First Timothy 6.6, but godliness
with contentment is great gain. Remember that godliness is not
being like God. There is a desire in every believer
to be like our Lord Jesus Christ, God in human flesh. But this
word godliness means reverence. It means to be devout. And contentment means a perfect
condition of life in which no aid or support is needed. So godliness is not us being
like God, it's us acting like God is God, revering Him, worshiping
Him, honoring Him alone. And contentment, God being God and us being perfectly
happy with that, that's value. That's gain. That's worth something. That's worth everything. Think of Jacob when he gave Esau
that caravan of gifts in Genesis 33. Jacob and Esau had been estranged
from one another and Jacob was very afraid to meet Esau. because he had wronged Esau greatly. So when they met, Jacob sent
before him a caravan of gifts for Esau, and Esau tried to refuse
them. He said, brother, what was all
this that came before you? And he said, well, this is the
blessing that I brought For you these are gifts from me to you
and Jacob said Take them away. I don't need that. I've got I've
got enough. I have enough In that word, of
course means I have abundance. I have a lot I have plenty And then Jacob said this in Genesis
33 11 take I pray thee my blessing that is brought to you because
God hath dealt graciously with me. Esau didn't say anything
about that. He just said, I've got plenty
of stuff. Jacob said, God has been gracious to me, and I have
everything. I'm telling you, that's what
he said. You look it up. Scratch out that word enough
in chapter 33, verse 11, and put everything right there, because
that's what that word means. That's what we're talking about.
That's our text. God hath dealt graciously with
me. God has. God has blessed me. God has bestowed his grace on
me. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath given unto me that I should be called the Son of
God. I have everything. I'm content. I have a quality
and condition of life in which no aid or support is needed. Oh, that's our text now. If God
indeed has dealt graciously with you this morning, then you have
everything, regardless of material goods, regardless of your status
in life, regardless of your circumstances, You have everything. That's great
gain now. Godliness. God being God and
being everything you need. Verse seven in our text, for
we brought nothing into this world and it is certain that
we can carry nothing out. There's a lot of teaching in
that simple statement. Think about this. We brought
nothing in this world, and it's certain that we'll carry nothing
out. In the context of the previous verse, think about this. Everything
in this world, indeed this world itself, is temporary. We carry nothing in and we'll
carry nothing out, During the time between you coming into
this world and the time you leave it you have some things on loan
from God You're not taking them with you. You didn't bring them
with you. You're not taking them with you They're on loan now
for a time From God most people act as if those things are what
it's all about and God's people, by God's grace, know that God
only gives us those things for his glory. He gives them for his glory.
Of course, we're sustained in this world by things that God
gives, but even your plowing of your fields is evil in the
sight of God if you give him not glory in it. He didn't give it just so you
could eat. He gave it so he could be glorified. Give him the gratitude and the
glory that he deserves in everything. My brother just read that. There
could not have been a better passage to go along with our
Sunday school lesson this morning and what we're talking about
right now. God deserves his glory and grace to be honored. He deserves our gratitude in
everything, in everything give thanks. The second thing this verse teaches,
we didn't bring anything into this world and we're not carrying
anything out. Everything you have is from God. First Corinthians 4, 7, for who
maketh thee to differ from another? And what hast thou that thou
didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it,
why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it? Why do
we glory as though we accomplished something or earned something? The third thing this teaches
is in light of eternity, the things of this world are worthless. You didn't bring anything in,
you're not taking anything out. You're gonna go meet God with
nothing. Unless God being God makes you
happy. Godliness with contentment is
great gain It's all you have It's all you need if you think
you have something else you have nothing What is gold in eternity what
is money what is anything in eternity Proverbs 23 for labor
not to be rich. I cease from thine own wisdom. Wilt thou set thine eyes upon
that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves
wings. They fly away as an eagle toward
heaven. Will you set your affection?
I said a while ago, most people think that this stuff is what
it's all about. God says it is not. that which
is not. Fourthly, this verse teaches
you came into this world with nothing, but did you have everything you
needed? You know what you needed then? You needed God, and that's it. You're gonna leave this world
with nothing, What are you going to need then? You need God, and that's all. So what do you really need right
now in light of that? You carry nothing
into this world. You carry nothing out. So what
do you really need? He that hath a son hath life. Verse eight in our text, and
having food and raiment, let us be therewith content. There's that beautiful word again,
content, to be completely satisfied. You know, we live every moment
in this world as if we needed something. You think about that. Oh, you can't get it out of your
head. There's always something in there that you're needing,
you're wanting, you're desiring, you're striving for. You're not
gonna be able to get it out of your mind. Not completely. Not in this world. I need to
do this. I need to finish that. I need to accomplish this. I
need to gain this. I need to this and that. And I'm not suggesting that we
be negligent of our commitments in this world, in this life. We're not to be. That's fine. There are things in a sense that
we need to do. But in another sense, we put too much too often into
the wrong things. We give ourselves to things.
that are not, let's put it this way, our priorities need to align
with the truth that all of this is temporary and that all we
really need is Christ. Let's, by God's grace, may our
priorities line up with that. Food and raiment are mentioned
here. They're considered necessities, and that's fine. Don't forget
where they come from. You still just need God, don't
you? Who's going to give you those things? If not him, Matthew
6 31, don't forget this. When you're thinking about food
and Raymond and we're going to eat, you know, I got to take
care of my family, got to raise my family, got to provide for
my family. That's true. Scripture says a man that won't
do that's worse than an infidel. Don't forget this. Matthew 6.31,
therefore take no thought saying what shall we eat? Or what shall
we drink? Or wherewithal shall we be clothed?
For after all these things do the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly
Father knoweth that you have need of all these things. It's different now when you know
God. It's not the same as other people.
The Gentiles seek these things, picturing the godless in this
world. They seek these things in a different
way than we do. That's all they think about. But by God's grace, we understand
that if we have all of that, and we don't have Christ, we
don't have anything. We understand by God's grace
where these things come from. And he knows that we need them. Don't worry about them. It doesn't
mean don't think about it. We have to think about it. We
have to go to work. We have to do what we do. God blessed us
with that. But seek you first. Kingdom of God and His righteousness
And all these things shall be added The God who knows that
you need them will add them to you oh That's that's more than just He'll meet our needs he will
he does and David said, I've never seen the Lord's seed begging
bread now. He will, he will do that. He
knows we need him. And he'll add them to you. But
understand this too, if he doesn't add them to you, you're not gonna
have them. These things come from the Lord,
just like mercy and grace and forgiveness. I'll tell you this, it doesn't
matter what you have in this world if you don't have his mercy.
His grace and the forgiveness of sins in Christ, you have nothing. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God and His righteousness. You know what His righteousness
is? The Son of God. If you try it the other way around
now, there are some that just flat
out are just out for themselves. Dog eat dog, the one that dies
with the most toys wins. Get all you can and can't all
you get. And then there's believers that by God's grace, we realize
what's happening in this world. It ain't just me scrapping out
a living. That ain't what it's about. That's
not what God's doing. This is not just a cage with
his pets that he feeds. This is about his glory. This
is about Christ being exalted in this world. This is about
the redemption of his bride. The kingdom of God. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God. And these things will be added. They're just add-ons. And then there are those who
try it the other way around. They don't just have no thought
at all for God. It's not just about dog eat dog,
but they seek the things of this world first. And then God is kind of added
onto that. If you seek first the things
that feel like they will bring you contentment, and then just
add the worship of God in to that, not only will you never
be content, but God says he would rather that you be completely
cold than that. You and I can only truly be content
if we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. For God to be God and
for us to know it, for you to be happy with that, you've got
to know it to be true. For you to be content with that,
you've got to understand it as reality. Think about this now. about what I said, you and I
can only be truly content if we believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. Can you trust people? Have you found that to be the
case? Now there are those that we place a certain amount of
trust in. And I've known cases where even
the normal trust that we place in people has been completely and utterly
betrayed. Has that been your experience
in life that you can trust people? My dad said to me before he died,
I'll never forget it, I've told you before. He said, even your mom and I, may let you down, but the Lord
will never let you down. And I've never forgotten that.
He said, you can trust him. Can you trust yourself? Really now, most people never
even give that a thought. Of course, people say the only
one you can really trust is yourself. Do you believe that? Has that
been your experience? You find that to be what God
said? That's a sad place, boy. If you say the only one you can
trust is yourself, you're in a sad place. Can you trust in
riches? Seem like you're invincible if
you had $10 million. That'd probably do it, you know?
I'd be safe and secure, really? Verse nine in our text, but they
that will be rich fall into temptation of a snare. You see, this is
mentioned here when he's talking about godliness with contentment
is great gain. But now he's saying this, what
this world considers great gain is not. There's a reason why the Lord
said you can't serve God and mammon. He mentions two things. There's a reason for that. Because
mammon represents gain, fleshly gain, worldly gain, prosperity
and popularity and the praise of this world. They that will be rich fall into
temptation and a snare into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which
drown men in destruction and perdition. I've seen them drowning. If you've ever seen somebody
drown, Your only thought is what can I do to help? I wanna help
them, but you know what? The only thing that's gonna help
them is the gospel, the gospel. And you know that, and you might
even try to tell them that, but you can't hear it for them. You can't make them hear it. For the love of money is the
root. Love, not money. Love, that love
is the root of all evil. What we love by nature is the
root of all evil. Which while some coveted after,
they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through
with many sorrows. You see, that's the opposite
of contentment, is to covet after. They have erred from the faith
and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Think of this. Think of this, to be able to
fully trust the Lord Jesus Christ. To honestly not place any trust
whatsoever in your circumstance in life. There are relationships that
require trust. They require a certain level
of trust. But we're not talking about what you trust them for. And even what you trust them
for, they may well betray. No matter who it is, it can happen. But we're trusting here concerning that which we need. Our trust here is concerning
that which will make us happy, content, needing nothing, no
aid or anything is needed. We sing that song, they who trust
Him wholly, find Him wholly true. To have nothing. Listen now,
this is part of it too, to have absolutely nothing depend on
you. If any of it depends on you,
you will never be content. And what will pass for contentment
in your life will be unbelief, rejection of the Lord, self-righteousness. And we've got to come to that
place now to trust Him alone in so much that
when you fall, the Lord is there. You know He is. You know He will
be before you ever fall. The Lord is there. He'll catch
you. He'll lift you up. When you make
your bed in hell, the Lord is there. If you ever made your
bed there, when even your father and your mother forsake you,
the Lord will take you up. Do you trust him that much? Psalm 139, one through 13. If
you want to jot that down, what a beautiful passage of scripture.
I was going to read it, but think about this. I may not have a
penny tomorrow. I may not have a penny. I might
lose every bit of it. It may be worthless tomorrow. It's already worth less than
it was a year ago. It might be completely worthless
tomorrow, but the Lord Jesus Christ, who owns everything,
will still love me. If you had a rich relative that
was a billionaire And they had told you, don't worry about if
you lose your job, if you're ever destitute, just call me.
I'll toss you a billion. You'll be all right. That'd feel
pretty good, wouldn't it? That's not even close. It's not
even close to where we are. And the Lord, the Lord who owns
everything will still love me the day I have nothing. The Lord Jesus Christ will still
hold me in his hand. Our country may fall apart. We've seen chaos
in the streets like I would never have imagined. It's not like
never before. It's happened before. Not in
my lifetime. The Lord's still on the throne.
He still rules everybody and everything. And by God's grace,
we trust him. We trust him. What unspeakable
gain it is to be free from the law of God. To know that Christ
himself is our perfect righteousness before God that cannot be added
to nor ever diminished. We are right with God. That's
contentment. You're not ever gonna be content
until that's true. I'm perfect in the sight of God,
holy, unblameable, and unreprovable in his sight. Who can lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died. That's
contentment. That's great gain, that's incalculable
gain, immeasurable, to see ourselves in Christ Jesus, standing holy
and without spot before the very throne of God, washed white in
His precious blood. What gain to see in Christ crucified
all of our suffering for sin already endured by Him in our
place, and we will never bear it. Nothing to fear, nothing to be
guilty of, nothing to regret. When Christ is all you need,
then you will have all you need. And not until, well, Chris, what
I need is for my loved one to be saved. I need God. I pray every night. I need God
to save my child, the one that I love. Christ is that salvation. It's not that he needs something
that only Christ can give. He needs Christ. She needs Christ. Christ is that salvation. I need my relationship to be
healed, whatever it is. Who's gonna do that? Who can
heal hearts? Who can mend hearts? Who can
knit hearts together but Him? And what you need is Him in that,
whether that relationship endures or not. He gives and He takes. And for
His people, both are a blessing. What we need is Him. Has the Lord ever taken away
anything that you thought you needed? He may do more of that. He may
do more of that. And He may not. But here's his
glorious promise to us. Hebrews 13, five, let your conversation,
your conduct be without covetousness. In other words, be content. That's
what it said. And be content with such things
as you have. Oh, well, that just means the
stuff I have should be enough. Well, there's some truth in that,
but that's not what it says. Listen to this now. I'm gonna
start over. Let your conduct be without covetousness. Covetousness is the opposite
of contentment. Let your conduct be without covetousness
and be content with such things as you have, for he hath said,
I will never leave you. Nor forsake you. The stuff we
have is not what we're content with. were content with him,
content with beholding his face, I all to his pleasure resign. And no changes of season or place
would make any change in my mind. Remember what contentment means? No aid or support is needed.
The condition of life where you don't need any help or anything. We sing that little chorus, thy
presence, the only thing needful I see. Do we really see it that
way? All your needs are met. How does
God give us what we need? Listen to this, Philippians 419,
but my God shall supply all your need. According as he owns everything
in the world. No according to his riches in
glory by Christ Jesus The storehouses of his grace
are a person Interesting that two necessities
are mentioned in verse 8 Food and raiment having therefore
food and raiment be content What do we really need? John 6 53 then Jesus said unto
them verily verily I say unto you except you eat the flesh
of the son of man and Drink his blood you have no life in you
Having food Real food food indeed Therewith be content Who so eateth
my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life, and I will
raise him up at the last day, for my flesh is meat indeed,
and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father
hath sent me, and I live by the Father, so he that eateth me,
even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came
down from heaven, not as your fathers did eat manna or dead.
He that eateth of this bread shall live forever. Do you have
food? Be happy with it. Be content. What else do you need? Well,
we gotta have something to wear, don't we? One of the elders answered, saying
unto me, what are these which are arrayed in white robes? And
whence came they? And I said, sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, these are they which came out
of great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them
white in the blood of the Lamb. Listen I've never seen this before
the next verse therefore are they before the throne of God
And serve him day and night. What can you wear to God's throne? That robe of his righteousness
washed in his precious blood the wedding garment The best robe That's the only
thing you can wear to the throne. Listen to this, now, therefore
are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night
in his temple, and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among
them. You got raiment? You got something
to wear? You got food and raiment? Be
content. Be content. Notice in verse nine that those
who are rich are not who fall. It's those that want to be. What a lesson now. What a lesson. It's not the rich that fall. It's those that would be. You know what most rich people
want to be? Rich. You know what most poor people
want to be? Rich. That's who falls, those
who want to be. Those who strive for that, those
who live for that, those who give themselves for that which
is not, and that can be anybody, rich or poor. Those who have Christ have all
they need. Those who sell all that they
have, and buy that one pearl of great price, they never regret
it. They never sell it. Proverbs
says, buy the truth and don't ever sell it. You won't. You
won't. Those who sell all they have,
listen to this. Let's just read this in closing. Matthew 13, 45. Again, the kingdom
of heaven. Lock unto a merchant man seeking
goodly pearls Who when he had found one pearl of great price
Here's a merchants he's looking for pearl he's looking for goodly
pearls That's what he does he's a pearl
buyer and he found one pearl that put him out of business
and Nothing to look for anymore he
went and sold all that he had And bought it May God give us grace to get
out of the pearl business Got any you need anything you
don't have you need anything at all Ask God If God is God and you like it
that way, just ask him. He said you have not because
you ask not and whosoever shall ask anything in my name, my father
will give it to him. May God give us grace. Amen.