SERMON OUTLINE

Contentment        1 Timothy 6.6-12

Introduction

-v5, False teachers supposed that religion was a means to financial gain.

-v6, Godliness actually IS a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment.

Contentment

-Means self-sufficiency, no need of anything, satisfied.

-We have gained riches in salvation in Christ. Ephesians 2.7

-We can experience great gain now in our Christian life if we walk in contentment.

-Two truths that can help us live in contentment

   1) v 7,8 We take nothing with us when we leave. Life is

     brief so make it count for eternity. Be content

     with food, clothing and shelter. Beware the

     voice of the world that appeals to the flesh. Ask

    God for His perspective on reality.

  2) v 9,10 The world lives in discontent because it seeks

     contentment in riches. “Want” a firm resolve to

     be rich. Temptation-Trap-Plunge. The love of

     money destroys contentment. Be motivated by

     love for God not love for money.

Conclusion

1) Reality. Get God’s perspective on reality

2) Resolve. Pursue eternal values not the world’s values

3) Receive. Receive what God has for you. Don’t have

     your hands filled with the things of this world.

4) Rest. In God’s Goodness and Grace. Be content.

SERMON NOTES

Contentment                         1 Timothy 6.6-12

-Paul is writing to Timothy, giving him instructions, and encouraging him as he pastors the church in Ephesus. In the last part of this letter (our chapter 6) Paul warns Timothy about those who will not submit to his teaching. Paul writes in verse 4-5 about the person who opposes Biblical teaching that leads to godliness. “He is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.” If you want to know what is in a man’s heart and mind, put the mirror of Biblical teaching before him and see what is reflected back. The disciple of Christ will repent if needed and obey the truth presented, humbly rejoicing in God His Savior. But those who oppose God will react negatively and even violently to the Word of God.

-One of the ideas that these false teachers supposed was that “religion was a means to financial gain”. Their religious practice and proclamation had a “for profit” motive. We find much “religion for sale and profit” today in TV evangelists selling miracles and the promise of wealth, the commercial marketing of books, toys, games, T shirts, jewelry, concerts, DVD’s, CD’s, and all sorts of trivia. These false teachers were prophets of religion-for-profit. They promoted religion for their own profit and appealed to the flesh in others to promote religion as a means for their financial gain as well.

-In describing these false teachers in verse 5, Paul uses the word “godliness” in the sense of religion and not as a description of the true Christian who seeks to be godly, to be like God, in character and actions, as in verse 6.

-In verses 6 to 10, Paul counters the idea of the false teachers who practice and promote religion as a means to financial gain by teaching the believers the Biblical truth of contentment in the Christian life.

-The first word in Verse 6 presents a deliberately strong contrast to verse 5. The NASB captures the sense of this contrast by translating verse 6 as, “But godliness actually is a means of great gain, when accompanied by contentment.” The false teachers teach that religion is a means to financial gain. Paul says that true godliness DOES lead to great gain, not because it leads to financial gain, but when it is accompanied by contentment.

-“Contentment” is our English translation for the Greek word “self-sufficiency”. Self-sufficiency means a satisfied condition. No more aid or support is needed. This is a sufficiency that does not seek anything else. To express this satisfied, self-sufficiency that requires nothing more, we use our English word contentment. For the Christian this sufficiency is not found in self or in our circumstances but in union with Christ. Paul writes in Philippians 4.11-13, “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 to 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.” I hope you noticed how Paul mentions being in need, hungry, and living in want. Contentment does not mean having all we want and need but is satisfaction in God in the circumstances God gives us and allows us to be in.

–When we find salvation in Christ we gain God’s forgiveness, God’s peace, God’s Spirit within our life, and the promise of eternal life. Those are gains worth more than the riches of Bill Gates, and the prestige of being President Obama. In His Grace, God has given us incredible riches and highest position in Christ, riches and position we cannot yet appreciate because we just cannot grasp their magnitude. Ephesians 2.7 says, “that in the ages to come God will show us the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus”. With our new ability to understand God’s grace we will worship God for eternity for His surpassing riches to us in Jesus Christ.

-God has given us surpassing riches in our salvation in Christ. We can experience those great riches in Christ on this earth and even more so as we learn to walk daily in contentment. Paul seeks to help Christians live in contentment by pointing out two truths.

1) In verse 7 Paul states the obvious, “We brought nothing into the world, and we can bring nothing out of it.” All of us were born into this world naked and empty handed. What we now have was given to us or was earned by us. WE brought nothing with us. When we die we can bring nothing to the next world with us. You can pack your coffin with gold, or diplomas, or your favorite snack food and it will all rot in the ground with your body. Your pile of possessions at home, the stuff you have in your garage or basement, and your bank account must all be left behind. Not only must you leave everything behind, but the dash between your date of birth and your date of death is very short. Life is brief and we come into life with nothing and we leave empty handed. Don’t waste your time working for possessions that you will only leave behind. Living for possessions does not bring contentment.

-In the light of this reality, Paul says in verse 8, we are to be content with our daily bread and clothing. The Greek word for clothing means covering material and can be extended to physical shelter as well. So if you have something to eat, clothes to wear, and a place to stay you have all that God has promised you and you don’t need anything else to be content.

-Contentment lies in understanding the reality that life is short, that we cannot take our possessions with us, and that food and clothing is all that God has promised us for this life and is all that we need.

-What erodes our contentment is the voice of this world which appeals to our flesh and our desires and says, “you need that brand name clothing, you need those fancy toys, you need that sexy new car, you need an exotic holiday, you need the fad of the hour for your kids or for yourself”. The voice of the world calls us to keep up the image, get a reputation, make a material impression, keep up with the Jones’. The voice of the world desires to rob you of the contentment God desires for you. You can chase the world or you can be content in God. The choice is yours.

-The next time you watch a television commercial ask yourself, “is this ad promoting anything that will lead to contentment with God?” “What is this ad telling me will make me content?” “Will this product/service really make me content?” More than likely this ad is seeking to stir up your greed, and lust, vanity and pride and will disturb your contentment in Christ.

-We need to ask God for His perspective on reality because the world’s perspective on reality is distorted by sin, and our own perspective on reality can easily be distorted by our sin and by the world around us. What kind of food and how much food do I really need to be content? What kind of clothes and how much housing lines up with God’s reality for my life? When you answer those questions in submission to the will of God you will find complete satisfaction in God’s provision and great contentment. Your life will be filled with thanksgiving and gratitude to God for the simplest blessings in life.

2) In verses 9-10 Paul tells us how the world lives in discontent because it thinks that being rich leads to contentment. Seeking to be rich leads to all kinds of temptations, foolish and harmful desires, and leads to ruin and destruction. The love of money leads to all kinds of evil. Even believers who desire to get rich, and who are not content with food and clothing, can wander from their faith in Christ and bring great grief upon their lives.

-The Greek word for “want” in verse 9 should be understood as a firm resolve. “Want” is an energetic, reasoned, intention, to get rich. We have pictured in this verse the will fixed on the goal to get rich and engaging the resources needed to accomplish that goal.

-The picture continues with three nouns, temptation-trap-plunge. The desire to be rich leads to temptation. Falling into temptation traps the person determined to be rich like a wild animal entangled with the ropes of foolish and harmful desires. The trap then plunges them into ruin and destruction. The desire to be rich, in the end, drags a person down to the bottom of the ocean of ruin and destruction.

-The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. The love of money is the destroyer of contentment which can be of great gain to the godly. Even the believer can fall under the spell of the desire to be rich and the love of money. For believers as well the end is great grief. Part of our present discontent may be that we are still living under the effects of our past pursuit of contentment in money or other things. God can help us to be content today even as we clean up the mess of our past pursuits of contentment. Cleanup may take awhile

-We are to be motivated by love for God, and we are to desire God’s way for us, not the love of money. We should be content with food and clothing as we live with God’s perspective on the things of this world. When we accept and submit to God’s Goodness, God’s Sovereignty, and God’s Will over our life we will learn to be content with very little because we will have God.

-I will close with four statements that I pray will help all of us find contentment and greater enjoyment in our relationship with Jesus Christ.

1) Reality. Do not let the world tell you how you should live your life, and the values you should live by, and what will make you content. Seek God’s perspective on reality, God’s plan for contentment, and what God wants you to energetically seek after in this life. Those will bring you contentment.

2) Resolve. Always pursue eternal values over the world’s values. Resolving to live for eternal values will make you content. Living for the things of this world will lead to emptiness and possibly disaster.

3) Receive. Contentment is not to be found in material things and riches. Contentment is found in a relationship with God through Christ and His daily provision of food and clothing. Open your hands and receive what God has for you and do not fill your hands with the things of this world. If you hands are filled with the things of this world you will not grasp the things God wants to give you.

4) Rest. Do not seek to be rich. If God makes you rich in your daily activities of life then God will also guide you in using those riches for His Glory. Accept who you are in Christ God and what God has given you, and you will be content. Rest in God’s Goodness, God’s Grace, and God’s daily provision for you. Rest in your relationship with God and you will rest in contentment.

-To be a Christian and to live in contentment in your relationship with God today is of great gain. Contentment fills this life with blessing as we anticipate the full and eternal contentment when we arrive in the presence of God.