is priceless. It's not something
you can purchase with money. It's something God gives. Real
contentment is. Now, Jason just read to you a
brief story of the Apostle Paul's life in chapter three. The Apostle Paul said he was
a Hebrew of the Hebrews. He had the right credentials.
He thought he did anyway. He was, as he said, as touching
the law, he was a Pharisee. If you had asked anyone in that
day who was for sure going to heaven, they would have said
a Pharisee. They were the most outwardly religious, moral people
of that day. Yet the Lord looked at the Pharisee
and he said, do you love your father to death? Because their
righteousness was their self-righteousness. Religion does not, being religious
does not equal being saved. And Paul was a good example of
that. He was very religious. And Paul
was very educated. He sat at the feet of Gamaliel.
That was the highest ranking teacher of his day. And he sat
there. Paul was very, very well educated. class of Madison to go across
the stage, and they had the tassels and all these different accomplishments. The Apostle Paul, none in his
day was more educated than him, none. But when he met the Lord
on the road to Damascus, and the Lord laid him in the dust,
and he bowed down before the Lord, He took everything off
and laid it at the Master's feet. And He said, there's nothing
but done if I don't have you. If I don't have you, nothing
else matters. But God had to teach you that.
God had to break you. He had to break you. And God
has to break us in order for us to realize our greatest need
is the Lord Jesus Christ. And if I have Him, Everything's
all right. The rest of my life, it's all
right. If they ever say in the South, and I've learned it, it's
all good. If something happens, they'll
just say to me, it's all good, it's all good. In Christ, it's
all good. It's all good. Now, one of the things that I
know that people want in life, and I want in life, is to be
happy. I mean, to be joyful, to have
a real heart, joy, and happiness. Real contentment and this real
happiness can only come from one place, and that's our union
to the Lord Jesus Christ. As the branch is joined to the
vine, so the believer is joined to the Lord Jesus Christ in real
joy, real peace, No happiness flows from Him to us. Apart from
Him, we don't have it. Not real. It's maybe temporary
for a little while. You know, the scripture says
there's pleasure in sin for a season, but oh, how short the seasons
are. They are short. But the pleasures that we have
in Christ are eternal. The joy that a believer has in
Christ, it's eternal. It's a joy the world knows nothing
of. Those who believe not do not
understand what I'm talking about. But you who believe, you understand.
There's a joy in Christ, even in sorrow. Even in sorrow, we
can still have joy. Understanding and knowing that
all things are of God. Whatever I'm going through, it's
of God. God's hand is in it. God's ordained it. For my good
is glory. And that just gives me comfort.
It gives me peace and rest. And I desire, listen, I desire
to have this contentment that comes through being joined to
the Lord Jesus Christ, knowing him by faith, to know him, as
Paul said, and the power of his resurrection, as he said over
here, the power of his resurrection, that's the power of his resurrected
life in me as I live out my life. That's what I wanna know. I wanna
know. You know, when you read this
epistle, And when you read Ephesians, you read Philippians, you read
Colossians, you would not know Paul was writing from prison. He was shackled to a guard 24-7. He was shackled to a guard. And
when he writes these three epistles, you wouldn't know that man was
in prison. He writes and encourages the church. He writes and encourages
believers while he's sitting there in prison. Shackled to
a guard. One writer wrote this, I think
it was John Newton. Now listen, this is a true statement. It's a powerful statement. A
prison, a palace would prove if Jesus would dwell with me
there. A prison, a palace would prove
if Jesus would dwell with me there. You know, John Bunyan
spent 12 years in prison. for preaching the gospel. He
had a wife and he had a daughter that was blind. All he had to
do was repent. That's all he had to do. And
he could go home. They opened the doors and he
could go home. He sat in that dungeon. It's not like the prisons
we have in our day. Some of them are like spas. It
was a dungeon. He sat in a dungeon. for 12 years,
and he would not. And in that time, he sat in that
dungeon. He wrote one of the greatest
pieces of literature throughout history, Pilgrim's Progress.
He wrote that. And he wrote it in that dungeon.
And then he wrote, I got all his works. He wrote the Holy
War, Mansoul, I mean, what the volume that man wrote for 12
years. And that was God's child sitting
in that dungeon. That's God's child. Just like
Lazarus sitting at the rich man's gate, the dog's licking his sores.
Everybody envied the rich man. But when the rich man died, it
says God cast him into hell. When Lazarus died, it said the
angels carried him into heaven, the bosom of Abraham. Now who's
close would you rather be in? This life is short. It's like
you go to the graveyard. There's a date you were born.
There's a date you die. You know that dash? It's your
life. That little dash between those
two days, that's your life. That's how short life is. That's
how important it is to know Christ, because His life is short. Now,
in Philippians chapter four, verses 10 through 13, I'm gonna
settle on verse 11 or 12, but Paul says this, but I rejoice
in the Lord greatly. As I said, he's sitting in prison.
But I rejoice in the Lord greatly, that now at the last, your care
of me hath flourished again. That Philippians sent, some support
to him, wherein you were also careful, but you lacked the opportunity.
And not that I speak in respect of want, I'm not letting you
know this, because I want something. For I have learned. Now, even
for a believer, contentment is a learned behavior. It's a learned
behavior, it is. I have learned in whatsoever
state I am, whatsoever state God has put me in, therewith
to be content. I know both how, in verse 12,
I know both how to be of age, and I know how to abound. I know
that. Everywhere and in all things,
I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry. both to abound
and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ
which strengthens me. I can sit here in this jail enjoying
the Lord through Christ who strengthens me. Now, what is contentment? What is real contentment? Well,
the dictionary says this. It's a tranquil happiness. It's
to be satisfied. It's to be adequately happy. Now this is not something we
are naturally born with because we are not naturally content. You can see that by the hustle
and bustle of life. People constantly getting in
debt. One reason, they're not content. Not content, that's
one thing that drives them, personal debt. This is not something we're
naturally born with and even spiritually we have to learn,
we have to learn this behavior. And we learn this behavior through
trials, losses, and crosses. That's how we learn. That's how
God teaches us. We learn the real value of things. We learn
the real value of our relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ. You
know, Job was one of the richest men of the East in that day.
And God took everything from him, his 10 children, All of
his wealth. His wife even turned on him.
He said, my wife, my breath is strange to my wife. His friends,
three friends, his so-called three friends, they turned on
him. Everybody turned on him. He lost his health. He sat and
he said, my worms have covered my body. Maggots were on his
body. He scraped himself. And all that time, all that time,
he never cursed God. He never turned on God. And at
the end of it, you know what he said? By the hearing of the
ear, I heard thee. But now, mine eye seeth thee. And I pour myself and sackcloth
and ashes. He had a right view of God and
a right view of himself. And he had that for the rest
of his life. I tell you what, he had 10 children after that.
I bet you he was a better father after that than he was before
that. Not that he wasn't a good one before that, but after that,
He put the real value on what's valuable. And that was his relationship
with Almighty God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Because he's the God. He's the God of heaven and earth.
He's the God of creation. In the beginning, God said, let
there be light. Do you know who that is? That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
Because it says over Colossians, all things were created by him
for him. And without him was not anything made that's made.
He's the creator. And Paul learned this. Listen,
Paul learned that all that he owned, apart from Christ, ended
up as nothing but dung. That's a powerful word. We know what that is. He learned
that what he had lost, what he had lost was nothing compared
to what he had gained in Christ. What I have in Christ can't be
compared. It just can't be compared. Look
over in 2 Corinthians chapter five. The Lord puts his children sometimes
through some very difficult trials. I mean, some very hard trials.
But look at this. In 2 Corinthians chapter four,
I mean, Paul says this. Let me start at verse 15. For
all things are for your sakes. All things. You know, everything's
happening today, tomorrow, everything's ever happened since the fall.
You know, it's been for your sakes. You know, everything working
together throughout this whole universe, for your sakes. The
sake of His children, everything's working for your sakes. All things
are for your sakes. That the abundant grace might
through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God,
for which cause we faint not. But though our hour of man perishing
at what you see, you look at me. I'm getting older. I'm getting older. And you know
what? I'm all right with that. I wouldn't
go back and be young for nothing. I wouldn't be young. Someone
said to me one time, a little kid was running across the front
of the church, and they said, wouldn't you like to have that
energy? I said, not in his body. It'd be a train wreck. You'd
have to give me a new body to go with that. That'd be a train
wreck. I wouldn't go. I'm happy where I'm at. I'm 68 years closer to being
home than I was. I wouldn't go back at all. I
wouldn't change a thing. For which cause we faint not,
but though our outward man perisheth, he's dying, yet the inward man
is renewed day by day. He's eternal. It never grows
old. For our light afflictions, and that's something Paul calls
what he's gone through, a light affliction. He said he was stoned,
he was whipped, he was, he's on shipwreck twice. I mean, he
calls them light afflictions. Which is but for a moment, it's
just for a moment. There's an end to every trial.
I mean, you may have to die first, but there's an end to it. But
there's an end to every trial. But it's only for a moment, and
it works for us a far more exceeding and eternal way to the glory.
It's working for us. That heartache is working for
you. That disappointment is working for you. It's conforming you
to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what God's doing.
He's molding you and making you to be like His Son. And that's what we want. We want
to be conformed to him. I want to be conformed to his love.
He's not talking about we all look alike, we're clones, like
we all have the same girl beard. No, he's talking about in spirit.
I want to love like he loved. I want to be kind as he was kind.
Long-suffering as he was long-suffering. He's long-suffering with me.
I want to be long-suffering with others. While we look not at
the things which are seen, we don't live upon The world, that's
not our life. If it is, you're in a mess. You'll
be on medication the rest of your life if this world is your
life, if that's all you see. We look not at the things which
are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things
which are seen are temporal. This world's temporal. This minute
right here, whatever I'm saying right now, it's history. It's gone. It's gone. It's passing that fast. As fast
as you hear my words speak, that's as fast as time's going by. That's
how fast it's going. These things are temporal, but
the things which are not seen are eternal. What I have, what
you have as believers, it's eternal. I'm gonna walk on a new earth
in a little while. with the rest of God's family. You know, I
have, I said this in a conference, I have a big, people always ask
me, how big is your family? Innumerable. Millions upon millions
and millions of brothers and sisters. You know, in heaven,
I don't have first, second, third cousins. They're all brothers
and sisters. They're not cousins, they're brothers and sisters.
And they're literally, you're my family. You said it's like
family, you are my family. All us who believe we're family,
we're brothers and sisters, the rest of this family, all these
other fleshly stuff is gonna be dissolved. It'll be dissolved. But our relationship in Christ
will never be dissolved, it'll only grow. It's all gonna grow. Now this lesson, this state of
contentment in Christ starts with the new birth. Christ said to Nicodemus, you
must be born again. You must be born again. You gotta
have a different heart to see this. You gotta have a different
heart. That old heart that we're born
with will not be content. Can't be. But that new heart,
given in the new birth, that right spirit, a heart that can
be content with the Lord Jesus Christ, his person and his word.
You see, real contentment starts with him. It's my contentment
with him. He's my Lord. He's my master. He brings these things upon me.
He has ordained my life. I'm content with that. Discontentment
comes from having no contentment in Christ. That's where it comes
from. I'm content with His providence. I'm content with where God's
put me. I'm content living in North Carolina. If I would have moved anywhere
in the world, if Ben Vigna would have packed up and moved, it
wouldn't have been South. It wouldn't have been. I probably
went to Maine or someplace like that. I'm more of a pole person,
climbing. But I just, I wouldn't have done
that. But God put me there, and I'm happy there. We are happy
there. I'm happy doing the Lord's will.
I'm just a pilgrim. That's all you are. We're just
a pilgrim on a journey. Don't drive the stakes too deep. Don't hold something too tight,
as Henry used to say, to make the Lord break your fingers trying
to get it out of your hand. Hold things loosely in this life.
Don't live loosely, but hold it loosely. Hold it loosely. When it's time to let it go,
let it go. It's trying to keep these things that tears us up.
That's what it is. But now, Paul said this. Paul
said, I have learned. See, I said this is learned.
This is what a believer learns. I'm speaking here to those who
believe. And those who don't, I pray God grant faith to you. But Paul learned, first of all,
that he was a sinner. Have you learned that? Have you
learned what Job said? I implore myself. The apostle Paul said this, after
God saved him, Paul said this, oh wretched man that I am. He
would have choked to death and went to hell before you got that
out of him. He put him on his face in the
dust. And Paul said, speak, Lord. He called him Lord for the first
time. He called him everything else before that, but he called
him Lord that time. Speak, Lord. Paul learned he was a sinner.
You know, there's a lot of people who will confess that. They'll
say, well, I know I'm not perfect, but I'm not this. You go to the
local jail, you can't find a sinner in the local jail. You can't
find them in prison. They all got an excuse. A sinner
is one who has no excuse for their conduct. I, that's me. I sin because I am sin. What
I do is because of what I am. And there's sin in everything
I do. And the only one who can put that sin away is the Lord
Jesus Christ, by his blood and his righteousness. Him taking
my place underneath God's law He died over the penalty of law
that belonged to me. When I look at Calvary, I see
me dying on that cross. Me being put to death on that
cross. In my substitute, in my representative, I died. God in human flesh. Now listen,
only God could do this. I can't transfer my sin to someone
else. My son can't transfer his sin
to me. the penalty of his own law in
my place, satisfy his own justice, rise again, go back to heaven,
sit there, intercede for me, and in time, bring me to glory
spotless. Spotless, without blame. I'm
blamable. I have forgotten a lot of things
I've done. A lot of things I've done I haven't forgotten, but
you know what? God has. He said he has cast
all our sins behind his back. They're gone. They're gone. The
law can't condemn me. The law condemned me at Calvary.
And now it's over with. It would be double jeopardy for
God to send me to hell. It would be double jeopardy.
God would have to ungod himself in order to damn me if Christ
died for me. That's the truth. But Paul said,
I learned. Now listen. What did Paul learn? in need of mercy, in need of
grace. He learned also how to let things go. You know one of
the reasons we're so miserable because we can't let it go? He
learned how to let it go. Remember this, the Lord, Job
said, the Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the
name of the Lord. He gives and he takes as it seems
wise to do. Do you know anyone wiser to do
that than God? I don't. He learned how not to
complain when the comforts of life were taken away. He's sitting
in prison and he's not complaining at all. The scripture says he
makes rich. God makes rich and he makes poor. He makes poor. He learned how
to be poor and not be ashamed. And he learned how not to be
ashamed of his poor brother. Some years ago, I lost my job
at National Mines. I lost my job at National Mines
when I went out of business. And for the first time in my
life, I had to stand in the unemployment line. And I was embarrassed. I felt embarrassed. And the Lord
gave me this scripture. He gave me this scripture. He
was not ashamed to call them brethren. I thought, what in
the world would I feel ashamed if he's not ashamed to call me
his brother? A wretch like me? Why should I be ashamed standing
in this line? I belong in this line. The Lord was not ashamed
to stand in line with me. Get in line with me. Not ashamed
to call his brethren. And then Paul learned how not
to be jealous when others were blessed. You know, there is a
right jealousy. God said he's a jealous God.
There's a right jealousy and there's a wrong jealousy. To
be jealous when someone else is blessed is the wrong jealous. That's wrong. Paul learned how
not to do that. He rejoiced when God blessed
those churches. When he had nothing and they
were being made rich, he was rejoicing. You rejoice when you're,
you know, I'll tell you this. I was a parent, I'm a parent.
I have two sons. I 10,000 times rather they do
better than me than I do. My grandchildren, I hope they
do 10,000 times better than I did. That would make me happy. I wouldn't
be jealous of them. And that's why we ought to be
the whole family of God. I'm not jealous of someone's
talents. I'd like to sing like Mike, but
that ain't going to happen. It ain't going to happen. I can
play the radio, but I can't play a piano. Someone said I can't
do that without static. And then he learned, listen,
he learned that all things are of God. And that's enough, isn't
it? Is that all right? All things
are of God. And that's enough. That's what
it says over 2 Corinthians 5, 18. And all things are of God.
There used to be a TV program on years ago called Father Knows
Best. Our Father Knows Best. And then he learned, listen,
he learned that all that he needed was provided in Christ. You know,
it's written over in Colossians 2, I think it's verse 10, ye
are complete in him. I'm complete, I need no more.
I need nothing more than Christ. God has provided in Christ all
that I need. The scripture says in 1 Corinthians
1.30 that he is made unto us, Christ is made unto us wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. He is these things to me. I don't
need any more than what He's provided. Only a fool would try
to add that which is perfect or complete. Oh, let me add this
to it. No, it's complete. You uncomplete it when you try
to add something to it. That's what you do. When Christ is enough, when His
blood and righteousness are enough, when His care of when he's enough. When we can
say, now listen, when we can say, I have enough, even when
I don't have much. I have enough, even when I don't
have much. Paul learned this, listen, he
said, I have learned, and this is what he learned, and he said,
I have also learned how to abound. This is probably the hardest
lesson to learn. Paul learned how to be full and
not crave more. He learned how to be full and
not want more. The word of God says that man is like the ocean. It's never full. It's never full. You look at all the floods we
have. You know the ocean doesn't rise in it. It doesn't rise in
it. It's never full. That's exactly
what a human flesh is, human nature. It's never full. You
think you can get this to satisfy you? You get it. It wears off. It wears off a few days, a few
weeks, a few months. And it's gone, we're never full. Then he learned, listen, how
to be thankful when he was full, and when he's poor. It doesn't
matter which day he's in. You know, when a believer is
truly sinning on Christ, it doesn't matter if I'm rich or poor. It
doesn't matter if I have a lot today or nothing today. It doesn't
change, because my Lord doesn't change. He's the same yesterday,
today, and forever. He doesn't change. And then he learned that
the Lord will provide. It'll be all right, the Lord
will provide. And then he learned how to use. Now here, this is
important. He learned how to use and not
be used of the things he possessed. There's a real difference. He
learned how to use these things and not be used of these things. And then he learned that life
is more than what we own. Luke 15, and the Lord said unto
them, take heed and beware of covetousness, for a man's life
consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesses. You know, what really defines
me and what defines you is your character, not your possessions.
It's your character. And God's children have a certain
character, poor in spirit. gracious, kind, long-suffering. Let's turn over to Matthew. or else he will hold to the one
and despise the other. You cannot serve God on famine.
You can't serve God on money, is what he's saying. You can't
run after both. The secret to success is over in verse 33. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God, His righteousness, and all these things of the attitude.
That's the secret to success. Therefore, I say to you, take
no thought for your life. And that means anxious thought.
That doesn't mean to live carelessly and don't think about it. It's
anxious thought. What you shall eat or what you
shall drink, nor yet for your body, what you gonna put on.
Is not life more than this? Is life not more than eating
and drinking? What am I gonna wear today? Where
am I gonna live? Is not. Christ's eternal life
is to know God and Jesus Christ when he ascended. It doesn't
matter if I live in a shack or a palace. Life is to know God. It's not just animals. Animals just eat. That's what
they do. They just get up in the morning
or wake up in the morning. They just go through the night. All they're concerned with is
what? Finding food. That's it. Finding food. You're
not an animal. We were made. We're the creation
of God. And for a believer, a believer's
life is Christ. It's not, you know, Christ's
not, Jesus Christ's not a part of my life. He is my life. He
is my life. And life is more than just what
am I gonna eat, drink, and wear. Life is to know God. The eat,
drink, and wear part, he'll take care of it. Like he said, he
does the birds. They fly out, they toil, not,
they do their labor, but, and God feeds them. Now, who were Paul's teachers?
I'm gonna wind this down. Who were his teachers? He said,
I've learned, I've been instructed, that's what it says, I'm instructed.
Well, first of all, the Holy Spirit, he's the first and foremost
in teaching. The Lord said this, he will take
the things of mine and show them to you. This book is a closed
book apart from the Holy Spirit of God. You can't understand
it at all. Jesus Christ is called the key
of knowledge. If you have him, this book will
open up, because this is a him book. It's all about him. From
Genesis to Revelation. You miss Christ, you miss life.
Miss Christ, you miss it all. He's the reason I live, breathe,
and exist. The earth is the Lord's, the
fullness of heaven, the day he dwelled therein. The Holy Spirit is our teacher. And the Word of God is the instruction
book. And Christ is the object of the
instruction. He said, take my yoga on you
and learn of me. He's both teacher and lesson.
I'm not trying to learn theology, I'm trying to learn Christ. I
want to learn Christ. I'm not trying to learn doctrine,
I'm trying to learn Christ. You know, it says you write doctrine
through Christ. You don't write Christ through
right doctrine. You arrive at him first as a sinner in need
of mercy. And now you're teachable. You're
not teachable. My pastor said one time, he said,
you can't counsel lost people. There's nothing to work with.
There's nothing to put it in. You don't put new wine into old
wineskins. He said they'll burst. You put
new wine in, it's a new wineskin. That's that new heart, that new
birth. That's what that is. He teaches us out of God's word.
He instructs us. Listen here. Thy word is a lamp. Psalm 119, 105. Thy word is a
lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Without God's word,
you're walking in the dark. You're walking and living and
you're gonna die in the dark. Psalm 119, nine. Wherewithal
shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed thereto according
to thy word because God's word points us to the living word,
the Lord Jesus Christ, who cleanses us by His blood. But you're not
going to find that out walking through the forest. You can go
walk through the forest all day. You're not going to find out
who God is. Now, you can understand something
of the power of God in creation. You can understand something
of the wisdom of God in creation when you look at the variety
of creation. You cannot know anything of the mercy and grace
of God. You can't know nothing of the
real holiness and justice of God except in Jesus Christ. And
that comes through the light of his word. Then he teaches
us by his promises as they are fulfilled. As he fulfills his promises to
us as we go throughout this life. Then he teaches us by grace.
Grace in the heart. You know, the word of God says
that the grace of God teaches us to deny ungodliness. It doesn't
teach us to sin. It doesn't give us a license
to sin. It teaches us to deny ungodliness.
And then through trials and disappointments, we are instructed. We are instructed. I was just thinking of that source
of scripture and Proverbs. I didn't write it down, so I'm
gonna have to do verbatim. But it says discipline is the
way of life. It's the way God corrects us.
It's the way he guides and instructs us. It's through trials and,
Disappointments? You know, I've learned this over
the years as a believer. Anytime I'm disappointed when
something doesn't go my way, I'm disappointed because I'm
not in line with God's will. You get in line with God's will,
and you say it's the Lord's will. God killed Eli's two sons, Hopman
and Phinehas, because of their wickedness. And they came and
told Eli. Eli was the judge at that time. He was a prophet, a prophet at
that time. And they came and told him that.
And he said, this is the Lord, let it do as it pleases Him. And it seems good. He just bowed
to it, bowed to it. And here's a lesson, and I close. The real value Put a real value on things in
light of Christ and eternity. Put a real value on things in
light of Christ and eternity. Without Him, anything and everything
I do becomes meaningless. Last Thursday, I started to bring
this message in Psalm 127. Except the Lord build the house,
they labor and they not build it. except the Lord keep the
city. It does not say unless the Lord
allows you to build the house, unless the Lord approves you
building the house. It says unless he does it. Unless he builds
the house, the labor ends in vain. It ends in vanity. Unless
he keeps the city, the watchman, he says, wakes but in vain. He
wakes but in vain. He stays up all night in vain.
Now, God's a God of means. He uses the watchman. He uses
men and women to build a house and to do, but if God's left
out of it, he's not the builder, it's vain. It's vain. So put a real value on everything
in light of Christ and eternity. You remember Abraham and Lot?
Their hearth was fighting with each other, they got to be so
deep. You know what Abraham said? Now here's what real contentment
is. This is real contentment in Christ. Abraham said, Lot,
he said, lift up your eyes. You can see this over in Genesis
13, eight through 12. He said, lift up your eyes. And
he said, if you just, if you take any place you want, just
take anything you want, and I'll just go to the other direction.
Here's the elder, Abraham. Lot was his nephew. And he said,
Locke, you just, and it says, Locke looked out over the well
watered plains of Jordan. And we know he ended up in Sodom
and Gomorrah. But he looked out over the well watered plains.
He said, I'll take that over there. And Nabor said, you can
have it. You can have it. And after Locke
left, you know what God said to Abraham? He said, Abraham,
you lift up your eyes. You look over all of this. This
is yours. This is yours. All of it. You remember the story
of Mephibosheth? And Ziba, when David had got
ran out of town by accident, and he was on the run. And then,
of course, you know, Mephiboshek was crippled. He couldn't go
to David, unless somebody carried him. He was crippled from birth.
But he was the son of Jonathan. And that covenant between Jonathan
and David, David swore he would take care of Jonathan's house,
just as Christ made that covenant with the Father to take care
of his father's house. Well, when David came back, Ziba
had lied to him. Ziba said, you know, that Mephibosheth
didn't want to come. He lies. When David come back,
he told Mephibosheth and Ziba, he said, you ought to divide
all this spoil, all this stuff that you have, you divide it.
Mephibosheth said, give it all to Ziba. I have the king. He said, Ziba can have it all.
I've got the king. You can have the world. Give
me Christ or else I die. Give me Christ. When Jesus Christ
is enough, then what you have and where you've been placed
is enough. You can be content and happy
and let the world just go on by. Christ is enough. Now if he's not enough, then
nothing else will be. Nothing else will be. When you are finally, really,
truly content with the Lord, having Him, then you'll know
what real contentment is. Whether you have much, whether
you're a bound or whether you're poor, it don't matter. It don't matter. I'm rich. You're looking at a very wealthy
man. Now, you could go bankrupt through
that, but you're looking at a very wealthy man. Because God said,
all things in Christ are yours. The whole kingdom of heaven is
mine. I have durable riches that can't be taken away. They can't rust. Nobody can steal
them. They're in heaven. And that's very real to me. And
I hope the Lord is pleased to make everyone here come to love
Christ. and you'll find what I'm talking
about. You know, it's like, it's like, I'm gonna close this. It's
like Paul said to Agrippa. Agrippa said, almost thou persuades
me to be a Christian. Paul said, I would to God that
you were not almost, but altogether such as I am, except for these
chains. I wish you had the one I have. That's what he said to
Agrippa. I wish you had the one I have. I wish you had what I
have. And I hope the Lord blesses everyone
here