, Because we go back to that question I posed toward the beginning.
Well, do you need godliness and contentment to accumulate great gain? Well, the answer is no, you don't. You can accumulate great gain without that. But ultimately, in light of eternity, what does it profit you if you gain all those things and you miss heaven? You gain nothing.
In light of eternity, riches are utterly useless. In fact, that's Job's conclusion when he loses everything. Notice that Solomon, the richest man in the world, and Job at that time was the poorest man because he lost everything.
They both have the same conclusion. Job 1, 21, he says, And what is his conclusion? Blessed be the name of the Lord. Everything I have, everything I am, all that I desire, everything that is me, is all from God.
Blessed be His name. What else is there? There is God and nothing else. Same logic for Paul here in verse 7. He says, Ultimately, the same thing as Job, the same thing as Solomon.
You brought nothing into the world and you can take nothing with you. All the money you're trying to save up, all the things you're trying to do, the investment properties, the old saying, the one who has the most toys at the end wins. Garbage.
That's not true at all. But then Paul adds a third reason to be content. Not only did you have nothing coming in, God gave you everything that you have as a baby.
Not only is God going to be responsible for everything you have in the future and you can take nothing with you, but then there's verse 8. He says, Now, the assumption in the verse here is that he's speaking to those in the congregation who do actually have food and covering. Of course, there are some people in the world who do not have those things. There are those who are impoverished.
And I believe Scripture teaches also that if you are impoverished, it is not wrong to ask for those things. It's right to desire food and to desire covering. Why? Well, because if you don't have those things, you'll die.
And even though there are people who are denied those things who do end up passing. And that is also within the providence of God, even though it's difficult. And yet Paul, again, is reasoning with a church full of people who most likely have food.
The Greek word is diatrophe, which is food, nourishment, sustenance. Not gourmet food, but rather enough to survive. And then this word covering, skepasma in the Greek refers to clothing, but it can also refer in some cases to dwelling.
It's a roof over your head. It's literally a covering over your head. And so Paul says, if you have these things, you can be content.
Even though I would argue with you that there have been believers throughout the course of history who did not have food and did not have covering and learned contentment. But for our purposes, of course, it's interesting when we think about how Jesus addresses the issue of anxiety. In Matthew 6, Matthew 6 is the chapter for my life.
Struggling with anxiety for my whole life. Matthew 6 is such a bomb to the soul. But listen to how Jesus reasons in Matthew 6 about anxiety, about worry.
What are the two things that Jesus goes after in Matthew 6, those of you who know it? Food and clothing, right? Same thing Paul talks about, food and clothing. And he reasons in Matthew 6, 26 and verse 30, if God is able to feed the birds, which are insignificant, will He not also feed you? And then he reasons this way. If God clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, is He not also going to clothe you? He goes to those two basic necessities of food and clothing or food and covering.
And he says, if God is able to do that for nature, for things that are utterly insignificant, why are we anxious that God is not going to do that for us as well? Why are we so worried that God is not going to provide for our needs? Oh, you have little faith, he says. And yet, we can be content in knowing that God is able to care for all of our basic needs. Not always our wants, right? He doesn't always give you your wants.
Sometimes He does. There are times when you pray, oh Lord, I know I don't need this, but I really like this, and He gives it to you. And you can praise Him for that.
We all have blessings that are not needs. Things that we would just like to have. An upgrade on a need that we have.
A thing we'd like to do, a place we'd like to go, whatever. We can be thankful for those things. But God provides for our needs.
And here's another challenging thing. God knows what we need. There are times when we think we need something that He knows we don't.
Ever have that colliding of where your perception of your own need is different than God's perception of what you do need? Oh Lord, I need this. He says, no you don't. But I'll give you this.
And you can learn to be content. But God is always faithful to give to His people. He's not a stingy God.
He's a gracious God. He's a merciful God. He's a benevolent God.
I mean, isn't that the passage that Pastor Mike read this morning? That we receive far more abundantly than we could ever ask or think? Have you ever experienced that in your own life? Maybe there have been times or seasons where God blesses you in some way, and you're like, Lord, this is more than I thought. This is more than I asked for. This is more I even thought that you could bless me with.
Again, contentment is when we are satisfied in what God provides for us. We're satisfied. Furthermore, it's an exercise of submitting to His will in His decision to give what He wants to give.
When God gives you something, it's not what you asked for, it's not what you want, it's not what you thought you needed, but He gives you something, and you say, you know what? I'm going to be thankful. I'm going to be content. Lord, thank you for giving this to me.
Admittedly, Lord, this is not what I thought I wanted or needed, but, Lord, this is what you have sought fit to give me. Thank you. You've given.
You can take away. Blessed be your name. To learn to submit.
Now, again, is it wrong to ask God to provide for more? No. Jesus says, ask and you'll receive. Seek and you'll find.
Knock and you'll be open unto you. We're to ask the Lord, but we have to examine our motives, don't we? That's what James talks about, right? Making sure our motives are pure. Or if He says no, or if He says wait.
Sometimes He says wait, doesn't He? Sometimes the answer isn't just yes or no, but it's just not yet. But when He answers in such a way, to submit to His will and still be thankful, to still be content, and that's the key. It is about checking our motives.
What is the motive for why you're asking for what you want? Lord, I want a new car. Is it because you need a new car? Or are you just like the one you saw drive by more than the old one that you have? But your old one works fine, right? These are the kinds of things that we get into. Checking your motives.
Why are you asking God for the thing that you want? Is it for a pure motive, or is it for a selfish reason? And that's where Paul goes next. Because there is a great danger in desiring more than you have. And so he offers a warning in verse 9. Look at verse 9. Of course, he qualifies this phrase here.
He says, and those who want to get rich, so we're going to talk about now those who have a desire, a want, a longing to be rich. Now, you might say, well, the word rich is subjective, isn't it? Because how much money does it take to be rich in your mind? And I guarantee you, if I were to poll the audience here and say, well, what would you consider to be rich? I'd get a lot of answers. For some of you, rich is $100,000.
For others of you, rich would be a million dollars or $10 million. Maybe some of you are extremely entrepreneurial, and you'd say, oh, rich is a billion dollars. Whatever the number.
It doesn't matter. See, it's not about having the money. Having a lot of money is not wrong.
In fact, I know a few godly, generous millionaires. They're godly, upright people. And they have a lot of money.
There's nothing wrong with having money. Being rich is not the problem. It's desiring and even lusting after riches.
That's the problem. It's the lust. It's the desire.
And Paul says here, there is a series of cascading woes that befall those who want to get rich. Look at verse 9. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare in many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. And so there's at least three woes in this verse alone.
The first one is the desire for riches and wealth. He says, number one, it causes people to fall into temptation. That's the first one.
It causes them to fall into temptation. See, here's the thing. When greed exists in the heart, the enemy will use that and your own sinful flesh uses that to tempt you with sinful opportunities.
This is where the bevy of get-rich-quick schemes have found such an audience these days. They feed on people's discontent and they entice them with the opportunity of gaining more through some kind of an exploitive financial scheme. And they promise you, oh, if you just do this, and they always want some money up front, don't they? Oh, if you just buy this or sign up for this or give us this, oh, we're going to give you ten times as much.
Oh, we're going to give you, I remember I used to hear this one, unlimited income potential. What does that mean? That means you might make some money, but you probably won't. See, when you're discontented, that's appealing to you.
When you're broke and you want more, that is appealing. But see, when you're not discontent, when you're not greedy, that temptation for money doesn't exist for you. You're not interested.
You want to make unlimited income potential? You're like, no. It's not concerning to you. It doesn't bother you.
But when you are, when you struggle with that in your own heart, suddenly the lottery shelf at the convenience store starts to look really good. Ever notice that? Test yourself, and don't tell anybody about this, but just test yourself. When you go to the convenience store and you walk up to pay for your milk and eggs, and you look across and you see the lottery shelf, is that drawing you in? Or is that kind of like pushing you away? Because if it's drawing you in, that's called temptation.
That's temptation. Now I'm not saying curse the place and run out screaming, but pay attention to your own heart, right? Listen to what your heart is saying in those moments. Because that's the thing.
Desiring riches causes people to fall into temptation, which leads to the second thing. Number two, ensnarement. Ensnarement.
Literally the word that Paul uses here for snare refers to a trap for animals. A trap for animals. It's when you're being lured in by the enticement of riches and then the trap springs.
And it's gotcha. And that's always how it goes. Because what is the snare? I mean, it certainly could be a one-time thing.
Maybe you make a poor financial decision and you get snatched in and you get trapped. That could happen. But I tend to see, more often than not, patterns of ensnaring addictions.
Consistent decisions and consistent patterns where greed has become so inflamed by the temptation to the point where it has ensnared you and you can't stop. According to one website I read this week, approximately five million Americans meet the criteria for compulsive gambling addiction. Five million people in this country.
Every year, Americans spend $48 billion in casinos, $27 billion on state lotteries, and even this one, $13 billion online gambling. That's not million, that's with a B. Billion dollars. And so this gets to a point, again, that's not even talking about people who gamble at all.
This is gambling addiction. People who start and can't stop. And when it becomes an addiction, it's a snare.
It's a trap that you can't break out of. And eventually, Paul says that these many foolish and harmful desires, this desire for more, ends up plunging those people into number three, ruin and destruction. That's the ultimate end of all of this.
Ruin and destruction. What does that mean? Well, they end up losing all their money. They begin to sell off their possessions to get more.
They lose their families. They even can lose their lives. I've known people who've lost everything through gambling addiction.
It's terrible. They just can't stop. Or even, not even just gambling, but even spending.
Credit card debt is through the roof nationally. Just spending and spending and spending and spending without any regard for the end. And what are you buying? Who even knows? I mean, nowadays, you can just go on your phone, click a button, it shows up at your house the next day.
What did you buy? I don't remember what's in the box. We just get into these ensnaring patterns where we're just spending money just to spend. And I'll tell you, the desiring is a lot better than the actual having, isn't it? It shows up and you're like, oh, that wasn't what I wanted.
Eh, that's nice, but it's not as good as what was on the screen. It's this entrapment, this temptation to entrapment to ruin. And James 1.14 talks about this.
Each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. And when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin. And when sin is accomplished, it brings forth what? Death.
That is the ultimate end of all of this. Is a destruction of what God has called to be good. Or consider Proverbs 28.20 A faithful man will abound with blessings, but he who makes haste to be rich will not go unpunished.
Again, these are the disastrous effects of greed. But here's the thing. Paul's not done yet.
He's not done. It's not just the immediate temporal effects of chasing money. Verse 10, there's something greater.
Look at verse 10. 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. Now, this verse, this is one of those top 10 misquoted, misunderstood, misrepresented verses, I think, in all of biblical history here.
It's been misquoted several different ways. Some have maintained that it is money that is the root of all evil. But if you look at the verse very carefully, it's not money itself.
He says it is the love of money. The love, it's the heart attitude. Philargouria in the Greek, it's literally love for silver or affection for silver.
Grammatically, also, it isn't the soul root. It isn't that the love of money is the root of all evil. It's not the soul root of all evil, but rather it is a root of all sorts of evil, grammatically speaking.
In other words, greed spawns many kinds of sins, but it doesn't spawn every sin. There are other sins and other evils that are not directly connected to the love of money. But Paul here, he's not going to list off a dozen different evils caused by greed, but he is going to list two.
Two huge ones. These are big. The first one is apostasy.
Apostasy. He says longing for money has caused some people to wander away from the faith. That is terrifying.
Isn't it? They chase money. They chase riches, financial success, to the point where their love for money overtakes their love for God. Suddenly they have a new God in their heart.
A new idol in their heart. And it's not the Lord. And when that happens, they begin to wander away from the faith.
But we know that Jesus warns against this. Matthew 6.24 No one 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.
Jesus says you cannot serve God in wealth. Well, yeah, but maybe I can sort of split the difference. Jesus says you can't.
You can't have two gods in your heart. If money and wealth and possessions are your God, you can't have God there either. And again, some people try.
How does this work itself out? Just to give one example, I remember I was talking to a church member whose boss kept on scheduling them for Sunday morning. And they went to the boss over and over again and they said, listen, boss, this is a good job. I love working for you, but I really want to be able to go with my family and worship God on Sunday morning.
Please stop scheduling me for Sunday morning. I'll work any other time of the week. No Sunday morning.
The boss disregarded him. Kept on scheduling him over and over again. And what he did? He quit his job.
Found another one. And said in the interview, I'll work any hours you want, but I will not work Sunday. And they found a way to keep him and not have to work Sunday mornings.
That's just one example. Now again, there are some situations, some careers where you have to sacrifice in some cases. But I would say this.
Show me a Christian who consistently chooses to work Sunday morning and I'll show you someone who was in the process of apostasy. Where is your heart? Do you love the attainment of wealth more than you love the worship of God? Do you give to the Lord's ministry? Do you focus on Him? Do you die to yourself to follow after Him? Again, there's a million different applications here. And if the shoe doesn't fit, and I'm talking about this for you, then don't put it on.
But this might be applicable to you in some situations. But consider, this is not me versus you or you versus each other. Ask the Lord.
Lord, are there things in my heart that are seating themselves on the throne of my heart in a place where you deserve to be? And if that's true, Lord, remove it from me so I can put you where you belong in my heart. Ask the question. Because here's the thing.
Ultimately, when it all boils down to greed, love of money, pursuing money, contentment helps to mitigate all of that. Contentment mitigates all of that. I think about Proverbs 30.
Verses 7-9. Two things I ask of you. Do not refuse me before I die.
Keep deception and lies far from me. Then listen to this. This is the writer of this proverb asking the Lord, Lord, give me neither poverty nor riches.
Feed me with the food that is my portion, that I will be full and not deny you and say, who is the Lord? Or that I will not be in want and steal and profane the name of my God. These are the words of Edgar. Edgar says, listen, Lord, I'm asking for a couple of things here.
But when we're talking about money and contentment, he says, Lord, don't make me a pauper, but don't make me wealthy. I want to be somewhere in the middle where I have my needs, and I'm not suffering and struggling and cursing you on the way down. But I don't want to be so inflated where I deny you.
I just want to stay focused on you, have what I need to survive, and worship you with a clear conscience. That's a faithful way to approach it, isn't it? Lord, I don't want to be impoverished. If that's what you grant to me is poverty, then that's your will, and blessed be your name.
But Lord, please don't do that. But I'll tell you, I don't want to win the lottery. I'd rather buy $100 billion or $3 billion, whatever the billion these days.
I don't want it. I'm scared. If someone handed me a lotto ticket that had winning numbers, I don't want it.
You can give it to the church. That's a whole other host of problems now. People reason this way.
Oh, I'm going to get really wealthy and give to the church. Don't think that way. Give to the church when you're poor.
Let the rich worry about that. Don't reason and play these silly games that we play. Because here's the problem.
Greed will ultimately and inevitably lead to apostasy. But if you're satisfied with God's provision and seek righteousness, He'll preserve you. The second outcome here that Paul gives.
The love of money leads a person to being pierced with many griefs. This word for pierced here refers to a piece of meat that's been skewered for cooking. But the greedy person isn't pierced with a spike.
They're pierced with griefs. Odunai in the Greek is pains or distresses. Because here's the problem.
The love of money never brings joy. It never brings relief. It only brings bitter loss and distress.
You know what the rich worry about? Keeping their money. It only brings distress. But we see countless examples of Scripture from that very same thing.
The story of Naboth's vineyard. Naboth was miserable, lost everything. Judas Iscariot.
Achan who stole the treasure that was supposed to be for the Lord. Ananias and Sapphira, the rich young ruler. You could go on and on and on and on.
It never goes well. Their only result is being pierced with grief. It only leads to misery.
But contentment, contentment beloved, produces thankfulness, joy, peace, generosity, and more. Hebrews 13 verse 5 tells us, make sure that your character is free from the love of money. Then he adds, being content with what you have, for he himself said, I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.
The true antidote to greed and discontent is to focus on the person of God and trusting in his character. And when you do that, the more you focus on godliness, with contentment, you begin to experience great gain. Suddenly everything you have is gain.
You don't see loss anymore. You only see the blessing of what God's given you. And so yeah, you might not gain a lot of wealth on earth materially, but with godliness, you will gain assurance of heaven because you love him and he's saved you.
And you will gain the blessing and the joy of contentment. And if you do believe the gospel of Jesus Christ, you have the greatest gift that God has ever given. You have the gift of his son.
You have the Lord Jesus Christ. And what is that amazing gift? It's the gift of salvation that God in human flesh came to earth, he himself as the gift. And he offered himself up on the cross to pay for your sins, to remove your debt of sin and the debt of punishment that you owed.
He removed all of those debts and blessed you with the heavenly blesses in Christ. He gave you life so that when you leave this earth and die with nothing to your name, you'll receive everything in him in heaven. But we don't come to Christ for what he can give us.
We don't go to God for the gifts, do we? No, we go to God because he is the giver. The giver of life. The giver of salvation.
The Bible teaches us that if we turn away from our sins and put our trust in Jesus Christ alone who died and rose the third day, we will have life. And life eternal. It's the greatest gift we could ever ask for.
It's a gift that we can be content with. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word.
There is so much here. Lord, there are even other trails out of these verses that we could follow. And Lord, I trust that your people will.
Lord, there's so much to be said, but we want to thank you for being a God who blesses and gives to us so generously and graciously, Lord. And yet, we have to come to you with open hearts and admit to you, that Lord, at our core, we do have levels of greed and discontentment in our hearts, O Lord. We ask that you would expose these things and help us to turn away and confess the sin of greed and of discontent.
And Lord, help us to run to you with joy and satisfaction, having a soul sufficiency, satisfied in what you've done. Lord, help us to receive all these good things from you as gifts, and to praise you ultimately for all of these things. And Lord, sometimes when you do give us adversity and trial, Lord, would you also help us to praise you even in those hard days, knowing that even the life that we have itself, even if it's feeble and frail, even our lives are a gift that you've given.
So help us, O Lord, to be content. Help us to recognize that with that, with contentment, that our godliness, our focus on you, our devotion to you, is great gain. We thank you for who you are and for what you've done for us.
We love you, O Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen.