Covetousness Versus Contentment

[00:00:00] This audio sermon is provided by AnabaptistSermons.com and may be freely copied and distributed. You may not sell or edit this sermon. Our prayer is that you would be blessed by this ministry. Covetousness is idolatry. Covetousness is one aspect that is the negative and there are other synonyms of covetousness. But then there is the positive, which is contentment. [00:00:31] And I'd like to consider these with you, and I'd just like to look at a number of scriptures with you. As I turn to in my Thompson Chain Reference Bible, one of the things that they had with content and discontent, these are similar subjects now, but with discontent, they had a whole section on murmuring. And I just thought it was interesting to notice what the Bible has to say about murmuring. And I suppose we are aware that many times when the Bible talks about murmuring, it talks about the children of Israel. [00:01:08] The thing that kind of caught my attention as I looked at these, and I'd like to just look at a number of scripture references. And if you want to turn to them, you can. I will be moving rather rapidly. In Exodus chapter 14, in verse 11, the people said this to Moses. And they said unto Moses, Because there are no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? Wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? [00:01:40] A murmuring spirit. It doesn't say that they, it just gives their complaint there. In chapter 15, verses 24 and the first part of 25, it says, And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? They were at a place where there was no water. And he cried unto the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. They had water, I'm sorry, the water was bitter, the waters of Merah in this case. But they murmured against Moses, and the Lord showed him a tree, [00:02:11] And the whole congregation of the children of Israel The people murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. [00:02:46] The children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt when we sat by the flesh pots and when we did eat bread to the full. For ye have brought us forth into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger. The people were not knowing where they were going to turn, and so they murmured against Moses. In Exodus chapter 17, we have a further commentary along the same vein. [00:03:29] I am going to turn to this, I am going to read it in its entirety. I jotted down part of it, I didn't jot down all of it. Chapter 17 also, verse 2. Wherefore the people did chide with Moses and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? Wherefore do ye tempt the Lord? And the people thirsted therefore water. And the people murmured against Moses and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst? [00:04:01] And then Moses cried to the Lord and you know what happened there. They smote the rock and God brought forth water here. As you read this, it seems as though this happened in fairly quick succession because you can sit there, you can read one chapter, you can read the next and the next and it seems as though the children were doing a lot of murmuring, a lot of complaining. I suppose if you and I had been with them, we might have had some questions ourselves. [00:04:33] I don't know how I would have responded. I don't know how you would have responded. But that was their response. May we say it's a natural response. But it is not the response that God would have us make. As God looks at people and places a stamp of approval on people, It is interesting to note what he does, what he looks at. And sometimes it is people that look at people. Moses' father-in-law came into the wilderness there. [00:05:08] He came and I think he brought Moses' wife and children there to him at this point. And then he had some words of wisdom. He noticed how the people were coming to Moses. And he said, he told Moses, Moses, you're going to wear yourself out and even you're not going to be effective for the people. And I thought it was interesting who he said to choose as people to help him judge or rule. In verse 21 of chapter 18 it says, Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, that's the first requirement, then the second one is men of truth, and the third one is hating covetousness, and place such over them. [00:05:57] Hating covetousness or loving truth, it is very much the same. But we are to hate covetousness is what I see there. In Exodus chapter 20 verse 17, you are familiar with the last of the Ten Commandments where they were told that they shall not covet, it says, thy neighbor's wife, thy neighbor's house, and then he finishes it, anything that's the neighbor. Don't covet anything that is thy neighbor's. [00:06:29] So, we are forbidden to covet. The Bible says it's as idolatry, or it is idolatry, I think is what it says. Now, looking at how we shall live, Proverbs chapter 15, verses 16 and 17, gives us a little bit of a clue how we should be, how we should live. In verse 16 it says this, [00:07:00] Better is little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble therewith. And then in verse 17 he elaborates just a little bit more. He says, Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a stalled ox and hatred therewith. Now, what does he mean, a stalled ox? One that can't move? One that's... No. I think if we understand what he is saying, an ox in the stall is what he is saying. [00:07:31] In other words, this person is a person that's prepared for a feast. The Bible talks about killing the fatted calf. I think that's exactly what we're seeing here. But he said it's better to just have a meager dinner than to have abundance if the fear of the Lord is not there. If hatred is there is what he says in the last one. And then in the first one, trouble therewith. In the first verse here, contentment is better than covetousness, even if it's just a little bit that we are contended with. [00:08:10] In Philippians chapter 4, verse 11, Paul gave his personal testimony where he said, Not that I speak in respect of want, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content. Maybe you can say that. You should be able to. I should be able to say that. I think it's wise to take into consideration Acts chapter 16 when we read what Paul said. Paul said there he was he was commending the Philippians, as I recall, for the fact that they minister to his need. [00:08:45] But then he came through with verse with this verse and said, not that I speak in respect of want. If we would turn to Acts chapter 16, we can get the idea, we get an idea of what it means when Paul said, I have learned to be content in all circumstances. If you remember what happened, it's the account of where they met with Lydia down by the river. [00:09:18] Was this Philippi as well? I think it was. I didn't even, I didn't look at this beforehand, but here you have these brethren, Paul and Silas, cast in prison, but that's not all that happened to them. Before they were cast in prison, what happened to them? They were whipped. Just an ordinary whip, right? No, it was not an ordinary whip. They were probably, well, you read that the jailer took them from the jail and washed their stripes. [00:09:51] They were bleeding. They were in bed in a situation that was not, they did not feel good. What did they do in prison? There are two things that I remember that they did. They prayed and they sang. That's right. Well, I'm not sure how they responded to their injuries besides the fact that they prayed and they sang. But it is interesting to notice how God responded to their singing, to their giving praise to Him. [00:10:26] God spoke, not in an audible voice, but He shook things up there so that they knew that God was in this place. And I remember one time when I was confronted with the question, I didn't have the answer to my shame. He said, the man told me, where in the Bible does it say that we shall be saved? Well, I wasn't sure what to tell him, but believe me, I went home and looked. And if you look here, you find that the jailer brought, took them into his house in verse 33. [00:11:02] and he washed their stripes but before that happened in verse 30 it says he brought them out and said Sirs, what must I do to be saved? There it is. It's right there in scripture and I should have been ready. Now you're ready. If you are asked that question Then just tell somebody to go and find Paul and Silas with the Philippian jailer and just ask them what was it that the Philippian jailer asked. [00:11:42] He knew what he needed. He needed to be saved. And I believe that that Philippian jailer found contentment as well. Now, in 1 Timothy chapter 6, verse 6 and verse 8, Paul wrote, But godliness with contentment is great gain, and having food and raiment, verse 8, and having food and raiment, let us be therewith content. I wonder who of us was short food. [00:12:16] If you didn't eat this morning, was it because you didn't have food to eat? Did you have clothes to wear this morning? I know these are times when it's not always easy, but God has provided for our needs and I trust that he will continue to do so. One thing that is a blessing to me in seeing is that I see God's people working together more than when times are good. It is good for me to hear people praying for one another that we might find work and that we might be able to find our needs met. [00:12:56] But to be content is great gain, Paul said. In Colossians chapter 3 verse 5, he says this in the King James Version, Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry There is the phrase that I was quoting earlier [00:13:26] The NIV says this I looked at that this morning, or it was last night, and I wondered, mortify your members What are our members that we are supposed to kill? The NIV says this, Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature. And I think that helps me so that I understand what it is that he is saying. Our old nature, that is what we are to put to death. [00:13:57] Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature, sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry. Their covetousness is called greed, the opposite of that which we want to emulate this morning, contentment. In the Amplified it says this, so kill, and then in parenthesis it says deaden, deprive of power, the evil desire lurking in your members, [00:14:29] those animal impulses and all that is earthly in you that is employed in sin. sexual vice, impurity, sensual appetites, unholy desires, and all greed and covetousness for that is idolatry. The deifying of self and other created things instead of God. And I just thought that helped me to understand what God is trying to communicate to us in that passage of scripture. Mortify, put those things to death is what he is saying. [00:15:05] What does it take for a person to really become content? I talked to some of you already, and I mentioned it this morning here, that a week ago we were with the chorus. And I believe that doing what we did last weekend could help us to know what to be grateful for. I don't know if it's open for anybody to go with the chorus or not, but it has been made open to a number of us. [00:15:40] There is a term that I thought of that helps me to be content, and we didn't sing it here this morning, but there is a song by the title of Count Your Blessings. And I think that counting our blessings is one thing that helps me to be content. The psalm goes on and says that we should name them one by one. And I don't know how you find that, but that helps me to be content. [00:16:15] And yet, I don't think we really know. We have so much that I don't think we really understand what it is that we have. This morning, sometimes we are concerned about things, we talk about standards and sometimes we chafe about the fact that we have certain requirements in the wearing of our clothing. No, we want to do what's right, but we fuss about some small details. [00:16:47] I'd just like for you to attend a service in prison and look at the way those men are dressed. I'll tell you what, there's not a lot of variety in their dress. There's basically one color and white that I saw. Maybe there was one color besides the drab brown that the prisoners wore. In one case, in one prison, it was green, and in one other prison, in the women's prison, they did not wear uniforms, as I recall. [00:17:20] But if we're really serious about having your eyes opened, I challenge you to make that a part of your life, to visit people behind bars. Brother John talked to us about the fact that later this month it's either going to be Daniel or my turn to go into Michigan City Prison and I find that enjoyable I find that good to go in there and relate to those people [00:17:52] I don't know whether the prisoners chafe at what they have to wear or not I suspect it might not do a whole lot of good Maybe you chafe at the vehicle that you're driving. Sometimes I do. I shouldn't, but sometimes I do. I'll talk about that a little bit more a little bit later, perhaps. But, you know, maybe I chafe at the limitations that I have. Maybe it's because of what we ask as a church, or maybe it's just because of my bank account. [00:18:25] But, you know, the prisoners don't really, they don't have to worry about that. They walk to where they go. And if there's any transportation beyond that needed, it's provided for them. They don't have to worry about that. But, you know, we were in a facility, I think it was on Saturday, that housed, if I'm not mistaken, 2,630 men. We had a, the chapel was fairly full there that morning. They had about a hundred and, between a hundred and a hundred and twenty, I think they told us, that they had in chapel. [00:19:01] And you wonder, well, why don't they have more people? I think they limit the number of people that can be there for security reasons, if I'm not mistaken. But do I appreciate the opportunity or do I chafe? Am I content with what God has given me? If I'm not content, I should visit some of these people. And there is a scriptural mandate for visiting those people, by the way. I'd like to look at that a little bit later. Do I appreciate the opportunity that I had this morning of coming to service? [00:19:36] Is that a blessing to me the way it ought to be? I told you that they had about 100 to 120 men. I think that group would have been larger if they would have opened it up. That all could have come if they would have opened it to everybody. And I'm not finding fault with that at all. Maybe I have questions like, I wish my family were different. You know, my dad, or my mom, or my spouse, or my siblings. And that may be true. [00:20:09] But do I see how blessed I am in the family that I do have? I'd like to just tell you what happened with us in the juvenile, the female juvenile center. I'm not sure what the exact name is of the place where we were the last place we visited last Sunday. They always open it for people to pray with the prisoners, for the people from the chorus. If it's a women's prison, it's the sisters that pray. [00:20:41] If it's a men's prison, the men pray with the men. Or they open it, it's not forced, it's voluntary. If the prisoners wanted to have somebody pray with them, they did. One young girl came to Virgil, Liz, last Sunday, and she said, she came on behalf of a friend. She said, I'd like for you to come and pray with my friend. And this is what this friend said after Liz went over. This girl said, I'm four and a half hours from home. In four and a half years, I have not had one visitor. [00:21:13] I recognize that the fact remains that we don't know. I did not confirm the truth of that. But if indeed that is true, can we see what blessings we have? That is the way, there are some people that live like that. It's not just the people who are behind bars, who have things to cope with. I have a good friend that I grew up with. In fact, I suppose at one point I would have said he was my best friend. [00:21:48] and just in this past year they have been going through some, he and his wife have been going through some very difficult circumstances and we met with them, we went out to eat with them one time when they were in this area but it wasn't from this man and his wife that I found out, this man's wife has one sibling, one sister Somebody else, a close person that is close to this man, told me that that sister, whom I know well, will cross the street to avoid speaking to her own blood sister. [00:22:28] That's what some people have to cope with. Do we know what it is that we have, the blessings that we have to count? On Saturday, this was a bright spot in my being with the chorus. On Saturday morning at the, no, it was on Sunday, I'm sorry. On Sunday after the program, I went down and prayed with several men. I think it was Rick that said this. [00:23:01] He did, oftentimes there are requests that come and they tell you a little bit. It gives you a little bit of a window into the person's life. But this person just said this. He said, in this facility, there is a real spirit of negativism. And I just like prayer so that I can keep my courage up. He said, I am a Christian, but I just want to be faithful. And I was blessed by that request. you know sometimes people have said if you want to get to become wealthy visit a third world country [00:23:43] and if you have ever done so you know why they said that people that have the same their bank account is just same when they come back or maybe it's less because they spent money to go there and But somehow people become a whole lot wealthier when they visit a country where people have just the very, very basic things to live with. But we sense how rich we really are. [00:24:16] But how does this influence or how does this affect you and me? Right where the rubber meets the road. How should I live then? Let me just tell you one thing that I face. Some of you know our old blue car that somehow doesn't quite give up the ghost. It just kind of continues to putter along. I have said sometimes that it would be kind of nice if it would give up the ghost. [00:24:49] But is that contentment? Or should I be glad that I have something to drive or something to lend out? I'll admit the thing frustrated me when somebody else was using it recently and on several different occasions gave them problems. We got it back home and have not had a dead battery since. It's just simply, it seems as though it's just cantankerous. [00:25:19] But I think, I maintain that I should be grateful and as long as I keep that car, if I can put it to good use, I think I should do so. But we are tempted sometimes, even without the dead battery or the car letting us down, to just simply say, and there is a right time for buying a new car. I'm not going to tell you when you should buy a car. But the thing that I am saying is there is something like being contented with what we have. [00:25:58] And would to God that we would learn how to be contented with what we have and not just simply say, okay, I'm tired of the car, the clothes, whatever it is, and I'm going to get something different now. And we're not going to have to do with that old bomb, if you want to call it. That's a term I learned from my children. I probably shouldn't use that. It's probably slang. But the question that I think we do well to ask ourselves is, [00:26:32] do I need it or is it a want? To be able to distinguish between our needs and our wants is a gift that we really do well to cultivate. And I'm not going to come to you now and say that you should do differently. Well, I say I'm not going to come to you unless the situation calls for that. But the frame of mind, the way I accept the things that God allows to come my way [00:27:07] says something about the kind of person that I am. And to be able to be grateful with a little bit is a virtue, the Bible tells me. We don't have to have a lot to be grateful. And many of the people who have gone to Kenya have come back and they have said what some of us have said about Latin America those people have so little and yet they're willing to share what they have in some of these places it's an affront [00:27:39] if you don't accept what they offer you would to God we would be people that are willing to share willing to give and be willing to live with a limited amount of things ourselves I trust that we can be people that are wealthy, not necessarily by our bank accounts, but wealthy in that we are happy with what God has given us. [00:28:15] Those are riches that we can have a bank account that is ever so big, if we're not happy with it, we're poor people. But if we have learned to be able to say with Paul I have learned in whatsoever state I am to be content in that state we have wealth that people with a big bank account often cannot match and I would desire that kind of wealth for each one of you [00:28:46] for each one of us May God help us to attain that kind of wealth Shall we pray?