Preacher: Jeremy Herbert
Theme: Contentment
Text: Philippians 4, 1 Timothy 6
Notes:
- Focus on godliness
- “godliness with contentment is great gain”
- Deuteronomy 8:18, “the Lord your God…it is he who gives you power to get wealth”
- God is both the source and the object of our joy and contentment
- Godly contentment doesn’t preclude wise and holy ambition–it simply precludes making wealth the source or object of our happiness
- You can’t take it with you, but you can send it ahead
- 1 Timothy 6:7, “we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.”
- Luke 16:9, “make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth,”
- Learn to live without so that we can learn to live with
- 1 Timothy 6:8, “if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.”
- We learn to focus on spiritual joy when we are distracted by things
- “The soul that is only content with things will never be content”
- We must watch our desires
- We must avoid distraction from present reality
- We must avoid attempting to fill soul emptiness with temporal wealth
- We must avoid seeking status in temporal wealth
- Craving wealth always ends badly
- 1 Timothy 6:9, “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.”
- Jeremiah Burroughs, ‘The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment’, having much is more dangerous than having little, because you can afford harmful temptations
- When you cling tightly to things it hurts more when they are taken away
- Wealth tempts us to be prideful
- Wealth tempts us to oppress others
- Micah 2:1-2
- Wealth tempts us to trust ourselves
- Hosea 13:6, “but when they had grazed, they became full, they were filled, and their heart was lifted up; therefore they forgot me.”
- Contentment results in generosity
- 2 Corinthians 9
- Matthew 6:19-27
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
