Finding Contentment in God's Provision

Adam and Eve lived in a world far different than ours. We actually, when we talk about the Garden of Eden, we call it a paradise. They had everything that they needed there. They had companionship with each other. They were able to see and walk and talk to God at the same time every day. They had everything to eat that they needed. Everything in this world that they lacked, a perfect paradise. And yet in the middle of all that, they became discontent. Satan had suggested to them that there was really more to life than they already had. He was saying to them, you know, you have almost everything in the world that you need. Almost. What about that one fruit on the tree out there? Can you eat that fruit? And they began to think, no, God has told us we cannot have that. There is one thing in this world that we cannot have. And when they began to think about that, they discovered that there was something that they wanted more than anything in all the world, and it was the fruit on that tree. Paul talks about, in Philippians chapter 4, verse 10, he talks about the desires of human hearts and how difficult and painful they can be to us. Because the human mind and heart desires things that are not necessarily what God wants for us. I rejoice greatly, Philippians chapter 4, verse 10, I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need. I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me the strength. What Paul is describing is the circumstance in which he has found contentment. Adam and Eve were not content. They were discontented. They looked at this one thing, and they thought, you know, if I could have this one thing, my life would be full, complete, and content. And I wouldn't have any other worries in the world or any other desires in the world. And when they had it, it did not bring them the contentment that they really wanted to have. Instead, it brought disaster to them. Because they were greedy, they were not content with what they had. In the book of Romans, Paul is describing for us the circumstances that people find themselves in. He is describing people whose lives are not controlled by God and how dangerous it is whenever we act on our own thoughts and feelings as opposed to the clear, plain instructions God gives us. He is talking about people who live apart from God. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lust. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way, men also abandoned their natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men and received themselves the due penalty of their perversion. Furthermore, since he gave them over to a depraved mind to do what ought not to be done, they have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful. They invent ways of doing evil. They disobey their parents. They are senseless, faithless, heartless, and ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things, but they also approve of those who practice them. Adam and Eve found this to be true. In the middle of all of this, they gave in to their greed, and they deserved death. And death came to them. In the middle of all this long list of different kinds of sins, Paul lists the little word greed. Greed is a desire for things, material things in this world, that we do not have. Adam and Eve experienced that. It wasn't for a world of wealth. It wasn't for fame or for fortune. They just said, there is a fruit that looks good to me, and I want to eat it, and I can't eat it, and I really want to eat it, and I'm going to eat it. And in violation of exactly what God told them, they satisfied their own human desire. Even though it was clearly spelled out by God, this is something you should not do. And so human beings have been caught in this situation of material things attracting them with such power that they're afraid to turn their back on that and open their own hearts to the joy of serving God fully and completely. Greed is a very powerful force in the lives of all people in the world. Paul was talking about this in 1 Timothy, describing for them the situation that many people find themselves in, 1 Timothy chapter 6. Paul was talking about people who had created conflicts among the community, argued, quarreling, fighting. He said they were false teachers because they were teaching things that were not true about Christ. And he didn't say this, but also about himself. He's describing in this event a power that the things of this world hold over the minds of people. If anyone teaches a false doctrine and does not agree to the sound instructions of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teachings, he's conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and arguments that result in envy, quarreling, malicious talk, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of corrupt minds who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain. What Paul is talking about was religious greed. Religious greed that says, I am going to use God to be able to gain the monetary things that I want in the world. There are people in the world who believe that if you give money, you can get God to give you back more money. A man talked to me one time and said that he had been listening to someone on the radio or television somewhere who said, you know, God's going to bless you if you'll send in money, God will give you back more money. Press down, heaped up and overflowing. And so you can have a lot more money if you do it. His business was in deep problems, and so he thought that this was the way he could get out. So he sent in a lot of money, like $10,000, and he didn't get $20,000 back. He thought he'd been swindled by the preacher on the radio or television because he'd quoted scripture to him saying, you give it and God will press it down, heap it up, and it will overflow and you can make more money by giving to God. You see, he was using the religious ideas of the scriptures as a way to manipulate God into giving him money. Well, there were preachers even in the day of Paul who were doing that. They think that godliness is a way and a means to financial gain. You see, dealing with financial things means that we simply let God tell us what we all should do in the financial areas of our life, but it's not a way by which we manipulate God into doing what we want him to do. God makes a promise in his covenant with us, I will provide for you. He doesn't mean by the promises in scriptures that we can get God in a corner and make him give us more money because we have tricked him into doing it. Paul was dealing with the same people, religious people, using religion to get money, to gain material wealth instead of listening to the voice of God and being obedient to him. Now Paul was concerned about the people he was writing to, to help them understand what they were supposed to do in the circumstances of life where material needs were important. But godliness, he said, with contentment is great gain. You see, someone who's involved in the religious side of this to get material gain, they're not interested in the godliness so much as the material gain that they get from it. And so they talk about how many cars they have or how big a house they have or how many planes they might have as a result of their godliness. So that the point is godliness brings wealth. Here he talks about godliness brings contentment in whatever circumstance you find yourself. The miracle of God is not that he brings contentment by heaping money on you. It's that he brings contentment even when you don't have it. That's the miraculous thing that takes place. He says here's what you should remember. For we brought nothing into the world and we can take nothing out of it. What you have in the material world here is disposable. It's like a paper plate. You eat off the paper plate, you throw it away because you know it has limited value to you. Now we might have the finest china in all the world and paid a lot of money for it and we don't throw that away. But in this world, he said, there's not anything that you're going to be able to take with you past death. We brought nothing into this world, no thing, no material thing, and we will take no material thing out with us. So if you've invested your life in trying to gain material things in this world, it has limited value. In God's long perspective of history, when we hold on to our china or our silver or our nice cars and treasure them with all of our heart, soul, strength, and mind, he looks at us like someone you might look at who has paper plates that they treasure. They wash them off and use them over again and they say, look at this plate, it's the most beautiful plate you've ever seen. You'd laugh. God looks at these things we have here and we place so much emphasis on them as if they're ridiculous to him. You had none of this when you started, you will have none of it when it's over. See the value of these things in perspective. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. In other words, what we do need in this world are the basic necessities of life. And that is what we must look at to find contentment. You see, the temptation of greed is to say, I know that I have paradise here, but there is one more apple that I haven't eaten yet. And the more I think about it, the more I want that. The more I know that it's off limits, the more I want it. No one else in the world has one like it, but if I could have one like that, what a great treasure it would be to me. It causes us to look out at the world with discontent. We think about what we don't have and what we want instead of what God has provided for us, the basic necessities of life. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. When you look back at Adam and Eve, they had everything that they needed to have, but when they began to be tempted by this one thing that they did not have, suddenly it became a trap for them. It caused them to do something that God said they shouldn't do. And when you begin to look at the material things around you in the world, God has given you the food and the clothes and a place to stay that you need, and you begin to look at the better things that you could get, the things that are attractive to the world around you, and you begin to figure out how you're going to get them, you can fall into a lot of foolish traps. Your credit card is one of them. I know I can't pay for this today, but I can pay for it down the road somewhere, so I want this so bad I'm going to charge it today, and then I can pay for it, I can take money out of the future of my life and pay for what I've already gotten and worn out. It's a foolish trap for us. It causes us to think that we have succeeded when we've really failed. It causes us to feel joy when we disobeyed what God wants us to do. The trap like this is powerful, it's what Adam and Eve fell into. They listened not to what God said was right and wrong, but they listened to their human desires. And so whenever we have this powerful draw, we fall into temptation when we want material things in this world, and we get foolish because we don't get judgment, and we have desires that are dangerous to us, and then they plunge us into ruin. So much of the material conflict that we have today is a result of simply not making good financial choices. Most of us don't ask God what we should do with our money. We think it's our money, and we have a right to spend it like we want. The Bible has a whole different view of finances. Every dollar that we have belongs to God. Every piece of ground on which our home sits belongs to God. Everything our houses are made out of belong to God. He's allowed us to use them, shared them with us. He wants us to be stewards of those things, so that we should have the right to ask the owner of the property in which we live if somebody came and said, I'm going to let you live in my house. And you moved into the house, and you begin to look around and say, I think I'll tear out that wall. You might stop and say, you know, I ought to ask the owner if he thinks I should tear out that wall. If he says no, then maybe I should rethink this and learn to be satisfied with the room the size it is. Isn't that what you'd normally do if the house belonged to another person? The way God sees the world is everything in the world belongs to him. And every part of it that he allows us to have control over is really his. And what he wants us to do is to live with contentment in what he gives us, and to use the things that he's given us the way he tells us is the right way, instead of being attracted by the advertising that tells us that our life is going to be so much better if we'll drive that car that the pretty girl is standing by, like we would get that too if we bought the car, and so we become attracted, appealed, and we make the decision. Whether it's good or bad, it doesn't make any difference, really, although oftentimes our decisions made like that are bad ones. But it really doesn't matter whether it's that way. For what God says to people who belong to him, you fail to recognize my authority in your life. Greed drives us to want to be able to have things that we do not have, and think that we need, we can't have contentment until we find it. A lot of the shopping that we do in this world is not because we need it, but because we're trying to satisfy some desire for fulfillment inside ourselves. The world doesn't worry about that, because if they can get us to buy things we don't need, it doesn't matter. We throw them away in the garbage, or garage sale, or wherever else we can get rid of them, so it makes room for more of them. That's the way the world wants us to live. God has a whole different view of this. Some people, he said, are caught up in this desire, for the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. And when he uses the word money, he's really not talking about dollar bills or coins as they had in the biblical days, but he's talking about material things. Our passion for possession of material things, he says, is the root, like a plant, planted in the ground. And that root down there makes the plant what it is. This love of things in the world creates a desire for all kinds of evil things that take place. When you look at the Ten Commandments, the love for things in this world oftentimes is at the root of murder. The love for things in this world is oftentimes at the root of lying. The things in this world and our love for them are the basis of thefts. Three of the Ten Commandments, three of them focus on God, so there's seven of the rest of them. Three of those others that relate to us have to do with the issue of things, material things. Handling these things correctly will stop you from wanting to steal. Handling material things correctly will cause you, help you in circumstances where you might lie. These things are the root of passion for material things where we ought instead to have passion for the spiritual things. Some people eager for money have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. I often visit people and they talk about they would like to be in church, they want to be in church, but their work is so demanding that they have to sleep in on Sunday. I know all of us sometimes do have to work, I have to work on Sunday myself. It's a curse that all, many of us have, but it doesn't mean that we don't have time to give ourselves in faithfulness and service to God. God wants us to place our emphasis on the spiritual things that provide for eternity. We didn't have anything when we came, we won't have anything when we leave. What we invest in eternity is ultimately essential for our lives, both here and in the world to come. God is concerned that we not mix ourselves up so that the things that we have passions for are contrary to the will of God. Paul writing in Philippians was describing the very thing that we are faced with. I greatly rejoice in the Lord, chapter 4 Philippians verse 10. He's writing to this church where there was some difficulty and trial. People were fighting with each other and quarreling with each other. He said, I greatly, I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at the last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I'm not saying this because I'm in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. Paul had learned something very critical. That contentment inside of yourself has nothing to do with the material circumstances in which you find yourself. I know what it is, he said, to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I've been poor and I've been wealthy. I know both sides of that. I've been able to be in both circumstances. But I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation. Whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want, I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Paul is describing for us the death of greed. How is it killed? Everyone around you will have it, and you will have it at some time in your own life. A passion for material things in the world from which you gain a sense of value, importance, and significance. Advertising in the TV and the papers and magazines really tries to emphasize that, saying that if you buy this product, it will give you a standing in the community. If you buy this product, you will feel great about yourself. If you buy these products, you will find yourself raised up, significant, and important, and fulfilled. All of those things are what God promises by his Holy Spirit. The world of materialism wants us to trade the promises of God for the promises of Satan. God promises us, I will guide you, I will provide for you, I will protect you, and I will make you a great influence in the world. All the advertising of materialism is asking us to trade what God promises to give us, what we can get if we give our lives to him, to what we can get if we buy the products that are advertised. You see, Adam and Eve in the garden simply said to God, we do not believe that you're going to give us contentment. The only way we think we can be really content here is to have this one thing. And so it happens to us. We think that the purchase of things in this world are going to bring us happiness. We think they're going to make people think more of us. We think they're going to give us a sense of self-esteem and significance and value, when in reality, they don't. For a few moments, when you purchase these things that you've treasured for so long, you feel good, but then, in a little while, it's forgotten. And in six months, a year, two years, you want to throw it away, because it no longer even has any meaning to you. But what's left is that you have spent the money that God intended maybe for something else in your life or his kingdom on something that has no earthly or eternal value. What God is asking us to do as followers of his is not be caught in this deathly trap of depending on material things for our sense of significance or value, comfort, or contentment. What he wants us to do is to find contentment in his promise to us. I've promised you that I'm going to give you a sense of significance. I've adopted you into my family and have made you my child. I want you to think of yourself as important because of what I've done for you. I've created a new life in you, and my Holy Spirit is coming to reside in your life. And the people around you without that Spirit do not have it. You are my child, the child of God. I've adopted you in my family. Why do you need anything else in the world to make you seem to feel significant? Why? Well, the world tells us that we will be more significant if we purchase the items that are advertised for us. And to choose that temporary significance, to value it over the permanent, eternal significance of being adopted as a child of God is an insult to God. It is loving material things that is serving them more than it is serving God. What God asks us to do is to live in this world so that the people around us would understand without any shadow of a doubt that following God, the Kingdom of God, is more significant than anything in all the world. He wants us to be able, whenever we're struggling with choices to make like this, to stop and say, God, what do you want me to do with what you've given me? And to take his guidance about what we're to do. God does not think that having money is evil. God's not concerned about the amount of money that you own or you have in your possession or your control. He gave David a lot of money. He's given people throughout history who are followers a lot of money. What he doesn't want is for you to use that money to make yourself feel like you're significant or important, but to use it as he directs you. God does not mind us having money. What he doesn't want is for us to use it to cause ourselves to feel, now we're important, and if I lost it, I would be nothing. And what he wants us to do with the money is to do what he tells us. One of the things we've tried hard in our church to do, and I've tried really hard to do this too, to lead you to do it, is not to ask you to give money on anything, for any purpose, in any other way, than simply to do it in obedience to God. We don't try to set a goal for how much money we want for the mission offerings we have, because that's not important to us. If God wanted to put ten million dollars in our Annie Armstrong offering, he could change our account just like that. But what he really wants for us to do is to say to God, here's what I have. You've given it to me. I will be content to give whatever you ask me for the purpose that's important to you. Even tithing legalistically, because you're afraid that God is going to take your money away from you, is not adequate. What he wants you to do is to say, I want you to recognize that the things you have, I've given them to you. And I want you to use them as I direct you. And when I tell you I want you to give me this much, I want you to do it joyously, recognizing that it's all mine. That's what he wants. He doesn't want us to hold on to it, so that we grieve whenever God asks us to give something. He wants us to see his generosity, and not love the money, but love the Lord. He's conscious of our needs, and he's conscious of the power of our desires. So what he says is, I will give you everything you need. Trust me. Live within that boundary, and I will be your Lord, and I will provide. In that boundary, Satan will come to you and tell you, your life would be so much better if you did this, or had that, or bought that. Don't listen. Stop and say, Lord, what do you want me to do? Paul said, I've learned whatever circumstance I find myself, even if I had a lot of money, I found contentment. And if I had nothing, I found contentment. Even when I was hungry, I found contentment. For my contentment came from the confidence that my God would take care of me, and that everything I have needed, he has provided. And everything I will need, he will provide. Let's pray. All of this comes whenever you recognize that God is the ruler of the universe, the Lord of heaven and earth, everything that there is. He wants you to recognize that. He wants you to believe that everything in this world is his. Even you belong to him, even though you may not have surrendered yourself to his authority. He wants you to say, Lord, I acknowledge that you made me, and I want you to direct and control my life. That's what God wants. He wants you to recognize that your life and everything about you really is under his control, but you just don't acknowledge it. He wants you to acknowledge it. Then read in the Bible about how he wants you to live, and begin to put it in practice. I want you to do an experiment this week. Every time you sit down to write a check or buy something, I want you to just say in your mind, God, is this acceptable to you? Practice that for a week. Being a follower of Christ means we say to God, everything in my life is yours. I want to invite you today, if you've never made that promise to God, to do it. It's the secret to a life of contentment. I want to open the doors of the church to say, if you've made that promise to God, and you want to become a part of the fellowship here at this church, in the moment when we have the pianist to play, if there's some response you want to make to God, either give your life to him, to renew your commitment to him, or to become a part of the fellowship of this church, God will tell you what he wants you to do. I'll be at the front. Carl's going to be here. We can pray with you about whatever it is that you know God wants you to do. The Lord is here. He's telling you what to do. It will come when you do it. You have committed yourself to live your life in obedience to Christ in the past, is that right? You've asked God to direct you and guide your life, and you have been immersed to show that your old life has passed away and your new life has started again, is that right? You've come saying that you feel like today that you'd like to become a part of the fellowship of this church, is that what you're asking? Dan Scott, you grew up in the church in St. John, didn't you? So you now feel that God wants you to officially be a part of it, and you've been playing the guitar for us a long time and a lot of activities, but just never have taken a step actually to join. We have several in our church that have been here a long, long time and have been very faithful but have not really taken that step. So we want to ask you to greet Dan as you leave today. We'll ask you to not play your guitar, and we're glad to have you. We think that a person who loves God should read the Bible, should pray regularly, should be faithful in church, and serve God in whatever way he asks for, and is that the promise you've made to God? We believe that in this congregation we should accept you as a fellow follower of Christ and help you to learn the Bible more, to be more faithful and obedient to Him, and give you opportunities for service. That's our promise to you. When you come to the church, you'll always find the Bible is taught here and preached here, and whenever there's needs in your life, we hope that we're a place where you can find people who are helping God meet those needs. I want to ask if you can receive Dan and promise to be a person who will live your life and an example the way God wants you to, and when you see him outside the church, you'll say hello to him, and whenever needs arise in his life, as best you can, you'll be willing to help him. And raise your hand, please, if you make that promise to him. We make the promise. Welcome to our family. Okay. Walt, did you come up here a minute? Do I have a seat? You guys, these guys are on our leadership on our building committee. Walt came and talked to me the other day, and he said, I know that you guys are going to start in a building project, and he said, I'd like to be someone that says, okay, I want to be able to help with this and present a check to the church for the building project. We don't know yet how much it's going to cost. We don't know yet all the things we're going to do. He said he wanted to do this to show his commitment to help us in this project. We thank you very much. God bless you for that. Guys, you give it to one of these guys. The other two will watch him to make sure he didn't steal it, so we'll be all safe. We have one with the check and two guards. Would you stand, please, for a moment of prayer? I want to thank you, Walt, for your interest in helping our church with its needs, and we ask God to bless you because of your faithfulness to that. So Lord, this morning we give thanks to you for someone who has come to us saying, I know this is the place God wants me, to be a part of the family of God serving here. We welcome Dan and ask that you would use him as an influence in all the community and that you would change his life continually. We're thankful for Walt and his generosity, his desire to help provide for the resources that we need. We trust that you've told him this is what he's to do. We receive it as a gift from you through him, and we ask that you would bless him for his faithfulness and obedience to do what you've asked him. Show us to live our lives this way, not holding on to the things that we have as if they were ours, but doing with them what you tell us you want. In the name of Christ, we ask this. Amen. God bless you, brother. Thank you. For closing, we're going to sing the chorus to the last song we sang, The Who Can Satisfy My Soul. There is a fountain, who is the king, victorious warrior, and Lord of everything. My rock, my shelter, my very own, blessed Redeemer, who reigns upon the throne.