True Teaching Leads to True Contentment

0:43Teach and urge these things. If anyone teaches a doctrine different and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.

1:27But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be Content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. This is God's Word. You may be seated. This Friday is known around the country, probably around the world, as Black Friday, right? This past Friday. The day after Thanksgiving, when the Christmas season or really the shopping season begins in this country. I don't know where you were. I was enjoying Texas high school football at ATT Stadium and got to watch two games and was enjoying that. And my mind did not drift to any department store or to Amazon.com or any other thing. One of the reputations that Black Friday has earned for itself is this time period where people lose their mind. You guys have seen on YouTube or even on the news video of people breaking into Target during at the end of Thanksgiving, on Thanksgiving evening, or early in the morning on that following Friday. And to watch People just to watch people hurt one another to do things they would never do if it wasn't for the pressure of the circumstances that were upon them there.

3:17And what is the pressure of those circumstances? It is the desire to get something before someone else does, right? That I have to have this before this person has this. I have to get this for me, or I have to get this for my family, for my kids, for my parents, for whoever it may be, for my spouse. I have to have this, and I will inflict pain upon someone who tries to get it instead of me. I cannot think of anything that is more anti-gospel, by the way, than what is displayed on Black Friday.

3:56And really, what it all comes down to is a lack of contentment. It's a lack of contentment. I don't have enough, or my loved ones don't have enough, and I will do whatever it takes. I will inflict whatever kind of pain. I will become so profoundly self-centered and selfish that I will do things that I would never do otherwise. And what happens is, as we say that, that phrase sort of comes out, I can't believe that these people are doing this. And yet, really, what it is, is it's an unleashing of the flesh.

4:31That those deep-seated desires are there, and they are simply exposed by the circumstances that they're in. Right? You know, as Paul is working through this letter to Timothy, this pastor in Ephesus, he's going to, for a third time, address the issue of false teaching. The third time in this letter that he's going to address this, and he's going to tie it into the idea of Christian contentment. In other words, that when false teaching invades the church, one of the things that you're going to see is a lack of contentment by God's people with the things of God, a lack of contentment of who God says we are in Christ, and a desire to seek out and search for those things which the world has to offer. And so, in this, with this backdrop of teaching against false teaching, of embracing true biblical teaching, Paul says that the end result is going to be contentment in Christ when true biblical preaching and teaching occurs in the local church. So, I want to invite you to come with me as we examine this text. So, beginning right there in verse 2, or To be, as Cody said, to be is not there, by the way. The be is not there. But to be, we begin with, teach and urge these things. You get this combination that's there. You have the teach, the didactic, the teaching, and then the urging, which is the exhortation. You have teaching and you have preaching there together. That's understood. The preaching, teach and urge these things. Well, what are these things? Well, chapter 4 of, or chapter 5 of 1 Timothy is this exhortation to submit to the teaching of the elders of the church, to essentially live a life of godliness with one another, submitting to true biblical teaching. And so Paul is simply coming back and saying, you need to teach and urge these things that will have its effect in the lives of the people of God, in the body of Christ.

7:02And he ends with this whole idea of masters and servants. That servants, you be subject to your masters, and masters, you treat your servants with respect, all coming from this idea of the gospel being preached. And so Paul says, teach and urge these things that I have just taught. And this is what it should look like in the church. Teach and urge these things. And then in verse 3, he says, if anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, in that verse, Paul is essentially going to give us three marks of true and biblical teaching and preaching.

7:53Look here with me. It's right there in the verse. If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with, first thing, he says, sound, the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ. The first thing is, the first mark of true biblical preaching and teaching is that it has sound doctrine as its nature. Sound doctrine as its nature. That word sound, hygiano, it's where we get the word hygiene. It literally means to be healthy. There should be a healthy teaching. Our church, if the word of God is being preached, if it's being taught, if disciples are being made by the teaching and preaching of God's word, then our church should be healthy.

8:40Our church should be healthy. It's the same word that the Apostle John uses in John chapter 5, verse 6, when he says this, speaking about Jesus and how he heals the paralytic. It says that when Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, Do you want to be healed? That's the word. Do you want to be healthy? We in the body of Christ, as we submit to the preaching of the word of God, we are like the paralytic that comes to life by the work of Jesus. Amen?

9:18These are Jesus' words. So, as the gospel is being preached, as the word is being taught, we will know that it's true biblical teaching and that it's sound. It causes us to desire the best for one another, to think the best about God, to think biblically about who we are and about who God is. It's sound in its nature. The second thing is that it has the scriptures as its source. It has the scriptures as its source. He says, and it does not agree with the sound, talking about false teaching, it doesn't agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ. The words of our Lord Jesus Christ.

10:00In Paul's mind, the words of Jesus and the words of his Bible, the Old Testament, were all the same. It's the word of God. In 2 Timothy 3, the second letter that he writes, 2 Timothy 3, the first part of verse 16, says that all scripture is breathed out by God and that it is profitable for teaching. The word of God is not something that comes from the inventive or creative heart. Of a man, but that it is breathed out, theo nustos, it is breathed out by the Spirit of God. It doesn't come from my heart. It's not just because I think it's a good idea that biblical teaching should happen or that I have some sort of magic words that can bind us together to look like Jesus. No, that only comes from the preaching and the teaching of the Word of God that comes from the Bible. Amen?

11:00And the Bible alone. And the third true mark of biblical preaching and teaching is that it has an aim, and that aim is godliness. Godliness is its aim. Look at the end of verse 3. He says, and the teaching that accords with or agrees with godliness. That word godliness literally means religion or true religion, if you will. I'm not afraid of the word religion. I just want to explain to people what it means. Amen? I want to explain to people what it truly means. It's not some sort of just following after some false piety, some tradition that is out there, that some, whether it's an ecclesiastical order or some sort of ancient belief system, that's not true religion. True religion, true godliness is following after Jesus Christ. According to the scriptures.

12:03True religion. The apostle or the early church leader James in his letter said this in James 1.26, that if anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue, but does deceive his heart, this person's religion is worthless. James is simply saying that if your aim in preaching should be godliness. In other words, there should be an effect to it. That if it's real biblical preaching and teaching, it's not going to just simply be something that we talk about, but it's something that's going to be lived out in the lives of believers. That's the aim of real preaching and teaching that Paul shows us very clearly. If you look at all of the context of 2 Timothy 3.16, as we go back there, 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17, when Paul explains the scriptures and where the scriptures come from, and he explains the purpose of the Word of God, he says, all scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, but he doesn't stop there. It's not simply just to be taught. It's taught for a purpose. It's for reproof. It's for correction. It's for training in righteousness. It has an end in mind that the man of God may be complete. He may be. Be equipped for every good work. True biblical preaching and teaching has an end in mind, and the end in mind is a faithful believer of Jesus Christ who is walking in fellowship within the local body of Christ under the preaching and teaching of biblically called and qualified elders. There's an aim that's in mind. So we don't simply preach and teach just to hear ourselves. Trust me, that is not a good idea. I don't want to just hear myself talk. I don't think that Alan's desire is just to simply have us to listen to him speak, as great as that is.

14:18Glad this is being recorded. But Alan and every other biblically qualified and called elder has an end in mind, and that is for the hearers of the Word of God being preached to look and act and speak and think more like Jesus. That's the goal in mind. Godliness is the goal. So we see these marks of biblical preaching and teaching. In verses 4 and 5, read with me. Now he's going to describe false teachers. This is the third time that he's done this in this text, so this is important. To the Apostle Paul. As a matter of fact, the rejection of false teachers and their preaching is really a main topic.

15:11It's a hot topic within the pastoral epistles. It's a concern to the Apostle Paul. Biblical teaching and preaching is not something that is left to the end. Well, as long as the music's good, amen? Praise the Lord for the music. But we don't sing, and we shouldn't sing what's not true. Amen? Well, as long as skeptics and non-believers just feel welcome, that's important. We don't want this to be a place where we are just rejecting people because they're not members of our church. Of course not. We want to receive everyone into our church body on the Lord's Day. However, the goal in mind is not simply to have people fill the pews.

16:00No, Paul, in Paul's mind, the preaching and the teaching of God's Word is paramount in the worship service of the Lord's Day. There's a reason why we sing up unto that point, and then the proclamation of the word goes forward, and then we sing in response to the proclamation of the word. Paul is encouraging us to reject false teachers. And this is what he has to say. About false teachers. Listen to this. Or read with me in verses 4 and 5. He is puffed up, speaking of the false preacher. He's puffed up with conceit and he understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.

17:05Paul lays out for us in these two verses very clearly, I believe, four unhealthy traits of false teachers. Four unhealthy traits of false teachers. Look with me. First unhealthy trait of a false teacher is something that we can see and we can hear. He is puffed up with conceit. So if the first thing that we see is that false teachers are maniacally conceited. Maniacally conceited. You say, maniacally, buddy, do you know what that means? I do. I do. Crazy. Crazy conceited. Why would you say that? Well, because that's what the word means. Typhuome literally means to be insanely arrogant. Can you imagine that? Insanely arrogant. Arrogant, so puffed up with oneself.

17:54So puffed up with oneself that they lose their mind. They don't see what. Reality clearly. That word, by the way, typhuome, is where we get the word typhoon. Hurricane, right? I mean, we live close to the Gulf Coast, amen. We understand a thing or two about hurricanes. I grew up in Baytown, Texas, on the east side of Houston, on Burnet Bay. I understand hurricanes. I remember being six years old, and Hurricane Alicia going right over my house. And as my mom and dad were sitting there praying, God, please spare us, my brothers and I were just having a party because this was fun. All the lights were out. We were all in my room. We had the candles going. This is great. My parents did not enjoy it. Do you know why they didn't enjoy it? Because this is what's so dangerous about a hurricane or about a typhoon. What's so dangerous about them is that they are unpredictable and they're destructive.

18:50They're unpredictable and destructive. I mean, when you saw Hurricane Harvey beginning to bear down on the Gulf Coast of our sweet state, did you see all of the different computer models of where that Hurricane Harvey was going to hit and land? It was unpredictable. It's unpredictable. And it was obviously destructive. Paul has this in mind, by the way, when he's talking about a false teacher and their arrogance. They're unpredictable. You have no idea what they're going to say next. There's no pattern of doctrine to follow.

19:32And in the end, they are just simply destructive. Paul reminds us of this in 1 Timothy 3.6. You remember a few weeks ago when Alan was preaching about what an elder should look like and the qualifications of an elder. In 1 Timothy 3.6, he says, he must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. You see, the reason why Paul advises that we have someone who has been a believer for a while, someone who has worked and served in the ministry for a while, to be called as an elder is because they have a track record. Amen. They're more predictable. You can see how they fall under the teaching of the scriptures. That's not the case with a recent convert. We just don't have the time. And with a false teacher, it's even worse and it's magnified. They're unpredictable. They're destructive. The second unhealthy trait is that false teachers are spiritually ignorant. He uses the phrase that they understand nothing. They understand nothing. That doesn't mean that they don't sound smart. As a matter of fact, they probably do. It's probably why we would listen even to false teachers. But that phrase. To understand nothing, and the Greek has a little bit more depth to it that really helps us to understand what Paul is getting at. Epistemide, the idea of understanding, is to have or gain insight with a focus upon the process. In other words, that a biblical teacher is really, really concerned with how he's making disciples. Does that make sense? He wants to make sure that the disciples that he's making is according to the word of God. That he's making disciples of Jesus and not disciples of himself. That's why he's concerned with the process. The false teacher is not. The ignorance of the false teacher is that they want the knowledge, but they don't want the insight.

21:48They want the results, but they don't want the process. They want the converts, but they don't want the disciples. They want this idea of feeling special, of being patted on the back. But when it comes to the real work of shepherding within the church, which means that you have to spend time with the sheep, which means that you have to spend time laying your life down for the sheep, which means that you have to smell like sheep. You have to look like sheep because you're spending your time with the people. The false teacher says, no, I'm above that. And they understand nothing. They don't know what's going on with the life of the people in their church.

22:30That's not their desire. They don't want to understand the process of what it means to become a disciple. They don't want to know those things. They simply want to be one who is looked at, that has all the answers. Well, there were a group of people in Jesus' time that had all the answers, that, quote, knew the scriptures. They were the Pharisees. And yet, Jesus had his harshest condemnation for these people who were supposed to be not spiritually ignorant, but were supposed to be the spiritual leaders of Israel. But they weren't. And Jesus had healthy condemnation for them. In John 5, verses 44 through 47, Jesus, in speaking to the Pharisees, says this: He says, How can you believe when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? You see, there, they want glory from each other. False teachers want the praise of men, but not the praise and the glory that belongs to the Lord. Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you.

23:50He says, Moses. Moses, on whom you have set your hope. To the first-century Jew, I mean, to be. Even be compared with Moses. No. That was their hero. He was the bringer of the law at Sinai. Amen. The bringer of the covenant to God's people. And look what Jesus says. The one who accuses you is your hero. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words? He says, oh, you're, yeah, you could quote Moses left and right, but you're spiritually ignorant because you did not trust and set your hope and trust on what God has provided in the Messiah, in me, in Jesus that has come. Because if you would have, then you would have seen that all of the Old Testament temple sacrifices, that all of the Old Testament law, that all of the Old Covenant was pointing to the new covenant. It was pointing to Jesus. But they were spiritually ignorant. And Jesus calls them out on that.

25:12False teachers, false teachers. They will teach and teach things that sound great, that will ring in your ears. You'll want to put it on a t-shirt or a coffee mug, but it in the end will not put you in. Point to the finished work of Christ on the cross. And that is spiritual ignorance. The third unhealthy trait. False teachers are habitually combative. Look at what Paul says. Not only do they understand nothing, it says that he has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words. They're habitually combative. They are looking for a fight. That phrase literally means to have a morbid desire. It means to be sick. They're sick in the head. They're always desiring. They can't stop. They want to argue and fight all the time. They're habitually combative. If you say anything against their teaching, if you rise up at all and question the source of their preaching and teaching, automatically within themselves, the hair begins to stand up on the back of their neck and they want to fight, fight with words, fight with procedure.

26:38And they can't see anything else. In Donald Guthrie's great commentary on the pastoral epistles, he makes this statement about this verse. And talking about these false teachers, he says, controversies and arguments have impaired their mental health to such a degree that they have become diseased. This is why, whenever we confront false teachers, Paul instructs us to go first to the Word of God and then not to entertain the arguments. We don't have a debate with false teachers. Why? Because we're continually preaching the Word of God.

27:21Because we have the Word of God as our source, as our authority. And that when false teaching and the twisting of the scriptures come up, we are to be taught. We are to know the Word of God. We are growing as disciples to the point that when we hear false teaching from this pulpit or from anywhere else, we ought to be able to identify it. Amen? We ought to be able to identify it. The problem is when you are in churches where the Word of God is not preached, where the whims of the day are preached, where whatever is taught is simply to get people's itching ears to come into the doors and to fill the pews. And when that happens and the Word of God is not preached or taught, you have a susceptible, vulnerable group of people that are ripe and ready to fall under false teaching. That is why we preach the Word of God.

28:24Last trait: false teachers produce bad fruit. Look here at what Paul says. In the end of verse 5, he says that they are in constant friction among people. Or, excuse me, in verse 4, he says he has an unhealthy craving for controversy and quarrels about words. And look at this, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. Last thing that we see there, false teachers produce bad fruit. False teachers produce bad fruit. I mean, Jesus said it so clearly. He said, look at this tree. If it produces good fruit, an apple tree produces apples. Amen. Orange trees produce oranges. Amen. My kids imagine that there's a candy tree out there that produces candy, right? It's going to produce the good stuff. It's going to produce what it is. False teachers will produce themselves. By the way, this is a great lesson for all of us. We all reproduce ourselves. All of us do. We all do. Well, I'm not, you know, I'm not in this to, you know, I'm not trying to build a following or a gathering bow. I just, I like to come and hear the, man, you are producing yourself in whoever it is that you're closest to.

29:53You are. If you're an angry man, who's just angry all the time, don't be shocked when, man, my kids yell. lot. Where do they get that from? I don't know. Man, my kids seem to be worried about things all the time. Do you worry about things all the time? Do you talk about that all the time? We produce ourselves in those that are closest to us all the time. False teachers produce bad fruit. Paul has this laundry list of this terrible fruit that comes from false teaching. Donald Guthrie, again, in commentating on this text, says that when reason is morally blinded, all correctives to unworthy behavior are banished and the mind becomes destitute of the truth. There's no truth in their teaching anymore. It's not rooted in the authority of God's word. Contrast the production of bad fruit with false teachers to the production of good fruit that's supposed to come from the lives of every believer who is in the Spirit. Galatians 5, 22 and 23. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.

31:10That should be the fruit not only of every believer, but that should be the fruit of every church body, every ecclesiastical body that is under the good biblical preaching and teaching of the Word of God. Healthy fruit. My prayer for new life is that we're producing healthy fruit. Amen? That is benefiting our community, that is building the kingdom of God and pointing people to the finished work of Jesus Christ. He's going to make a transition here in verse 6. Verse 6 is really key. It's kind of the hinge of this entire text. As Paul has explained, that good teaching looks like this, and bad teaching looks like this. It should drive people, good teaching should drive people to be content in Christ. Whereas false teaching will drive people away from contentment into a need and a desire for something outside of what Christ has given us. And that's idolatry. Look in verse 6. Verse 6 is the key. But godliness with contentment is great gain. Godliness, true religion, a life that looks like Jesus, a life that produces the fruit of the Spirit with contentment is great gain. Paul has said that these false teachers, they are out seeking sordid gain. They're out seeking for themselves. They will use you or anyone else that there is in their path. To get what they want. They're users. Whereas shepherds are ones who lay their lives down. Amen. The contrast is clear. In verse 6, he says, Those godliness with contentment is great gain. And then in verses 7 and 8, he's going to explain what he means by that, right? He's going to, Paul's such a great teacher. He's a much better teacher than me or probably any one of us. But he's such a great teacher. And in verse 7 and 8, he's going to explain what true contentment with godliness looks like. And he's going to say that there's two views we should have on this: that there is a future view and a present view. In other words, that our understanding of what's going to happen in the future should affect the way we are content with what God has given us and who we are in Christ here. And also, that our present circumstances, as we see them in light of God's Word, should have an effect on how we are content in godliness. In verse 7, he says, For we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. That's the future view. There's an eschatological tinge to this, because if we think about Job 1:21, Job says, as God has taken away from him.

34:21As God has taken away from him, if you haven't hear Mark Stone's teaching, by the way, I'm preaching through the book of Job, you need to go back and listen to it. Because it was awesome. Very convicting, but it was awesome. And one of the great things about that text is Job is brought to this place where he really understands what contentment means. Because God takes away from him everything, He takes away His wealth, He takes away His power, He takes away His servants, He takes away even His family. In Job's reaction in 1:21, and he said, Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Verse 7: For we brought nothing into the world, and we can't take anything out of the world. Paul has this eschatological view in mind that when it comes down to it, and our life here on earth is over, nothing that we have attained when it comes to material wealth, nothing can we bring with us. And here's the reason why. Verse 8: Because we don't need anything. Amen.

35:38That if you are in Christ, you have no need for anything, not just in heaven, but even here on earth. Look at verse 8. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. He boils it down that, man, if you've got food and clothing, If God takes care of your basic needs, then the truth is you can find contentment in that. Jesus makes the same statement in Luke chapter 12, verses 22 through 31. And he said to his disciples, Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life and what you will eat, nor about your body and what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens, they neither sow nor reap. They have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. How much more value are you than the birds? And which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to his span of life? And then you are not able to do as small a thing as that. Why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown in the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith? And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.

37:28Now, Jesus and the apostle Paul. Paul are not saying don't work. They're definitely not saying that. As a matter of fact, Paul says if they don't work, talking about people within the church, by the way, people we're supposed to love, family, baby. He says they don't work, they don't eat. And to not take care of your family, he says, is to be worse than an unbeliever, right? So that's not what he's saying. What he's talking about, the context, is contentment. God takes care of his own.

38:02We know that in light of what will happen, and we know that in light of our present circumstances, that we are to be content with what God has given us. He has clothed us, he has fed us so much so that God even gives us the impetus. He gives us the mission to go on the basis of the gospel to help to clothe and feed those that don't have. God has given to us, and we are to go and to give to those that do not have.

38:43God takes care of us. Isn't that good to know, church? Isn't that good to know that He takes care of us? And then, verses 9 and 10, Paul's going to end with a warning in this text. It's going to end with a warning in this text. Essentially, Showing us that if we don't submit to true biblical teaching and preaching and we lose our contentment with what God has done for us in Christ, that we will now be free, and this is not a good freedom. We will be untethered from the Word of God and go seeking after things to try and fill ourselves up and to try to draw contentment from things that God never intended for us to be content with, namely the world. Look at verses 9 and 10. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, and into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. Do you see sort of this process that happens here that He lays out for us? That we'll fall into temptation and into a snare or a trap? Remember that it begins with temptation. That's good to know. It's good to know that sin in our life does not really begin with God, it begins with us. It begins with what already is desired within our flesh. This is why, by the way, we must submit and listen to and read and study and know the scriptures. Because when I read and submit to the scriptures, then I know when I am to be tempted, I know what God is tempted to be tempted. Says is not for me.

40:33And I know that my flesh and what it desires is not what's best. James, he sort of puts it this way. In James chapter 1, he also sees a progression in sin that's very similar to what Paul lays out for us. In James 1, 13 to 15, he says, Let no one say when he is tempted, well, I'm being tempted by God. For God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured away, when he is enticed by his own desire. And then desire, when it has conceived birth, conceived birth, gives birth to sin. And sin, when it's fully grown, brings forth death. Spiritual death. Separation from the Lord. We see this here very clearly in verse 9. This idea of this progression in sin. Those who desire to be rich, who chase after the things, who pursue the things that God says, you don't need to pursue. Be content in what I have given you.

41:46That they pursue those things, that the rich fall into temptation, into a snare, a trap, and into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin, into despair. Destruction. Verse 10 says, For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. Paul is simply speaking, by the way, out of experience. This is something that he has seen in the church. He says, This will happen. I have seen this pattern, Timothy. Don't let this happen in the church in Ephesus. Don't let this happen there. Be wary of it. Look for it. And if it can happen in this church in Ephesus, it can happen at New Life Baptist Church. It absolutely can. All we need to do is to depart from the preaching and teaching of the Word of God. And we have opened ourselves up to be carried away to discontentment and the pursuit of sordid gain.

43:00Jesus spells it out for us very simply in Matthew 6:24 when he says that no one can serve two masters. For he will either hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. Now, this is not a sermon about money, because I don't think this is a text about money. This is a text about contentment. This is a text that checks our desire and checks where we are falling under authority.

43:41However, we would be remiss to not speak of money for just a moment, as this is where Paul ends in verse 10. Paul gets to the end and says one of the best examples of this within the church is the pursuit of money. Remember that he is speaking to believers. And so Paul assumes that there will be this struggle for the chase and the pursuit of money. And we would do well not only to listen to the words of Paul, but also to listen to Jesus. That when it comes down to money, it just comes down to who we serve. Who do we serve? Is money viewed as a tool for the kingdom of God, for the propagation of the gospel, so that people will come to faith in Christ, so that the word of God will go forth and reach the places that it has not reached? Or is money instead being a tool, is money the master that ends up using us as tools?

44:54Now, I can't answer that for anybody within this church. I can only answer it for myself. And it's something that I have to look hard at. And I know what you're thinking. Yeah, but Bo, I'm poor. I grew up in wherever Texas or wherever America. And I just grew up poor. And we just never had money. And so that was just never a concern. And the truth of the matter is that if you live in the United States, you are in the upper top echelon of wealth in the world.

45:28The way we talk about poverty sometimes locally is really disheartening, especially when you've been overseas. Now, there are people that are in even our own community that struggle with putting food on the table. And we need to be sensitive to that. But at the same time, we also need to confess and admit that it's really oftentimes, most of the times for us, it's not a lack of money. It's being foolish with the money that God gives us.

46:02And it's not submitting to the Word of God and to the biblical teaching and preaching and exposition of the Word of God, which can help us to pursue the Master, Jesus Christ. To remember Jesus since Matthew 6:33, to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Then these things will be added unto you. I heard a story this past week about a man. It was a rich man. He was an industrialist. That's a word we don't use very often anymore. That sounds like something from the 1930s and 40s, a rich industrialist who built all of the whatever industry. But a rich industrialist was walking along a marina.

46:57And he saw a fisherman that was sitting next to his boat. And as he's sitting next to his boat, he's not fishing. He's just sitting. And the rich man walks by and he says, I don't understand, what are you doing? And he says, well, I've caught enough fish. I'm good. I'm enjoying it. He says, yeah, why don't you catch more fish? He says, well, I don't really need more fish. And the industrialist says, well, dude, if you will go out and just go get some more fish, dude, you can get a bigger boat. And not only that, if you get a bigger boat, you can make some more money and you can hire some more people. And then you can get more boats, right? And then you can go out and you can get more fish. And then you can get more fish and you can sell that fish and you can get better nets for those boats that you bought. And then you can go out and you can get more fish because you've got better nets. And then you can. Come back and you can get better boats, right? And you can build on that, and you can get more boats with better nets and more people. And he says, Isn't that great? That's what you should do, man. Get up, let's go.

48:14And then says, The fisherman says, Well, why would I do that? Didn't you hear? So you can get more. And he says, Okay, but then what would I do after I have all those things? And the rich man says, Well, then you could sit down and just enjoy your life. And the fisherman says, What do you think I've been doing? That is the danger of false teaching. False teaching will lead us to the pursuit of things that are outside of what God has provided for us in the person of Jesus. We are united together in this church family because of what Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross. That when he died for our sins, he made for himself a people where there was not a people.

49:16And he brought to himself through his Holy Spirit those that would place their faith and their trust in what Jesus did on the cross for their sins. And he made for himself a people. And this is who we need. And this is who we have. God has given that to you. God has given that to you. He's given you the gift of his son and the gift of his people. Let us be content in that, church. Let me pray for us.

49:51Father, you are so good. You are better to us than what we deserve. And Father, you have shown us in your word, God, your desire for us not only to flourish spiritually and to flourish within the body of Christ, but Lord, you've also shown how you desire for us, Lord, to submit under biblical teaching and preaching. And that without biblical teaching and preaching, that Lord, we won't really know true contentment in godliness. And instead, Lord, we will waver and we'll chase after things, God.

50:40We'll chase after things that are outside of what you have provided for us in the person of your Son Jesus. Oh, Lord, would you help us, God? Help us to focus upon the cross. Help us to be. Be content in who we are in you. That even as we sin, Lord, we would remember who we are in Christ and that we would readily bring our sin before you in confession and in true repentance, turning to you and who we are in Jesus and what you've made us in Christ.

51:27Help us to be content in you in Christ's name. Amen.