WEBVTT 00:00:06.639 --> 00:00:13.160 Hebrews chapter 13 verse 5. That's going to be 00:00:13.160 --> 00:00:18.399 toward the back of your Bible. Hebrews chapter 00:00:18.399 --> 00:00:25.219 13 verse 5. The author of Hebrews is bringing 00:00:25.219 --> 00:00:29.000 the letter here to a close in these verses. And 00:00:29.000 --> 00:00:31.739 there's really a lot of good stuff. and the verses 00:00:31.739 --> 00:00:34.539 surrounding this particular verse. We won't look 00:00:34.539 --> 00:00:36.539 at those things today. Maybe at some point we 00:00:36.539 --> 00:00:39.500 will. But today we're just going to look at one 00:00:39.500 --> 00:00:46.380 little verse, Hebrews chapter 13, verse 5. We'll 00:00:46.380 --> 00:00:49.200 read through it, then we'll pray, and then we'll 00:00:49.200 --> 00:00:56.799 get started. Your life should be free from the 00:00:56.799 --> 00:01:01.439 love of money. Be satisfied with what you have, 00:01:01.700 --> 00:01:05.980 for he himself has said, I will never leave you 00:01:05.980 --> 00:01:11.239 or forsake you. Let's pray. God, we thank you 00:01:11.239 --> 00:01:15.159 for this simple command, this simple verse, this 00:01:15.159 --> 00:01:18.439 simple truth, dear Lord. It is so easy to read 00:01:18.439 --> 00:01:21.900 this, and it's easy to understand this, dear 00:01:21.900 --> 00:01:25.420 Lord, but it is quite difficult for us to live 00:01:25.420 --> 00:01:28.459 this out. So I pray, God, that you would help 00:01:28.459 --> 00:01:31.959 us to grow from your word today. I pray, God, 00:01:32.040 --> 00:01:33.719 that you would help us to be a people who would 00:01:33.719 --> 00:01:38.019 seek you, to fight the temptations, to live for 00:01:38.019 --> 00:01:40.840 the world, and to seek the things of the world, 00:01:40.939 --> 00:01:43.879 dear Lord. I pray that you would free us from 00:01:43.879 --> 00:01:46.239 distractions today. We come in here with our 00:01:46.239 --> 00:01:49.680 worries and our pains and our stresses of this 00:01:49.680 --> 00:01:53.140 world and things that happened last week. Worry 00:01:53.140 --> 00:01:55.180 about what will happen next week, but I pray 00:01:55.180 --> 00:01:58.379 that in these few moments, dear Lord, that your 00:01:58.379 --> 00:02:01.060 Holy Spirit would just be among this place, God. 00:02:01.680 --> 00:02:04.200 We want to hear from you today, God. There is 00:02:04.200 --> 00:02:06.799 no good word that I can speak if it does not 00:02:06.799 --> 00:02:09.960 come from you, so I pray, dear Lord, that your 00:02:09.960 --> 00:02:12.919 Spirit would come upon us today, that you would 00:02:12.919 --> 00:02:14.840 be glorified today, dear Lord, that you take 00:02:14.840 --> 00:02:17.460 away any fear or any pride that is within me, 00:02:17.520 --> 00:02:21.360 and that every word that is said today is for 00:02:21.360 --> 00:02:24.139 your glory. That every word, dear Lord, points 00:02:24.139 --> 00:02:26.479 us to Jesus Christ. That every word would be 00:02:26.479 --> 00:02:28.740 an encouragement or a correction to us. Whatever 00:02:28.740 --> 00:02:31.680 we may need, dear Lord, you know where we are. 00:02:31.840 --> 00:02:34.280 So I pray, God, that you just would be with us 00:02:34.280 --> 00:02:38.120 this morning. And I ask these things in Jesus' 00:02:38.300 --> 00:02:43.539 name. Amen. There is lots of good instruction 00:02:43.539 --> 00:02:46.960 in the Bible. I suppose we could say it's all 00:02:46.960 --> 00:02:50.919 good instruction. Some of it is not as easy to 00:02:50.919 --> 00:02:54.610 understand. Some of it is very easy to understand, 00:02:54.689 --> 00:02:59.689 but a lot of it is very hard for us to live out. 00:03:00.090 --> 00:03:05.050 We live in a world where we are constantly bombarded 00:03:05.050 --> 00:03:09.610 with temptations. There's a fleshly part of us 00:03:09.610 --> 00:03:13.180 that is... that is longing for and tempted by 00:03:13.180 --> 00:03:17.039 the things of the world. And more times than 00:03:17.039 --> 00:03:20.500 not, the very things that we are drawn to are 00:03:20.500 --> 00:03:23.919 the things that the Word of God tells us to be 00:03:23.919 --> 00:03:28.219 on guard against. And so it's a constant struggle 00:03:28.219 --> 00:03:32.979 because the things of the world butt heads with 00:03:32.979 --> 00:03:36.360 the things of God's Word. And so many of the 00:03:36.360 --> 00:03:39.479 things that our world holds up as important, 00:03:39.979 --> 00:03:43.120 that our world tries to say, these are the things 00:03:43.120 --> 00:03:45.819 you need to do. This is what you need to strive 00:03:45.819 --> 00:03:48.979 for. This is what you need to be successful. 00:03:49.520 --> 00:03:53.000 Many of those things are things that the Bible 00:03:53.000 --> 00:03:58.319 would say are things that will destroy us. And 00:03:58.319 --> 00:04:00.599 one of those things that's talked about occasionally 00:04:00.599 --> 00:04:06.770 in Scripture is greed, is a love for money. It 00:04:06.770 --> 00:04:12.150 is a desire for material things. Now our world 00:04:12.150 --> 00:04:14.370 has a certain metric, a certain standard that 00:04:14.370 --> 00:04:17.029 says, you know, here's how you can gauge if you 00:04:17.029 --> 00:04:20.089 are successful. Have you graduated high school? 00:04:20.170 --> 00:04:23.089 Have you graduated college? Do you have an undergrad 00:04:23.089 --> 00:04:25.189 degree? Do you have a master's degree? Do you 00:04:25.189 --> 00:04:27.949 have a doctorate? And every level that we get 00:04:27.949 --> 00:04:32.209 that next little peg up the ladder, then that 00:04:32.209 --> 00:04:35.189 shows, that's the evidence that we are successful. 00:04:36.009 --> 00:04:39.470 Do you have a job making $50 ,000 a year or $100 00:04:39.470 --> 00:04:43.170 ,000 a year or a million dollars a year? And 00:04:43.170 --> 00:04:46.250 every time we make it to that next level, it 00:04:46.250 --> 00:04:50.230 proves that we are successful. Do people know 00:04:50.230 --> 00:04:53.129 your name? Do people talk about you? Are you 00:04:53.129 --> 00:04:55.970 famous? Do people want to get their picture made 00:04:55.970 --> 00:04:58.870 with you? Are you an athlete? Are you the best 00:04:58.870 --> 00:05:02.949 at what you do? There are all these things that 00:05:02.949 --> 00:05:05.769 the world would kind of prop up and promote, 00:05:05.970 --> 00:05:09.149 and we see it on social media, and we see a kind 00:05:09.149 --> 00:05:12.550 of target in our young people that this is what 00:05:12.550 --> 00:05:15.129 you need to strive for, and this is what success 00:05:15.129 --> 00:05:19.329 is, and this is what you need to be. And a lot 00:05:19.329 --> 00:05:21.810 of times money is right at the center of that. 00:05:22.310 --> 00:05:26.069 A lot of times, rightly or wrongly, we gauge 00:05:26.069 --> 00:05:29.810 our success on the amount of money that we have. 00:05:30.699 --> 00:05:34.819 And so money becomes a God to us. And we may 00:05:34.819 --> 00:05:37.259 not like to say that. We may not like to admit 00:05:37.259 --> 00:05:41.040 it. But maybe more times than we want to admit, 00:05:41.139 --> 00:05:45.019 or maybe even that we know, maybe God, our God, 00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:48.720 has become our money. That has become what we 00:05:48.720 --> 00:05:51.500 strive for. That has become what we find our 00:05:51.500 --> 00:05:54.810 comfort in. And when our bank accounts have plenty 00:05:54.810 --> 00:05:57.389 of money, we're pretty relaxed. When our bank 00:05:57.389 --> 00:06:00.230 accounts get pretty low, we get kind of freaked 00:06:00.230 --> 00:06:03.110 out. Now what does that tell us? If you fall 00:06:03.110 --> 00:06:05.709 into that category, and maybe we all do, well 00:06:05.709 --> 00:06:07.629 that might tell us that we're trusting in our 00:06:07.629 --> 00:06:11.490 money more than we're trusting in God. Now we 00:06:11.490 --> 00:06:13.230 probably would all come in here today and we'd 00:06:13.230 --> 00:06:15.370 give the church answer. I would say, what do 00:06:15.370 --> 00:06:16.990 you love more than anything? And you would all 00:06:16.990 --> 00:06:20.199 say, God! Because that's the right answer. That's 00:06:20.199 --> 00:06:22.759 the church answer. But that might not be what's 00:06:22.759 --> 00:06:25.480 really the answer in our heart. That really may 00:06:25.480 --> 00:06:28.439 not be true for us. And there's a really easy 00:06:28.439 --> 00:06:31.360 test for us all to take, whether we are young 00:06:31.360 --> 00:06:34.620 or whether we are old, to determine what we really 00:06:34.620 --> 00:06:37.459 love in this world. And the way we determine 00:06:37.459 --> 00:06:41.519 what we love is what we spend our money on. It's 00:06:41.519 --> 00:06:44.319 just that simple. Now you can think about, not 00:06:44.319 --> 00:06:46.500 right now, listen right now, you can get your 00:06:46.500 --> 00:06:48.519 pen and paper out later and you can start figuring 00:06:48.519 --> 00:06:50.459 it up. But you don't have to think very long 00:06:50.459 --> 00:06:53.000 because you already know after I said that that 00:06:53.000 --> 00:06:56.100 I'm spending way too much money on X, Y, and 00:06:56.100 --> 00:06:59.100 Z. And that's an easy way for us to tell what 00:06:59.100 --> 00:07:02.810 we love. Do we love God? Well, if we love God, 00:07:02.870 --> 00:07:05.350 we're probably going to use what God blesses 00:07:05.350 --> 00:07:08.129 us with to bless other people. We're probably 00:07:08.129 --> 00:07:10.410 going to use what God blesses us with, whether 00:07:10.410 --> 00:07:13.829 it's our money or our skills or our time, and 00:07:13.829 --> 00:07:16.769 we're going to use that to bless other people. 00:07:18.050 --> 00:07:20.069 And so the question that we have to think about, 00:07:20.149 --> 00:07:23.170 and this is scary, because probably some of us 00:07:23.170 --> 00:07:25.750 are not going to like the answer we get, because 00:07:25.750 --> 00:07:28.209 we're going to start figuring up, and we're going 00:07:28.209 --> 00:07:31.250 to start seeing, Maybe we spend way more money 00:07:31.250 --> 00:07:38.649 on stuff than we do on service to God. Maybe 00:07:38.649 --> 00:07:41.810 we spend way more money on ourselves than we 00:07:41.810 --> 00:07:45.930 do on people who are in need. You know what that 00:07:45.930 --> 00:07:49.209 tells us maybe? Maybe that tells us we love ourselves 00:07:49.209 --> 00:07:51.709 more than we love other people. That's not to 00:07:51.709 --> 00:07:55.160 say everything we do for ourselves is evil. But 00:07:55.160 --> 00:07:57.600 the Holy Spirit can help us to be able to discern. 00:07:58.060 --> 00:08:01.379 The Holy Spirit can help us to know when we maybe 00:08:01.379 --> 00:08:03.480 need to pull back a little bit. The Holy Spirit 00:08:03.480 --> 00:08:05.959 can help us to know if we begin to place things 00:08:05.959 --> 00:08:09.139 of the world and our wealth of the world over 00:08:09.139 --> 00:08:13.839 God and the commands of God. And in Hebrews chapter 00:08:13.839 --> 00:08:17.540 13, verse 5, he said, Your life should be free 00:08:17.540 --> 00:08:21.480 from the love of money. And we probably would 00:08:21.480 --> 00:08:24.470 all say in here, I don't love money. Well, maybe 00:08:24.470 --> 00:08:26.290 you don't. Praise God. There's probably some 00:08:26.290 --> 00:08:29.730 that don't. But maybe we don't care necessarily 00:08:29.730 --> 00:08:32.590 about having a big bank account, but we might 00:08:32.590 --> 00:08:35.549 like stuff. Probably got some stuff that we like. 00:08:35.850 --> 00:08:38.470 We like our technologies. We like our vehicles. 00:08:38.649 --> 00:08:40.990 We like our other hobbies, whatever they may 00:08:40.990 --> 00:08:43.070 be, fishing, hunting, golfing, whatever it may 00:08:43.070 --> 00:08:46.590 be. We can find a variety of things. And guess 00:08:46.590 --> 00:08:50.559 what those things cost? They cost money. And 00:08:50.559 --> 00:08:52.340 so we may look at verses like these and say, 00:08:52.379 --> 00:08:53.779 well, I'm off the hook. I don't have a bunch 00:08:53.779 --> 00:08:55.559 of money in my bank account. I'm not storing 00:08:55.559 --> 00:09:00.299 up a bunch of money. And this verse is a good 00:09:00.299 --> 00:09:03.779 verse for us to consider today because God's 00:09:03.779 --> 00:09:06.279 word says that our life should be free of the 00:09:06.279 --> 00:09:10.480 love of money. So what does God want us to do 00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:13.639 with our money? Well, some people. They just 00:09:13.639 --> 00:09:16.840 want to hoard their money. They want to be stingy. 00:09:16.860 --> 00:09:18.860 They're a miser, and the Bible talks about that. 00:09:18.940 --> 00:09:22.179 Not in a good way. God blesses us. Praise the 00:09:22.179 --> 00:09:25.279 Lord. God doesn't want us to be stingy with our 00:09:25.279 --> 00:09:28.600 money. On the flip side, God blesses us. He doesn't 00:09:28.600 --> 00:09:31.279 want us to just blow it all on ourselves. God 00:09:31.279 --> 00:09:34.440 wants us to use what he has blessed us with to 00:09:34.440 --> 00:09:37.860 bless others. So the question that we have to 00:09:37.860 --> 00:09:42.029 answer is, do we love our money? More than we 00:09:42.029 --> 00:09:45.549 love God? Do we love our things that our money 00:09:45.549 --> 00:09:49.870 buys us more than we love God? And if we love 00:09:49.870 --> 00:09:51.769 our money more than we love our God, then guess 00:09:51.769 --> 00:09:54.929 what our money has become? It has become our 00:09:54.929 --> 00:10:00.470 God. Now the scripture talks a lot about the 00:10:00.470 --> 00:10:04.389 poor. In James chapter 2 verse 5, listen to what 00:10:04.389 --> 00:10:08.059 it says. It says, listen, my dear brothers, didn't 00:10:08.059 --> 00:10:10.620 God choose the poor in this world to be rich 00:10:10.620 --> 00:10:14.279 in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he has 00:10:14.279 --> 00:10:18.220 promised to those who love him? Didn't God choose 00:10:18.220 --> 00:10:23.399 the poor to be what? To be rich in faith. Now, 00:10:23.399 --> 00:10:25.559 there's a problem that we experience, especially 00:10:25.559 --> 00:10:29.399 as Americans. Now, some Americans have it better 00:10:29.399 --> 00:10:32.500 than others, but generally speaking, as Americans, 00:10:32.639 --> 00:10:35.460 we're doing pretty good. We're doing pretty good 00:10:35.460 --> 00:10:37.519 when we compare ourselves with the rest of the 00:10:37.519 --> 00:10:40.460 world. We are pretty blessed. And there are many 00:10:40.460 --> 00:10:42.840 people in the world, the vast majority of the 00:10:42.840 --> 00:10:45.200 people in the world, who would look at us today 00:10:45.200 --> 00:10:48.120 and say that we are all wealthy. Now, we may 00:10:48.120 --> 00:10:51.679 not consider ourselves as wealthy, but quite 00:10:51.679 --> 00:10:55.799 frankly, we are. You look at Americans in 2025 00:10:55.799 --> 00:11:01.620 today, and we are blessed beyond measure. But 00:11:01.620 --> 00:11:03.899 the problem with that is the more we get, the 00:11:03.899 --> 00:11:07.299 more we want. And the more we get, the more that 00:11:07.299 --> 00:11:10.840 begins to pull our focus from God. The more we 00:11:10.840 --> 00:11:13.320 get, the more we begin to trust in the things 00:11:13.320 --> 00:11:17.240 that we get and the wealth that we have. The 00:11:17.240 --> 00:11:19.340 more we get, the more we trust in the things 00:11:19.340 --> 00:11:22.480 and we quit trusting in God because what need 00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:26.899 is there for God when we're wealthy? That's why 00:11:26.899 --> 00:11:28.720 it's hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom 00:11:28.720 --> 00:11:34.000 of God. That's why it's the poor who have greater 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:38.340 faith in God as we see here in James. Now that's 00:11:38.340 --> 00:11:40.879 not to say that rich people can't have faith 00:11:40.879 --> 00:11:43.100 in God. They certainly can. There's certainly 00:11:43.100 --> 00:11:45.379 been plenty of wealthy people throughout the 00:11:45.379 --> 00:11:47.879 history of the world that were genuinely and 00:11:47.879 --> 00:11:50.620 truly servants of God that had faith in God. 00:11:51.500 --> 00:11:56.740 But it's not easy. It's not easy. And I suspect 00:11:56.740 --> 00:11:59.799 that more of us... fall into that trap of trusting 00:11:59.799 --> 00:12:01.980 in our money and trusting in our material gain, 00:12:02.139 --> 00:12:07.559 then we realize. And Hebrews says, look, you 00:12:07.559 --> 00:12:12.299 should be free from the love of money. And then 00:12:12.299 --> 00:12:14.379 it goes on to say this in the next part of Hebrews 00:12:14.379 --> 00:12:18.720 chapter 13, verse 5. Be satisfied with what you 00:12:18.720 --> 00:12:21.740 have. Now that's the hard part right there. We 00:12:21.740 --> 00:12:24.740 see that idea. Some of your translations there 00:12:24.740 --> 00:12:28.450 may say be content. We see that idea of contentment 00:12:28.450 --> 00:12:33.889 and being satisfied with what we have. So he 00:12:33.889 --> 00:12:36.350 says, look, don't love money. Don't be consumed 00:12:36.350 --> 00:12:39.049 by money. Don't put your trust in money, but 00:12:39.049 --> 00:12:44.190 be satisfied with what you have. There's another 00:12:44.190 --> 00:12:48.090 test there for us to take today. Are we content 00:12:48.090 --> 00:12:53.750 with what we have? Maybe you are. That's a beautiful 00:12:53.750 --> 00:12:57.460 thing. To find contentment and to be satisfied 00:12:57.460 --> 00:13:03.820 is a beautiful thing. But to be discontent, it's 00:13:03.820 --> 00:13:07.250 a horrible thing. Because to be discontent, we 00:13:07.250 --> 00:13:11.090 continually strive for more and more and more 00:13:11.090 --> 00:13:14.090 and more. And we're looking for that next thing 00:13:14.090 --> 00:13:16.649 that's going to fill that longing that we have 00:13:16.649 --> 00:13:18.870 in our life, to fill that void that we have in 00:13:18.870 --> 00:13:21.149 our life, to give us that joy that we're looking 00:13:21.149 --> 00:13:23.129 for and that happiness that we're looking for. 00:13:23.269 --> 00:13:25.350 And we're never happy with the thing we've got. 00:13:25.429 --> 00:13:28.649 We always want the next thing, and that comes 00:13:28.649 --> 00:13:35.080 with a lot of burden. But to be satisfied comes 00:13:35.080 --> 00:13:39.799 with a great deal of peace. Proverbs chapter 00:13:39.799 --> 00:13:44.039 17 verse 1 says, Better a dry crust with peace 00:13:44.039 --> 00:13:50.440 than a house full of feasting with strife. You 00:13:50.440 --> 00:13:52.580 see, our world would say we're successful if 00:13:52.580 --> 00:13:54.720 we have the fame and if we have the wealth and 00:13:54.720 --> 00:13:58.440 if we have the positions of power. But the Bible 00:13:58.440 --> 00:14:01.759 would say just the opposite of that. The Bible 00:14:01.759 --> 00:14:04.740 would say, It's better to have a little and to 00:14:04.740 --> 00:14:08.639 be at peace. It's better to have nothing and 00:14:08.639 --> 00:14:12.120 trust in God than to have all of the wealth in 00:14:12.120 --> 00:14:17.179 the world and trust in your wealth. So the book 00:14:17.179 --> 00:14:20.879 of Hebrews in 13 verse 5 here gives us a good 00:14:20.879 --> 00:14:23.799 command, some good instruction, a good test for 00:14:23.799 --> 00:14:26.480 us today. Are we free from the love of money? 00:14:26.600 --> 00:14:30.529 Are we satisfied with what we have? I can look 00:14:30.529 --> 00:14:33.309 back at my life and I can say, and maybe you 00:14:33.309 --> 00:14:36.929 can too, but the times in my life that I was 00:14:36.929 --> 00:14:39.690 satisfied and content were the happiest times 00:14:39.690 --> 00:14:42.929 of my life. And you know what? Most of the time 00:14:42.929 --> 00:14:45.110 when I look back at those times, they were times 00:14:45.110 --> 00:14:48.090 when I did not have anything. And what little 00:14:48.090 --> 00:14:52.350 I had, I was glad to have it. But there's this 00:14:52.350 --> 00:14:55.840 problem that we have. The more we get, the more 00:14:55.840 --> 00:14:58.139 we want, the more we expect, the more we think 00:14:58.139 --> 00:15:03.330 we are entitled to these things. When we don't 00:15:03.330 --> 00:15:05.450 have and God blesses us, we appreciate it. And 00:15:05.450 --> 00:15:07.850 the more blessings that we receive, all of the 00:15:07.850 --> 00:15:10.769 sudden we stop being thankful to God and we start 00:15:10.769 --> 00:15:13.309 trusting in those blessings more than the one 00:15:13.309 --> 00:15:16.389 who gives them instead of just being proud that 00:15:16.389 --> 00:15:19.730 God loves us, that God has blessed us and being 00:15:19.730 --> 00:15:22.690 satisfied with what little or what great amount 00:15:22.690 --> 00:15:25.809 we have to know that it is God who has provided 00:15:25.809 --> 00:15:29.669 it for us and we are satisfied in God. I remember 00:15:29.669 --> 00:15:32.769 when I was probably... Oh, this was like 1998 00:15:32.769 --> 00:15:34.970 probably. I went back and I did the math. I was 00:15:34.970 --> 00:15:37.909 probably like 15 years old. And I was at my grandma 00:15:37.909 --> 00:15:41.009 Irene's house one day, and she told me, I want 00:15:41.009 --> 00:15:43.110 you to go look in the back seat of the car. I 00:15:43.110 --> 00:15:46.490 got you something. All right. I was pretty excited 00:15:46.490 --> 00:15:49.929 about that. And so I go out there, and I open 00:15:49.929 --> 00:15:52.149 up the door in the back seat of her car, and 00:15:52.149 --> 00:15:56.690 lo and behold, there on the back seat is a 13 00:15:56.690 --> 00:16:00.230 -inch color TV that she had bought at a garage 00:16:00.230 --> 00:16:03.539 sale. And when I say color TV, I use the word 00:16:03.539 --> 00:16:06.799 lightly. It was slightly tinted. It was wore 00:16:06.799 --> 00:16:10.120 out 15 years before she bought it at the garage 00:16:10.120 --> 00:16:14.279 sale. But you know what? I was so happy to get 00:16:14.279 --> 00:16:16.940 that. I was so proud to get that. I was like, 00:16:17.000 --> 00:16:21.299 I got a TV, a 13 -inch TV. It wasn't even as 00:16:21.299 --> 00:16:25.159 big as this tablet. And I was so proud, and she 00:16:25.159 --> 00:16:27.279 got it. Because she was tired of me playing my 00:16:27.279 --> 00:16:29.700 Nintendo games on her TV. She wanted to keep 00:16:29.700 --> 00:16:31.940 me out of there. And I'm telling you, and I used 00:16:31.940 --> 00:16:34.639 that TV for like five years. I used that TV for 00:16:34.639 --> 00:16:37.799 a long time. It was horrible. But I didn't know 00:16:37.799 --> 00:16:40.419 it was horrible. I was like, this is the greatest 00:16:40.419 --> 00:16:44.759 thing ever. I was just excited to get it. I was 00:16:44.759 --> 00:16:47.220 satisfied. I wasn't even thinking about getting 00:16:47.220 --> 00:16:52.320 another TV. And that's how we need to be when 00:16:52.320 --> 00:16:55.970 the Lord blesses us. We need to be excited when 00:16:55.970 --> 00:16:59.909 God blesses us. We need to be satisfied and say, 00:17:00.029 --> 00:17:02.970 God, thank you for what you've given me. But 00:17:02.970 --> 00:17:06.470 sometimes we may say, God, you give me this and 00:17:06.470 --> 00:17:09.230 it's okay, but couldn't you give me a 17 -inch 00:17:09.230 --> 00:17:14.450 TV? I mean, Mario, I can't hardly see him. But 00:17:14.450 --> 00:17:18.990 the problem is that not maybe that we're not 00:17:18.990 --> 00:17:22.569 satisfied with the things of the world, the real 00:17:22.569 --> 00:17:25.529 core of the issue, When we're not satisfied with 00:17:25.529 --> 00:17:28.769 the things that we have, when we're always complaining 00:17:28.769 --> 00:17:31.490 about the things that we have or the things that 00:17:31.490 --> 00:17:35.190 we don't have, when we are not satisfied with 00:17:35.190 --> 00:17:38.650 the things of the world, the real problem is, 00:17:38.750 --> 00:17:43.359 is that we are not satisfied with God. is that 00:17:43.359 --> 00:17:47.000 we are not content with God. Because if we were 00:17:47.000 --> 00:17:50.359 content with God, if we were satisfied with God, 00:17:50.579 --> 00:17:52.920 then we wouldn't care about these other things. 00:17:53.200 --> 00:17:56.099 If we got them, we would say, praise God. If 00:17:56.099 --> 00:17:58.420 we didn't get them, we would say, praise God. 00:17:58.680 --> 00:18:01.960 And so our real problem with discontentment and 00:18:01.960 --> 00:18:06.000 dissatisfaction that we face is that we are not 00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:10.339 content with God. We have not gotten to the point 00:18:10.339 --> 00:18:13.200 where we love God more than we love our stuff. 00:18:14.099 --> 00:18:17.519 And Paul talks about this in his writings. He 00:18:17.519 --> 00:18:21.619 says in Philippians chapter 4, verses 12 and 00:18:21.619 --> 00:18:25.519 13, he says, I know how to have a little, and 00:18:25.519 --> 00:18:29.500 I know how to have a lot. In any and all circumstances, 00:18:29.559 --> 00:18:32.759 I have learned the secret of being content, whether 00:18:32.759 --> 00:18:35.940 well -fed or hungry, whether in abundance or 00:18:35.940 --> 00:18:40.769 in need. I am able to do all things through him 00:18:40.769 --> 00:18:47.049 who strengthens me. Paul says, I don't care what 00:18:47.049 --> 00:18:52.849 the world has for me because I have Jesus. If 00:18:52.849 --> 00:18:55.849 I have a lot to eat, praise God. If I don't, 00:18:55.849 --> 00:18:59.470 praise God. My strength does not come from what 00:18:59.470 --> 00:19:03.289 I have in this world. It comes from Jesus Christ. 00:19:04.809 --> 00:19:08.890 And so many times what happens to us is we put 00:19:08.890 --> 00:19:12.430 all of our strength in the things of the world, 00:19:12.490 --> 00:19:18.170 and the things of the world disappear. We put 00:19:18.170 --> 00:19:21.130 our strength in our wealth, and our wealth is 00:19:21.130 --> 00:19:24.849 gone, our strength is gone. We put our strength 00:19:24.849 --> 00:19:28.369 in our health, when our health is gone, our strength 00:19:28.369 --> 00:19:34.779 is gone. We put our strength in our friends and 00:19:34.779 --> 00:19:38.539 our family and our spouses and our kids, and 00:19:38.539 --> 00:19:42.420 they abandon us. Our strength is gone. If our 00:19:42.420 --> 00:19:46.599 strength is based on and founded on things of 00:19:46.599 --> 00:19:50.640 the world, those things can be gone in a moment. 00:19:50.759 --> 00:19:53.240 And when those things are gone, our strength 00:19:53.240 --> 00:19:57.599 is gone. But Paul says, my strength is in Jesus 00:19:57.599 --> 00:20:01.859 Christ. And because of that, I can do all things. 00:20:02.099 --> 00:20:04.920 I live in a world and I have things or I don't 00:20:04.920 --> 00:20:07.859 have things, but that's not who defines me. That's 00:20:07.859 --> 00:20:10.819 not what defines my success. What defines my 00:20:10.819 --> 00:20:14.140 success is whether or not I'm living in obedience 00:20:14.140 --> 00:20:20.019 to Jesus Christ. And Paul got it. But what about 00:20:20.019 --> 00:20:25.299 us? Can we say that today and really mean it 00:20:25.299 --> 00:20:28.450 from the heart? Can we say that today, that I 00:20:28.450 --> 00:20:31.329 have learned to be content in all things? And 00:20:31.329 --> 00:20:36.769 maybe you can. And maybe you can't. And praise 00:20:36.769 --> 00:20:39.230 God that we're here. That's why we come. We don't 00:20:39.230 --> 00:20:40.529 come here because we're like a bunch of super 00:20:40.529 --> 00:20:42.450 Christians, like we just do it all right and 00:20:42.450 --> 00:20:44.349 we're just kind of like, oh yeah, these are good 00:20:44.349 --> 00:20:46.250 words for the peasants, but we can do it. No, 00:20:46.349 --> 00:20:48.970 these words are for us that sit in these pews 00:20:48.970 --> 00:20:52.339 because this is a struggle for us. Maybe it's 00:20:52.339 --> 00:20:54.460 a struggle for some of us more than others, but 00:20:54.460 --> 00:20:59.240 I suspect it's a struggle for all of us. But 00:20:59.240 --> 00:21:02.140 Paul understood what it meant to be content. 00:21:03.599 --> 00:21:06.180 And as long as we're striving for things of the 00:21:06.180 --> 00:21:10.859 world, we will never be content. I had that 13 00:21:10.859 --> 00:21:12.640 -inch TV. I thought that thing was pretty hot 00:21:12.640 --> 00:21:15.799 stuff. I loved it. And then one day I got a 55 00:21:15.799 --> 00:21:18.900 -inch TV, and then I thought, that's pretty good 00:21:18.900 --> 00:21:21.690 stuff too. But you know what I thought, too? 00:21:22.369 --> 00:21:27.670 I thought a 65 would be better. And so now we've 00:21:27.670 --> 00:21:31.109 worked our way up to an 85. And you would think, 00:21:31.130 --> 00:21:32.349 you know what you would think, you'd think, that's 00:21:32.349 --> 00:21:33.710 pretty big, you ought to be happy with that. 00:21:33.730 --> 00:21:35.710 You know what I look at every once in a while? 00:21:36.289 --> 00:21:41.150 I look at a 100 -inch. I think you know. And 00:21:41.150 --> 00:21:43.750 that's our problem. And that's not good, by the 00:21:43.750 --> 00:21:45.309 way. Y 'all can pray for me on that. That's not 00:21:45.309 --> 00:21:48.269 a joke. I'm serious. That's one of my struggles. 00:21:48.430 --> 00:21:50.549 We all have our struggles. But what I should 00:21:50.549 --> 00:21:53.490 say is I should say I just need to be content. 00:21:53.809 --> 00:21:58.529 And I need to rejoice in the 85 inch that I got. 00:21:58.569 --> 00:22:01.049 Woe is me that I can only watch the Super Bowl 00:22:01.049 --> 00:22:07.130 in 85 inches of 4K ultra high def. But you know 00:22:07.130 --> 00:22:11.789 what? My life was a lot simpler and a lot more. 00:22:12.190 --> 00:22:14.690 peaceful in the world of TVs when I had a 13 00:22:14.690 --> 00:22:18.049 -inch TV that barely had any color because I 00:22:18.049 --> 00:22:22.230 was satisfied. So there's something to this being 00:22:22.230 --> 00:22:25.890 satisfied. There's something to this saying, 00:22:26.009 --> 00:22:29.569 you know what, the things of the world look pretty 00:22:29.569 --> 00:22:34.309 good and they feel pretty good and they're pretty 00:22:34.309 --> 00:22:37.650 enticing, but the problem with the things of 00:22:37.650 --> 00:22:41.569 the world is that they leave us empty and broken. 00:22:42.170 --> 00:22:48.710 and just wanting the next new shiny. But if we 00:22:48.710 --> 00:22:54.269 are content with Jesus Christ, we will be satisfied 00:22:54.269 --> 00:22:59.170 with everything else. And if we're not satisfied 00:22:59.170 --> 00:23:03.289 with the other things in our life today, then 00:23:03.289 --> 00:23:05.450 the fact of the matter may be that we are not 00:23:05.450 --> 00:23:17.619 content with Jesus Christ. Paul said, In 2 Corinthians 00:23:17.619 --> 00:23:22.500 12, verse 10, So I take pleasure in weaknesses, 00:23:22.839 --> 00:23:26.880 insults, catastrophes, persecutions, and in pressures 00:23:26.880 --> 00:23:33.079 because of Christ. For when I am weak, then I 00:23:33.079 --> 00:23:40.769 am strong. That statement, those words, are words 00:23:40.769 --> 00:23:44.869 that can only be spoken by one who is satisfied 00:23:44.869 --> 00:23:51.190 with Jesus Christ. What about you today? Can 00:23:51.190 --> 00:23:54.299 you say that? Can you say, look, I take pleasure 00:23:54.299 --> 00:23:58.079 in my affliction. I take pleasure in my pain. 00:23:58.299 --> 00:24:02.039 I take pleasure in the persecution. I take pleasure 00:24:02.039 --> 00:24:05.240 in the difficulties of this world. I take pleasure 00:24:05.240 --> 00:24:08.039 in not having the things of this world. I take 00:24:08.039 --> 00:24:10.680 pleasure in the ridicule that I receive from 00:24:10.680 --> 00:24:13.640 other people. I take pleasure in these things 00:24:13.640 --> 00:24:16.599 because of Jesus Christ. Can we say that today? 00:24:18.359 --> 00:24:22.670 Paul could say it, and he could mean it. only 00:24:22.670 --> 00:24:26.910 because he was completely satisfied in Jesus 00:24:26.910 --> 00:24:32.250 Christ. Perhaps today we need to change what 00:24:32.250 --> 00:24:35.829 our goals are. Stop trying to accomplish the 00:24:35.829 --> 00:24:39.190 goals of the world and start trying to accomplish 00:24:39.190 --> 00:24:42.890 the goal of Scripture, which is to trust in Jesus 00:24:42.890 --> 00:24:46.390 Christ, which is to allow him to be our strength. 00:24:46.960 --> 00:24:49.859 And the moment we begin to trust in Jesus, the 00:24:49.859 --> 00:24:52.519 moment we realize that he is a Savior who gave 00:24:52.519 --> 00:24:54.960 his life on a cross so that our sins could be 00:24:54.960 --> 00:24:58.039 forgiven, and he is the only source of strength 00:24:58.039 --> 00:25:01.700 that there is, he is the only source of strength 00:25:01.700 --> 00:25:06.980 that there is. There is no other today. And we 00:25:06.980 --> 00:25:10.579 try to find strength in all of this junk in the 00:25:10.579 --> 00:25:13.900 world. And we could just make a long list of 00:25:13.900 --> 00:25:16.700 the things that we try to find comfort in, but 00:25:16.700 --> 00:25:19.700 it only comes through Jesus Christ. The scripture 00:25:19.700 --> 00:25:23.940 says that God is the God of all comfort. He is 00:25:23.940 --> 00:25:28.460 the God of all strength. There is no other comfort, 00:25:28.559 --> 00:25:31.519 there is no other strength tonight, today, excuse 00:25:31.519 --> 00:25:38.200 me, apart from God. And he is the only one who 00:25:38.200 --> 00:25:40.779 will sustain us today. And if we are sustained 00:25:40.779 --> 00:25:43.920 with Jesus Christ and content with Jesus Christ, 00:25:44.099 --> 00:25:49.180 then nothing else will matter in our life. And 00:25:49.180 --> 00:25:51.019 if there are things in our life of the world 00:25:51.019 --> 00:25:53.640 today that are overwhelming us, then we need 00:25:53.640 --> 00:25:57.279 to give those things to him. And we need to humble 00:25:57.279 --> 00:26:03.599 ourselves before Jesus Christ. Are you satisfied 00:26:03.599 --> 00:26:07.740 today? You ever, you remember the hymn? Some 00:26:07.740 --> 00:26:10.599 of you may have sang it before. Maybe you've 00:26:10.599 --> 00:26:15.480 heard it before. I am satisfied. I am satisfied. 00:26:15.480 --> 00:26:21.880 I am satisfied with Jesus. I'm satisfied with 00:26:21.880 --> 00:26:26.720 Jesus. Can we sing those words today? And then 00:26:26.720 --> 00:26:30.319 the chorus ends. But the question comes to me 00:26:30.319 --> 00:26:36.039 as I think of Calvary. Is my master satisfied 00:26:36.039 --> 00:26:40.700 with me? Let's pray. God, we come to you today. 00:26:40.720 --> 00:26:43.819 We thank you for your words. And I pray, dear 00:26:43.819 --> 00:26:47.920 Lord, that Jesus would be our strength today. 00:26:48.779 --> 00:26:50.779 God, maybe there are some in this room and they 00:26:50.779 --> 00:26:54.359 do not know who Jesus is. Maybe they know the 00:26:54.359 --> 00:26:57.019 scripture, they've heard it, but maybe they don't 00:26:57.019 --> 00:26:59.220 know him, God. They don't have a relationship 00:26:59.220 --> 00:27:02.140 with him. They know of him. But God, maybe today 00:27:02.140 --> 00:27:04.200 there's some in this room and Jesus is not their 00:27:04.200 --> 00:27:06.900 strength. Maybe they have been searching this 00:27:06.900 --> 00:27:09.660 world over for strength and comfort in their 00:27:09.660 --> 00:27:13.819 careers or in their wealth or in their families 00:27:13.819 --> 00:27:17.960 or whatever it may be, dear Lord. But these are 00:27:17.960 --> 00:27:20.099 not the things that define us, dear Lord. These 00:27:20.099 --> 00:27:23.660 are not the things that give us strength. These 00:27:23.660 --> 00:27:26.420 things only leave us longing for more, looking 00:27:26.420 --> 00:27:29.559 for more, searching, dear Lord. And maybe there 00:27:29.559 --> 00:27:31.279 are some that have come into this room today 00:27:31.279 --> 00:27:34.119 and they were searching when they came into this 00:27:34.119 --> 00:27:37.160 place, dear Lord. And I pray today that their 00:27:37.160 --> 00:27:41.019 search may end at Jesus Christ. That they would 00:27:41.019 --> 00:27:43.339 just give up the rat race, dear Lord, and try 00:27:43.339 --> 00:27:46.740 to keep up with the world. And that they would 00:27:46.740 --> 00:27:50.519 submit themselves to Jesus Christ. That in this 00:27:50.519 --> 00:27:52.440 moment, God, that they would ask that you would 00:27:52.440 --> 00:27:56.700 forgive them. That they would repent of their 00:27:56.700 --> 00:28:00.599 sinfulness, dear Lord. God, maybe there's some 00:28:00.599 --> 00:28:05.220 in this room today and they are yours, but maybe 00:28:05.220 --> 00:28:09.299 they have put other gods before you today. Maybe 00:28:09.299 --> 00:28:12.799 we all in some way, shape, or form, we trust 00:28:12.799 --> 00:28:16.740 in our wealth and our junk a little more than 00:28:16.740 --> 00:28:22.099 we should, dear Lord. But God, I pray today that 00:28:22.099 --> 00:28:25.859 we would trust you all the more, dear Lord. Your 00:28:25.859 --> 00:28:31.130 word calls us not to... Not to love money, but 00:28:31.130 --> 00:28:35.049 to be satisfied, dear Lord. And it ends with 00:28:35.049 --> 00:28:38.890 the promise that you will never leave us or forsake 00:28:38.890 --> 00:28:42.589 us, dear Lord. We can be sustained by that truth, 00:28:42.829 --> 00:28:45.369 dear Lord. While the things of this world may 00:28:45.369 --> 00:28:48.390 fail and may fall away, dear Lord, you will never 00:28:48.390 --> 00:28:51.609 leave us or forsake us. God, that is our strength 00:28:51.609 --> 00:28:56.740 today. We cannot make it through this life. We 00:28:56.740 --> 00:28:58.720 cannot make it through all the struggles and 00:28:58.720 --> 00:29:01.140 the pains and the difficulties of this world, 00:29:01.180 --> 00:29:03.720 dear Lord. We can't fight against sin on our 00:29:03.720 --> 00:29:07.420 own. We can only do so knowing that you are with 00:29:07.420 --> 00:29:10.559 us. So God, I pray that you would remind us of 00:29:10.559 --> 00:29:13.279 that truth today, that we see at the end of this 00:29:13.279 --> 00:29:16.480 verse, God, that you will never leave us or forsake 00:29:16.480 --> 00:29:19.779 us, dear Lord. I pray today, God, that if there 00:29:19.779 --> 00:29:23.920 are some who are yours, that have tried to find 00:29:23.920 --> 00:29:26.819 the power to carry on in things of the world, 00:29:26.859 --> 00:29:30.140 that they would give those things up today, that 00:29:30.140 --> 00:29:32.119 they would trust you, that they would be sustained 00:29:32.119 --> 00:29:35.579 by you, that they would be content with you today, 00:29:35.700 --> 00:29:38.970 dear Lord. I thank you for each one that's here. 00:29:39.049 --> 00:29:40.769 I pray that you'd watch over each one that's 00:29:40.769 --> 00:29:42.450 here. I pray that you'd bless them. I pray that 00:29:42.450 --> 00:29:44.650 you would just work on them right now, dear Lord, 00:29:44.730 --> 00:29:46.509 whatever you need them to hear. I pray that you're 00:29:46.509 --> 00:29:48.730 working on their heart. And I pray, God, that 00:29:48.730 --> 00:29:51.069 if there are any who are here that do not know 00:29:51.069 --> 00:29:53.390 Jesus Christ, who want to put their faith and 00:29:53.390 --> 00:29:55.190 trust in Him, who want to repent of their sins 00:29:55.190 --> 00:29:57.630 today, who've already made that decision, God, 00:29:57.730 --> 00:29:59.470 where they see it, I pray that as we sing in 00:29:59.470 --> 00:30:01.789 a moment, that they would come forward, that 00:30:01.789 --> 00:30:03.470 they would make that decision known, that we 00:30:03.470 --> 00:30:05.660 would rejoice with them. God, maybe there are 00:30:05.660 --> 00:30:08.019 some here today and they just struggle. Maybe 00:30:08.019 --> 00:30:09.759 they're like me and they just struggle with the 00:30:09.759 --> 00:30:13.599 dumbest things, dear Lord. Help us to be content 00:30:13.599 --> 00:30:16.400 even with the simple things in this world. Help 00:30:16.400 --> 00:30:18.420 us to be able to fight those temptations and 00:30:18.420 --> 00:30:20.440 to rejoice in you. God, maybe if there are some 00:30:20.440 --> 00:30:22.559 that just struggle today that need prayer, let 00:30:22.559 --> 00:30:24.519 them come down to get prayer today. Let them 00:30:24.519 --> 00:30:26.380 pray where they are. But God, if you've spoken 00:30:26.380 --> 00:30:29.059 to anybody today, I pray that they would respond 00:30:29.059 --> 00:30:32.779 in these next few moments. And I ask these things 00:30:32.779 --> 00:30:34.910 in Jesus' name. Amen.