Ira Baptist Church
August 30

      • 2 Corinthians 4:7-9ESV

      • 2 Corinthians 4:10-12ESV

      • 2 Corinthians 4:13-14ESV

      • 2 Corinthians 4:15-17ESV

      • 2 Corinthians 4:18ESV

  • This is the Day
  • What'ere My God Ordains

      • Psalms 27:1-3NIV2011

      • Psalms 27:4-5NIV2011

      • Psalms 27:6-8NIV2011

      • Psalms 27:9NIV2011

  • Rock of Ages
  • I won’t ask for show of hands, but a leading question this morning would be “how many of you have or sometimes do struggle with contentment?”
    We started this section, 1 Timothy 6:1-10, last week, and only made it through the first two verses regarding honoring others in our particular calling or station in life.
    In that, we saw that the main idea behind being honorable in our jobs, occupations, citizenship, roles, etc. was that God’s name would be honored, and that the Gospel of Jesus Christ would be adorned outwardly by our actions and attitudes.
    The big idea in this entire passage, though, is the idea of contentment.
    The opposite of contentment is to covet. These are things that we struggle with and deal with from a very young age. Contentment has to be taught, covetousness comes built in to the sin nature.
    As an example, just last week I was presiding over an argument between two boys in my house. I considered leaving the names out to protect the parties at hand, but since only two of my boys can talk, it would have been obvious anyway.
    MIchael playing with wedge shaped block.
    Todd next to him watching, wanted that block.
    I asked Michael, “What’s your side of the story?”
    Todd was sitting next to me playing, saw me playing with that block, and he just reached over and took it!”
    I then asked Todd, judiciously, what his side of the story was, knowing that often these details get blurred in the struggle.
    Todd said, “I saw Michael playing with that block and I wanted it so I just reached over and took it!”
    If only all our struggles with contentment and covetousness were that honest and that simple.
    Contentment, we see from scripture, is a heart issue. It is a sin of the heart that can be pervasive even if it is never acted on in material ways.
    It is a struggle of the desires.

    Contentment in the context of life in which God has placed us is difficult, but it is a virtue we learn by grace in Christ.

    Interestingly, as Paul urges Timothy about the importance of contentment, he does so by weaving in another section on the pitiful nature of false teachers.
    We will look at those warnings first, but as we do, I want to give you a framework of thinking about this.
    When we come to passages of scripture warning about false teachers, we may be tempted to take a high and noble stance and say “that’s not me.” Or you might even say, “well I’m not even a teacher in the church so I have nothing to worry about there.”
    Beyond the obvious implications of watching out for false teaching, a secondary but perhaps closer-to-home application is that false teaching can arise in our own hearts. Specifically here, Paul is going to point out how covetousness is a facet of a false-teachers motives.
    In that way, we can all be guilty of self-false-teaching when we give in to these kinds of things, even if we aren’t behind a podium.

    2. Godliness for the Wrong Reasons - vs. 3-5

    Paul has already devoted a couple sections to reminding Timothy about the danger of those who fall into this category.
    Chapter 1, he warned of those who swerved away from a sincere faith and a good conscience, those who have made much about nothing and veered off into the weeds in their teaching.
    Chapter 4, he warns of those who “will depart from the faith” and the instrumental cause of that departure would be those whose consciences are seared, insincere liars, promoting the teaching of demons rather than the Gospel of Christ.
    This is Paul’s most detailed description in this letter.
    Who they are - verse 3
    1 Timothy 6:3 ESV
    If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness,
    Here is a plain warning and I want to make it simple and leave it there.
    The church is not a place where we explore religious Ideas, it is not a place where we try to arrive at what is the truth, it is not a place where we listen to all opinions and worldviews with an open mind.
    The church is a body of individuals who have given their hearts and minds and lives to Christ, and live and breath and operate by His Word and in His Grace.
    2 Timothy 1:13 ESV
    Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
    Luke 10:16 ESV
    “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”
    John 14:6 ESV
    Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
    The world is a marketplace of religion. Every person in the world has a set of beliefs. The marketplace can offer its wares and pedal its claims that all or many roads lead to heaven, that all or many roads lead to God, that the same God can be found in various means and various ways.
    And it is not to say that God cannot use a variety of means to bring people to Himself - but it will never be outside of Jesus Christ, and outside of sound teaching that accords with His Gospel and His Word.
    Paul then goes on to describe them in terms of their lives.
    1 Timothy 6:4–5 ESV
    he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.
    2 Timothy 3:6–7 ESV
    For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.
    James 3:15–17 ESV
    This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.
    1 Timothy 6:5 ESV
    and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.
    At the end of the day what drives a false teacher, and what drives bad thinking and dangerous beliefs in our own heart is this question: what can I get out of this deal?

    3. The Virtue we Learn in Christ: Contentment - vs. 6-10

    What is Godliness?
    1 Timothy 3:16 ESV
    Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.
    Godliness is to know, confess, and follow Jesus Christ.
    It is the Gospel.
    To rephrase 1 Timothy 6:6, then, we can say “to have Christ and contentment is to have everything.
    1 Timothy 6:6–8 ESV
    But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.
    Notice the contrast.
    “Godliness is a means of gain”
    vs.
    “Godliness with contentment is great gain.”
    Matthew 13:45–46 ESV
    “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
    There is a heart-searching question, and a question that pushes back against our natural tendency toward covetousness. Is Christ our goal? Is knowing him worth everything?
    The opposite is clearly stated in the next verses
    1 Timothy 6:9–10 ESV
    But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
    An oft mis-quoted clause there in verse 10. You probably hear most often “money is the root of all evil.”
    Notice, not only is that not what the scripture says, but you can see how that pushes the onus off and away from the matter.
    Saying, “if only money weren’t a thing then all the problems would be taken care of.”
    But it is not the money that is causing all the problems, what is it? It is the love of money.
    It is a matter of passions, of desire, of our affections, and what we love.
    2 Timothy 3:1–5 ESV
    But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.
    Notice the use of the word love in that sentence.
    Lovers of self
    lovers of money
    not loving good
    lovers of pleasure
    rather than lovers of God.
    1 Timothy 6:9–10 ESV
    But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
    What is the heart issue of contentment? It is not circumstance. No, don’t fall for that lie. Don’t fall for the lie of “If only my circumstances were different, I wouldn’t have walked down that dark pathway.”
    Don’t fall for the lie of “if only these needs were met and taken care of, I wouldn’t have had to reach out and grasp for the straws of temptation.”
    No, take this to heart dear brothers, sisters - Godliness - that is, to know Christ - with contentment is great gain.
    1 Timothy 6:8 ESV
    But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.
    We have great examples of this in life.
    I think of my own grandparents.
    Grandfather, working down in the recesses of the granite quarries of Barre Verrmont in the 1950’s, and I often heard him tell the story of starting out making $1.37 an hour, and if they stayed on a month they got a 2.5 cent raise to $1.39.5.
    Now we don’t even have pennies!
    His wife, my grandmother, grew up dirt poor in the truest sense, and I have the stories engrained in my head of the great treasure of receiving one single piece of fruit as a Christmas present.
    And with those testimonies, I never heard of any resentment - only joy.
    A word against complacency. Ecclesiastes 9, whatever you find your hand to do, do it with all your might.
    Be the best you can be in your field, occupation, responsibilities.
    Remember, it is not money that is the problem - so earning more money is not the problem, it is the reason behind it.
    We work hard, and aim toward the Lord - and when the Lord increases our lot in life, it is an expanded opportunity to glorify Him.
    My grandparents went on to have more than they needed - but as their comfort in life grew, their satisfaction and contentment grew not in comfort, but in compassion. And to this day, my grandparents are the most generous people I know.
    You likely have similar stories from your grandparents, parents, or even your own life.
    When Lizzy and I were in college, young, married, in love, but broke, I remember thinking one day, “man, If I could ever make $25,000 in a year, I’d be all set.”
    Now it costs half that much just to feed my family for a year. And We have a lot more than just food and clothing.
    Luke 12:27–29 ESV
    Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried.
    Luke 12:30–31 ESV
    For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.
    Brother, Sister, what do you love?
    You reach for that which you love.
    When we love self above all, we reach for any and every means of trying to satisfy ourselves. Be it money, romance, sex, relief, houses, jobs, things.
    When we love Christ, when He is the treasure above all treasures, the pearl of great price, we reach for him and know that having Him and having contentment, we have gained all we have to gain.
    Hebrews 13:5–6 ESV
    Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”

      • 1 Timothy 6:3NIV2011

      • 2 Timothy 1:13NIV2011

      • Luke 10:16NIV2011

      • John 14:6NIV2011

      • 1 Timothy 6:4–5NIV2011

      • 2 Timothy 3:6–7NIV2011

      • James 3:15–17NIV2011

      • 1 Timothy 6:5NIV2011

      • 1 Timothy 3:16NIV2011

      • 1 Timothy 6:6–8NIV2011

      • Matthew 13:45–46NIV2011

      • 1 Timothy 6:9–10NIV2011

      • 2 Timothy 3:1–5NIV2011

      • 1 Timothy 6:9–10NIV2011

      • 1 Timothy 6:8NIV2011

      • Luke 12:27–29NIV2011

      • Luke 12:30–31NIV2011

      • Hebrews 13:5–6NIV2011

  • The Lord is My Salvation

      • 2 Corinthians 4:5-6NIV2011

Ira Baptist Church
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