Gary Duff's sermon, 'The Riches of Contentment,' delves into the biblical teaching found in 1st Timothy 6:6-10, emphasizing that godliness with contentment holds great value. Duff contrasts the destructiveness of covetousness and worry with the peace found in true contentment. Drawing on Puritan writings by Thomas Watson and Jeremiah Burroughs, Duff describes contentment as a state of the heart aligned with God's providence, characterized by a sweet temperament and inner peace. He discusses how societal pressures and temptations often lead to discontent and how cultivating a lifestyle of gratitude and trust in God's provision can counteract this. He highlights the importance of training oneself in godliness, as Paul advised Timothy, and offers practical steps for maintaining contentment, including prayer, meditation on God's promises, and being rich in good works. Ultimately, Duff encourages believers to seek satisfaction in God, who is the source of all contentment, and to be wary of the allure of material wealth, which can lead to spiritual downfall.

And we will be reading from 1st Timothy chapter 6, just a few verses. 1st Timothy chapter 6, verses 6 through 10. 1st Timothy 6, 6 through 10. This is, as we have already heard several times, the living Word of God. Now godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.

In having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which Some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Let's pray. Father, we thank you that we do have your living word.

We thank you that you have given us your revelation, that we might know you and delight in you, and that we might know what is right according to your law, that which is pleasing to you, that which is best for us. And so we thank you for your word. I pray, Father, that you would pour out your Spirit upon us, that we might receive it and then act by faith upon it. And we ask all this through the power and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. And we praise you in His name.

Amen. Please be seated. The last time I was here, I believe, was the early part of May. So as I look around and see some of the younger ones, I thought They couldn't have grown that much in a few months, but apparently they did. So it's great to be back.

Sherry and I are always glad to be here. And this morning, obviously, we're going to be talking about contentment. I've been reading a lot about it lately. I've been reading mostly Puritans in that regard. And the last time I was here, I was sharing from Matthew 6.

This is on the sin of worry and the destructiveness of worry and the destructiveness of worry on our mind and on our body. And contentment really, I believe, is related to this. In that it is the opposite of a heart of worry. A contented heart would be, if you're going to ask, what does that look like? It would be on that side of that.

It's what less and less worry looks like, I believe. A contented life, a contented heart. And what a mind at peace is like. And a mind and a heart diligently seeking God. Now the Oxford Dictionary defines contentment really briefly.

It's a state of happiness and satisfaction. It's a state, it's a condition of happiness and satisfaction. Now satisfaction actually, the Greek word that is used for contentment is sometimes translated as satisfaction. And so We're thinking about that today. What is it that truly satisfies us?

At least at the soul level is what I'm going to be talking about today. William Barclay in his commentary, he said, contentment comes from basically two things he said, knowing God, certainly, and delighting in His, that is God's sovereign goodness and fatherly care. So delighting in God and delighting that as a father, He sovereignly cares for us. Now I do like the definition of the Puritans. I don't know in the, is there a Peter, I don't know if people had the sermon outline.

I don't know if there's some back there, they're back there. But I put the two quotes that I'm gonna read here, they're kind of foundational to the sermon. The first one is Thomas Watson. Thomas Watson wrote a book called The Art of Divine Contentment. So he called it an art, okay, interesting title.

And he defined contentment this way. He said, it's a sweet temper. I believe we would use the word temperament nowadays. So a sweet temperament of spirit, whereby a Christian carries himself in equal poise in every condition. In other words, whatever is going on, whatever situation.

Equal poise, balance, contentment in all situations. And then in his book, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, Jeremiah Burroughs defined Christian contentment. And it's also in the notes there, but he called it, that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, which freely submits to and delights in God's wise and fatherly disposal in every condition. Submits to and delights in God's wise and fatherly disposal. In other words, whatever he wants to do.

So contentment is a state of heart, dear family. It's a condition. It's shown by acceptance of God's providences. That's from our sovereign and loving Heavenly Father. In other words, a contented person does not doubt, or not for very long anyway, does not doubt God's sovereignty in his life.

Doesn't doubt God's loving and perfect providences in his life. John Flavel said God's sovereignty is gloriously displayed in his eternal decrees and his temporal providences. Gloriously displayed in his eternal decrees and his temporal providences, that which we see in history and life. A reminder to us from the Shorter Catechism number 11, the question would be what are the works of God's providence? So God's works of providence are His most holy, wise, and powerful, preserving and governing all His creatures and all their actions.

It's very comprehensive, God's providence. So this sermon is basically about the blessings and the riches of contentment, but it is also near the end of the sermon about the evil and the destructiveness of covetousness and discontentment. It's very destructive. It's like worry, like I shared when I was here before. So first of all, verse 6, it says, now godliness with contentment is great gain.

And to give this a little context, I'm just going to refer to verses 3-5 in this, in 1st Timothy 6. Paul was warning Timothy against proud people that were around him, self-seeking people who wanted to be leaders and thought that godliness is a means of gain for them. And it begins in verse 3. If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, in other words does not teach sound doctrine, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes, arguments over words from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such, he said, withdraw yourself.

Don't hang around those kind of people. Paul was warning Timothy not to hang around those so-called leaders who were seeking to profit basically from their ability to dispute. These people were good with words apparently. And they thought they could use that skill, that quote godliness, as a means of gain. At least the form of godliness which they had.

Matthew Henry said godliness is itself great gain. It is profitable in all things and whenever wherever there is true godliness there will be contentment. They should be going together. We should see them together. True godliness leads to contentment and great gain.

So godliness with a contented heart is worth a lot, in other words. There is great gain. There are true riches with godliness, godliness with contentment, a growing godliness. So godliness combined with an inner contentment, which is rooted in the sufficiency of Christ, to provide all that we need in any situation, according to his riches and glory, surpasses anything that this world can provide. Anything.

There is great blessing and riches in the contented heart, in the heart of a contented person growing in godliness. Now, 1st Timothy 4, Paul exhorts Timothy again, train yourself he said, or another version says exercise yourself in godliness. It's something we should be growing in. Train yourself, exercise yourself. And then he says, for bodily exercise does profit a little.

Bodily exercise is good for us. Yes, there is gain here, now. But godliness, he said, is profitable for all things. In other words, in all ways, and at all times. Because he said there's promise in the discipline of godliness, the exercise of godliness, promise of the life that now is and the life that is to come.

It has eternal blessing. And so may we be exercising ourselves in godliness. Psalm 37, in Psalm 37, the King David said, a little, a little that a righteous man has is better than many riches, the riches of many wicked. So the little that the righteous have is much more valuable, is a much greater gain than the worldly riches of many wicked. So there is great gain in godliness with contentment.

Thomas Watson in the art of divine contentment wrote, if there is a blessed life, he's talking about now, if there is a blessed life before we come to heaven, it is the contented life. He very much connected the blessed life with the contented heart. Psalm 73, Asaph the psalmist said, he asked the question, praying to God, whom have I in heaven but you? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides you in comparison with you and otherwise. I am content in you Lord.

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. He is my satisfaction. I can be content in Him. Or I should be. So he sounded content, didn't he?

They said, whom have I in him but you? There is none upon earth that I desire besides you. Nothing. Some versions say nothing. There's nothing on earth that I desire besides you.

And he was satisfied that no matter what the Lord was his person the Lord was his lot the Lord was his all And burrows suggested that the psalmist was saying here in his commentary on this he said there is nothing He's suggesting that this is what the psalmist was in effect saying. There is nothing in heaven or on earth that can satisfy me, Lord, but yourself. J.I. Packer said there is a difference between knowing God and knowing about God. J.I.

Packer, and it's interesting to me, this quote, because he only stated three things here. The difference between knowing God and knowing about God so the first one was if you truly know God you have energy to serve Him energy to serve Him secondly if you truly know God not just know about Him you have boldness to share Him you want to share Him You want people to know about the Lord Jesus. And then the last one is you have contentment in him. I just thought it was very interesting that one of the differences of truly knowing God and walking with him is a growing contentment. That should be what characterizes us.

King David's example is in Psalm 23 verses 1 through 3. So the Lord is my shepherd, he said. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. So he was content in the great shepherd's provision for him, and care for him. He was content.

And then he said, he makes me lie down in green pastures. So he had plenty to feed on. He was not, they were not worried about food or nourishment. This is what we experience at the table of the Lord, I believe, as we taste and drink. He nourishes us.

He satisfies us in Himself. And then David said, He leads me beside still waters. In other words, He satisfies our thirst for righteousness. And then he says, He restores my soul. So when I am needy, when I need restoration, He is the one who satisfies my soul.

Satisfaction sought otherwise will be very fleeting. And so following our shepherd is the path of contentment. And I'd like to ask a few questions of you to ask yourself. Are you following hard after your shepherd? After the shepherd of your soul?

Are you seeking Him who is the one who gives contentment? So that then you are not fearful, or you will not be despondent. That you don't have, first of all, what the world says you need. You know, what the world says, look what we have, this can satisfy you. Or that the evil one wants you to long for in your heart rather than Jesus, or that you are seeking in the flesh what your sinful heart wants to have.

Now in the Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, Burroughs said, in the strict sense, contentment is only attributed to God who is God all-sufficient. If you've heard of the term the assayatee of God, He's fulfilled completely in and of himself. He needs nothing, he needs no one. So in the strict sense, contentment is only attributed to God, who is God all sufficient. In that, he rests fully satisfied in and with himself alone.

But he is pleased to freely communicate his fullness to us, so that from him we receive grace upon grace. So praise God, dear family, he is the source of our contentment. And he loves us with an everlasting love a contented heart comes from being Conformed to him Who freely gives us all things and that occurs by being with him? By drawing near to him by seeking him by hungering and thirsting for him And He will satisfy that kind of hunger and that kind of thirst. He can and will, and He has promised to do so.

In Psalm 34, David said, "'O taste and see that the Lord is good.' And then it says, "'Blessed is the man, ' or, "'happily contented is the man who trusts in him. O fear the Lord, you his saints. There is no want to those who fear him. There is no lack. There is no insufficiency.

There is no terrible discontent. So contentment is relying on the goodness of the Lord to satisfy us as he has promised to do. If the man, it is the man who trusts in the Lord and his providence who is blessed with contentment. Those who fear the Lord do not know want. Or the discontentment of always wanting more.

Unless, I guess, it is the desire, the holy desire, of wanting to know more of Him, to be near to Him. So one of the other key passages on contentment in the New Testament is Philippians 4 verses 11 through 13. You could turn with me if you would. Philippians 4 verses 11 through 13. The other one I'll refer to later is Hebrews 13.5.

But This is maybe the second key passage in the New Testament on contentment. The Apostle Paul said, not that I speak in regard to need, He wanted them to know that he has all that he needs in the Lord. But he said, not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am or condition, I have learned to be content. I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things, I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And so Paul learned to be content. Dear family, we must keep learning to be content. He learned when he was abased, in other words, when he was humbled, when he was brought low, when he was hungry, he could be content in that situation. And when he was full, and when he abounded in things, when he had plenty, when he had plenty of food, his heart was not drawn to those things, were not given to those things.

His possessions did not possess him. And I think this is what Paul meant in 2 Corinthians chapter 6. You know, there's a list there of persecution that he went through, of travail that he went through. It's a long list. But the last two say this.

He said, as poor, yet making many rich. As poor by the world standards. But he made many rich. And then he said at the end of the list, as having nothing and yet possessing all things. That was his perspective.

And so the world said, yeah, nothing, but he knew the riches of contentment. Now his contentment was in the Lord Jesus, certainly, who strengthened him when he was in need, even when he was in prison, to not covet. And the Lord strengthened him when in plenty also, not to be content in things. And Paul said he learned to be content. And we need to learn to be satisfied in him also.

And what he sovereignly brings into our lives. And dear family, we are in his training program, and we always will be, praise God. And so we must learn to be content, because sometimes that training program is rough, is hard for us. And Paul said he learned to be content. Now, there's a counselor that I read.

This is the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors. And her name was Susan Heck. And she wrote an article on contentment and one part of it I thought was very interesting. She talked about if onlys and I'd like you to think about this in terms of your own thought life. And she had this list here.

I'd just like to read a few of these. As suggestions for you to think about. So in her counseling, she had many people who would say this in the midst of counseling, well, if only I had a good marriage, I would be content. Or if only I was married, they're single, I would be content, I'm sure. If only I had a new house or a bigger house I would be content.

If only I had more friends I would be content. If only my life wasn't so busy I would be content. If only I didn't have this physical problem I would be content. If only I didn't have this physical problem, I would be content. If only I had more money, I would be content.

She had a long list. Now we may not be aware of these wishes in our thoughts, but I believe it's very important for us to be to take some time and to consider some of possible what-ifs in your life right now that is could be causing or could begin causing discontent. Now we may not be aware of those, but ask the Lord to help you identify them. We all have them by the way, and after I've preached this at Dominion, I remember asking afterwards about contentment with many people. I'm pretty content, and then in the talking and prayer, they almost laughed.

Oh, I guess I'm not. I didn't recognize this in my life. And as I was working on this sermon, I had some health issues, not many, but they are starting to restrict me at my age. And then I realized I had the beginnings of discontent. Because I was thinking, well, I want to go just do this job, but I can't pick that thing up anymore, I shouldn't.

And I had to confess, Lord, I'm not content that I have heart palpitations. It doesn't stop me from doing things, but I think apparently the Lord is trying to get my attention. You know, if only my heart palpitations go away. I don't want to think like that. I want to think, Lord, do whatever you want to do through these.

Make me the man you want me to be. So ask the Lord to help you in this. It's not unhealthy. It's not healthy, I should say. These are very unhealthy to keep or to have floating around because they cause us to question God's goodness and His faithfulness and His providence in our life.

And that may cause us to take our eyes off of the one who is the source of our contentment. And I think a contented person, again, is more likely to ask the Lord, Lord, what do you want to do in me through this situation, this circumstance that you have sovereignly brought into my life, that you have allowed to come into my life? Well, another perspective, verse 7, it says we brought nothing into this world, right? And it is certain we can carry nothing out. Now, the apostle may have been thinking here of Job.

I believe he probably was. And in Job chapter 1, verse 21, Job said, naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. And then it goes in verse 22 of Job chapter 1.

The Lord said through the scriptures, in all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong. Think about charging God with wrong. May Lord keep us from it. One of my brothers, as I was sharing some of these thoughts with him, he said, oh I have something hanging in my wall right here from Matthew Henry. It's on Job chapter 1.

It's interesting how the Lord orchestrated that. And that comment from Matthew Henry said, in all this, Job did not act amiss. In other words, he didn't sin against God. He did not act amiss, for he did not attribute folly to God, nor in the least reflect upon his wisdom in what he had done in Job's life. Discontent and impatience do, in effect, Matthew Henry said Discontent and impatience do in effect charge God with folly We're talking about charging God with folly the Almighty Holy God I believe Job could have maybe relied on his wealth.

And I don't believe he did rely on his wealth. But he learned, like Paul, that the sovereign God gives much to some people at some times, and he takes away from some at some times. And a contented heart has the poise that Watson's word has there in the beginning that I shared. He talked about poise. So a contented art has the poise, the peace, that keeps a person steady in either case.

And we need to have a right perspective, I think, dear family, an eternal one, in fact, on all the things that God gives us that we are stewards we're stewards of all these things to use as he is given for his glory and the extension of his kingdom Matthew 6 33 I believe is a key verse on priorities you probably all know this it gives us and It keeps us with an eternal perspective. Especially on things, on needs. Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. All these things which he knows we need shall be yours as well. They should not be our priorities in other words.

The priority is to seek him. To seek him who is your portion. And then you won't be ruined, you won't be full of discontent. May it not be so, by a false hope in things or positions or power or worldly riches or acceptance or many things. Whatever you feel you lack that could lead to temptation to discontentment.

Our Lord Jesus spoke a parable to the rich man, Luke chapter 12. It begins in verse 19. The Lord said, telling the parable, and the man said, And I will say to my soul, soul you have many goods, laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry." So he had a lot of stuff. It became his security.

And he was tempted. He gave in his heart. That became his security. So he was satisfied with that alone, apparently. He was content with a bunch of stuff.

But God said to him, fool, this night your soul will be required of you. Then whose will all those things be which you have provided, in other words, which you have stored up at great labor, which you now make your security. Verse 21 ends, so is he who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. Be rich toward God, rich in contentment. Now a rich man, I believe, can be just as discontent in his heart as a poor man.

True richness can be measured by a contented heart, I believe. A heart that is at peace, a heart that is at rest, because the Lord Jesus' sufficiency, and He never changes. Now, earlier, Jesus had said in the same chapter 12, verse 15, he said, take heed and beware of all covetousness for a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possession. Take heed. This is the Lord Jesus telling us beware, because our hearts tend to this.

Be alert to this tendency in your heart. And ask the Holy Spirit to make you aware of covetousness. Because your life does not equal what you have or what people think about you necessarily what you possess and our hearts are so deceptive in this that we can easily begin to covet in fact we should assume it's easy to covet and begin to think the the what-ifs for example if I only had more of this or that. So the Lord commanded, do not worry saying what shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear. For after all these things the Gentiles seek, for your Heavenly Father knows that you need all these things, but seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.

Seek Him, and all these things shall be added to you. Okay, verse 8, having food and clothing, it says, we shall be content. Food and clothing, two things on this list. So food and nourishment and clothing. With those we should be content.

And I believe shelter is probably included in this. So those are very basic, right? To exist physically on this earth, we need those. Those are needed, I guess you could say. Now, if you went out on the street, and you asked anybody on the street, What would you need to be content in life?

You think they'd say two things, even these two things? I don't know. But it's really the yearning and the focus of the heart for more that causes discontent. Our culture is not into being thankful for the basics, I believe. You know, modern advertising is, well, it's very effective.

It's ubiquitous. It's very skilled at enticing desire. And I brought something that Phil, my senior pastor at Dominion Covenant Church, developed in 2001. It's called the Developing Sales Resistance. It's on the back.

There's a number of those there. I'd encourage you to take that home and glance over it, Because you're always being sold something. And unless we are alert again, alert too about what we allow into our homes and into our minds, from movies or the media or even very discontented people, can reinforce negativity and discontentment. So may we be kept from the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. Now, something refreshing to me that has been refreshing to me over the years and a good reminder to me also is I like to ask young Children especially when my children are young I asked them before we prayed at night And I'd usually ask them well.

What are you thankful for today? Because I wanted them to develop thankful hearts And it was very interesting. You know you can probably all Understand you know they would say something very simple, usually. So I'd say, what are you thankful for? And my son would say, air.

Okay. I thank God for air. Maybe never before my son said that. I don't know. And even this morning I asked David Greer, I said, what are you thankful for when you pray?

He said, food. I said, great. You should be. That's a good thing to be thankful for. And even one of my grandsons, I asked him just recently, what are you thankful for?

And he thought for quite a while, I said, bugs. I'm thankful for bugs. And I can tell you, before that I probably didn't thank God for them either. But I think it's a good practice to help our children grow in thankfulness, to have a lifestyle of thankfulness. Because I believe thankfulness dispels discontent, right?

I don't think they go together too well. So, our young ones know how to thank God for the basics. Maybe we need to kind of go back to that. So, maybe we pray like Agor in Proverbs chapter 30. He prayed to the Lord, give me neither poverty nor riches.

Feed me with the food allotted to me, which I have, which you have given. Feed me with the food allotted to me, lest I be full and deny you and say, who is the Lord? In other words, I don't need him. Or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God, dishonor God by stealing. So discontent again in the rich or the poor displeases the Lord.

The rich may say, I don't need the Lord. The poor may try to meet their needs by doing whatever they want to do, what they think they need to do to get that stuff. Hebrews 13.5, the other key cross-reference, says, let your conduct be without covetousness. Let it be. Let it be without covetousness.

All your conduct. Be content with such things as you have, for He Himself has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you." That is an amazing promise. Such things as you have, it says. Such things as the Lord has given you now. Because He daily loads us with benefits.

And that promise should be one of the foundations, I believe, of our contentment. He himself has said, I will never leave you, nor forsake you. Are we living like we believe that? Thomas Watson in the art of divine contentment said, God's providence, which is nothing but the fulfillment of his decree, should be a guarantee and an opposing force against discontent. In his wisdom, God has set us in our current station or situation.

Watson also said, the wise God has ordered our condition or our situation if he sees it better for us to abound we will abound if he sees it better for us to want we will want be content to be at God's Disposal what he wants to do in and through your life. You cannot be discontent He said without quarreling with God. This is similar to what I believe Matthew Henry is saying, you know, Matthew Henry said You know, we might be charging God with folly if we question his providences And that is grievous to the Holy Spirit. So Watson said, you cannot be discontent without essentially quarreling with God. Contentment is a work of the Spirit, And it's shown by this quiet and inner peace.

And, I believe, with an outward submission to, and even delight in, God's sovereign provision. It's both, really. It's inner and outer. Bethany talks about the folly of placing our happiness in these things. He said, when we did not bring anything into this world with us, we cannot carry anything out.

So let's look at verses 9 and 10. This is a shorter part of the sermon. It's not going to be as long if you're looking at your watch. Verses 9 and 10. This is talking about the destructiveness of covetousness.

But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and harmful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition." So those who are designed to be rich here in 1st Timothy were, back then as now, these were men who sought to use godliness, as I mentioned earlier, I believe, through their position as a means of gain. In other words, much more than what was needed for their livelihood. And there are really powerful temptations that can be very destructive in this country, in our lives, in this culture we live in. Temptations to seek contentment by seeking riches, whatever that may be to you. Having hearts set on riches and comfort.

Now these temptations are snares. So we're walking down this path as a believer, and there are snares. I believe these temptations are big snares, to trip us up and to turn us aside and to help to take our eyes off Jesus and off of His promises to provide. And we can see here kind of a downward spiral. If you look at the text, it says, first of all, there's a desire, a desire to be rich.

In other words, there's a discontent. You're not content, and you're always seeking more. You have these desires. And then you fall into temptation. You give in, basically.

You start down that, and then it says there's a snare. In other words, it's more like being caught and being stuck at that point. And then, beyond that, many foolish and harmful lusts, given over to lusts, really. And then, for the unbeliever, drowning men in destruction and perdition. To the state of eternal destruction, when unrepentant, and all this grieves the Holy Spirit.

So similar to this progression is James chapter 1, it says, verses 14 and 15, it says, each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires. Same pattern, desires and enticed. He's enticed. And then when desire is conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin when it is full-grown brings forth death. So that is a progression that is easy to fall into.

Praise God, we have the Holy Spirit, we have the Word of God. And My prayer would be that we would quickly be alerted to discontent in our hearts. That we would never start down this downward spiral. It would be very quickly alerted to if we are on that. And part of The calling of all of us here in each other's lives is to relate each other in this way.

You have a role in doing this. Continual discontentment is a very dangerous thing, and it's at least a sign of the rule of self, or too much of the rule of self in your life. Excuse me. So we should be extremely alert again to the desires that remove us from having a contented heart because we're too busy pursuing other things. The Heidelberg Catechism on the 10th commandment, you saw that covet, you could use as an excellent prayer.

It says that not even the slightest thought or desire, contrary to any of God's commandments, should ever arise in our hearts. So let's put it in first. Should ever arise in my heart. Rather, I should always hate all sin with all my heart, and delight in all righteousness. May that be where we are, how we think.

So we must discipline ourselves, as I mentioned earlier, to be seeking the Lord and seeking His face. Because Our focus on him and watching him will keep us from being enticed on this downward spiral, enticed by things or tripped up. King David said, my eyes are ever on the Lord, for he will pluck my feet out of the net, those things which trap me. Not when I'm looking down trying to yank myself out of that issue, but when my eyes are on him. My eyes are ever on the Lord for he will pluck my feet out of the net.

Godly disciplines help keep us from being snared by temptations to trust in whatever it may be. Paul told Timothy to command the rich people around him. This is later in the chapter, verses 17 through 19. And he said, command those who are rich. I think all of us in this room are rich.

Historically, or in almost any other way, you can define it. Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty or proud, nor to trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they may be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life. So, dear family, we are given much, materially and in many other ways. We are given much not to trust in them at all, because they are certainly uncertain.

Look at the stock market. But we're to do good with it, it says, as stewards. We're to be rich in good works, it says, to be ready to give and to share what we have for eternal purposes. First John 2, do not love the world or the things in the world, everything that the world tells you you should be seeking. Don't love those things.

Don't covet those things. If anyone loves the world, all those things, the love of the Father is not in him. You can't love God in mammon. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father. It does not please Him.

It's of the world. And the world is passing away, it says. It's uncertain. The world is passing away, and the lust of it. But he who does the will of God abides forever.

So the lust of the world ensnares us, it trips us up. We must prepare ourselves and our children for the incessant attacks against them to give their lives to things as we're running in the Christian life. Hebrews 12 on says that we're to lay aside all the weight and the sin that easily ensnares us, trips us up. And I believe a lack of contentment or a continual discontentment is one of those sins. And it says, let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.

And I believe that means with contented hearts. That's how we should run this race. So let's run without the weight of worry because we trust in things or we're unthankful or we're discontent. If the devil and the world and Our own selfish desires tempt us to give our lives for things. And this is part, again, of the spiritual battle that we should all reckon we are part of all the time, every day.

We are in a spiritual battle. This is the warfare that we are in, part of it. And it's easy to forget that, I believe. It's easier to love the world, to be lulled into trusting the amount or the accumulation of things or abilities or comfort, awards, recognition, position. So the world will always seek to draw us to its, quote, supposed bounty and comfort and satisfaction for our souls.

It cannot do it. We are surrounded by enticements continually to give our lives to things, which tempt us to think that material wealth or some kind of personal gain will answer all my problems. The if-onlies. If only I had this. That if we just had enough of something, we will be satisfied.

So the final verse in our text that informs us of the danger of discontent and security in riches is verse 10. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Matthew Henry said, people may have money and yet not love it, but if they love it inordinately, it will push them on to all evil. I think it pushes them to discontentment. This is a sin against the Lord.

And for this love of money, this prioritization of riches and comfort to be satisfied. It says, some have strayed from the faith in their greediness and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows. So greediness, I believe, is an indication of a lack of contentment. You need hoarding or I got to have this. You know, it's mine.

And that causes some to stray, it says here, from the faith. It can cause people to stray from the faith and cause increased sorrows. Their hearts are set on things, and they are not trusting in God's kindness at that point, or His providence, maybe His promises. And this certainly leads to many sorrows, it says here. I think the picture here says they pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

It's like they're riddled with arrows. And it certainly would cause great pain in a believer's life. 1 Timothy 6, 11, Paul warned Timothy. He said, but you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and gentleness. So flee lust for things, dear family.

Pursue godliness with contentment. If you don't aim at those things in that list, 1 Timothy 6, 11, you will likely not be turned from the materialism of our age that's in the air we breathe. Or from the worldly gain as a goal in life. Which means you will not know, as you could know, the blessed state of contentment. Which is possible in the Lord Jesus.

But We should seek after God and what God calls good for our contentment. James 1.17, every good gift and every perfect gift is from above. And so we have to set our minds on that. We have to think this way. First Timothy 4.8 has a list of things to think about.

There are many of course, but Philippians 4.8 says, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue, and if there's anything praiseworthy, meditate on those things. And I say that because what we meditate on, I believe, what we think on often greatly impacts our state of contentment. Or it can lead us to discontentment. So contentment is, dear family, indeed, a rare jewel. It's not natural on this earth.

You don't meet many unbelievers certainly who are peacefully and usually content. Who regularly experience the blessed state of contentment, or happiness, or thankfulness that we can by God's grace and His mercy. And we here, you all here in this part of Texas, should be the examples to those around you of what contentment looks like. They don't know. They don't have a clue.

They probably don't even believe it's possible. And so dear family, a few final thoughts for application. How is this state of contentment maintained? I've already shared it. First of all, prayer, especially Thanksgiving, or in other words, a lifestyle of Thanksgiving.

It's the discipline and the practice of Thanksgiving for His providences. Raise your children to be thankful all the time, even in the hard times. Secondly, meditation on the promises of God, as I just mentioned, such as, I will never leave you. Lord Jesus says to you even today, I will never leave you nor forsake you. Trusting in the Lord's provision.

Third, giving as I mentioned, serving, being rich in good works. Keeps us from the temptation to cling to these things. And then finally, and maybe most importantly, seek the giver of all good gifts, our Lord Jesus, who is our eternal portion. And dear family, may you be satisfied and content in Him. Let's pray.

Oh Lord, we do pray as the Heidelberg Catechism shared that not even the slightest thought or desire, contrary to any of your precious commandments, would arise in our hearts. But rather, Lord, that we would hate all sin with all our hearts. That we would hate covetousness. But that we would delight in all righteousness and pursue that. Lord, that we would hate covetousness and delight in your promises and your providences, and that we would glorify you by a growing contentment and a growing love for you and a thankfulness.

Well Lord, you are our portion now and forever and we ask that we would be a thankful people and we ask this in the precious name of Jesus Christ our Lord and our King. Amen.